Collaborative and participatory design approach in architectural design studios

The architectural design studio is an important process, which aims to shape the skill, knowledge, and sensitivities of students and enhances their lateral thinking as well as their problem solving skills. Design studio process is quite important in design education since it is the core of the curriculum and all the courses taught in design education are related and contribute to the design studio. The aim of this paper is to share a new method in architectural design studio teaching, which is the participatory approach in architectural design studio. The studio explored the participatory design process with potential intervention in primary school design for IV semester students in Department of Architecture, PRIMENEST College of Architecture and Planning, Tiruchirappalli, India . After completion of the project, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the students and the faculty, and the main findings are discussed in the paper. This article reports on lessons learnt from these participatory learning experiences , which reflect on contemporary design practiced.