Since the opening of the first school in the 17th century in France, Architectural Education has been the subject of several discussions that became more controversial as design studios became more prevalent. Today, the theme is current and topical in Europe, with the adaptation of many schools to the Bologna Process. During the Enlightenment, architecture, along with other disciplines, followed the sciences by replacing an epistemological validation of the discipline – initially anchored in the domain of the transcendental, and later seeking out a design methodology that built on the Vitruvian axiom architectura est sciencia, which guided the teaching of architecture until the crises of rationalist thought and the transformation of the understanding of absolute science. The recognition of the absence of absolute reference systems, as offered by classical and modernist architecture, and the neglect of universally valid methods, led to the valorisation of the process of architecture – rather than the classical theorisation based in a more static, object based discourse. This represented a turn in reasoning that moved away from the metaphysical, epistemological and methodological, and towards a reliance on the process of making. Our goal is to reflect upon the nature of the contemporary process of teaching/learning in design studios, namely: Innovative curriculum structures; Education of an architect – goals and agendas; The design review / critique; Relationship between teaching practice and theory /research; New methodologies, strategies and practices; Live projects and critical pedagogies; Architectural education in an expanding field.

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