Abstract:
This paper will assess Studio 19, the design-build-document studio offered at the Unitec New
Zealand School of Architecture in Auckland, New Zealand, for the past four years. It will begin
with a brief history of 'building' in architecture. It will then shift to a discussion of design/build
studios in general, focusing on their pedagogical outcomes. These include: enabling a design
process that engages the entire body, promoting a sense of social responsibility in future
architects, the acquisition of specialized skills, and learning to work in groups. The paper will then
discuss the difficulties, from an institutional perspective, of running a design-document-build
studio. These include the difficulty of finding passionate educators with a highly specialized skill
set, fitting the studio into an existing curriculum, and funding the studio. Finally, the paper will
suggest some possible ways in which pedagogical outcomes might be more consistently achieved
and the difficulties of offering the studio might be minimized.
