ABSTRACT
Design and architectural educators and professional societies have been discussing the role of the architect and the position of education in shaping the built environment since professional instruction was formalised more than two centuries ago. On the one hand, there are the educators who continuously massage and modify architectural curricula to maintain a sense of timeliness by introducing topical areas of current professional interests. On the other hand, there are professional organisations or accrediting boards whose main function is to ensure the quality, relevance, and competent performance of students through formal and rigorous validation and accreditation processes. In addition, there are the regional, national and international conferences where educators meet to deliberate and debate the tenuous future of education and practice, particularly when concerned with the impact of the new global order and the international economic crises. Unfortunately, despite budding interest in the topic, voluminous research and writings on architectural and urban design education and on the design studio, pedagogy continues to be marginalised in academia. ‘Spatial Design Education: New Directions for Pedagogy in Architecture and Beyond’ explores the evolutionary nature of the educational process of architecture and traces its roots in light of current and variegated endeavours to shape responsive and responsible design teaching practices. A major point raised in the book is the dismal state of stagnation and placidity that architecture and design pedagogy finds itself in: while the practice of design professions has changed significantly and continues to change, architectural and urban design education has been slow to react to these changes at best or resists change or adaptation at worst.
