Constitutive conditions of transforming pedagogies in urban design: A critical reflection on METU MUD Studio (1996-2025)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47818/DRArch.2025.v8si198

Keywords:

urban design education, design studios, pedagogy, urban design thinking

Abstract

This article investigates the constitutive conditions of urban design pedagogies through the case of the Middle East Technical University (METU) Master of Urban Design studios. Drawing on the distinction among pragmatic, normative, and exploratory pedagogies, the study moves beyond a typological classification to examine the contextual factors that shape these approaches in practice. Utilizing archival materials, course documents, interviews, and analyses of studio outputs, it constructs a periodization of pedagogical approaches and identifies the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that have informed their development. The findings highlight how urban design pedagogies are historically constituted through the dynamic interplay of these conditions, reflecting evolving contexts rather than fixed or static identities.

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Author Biographies

  • Irmak Yavuz Özgür, TED University

    Irmak Yavuz Özgür is currently a Dr. Lecturer at TED University Faculty of Architecture and Design. She received her BSc degree in City and Regional Planning (2015), MSc degree in Urban Design (2018) and PhD degree in City and Regional Planning (2025) at Middle East Technical University (METU). She worked as a research assistant at İzmir Institute of Technology in 2016 and at TED University between 2016 and 2023. Since 2023, she has been working as a Lecturer at TED University, Faculty of Architecture and Design. To date, she has participated in various seminars, symposia, workshops and exhibitions both as a contributor and organizer at METU and TED University. After the completion of her doctoral thesis titled "Urban Design Education: Institutional Models, Curricular Formations and Studio Pedagogies," she continues to expand her research on urban design pedagogy and thinking at an international scope.

  • Olgu Çalışkan, Middle East Technical University

    Having completed his PhD in Urbanism at TU Delft in 2013, Olgu Çalışkan has since served as a professor of urban design and morphology in the Department of City and Regional Planning at METU. His publications include guest editorials for Built Environment (2011, 2022) and articles in leading journals such as the Journal of Urban Design (2010, 2022), Urban Design International (2012, 2020), Urban Morphology (2017), Habitat International (2023), and Cities (2024). His research focuses on physical planning and design, urban morphology, urban design theory and methods, parametric urban design, and industrial urbanism. As coordinator of METU’s Master of Urban Design program, he leads the MUD Studio in the Fall semester and teaches courses such as Creative Thinking for Planners, Parametric Urban Design, and Collective Housing Planning and Design. Since returning to Turkey in 2014, he has served on numerous national and international design juries and contributed to award-winning projects, including the Konyaaltı Waterfront in Antalya (2015) and Taksim Square in Istanbul (2020).

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Internet sources:

URL-1 AURA Istanbul (2023) AURA Symposium “Industry | Spatial Planning | Design for the productive spaces”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAcEM6ADCXQ&list=PL2BKzkLHqq-edEhBFzgD_nx-NhV7ZNw8F, accessed in September 2025.

URL-2 METU MUD (2025) Bir uygulama eleştirisi: Kahramanmaraş Kent Merkezi Projesi - An implementation critique: Kahramanmaraş City Center Project, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKyPb2H8R7A, accessed in September 2025.

URL-3 METU MUD (2025) Kahramanmaraş kent merkezi için alternatif tarih anlatısı_01- Alternative history narrative for Kahramanmaraş city center_01, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LQ7Grvc4o4, accessed in September 2025.

URL-4 METU MUD (2025) Kahramanmaraş kent merkezi için alternatif tarih anlatısı_02- Alternative history narrative for Kahramanmaraş city center_02, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP7y4LVdKbc, accesses in September 2025.

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Published

2025-12-31

Issue

Vol. 6 No. Special Issue (2025)

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Irmak Yavuz Özgür, Olgu Çalışkan

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Yavuz Özgür, I., & Çalışkan, O. (2025). Constitutive conditions of transforming pedagogies in urban design: A critical reflection on METU MUD Studio (1996-2025). Journal of Design for Resilience in Architecture and Planning, 6(Special Issue), 133-167. https://doi.org/10.47818/DRArch.2025.v8si198

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