Architecture As Crystalized Pedagogy: Revealing The Potential Of Using Architecture As A Tool For Education | Masters Thesis On Fictional Architecture

Site Context

Phase 1: Aldo Rossi: A School of Tendenza (1990 – 1999)

The School was founded during a period of rapid urban development in the mid-1990s, characterized by the proliferation of residential and commercial construction. In 1990, Aldo Rossi was awarded the Pritzker Prize and appointed as the inaugural Chair Director of the School on Cockatoo Island.

As an educator, Rossi emphasized the importance of rigorous research focused on the analysis of the historical city. For him, teaching design was not merely a technical exercise but a collective, research-driven process grounded in scientific methods and architectural theory.

During this phase, the school took shape as a cluster of distinct buildings, including a lecture hall, classrooms, a library, a design workshop, a drawing office, and a gallery. In alignment with Rossi’s belief in the inseparability of theory and practice, a key structure was introduced along the campus’s main axis, linking its western and eastern sectors. This architectural gesture embodied his aesthetic vision and became a defining symbol of the school’s identity—reinforcing the integration of research, drawing, and design as central to its pedagogical mission.

Design Process

Phase 2: Metabolism: Out with the Old, In with the New (2000 – 2014)

At the turn of the 21st century, the School entered a transformative period marked by rapid technological advancement, which reshaped how architecture was conceived, constructed, and experienced. This era saw architecture increasingly positioned as a tool of urban management, with a focus on repurposing existing spaces to drive economic revitalization. The profession became dominated by efficient, cost-effective construction methods that responded to growing urban pressures.

Amid these shifts—and with the School’s expanding student and staff populations—there was a pressing need for both curricular innovation and significant physical expansion. In seeking a new direction, the School appointed its second Chair Director, turning to postwar countries that had faced similar challenges and developed groundbreaking architectural responses.

The Metabolist movement brought forward three central concepts for this new era: School as Infrastructure, School as Process, and Student as Contributor. These principles envisioned the School as a dynamic, evolving entity—an open framework where students actively shaped their environment through participation in live building projects.

A modular mass timber grid was introduced, extending from the original cluster of school buildings and expanding northward across the site. This structural system provided the foundation for flexible, student-led interventions. Among these was a proposal for working units designed by students, featuring large openings and foldable doors to support adaptable, collaborative use—embodying the School’s commitment to participatory design and continuous experimentation.

Final Outcome

Phase Three: Assemble: Making Things Happen (2015 – present)

For decades, the School has remained in a state of continuous transformation—through cycles of construction, replacement, and adaptation. By 2015, growing global challenges such as income inequality, economic instability, and the environmental impacts of capitalism had prompted widespread re-evaluation among economists, political theorists, and philosophers.

In that same year, the success of Assemble winning the Turner Prize, signaled a broader shift in architectural discourse—one that blurred the boundaries between art and everyday life. Their recognition reflected a growing movement toward socially conscious design and challenged the dominant view of architecture as a commodified product.

Under Assemble’s leadership, the School embraced these values, turning its focus toward reconstruction, reuse, and responsible design. Rather than expanding through new construction, the approach prioritized sustainability and minimal intervention. Only a few new structures were added, while most efforts involved repurposing and reconfiguring existing spaces to serve evolving educational needs.

The campus extended eastward onto the lawn, where a modest structure was introduced. This new addition carefully respected the character and function of the landscape, embodying Assemble’s ethos of working with rather than over existing environments. Through this phase, the School reinforced its role not only as a place of learning, but also as a platform for social engagement and environmental stewardship.

Conclusion: Ultimately, the School evolves as a living model of architectural education—shaped by research, participation, and social responsibility. Through each phase, it resists completion, embracing continuous change as a core value in both architecture and learning.

[This Academic Project has been published with text and images submitted by the student]