Emotional phenomena and the student–instructor relationships

Design studio—the axis of architectural and landscape-architecture education, has also been viewed as a paradigmatic model for future education in other professions. As such, understanding it thoroughly may be valuable far beyond professional considerations. Existing research presents evidence on the complex and ambiguous nature of the studio, intensified due to the uniqueness inherent in design problems and the creative process. The primary educational method of the studio is the ‘desk critic’. It is affected, inter alia, by the relationship between the instructor and the student. However, this facet has been discussed relatively infrequently in published studies. Based on the working hypothesis that one of the factors that make the student–instructor relationship very influential is its emotional dimension, this paper presents results of an ongoing research into the emotional experiences of students and instructors. In our research sixteen interviewees (at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion, IIT) reported on more than 40 emotional events. They provided evidence that emotional phenomena are part of studio interaction, and agreed that these phenomena influence the educational process. Further analysis of the interviews applied a general research model of emotions (based on current psychological and philosophical approaches). Results suggest that both students and instructors experience different emotions of different intensities. The paper presents examples and analysis of the emotional events described by interviewees.