Abstract:

This paper discusses the experiences of teaching virtual architectural classes during the COVID crisis, and how the findings and outcomes impact and improve subsequent classes ever since.

In architectural higher education, we distinguish between lecture and seminar classes with 60 or more students, and design studios with 12-15 students. With lecture and seminar classes being more easily transferred to an online format, the architectural design studio requires intensive hands-on training, face-to-face contact between faculty and students, and access to facilities such as wood shops and other supporting facilities, to test and produce student designs.

Starting with a thorough introduction to the learning environment of virtual classrooms and studios in architecture, the paper discusses the class outcomes and experiences, to analyze the pros and cons of the specifically conducted architectural education. The analysis is also based on an evaluation of questionnaires that were completed by all students. The advantages of virtual over traditional classroom settings include effective ways of sharing information in real-time with students via platforms such as Zoom, Miro, and Canvas. Student work placed on virtually shared boards is accessible to the entire studio, helping to disseminate knowledge among all studio participants. With this comes opportunities for better review preparation for faculty and reviewers, since the projects can be studied beforehand. Invited jurors for mid- and final reviews, which presents another characteristic of architectural education, can be invited from all over the world, considerably extending the scope of feedback for the students. Within larger seminar or lecture settings, entire classes can be fully ‘automated’, with a straightforward organization and schedule being highly valued by the students.

The major downside of a solely virtual architectural teaching environment is the physical disconnect from and between the students, which makes activities like hands-on teaching, model making, hands-on labs, and group work, all of which are very important in architectural education, difficult, if not impossible. Another challenge is the experience and understanding of architectural scale, which presents an issue especially for younger architecture students since their perception of scale has not yet developed. Finally, many students, especially in the lecture class, suffered from isolation and disconnection, missing the personal verbal exchange between peers and their professor. Some students reported experiencing mental health issues and depression, and many students reported the challenges of not being able to ask quick questions to neighboring students in the physical studio setting or within their cohort.

In the paper’s final elaboration and conclusion, recent studios and lecture classes that now include components of the virtual classroom setting are described as a successful hybrid educational model that combines the advantages of the virtual and physical learning environments and therefore mitigates some of the disadvantages of the traditional or purely virtual architectural educational model, leading to a better learning experience and outcome for the students.

Keywords:

Architectural Virtual Education, Virtual Classroom, Hybrid Architectural Design Studio, Hybrid Architectural Lecture Classes.