The impact of 21st-century pedagogic transformation on architecture: towards an interdisciplinary design school in Durban.

Abstract

The study identified the impact of 21st - century pedagogic transformation on architecture towards an interdisciplinary school of design in Durban. The study aimed to investigate the advances in learning space design and teaching approaches of the 21st-century to derive architectural principles for a proposed design school that will transform such spaces from confined disjointed physical space to collaborative learning environments. The study adopted a qualitative approach based on a phenomenological philosophy to underpin an inquiry into a "lived experience" of a phenomenon in which conventional pedagogical approaches such as teaching methods and learning space design are critically interrogated to define the complex interrelationship between the allied design disciplines in architecture. Preliminary evaluation of similar knowledge and theories was done through a critical literature review relevant to architecture pedagogy to understand the phenomenon in depth. This qualitative research comprises of interviews with students and lecturers explicitly drawn from within the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as the primary case study. The interviews were semi-structured, which allowed the participants to express their subjective experience of pedagogy and spatial design, the research adhered to ethical standards and most importantly, all the participants' confidentiality and anonymity were protected through pseudonyms.