"Material !Ndeed" Workshop Series as a Hyper-Focus Niche at the Intersection of Material Selection and Architectural Design Tools

This study examines the "Material !ndeed" workshop series held during the summer semesters of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 at Özyeğin University's Faculty of Architecture and Design. This research assesses the efficacy of "hyper-focused learning," which prioritizes intensive study on a single topic, compared to "hypo-focused learning," which encompasses multiple topics within the same academic semester. The principal objective is to equip architecture undergraduate students with a comprehensive understanding of architectural sub-specialties through a hyper-focused learning approach. The workshops are designed to enhance students' research skills and ability to apply obtained knowledge to various design fields. The workshops offer a complementary learning experience that strengthens their knowledge generation and sharing skills with peer learning. The Material Indeed workshops are configured as a ten-day practice with the participation of fifteen to thirty students, focusing on systematic material selection methods, building components, elements, and conceptual design processes. The initial workshop served as a pilot study, while the second workshop was designed to facilitate the transfer of scientific knowledge to practical applications regarding pilot study results. During the second workshop, students commence seminars on building materials and representational tools, after which they undertake tasks to research and represent the various properties of building materials employed in exterior wall systems. They conduct tectonic analyses of built examples and develop 1/10 scale exterior wall models, synthesizing their findings into the design process. The workshop methodology is based on Kolb's learning process, which combines passive learning through seminars, active learning through research, and experiential learning through model-making. The study evaluates the impact of the workshops on design education, the hyper-focused learning approach, and the educational methods used. A questionnaire applied to participants led to the formulation of a discussion on the potential of hyper-focused learning, intending to improve the quality of design education.