International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014
Bipolarity of teaching and learning architecture and urbanism
Peter Gabrijelčič University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture Zoisova cesta 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia peter.gabrijelcic@fa.uni-lj.si
The advent of computer tools and the internet has raised many questions regarding teaching in the education of architects and urban designers. Advanced computer tools relieved the students from having to command many technical and drawing skills. At the same time, they opened endless possibilities of creating in a virtual world. They opened the door to imagination and new ideas that were previously beyond reach and also unimaginable with old tools. The advent of the internet is of great significance. It allows us to be both here and everywhere. Not physically, of course, but with images, words and information. We no longer need mediators who operate from a position of power to give us information and messages. At any given moment, we can choose to watch, read or listen to anything we want. The teacher educated in the Renaissance tradition, who knew »everything – but nothing else« and who was the caretaker of knowledge, was replaced by a teacher who mostly promotes knowledge of a specific professional orientation. A teacher who is an experienced critical counterpart with a broad philosophical background and ethical principles. Who is the promoter of the idea of social responsibility of the profession. I ask myself, »What is the significance of these new tools for the essence of the profession?« In the 1960s, Professor Edvard Ravnikar received from England a set of templates for drawing ellipses of different shapes. For some time after that, ellipses were everywhere – in competition entries and in design solutions. This turned into a trend, which affected both the learning process at the school and the design in practice. Each new tool undermines the classical notion of an architect at work; but if we take a peek inside acclaimed offices of architects around the world, we find everything – sketchbooks, models and computers on their tables. The school must provide all options, while the final choice is always personal – of the student. The choice is a matter of need and personal character. Far more important than learning how to use new tools is to introduce the students to different ways of thinking, which are the basis of the architect’s way of work. Even today, many schools still use rigid teaching methods based on strict academic discipline, focusing on previously set goals. Such an approach is based on convergent thinking in which all thoughts are oriented toward deriving the single best solution or idea. In such environments, creative individuals are often considered as
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