Thinking While Doing: Explorations in Educational Design/Build

 [Thinking While Doing] is an excellent account of a remarkable project.
-Richard Harris, Honorary Professor at the University of Bath

In the contemporary world of competitive design bids and constant pressures to cut costs, there is a tendency for design to be taken for granted as a mere series of tasks to be optimized as a means to reduce construction costs. However, the complexities of the creative process require adequate time and opportunity to succeed—with time provided to allow thoughts to build and be set down, and opportunities for interdisciplinary interactions to occur in order for solutions to mature.

The active engagement of architecture students in the design and construction of real projects is today an important dimension at more than 150 universities worldwide. And yet, this emerging field continues to suffer from an insubstantial scholarly foundation. An initiative of universities in North America has developed a consistent and innovative practice model, which sets a new standard for this key aspect of education and professional practice.

Thinking While Doing by Stephen Verderber provides the reader with insight into the design and construction process and the way in which the design/build approach informs the university-level learning experience, while simultaneously providing a detailed account of an evolving architectural/structural type.

Stephen Verderber is a professor at the University of Toronto in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design as well as the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Receiving his doctorate in architecture from the University of Michigan, Verderber specializes in architecture, design therapeutics, and health. He has written over 80 scholarly articles and six books, including Compassion in Architecture: Evidence-based Design for Health (2005), Innovations in Hospice Architecture (2005), and more.