Why Wait? Integrating Social Problems into the Beginning Design Project
Maria V Miller
Iowa State University
2011 National Conference for the Beginning Design Student
Abstract
Many educators argue that beginning architecture students are already too overwhelmed by the rigorous demands of first and second year design curricula to successfully integrate an awareness of complex social problems into the learning agenda. In the beginning design studio, there remains a strong predilection toward short, abstract design projects. These quick projects have a powerful history and are heavily steeped in 20th century Western design education tradition. Unfortunately, these sorts of projects often leave little opportunity to integrate humanitarian concerns into the learning outcome.
This paper will be organized into two parts. The first part will explore how a shifting student demographic clearly demonstrates a readiness for more sophisticated and challenging design problems early in the student’s education. The
second part shares the challenges and successes of an experimental second year design studio in which architecture students, with only one previous semester of architecture studio under their belt, were asked to design a women’s shelter in inner city Chicago.