“Learning About” and “Learning From”

Grounded on more than three decades of research into architectural education and design pedagogy, this chapter establishes an understanding of the roots of Eurocentricity and the evolving quest for decolonization while introducing realizable paradigms to decolonize architectural pedagogy in the Global South. The chapter argues that Global South architectural pedagogy needs to operate effectively within a global world order, but, at the same time, it contends that the body of knowledge utilized can be enhanced, and its scope can be deepened, when both historical and contemporary exemplars are lucidly contextualized and when learning approaches are operationalized to address context specificity. By offering a critique of the impact of Western authority on architectural pedagogy in the Global South, the analysis utilizes “learning about” architecture and “learning from” the built environment as metaphors that enable decolonized learning experiences in terms of content and context. Responding to these two metaphors, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and appreciative inquiry (AI) are utilized as paradigms for critical cognizance and inquisitiveness in lecture and theory-based courses. The thrust of this content and approach is to institute opportunities that help empower efforts for decolonizing architectural pedagogy in the Global South.