Architectural educators use the scientific term “critical mass” to justify the necessity for design students to be present in the studio in order to gain momentum, share ideas, and learn from each other, while enjoying their camaraderie. Further, it is believed that the physical presence may yield an esprit de corps, albeit in a pedagogy which values individualism. Any of these educational objectives, however, such as communication, idea sharing and momentum, are within reach in the virtual environment. Indeed, telecommunication technology oriented design environment actually enhances educator-student and student-student participation in getting to know each others’ values and cultures. Such cooperation across time and space, leads future designers to identify and solve problems in a truly global setting The computer savvy profile of today’s students suggests that cross-cultural and across-distance design education is an achievable aim and even may weaken the argument for the merits of physical presence in the studio. Even in practice, for example, the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) approach will likely to change how professionals cooperate through networking media in creatively linking, sharing, and integrating their design expertise with their other professional team members.
Recent developments in telecommunication technology virtually have eliminated the necessity for sharing the same physical space by the members of a studio or cooperating professionals on a project. Professionals and students alike can easily work, debate, and share ideas even if they are many time-zones apart. In this paper, we concentrate on the implications of this technology upon design education, particularly on the studio component through a major global studio urban design project case study. It focuses on the pros and cons of global studios based on experiences in architectural education which is coming to focus as a variant in the studio typology both in traditional and in nascent on-line programs.
|Keywords:||Global Studio, Distant Learning, Educational Cooperation, Virtual Design Studio, Architectural Education, Architectural Design|
Associate Professor, Architecture, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Associate Professor, College of Architecture, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
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