Abstract

In architectural education, transitioning from academia to the professional world can often lead to formal standardization, diminishing autonomy and originality in design tasks. To tackle this challenge, a pedagogical approach is proposed in the first year of the program, bridging students' prior knowledge with new insights. Through exercises employing natural materials, students are immersed in design experiences reminiscent of their early childhood years. This aims to stimulate creativity and alleviate the initial pressure of spatial configuration. Qualitative analysis tested the pedagogy, confirming the role of prior knowledge in their initial academic design endeavors. It bolstered confidence in their decisions and facilitated an intuitive grasp of structural and constructive criteria, thereby reinforcing autonomy and originality.