STUDIO

STUDI0 CULTURE

A unique and central aspect of the Architecture concentration is the studio. Studio is a place, a pedagogy, a set of protocols, and a culture. In 2005, the National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB) established a requirement that all accredited, professional architecture programs develop, and make public, a studio policy specific to that program. While the Architecture concentration at Brown is not an accredited professional degree program, the faculty believe deeply in the studio as an essential part of the student experience, and are committed to establishing and nourishing a healthy and stimulating studio environment. The following statement of values, expectations and guidelines undergird the Architecture studio at Brown.

STUDIO PHILOSOPHY

The studio is a place for creative exploration, collaboration, respectful critique, and problem-centric learning. Studio is a pedagogical approach that encourages iterative creative experimentation, individual and collective review and critique, and a learning-by-making philosophy. Studio is a shared space and a shared experience, and as such studio requires that all members demonstrate respect, maturity, professionalism, and concern for the collective well-being of the cohort and the space.

THE STUDIO FACILITY

Of course, to make the studio a successful space, a few rules need to apply: Use of the studio is limited to students who are enrolled in an architecture studio class during the current semester. The studio is open daily until midnight. Whether dedicated or shared, students should treat their workstation with care. Desktops should not be used as cutting surfaces or dining tables. Workstations are not entertainment centers. If you are sharing a workstation, remove your personal items after your studio session. If you are assigned a dedicated desk, avoid having your work spill out onto the workspace of others. If you are building a model, use the shop and the appropriate equipment. It is typical to leave work in progress out on desks or pinned up in the studio; in all cases, treat the work of your studio mates with care and respect. The studio is a shared space and students should maintain the studio as an inclusive environment. Students may not display materials in the studio that are racist, sexist, or offensive. Students should use headphones if listening to audio content, and keep volume low if using a cell phone.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Oftentimes, studio-based learning has a distinctly non-linear quality in which a design proposal is as much a response to a problem as it is a new problem statement itself. This iterative quality suggests that there is no inherent terminal moment in the design process, and requires an especially disciplined approach to managing the time and effort invested in a particular design assignment. There is a romanticized notion that working late into the night on a design challenge – or not sleeping at all – is a mark of passion and yields excellence. The faculty emphatically reject this outmoded notion, and instead encourage students to work intelligently, creatively, and efficiently while maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

CRITIQUE

In the studio context, the main pedagogical technique consists of an iterative process of making, review, remaking, and additional review. This cycle, typically called critique or “crit” can involve individual dialogue between a student and a faculty member, or reviews in various configurations, including with external experts. For a crit to be productive, the student must bring work to the session, and the faculty member must engage the student’s conceptual and creative proposition in a constructive manner.  A crit is never about the person, and always about the work and the ideas generated by the work. Since critique is a central part of a studio-based education, it is important that students and faculty establish a clear understanding of the crit schedule, frequency, and work product expectations.