Summary: |
History sequences in professional architecture programs must meet broad educational objectives. Inherent in an architect’s education is a tension between the rigorous consideration of important ideas in the history of architecture and the inspired implementation of these ideas in the design studio. A digital history course can bridge the education/training divide by making the study of history emulate the methods and strategies used in the architecture studio. Using a relational database and navigation software, we have developed a course in which students move through a digital environment of text, image, audio and video resources pertaining to broad historical categories in architecture. Charged with producing historical genealogies, students must incorporate current architectural and cultural concerns in their distillation of the history presented by the articles, surveys, manifestoes, photographs, drawings and interviews encountered online. The immersive multimedia environment uses hyperlinks as a structure, placing emphasis on the student’s role in navigation while increasing the possibilities for chance encounters in the material. The delivery of basic material having been accomplished independently by the student, class meetings are used for higher-level discussions of the issues that surface. The project is currently being implemented as a half-semester course in 20th century architecture for a small group of sophomore students in the professional Bachelor of Architecture program. The project’s pedagogical and technical aspects will be discussed with respect to this stage of its development. |