Transformative Design Studio. Challenging the Didactic Assumptions of Polytechnic Schools Through the Lens of the Professional Role of Architects

If design teaching has always represented a foundational element in the polytechnic educational path, it has profoundly changed over the last three centuries in response to the evolution of contextual circumstances. By questioning the broader purposes of different pedagogical approaches, this chapter will address the issue of the crit by expanding the picture to the overall scope of design teaching. To this end, three landmarks in the history of architecture and engineering schools will be explored to contextualise the social status and expectations of teachers and future professionals regarding the broader social systems in which they operate. How much have today’s architecture schools inherited from these models? And to what extent are they representative of the current professional and social situation? As a contribution to the current debate, this chapter suggests that the “architect-entrepreneur” is a possible reference through which we can usefully rethink the designer’s profession and, accordingly, assess the design practices and models employed in architectural schools.