Architectural Design Studio as A Knowledge Intensive System: Sociology of Design Knowledge

Abstract

Architectural design studios are still an inseparable part of the architectural design education. Different pedagogical approaches, architectural design norms, evaluation methods and assumptions prevail on how to carry out architectural design studios.  A new conceptualization of architectural design studio can open up new venues to appreciate the plurality of various ways of organizing and running architectural design studios.  Design knowledge is always embedded in design studio environment. It is subjected to the prior assumptions, design routines, practices, and power relations among social actors of the design studio. The basic idea is to conceptualize the design studio environment as a knowledge ecology composed of socially enacted knowledge process provides an alternative view to articulate a systematic framework to explore the social nature of design knowledge and its taxonomy. Understanding how this social learning environment operates can provide important insights on the taxonomy of design knowledge. The research presented herein studies the design knowledge and its typology by developing a new conceptual framework. The proposed framework builds on a succinct review of different, competing and conflicting conceptualizations of “knowledge” and “design knowledge”.