The Built Environments Laboratory: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Studio Education in the Planning and Design Disciplines

Abstract

Interdisciplinary education is becoming a hallmark strategy for preparing and providing students with the skills necessary for addressing the complexity of our contemporary built environments. In this paper, we examine how the studio model of education presents opportunities for increasing interdisciplinarity in the classroom. Specifically, we develop a pedagogical framework for examining three educational themes: establishing rigorous forms of experimentation, developing collective understanding, and generating interdisciplinary collaboration. We identify that developing collective understanding is the most challenging of the three themes to frame, implement, and achieve in the classroom, suggesting interdisciplinary studio education should focus on sharing disciplinary vocabularies and improving students' communicative techniques.