Is the purpose of architectural education to produce architects? Yes. The current 5 year program is mandated to follows the curriculum constructed by the Korea Architectural Accrediting Board (KAAB). The articles of association state the purpose of the institution as ‘to produce experts with basic knowledge and skills required for architects.’
Do the graduates of the School of Architecture become architects? No. For the last 5 years, average of less than 500 people passed Architects Qualifying Examination, which is 20% of the number of graduates graduating architecture school each year. Only few graduates become architects, while others go into different fields ‘related’ to architecture.
There is no reason to mourn the current situation. That diverse fields are closely intertwined through the network of graduates, thereby allowing flexible flow of information and practice, is desirable for the industry to develop.
Rather, with such big chasm between the reality and the aim of the education, the current goal of architectural education needs to be reassessed. Beyond producing architects, the program should aim to nurture experts needed in the ‘whole’ process of creating architecture; to educate specialists that ‘construct and conduct, maintain and manage, re-evaluate and research, plan and design cities and the architectural environment,’
Architectural design studio is crucial to realizing the above goal; for it is in this form of education that one learns to handle multifaceted set of knowledge and skills, of planning and designing, of material and detail, and of re-evaluation and research.
Three suggestions can be made to strengthen the virtues of this particular form.
1) The architectural design studio needs an integrated education, drawing from vast fields that constitute the body of school of architecture, such as that of architectural history, theories, city, structure, and environment.
2) The studio also should with fields outside of architecture. New practices are born out when the knowledge and from outside fields, such as engineering, humanities, and art, meet and mix within Architecture.
3) The studio should serve as the medium to connect the separated areas of engineering and design.
The above will allow students, especially underclassmen, to experience broader and more thorough understanding of architecture in order to conduct upperclassmen studios with more versatile perspectives and focus. The general program will serve as the medium to connect not only the separated areas of engineering and design, but of other schools of knowledge and will help students to explore their specific talents and interests.
Additionally, two suggestions can be made to reform the current curriculum to better accommodate such integrated study.
1) 4 year based bachelor’s degree + 2 year based specialized course: Undergraduates receive 4 year program of integrated education encompassing both engineering and design. After deciding on the specific major, they proceed to graduate school where they receive 2 year of intensive courses.
2) 2+3 undergraduate program: Underclassmen receive education that includes both engineering and design and upperclassmen receive specialized courses within the 5 year program.
From the ancient times to the contemporary society, building architecture and shaping cities was something beyond mere construction or design, but was a communication process between conflicting groups, sharing of vision and values of communities, seeking out new materials and researching creative methods, and reflecting on the society and the history. Imhotep of Egypt, Vitruvius of Rome, Kim Dae-sung of Silla, and Brunelleschi of Firenze; architects have been the conductor of the orchestra of various fields and it is the duty and the aim of our education to continue the role.