Pulling It Together: A Pre-Comprehensive First-Year Project

Abstract

In an effort to overcome a deficit in basic drawing, making and critical thinking skills that typify many students educational experience in the Middle East prior to entering design school, a four week project for first-year design students was developed to address the ideal mental condition described by John Dewey in How We Think. The project, Micro-Hybrid, was designed for students coming from an educational system where knowledge is often compartmentalized and memorization and recall seem to be the primary aim. The intention of the Micro-Hybrid was to provide an early opportunity to integrate the diverse skills required for an informed design process. This was accomplished by creating a final design project that drew directly on the semesters previous design exercises. The paper will outline how the Micro-Hybrid project is a means to analyze, explore, integrate and produce a product that acts as a veritable microcosm of a true design experience independent of discipline.