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Hybrid modes of inquiry : [re]mapping the nature of the design studio in architecture education

The research proposes a theoretical framework in relation to the environment of architecture education as a receptive platform for knowledge production and exchange. It has been produced in parallel to the empirical research developed whilst directing and teaching a research-by-design laboratory, [Re_Map], since its formation in 2008. Through close scrutiny of the experimental and analytical methods developed to date, the research considers a more informative approach to architectural design. It examines digital networks as temporal infrastructures of contemporary cityscapes to reveal connectivity of latent information and public concerns. The inclusion of this data into the design protocols of architecture and urbanism, both pedagogic and professional, is positioned critically in the research to afford greater discourse as it has the capacity for us to consider societal issues that are not necessarily explicit.

By contributing to the understanding of the everyday integration of actual and digital space, the research constructs a theoretical platform upon which to inform and expand the transactional discourse in architecture (Schön 1987). It then considers the implications of such practice and how it provides a useful, shared creative space that enhances collaboration and facilitates agency (Latour 1993). This research therefore evolves dialectic with regard to new modes of inquiry that may be meaningfully applied within the design studio to respond to the changing character of urban landscapes in society. The methodology outlined in the research has been calibrated and tested through research-informed-teaching over the last five years, with interim results exhibited in Barrow-in-Furness, UK (2009), Xuzhou and Guangzhou, China (2010 & 2013 respectively). The research has been further developed both critically and reflectively through conference papers (2010, 2012 & 2013) and two master-classes during the Guangzhou exhibition in April 2013. This approach has been recognized as innovative and of growing significance as featured in an international article (2012).