The implementation model of integrating the three sustainability aspects into the undergraduate architectural design studio

Abstract

The concept of sustainability in design is meant to ensure that the product of the design is in harmony with humans and nature by taking into consideration the three aspects of sustainability: environmental, social and economic. The objective of this experiment was to integrate the three aspects of sustainability principles into the architectural design studio to train future architects to be able to design sustainable buildings. The study aimed to create an integration method that could be validated through the junior students' work in the innovative Sustainable Architecture Design Studio (SADS) at Izmir Institute of Technology. The impact of the pedagogy on the students' ability to integrate sustainable design principles into their projects was measured through the evaluation tools formulated for this purpose by the instructor. Further, the students' feedback through course evaluation, questionnaire, and colloquium at the end of the term was used to assess the method. The findings of this research demonstrated that the innovative studio pedagogy and teaching method were successful in integrating the sustainable design elements into design studio projects, while the level of sustainable elements integration was 68%.