Active Experience Model in Architectural EducationA Method to Gain Practical Knowledge through Design-Oriented Experience of Architectural Examples

Architecture experience is among educational strategies widely used in architectural teaching. One area wherein this strategy can be adopted is the gaining of practical knowledge of design, since observing architectural works has a major impact on improving the mental skills of an architect which would come to use later in the creation of architectural works. Experience of architectural examples with such a design-oriented approach would prove effective in promoting the practical knowledge of an architect in the design phase when the cognitive impacts and visual perceptions of that experience come to use as mental preconceptions in the visualization process. This essay aims to introduce a solution that would make such quality experience possible. The proposed solution is described as the “active experience model.” The research findings, which are based on the logical analysis of data from library sources, demonstrate the fact that a quality architecture experience would include the successful completion of verbal attention and visual processing. These two stages are pillars of the “active experience model” whose effectiveness was evaluated through a field study involving several students from the Art and Architecture Faculty at Yazd University. The results prove that the relationship between successful active experience and both the quantity and quality of retrieving visual information perceived during that experience is statistically significant in comparison to simple observing.