Abstract
With increasing urbanization, ecological and environmental problems have increased, affecting a large number of people. Landscape architecture and other design disciplines can play an important role in improving the well-being of urban dwellers and restoring ecological problems. With nature and ecological issues in mind, design education can be shaped to raise the ethical awareness of design students to become more socially and environmentally responsible designers through climate-sensitive design approaches. It is vital to create a ‘sustainable’ design awareness in students who will be working in the professional world where they will have a significant impact on protecting/destroying the delicate balance of the ecosystem in which we live. This paper discusses the role of design education in raising awareness of climate-sensitive design approaches by analyzing the course “An Introduction to Contemporary Architectural Landscaping”. This course teaches the fundamentals of landscape design, with a particular focus on topics such as climate-sensitive design, sustainability, ecological restoration, and carbon footprint. Finally, students develop design projects that aim to reduce the carbon footprint of given sites using sustainable design approaches. By analyzing the structure and outcomes of this course, this paper highlights two key findings. First, the discussion of ecological problems and solution techniques as well as the ethical responsibility of designers enhances students’ awareness of being more socially and environmentally responsible designers. Second, instead of fictional projects, places with existing ecological problems that can be experienced in daily life arouse students’ interest in developing ecological and sustainable design solutions for these places.
Presenters
Ipek Kastas-UzunAssistant Professor, Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Izmir, Turkey
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Design Education, Climate-Sensitive Design, Landscape Design, Carbon Footprint, Sustainable Design
