Learning through Making in Architectural Design

Design education begins with the student’s embodied experience of the world, yet this foundational aspect often goes unexamined in the development and implementation of design pedagogy. Instructors may take for granted the complexities of learning design, while students grapple with muddled thinking as they navigate unfamiliar methods and concepts. This book reimagines design pedagogy, not as a transfer of abstract knowledge, but as a transformative process rooted in the student’s own sensations, inquiries, and lived experiences. Drawing on the philosophies of Pallasmaa, Dewey, Merleau-Ponty, and others, this book presents a pedagogy that fosters transformative growth by learning through authentic encounters. By engaging in the immediacy of making, students immerse themselves in heuristic investigations that integrate experimentation, conceptualization, and reflective critique. This approach enables students to internalize knowledge within a transformation of lived experience, cultivating their agency and evolving their mindset as designers. This book is an essential resource for educators, design instructors, and academic leaders in architecture and design programs. It offers a framework for fostering student transformation and self-development, making it invaluable for those seeking to educate the next generation of designers through experientially embodied learning.