Open Building and its Implementation in Architectural Education: from Reality and Practice to Pedagogy

The open buildings movement was one of the important architectural movements in the late 20th century. Open buildings have significantly contributed to the criticism of modernism and promoted sustainable architecture. However, the teaching concepts and methodology of open buildings still need to be integrated into traditional architectural design methods. In this work, a design course is introduced and analyzed on the basis of a joint teaching program with three universities in China. This study aims to demonstrate a set of teaching methodologies for students to experience the concepts of stability and mobility in design. The study first introduces the objectives, contents, and sequential process of the course. Then, an evaluation framework is introduced to this design course. The paper analyzes how the pedagogy of the course is deeply rooted in theories, practices, and precedents of teaching methods in the field of open buildings. Finally, the significance of changing architectural design courses and the potential for improvement are highlighted.