A educação no projeto e o projeto na educação: um estudo sobre o ensino e a aprendizagem de projeto na arquitetura

Abstract

This research deals with the teaching and learning components of architectural design. Designing means engaging in a process in which the solutions for a given design problem are articulated through the process itself with no correct answers or tracks to be followed a priori. Therefore, the teaching and learning of Design becomes aformidable challenge. This challenge frames this research, which aims at investigating this process to reach the comprehension of the underlying actions that promote and facilitate it. Specifically, it investigates the role of drawing as a mediation artifact in the Design action by recognizing the relevance of visualization in other fields and knowledge areas such as the field of mathematics. With this intention, we looked for support in Mathematics Education. The dialogues that have been promoted and achieved between Mathematics Education and Designing transform this research into an interdisciplinary one. The theoretical perspectives of Situated Learning and of Activity Theory together with those from Design processes comprise the theoretical framework that underpins this investigation. This research was conducted by means of a qualitative methodologies framework. Two instruments of investigation were used: in-depth interviews with a group of Design teachers and direct observation of Design classes. The interviews were conducted with fifteen teachers of different amounts of experience in Design, who teach in three different Architecture and Urbanism degree programs in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. The classes that were object of observation were of a discipline that was offered during the second term of 2008, in the School of Architecture of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. The collected data were analyzed through the lens of Situated Learning and Activity Theory. The analysis revealed that the teaching and learning of Design is a collective and social construction. Inside this process, drawing is recognized because of its mediation role. This realization points to the recommendation that drawing be more explored in theclassrooms in many different fields of education, especially in Mathematics Education.