Design Studio Pedagogy: Horizons for the Future
Ashraf M. Salama, Nicholas Wilkinson, editors (2007)
ISBN: 1-872811-09-04
The Urban International Press
P.O. Box 74 Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, NE9 5UZ, United Kingdom
For more information, contact Carol Nicholson carol.nicholson@ribaenterprises.com
Excerpts from the Review by Nikos A. Salingaros This is a collection of essays by twenty-six authors, collected into thematic sections, with an introduction to each section written by the editors (who also contribute their own individual essays for this book). Ashraf Salama is well known in Architectural Education from his important but unjustly neglected book “New Trends in Architectural Education: Designing the Design Studio” (1995). The keynote essays in this volume are written by N. John Habraken and by Henry Sanoff, two individuals of international prominence. This book attempts to re-orient architectural education away from an oftentimes non-adaptive studio method. Actually, the criticism is for the specific studio method instituted in the Bauhaus by Walter Gropius, then applied throughout the world after that radical break with the Beaux-Arts method of education. As accurately expressed in the introductory essay by Salama and Wilkinson: “Research indicates that designers in academia still distance themselves from the real world, still barricade themselves from real human problems, while missing the opportunity to learn from the richness and depth of human experience.” (Page 4). The reviewer agrees totally with this statement, and applauds the aim of bringing together these essays in an effort to find new directions for architectural education………." "…………The authors of this book’s essays have all tried innovative methods of teaching architecture, and present their experiences here. All of these are valuable lessons for reform. Due to the large number of contributors, the results touch a variety of topics, and some are more interesting (to the reviewer) than others. That is inevitable, since suggestions and experiments at reforming the studio go in many different directions. Nevertheless, the great advantage of this book is its geographical span: a worldwide participation that breaks out of the usual US-dominated discussion of such matters. Those who participate in the US architectural arena, and those whose images of cutting-edge architecture are narrowly defined by the fashion of the moment, tend to forget that the vast majority of building is carried out elsewhere in the world. It is gratifying to see true innovation triggered by professionals and educators who are truly rooted in the rest of the world. There has to be a mutual respect to genuinely affect any degree of change in the way we perceive built form. One of the best ways to begin this is to reach out globally in this evolution. The entire world’s architectural heritage provides the basis for a return to real architecture: we need to harness a person’s sense of self, identity, and place through innovations in architectural studio pedagogy. …….""…………Finally, the efforts of the editors are to be warmly applauded, in trying to tie together all the disparate essays into a coherent book. This book is recommended to all who actually teach architecture, and to those who would like to see today’s architecture graduates able to design more adaptive buildings………………." ------------------------------------------------------
Nikos A. Salingaros, Professor of Mathematics, University of Texas-San Antonio, USA, Theorist in Architecture and Urbanism, among his valuable contributions are the three books:Anti-Architecture and Deconstruction, Principles of Urban Structure, and A Theory of Architecture.
Special Issue
Volume 32 No.4 - December 2007 ISSN 0168-2601OPEN HOUSE INTERNATIONAL OHI
Academic Blind Refereed JournalEcolodges and Eco-Tourism:Sustainable Planning and Design for Environmentally Friendly Tourist FacilitiesGuest Editor:Ashraf M. SalamaOHI Website http://www.openhouse-int.com/Adrere Amellal Resort, Siwa, EgyptPhoto: Ragaei S. Abdelfattah (2000)Excerpts from the editorial by Ashraf SalamaWhatever the Name is, the Concern is for People and EnvironmentsIncreasingly, people are abandoning traditional vacation for a new type of tourism that gives them the sense of nature. Trekking in mountains, bird watching, archaeological digs, desert and photo safaris, scuba diving are some new types of vacation that attract tourists to travel to relatively remote and unspoiled areas. This type of travel is referred to as nature-based travel, ecotourism, or environmentally sustainable tourism. These terms are used interchangeably to reflect the latest trend in travel industry, a newly emerged type of tourism that combines preserving natural environments and sustaining the well being of human cultures that inhabit those environments. The generic concept of environmentally sustainable tourism has emerged in parallel to the realization of the potential benefits in combining people interest in nature with their concern for the environment. It is a responsible way of travel; an alternative to traditional travel, but it is not for everyone. It appeals to people who love nature and indigenous cultures. It allows those people to enjoy an attraction or a locality and ensures that local cultures and environments are unimpaired. As environmentally sustainable tourism industry expands world-wide, well planned, ecologically sensitive facilities are in high demand that can be met with ecolodges: small scale facilities that provide tourists with the opportunity of being in close contact with nature and local culture.
In response to this theme, research papers in this issue of Open House International explore sustainable planning and design for tourism by debating, analyzing, and visioning a wide spectrum of issues, with a focus on the developments taking place in biologically sensitive areas, whether desert, forest, tropical coasts, or rural environments. Interestingly, they cover the planet earth from Australia through the Arab World and Turkey to Argentina and Chile. An important shared aspect in these papers is that emphasis is placed upon integrating people, nature, and local economy into responsive development processes while offering lessons on how such an integration may take place. CONTENTS:
Editorial: Ashraf M. Salama
Whatever the Name is, the Concern is for People and Environments
Ahmet Eyüce
Learning from the Vernacular: Sustainable Planning and Design
Zbigniew Bromberek
Eco-resorts in Tropical Coasts: Design and Comfort
Rodrigo García Alvarado, Maureen Trebilcock, and Hernán Ascui
Experiencing the Flows of Nature
Ceridwen Owen
Regenerative Tourism: A Case Study of the Resort Town Yulara, Australia
Ashraf M. Salama
A Charette Process for Designing an Eco-lodge in Al Qula'an, Red Sea, Egypt
Aziza Chaouni
Desert Eco-tourism: Investigating Eco-lodges in the Sahara
Yasser Mahgoub
Towards Sustainable Desert Eco-Tourism in Kuwait: Learning from the Regional Experience
Luciana Repiso, Natalia Ravegnini, and Emma Puch Sleive
Sustainable Design in Heritage Sites: An Archaeological Park in Argentina
Sedef Altun, Gülin Beyhan, and Recep Esengil
Sustainable Rural Tourism in Akseki Sarihacilar Village, Turkey.
Ozlem Olgac Turker and Ozgur Dincyurek
Sustainable Tourism as an Alternative to Mass Tourism Developments of Bafra, North Cyprus_____________________________________________________________________________
Architecture-Urbanism is dedicated to a) those who are interested in creating livable and sustainable environments and buildings that meet socio-cultural and socio-behavioral needs of people, environments that are responsive to historical, traditional and physical constraints, b) to those who are interested in finding panacea for the ills of our globalized world, and c) to those who are interested in regaining what cultures and societies have lost by the acts of architects.
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Design Studio Pedagogy: 
