THE ARTISTIC APPROACH IN CONTEMPORARY DESIGN EDUCATION; A CASE STUDY FROM VERSAILLES (ENSP)

At the National School of Landscape Architecture in Versailles teaching in the visual arts takes a special position in the design curriculum; it is one of the characteristics of the school's teaching approach. In this paper we will describe, analyse and comment on one workshop which is called 'La Peau' (The Skin).
We will start out with a short description of the workshop in the context of the program; subject, teaching goals, approach and presentation of the results. The workshop can be seen as a short condensed exercise in which students explore the subject of the 'skin' in a visual and multi sensorial way.
In the second part we will go into the content of the workshop, how students, teaching staff operate in the limited time and how they make use of materials and the environment of the studio. Since the brief for the workshop is rather open and referring to a title (The Skin) that can be either literally or metaphorically approached, the conceptual phase is a first exploration in the assignment. In the second phase comes the materialisation of the idea; a research into materials, settings and environments. In the last phase the presentation of the result is the core issue.
The last part of the paper deals with conclusions and discussion. Due to its experimental character, the workshop operates as a research project for students in the sense that they can discover their own potential by actually 'making something with their hands'. This is in fact what Schön calls 'reflective learning'. At the same time the sequence of projects over the years forms a basis for research for the teaching staff. Developments and experiences together with the student projects are analysed from a pedagogical point of view and are at the same time a source of inspiration for designers.