IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION B

Abstract

Spatial design education today unfolds amid urgent local and global challenges. However, if socio-political and ecological conditions are already compromised beyond repair, grounding design pedagogy in the context of “wicked problems” leaves little room for emancipatory thinking beyond partial or restorative solutions. To foster student agency and imagination, especially at the foundational level, there is a need for educational space that invite experimentation. At that juncture, this paper explores how ecological thinking offers possibilities for re-imagination in introductory spatial design education drawing on the case of Basic Design in Planning studios at TED University. Approaching the studio as an ecosystem, it investigates the evolving interplay of learners, tools, spatial contexts, and conceptual strategies. Ecology, appropriated not only in environmental terms but as a relational and systemic lens, informs both the substantive and procedural aspects of the studio. The paper brings forth the core strategies to guide this approach: alternativeness, which encourages speculative and counterfactual thinking; circularity, which involves temporal layering and systemic cycles; and adaptability, which fosters responsiveness to uncertainty and complexity. Through these strategies, the capacity of young designers to reimagine urban scenarios through spatial narratives decoupled from deterministic realities is discussed. Consequently, the paper introduces a model framework encompassing form-based, activity-based and mobility-based typologies based on studio outcomes over the years. This way, how ecological thinking supports both spatial innovation and critical awareness in learners is put forward. By cultivating imagination through an experimental and ecology-informed pedagogy, this approach contributes to broader conversations on empowering design students to engage meaningfully, operate ethically, and respond skilfully within an uncertain world.