Abstract

It is a legitimate assertion that most major figures who have shaped the course of architecture can be described as theoreticians who build What distinguishes these architects from their architect colleagues of lesser status is the philosophical apparatus they have apprehended and made subject to their disposition Aldo Rossi Robert Venturi Peter Eisenman Jacques Herzog Pierre De Meuron Rem Koolhass to name an incomplete list of important architects of the last forty years have been weaving philosophical and architectural thought with their built work Curricula in most architecture schools establish the architectural studio as the largely unquestioned pillar in which architecture is coalesced by the student There is a belief at work that suggests that the individual student design work is guided by inspiration as soon as s he enters architecture school The students sits at his or her desk and is waiting for a supernatural force to move their hands in such a manner that the sketch they produce will contain the germs of the next masterpiece This approach to architectural education is subject to the assumption that the students are geniuses Architecture education should not be based on inspiration only but on a rational discourse with the major concepts that make architecture This paper therefore advocates that Architecture students have to encounter a discourse with the major concepts of architecture not in their graduate studies but in the beginning year of their architectural education This is because without that basic knowledge of architectural philosophy appreciation and understanding of architecture may be delayed and the supposed architect might be beclouded in professional practice