To play = To inhabit: Chess workshop as an analogy for the perfect design method

Abstract

Teaching architecture, combined with scientific research and an active professional internship, enable a wide, rich vision of the architectural training process at a time of values and identity crisis in the profession in Colombia and Latin America. An academic proposal is presented in which a reflexive design workshop was developed and validated that emphasizes the design method before the assessment of the final product. The proposal takes into account multiple factors of curricular integration and favors meta-learning and meta- knowledge processes where the teacher’s role motivates, guides and promotes an active position on the part of the students towards the thinking and planning processes prior to any design process. This workshop, known as “Chess Test,” is the ongoing result of seven years of analysis, research and academic laboratory sessions carried out in different university settings at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The project can be replicated in other design disciplines through a flexible structure in relation to time management, the material resources available, and the scope of the results and products. Accordingly, the workshop has always met its general objective: to strengthen the notion of research as a tenet and foundation of the creation and design processes. From 2015 to 2019 the workshop was implemented at four universities and its impact was monitored. The results demonstrate significant improvement in student achievement in the design discipline and also enabled relevant findings regarding the various levels of training in architecture, from the first- year undergraduate level to postgraduate specialization and master ́s degrees in design. The chess test motivated many students ́ deep, relevant reflections on their own personal responsibility and their projection in the professional environment. Additionally, it left as its legacy a magnificent collection of chess sets as a byproduct.