Architectural Education: Training or Mentoring? Reflections on the Mission of Architectural Teachers

Abstract

The increased pace of contemporary life also compels architectural education to achieve rapid results. Teachers of architecture are therefore under constant pressure to reduce training time and increase their efficiency. The main question treated in this paper is whether architectural education is a training process or more of a mentoring nature. Can the architectural teacher be given a time-bound specific assignment, as is the case in some other disciplines? This paper enumerates the differences between pure training and mentoring in architectural education. Referring to existing literature and didactic reasoning, the authors claim that architectural education is essentially of a mentoring nature. A meaningful education of architecture thus requires adequate time spent in the design workshop; and consequently it is not possible to offer such education in a rapid condensed format. Otherwise, yielding to the requirements of contemporary call for speed, will lead to a distorted education of young architects.