Final Learning/Training/Teaching activity of HERSUS Project, Training for Teachers titled Design Studio-based Methods and Techniques was successfully organized on 11 and 12 May 2023. The motivation for Training is aligned with the global aspiration for continuous improvements of teaching curriculums and models in the field of architectural design, especially in response to the changing context and challenges of architectural education. Further research areas and thematic frameworks within it are being continuously re-introduced and becoming more process and problem- oriented in order to rise the horizon within the context of architectural education and build the capacities for transferable learning of students.
In that order, the “Training for Teachers: Design Studio-based Methods and Techniques” aimed to reconsider the architectural design studio environment and teaching methodology in order to support the climate and trends within architectural and urban design education. The dynamic translating of architectural practice from technical, engineering and technological to an equal social, humanistic and artistic perspective requires research and testing of new models of education and, above all, reconfiguration of studio-based curricula as a central arena for learning and sharing knowledge in the field of architectural and urban design. The results of this activity pointed to the importance of importing tasks for building transferable skills of design practice into academic curricula in line with a contemporary agenda of sustainability and heritage.
The” Training for Teachers: Design Studio-based Methods and Techniques” presents one of the final activities of a HERSUS project. During this Intensive programme for teaching staff, teachers:
(1) presented the final developed methodology (within the courses developed for IO5), and
(2) discussed the direction of its implementation in curricula on each Faculty.
SESSION 1
The first session of the Training took place on May 11, from 9.30 until 11.00 at the School of Architecture, Seville University. This first session is organized in three round discussion tables, organized per expert group of the IO5 Book of Courses:
- HER-SUS_PAST
- PEOPLE_PRESENT
- ENVIRONMENT_FUTURE
In order to approach this session, all the participants presented the developed course in a clear and summarized way. In line with the Description and contents of this LTT, the debate covered critical reflections on the courses-format, contents (objectives, syllabus, method), special attention on the developed methodology and the relation with the IO3: Statements for Teaching through Design for Sustainability of the Built Environment and Heritage Awareness.
SESSION 2
The second session of the Training took place on May 12, from 9.00 until 11.00 at the Andalusian Institute of Historic Heritage.
In this session all the participants shared the conclusions and results of the discussion of Session 1, and reflected on the direction of implementation in curricula on each Faculty/School, as well as had the opportunity to deepen on the Master Thesis approach, its method and development. This session was therefore organized in a single group to pool the processes, reflections and proposals that had been crystallized in each debate.
