An Evolution in Design Education: A 10-Year Experiment in Alternative Teaching and Learning in the Anthropocene

This paper will outline a specific ten-year experiment in finding transformative teaching and learning methods for design in the age of the Anthropocene. It will candidly share failures and successes of the experiment and discuss the ramifications for mainstream architectural design education. A number of innovations are covered in this paper. Guiding Principles replace the concept as the primary driver of design projects. Transdisciplinary collaboration replaces the often-contentious interdisciplinary design process. Social equity replaces privilege as the undercurrent of education. Stakeholder-driven design charrettes at the start of projects replaces inequitable final juries. On-line education is used liberally to expand opportunities for everyone. Design accountability becomes the norm as students set, and meet, their own sets of goals in a reflective “validation” process. Furthermore, the role of beauty remains important, but becomes subservient to change agency as the primary metric for defining a successful design student. The experiment in alternative design education has been a rich and rewarding experience. The lessons learned and examples shared will provide some useful concepts for those seeking to take more action in their programs. In turn, there is an expectation that the urgency of the climate imperative will catalyze other programs to undergo their own transformations, so that we may finally elevate the imperative of sustainability to the forefront of design education, and in turn, spawn a generation of leaders, activists, and designers ready to lead in the face of adversity.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.108.57

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ISBN
978-1-944214-26-5