Abstract
This paper presents pedagogical research conducted within an interdisciplinary first year design studio. Through an experimental educational model, first-year architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and industrial design students are introduced to foundational questions of environmental design. Beginning design students are introduced to solar principles and practices through a new project: “Light and Shadow Instruments”. They respond to the design brief that suggests re-imagining solar geometry as a three-dimensional construct. Integrated preceptoral group discussions explore the history of time-measurement instruments ranging in scale from the portable or pocket-sized to the monumental. Lessons on digital modeling softwares and digital fabrication are interwoven into the practice-based and making-focused studio. Ultimately, students develop a facility for anticipating, measuring, and representing the sun’s path over varying durations of time - from the daily to the annual - at a range of different latitudes - from the equator to the north pole. This integrated - or “whole system” - model for design education empowers the students to integrate their newfound understandings of environmental design into the schematic design phase of their future projects. Students are encouraged to communicate environmental questions across disciplines through shared language and ways of working. They aspire to the poetic sensibilities of light and shadow that are perceived within a range of design objects and architectural spaces.
Presenters
Madison CookVisiting Assistant Professor of Practice, Architecture, Virginia Tech, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design
KEYWORDS
Architecture, Solar, Energy, Design, Pedagogy, Fabrication, Light, Environmental design
