Design Pedagogy

It is well understood that humans are designing products as per their need and luxury, taking nature as a base. Whatever we see in nature is a finished product. So to get a sense of design a student should be involved in various stages of design process, a new language to sensitize students to the various aspects of design i.e. Visual, Conceptual and Perceptual. Many books are written on this to give better understanding of design process. The theory of design talks about fundamental principles and elements of design which we try to observe in nature and transform them as per our need. Design is not only about aesthetics but it demands more to be ‘impeccable’. In 21st century, the booming era of technology enables us to research more and make it possible to design with precise specifications that can be a prototype of design applicable in variety of situations. The various stages of design could be:

1. Observing/Experiencing-it can be personal experience- by reading, travelling, living, own perception, self-interests, zeal to know about unknown- explore.
2. Brain storming – integration of theory of design and practical, thinking and discussing about the existing system with new specifications.
3. Analyzing- critical thinking about its function, aesthetics and structure.
4. Applying – innovative ideas to be executed with sound research.
5. Evaluation/Validation- to be tested with the help of mechanisms and should be validated time to time for efficient working.

Buildings are products by Architects and it should have a life span as humans do. In order to maintain them, they should be examined timely to get rid of ugly and non-functional buildings, occupying land as we all know that the earth is becoming a concrete jungle. These suggestions are only possible when we teach our students about design matrix which helps us to design buildings/products more efficiently, making them long lasting and impeccable.

Here in School of Architecture and Planning at K.R. Mangalam University we try to integrate practical and theory in our classes which gives better understanding about the subjects to the students.

It is the best platform where every student is encouraged to develop innovative, environmental friendly and workable designs.