Design studios play an important role in training future architects and designers, representing a key space for experimentation and creative practice in the education of architecture, landscape architecture and interior architecture students. Unlike other courses, design studios confront students with the concrete practical aspects of the design process, along with the more abstract poetic experiences of designing. This combination of practice with theory introduces students to the concept of creativity and creative design processes. While conceptually exciting, student engagement often comes with feelings of vulnerability and fear of 'exposure' that design practice brings, preventing them from experimentation. This paper explores various experiments designed to foster trust to aid in students' engagement in creative practices within studios. Several assignments follow where techniques are specifically designed to encourage creativity in the context of the architectural design studio. The paper further examines how architectural studio style teaching can foster a way of creating as well as researching through design and can provide a forum for both the sharing of knowledge as well as communication and collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders.
This chapter discusses a specific grassroots initiative of an economically disadvantaged Pacific Island community from Tokelau who has been displaced to New Zealand. To retain their island culture, community members sought to develop a centre as a source of their empowerment, one which would ‘capture the essence of a Tokelau village'. They invited the School of Architecture at the University of Wellington to assist with its development. The guiding principles of this empowerment project are grassroots participation, mutual decision-making and shared implementation. The application of these principles is particularly befitting to participatory design methods. Despite some challenges, a number of benefits from this community's project can be cited. These include the strengthening of their sense of community, preservation of aspects of culture and a collective shared vision for the future. The fundamental idea here is that communities need to be able to seek, and receive help that empowers them rather than being offered potentially subsuming interventions. This was achieved through the development of trust between the university research team and the members of the Tokelau community. The opportunity for the university students and the Tokelau youth to engage and learn from each other were part of unanticipated additional outcomes.
Interdisciplinary collaborative design for culturally diverse and under-represented communities hinges on understanding cultural environments; building trusting relationships and fostering a respectful approach to community. It requires a diverse disciplinary knowledge and the capacity to take action by blurring the boundaries between disciplines. This chapter discusses the application of design-led research approach with a participatory design mind-set by bringing the users to the forefront of a design as active co-creators. It examines two projects – a Māori landscape regeneration project in the Wairarapa region of Wellington; and a Tokelau / Pasifika cultural museum exhibition. The research project is framed around three critical stages: design analysis, design exploration and design synthesis. This interdisciplinary collaborative research process can create new opportunities for architectural design education as it educates students and the wider community as active world-citizens.
Design studios play an important role in training future architects and designers, representing a key space for experimentation and creative practice in the education of architecture, landscape architecture and interior architecture students. Unlike other courses, design studios confront students with the concrete practical aspects of the design process, along with the more abstract poetic experiences of designing. This combination of practice with theory introduces students to the concept of creativity and creative design processes. While conceptually exciting, student engagement often comes with feelings of vulnerability and fear of 'exposure' that design practice brings, preventing them from experimentation. This paper explores various experiments designed to foster trust to aid in students' engagement in creative practices within studios. Several assignments follow where techniques are specifically designed to encourage creativity in the context of the architectural design studio. The paper further examines how architectural studio style teaching can foster a way of creating as well as researching through design and can provide a forum for both the sharing of knowledge as well as communication and collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders.
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