Non-traditional architectural studies: What might influence the development of a successful model? A Review of literature.

Abstract

The traditional architectural studio, almost universal in its pedagogical approach, is not very accommodating of non-traditional students. This paper investigates views on current architectural education methodology, the experience and learning way of the full-time student (standing in the current methodology) and the needs of the typical non-traditional architectural student through an exploratory survey of existing literature. The context is South Africa, where a very real need for such studies exists. The SACAP (the South African Council for the Architectural Profession) allows the registration of professionals in different categories, depending on academic qualification and workplace experience. Currently the category of ‗architect‘ is still predominantly white-male orientated and transformation is urgently needed. However, ―professionals in ‗lower‘ categories (for example architectural technologist), who want to study further to better their qualification and registration category, have at the moment only full-time, traditional studies to choose from.‖ (Author, 2010:2) Traditional architectural education has at the core an intense studio culture. The time dedication required to sustain this culture is difficult, if not impossible for a student that does not study full-time. A non-traditional student will therefore be at a disadvantage compared to a full-time student in experiencing the many positive characteristics of studio culture. The time demanding and intense workload in the traditional studio allows very few professionals, standing in the workplace already, the opportunity to study further. The intention with the literature survey is to understand the characteristics of current architectural full-time education and the student experience thereof and to discover whether this can serve the need of the non-traditional architectural students.