The Visual Language of Technique: Volume 3 - Heritage and Expectations in Education

180 Pages·2015·7.714 MB·

by  Luigi Cocchiarella (eds.)

Luigi Cocchiarella Editor
The Visual
Language
of Technique
Volume 3
Heritage and Expectations
in Education
The Visual Language of Technique
Luigi Cocchiarella
Editor
The Visual Language
of Technique
–
Volume 3 Heritage and Expectations
in Education
123
Editor
LuigiCocchiarella
Department of Architectureand
Urban Studies
Politecnico diMilano
Milan
Italy
ISBN 978-3-319-05325-7 ISBN 978-3-319-05326-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05326-4
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Forewords
Introduction
The title of the seminar is very challenging since putting together Education and
Visual Languages is a very interesting topic, surely very broad and interdisciplin-
ary. An initiative like this international seminar, discussing different approaches to
the use of images in research, is important because it provides new insights into
researchersworkinginthisarea.ThethemeintriguesthePh.D.candidatesattending
the seminar, who are from different fields of research. The School of Doctoral
Programmes in Politecnico di Milano covers different subjects in the area of
Engineering, Architecture and Design, and the topics related to visualization are
being studied in Ph.D. theses in different domains, as some of the inter-doctoral
courses organized for the candidates have been focusing on this theme.
The seminar also gives an opportunity to discuss the general issue of how
teachingandlearningwithinPh.D.programmesshouldbeperformed.Thisthemeis
important and also under discussion since the establishment of Ph.D. studies for-
malized as a third level of education, in the Bologna process, after bachelor and
masterleveldegrees,anditisdefinedasaneducationalpathwithfocusonresearch
as a way to provide the doctoral candidates with higher level training. Ph.D. can-
didatesareconsidered earlystageresearchersandPh.D. trainingismainlythrough
research.
However, the implementation of this educational path in relation to all the
possible educational activities that can be offered to candidates is still under dis-
cussion. In fact, depending on the country and the institution there are different
approaches with a variety of possibilities, ranging from formal instructions orga-
nizedbyPh.D.schools,i.e.nationalorEuropean-levelinitiativessuchascoursesor
summer schools, to individual tutoring by one professor. Politecnico di Milano,
over the last few years has offered formal courses at the Ph.D. level for Ph.D.
candidates, to complement the research activity developed on an individual path
under the guidance of a supervisor. Among these courses, several have been
devotedtothethemeofvisualization,addressedtoPh.D.candidatesfromdifferent
areas pertaining to architecture, design and engineering.
v
vi Forewords
The international speakers in the seminar give us also the chance to discuss the
ongoing changes, educational approaches and opportunities for the future. The
seminarcanprovidearichandfruitfulcontextfordiscussionsontheuseofimages
and visualization in research and Ph.D. level education.
Milan, July 2013 Barbara Pernici
Head of the School of Doctoral Programmes
Politecnico di Milano
Visual Language in Technical Universities Curricula
First ofall, I would like toexpress mythanks to Luigi Cocchiarella for organizing
this important seminar on the topic of the visual language of technique, which is
highly significant for both our School and Politecnico di Milano, especially in this
period. I would also like to thank all of the invited lecturers, first of all the col-
leagues Kenjiro Suzuki from The University of Tokyo, Cornelie Leopold from
Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Ema Jurkin from the University of Zagreb
andTedBranofffromNorthCarolinaStateUniversity.Andofcourse,thankstoall
ofthecolleaguesfromPolitecnicodiMilano,whoaretakingpartintheconference
today.
The visual language of technique between science and art: heritage and
expectationsinresearchandteachingisanextremelyimportanttopic,asIalready
mentioned,especiallyforaschoolofarchitecture.Nowadays,theproblemofvisual
languageisabsolutelycrucialforteachingandlearningarchitecturesincewearein
themiddleofanimportantrevolution,duetothegrowingimportanceoftheInternet
andthenewpowerfultoolsrelatedtothedigitalsoftwareandsystemsthatareatour
disposal. It is essential to mention that even though this digital revolution is fairly
new to our educational environment, it is has already managed to alter it in a
sensible way. For that reason, it is necessary to deeply think over the question
concerning the process of teaching architecture in the context of this new reality.
Therefore, I will try to set a short list of problems and topics that we are going to
address today.
Firstofall,asthetitleofLuigisuggests,theideaoftheseminarisdiscussingthe
visual language of techniques, a significant part of which is drawing, which is
centraltoarchitectureaswell.Generally,drawingssignifytherelationshipbetween
hand, mind and paper. But nowadays paper is disappearing from our toolkit and
often from the toolkits of students as well. I remember that one of the most
important things for all the architects from my generation and the earlier genera-
tions was to choose the type of drawing pencil and the type of paper based on our
preferences,butnowadaysthisrealityisrapidlychangingforthestudents,whichis,
inspiteoftheappearance,animportantchange.Therefore,acrucialissueisthenew
relationshipbetween hand,mindanddigitaldrawingtools,whichhasnotyetbeen
well incorporated in our educational system, as clearly noticeable from the prob-
lems occurring during the design studio work. The process of acquiring skills
Forewords vii
during the first steps of education, if drawing by hand has to be taught at first and
digitaltoolshavetobeintroducedlateron,arethetypeofproblemsthatprofessors
in architectural design have to deal with on a daily basis in the design studios.
Another important problem I would like to discuss is the issue of Internet,
speaking not only about the ability to access a lot of information on every sort of
topic, but most of all about the quality of this information, including visual
information. In the field of architecture, it is particularly difficult to find out
informationbecauseofthequantityofnotsowellselectedimagesthatstudentscan
see on the Internet and then use in their work.
Mass media have also an essential role in the development of architectural
culture, which is not an obstacle but an enormous opportunity, as they involve
critique and teaching of history and theory of architecture.
Furthermore, there is an ongoing evolution of the kind of spaces we inhabit
insidetheschool.Roomsandequipmentarechanging,theplacesinwhichweteach
and the spaces in which students can study and use the new tools are changing as
well.Ithinkthatwearegoingtodealwiththismatteralsointhefuture,andthatit
willbeinterestingtotrytodevelopanapproachthatconsidersstudiesandservices
for education in both engineering and architecture.
Another problem that is in relation to visual language and I would like to
underline, istheissueof thefundamentals ofdrawing, geometry and mathematics,
that are all involved, either in traditional or in new education, then should be
considered as well.
I would like to welcome you again and wish you a productive day.
Milan, July 2013 Ilaria Pamela Simonetta Valente
Head of the School of Architettura e Società
Politecnico di Milano
Preface
Thisisthethirdandlastvolumeintheseriesinspiredbythecycleofthreeseminars
connectedtothecelebrationsofthe150thanniversaryofthePolitecnicodiMilano
on The Visual Language of Technique Between Science and Art: Heritage and
ExpectationsinResearchandTeachingfocusedonHistoryandEpistemology(May
2013), Research (June 2013), Education (July 2013), showing the contributions to
the third meeting, focusing on the use of the image in education.
As theprevioustwo books, thevolume includes two Forewords, written bythe
Director of the Ph.D. School and by the Dean of the School of Architettura e
Società of the Politecnico di Milano, emphasizing on the crucial role of visual
representation in the Engineering, Architecture and Design curricula. The topic is
approachedinPartI,throughashortintroduction,aninterviewwithPieroAngela,
father of the Italian science journalism, and an introductory essay. The following
essays included in Part II concern the invited international lecturers’ contributions
on graphic education, on its tradition and its present and prospective innovations.
Part III includes talks related to the poster session Images in Research, where
students, Ph.D. students, graduates and teachers of the Politecnico discuss their
experiences andproposalsaboutthegraphiceducationintheuniversity,aswell as
its connections with the Secondary School and with the Professional world. The
TentativeAfterword,proposesareportbasedonthediscussionrelatedtotheRound
Table, while Hearing from the Future collects the opinions of some interviewed
students enrolled in our University.
Thebookisrecommendedtoscholars,teachers,studentsandtoallthosepeople
who are interested in the intriguing point of enhancing education in the field of
visual representation in relation to Engineering, Architecture and Design. More
about the cycle of seminars can be found at: http://www.150.polimi.it.
I would like to thoroughly thank all the invited lecturers and speakers, for their
inspiringcontributionsandfortheessaysincludedinthisvolume,togetherwithall
those students, colleagues and friends who have attended the seminar and partici-
pated in the discussion, and Prof. Federico Brunetti also for the photographic
records of the event. Thanks to my students Mihai Dragos Potra for recording the
students’ interviews, Violeta Popova, Pavlina Malinova, Caterina Scalzo, for
ix
x Preface
helping me in transcribing, translating and formatting the published materials,
Kostiantyn Komarovskyi, Ksenia Philippova and again Caterina Scalzo for
redrawingand/ormodifyingsomeoftheimagesincludedinthebook.Mygratitude
goesmywife,FrancescaScherillo,forherpresenceandhelp,andforthemanywise
advices. Finally, I would like to express my thanks to the School of Architettura e
Società,totheadministrativeandtechnicalstaffofthePolitecnicodiMilano,tothe
teamthathelpedmewiththeinterviewwithPieroAngela,video-recordedinRome
and to the Staff in charge for the 150th Celebrations.
Milan, March 2014 Luigi Cocchiarella
Theofficiallogoofthesesquicentennial SeminarLogo1
1(DesignedbytheAuthor.AssembledbytheCommunicationStaffofthePolitecnicodiMilano)
Contents
Part I Setting the Matter
Educating by Image. Teaching Styles vs Learning Styles. . . . . . . . . . . 3
Luigi Cocchiarella
Colloquium with Piero Angela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Luigi Cocchiarella
How Internet Changes Universities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Alfonso Fuggetta
Part II Visual Language in Education: Between Theory
and Experiences
Graphics Literacy Education at the University of Tokyo. . . . . . . . . . . 23
Kenjiro Suzuki
Visual Representations for Spatial Thinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Cornelie Leopold
Introducing 3D Modeling into Geometry Education
at Technical Colleges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Sonja Gorjanc and Ema Jurkin
The Role of the Image in Engineering and Technical
Graphics Education: Through a Lens of Cultural-Historical
Learning Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Ted Branoff
xi