Teaching Beyond the Curriculum

Abstract

The ability to collaborate with multiple consultants and specialists is an integral part of the architecture profession. In contrast to this very collaborative occupation, the studio environment for architectural education is very insular. Students may rarely or never collaborate with anyone outside of their studio professor. The University of Kansas (KU) 4th year studio (Arch 609/610) partnered with Burns & McDonnell in a collaborative relationship. This collaborative studio had nine teams of partnered students working on a design for a new Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita, Kansas. Each student team met with not only architects but also civil, structural, electrical, and mechanical engineers from Burns & McDonnell. Students met with the civil engineer for the first site visit. Followed by presentations by each of the consultant groups to give information about their role in architecture projects. Students presented schematic designs to all the consultant groups at Burns & McDonnell and received feedback to move the design forward. Individual sessions were scheduled for each student group to meet one-on-one with each consultant group and talk through the specifics of their design. These meetings and presentations were iterative, allowing for students to adjust and then follow up with the consultants to confirm newly tested ideas. Because the M.Arch program at KU is accredited by the National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB), students in this year-level are required to demonstrate specific learning criteria. The collaborative nature of this studio allowed the students to meet the criteria specified by NAAB in a more realistic process.