Design-Build Projects in Architecture Education and Experimental Structures as a Pedagogical Approach

Abstract

The architectural studio and architectural design teaching constitute the basic structure of architectural education. In architectural education, however, the process of "building" or "making" is an essential component of the learning process. Learning by doing is the learning and reinforcement of acquired knowledge and skills by transforming them into practice. This approach is an experience learning strategy that replaces textbooks and classroom lessons, where learning occurs passively, with active participation from the student to maximize effectiveness. As an educational theory, "learning by doing" has important potentials for architectural education. Experimental structures/pavilion designs produced by adopting this approach have recently become increasingly common in the field of architectural education. With experimental structures, students gain different learning experiences including design, structural theory, structure and construction. In this study, an analysis of experimental structures, which are small-scale pavilion applications designed and built by students, is conducted. In the study, 12 experimental structure/pavilion practices conducted by different architecture schools between 2010 and 2022 are analyzed and their place in architectural education is discussed. The results obtained reveal that learning by doing/experiencing by building 1:1 scale structures supports learning in architectural education and should be emphasized in the architectural education learning process. © 2024 School of Science, DUTH. All rights reserved.