Architectural Design

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3rd ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design

Job No: CPD0910-28/Janet E

008-033 Chapter 1 final_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 9/21/10 10:27 PM Page 33

Zaha Hadid: MAXXI Museum of XXI Century Arts ›

Chapter summary

Year one group tutorial

Sketch drawn for the PAL

(Peer Assisted Learning) project

undertaken by Justus Van Der Hoven

and Jamie Williamson. This sketch

of a group tutorial shows the hands-

on participatory nature of the design

studio, with students discussing the

development of a prototype that they

are making with a tutor. The tutorial

is a loosely structured discussion

involving questions and answers

passed freely between tutor and

student until both parties reach

agreement on the progress and

direction of the project. Students

not directly involved can either work

in the studio while the tutorial is in

progress or join in if they wish.

This exploration of teaching, learning and practising in the

design studio has begun to reveal that architects are required

to participate and contribute to the life and direction of the

studio in order to make it work and also to benefit from

what it has to offer. At its most positive, involvement gives

opportunities to learn, find inspiration, participate in current

debate and opinion and be informed on the latest advances

in design, methods, tools and skills. It can also lead to

recognition by peers and, by implication, advancement in

the profession. At its worst this culture can become self-

referential, clubby, exclusive and even irrelevant to the rest

of the world. Architects must use their critical judgement and

exploit their capacity for reinvention to ensure that design-

studio culture remains fluid, positive, accessible and relevant.

Text

3rd ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design

Job No: CPD0910-28/Janet E

008-033 Chapter 1 final_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 9/21/10 10:01 PM Page 33