Empathizing with Clients: Teaching Students How to Design for ‘The Other’

“By acting to further the interests of the other, one serves one’s own interests as well.” This quote by Celeste Friend discusses how David Gauthier expanded on Thomas Hobbes views of Social Contract Theory by arguing for cooperation of self-interested parties based on rationality. Gauthier was using the Prisoner’s Dilemma argument, but the theory can also be used to format pedagogy to teach architecture students the importance of working equally together with non-profit clients, or in this context “the other.” However, rationality alone cannot be used to teach students the importance of egalitarianism and learning from those different from them. Students must also be taught to respect and empower the clients with whom they are working. This paper discusses examples of how the author engaged students using service-learning standards such as reflection and reciprocity, as well as alternative methods such as limited role-playing through protagonist stories. The results are students who are more engaged with and empathetic to the clients, but also more aware of the social justice issues that impact the field of architecture and the “public” that it affects.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.106.40

Volume Editors
Amir Ameri & Rebecca O'Neal Dagg

ISBN
978-1-944214-15-9