Teaching and Experimenting with Architectural Design

434 EAAE no 35 Teaching and Experimenting with Architectural Design: Advances in Technology and Changes in Pedagogy

Introduction

Tracing paper has long been used in the organization and handling of design. The
layer below may be the grid while the top layer may be the structural system or the
configuration of spaces and forms. It could also be that the top layer is a version of
what lies below, an attempt, that is, to improve the previous. It could even be that
the two or more juxtaposed layers are apparently not connected physically or related
conceptually. The goal in this case is to deal with such a realization. Whatever the
case, the fact that these sets of information are rendered co-present through layering,
creates potentials otherwise nonexistent.
It has been said that before the invention of photography, man could think photo-
graphically. It may also be the case that before the appearance of layers as a feature
in different CAD software, the human mind begun using layers to organise, process,
rearrange or even create information. This paper examines the concept of ‘layering’
in software, drawing, thinking and designing, using a specific studio project as a case
study. It is argued that the abstraction offered by such a thinking framework is still
valuable now when, with the development of computer software for design, the trend
is towards a more ‘realistic’ portrayal of the environment which is now seen as ‘empty
space’ with three-dimensional entities occupying specific points in it.
Still, layering seems to continue to be valuable in studying/creating relationships,
the essence, that is, of architectural design. Layering is not used here to refer only to
the juxtaposition of a number of orthogonal projections. The layering, for example,
of a number of digital images and the control the software offers in manipulating the
degree of transparency or opacity each has can be used quite creatively in the design
process. Qualities, and/or quantities, such as depth, distance, proximity, visibility
and time acquire new meanings which can potentially upset more established notions
of these and other architectural parameters.
The studio work used as case study involves the first year of architectural educa-
tion at the University of Cyprus and is based on the research and teaching interests of
its studio master who examines the concept of Layering through an interdisciplinary
approach which involves architectural teaching and design, visual perception in paint-
ing, as well as more philosophical investigations. The specific stage in architectural
education offers a unique point of investigation since it coincides with the first
introduction of technology as an aid in architectural representation and design.

The case study

During the first semester in the first year, the curriculum of the School of Architec-
ture at the University of Cyprus includes, as two of the six courses required, a visual
communications class and a design studio. In the drawing class the students are
encouraged to experiment with basic media such as pencils and charcoal of varying
thickness and hardness and pens of different widths. The purpose is for each student
to develop ways to record observations or ideas in a way that allows and encourages
further interaction during the design phase. For the very first exercise this year, the
motorcycle of one of the students was brought in and placed in the centre of the stu-