Teaching practices in architectural technology courses. An experiment and future perspectives in the Italian context

Abstract

[EN] Architectural technology is a subject in constant evolution due to the specificity of territorial production, which is increasingly becoming more global. The constant change in the way of doing architecture requires the transmission of knowledge and skills that see an ever-greater weight in the acquisition of soft skills rather than hard skills, especially in terms of development of critical thinking by students, thus enabled to face situations with new complexities (which pose new challenges) at the end of their learning course. The paper aims to present the innovative teaching methodologies experimented in the last years within the course of architectural technology in the five years degree in Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome. It includes considerations regarding the classroom vs. online learning, experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown phases, considering the results of a survey that collected 158 students’ views. The creation of an active learning environment could support the preparation of professional figures and architects able to manage emerging challenges, adapt to future modalities, and make use of information and communication technologies, that are rapidly changing, especially after the unexpected shift caused by the pandemic phase.