Teaching history for design at TU Delft: exploring types of student learning and perceived relevance of history for the
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Teaching history for design at TU Delft: exploring types of student learning and perceived relevance of history for the architecture profession Carola Hein1 · Elise van Dooren1 Accepted: 19 June 2019 © The Author(s) 2019
Abstract Historical investigation anchors architectural and urban practice. Analyzing two sets of questionnaires distributed in different class settings, this paper explores two questions: how do design students currently learn about architectural history, and how do they translate this knowledge into their design practice? First, tentative conclusions are that (1) physical engagement with buildings outside the classroom is an important inspiration for the students, (2) (assigned) books definitely influence their (design) thinking, (3) different types of pedagogy–lecture, seminar, thesis, studio–affect student learning in different and complementary ways, and (4) students overwhelmingly see history as a relevant preparation and foundation for design, but this understanding is implicit and often unspecific. Keywords Architectural education · Pedagogies of design · History of architecture · History of urban form · Design education
Historical investigation in design education Many fields of engineering argue that design is a future-oriented field, and that designers do not need knowledge of the technologies, tools, forms, or practices of the past. TU Delft, a technical university focused on creating the future, has continuously reduced the number of professorships in history and also courses on history; the Chair History of Architecture and Urban Planning remains a strong entity, but one with few counterparts in the other faculties. Yet architecture and urbanism remain fields where structures and theories from the past, references to the past, and reflections on the past all continue to play an important role. Existing urban and built forms, and established actor networks, are historical and cultural frameworks that shape new designs and influence technological developments. New construction needs to respond to the past in the form of existing landscapes, established
* Carola Hein [email protected] Elise van Dooren [email protected] 1
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft, Delft, The Netherlands
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design practices, and building laws. Designers themselves often “practice history,” that is, they turn to history for their work in the present; but they do not always consider the past on its own merits or create links between the historical analysis, their findings on the past and the design for the future. Discussions of the content of history teaching and of textbooks used are underway among educations. But, so far, from what we have found, no analysis has been done on how students experience the teaching of architectural history in experiential learning, textbooks, or different types of pedagogy, and how they use what they learn in their own design practice. Teachers have positioned history in the design curric
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