A process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) in design educa;on using semio;cs as a tool
Semester 6, Architectural Design Studio
Abstract
‘+ or - ‘ is an architectural design studio developed using semio;cs as an approach to develop a design methodology and a thinking process. This involves exploring different interpreta;ons of these symbols ‘+ or -’ and various applica;ons to the field of architecture and design. We try to understand, analyze and trace the course of issues and interpret ideas of subtrac;ve forces involved in extrac;ng resources and materials from mother earth; and thereaIer, the addi;ve process in the act of building and construc;ng.
With the design project sited in the rich ;mber industrial heritage of the North Malabar region of Calicut, Kerala (India); ;mber as a material becomes a crucial element associated with memories. Its rela;onal aspects imbibed in this region’s cultural semio;cs has led to interes;ng shapeshiIing of the built and unbuilt environments over the years up un;l now. This becomes the core inquiry into which students engage in decoding signs and symbols through the mediums of photography, diagramming and hybrid representa;on. These in turn inform them how to intervene using design and create an architectural project based on these findings.
5 Key words : Associa;ons, architectural shape-shiIing, pragma;c design, interpreta;ve meanings, material memory
Learning as a Process & Process as Learning
Cri;cal thinking, the ability to reflect and respond, while also incorpora;ng philosophies, theories and histories, has always challenged how design educa;on can be inculcated. Design thinking has been termed as a mindset that lends faith to crea;ve endeavours, a process that transforms challenges into opportuni;es for design (IDEO, Design thinking for Educators Toolkit).
The mul;plici;es involved in these processes were explored in earlier architectural design courses. This involved an understanding and experimen;ng with various tradi;onal and nontradi;onal methods of teaching/learning and also assessing their respec;ve outcomes and feedback.
POGIL (Process-oriented guided-inquiry learning) with empirical evidence is proved that learning and reten;on of knowledge while impar;ng it through this inquiry method is far more successful compared to other tradi;onal and non-tradi;onal methods. It has been extensively researched, tested and tried out in various fields such as chemistry, physiology, IT solu;on architecture, computer programming, soIware engineering (which involves essen;al designing and problem solving skills for programming using certain system design paXerns)
“Process-oriented” methods of teaching and learning emphasize the “process” followed to create or achieve “content”, where “content” is considered a medium to refine and ar;culate reasoning skills rather than as a finished end product (Rumain, B., & Geliebter, A. ,2020).
The shiI in focusing a design studio project from a preconceived final output to the process of formula;on and ar;cula;on, helps students to develop reasoning skills with a certain level of cri;cality. Once they have developed these reasoning skills, the ability to implement them - to create content of varied mediums – helps them to tackle the ever-changing challenges posed in architectural studios. Meanwhile, “Guided inquiry” helps in secng out certain common premises and frameworks with well thought-out inquiries used as guidelines during design processlearning.
The Semester 6 studio
This included 69 students, 7 facul;es and 35 sessions. The atelier principle in teaching (The Atelier Principle in teaching, Nicholas,Weaver, 1999) was experimented along with colleagues which led to clustering the total number of students into 7 groups guided by faculty leads. These 7 groups were to operate as 7 different ateliers with a common context and 2 sites to intervene on, while exploring 7 different approaches to the project within a common course outline of the architectural design studio set according to the ins;tute’s academic framework. The idea of semio;cs as a tool to analyse, understand and decode various layers was aXempted by the atelier involving myself and 9 students.
To study associa;ons and familiari;es imbibed in complex interwoven realms of a place that has undergone a series of events and s;ll remains in a constant state of flux, there is a need for certain processes. Processes which could help differen;ate, inves;gate and thereaIer form new deriva;ves. This deconstruc;ng is vital to bring clarity of a certain degree among the students to develop cri;cal thinking and reasoning skills while conceptualizing new “objects” of design and architecture.
The context and overall studio premise
The Kallayi river edge in the city of Calicut was renowned historically for ;mber industry-based trade links da;ng back to the 15th and 16th century. Up un;l the 1970s, more than 300 industries and 20,000 workers thrived on these banks. Today, the resultant vernacular architecture and its historically renowned ;mber industrial land remain in a state of decline along the ecologically fragile Kallayi river. The community and the industries depended on the river for their sustenance.
The changing environmental and economic policies, technological advancements, fragmenta;on of labour forces, land policies have impacted the growth of the industry leading to its steady decline. Several ;mber industries have perished over the past three decades; the ones that remain are the only evidence of u;litarian architecture of the past. Few of the ramshackle ;mber mills have been either abandoned and pulled down, or repaired and rented out as godowns for various goods.
The RSP (Related Study Program) is focused on sensi;zing students and faculty researchers alike to the industrial architectural heritage which has shaped the city of Calicut in many ways and how these industries have evolved into what it Is now. It has helped in understanding and bring clarity on different states of func;onal and programa;c altera;ons of these industrial apparatus, while
concurrently transforming itself morphologically with respect to the built and unbuilt environments.
Selected sites for RSP documentation.
Source: Tectonic Ecologies - Reimagining the “minor” architecture of Kallai, Semester 6 Architectural Design studio, Avani Institute of design’
Industrial architecture is a product of colonial paradigm that is extrac;ve and exploita;ve, inves;ng much of its focus into becoming ‘sheds’ of u;litarian, money-churning, resource-mincing geographies. Growth in the industrial economy had led to a significant extrac;on and subtrac;on of natural resources in landscapes under the influence of colonial rule. The extrac;ve nature of a previously exis;ng colonial power system during the industrial age, ensured that natural resources would be supplied to the world through trans-oceanic trades while commodifying nature, including humans, and transform them to be sold in domes;c and interna;onal markets. This concentra;on of power, money and resources fed on capitalist ideologies under the colonial rule has stripped indigenous communi;es of their iden;;es, and thereby impac;ng the region’s cultural, economical and ecological habitats over the period of ;me.
This studio asks :
Can industrial typology be reimagined to play a pivotal role in reinsta;ng the city’s ecology and its iden;ty? Such re-imagina;on would look at industrial ecology as a responsive work environment offering resources to the city and reclaiming lost spaces for the ci;zens.
Can industrial architecture become a catalyst for ini;a;ng a dialogue between the city and its ci;zens?
The studio expects :
Students to cri;cally engage in reimagining the infrastructural possibili;es of mills as a space of produc;on within a given set of constraints of context.
Source: Tectonic Ecologies - Reimagining the “minor” architecture of Kallai, Semester 6 Architectural Design studio, Avani Ins;tute of design. This is undertaken with the support from Avani Heritage Cell. (Source: Avani Malabar Studio, USRP 2021)
The approach
The 7 ateliers had various topics of focus like Eco-architecture, post-human architecture, convivial architecture, social architecture, public architecture, architectural prosthesis, sustainable retroficng all of which were broadly classified into 3 approaches: Ecosystem - Social - Built Heritage.
‘+ or -’ was one of the ateliers guided by me along with 9 students who were tasked to ‘think like an architect’ by experiencing role-play and considering the team as prac;cing architects of an atelier. The team focused on a process driven approach to design grounded in pragma;sm while also exploring the possibili;es of semio;cs as a tool to understand, analyze and decode certain layers which could help in formula;ng an architectural design project. Certain cri;cal inquiries were discussed among the atelier which laid the founda;on and a star;ng point from where mul;ple paths could be taken; with diverse thought process and idea;ons. Some of the inquiries explored Sustainable Retroficng and its poten;als on building a circular economy.
As technology advances across all realms of life, inves;ga;ng the recent explora;ons in materials and even construc;on techniques like using CLT (Cross Laminated Timber), ini;ate a certain alterna;ve or revival in the interdependent industries of ;mber & construc;on. As the world shiIs from an industrial to a post-industrial society, the sustenance of these industries are also ques;oned. If so, what are the possible addi;ons and subtrac;ons possible to reinvent typologies which will have their basis in Eco-socialism & Eco-economics? Also considering the idea of “sustainability” not only as protec;ng and sustaining nature, ecological systems and non-human beings, but also to co-exist and sustain people, their lives, economies and cultures.
Seminal texts like Small is Beau5ful (A study of economy as if people maXered) by E.F Schumacher were shared as scholarly readings which were discussed among the atelier to establish a certain axiom to the atelier’s philosophies and a common thread to weave out mul;ple narra;ves. As a facilitator and a mediator, the guidance is then structured with experimental, ra;onal and pragma;c exercises while simultaneously giving room for the students to explore and produce radical and original output/content. They are encouraged to experiment with mul;ple mediums and skill sets which they are equipped or interested in. Interpreta;ons of the symbols “+” and “-” were oIen explored, discussed and even applied in various stages and processes of the design studio and in its opera;on itself.
Atelier’s methodology
The studio sessions were majorly classified as 3 modules according to the available number of weeks. The module 1 (M-01) followed the design process which spurred discoveries, interpreta;ons, idea;on, experimenta;on and evolu;on as prescribed in the IDEO’s much celebrated classic ‘Design thinking for educators’. This stage involved the “addi;ve” process of knowledge building by collec;ng and gathering exis;ng informa;on using archival documents and research done on the history, socio-culture, economy and importance of ;mber mills in the context of Kallayi. Research papers like ‘The wood legacy of Kallai : Lessons for future’ by Kunhamu, T.K.Gopakumar, S. Anoop, E.V. and Ghosh, were ini;ally shared as readings, followed by an exercise to extract certain important informa;on and data as words, numbers, sentences, expressions or an idea which one could relate to. Subsequently, the students were required to turn the derived content from the reading exercise into a set of posters which reflected their discoveries and interpreta;ons visually and graphically. This process could be interpreted as a subtrac;ve process or of a reduc;onist approach of analysing and ar;cula;ng a complex set of informa;on into its fundamental cons;tuents; in this case was visually expressed through a set of typo/graphic poster.
AIer exploring and refining informa;on in the first part of the study acquired through literatures and readings, the next step involved on-site learnings, recordings and collec;ng real-;me data/ informa;on. This ini;ated students to keep aside their textbook knowledge acquired from readings and research papers, and wear their thinking hats (6 thinking hats, Edward de Bono, 1985), while experiencing the context in real life and perceiving them sensorially as well as intellectually. The mul;ple layering on the region’s ingrained cultural paXerns and understanding the state of flux it is in, was recorded and observed while interviewing and having cri;cal discussions with the local people inhabi;ng the space and the context.
Source : Posters made by students (Aadila, Nihal & Sneha)
As Umberto Eco proposes, “Every cultural phenomenon may be studied as communica;on” Communica;on in the form of verbal, non-verbal, visual and other sensorial aspects were explored in this stage. It was studied via different mediums such as photography, videos, sound recordings , hybrid cartographies and pictorial diagramming, with an intent to spur mixed forms of outputs based on ins;nct and reasoning“. (Rethinking architecture, Func5on and sign : The semio5cs of architecture, Umberto Eco). While trying to record and document different cultural, socio-economic, ecological, built-unbuilt rela;onships, and its impacts on the context, students were also asked to iden;fy and observe all the actors and ac;vi;es involved in this region at present. They were instructed to pick one or group of actor/actors and to acquire in depth knowledge and observa;ons regarding their ac;vi;es. ThereaIer, they were asked to conceptualize a minor design interven;on for the considered func;ons and certain ac;vi;es involved in the respec;ve actor’s life. To associate and familiarize themselves with the context through following processes which help in differen;a;ng the actors and ac;vi;es from a complex web chain of interlinked actors and ac;vi;es, helps students to analyse, decode and decipher; ini;ally on a minor scale and then gradually increase the complexity by adding and linking more actors and ac;vi;es.
To be able to observe, interpret and derive cri;cal responses before programming and conceptualizing a project of a large scale, a design output was being experimented on a smaller scale (furniture design, product design, pavilions etc). Decoding paXerns observed in behaviour, culture, built-unbuilt environments and to comprehend as well as ar;culate these through visual codes was the primary goal; an aXempt to thoughqully translate them into design projects in the further stages.
h?ps://issuu.com/adityaavani/docs/zine_ad
Source : Samples from the zine (Jishnu)
The final output of this stage was a compiled set of original works by students including various mediums of representa;ons (sketches, diagrams, collage, montage, photos, video snippets, texts) which was then printed as a ‘Zine’. These works were reviewed openly among the team and assessed, while also guiding them further through discussions and healthy debates. Through construc;ve cri;cism from the peers which gives scope for further refinements, values of shared learning and reasoning skills were developed to progress ahead to the next stages of the studio.
Source : Samples from the zine (Aadila, Nihal) h?ps://issuu.com/adityaavani/docs/zine_ad
InterpretaKons, DerivaKons and ImplementaKons
AIer exploring several levels of studies, while also allowing students to freely express their understandings and intui;ons through different experimental mediums of representa;ons, modules 2 and 3 (M-02 & M-03, Atelier’s methodology) were focused more on the architectural applica;on. It further explores certain process of meaning-making while also making new meanings to formulate an architectural project.
Contrary to previous stages which involved group assignments and team work, students were encouraged to take individualis;c approaches reflec;ng their own interpreta;ons and learning outcomes from the previous processes. This was intended to achieve a diverse range of outputs and a paleXe of ideas from 9 students in one single atelier. Lis;ng down levels of codifica;on and interpreta;ons of the symbols ‘+ or -‘ was looked upon at mul;ple stages of design process, to analyse and conceptualise further. The challenge was to apply their interpreta;ve, meaningmaking skills to understand the architectural shape-shiIing. To understand it as a phenomenon interlinked with changes in various parameters; and thereaIer propose radical and ra;onal solu;ons which could lead to a pragma;c design mixed with ins;ncts and reasoning. The
influence of cultural semio;cs of the region on the architectural language and vice versa, was to be explored. Timber as a vital material associated with memories and its links to the historical, cultural and economical construct of this region was also not to be neglected during the design approach.
This phase embraced the mul;plici;es of thoughts and approaches taken by the students to explore and develop an architectural program. ThereaIer, design an architectural object/building, which involves several levels of addi;ons and subtrac;ons while formula;ng their design processes and its ar;cula;on.
The above image represents a student’s interpreta;on of conceptualising an architecture which communicates rela;ons. As Umberto Eco frames it, “Significa5ve forms, codes worked out on the strength of inferences from usages and proposed as structural models of given communica5ve rela5ons, denota5ve and connota5ve meanings a?ached to the sign vehicles on the basis of the codes—this is the semio5c universe in which a reading of architecture as communica5on becomes viable”. The student aXempts to observe, analyse and decode paXerns of ac;vi;es performed by different set of users across the region, both through visually and oral conversa;ons. Interpre;ng and media;ng con;nuous flow of events which construct the social percep;ons of agencies who contribute to the exis;ng and ever-changing cultures of a region, decoding them spa;ally and giving forms rooted in design becomes a responsive gesture as a designer.
Source : Mapping ac;vity + programming + interven;on. Conceptual diagram by Aadila
By approaching the given two sites of interven;on as a “part” of the “whole” and inferring complex sets of various actors/ac;ons contribu;ng to the cultural semio;cs of this “whole” region, this project aXempts to explore various communica;ve possibili;es of architecture. It tries to establish vital rela;onships of the “part” to “whole” and vice versa. By deducing certain ac;vity paXerns, architectural codes and visual signs from various users contribu;ng to the context of Kallayi, a rela;onal matrix and its mapping helped the student to con;nue intervening at smaller scales. If these minor designs spread across the region responds to the inhabitants who are “part” of the “whole”, could the major design be a re-crea;on of the ‘whole’ which gets inhabited by these ‘parts’? These were few of the inquiries taken by the student to conceive a cri;cal approach to design which was rich conceptually and intellectually.
Conceptual diagrams by Aadila
grow vegetables, to rest or take a nap, to drink a cup of tea and numerous other open ac;vi;es.
Thereby embracing the phenomenon and an occurrence which subtract the rigid func;onal aspects of an industrial typology while adding on to the layer of openness and hybrid possibili;es.
The proposed structural framework uses a fairly simple construc;on and is installed using familiar contextual materials of ;mber (Coconut and Areca palm) along with other materials which were researched and mapped across the region. The typology is a hybrid one or could also be interpreted as an architecture void of a specific typology as such, since new func;ons could be added or subtracted according to the requirements of mul;ple users engaging and inhabi;ng this region and the newly intervened architectural object.
“ The object of use is, in its communica5ve capacity, the sign vehicle of a precisely and conven5onally denoted meaning—its func5on. More loosely, it has been said that the first meaning of a building is what one must do in order to inhabit it—the architectural object denotes a ‘form of inhabita5on’ “ (Architecture denota;on, Func;on and sign : The semio;cs of architecture, Umberto Eco)
Postscript
The vast field of semio;cs and its vital rela;onships with architecture can open up new possibili;es and methodologies of teaching and learning architectural design. These should be explored and developed further to form beXer understanding of a world filled with signs and symbols. While also incorpora;ng various non-tradi;onal or alterna;ve ways of pedagogical approaches with well thought out goals, radical intellectual outputs can be achieved. This essay aXempts to share some of the insights and processes involved in an experimental architectural design studio conducted using different methodologies and explora;ons. Using principles of semio;cs not only to analyse and decode exis;ng or evolving languages of architecture, but also to explore its possibili;es of incorpora;ng them into design teaching methods which can help in understanding associa;ons and form new ones. It encourages cri;cal lateral thinking and interpreta;ve skills to derive unconven;onal solu;ons to a set of complex issues faced in this contemporary world; one which is entangled with mul;ple layers of problems and intricacies. Methodologies and academic frameworks which incorporates these learnings from such experimental studios has to be carefully developed and assessed further to understand these alterna;ves methods and its impact on design teaching and learning. This essay is open to cri;cal interven;ons in architectural design educa;on and accepts specula;ve opinions which can contribute to a collec;ve and progressive environment of radical learning and teaching methods.
References :
Ideo, Design thinking for educators, Page 11 hXp://www.designthinkingforeducators.com/ Research — Design Thinking in Pedagogy — Luka, Ineta (2014). Design Thinking in Pedagogy.
Journal of Educa;on Culture and Society, No. 2, 63-74.
Rumain, B., & Geliebter, A. (2020). A Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning (POGIL)-Based Curriculum for the Experimental Psychology Laboratory. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 19(2), 194–206. h X ps://doi.org/ 10.1177/1475725720905973
"The Atelier Principle in Teaching." In Symposium on New Direc;ons of Architectural Educa;on - the necessity of a cultural paradigm responsive to the majority. GREHA. Delhi, India: Greha, 1999
‘The wood legacy of Kallai : Lessons for future’ h X ps://www.researchgate.net/publica ; on/ 316522236_THE_WOOD_LEGACY_OF_KALLAI_LESSONS_FOR_THE_FUTURE
‘6 thinking hats’, Edward de Bono, 1985 hXps://www.debonogroup.com/services/core-programs/ six-thinking-hats/ Rethinking architecture,Func;on and sign : The semio;cs of architecture, Umberto Eco hXps://marywoodarchtheory.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/func;on-and-the-sign-the-semio;cs- of-arch_u-eco.pdf What architects must know about semio;cs
hXps://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/rq-fresh-perspec;ves/a509-what-architects-must-know- about-semio;cs/ UKEssays. (November 2018). The Architectural Theory of Semio;cs.
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