Re-solved: iterating design solutions by understanding failure

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Authors
McPherson, Peter
Pretty, Annabel
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Grantor
Date
2017
Supervisors
Type
Journal Article
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
Unitec courses
architecture education
design
earthquakes
Christchurch (N.Z.)
Christchurch 2010-2011 earthquakes
Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA)
design processes
iterative
fabrication
prototype
technology
New Zealand
Citation
McPherson, P., & Pretty, A. (2017). Re-solved: iterating design solutions by understanding failure. The Journal of Public Space, 2(3) Critical Thresholds: Traversing Architectural Pedagogy, Research, and Practice, Special issue. pp.167-185.
Abstract
Design is considered one of the most important parts of an architectural education. Much emphasis is placed upon the Design Studio within a School of Architecture, yet in the traditional tutor/student model how much opportunity is there for the student to understand the process of designing when emulation forms the heart of the learning? This paper reflects upon a series of large scale fabrication projects offered to students from 2012-2014 in Christchurch, New Zealand, under the umbrella of FESTA. These projects challenged the students to confront a series of ‘firsts’; to work collaboratively, to present themselves professionally, to navigate regulatory bodies, to engage with a client, and to realise a project at full, one to one, scale. These projects tend to exist without a specific precedent for students to draw upon, as would be usual when designing one of any number a normal building typology. This forces students into a space of discovery, one where a design can change for any multitude of reasons. Students are moved from the usual Design Studio experience of problem solving to one where the situation is uncertain and problematic, to a space of problem setting.
Publisher
Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Link to ePress publication
DOI
DOI: 10.5204/jps.v2i3.125
Copyright holder
© Queensland University of Technology
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial 4.0 International License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
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