RETHINKING ARCHITECTURAL STUDIO CULTURE – REFLECTIONS FROM STUDENTS’ LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Abstract

This paper presents an insight into the learning experiences of the design studio in a
specific time-space axis. Variable and ambiguous meanings of architectural design
studio culture concept are tried to be made visiblein the institutional culture ground of
Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture.Assuming that learner centered
on its nature, and proposing an integrative and inclusive model for our era, the studio- based education environment is investigated, focused on its intangible dynamics. First,
analysis of present studio culture policies from overseas NAAB and national MİAK, in
the light of a software-based research tool MAXQDA, led to identify the prior
principles of the 21st-century studio culture as; (1)critical thinking, (2)communication
and interaction, (3)multiplicity, (4)individuality in collaboration, (5)social
responsibility, (6)self-regulation. These allowed comparisons offormal approaches to
the concept, and moreover, provided data for the interview study. Subsequently,the
semi-structured in-depth interviews, analyzed with the same tool, enabled evaluations
on informal being of the institution’s studio cultures as a fragment.The main critical
finding is that the emphasis on the last principle in overseas accreditation documents
lacks in national ones, and the last two principles are hard to achieve for the participated
students. Widened on these findings, the interrelations of the principles and potentials of
studio culture is discussed, aiming for providing intangible data onto architectural
design education.