Amalgamating Sustainable Design Strategies into Architectural Curricula

In the era of climate change, rising sea levels, the hole in the ozone layer and current foodcrisis, sustainability is no longer a matter of choice; it is a must. While the term sustainability managesto embed itself in all aspects of contemporary life, sustainability in the built environment requiresspecial attention. Designs created by architects and planners play a fundamental part in shaping theway we live, behave and interact with our surroundings. Smith (2001) argued that instilling sustainabledesign in curricula at schools of architecture is a significant method of encouraging sustainable architecturaldesign in practice. This is particularly important in non-sustainable societies such as thoseof the Middle East. For these reasons, this study aims at exploring ‘sustainability strategies,’ as theymay be described, adopted in different schools of architecture. The research surveys architecturalcurricula at different Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) exempted schools of Architecture, atpart 1 and 2 levels. Meanwhile, it also observes the contradiction and difficulties of teaching sustainablearchitectural design in Egyptian and Middle Eastern societies, whose cultural fabric does not encourageenvironmental awareness. Finally, the study attempts to investigate, in an increased level of detail,how sustainable design education fits into the undergraduate and postgraduate curricula of the ArchitecturalEngineering and Environmental Design Department (AEED) at the Arab Academy for Science,Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) in Alexandria, Egypt. The paper concludes that theproper application of sustainable design strategies at early stages of architecture education has developedarchitects with sturdy understanding of their environment, climate and local identity, whichcan never happen if this is addressed in postgraduate studies or at later stages of the Architecturecareer

Architectural engineering · Contradiction · Curriculum · Engineering ethics · Engineering management · Geography · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · Sustainability · Sustainable Design · Sustainable development · Engineering · Sustainable Building Design and Assessment · Architecture · Ecology · Law