In the seventeenth century, Guarino Guarini, mathematician and architect, affirmed that architecture, a discipline that primarily deals with measures, relies on geometry: therefore, the architect needs to know at least its basic principles. On behalf of Guarini's words, we designed a set of interdisciplinary teaching experiences, between…

This pedagogical paper presents an approach to urban design taught in the "Complex Densities Studio" CDS of the Institute of Architecture and Earth Sciences of Setif (IAST). This approach is based on urban analysis and scenario building, the use of parametric tools, and the constitution of reusable "parametric actions". The…

Architecture uses both aesthetic and scientific research concepts in developing of modern advances. The program at the University of Sydney is discussed in terms of its uses of physical models, environmental studies, energy studies, and mathematical models and is presented as a model for relating the aesthetic and scientific. (JMF)

Definitions, issues, and concerns in efforts to document the quality and outcomes of undergraduate education are reviewed, and the University of Arizona assessment model is summarized to illustrate a comprehensive assessment plan suitable for a research university. The Arizona model is adapted to architectural education, and the special…

Gaming, an approach to problem solving that engages a real life situation, is a technique particularly appealing for design students because it permits learning about the process of change in a dynamic environment requiring periodic decisions. Two games about consensus decisions are discussed: KEEPS and Senior Center Game. (MLW)

Describes a project that is a part of an "Architects in Schools" program in England in which students were challenged to redesign a small structure on the school grounds. Discusses the student tasks involved, including the development of scale models, and the evaluation of the design. (TW)

Architecture as social action is discussed with the challenge being to find ways to make skills sensitive and responsive to local contexts and permit architecture to assume its appropriate form. Some techniques discussed are: storefront offices, architectural clinics, planning councils, mapping and gaming. (MLW)

Gaming-simulation in professional practice, education, and research is discussed. Simulation assists in exploring and resolving incongruent values and interests of clients, users, and architects; conveys complex interactive systems students are trying to understand; and elicits responses to alternative actions and contributes to theory development…

Operational gaming techniques that are permeating the architectural profession are used to: elicit user needs, represent architectural realities in the classroom, understand the rationale behind complex design decisions, and model decision environments at many levels with coarse or refined data. (MLW)

This report examines the problems and possibilities of architecture education as it has evolved in the United States and proposes a new framework for renewing architecture education and practice. In order to assess the need for reform in architecture education, students and alumni from 15 representative campuses were surveyed as to whether they…