IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION A

Abstract

What happens when the city itself becomes the classroom, and research replaces critique as the entry point into design? This paper presents a pedagogical model that repositions field-based research as a core component of architectural education. Developed through an undergraduate seminar in the United Arab Emirates, the approach responds to contemporary shifts in higher education—post-pandemic dislocation of studio culture, critiques of traditional critique formats, and calls for more contextually grounded, interdisciplinary teaching. Structured through a series of in-class workshops, students are introduced to spatial research methods drawn from the social sciences—including behavioral mapping, systematic observation, sociological photography, and unstructured interviews—that support the analysis of everyday spatial practices. These workshops are applied to underdocumented public spaces where spatial practices often escape formal design attention. Students learn to read the built environment through social use, temporality, and adaptation rather than formal intention. Rather than emphasizing design outcomes, the seminar fosters observational literacy, reflective analysis, and critical authorship. Student-authored publications synthesize empirical research with theoretical insight, producing small-scale interventions that challenge normative spatial narratives. This paper argues that such an approach offers a responsive and transferable model for educators navigating a changing educational landscape. By embedding research into the design process and positioning students as active interpreters of space, it provides a framework relevant across disciplines invested in place-based, community-informed, and research-driven learning.