the uncanny way of architecture academic researc vs design intelligence Itzik Elhadif
School of Architecture Ariel University of Israel
Every architectural school must periodically question itself and review what it has inherited from previous generations by asking the following questions: What is architecture? What is its significance? How should it be taught? How should it be made? How are topics chosen, and why is one topic chosen over another? The question of what is essential and what is secondary in the curriculum is hardly ever concerned with purely technical matters. It often arises from significant changes in the worlds of theory and practice, relating not only to the necessity of a certain topic but also to preparing students for reality. If you ask the faculty members – especially those in administrative positions – about certain types of academic content, they will most likely say they are essential and that removing them would be unthinkable. Sometimes we do things simply because we are used to doing them, because they have become habit or, perhaps, because they create a sense of continuity with the past. The question is not just what the topics are and in what measure each should be taught, but also what the relations between theory, practice and research should be, and to what degree they prepare us for technological and cultural changes. Still, to me, the methods and tools of the creative act that integrate existing practical knowledge and research remain something of a puzzle. The obvious fact is that the lecturers want their students to study and appreciate architecture, its inherent applicability, its intellectual properties and the beauty it embodies. Practical Skills Versus the Discovery of New Knowledge: Linear Versus “Open Source” Process An architecture student acquires theoretical knowledge as well as professional skills. Most schools practice more or less the same linear studio stages even if the order and combination of each year is different. The first year constitutes the fundamentals, the basics of design practice and thinking. The second year covers the first stages of planning and designing. The third year usually includes more complex problems, such as urban scale or the demands of multi-layered
