Special Issue "Sustainability in Architectural Education: Legacy and Experimentation"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rosa Schiano-Phan
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster, London W1B, UK
Interests: evidence-based environmental architecture; education, natural cooling; porous ceramics; natural ventilation; air quality; sustainable conservation
Dr. Gonclaves Joana Carla Soares
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster, London W1B, UK
Interests: the environmental performance of existing buildings; design methodologies for environmental design; the environmental performance of the informal city; future trends of environmental design; the environmental implications of urban density

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of the 2018 resurgence of the global movement of Climate Action, architects around the world have taken responsibility for actions against Climate Change and for abiding to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in both practice and education. The various international Architects Climate Action Networks in 2019, followed by the UK manifesto of Architects Declare, underpin a wave of greater awareness, positive action and greater commitment to sustainability in architecture through individual practice as well as policy-based systemic change [1]. Architecture schools around the world have joined this movement and pledged to follow the UN SDGs as part of their curricula. However, the attempt to embed principles of sustainability and environmental design in architectural education is not new, and can be traced back decades, if not centuries or millennia. There is, nevertheless, a genuine concern that the current level of sustainability education provided in the mainstream architectural curricula is no longer sufficient to face the urgent climate challenges [2,3], and that a stronger transdisciplinary approach needs to be followed where architectural students are formed and empowered with a different pedagogical paradigm, better tools and diverse sets of skills.

This Special Issue seeks to examine the barriers and opportunities within the international architectural education scene in shifting values and creating rapid change in curricula and delivery. It is important to acknowledge the evolution of sustainability in architectural education, encompassing multiple practices involving design studios and technical courses, and to identify early efforts and ways we can build up from those legacies. We must avoid the danger of constantly reinventing the wheel and the fallacy of considering sustainability a fringe subject at odds with other drivers of architectural education, traditionally more concerned with aesthetics and representation. Equally, it is important to recognise the emergence of genuine experimentations and unconventional didactic practices which are resulting from better knowledge, greater awareness, more refined analytical tools and, more recently, the new avenues opened by online and digital learning during the pandemic. Hence, this Special Issue welcomes contributions on historic perspectives and evaluations, experimental learning methods, pedagogical theories, current case study practices, and emerging trends in the integration of sustainability in architectural education globally. This Issue will aim to take the pulse and give a snapshot of the various efforts made internationally into enabling climate action through architectural education and the formulation of related new educational paradigms.

References:

  1. Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN), 2019. Website online: https://www.architectscan.org/action (Accessed on Jan 2021).
  2. Altomonte, S.; Canguelli, E.; De Herde, A.; Horvath, S.; Lopez De Asian, M.; Riemer, A.; Yannas, S. Education for Sustainable Environmental Design – The EDUCATE Project, 2012. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331528095_EDUCATION_FOR_SUSTAINABLE_ENVIRONMENTAL_DESIGN_THE_EDUCATE_PROJECT (Accessed on Jan 2021).
  3. Grant, E. J. Mainstreaming environmental education for architects: the need for basic literacies. Buildings and Cities, 1(1), 538–549. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/bc.41.

Dr. Rosa Schiano-Phan
Dr. Gonclaves Joana Carla Soares
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable architecture
  • environmental design
  • architectural education
  • climate change
  • sustainable development goals
  • higher education

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Collaborative Learning Experiences in a Changing Environment: Innovative Educational Approaches in Architecture
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8895; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168895 - 09 Aug 2021
Viewed by 387
Abstract
The sense of uncertainty and fragility due to the effects and magnitude of global challenges we are facing (from the circumstances of the pandemic to the impacts of climate change) requires—much more than in the past—the capacity to generate a visionary and forefront [...] Read more.
The sense of uncertainty and fragility due to the effects and magnitude of global challenges we are facing (from the circumstances of the pandemic to the impacts of climate change) requires—much more than in the past—the capacity to generate a visionary and forefront design approach in the young generation, with an aim to stimulate their reaction attitude rather than providing consolidated tools from past conditions that no longer exist or will rapidly evolve. Within this general framework, we have investigated the effectiveness and impacts of experienced-based methods of learning and innovative educational tools in architecture that are aimed at shaping expertise that addresses the aspects of environment and climate change in the context of socio-cultural dynamics, real potentialities and constraints, and their transdisciplinary trajectories. We analyzed five international pioneering teaching experiences that provided the opportunity to understand the outcomes of collaborative and experiential learning processes by which the educational activities leverage dialogue between diverse communities (including academia, citizens, policymakers, and practitioners). The study outcomes show that shifting the pedagogical paradigm towards experience-based models can improve the awareness of future practitioners for the climate implications of architectural design, implement their analysis and project skills, and trigger processes of knowledge transfer and co-production at the community level. Experience-based models also allow them to better address the societal and cultural issues involved in decision making. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Architectural Education: Legacy and Experimentation)
Article
Integrating Water Sensitive Design in the Architectural Design Studio in China: Challenges and Outcomes
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4853; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094853 - 26 Apr 2021
Viewed by 495
Abstract
Urban areas around the world are increasingly facing environmental challenges such as water scarcity, water pollution, and water-related disasters, which demands sustainable design solutions for cities. Efforts to introduce sustainable methods in architectural education are noteworthy since the early 1990s. However, Water Sensitive [...] Read more.
Urban areas around the world are increasingly facing environmental challenges such as water scarcity, water pollution, and water-related disasters, which demands sustainable design solutions for cities. Efforts to introduce sustainable methods in architectural education are noteworthy since the early 1990s. However, Water Sensitive Design (WSD) has not been fully integrated to architectural education. WSD is an interdisciplinary approach that considers the water cycle as the primary element of design strategies, integrating the site’s ecological and social aspects to structure water management. The main objective of this study is to identify cases introducing WSD in an architecture design studio revealing its pedagogical approaches, comparing and discussing with a WSD-focused design studio. This study adapts on an exploratory and descriptive research, analyzing the literature on the topic of WSD in architectural education and documenting a graduate-level architectural design studio that proposes the development of water-oriented masterplan. The results suggest that WSD, as interdisciplinary method, can be incorporated into the design studio as the topic due to its tangible tools and strategies towards water. It also fits the proposal of a design studio to integrate knowledge from diverse disciplines. This unique study presents a comprehensive WSD introduction in an architectural design case and indicative pedagogical methods, contributing to the development of an approach for future related works. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Architectural Education: Legacy and Experimentation)
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