The knowledge content of digital design subject in architecture schools

Abstract

The emergence and spread of digital technology in architectural design and professional practice has resulted in a restructuring of architectural education. Different approaches have emerged to integrate digital design into architectural curricula. This paper aims to identify accredited digital design courses and the nature of the content provided to enhance students’ knowledge and skills. The research problem revealed the diverse and different ways to integrate digital design into architectural education curricula in general, and there is no clear vision of the knowledge content of digital design courses. The research questions were determined to investigate the main aspects of digital design courses, the types of knowledge provided, and the levels of knowledge provision for these courses. To answer the questions, the study adopted a conceptual analysis of the published literature on university experiences in teaching digital design courses. The content of these courses was analyzed and revealed that the types of provided content ranges from preparing design projects at different scales, conducting exercises on implementing digital models, or presenting purely theoretical knowledge. The levels of implementing computer technology in teaching digital design range from representative, formative, generative, performative, and manufacturing levels. The relationships between traditional design education and digital design education are found in three ways: the digital design education replaces the traditional design education, the parallel application of both traditional and digital design paths or adopting digital design education later after traditional design education.