Virtuality and fostering critical design thinking

Abstract

This chapter explores challenges and opportunities pertaining to networked learning in architecture and urban design studio education. Today, ‘Starchitects’ have taken centre stage on the global design platform, playing the role of individual geniuses. The spotlight of attention has been on the design and the designer, but the society in which these projects are realised is often left in the dark. The chapter recognises that such imbalance is also present in the design studio pedagogy as it is being employed in most schools of architecture. Through technological evolutions and the developments of online and virtual realms, however, networked learning opens new opportunities to implement critical pedagogy and reinvigorate the social tasks of the architect during the educational trajectory. In this contribution we connect the social turn in architecture practice and education with the innovative possibilities that emerge from the integration of networked learning in design education. We demonstrate the current challenges for architectural education and argue that a critical design attitude will be imperative to tackle the future challenges in architecture. Finally, we claim that critical thinking can be stimulated using networked learning pedagogy that connects back to Schön’s conceptualisations and theorised possibilities of studio-based learning.