FROM APPRENTICESHIP TO ACADEMIC EDUCATION

Although architecture is an ancient art with a long history, academic architectural education is
a comparatively new phenomenon. For many centuries architects were qualified in an
educational process which included many years of training as assistants or apprentices in the
actual practice of architecture and construction. Architecture was not regarded as a
completely independent profession until recent centuries, while dominance of styles and
sluggish transformation of architectural requirements from both functional and aesthetical
points of view would make it more practical for many talented people to work as architects
too. Industrial revolution and its consequences accelerated changes in entire human life and
subsequently necessitated radical changes in architecture. In this new situation architecture
would also have to be categorized as an independent profession and academically taught
according to the overwhelming tendencies towards specialization. L’Eole des Beaux Arts, the
first school of architecture that was opened in the early 19th century in France set some
standards for academic architectural education in many countries. The styles that were taught
and promoted in Beaux Arts were later scattered and developed even in America. Academic
education gradually turned into a basis for the development of different theoretic schools of
architecture. From 1919 to 1933 Bauhaus played an important role in the formation of modern
architecture, back to the time when Walter Gropius and his associates devised a system of
education and practice in architecture which was gradually developed to the mainstream of
the modern movement in the following decades with spread of Bauhaus ideas specially in
Americal schools. The new trends in world architecture are now articulated in architectural
schools to a large extent. For instance the Architectural Association in London has been at the
center of many new developments and changes in contemporary architecture, introducing
numerous influential people to the global architectural scene.

ARCHITECTURE AS SPONTANEITY

In the history of architecture, the gap between architectural education and practice has never been as evident
and problematic as it is today. A volatile global economy and the emergence of new technologies have had both
educators and young professionals in the industry re-evaluate their options, and more and more are turning to
entrepreneurship. So are schools able to catch up with this new movement?

There is a reason why the term “architecture” is no longer only associated with designing and building physical
spaces. The architecture of applications, websites, software and networks all illustrate the manifold nature of
what it means to practice architecture today.

Architecture has broadened as a field, merging various disciplines, technologies and products. This expansion
requires a new educational model to teach students how to innovate and compete in an industry that is
increasingly outward facing.

When I say there is a gap between academia and practice, I don’t only mean that architecture schools are failing
to prepare students for entering the workforce. The bigger problem seems to be that, while schools may teach
students to be innovative in terms of design, there is an overwhelming lack of similarly pioneering content for the
physics of construction.

This disconnect becomes even more alarming when I compare the industry 10 years ago with the industry today,
where architecture has emerged as the most compelling economic force the world has experienced in the last
decades.

It is true that architectural education needs to strike a balance between the theoretical and practical aspects of
the profession. But more importantly, architectural courses need to teach students to take a proactive role in
building their careers. Teaching the same methods and approaches to architecture will generate graduates
armed with tools that are already outdated by the time they enter the workplace. Teaching enterprise-oriented
professional development in architecture will bring forth a generation of out-of-the-box thinkers and job creators.

Outcome based architectural education curriculum

Transformable architecture. The scope of this is to highlight doctoral research work that deals with the
design and implementation of spatial kinetic systems and configurations, brings forward the
parametric relationship between space, time and human activity, addresses the challenges in
developing real-time animated buildings that respond to environmental changes as well as to
diversifying human needs and wishes, and strengthens the connections between design innovation,
nature, science and art. The definitions and perceptions of ‘transformability’ through different lenses of
the contemporary contemplation on architecture (philosophy, the humanities, biology, arts,
environmental sciences, cybernetics, computation, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence), and
stimulate whilst sharing the need for creating a human-centered dynamic environment. In re-thinking
the human within a technologically enhanced surrounding, one cannot neglect the cognitive
ergonomics and the psycho-social parameters and implications associated with an inertia defying
artificial environment. ‘Kinetic’, ‘portable’, ‘flexible’, ‘adaptable’ and ‘mobile’, are all keywords that
enhance the ‘transformability’ spectrum and help create a richer outcome.