Collaborative Beginnings: Developing Collaboration Skills In An Interdisciplinary Design Seminar
Abstract
This paper and presentation will discuss the development of an interdisciplinary design collaboration seminar at the University of Massachusetts Amherst that included both architecture and landscape architecture students. The seminar was developed concurrently with field research conducted with leading design practitioners on the topic of collaboration in their practice. Themes that were important to design projects featuring architect-landscape architect collaborative teams led to particular seminar modules and exercises. The paper analyzes data from two years of student course evaluations and from design studio faculty feedback, and considers the impact of intentional skill-building in collaborative practices on beginning designers in their first interdisciplinary design studio.