VIRTUAL MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY

Abstract

Amidst a rapidly evolving global education context—marked by decolonial struggles, AI incursion, diversification of the student population, shifts in studio-based education etc.—the architecture curriculum in Bangladesh remains largely outdated and strongly rooted in Eurocentric model. This study critically explores such systemic curricular underpinnings with the aim of mapping epistemic erasures and exclusions which is essential for developing transformative pedagogical futures. Through qualitative content analysis of B.Arch. core modules and semi-structured interviews with students and academics at different prominent Bangladeshi schools, the research reveals continued neglect of local vernacular knowledge, socio-spatial injustices, and lack of critical pedagogic practice. The research places these findings within broader global standards in architecture education, including decolonizing curricula, the integration of community-engaged research, interdisciplinary collaborations, socially responsive design etc. The paper argues that it is imperative to fill these lacunae through a reorientation of learning and teaching—from solely crit-driven, Western-focused models that emphasizes on object-based aesthetics to a place-based, contextual, decolonial studio model that gives priority to process-based thinking. Identifying these gaps is the first step towards proposing an updated model that merges Global standards with Bangladeshi socio-cultural narratives and participatory pedagogies. This study makes a timely contribution to the current discourse on curriculum development, critical futures, and disciplinary pedagogy- which might be helpful for countries with similar academic inertia especially in the Global South.