First year design education inspired by site-specific and site-determined artworks

This research explores the potential implementation of site-specific and site-determined artworks as a pedagogical tool for the basic design studios of first-year architectural education, investigating whether these artistic creations can pragmatically contribute to the genesis of new spatial concepts. This study also aims to assess the effectiveness of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) in the context of studio pedagogy. The basic design course is rooted in process-oriented and student-centred studio pedagogy, drawing on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, and is structured around three site-specific projects that focus on the reproduction of space and the potential of spatial studies. These projects range from building scale to urban pattern, with a focus on various facets of a place, including tangible and intangible qualities, as well as explicit and implicit characteristics, while also exploring the dynamics of human-space relationships. Qualitative data were collected through participant observation, informal interviews, and the analysis of students’ work documents. The course’s progression and outcomes are evaluated in terms of spatial perception, critical and conceptual thinking, and multisensory engagement with space. This course enhanced students’ abilities to interpret spatial experiences, develop a critical perspective, and produce original solutions to spatial problems within the framework of site-specific and site-determined design approaches. The process of the course exposes the latent potential within user-space interactions and the intermediate spatial practices bridging art and architecture. The research is original in that it suggests that many possibilities for interaction, dialogue, and collaboration between art and architecture can be incorporated into architectural education.