Turning the Tables

The fields of architecture and design are undergoing paradigm shifts, where both their processes and outcomes are under dispute, due to ever-complicating operating environments.

In this thesis Toni Kauppila queries whether complementary practices for the professions could be more apropos for addressing the related socio-spatial concerns. He introduces a new kind of polymath, the pedagogic architect, an agency whose motive is to appreciate the somewhat ambiguous and uncertain work ahead of us. The proposal is to empower oneself to be adaptable for learning the unpredictable, simultaneously being an expert and a novice, as prospective qualities for both the curious designer and educator.

The objective is to contribute to discourses of spatial practices to envisage architects' and designers' alternative professional futures, complement broader pedagogical debate and challenge the conventions of professional practices.