Making the Past Present in the Future: The Design Process as Applied History

Abstract

This paper discusses approaches to and methods for the teaching of history within the context of design learning in landscape architecture. It looks at the reasons why we teach history and examines in particular the theoretical basis for the value of using prototypes or solution types as a way of informing creativity. Questions as to what history we should teach and how we should teach it are raised in the context of the educational goal of demystifying the design process. Pragmatic issues of student assessment are used as a way of illustrating pedagogical attitudes and suggesting how we might use the concept of prototypes in psychology to think anew about the curriculum.