In two previous posted blogs, I covered the topic of model sketching. The first one explored how a set of iterative sketch models—typically out of clay and at a reduced scale such as 1/32”—assisted students in defining what we call an architectural mass model.  The second blog focused on the importance of creating rapid sketch models that exhibited the first unencumbered physical artifact that translated an idea—vague and amorphous as many first ideas are—into a three-dimensional object; the latter model technique emphasized the student’s intuition so often associated with a hands-on approach while crafting spatial qualities.

Architecture programs, at least those that I have been associated with as a faculty member and administrator, have favored hands-on/minds-on and learning by doing pedagogies—the latter often referred to as learn-by-doing in the model of education espoused by American philosopher John Dewey.  Recently, I have understood that these modes of “learning through reflection on doing,” are equally defined by the term experiential learning; a concept that emphasizes active experimentation with concrete experience, and abstract conceptualization that ends with the student’s need for a reflective observation on their work and process. Notwithstanding the particularities of each approach, each of these models refers to a theory of education that emphasizes the student’s direct interaction “with their environment in order to adapt and learn.”

Questions of section, Part 2. After thirty years of teaching architecture studio at the undergraduate level, I maintain that translating ideas into space is one of the most challenging aspects of design that college sophomores need to learn on their journey to becoming architects. This is particularly true when working in section. 

The ritual of a formal and on-going assessment is something educators tend not to favor, especially since the perception is that it takes away from our commitment to teaching, from our love of teaching.  And yet, in architecture programs, assessment is tacitly done on a weekly basis, especially through discussions of student design work. These often-subjective evaluations are based on the student’s progress, encompassing discussions, Aristotelian critiques, and suggested paths to improve and overcome any stumbling blocks in order to have them make substantial improvements.

PROGRAM, function, and value of usage, Part 2. I realized in my early twenties—following a discussion with professor Raimund Abraham during my studies at Cooper Union—that to be happy, I needed to accept that my life was going to be that of a nomad; thus my unconditional need to travel.  Since then, traveling is to push myself into a vulnerable position intellectually in order to explore and understand unknown cultures both near and far. As home became the place where I temporarily live, I tended to seek through my adventures transient comfort that translates into discovering hotels that serve as a microcosm of well-being.