Somuttan soyuta: Temel tasarım stüdyosunda bir başlangıç pratiği olarak yaparak tasarlama
From concrete to abstract: Designing by doing as an initial practice in basic design studio
Yazar: BERİL GÖK
Danışman: PROF. DR. YÜKSEL DEMİR
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü / Mimarlık Ana Bilim Dalı / Mimari Tasarım Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2024
Konu: Eğitim ve Öğretim = Education and Training ; Mimarlık = Architecture

Özet:
Mimarlık eğitimi, disiplinler arası bir pedagojik yapı aracılığıyla mimarlık pratiğinde zorunlu olan bilgi, beceri ve eleştirel düşünme yeteneklerini kazandırmayı hedeflemektedir. Bu eğitim modeli, yapılı çevreyi bütüncül bir bakış açısıyla kavramayı hedefleyerek çeşitli disiplinlerin entegrasyonunu teşvik eder. Temel tasarım stüdyosu, bu pedagojik sürecin merkezinde yer alarak öğrencilere temel tasarım prensipleri ve metodolojilerini tanıtır; görsel muhakeme yetenekleri ve yaratıcı düşünce süreçleri ile tanışma fırsatı sunar. Böylelikle stüdyo eğitmenleri tarafından öğrencilerin bilişsel, kavramsal ve teknik yeteneklerinin gelişimi teşvik edilir. Güncel akademik araştırmalar mimarlık öğrencilerinin pedagojik deneyimlerinden artan oranda memnuniyetsiz olduğunu göstermektedir. Öğrenciler, bu memnuniyetsizliğin hem psikolojik baskılardan hem de eğitim metodolojisinin eksikliklerinden kaynaklandığını ifade etmişlerdir. Bu noktada temel tasarım stüdyolarının neredeyse tümünün, öğrencilerden soyutlama yoluyla tasarım sürecine başlamalarını talep etmesi, pedagojik bir meydan okumaya işaret eder. Öğrencilerin tasarım sürecindeki soyutlama aşamasını tam anlamıyla kavrayamamaları, önemli zorluklarla yüzleşmelerine ve yönlendirilmesi güç durumlarla karşı karşıya kalabilmelerine neden olabilmektedir. Bu çalışmanın temel amacı mimarlık eğitimine yeni başlamış birinci sınıf öğrencilerinin kompozisyon tasarlama ve temsil etme süreçlerinde karşılaştıkları zorlukları azaltmak ve konuya ilişkin disiplinler arası bir analiz sunmaktır. Araştırma üç ana hipotez üzerine kurulmuştur. İlk hipotez somut gerçekliğin algılanmasının, soyut temsiline kıyasla daha kolay olduğunu iddia eder. İkinci hipotez öğrencilerin, soyutlama sürecinin zorlukları ve deneyim eksiklikleri nedeniyle kendi kapasitelerini düşük olarak değerlendirdiğini ancak gerçek kapasitelerinin önkabullerinin üzerinde olduğunu öne sürer. Üçüncü hipotez ise temsil/soyutlama bilgi ve becerilerini henüz geliştirme aşamasında olan başlangıç seviyesindeki öğrenciler için yaparak tasarlamanın daha etkili bir başlangıç pratiği sunduğunu ifade eder. Araştırmanın metodolojik yaklaşımı, nicel ve nitel araştırma yöntemlerinin entegre bir kombinasyonunu temel almaktadır. Çalışma kapsamında ele alınan konu, çoklu bilgi alanlarının katkısını gerektiren bir problem olmasından dolayı araştırma sürecinde bilişsel bilim, bilişsel psikoloji, nörobilim ve pedagoji alanlarından teoriler ve amprik bulgular incelenmiş; belirlenen öğrenci grubu üzerinde iki aşamalı bir vaka çalışması yürütülmüştür. Elde edilen bulgular, temel tasarım stüdyolarında etkin ve verimli bir başlangıç ortamı oluşturulmasına yönelik bir başlangıç pratiği önerisiyle hipotezlerde ileri sürülen yaklaşımı desteklemektedir. Araştırmanın sonucunda elde edilen verilerin, bu alanda gerçekleştirilecek akademik çalışmalara mütevazi bir katkı sağlaması hedeflenmekte; temel tasarım stüdyosundaki pedagojik yaklaşımları ve tasarım stüdyosu başlangıç uygulamalarını tartışmaya açmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Abstract:
The architectural education curriculum offers a structured framework composed of various courses aimed at developing design knowledge, artistic abilities, and technical foundations. These courses are typically organized around design studios, which form the cornerstone of the curriculum. Design studios serve as a type of simulation environment where students integrate theoretical knowledge and practical skills acquired from other courses, and materialize this accumulated knowledge through practical projects. The basic design studio, situated in the first year of architectural education, provides a central stepping stone by introducing students to design thinking at the outset of their institutional educational journey. This studio acts as a practice-oriented design laboratory where students step into design thinking and experience the creative process for the first time. During the studio process, students are introduced to the principles of basic design, relevant methodologies, visual reasoning abilities, and creative thinking processes. Thus, studio instructors encourage the development of students' cognitive, conceptual, and technical skills. This plays a fundamental role in architectural education; it is essential for an architectural designer to understand the basic principles and elements, methods, visual judgment, and creative processes. 
The basic design studio allows students to develop their design skills and learn from their peers and provides an environment where new ideas and design approaches can be tested. This dynamic prepares students for their architectural journey. The basic design studio is distinctive from other design studios and courses in the first-year curriculum as it offers students their first encounter with the fundamental principles and concepts of design. For first-year architecture students new to the basic design studio, experimenting with different representational dimensions can be likened to embarking on an abstract exploration. Interacting with abstract forms, surfaces, volumes, colors, and textures presents a complex and initially daunting learning area for those unfamiliar with these concepts. Current academic research indicates a growing dissatisfaction among architecture students with their pedagogical experiences. Students have reported that this dissatisfaction stems from both psychological pressures and deficiencies in educational methodology. At this point, the demand of nearly all basic design studios for students to initiate the design process through abstraction poses a pedagogical challenge. For beginners in design thinking, particularly those inexperienced in the field, abstraction is a gradual transformation process. The inability of students to fully grasp the abstraction phase in the design process can lead to significant challenges and create situations that are difficult to navigate. In this context, the necessity of effectively utilizing abstraction and the need for experiential learning practices within this process should be emphasized. The comprehension of the abstract and its use in design practice should take place within a gradual transformation of concrete reality. This research focuses on an initial practice conducted at Istanbul Technical University's Faculty of Architecture between 1990 and 2023, which has not undergone scientific measurement and evaluation. The study aims to measure and assess the academic impacts of the initial practice through theoretical and empirical findings from different knowledge areas and a case study. During this process, the effects of this educational practice on student perception and experiences in designing compositions have been examined. The research particularly concentrates on identifying the fundamental challenges faced by first-year architecture students in representing their ideas and developing strategies to mitigate these challenges. The ultimate goal of the study is to present a scientifically based solution that will enable students to acquire and apply the necessary foundational skills more effectively, by addressing the issues encountered through pedagogical methods and educational practices. The research is built upon three main hypotheses. The first hypothesis claims that the perception of concrete reality is easier than its abstract representation. The second hypothesis suggests that students underestimate their capacities due to the difficulties of the abstraction process and a lack of experience, but their actual capacities exceed these presuppositions. The third hypothesis states that designing by doing offers a more effective initial practice for beginner students who are still developing their representation/abstraction knowledge and skills. The scope of this research is limited to first-year architecture students at universities in Türkiye. The methodological approach of the research is based on an integrated combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. This dual approach facilitates obtaining various data sets and allows for a comprehensive analysis of the subjects, enabling the verification of research hypotheses and reaching a qualified conclusion. The subject matter addressed in the study involves a problem that requires contributions from multiple knowledge domains, which is why theories and empirical findings from the fields of architectural history, cognitive science, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and pedagogy have been examined during the research process. The focus of these different disciplines is not only to provide general information related to the topic but also to question the literature's response to the claims proposed by the research hypotheses. This questioning has examined the ease of understanding concrete reality compared to its abstract representation, the relationship between the level of abstraction and ease of understanding, the cognitive effects of designing by doing, and the impacts of methods of representing ideas on perception and expression from an interdisciplinary perspective. This survey process aimed to present a holistic and comprehensive theoretical framework by investigating the interdisciplinary relations of the topics studied. In the case study, an experimental method was used to observe how students express their ideas through concrete reality. A qualitative method was chosen for the analysis of student work and for a deep understanding of the design process. After the experiment, a questionnaire was conducted for students to evaluate their experiences during the design process. The literature reviewed addresses pedagogical approaches and propositions for more effective management of abstraction processes in architectural education. The research brings together theoretical and empirical findings to illuminate cognitive processes that play a significant role in transitioning from concrete to abstract reasoning. Notably, David Kolb's experiential learning theory, John Sweller's cognitive load theory, Lawrence Barsalou's perceptual symbol systems and grounded cognition theories, and Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural learning theory highlight the critical role of active knowledge construction by students and the pivotal role of social interaction in cognitive development. These theories emphasize how critical concrete experiences and interactions with the physical environment are in helping students understand abstract concepts. The theoretical and empirical findings from different disciplines strongly demonstrate the importance of using concrete experiences and learning by doing with physical models in the learning process. Concrete experiences serve not only as pedagogical tools but also as cognitive scaffolds, aiding students in more effectively understanding abstract processes. These findings provide a critical foundation for developing pedagogical strategies for the successful management of abstraction processes in architectural education. The literature reviewed was considered a foundational element for the research, yet a case study was conducted to create a multifaceted narrative and to evaluate the hypotheses' impact on students within a concrete and academic measurement framework. In this context, the case study was structured in two stages to address questions such as, "What are the pedagogical benefits of adopting the practice of designing by doing in basic design studios for beginner architecture students who are in the process of developing their representation/abstraction knowledge and skills?" and "What are the effects on students' perceptions and responses of starting education with three-dimensional work in basic design studios?" Initially, during an experiment conducted on the first day of education in the Istanbul Technical University TES 113E Basic Design & Visual Arts studio, students were tasked with creating a three-dimensional composition from two-dimensional materials. 
Following this, feedback gathered through a questionnaire on their experiences provided a critical data set to validate the hypotheses. The results of the questionnaire conducted in the second stage of the case study have assessed the perceptions of abstraction processes and the development of practical skills among beginner architecture students, revealing the perceptual differences between concrete and abstract design processes and their effects on evaluating student capacities. The questionnaire results indicate that students prefer to start their architectural education with concrete reality and that concrete experiences facilitate the design process compared to abstract representation modes. At this point, the practice of designing by doing emerges as an effective initial practice for students whose representation and abstraction skills are in the process of developing. These findings emphasize the importance of integrating concrete practices and designing by doing methodologies in basic design courses to enhance students' understanding and use of abstract representations. The findings obtained during the research process have confirmed that the research hypotheses are worth investigating and have shown that these hypotheses could lay the groundwork for potential changes in future curriculum approaches. The thesis has been conducted within a comprehensive research framework based on experiences and observations, providing a platform for discussion among various stakeholders such as students, educators, and theorists. Based on historical, theoretical, practical, and empirical research, this study suggests starting the basic design studio with a cognitive framework from concrete to abstract through designing by doing. It aims to open up pedagogical approaches in the basic design studio and the practices at the onset of design studios to discussion through examinations and actions. Comparing findings obtained/enhanced with expanded participation, creating a dataset that could lead to various interpretations and conclusions from different perspectives is an imminent goal within a research framework deeply integrated with interdisciplinary approaches.