Architectural Caveats... Rummaging in the Pierian Spring

The Pierian Spring commands attention in a line that follows Alexander Pope’s warning, “A little learning is a dang’rous thing”. Reference to drinking deeply from the spring, a location that symbolized both knowledge and inspiration in classical mythology, completes the aphorism: knowledge itself is not a danger, the peril lies rather in shallow or superficial under-standing. Assuming that knowledge pertaining to architecture, along with art and science, lies metaphorically within the Pierian Spring, it should be possible to delve – or, at least rummage a bit. And, in conjunction with current discussions and disagreements, unresolved conflicts from the past may surface… During the mid-1980s, two independent scholars – Peter G. Rowe (Rice University/Harvard) and Donald Schön (MIT) – investigated patterns intrinsic to the process of architectural design. Both reported on the observation of student behavior gleaned within a studio setting. Although their findings were in many ways similar, their respective interpretations differed dramatically. Rowe wrote a preliminary article, “A Priori Knowledge and Heuristic Reasoning in Architectural Design” – published in the autumn 1982 issue of the Journal of Architectural Education, coincident with the start of a new academic year.1 Shortly afterward in 1983, Schön presented his research in The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action.2 Rowe would continue his work, eventually producing the book Design Thinking in 1987.3 Despite intervening developments, assumptions and beliefs relating to these studies continue to influence contemporary methods of teaching design.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.108.111

Volume Editors

ISBN
978-1-944214-26-5