IN-PERSON New Schools of Thought
Abstract
What is the value of hand sketching, observational drawings and the architectural study abroad experience? How does the process of creating analytical drawings deepen critical thinking and enhance historical understanding? And why is this relevant to the formation of the contemporary architecture student? The study abroad experience often connotes loose curriculum, pedagogy and engagement, and a surface-level appreciation for the historic fabric of a foreign city. In a digital world of computer visualization, the benefit of the observational sketch forces students to slow down the process of visual analysis and translate historic ordering principles, massing and volume through their own hand. By flipping the classroom and connecting data-driven observations with analytical sketching and diagramming, students can connect building practices across time and space to make the most of the study abroad experience. This paper will outline three assignments for achieving deep critical thinking and engagement from the classroom to the site. Relying on the work of William H. Whyte, Kevin Lynch and Christopher Alexander, students observe, measure, and analyze successful public spaces in order to bring these design techniques back to their own practices in studio and beyond.
Katherine Kaford Papineau is Professor of Architectural History at California Baptist University. Her research interests include the development of the modern home in post-war America, domesticity, the interior, collecting, consumption and display and her academic hobby involves teaching Renaissance architecture abroad in Italy.
Susan Harris Duemer is Professor of Architecture. Prior to teaching at CBU, she spent several years teaching at Judson University in Elgin, IL and completing a research and documentation book cataloging her grandfather’s paintings. Susan has worked in the Chicago office of one of the largest architecture firms in the world, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, and in the Chicago firm Serena Sturm Architects, as well as MacPherson Architects in Toledo, OH. She has had the privilege of working on projects locally as well as those on other parts of the globe, from small scale residential to high-profile skyscrapers. Her research interests include the psychology of human interaction and cognitive response to the built environment, particularly as this relates to developing curriculum for the beginning design student. In the classroom she challenges students to recognize the implication and strength that space has on the human experience.
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Thursday 9th January, 2025