Teaching Digital Design Exploration: Form Follows…

First year architectural design education can be started with various methods which, through testing within different studio studies, can also give ideas as to how to start architectural education. This study will address the contributions, and results of starting first-year architecture education with game as a mediator. When they start their architectural education, students will have their own unique experiences of form, and space gained since their childhood in their built environment. Therefore, in order to refine the students’ perceptions on their built environments at the beginning of the education process, it’s necessary to provide them with opportunities that will give them confidence in what they can do about form and space. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the importance of the first year in architectural design education, and to discuss the beginning methods, considerate student, tutor and educational factors together. Thus, the game selected to start the architectural education with the purpose of activating the gaming instinct of the student is the “City Game”. The findings of this study provide guidelines for tutors to set up a favorable learning environment from the city and that cooperative learning can be enjoyable by the game for the students.Keywords: design education, game, mediator, first year architectural educationÂ

In the last few years, there have been lots of challenges facing the world from pandemics and wars that have raised a series of challenges facing architectural education, which create a challenge for both teachers and students and to which extent they can adapt to the post-digital adaptation period, as well as the future of architectural education in general. Architecture and design environments mainly require face-to-face learning and teaching techniques that depend on the interaction between the student and the teacher, where application and practical education take place. Furthermore, studio-designed spaces provide solidarity, positive energy, and motivation for students. Therefore, activating the distance learning process that affect the architectural education strategy and directed institutions and teachers to the necessity of flexibility and adaptation as a part of the structure of architectural education curricula. this study is a humble try to evaluate the role of blended learning experiences incorporating architectural design programmes that were first applied after the last pandemic. It focuses on the importance of flexible architectural education through the overlap between the traditional studio and the virtual studio to achieve a positive experience for students and staff members. This is done by observing a design studio procedure during a blended learning period and with the help of a questionnaire for a diverse number of students and faculty members on the subject of architectural design at one of the Egyptian universities that host the architecture department. It is conducted for the purpose of flexible handling through the integration of distance learning with architectural design education in relation to the era of pandemics, the digital age, and the like in the future. The research contributes to developing a future framework that enhances the flexibility of architectural design education, supports self-education, and turns the architectural design studio into an opportunity for reproduction and renewal.

Architectural education has long placed a strong emphasis on the studio, which serves as a crucial place for teaching and learning. The architecture studio is a dynamic and lively place where students can engage in design discussions, exchange ideas, and receive feedback from instructors and peers. Despite recognising the vital role architecture studios play in shaping the learning experience of architecture students, limited research has explored which specific attributes of the studio environment are most important to students. This research aims to address this gap by determining the priorities of architecture students regarding key studio attributes. The research employs a quantitative approach using the Best-Worst Scaling (BWS) model and a questionnaire survey. A pilot study was conducted with undergraduate architecture students. The results reveal the ranking and relative importance of key studio attributes, organised into five categories: Physiological Facilities, Information and Communications Technology, Indoor Environment Quality, Territoriality, Furniture, and Reference. This research provides a valuable reference for designing student-centred studio environments and demonstrates the viability of using the BWS method to determine students’ priorities for studio attributes.

The impact of research and representation of site analysis for creative design approach in architectural design studio

The educational potential of games has increasingly attracted attention within architectural pedagogy, fostering investigations into game-based learning approaches. Among these, LEGO has gained prominence in both physical and digital formats, offering unique yet complementary contributions to design education. Physical LEGO sets strengthen students’ manual dexterity, three-dimensional reasoning, and confidence by engaging them in tangible construction processes. Virtual LEGO platforms, in contrast, advance technological literacy, spatial visualization, and digital exploration, thereby preparing students for the demands of contemporary design environments. This study examines the role of both physical and virtual LEGO modules in architectural and interior design education through a comparative analysis. Student groups from different levels were tasked with reconstructing a pre-designed architectural plan using both formats. Upon completion, participants completed a structured questionnaire designed to evaluate their learning experiences, perceived challenges, and skill development. Data were analyzed using SPSS to identify statistical relationships between the two approaches. Findings revealed significant correlations between the modules, indicating their complementary nature in fostering spatial literacy and design skills. Physical LEGO modules were particularly effective in promoting hands-on engagement, efficiency, and confidence, while virtual modules enhanced creativity in digital environments and cultivated a sense of achievement. The comparison demonstrates that rather than competing, physical and digital formats enrich architectural pedagogy by addressing different dimensions of the design process. By situating LEGO within the broader discourse of game-based learning in architecture, this study underscores the importance of integrating traditional tactile methods with emerging digital tools. Such integration not only bridges the gap between physical and virtual realms but also provides a rational perspective on contemporary educational challenges in an increasingly digitized world. Ultimately, the results highlight the potential of LEGO to serve as a versatile pedagogical medium that cultivates both foundational design skills and adaptability to future technological contexts.

Mainstream practice on the built environment has often become closed in its own idiosyncrasies, disconnected from fundamental socioeconomic and environmental challenges. This paper argues for a change in practice, sustained by research and teaching. It claims for urban morphology as a scientific support for architecture and urban design education. A methodology is proposed, grounded on the comprehensive historico-geographical analysis of human settlements and on a balanced reading of each settlement ground plan (street systems, plot patterns and building arrangements), building fabric, and land uses. In this methodology analysis and design are two sequential parts of the same process. As the design object, goals and programme are site-specific, they are defined after analysis. The paper describes the methodology’s application in Ganpu, Hangzhou Bay (China), under the framework of a Design Studio at Zhejiang University.

Architectural education programs are rapidly expanding the use of immersive technologies worldwide. An increasing number of architecture schools have incorporated 360-degree videos as one of the accessible and cost-effective immersive tools. Despite their availability and ease of use, research on their effectiveness as a learning tool in architectural pedagogy remains limited and mostly focused on architectural design education. Few studies have discussed their application in theoretical courses and their potential to support cognitive understanding of architecture. Learning cultural heritage is considered a foundation of architectural theory. This study examines how the utilization of 360-degree videos, compared to conventional 2D videos, supports spatial cognition, learning performance and experience in cultural heritage education among undergraduate architecture students. An educational experiment was conducted with 89 students in their second year of the architecture degree at the Applied Science Private University, Jordan. Both 360-degree videos and conventional 2D videos were inserted as learning tools within the curriculum of History of Architecture 1 and 2 courses. A mixed-research-method framework, including observation and a post-test survey, was carried out. Using SPSS and Excel programs, the data were analyzed through a set of statistical analyses such as paired-sample t-tests, AHP, and basic descriptive analysis. The findings demonstrate that students were highly immersed and motivated when using 360-degree videos. Compared to conventional 2D videos, 360-degree videos enhanced students’ spatial cognition, performance, engagement, and participation levels in both face-to-face and online courses. These results suggest that 360-degree videos can serve as a sufficient, low-cost, and equipment-free learning tool, responding to the urgent need to utilize technologies in both theoretical and practical architectural pedagogy.

Computer Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) tools have been available to the architect in practically useful form for a close to a century. It has evolved from being a complicated simulation tool available to mainframe computers and used exclusively by experts working on special “CAAD projects” to being accessible to any interested individual on a personal computer. CAAD plays a vital role on the profession and academia of architecture in recent years. The aim of this study is to provide a reflective perspective of the current architecture education on CAAD in the Department of Architecture in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). It compares the method of architecture design education in the department of architecture in KNUST to other methods architecture design education of other universities. It examines the various benefits of incorporating CAAD into the curriculum and looks at the various shortfalls limiting the full exploitation of CAAD into the design curriculum of architecture education also the role CAAD the design process from conceptual to final product is examined. Survey questionnaires were distributed to students in the Department of Architecture and CAAD tutors interviewed to ascertain the level of impact of CAAD in the department. It was realized that the level of integration of CAAD with the design studio is low and transition from traditional drafting methods to the modern methods of using computers in design is not clearly established, thus recommendations were made to rectify the situation.

Since building systems play a key role in shaping the final design of a building, knowledge about their foundations has been an integral part of the undergraduate architecture curriculum. However, building systems are often considered by architecture students as engineers’ main responsibility. This mindset has caused inadequate attention in education. VR technology, with its ability to simplify complex concepts through immersive, interactive experiences, offers a promising solution. This study proposes a VR-based building systems-learning (VR-BSL) system, which aims to increasing architectural students’ motivation and engagement in understanding the fundamentals of building systems. A prototype of the VR-BSL system was integrated into the classroom activities, where students and lecturers explored virtual spaces of major building systems using HMDs and controllers. This study demonstrated that VR-BSL enhances learning experience by allowing students to easily grasp distributed information and knowledge through the visualization of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in the VR.

Although the design studio has formally been the locus for design education, informal education approach has gained more and more acceptance in the world. Informal education, which is the education outside the confines of curricula, includes the acquisition of knowledge and skills through experience, reading, social contact, etc. Workshops cover the essential weight of this informal education. Although the role of the design workshops in architectural design education has been very limited through overall design education’s past, many schools of architecture have taken steps to consider workshops as the part of informal learning and education. “Culture and Space in the Build environment” (CSBE) Network of IAPS have been organizing “culture and design workshop series” for graduate and post graduate students in Turkey since 2001. In these workshops, a design teaching approach based on the conceptual framework of culture and space interactions is applied. The conceptual framework developed for the architectural design education, takes three fundamental starting points for workshops as the part of informal design education: as a tool for informal design education (method), as a tool for learning & understanding culture-environment relations (content), and as a tool for awareness of different environments/contexts (scale/place). The foundation of the conceptual framework is based on the general approach that discusses the “architectural design process” with regards to environmental context and content. Within this context the aim of the paper is to discuss and evaluate the importance and the contribution of workshops as tool for informal architectural design education. These discussions will be held on the case of IAPS-CBSE Network’s last workshop “Istanbul as a Palimpsest City and Imperfection”. In the paper, the process, the method, the content and the results of workshop studies will be discussed and evaluated.

This paper examines the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into architectural design education, with a particular focus on the utilization of text-to-image AI tools in a third-year design studio project at Atılım University. The objective of the project was to examine the potential of AI-supported visual representation tools in conceptualizing future public spaces in Ankara. The study employs a combination of practical experimentation and theoretical analysis to examine the impact of text-to-image AI tools on design thinking and processes, as reflected in student projects generated through these tools. The research underscores the potential of integrating AI into architectural design education to foster creativity and critical thinking, emphasizing the underlying design principles and methods beyond mere visual outputs. The principal findings demonstrate that AI tools have the capacity to considerably extend the scope of design possibilities, assisting students in transcending the conventional boundaries of design. However, the research underscores the necessity of striking a balance between visual outputs and conceptual depth, ensuring that AI serves as an aid rather than a replacement in the comprehensive design process. A robust theoretical framework is vital for guiding AI integration and fostering critical understanding and thinking among students. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on the role of AI in reshaping architectural practice and education, proposing a balanced approach that values both technological proficiency and conceptual depth.

A new challenge is emerging. Contemporary built environment pedagogy demands engagement with both analogue and digital tools for simulation and verification of lit architectural environments. The use of analogue tools within architectural design education grasps onto the historically valued craftsmanship of drawing and physical models to measure, represent and understand our lit environment ambiance. Digital tools can provide efficient, simultaneous and precise verification of lit architectural interior space through 3D computer modelling and calculation software. However, the understanding and representation of daylit scenarios is becoming more numerically complex as lighting metrics and software gain in accuracy and dynamic range. With the majority of easily accessible software tools focussing on numerical verification, the ephemeral ambience that daylight in particular creates in interior architectural spaces is becoming ever more difficult to grasp for the architectural design student and practitioner. This paper seeks to challenge the exclusive use of digital tools for the understanding and representation of lit interiors by proposing that this methodology cultivates design epistemologies that are out of “touch”. Questionnaire findings and workshop studies are presented as pedagogical constructs are proposed inviting physical, experiential learning of lighting principles in collaboration with numerical and digital modes of learning to provide connections and translations to develop through ‘touch’ing light.

This study investigated early background of Built Environment Education (BEE) in the U.S. and an American BEE curriculum “Architecture and Children” authored by Anne P. Taylor. Philosophies of Taylor's learning environment design and architectural design education were organized into 4 areas: Relationalism, Habitability Framework (Whole Learner), Multiple Intelligences and Deep Ecology. In her early work in 1960-70s she was influenced by land artists in the U.S. At that time land artists and art pedagogues including Taylor absorbed a lesson from environmental issues and created the new field of art, architectural design and education. Through that insight, she redefined her profession considering architectural education and developed the new form of interdisciplinary art education.

Professional practice and diagram technique training in architecture education : "transposition didactique" problems . This paper focuses on a case study in professional didactics field. Its aim is to underline the relevant indicators of a “transposition didactique” process (Chevallard & Johsua, 1991), in architectural design Education. Professional architects are used to use a general functional diagram model to organize data before drawing plan of a building. This article shows how this design graphic tool - functional diagram - is teached and learned in a studio of architecture school. The cognitive students' activity is observed and analysed during a buildings design exercise (university restaurant and cafeteria). The form of the didactic exercise conditions can be described as a “situation de devolution” (Brousseau, 1 998) : students organize their activity and carry their functional diagram without teacher’s advice. This study also underlines diagram operative representations and cognitive activity to build this diagram. These representations and activity are expressed by professional architects and students through their verbalizing and drawing acts. Three kinds of comparison are drawn : between two competences states (professional and students) ; between a taught model of graphic tool and a professional model of ; between the taught model and the really assimilated model by students. Finally, this analysis shows a functional diagram is a cognitive tool. This one doesn’t only structure the students’ activity in training situation, but it activates criticism reflexions and awareness about this activity. Functional diagram practice in a “situation de devolution” can be a good way for students, of assessing their own competences and interpretating the training situation in a constructive way.

With the emergence of Architecture 4.0 and the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, extended reality (XR) technology has been increasingly applied in architectural education. This study aims to systematically organize and analyze the applications and outcomes of XR technology in construction education over the past five years, provide a theoretical framework for its future widespread use, and highlight its drawbacks as well as future research directions. The paper employs content analysis to summarize and analyze the findings. The report reveals that more institutions are integrating XR technology into their architectural education programs and that it has a significant impact on teacher effectiveness, student motivation, reflection and improvement, and teacher–student communication. The study suggests that XR technology will increasingly replace conventional teaching techniques in classrooms.