IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION A

Abstract

Rethinking the future of professional practices begins with rethinking the future of education — particularly architectural education, the discipline at the core of my career. Like architecture itself, teaching addresses plural human beings, different in their bodies, senses, trajectories and ways of learning. If human diversity is now widely acknowledged, education must fully integrate it: today’s learners will be tomorrow’s professionals, responsible for designing the living environments of everyone… and ideally with everyone. Since 2003, my work in inclusive architecture and teaching has shown me that too many designers do not know for whom they are designing. This fundamental knowledge of human diversity remains insufficiently taught; standards cannot replace an understanding grounded in real experience. This issue appears both in practice and in education: schools welcome increasingly varied student profiles yet continue to perpetuate inherited pedagogical models that are not always adapted. Crits, for example, impose a single format of presentation, often anxiety-inducing, and an implicit model of the “normal” student. Recent transformations — the pandemic, hybrid learning, and the rise of artificial intelligence — further underline the need to reassess these practices. Just as co-constructing architectural projects with diverse users has demonstrated its effectiveness in practice, it can also become a structuring principle of pedagogy. This communication proposes to view inclusion and co-construction not as optional additions but as essential forms of knowledge: integrating diverse learners, diversifying modes of expression, and fostering listening and mutual learning. Rethinking architectural education is therefore key to preparing professionals capable of designing for everyone, everywhere, sustainably.