TOWARDS TOTAL INTEGRATION IN DESIGN STUDIO

Transmission of knowledge has been defined as "bringing the right knowledge by the right route at the right time to the right places." In this context there is need to analyze the various pedagogical shifts associated with the decisive process of transmission and transaction of knowledge in design studio. Critical understanding of the importance of tangential knowledge and its integration within the design studio, leading to a comprehensive whole, is a significant aspect to be properly evolved and nourished in the studio. It can be argued that knowledge is not a substitute for architectural imagination but inadequate knowledge would handicap the general level of design. Being satisfied to manipulate formal configurations does not provide insights into the human experience. If the different types of knowledge that architecture requires are ignored, the profession will lose its credibility in the eyes of society. With the body of knowledge expanding diversely with the escalating wants of the user, and to further sustain the built environment with further progression, it's quite certain to have an innovative design process that has a feel of antecedents yet is nourished by rationalism. Architectural Design is to an extent the yield of a creative process brought out through a refined approach, skill, and dexterity to suit the purpose. The assessors, the jury, or the teacher has created an aura of mystique around good design, without much explaining what good design is. Architectural education involves application of a theory of knowledge - what is known and how it is to be known. Nothing is taught unless it is learnt (Bono). Does the key to these issues lie in shifting from conventional mode to Total Integration Mode of Education?