Students’ Approach to Architectural Design in Developing Urban Areas: A Studio Experience
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In the context of urban development, this study looks at how third-year architecture students prioritize and incorporate site-specific elements into their design process. The study, which was carried out in an architectural design studio, focuses on a project in Istanbul’s rapidly growing Basak Neighborhood of the Basaksehir District. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used in this mixed-method study to both qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate students’ design proposals and their assessment of urban design criteria. The results show that students gave more weight to apparent physical characteristics—especially topography—than to socio-economic considerations like population density. The outcome reveals a weakness in architectural education: instead of using a multifaceted urban analysis, students frequently approach urban development areas from a form-driven perspective. Although they successfully integrate spatial features, their design choices demonstrate little consideration of more comprehensive contextual and policy frameworks. New development areas require integrated design strategies that strike a balance between physical site conditions and socio-economic and infrastructure concerns as metropolitan regions continue to be reshaped by peripheral urban growth. Cities’ rapid growth into their outskirts creates problems with accessibility, connectivity, and urban cohesion that call for a more thorough approach to design education. The study also emphasizes the benefits of structured decision-making tools, such as AHP, for teaching students to balance objective spatial analysis with subjective design intuition. Solution-oriented and conjecture-led processes were emphasized over conventional analysis-first frameworks in the design studio, which functioned as a testing ground. The findings imply that incorporating real-world data, participatory techniques, and multi-scalar analysis into design education may improve students’ capacity to handle urban complexity. Strengthening partnerships between academia, local governments, and urban planning agencies could enhance students’ ability to navigate complex urban dynamics, equipping them more effectively for professional practice in contemporary urban development.
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