Pedagogy 2025

Abstract

The Comprehensive Studio is an educational design studio, typically found in Architecture or Interior Architecture programs, that emphasizes integrating all aspects of a project, from conceptual design to documentation. This studio is more than just a technical course; it requires students to understand sociology, psychology, ergonomics, planning, materials and methods, detailing, sustainability, and the ability to visually communicate their ideas clearly in drawings to a third party, typically a contractor. No other course mimics professional practice as closely in the curriculum. A course so convoluted that it often hampers the design process due to excessive demands. This is because, while slower design techniques have a strong place in the development of learners, guiding the learner through an iterative cycle that includes initial case-study research, conceptualization, design development, and refinement through feedback in studio desk critiques and workshops, the requirements of the Comprehensive Studio demands a faster-paced way of moving through the design process focusing on a broader range of themes that are not usually covered in detail in a typical studio. This article will discuss how Rapid Design Techniques can help address this issue, enabling complex design solutions to operate in tandem with social and technical requirements by creating interdependence among all the themes covered in the course. This approach allows for learners to make progress more quickly by viewing the process from a functional standpoint that incorporates a human-centered design approach, focusing on moments of social interaction and the interior environment necessary to fulfill them.