Volume 36, Issue 3 (2026)                   IJAUP 2026, 36(3) | Back to browse issues page

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Simoni P, Hafezi S. A Process-Generating Framework for Curriculum Planning in Architectural Foundation Studio; Devising a Morphological Matrix at the Iran University of Art. IJAUP 2026; 36 (3)
URL: http://ijaup.iust.ac.ir/article-1-965-en.html
A Process-Generating Framework for Curriculum Planning in Architectural Foundation Studio; Devising a Morphological Matrix at the Iran University of Art
Punik Simoni *1 , Sara Hafezi2
1- Iran University of Art, Tehran, Iran , p.simoni@art.ac.ir
2- Strategic Planner, AtB AS, Strategic Section, Planning Department, Trondheim, Norway
Abstract:  
Architectural foundation studios operate within complex educational environments where curriculum planning must reconcile disciplinary traditions, institutional priorities, professional expectations, and rapidly evolving societal and technological conditions. Although previous research has substantially advanced studio pedagogy, competency development, and first-year architectural education, transferable frameworks that systematically support curriculum generation, planning, and evaluation remain limited. Addressing this gap, this study develops a process-generating framework for architectural foundation studio curriculum design. A qualitative hybrid methodology, combining conceptual framework development and educational action research, was adopted and demonstrated through the first-year architecture program at the Iran University of Art as a locally grounded case. The proposed workflow comprises five phases: context mapping; identification and validation of curriculum criteria through cross-domain triangulation and expert consensus; operationalization of the criteria into educational purposes, methods, and cases; modeling through a three-dimensional morphological matrix; and demonstration through application within the studio curriculum. The study identifies seven core curriculum criteria—arts, senses, attachment, design domains, volumetric languages, skills, and approaches—and demonstrates how they can be systematically translated into coherent, adaptable, and context-responsive semester programs. Rather than prescribing a fixed curriculum or promoting a particular pedagogical philosophy, the proposed framework provides a transparent decision-support methodology for generating and refining architectural foundation studio curricula. Its principal contribution is a transferable methodological workflow that explicitly distinguishes between a general curriculum-generation framework and its case-specific implementation, bridging curriculum theory and the practical planning requirements of architectural education while remaining adaptable to diverse institutional and cultural contexts.
 
Keywords: Architectural education, Conceptual framework, Process generating framework, First year studio, Iran University of Art.
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Type of Study: Research Paper | Subject: Architecture
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