Embracing Uncertainty and Visible Mending: Repairing the Pedagogy of Architecture in the Anthropocene

This paper describes the recent development of architectural design studio pedagogy in the Master of Architecture (M. Arch) course in University College Dublin (UCD), with a focus on shifting from the standard model of project-based learning to a more structured, but expansive and risk-based pedagog¬ical model, in order to better respond to the climate crisis. The paper begins by setting out the context and reasons for change. The following section describes changes made to the M. Arch Design Studio Thesis modules over three academic years (2019-2022), and the learning derived from this trans¬formation. The paper concludes with an overview of an ambitious three-year project to redesign the undergraduate curriculum in the school as part of a national funded research project now happening across all six schools of architecture in Ireland. A case is made for a balance of structure and care, paralleled with an openness towards risk, as core tenets of a transformed pedagogy in preparing architecture graduates to act with bravery, imagination, resilience, care and skill, in order to transform the design and construction eco-system for a low-carbon society.

Volume Editors
Massimo Santanicchia

ISBN
978-1-944214-44-9