Qualities of design briefs for studio learning

Abstract

The design brief is considered a pivotal component in studio-based learning, yet there is a paucity of studies on the student brief genre in design education research. This work seeks to contribute by examining brief qualities from a variety of relevant sources that can help tertiary educators name, define, frame, evaluate, and present student briefs. The paper draws from the scant but growing academic literature on this topic, as well as from textbooks and publications on professional practice and design competitions. A dozen qualities are articulated from the literature that shape the purpose, content and context of briefs. Of special interest are the affective qualities of briefs, the interplay between project outcomes, learning objectives and assessment criteria, and the degree to which student briefs are execution dependent. A research agenda concludes the paper to comprehensively study the effects of design briefs in studio-based learning.

A Natural History of Logistics and Other Studio Briefs: Problem Spaces for Planetary Design

“…Studio or design briefs are used in architecture, design, and creative practice teaching as setting the stage through a specified problem which then structures the unfolding process of activities and links theoretical concepts and discourses with practice-led methods. As such, the brief becomes a mediating element for collective work toward a specified narrative, problem, and theme, but still allows variation within this context that contains both interpretative and affective elements due to the social interaction that emerges around a shared problem (Sosa 2019;Öztürk and Türkkan 2006).…”