Computational Design Instruction: Toward a Pedagogy

The computer offers enormous potential both in and out of the classroom that is realized only in limited ways through the applications available to us today. In the early days of the computer it was generally argued that it would replace the architect. When this idea became obsolete, the prevailing opinion of proponents and opponents alike shifted to the notion of the computer as merely adding to present design capabilities. This idea is so ingrained in our thinking that we still speak of “aidingi design with computers. It is clear to those who grasp the real potential of this still new technology - as in the case of many other major technological innovations - that it continues to change the way we design, rather than to merely augment or replace human designers. In the classroom the computer has the potential to radically change three fundamental ingredients: student, instruction, and instructor. It is obvious that changes of this kind spell out a commensurate change in design pedagogy. If the computer is going to be more than a passive instrument in the design studio, then design pedagogy will have to be changed, fundamentally. While the practice of computing in the studio continues to be a significant I aspect of architectural education, articulation of viable pedagogy for use in the design studio is truly rare. In this paper the question of pedagogy in the CAD studio will be considered first. Then one particular design studio taught during Fall 1988 at Carnegie Mellon University will be presented. Finally, we shall return to issues of change in the student, instruction, and instructor, as highlighted by this particular experience