Integrating configuration-based seismic design principles into architectural education: teaching strategies for lecture courses

The importance of teaching seismic design in architecture schools is widely acknowledged and regarded as fundamental in earthquake-prone countries. Clear and consistent seismic design guidelines are available to sustain the introduction of seismic design-related subjects in architecture curricula. Although scholars seem to agree on the suitability of studio design projects as optimal vehicles for seismic design-architecture integration, research on teaching methods seems to lack specific strategies for architecture students to acquire seismic knowledge before designing. This paper introduces a set of seismic design principles based on generic earthquake-resistant configurations, used as qualitative and quantitative components in two different teaching strategies applied in a school of architecture lecture course. The basis of the approach lies in a distinction between introducing seismic design and introducing seismic design principles (SDP). We argue that seismic design, a primarily quantitative process, does not properly match architectural design, which is essentially qualitative. Hence, both quantitative and qualitative learning methods are needed to provide architecture students with knowledge on the physical phenomena behind successful earthquake-resistant configurations and the skills necessary to integrate them into their studio designs. The validity of the proposed strategies is discussed through a description of methods explored by the first author during a lecture course given between 2014 and 2017. The effectiveness of these SDP-based methods is further evaluated through surveys and interviews with former students. The final discussion addresses substantial considerations that need to be taken into account when teaching architecture students subjects that are traditionally associated with engineering teaching methods.