An interdisciplinary approach to architecture education: A research on student experience in municipal logo contests

Abstract

Architecture is a discipline that combines aesthetics and function with many disciplines. With the digitalization of design education, the field of digital design is gaining more and more importance and plays an important role in design education. The digital design studio, which is included in architectural education, is a studio course in which students are taught professional branding. Within the scope of this course, students are taught portfolio, corporate identity logo monogram designs and various presentation techniques. This article is based on a study that examined the participation of architecture students in municipal logo competitions during the digital design studio course. The aim of the article is to reveal the educational values of the participation of architecture students in municipal logo competitions. The research is based on qualitative research methods. The study analyzed data from online interviews to understand students’ experiences. In the study, various software trainings were given to the students and a municipality logo competition was chosen to put them into practice. Students participated in this competition by making logo designs and their experiences during the competition were examined. According to the results of the study, it was observed that the in-class motivation of the architecture students increased with this study and the students’ creativity, real world experience, design skills and the ability to use the program increased. This study also supports the fact that elective computer courses given in architectural education contribute to architectural education and that universities should include computer elective courses in their undergraduate architecture curricula.