Iterative Approaches To Planning and Strategizing: Learning From The Architectural Studio Model

This paper investigates linear and non-linear strategies for organizing and planning, and explores how these strategies correlate to both higher education and architectural education. The study reveals that the strategies for planning and designing typically employed in the field of architecture reflect the sort of non-linear, iterative, and synthesizing processes scholars recommend universities use to improve the effectiveness of strategic planning (Birnbaum, 1988; Cutright, 2001; Presley & Leslie, 1999; Rowley, Lujan, & Dolence, 1998; Swenk, 2001). Opportunities abound for using design processes to enhance various institutional operations as explored in Proposal for using a studio format to enhance institutional advancement (Chance, 2008) and Assessing university strategic plans: A tool for consideration (Chance & Williams, in press). An overarching theme is that the architectural design studio provides an optimal example of (a) how to use iterative processes in planning and (b) how to teach holistic, critical thinking to students. This particular paper focuses on using iterative design strategies to enhance formal planning processes.