Educating architecture students to design buildings from the inside out – Experiences from an research-based design studio

In this paper we describe a multi-faceted approach of introducing a user-centred perspective into the architectural design studio, drawing expertise from cognitive and environmental psychology, computational approaches in (generative) architectural design as well as space syntax. The one-semester design studio was combined with a theory seminar, excursions and workshops in order to familiarize architecture students with research-based design and to a) better understand the relationship between architecture (form) and its use (function) and b) open up new possibilities for design based on research results. A structured course evaluation with questionnaires was conducted to identify to what extent the course influenced how students judge, understand, and design architecture. Based on the outcomes of the questionnaire, we draw conclusions for further “research-based” design education.