The Pedagogy of Place: A Practical Approach to Engaging with Urban Design Lessons beyond the Studio

By integrating abstract and experiential methods to study the city, the pedagogic framework of this paper includes a series of teaching, learning and assessment methods that link phenomenological place theory with evidence-based activities for place-making in city spaces. Using a collaborative project involving undergraduate architecture and visual [graphic] communications students in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the paper discusses the project outcomes, evaluating some of the methods and the tools used to educate architects and designers to understand urban issues.

keywords: architecture, visual-communications, urban design, pedagogy, phenomenology, public space, place, placemaking, experiential learning, Belfast