Search for a new metafunctional education pattern in basic design studios after the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

After the COVID-19 pandemic basic design studios given in the first year of architectural education in Turkey have undergone a new accelerating process based on using physical design techniques with digitalization. The current study proposes a new curriculum that integrates the ideational interpersonal and (con)textual metafunctions of language into basic design learning to facilitate the integration of physical and digital tools. It was applied in the first semester of the basic design curriculum through face-to-face education. At the end of the term we surveyed first-year students to learn about the positive and negative aspects of making designs in physical and digital environments. The results demonstrated that they are undecided and have some hesitations in representing their design ideas physically while they are relatively confident of the advantages of designing in the digital environment. However although 3D representation has become easier with the use of digital tools and students’ digital representation skills have improved it has also been observed that students’ perceptions and understanding of 3D and spatiality have not improved at the same rate. © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.