Conference Agenda

ABSTRACT: We present an innovative pedagogical framework implemented in a college sophomore-level architecture design studio that combines podcasting, peer review workshopping, and visual storytelling to deepen engagement, collaboration, and intellectual development. The central inquiry guiding this study asks how a multimodal framework—combining voice, text, and image—can enhance reflective practice, collective learning, and conceptual rigor in architectural education. Positioned as a manifesto of action and discovery, the framework promotes an “in-between” mode of learning that operates across disciplines, media, and voices. Drawing on architecture, literature, and performance, the studio environment emphasizes narrative, conversation, and experimentation, redefining architectural education as a space for intellectual exploration, dialogic exchange, and collective learning. The methodology follows a repeating three-phase cycle applied to each of three major design projects over one semester. First, students create group podcasts as tools for brainstorming, critical inquiry, and self-reflection, encouraging them to think through sound and voice as generative design media. Second, these audio narratives function as prompts for in-class peer-review workshops, where students engage critically with one another’s written ideas, strengthening collaboration, empathy, and dialogic exchange. Third, students translate their reflections into hybrid visual narratives termed drawdels, a neologism adapted from sculpture that merges drawing and modeling. These representations synthesize spatial thinking with conceptual and narrative development. Repeating this cycle across projects enables students to iteratively deepen their reflective and representational capacities. The framework is evaluated through pre- and post-surveys. Results indicated higher levels of student engagement and reflection as compared to the baseline. Students reported improved communication and collaboration skills, heightened empathy through peer exchange, and increased ability to critically assess their design processes. By integrating accessible technologies and cyclical, multimodal practices into studio pedagogy, this framework offers a robust model for advancing reflective and collaborative learning in architectural design education.

Learning from precedents on ‘mapping’ in architecture, we saw the opportunity in mapping as a means to rethink and re-engage with the built environment in our city of Atlanta. Mapping as a way, method, and procedure for documenting built and natural environments, is a form of cognition of our surroundings. Further, we seek to explore intersections between ideas of mapping with techniques, tools and procedures. We set studios that inquired into the everyday built environment, one at the scale of buildings and the other at the urban level. These studios explored ways to map form, space, atmosphere, materiality, and activities, and to record visible and invisible aspects through intersecting and mashing up media and techniques of representation. These mapping process served not only as ways to describe forms of everyday Atlanta and relationships within it and with the world, but also, as a means to think designerly about the everyday. They were design speculations that act as re-readings of the built environment to open alternative conditions, to re-engage with locality, and to engage with locals and the global. This paper documents and analyzes the process and findings from our studios and reflects on the findings on the capacities of mapping in architectural design.

Architectural education is increasingly challenged to equip students with the digital and critical capacities needed for sustainable design. BIM has emerged as a central tool for visualization, coordination, and data-driven decision-making. However, its role in curricula often remains limited to software operation rather than conceptual engagement. This narrow focus restricts students’ ability to connect digital workflows with the experiential, ethical, and human-centered dimensions of design practice. This study reframes BIM as a strategic framework rather than a technical competency, advocating for pedagogical models that align BIM instruction with sustainability, interdisciplinary collaboration, and civic responsibility. It examines the ongoing disconnect between theoretical teaching and the practical application of BIM in sustainable design contexts. Using a mixed-methods approach, including a literature review, curriculum analysis, and surveys across multiple institutions, the research evaluates students’ understanding of BIM, identifies misconceptions, and assesses the effectiveness of current pedagogical strategies. Findings show that although students recognize BIM’s value for coordination and performance analysis, many lack awareness of its relevance to site-specific design, community engagement, and long-term environmental impact. This gap signals the need for instructional models that strengthen critical thinking and contextual application. The study recommends embedding BIM within site-based learning, interdisciplinary project-based studios, and real-world design challenges related to climate adaptation, urban resilience, and community development. Integrating sustainability metrics and experiential learning into digital workflows helps students perceive BIM as a tool for inquiry, ethical decision-making, and collaborative problem-solving. Such an approach not only improves technical fluency but also cultivates awareness of the social and environmental responsibilities of practice. Ultimately, the research supports a holistic curriculum model that bridges digital tools and human-centered design. By repositioning BIM as a medium for sustainable innovation, the study aims to prepare future designers and construction professionals to contribute thoughtfully and adaptively to a rapidly changing built environment.