Environmental Design Studio 1 and 2
Course Intent
| First-year Studio description |
| Foundation studies introducing principles, processes, and vocabularies of environmental design. Instruction in two and three dimensional visualization of objects and spaces. Instruction in the use of instrument-aided drawing, freehand drawing, and model building to represent and communicate design ideas at different scales of observation. |
| Intent of the course |
| 1. To provide an introduction to design education relative to the design professions of architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design. |
| 2. To cultivate attitudes, values, work habits, and skills appropriate to both design education and professional practice. |
| 3. To establish basic understandings about the design process: the nature of design decisions, the factors which influence design and the solutions, vocabularies and analytic processes that are critical to successful design. |
| 4. To provide an introduction to the techniques of two- and three-dimensional visualization of objects and spaces, with an emphasis on the relationship between design ideas and appropriate modes of communication. |
| 5. To develop an understanding of the role of the design professional in society and of the value and importance of the designed environment. |
| 6. To provide a set of design experiences whereby the student is motivated to express his/her creativity and can assess his/her personal interest in and commitment to the design professions. |
| Role of the Critic |
| The primary role of the critic in a design studio is that of supplying critical evaluation of the students' design concepts and their development. Students may be exposed to several systems of value held by the various studio critics. Based on these alternative value systems and on their own background, students will build a system of values of their own, and thus habitually criticize their own work. This development of self-criticism is an important goal of the design critic. |
| The critic is also a teacher, and his/her principal subject matter is design methods, including the activities of defining and understanding design problems; proposing and testing various solutions; and carrying the best solution to a final goal. Each critic will present to his/her students a method or variety of methods for executing these activities. |
| The critic often takes on the role that is normally filled by the client. In this role the critic is a sounding board for the student's ideas. The critic brings questions and demands similar to those a client would have. The critic reacts to the student's proposed designs and is the second party in the dialogue necessary to the design process. |
| Finally, the critic evaluates student performance. This evaluation is not only concerned with the end product of any particular design project, but also the student's interests, work habits, communicative ability (verbal and graphic), rate and quality of development, and promise as a future professional. |
| In order to expose students to more than one point of view, critics from inside and outside the College including faculty and students from other DSFN 201 and 202 sections will be invited to formal and informal reviews of student work. |
