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There will often be elements of group work and cooperation at this point to accelerate the group’s knowledge and understanding at a time when much research is needed. Different ideas need to be explored and tested out. The brief is normally designed to allow students to develop their own interests and build upon those of […]

Eventually one design was chosen to be progressed towards construction. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Architectural Association’s Design Research Lab (DRL 10), existing and graduate students were invited to compete to design a pavilion. What follows is an attempt to introduce the concept of project work and to describe the characteristics of a […]

Opportunities for publicity and disseminating their work are essential for architects. This is a good test of graphical communication skills because images and text must be carefully considered in order to explain a complex project concisely, occasionally to assessors who may be unfamiliar with the project. At the end of the year, most schools put […]

It is important to plan a convincing verbal presentation in order to communicate the project fully in the time allocated. In a formal review, you may be asked to provide written comments reflecting on the review and will often be given written feedback and/or formal assessment afterwards. Reviews, also known as crits, happen at various […]

These short, intensive studio teaching sessions involve following a task that relates to a particular stage in a given project. Some schools operate a system where everyone learns together in a year group, following the same project briefs, supported by a team of tutors. Workshops are important events in the studio. This is carefully focused […]

5 Great art cannot be taught, but more run-of-the-mill art can. There are elements of architectural education that retain some mystery for both students and tutors. The essential problem is, how can you teach someone to generate ‘great’ architecture and how do you teach someone to find ‘inspiration’? To read them, substitute the word ‘architecture’ […]

Student projects are rarely truly ‘live’ in the way that professional projects are, but normally have some element of reality embedded in them. The legacy of apprenticeships and the old master/pupil relationships that previously existed in the training of architects have had an influence on the structure of architectural education today. The act of learning […]

Sketchbook This sketchbook page, by U leong To, illustrates the analysis of sound on site. In the 19th century some architects wished to achieve the respectability of professional status. Value and status were restored to those undertaking this less ‘academic’ approach. As more schools were established, the previous system of apprenticeships or articled pupillage declined, […]

Kandinsky explored the relationship between the warmth and tone of colour. Klee considered the artistic process to be mysterious but that the basic skills needed for expression could be taught. Itten’s student exercises were designed to explore the contrast between different colours and shapes in as many ways as possible, both two — and three-dimensionally. […]

The Restoration of the Monarchy in 1661, followed closely by the Great Fire of London in 1666, meant an extensive building programme for the church, monarchy and state. The illustrated exercises carried out by Bauhaus students have been chosen for their focus on spatial experimentation with line, colour and form. He had benefited from, and […]