Against and for Method: Revisiting Architectural Design As Academic Research

On the importance of methodology in teaching architectural design.

Can design processes constitute genuine forms of research? Against (and for) Method highlights exemplary cases of how studio architects teach architectural design, address pedagogical deficiencies, and propose new possibilities for integrating methodological approaches into teaching and practice. Contributions by leading scholars in the field, including interviews from five practicing architects, reveal how design concepts are considered, teased apart, and passed down. This book urges instructors to reflect on their methods and consider to what extent systematic and conceptually coherent approaches aid their students.
 

Jan Silberberger is a senior assistant at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture at ETH Zurich.