Architectural Design of a Nature- Connected Building: An Innovative Teaching and Learning Project

Innovative teaching and learning methodologies challenge conventional architectural design education for improved students´ creativity, knowledge, skills and competences. These new strategies can improve students´ engagement, motivation and attainment, but they also demand a great effort of the teaching team and are linked to a set of difficulties. This article analyses and unfolds the keys of an innovative teaching project proposal, devised and planned by me to be developed, as a lecturer and postdoctoral researcher, at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen (KADK) School of Architecture (the top university in the field of architectural design in Denmark), the Institute of Architecture and Design (IAD).

The project, where the classroom is conceived as an architectural laboratory where the meeting between the disciplines of Architectural Design and Building Construction takes place, integrates a variety of innovative education methodologies: Gamification, Flipped Classroom, Learning Based on Challenges, Design Thinking, Collective Intelligence, etc... Through it, architecture students are able to achieve creativity, diverse knowledge, strengths and complementary skills, among them: the creation of a private space, reflection on the idea of inhabiting a dwelling space, exploration of Nature-connected architectural design, notions of sustainable design and recycling, their creative and critical thinking, oral and written communication skills, independent and original thinking, leadership and organisational skills, co- design, time management, problem-solving and decision making skills.

It offers resources for innovative teaching good practice and implementation, and therefore to facilitate innovation at the classroom level. It gives tools to overcome the challenges facing innovative learning models in architecture education. Above all, it aims to foster innovation in architectural design education by empowering and inspiring teachers and other education staff to use innovative teaching methods while sharing best practices and experiences with their colleagues.