Evaluating the curriculum validity of architectural studios : how can the research methods of the Urban Citizen Studio inform the design brief for a master's thesis to address the socio-spatial needs of a marginalised community?

Abstract

Many South Africans are faced with the challenges of a segregated urban landscape and spatial inequalities. In the realm of architectural education, there is a need to evaluate how initiatives such as architecture studios can address the complex issues of spatial inequalities. The discourse of Public Interest Design (PID) emphasises an architect’s ethical responsibility to serve societal needs through community-driven initiatives. However, understanding the integration of PID into architectural curricula and its impact on student learning remains limited. This research paper evaluates PID's application within architectural pedagogy, particularly its role in addressing socio-economic challenges of marginalised communities. The study evaluates the curriculum validity in facilitating architecture master's students in developing design proposals for their thesis projects. Instruments such as Miro™ and Zotero™ were utilised for the literature review research on architecture pedagogy, both on a global and national scale. The focus is on the Urban Citizen Studio within the Department of Architecture University of Pretoria. The studio served as a qualitative case study by assessing student engagement within the marginalised community of Melusi, an informal settlement located West in the City of Tshwane. Max-Neef's (1991) Human Scale Development model is the theoretical framework for identifying the fundamental needs of the Melusi community within a pragmatic paradigm. Action research was followed through the qualitative research methods of game play and focus groups to collect relevant data. The data is then analysed inductively using the ATLAS.ti™ software platform. The findings of the data revealed that the research methods of game play and focus groups led to a wide variety of topics, subjects and areas of concern in the community. The results offer firsthand insights into the community's most pressing needs, ultimately guiding the development of a design brief of an architecture project, focused on addressing the socio-spatial needs of the community. The conclusion is that master's students are equipped with the necessary data to address the socio-spatial needs of marginalised communities in their project proposals. This is validated by examining previous thesis projects through the frameworks of Nawawi et al. (2014) and the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework (HEQSF).