Le Baron Tavernier: a cafe. There is a myth that Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries on earth. Indeed, its picturesque landscape, pristine cities, orderly society, and unconditional belief in a constitution that engages each citizen through direct representation—often to a fault—are all accurate descriptions of the place and culture. While the country … Continue reading Le Baron Tavernier: a cafe
Questions of Pedagogy, Part 5. My early years teaching architecture focused on imparting students with a design process; a methodology that would provide my second-year students with solid conceptual thinking. This approach was inspired by my own experience of Raimund Abraham’s teaching. Now that I was becoming an educator, many of my studio briefs espoused … Continue reading Questions of Pedagogy, Part 5
First steps in a student’s design process. As I matured as an architecture student, I didn’t lack ideas in response to design studio prompts. Ideas seemed to come naturally to me and were triggered by the process in which I was trained to think of a thesis, a program, or a BIG idea (owning a … Continue reading First steps in a student’s design process
An architecture project. The education of an architect is primarily centered around a design studio with an architecture program describing the nature of a design proposition. This prompt, which is also called a brief, is usually open ended and offers basic directives on the nature of the problem to solve. The overall freedom offered by … Continue reading An architecture project
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 … Continue reading Why Model Sketching? Part 3
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,” … Continue reading On the art of making
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 … Continue reading Thoughts on teaching. Part 1
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 … Continue reading PROGRAM, function, and value of usage, Part 2
Representing space, and the experiencing of space, Part 1. Concepts, and theories of space (i.e., presenting and representing) and their role in place making, have been abundantly debated among philosophers, scholars, architects, and educators. From Kant to Hegel, from Giedion to Zevi, from Hejduk to Slutzky to name but a few, ontological, epistemological, and existential … Continue reading Representing space, and the experiencing of space, Part 1