Abstract:

First year of bachelor architecture curriculum is the most fundamental and critical education phase, especially in Indonesia, where primary and secondary educations contribute inadequate support for substantial art and drawing foundation. Before the implementation of new curriculum in 2007-2008, we found problems in each year’s architecture (core-curriculum) studio mainly caused by insufficient basic skills, specifically in form-making ability (basic aesthetics). This problem worsens also by the 1:80 to 1:100 teacher-student ratios in our classes, limited credits (two class hours per week) and lacking of coordination between related courses, which are common problem in Indonesian university.
This paper will present experiences and lesson learnt of Basic Aesthetics course in Bachelor Architecture Program of Gadjah Mada University in the last five years (2008-2012), focused on the innovations of learning methods and process as well as assessment and evaluation. Some of the innovations were supported by university’s teaching grants (i.e. Student-Centered Learning (SCL) Teaching Grant, Student-Teacher Aesthetic Role (STAR), and Research-Based Learning(RBL)), and have been maintaining great results inside and outside the classroom.
In general, we found at least four main points of successful Basic Aesthetics teaching, that are (1) understanding student’s life style, (2) creating gradual ‘challenges’, (3) establishing clear assessment method, and (4) encouraging student and/or teacher leadership.

Keywords:

Basic aesthetics, architecture, teaching experience.