Studying the built environment

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Students studying the built environment can learn directly from observation of that environment. In the early stages of study, it is useful to have actual field visits or field trips led by academic staff so that students can learn how to observe salient features of their built environment. Later, students can usefully practice these skills independently in addition to practising them within the more structured context of the learning environment. Architecture students find it useful to visit buildings that illustrate particular architectural styles or innovative use of materials. Building and Construction Management students visit construction sites or buildings that have been constructed using specific techniques and materials. Planning students may visit part of an urban area to see how the provision of facilities or infrastructure such as transport relates to the provision and design of the groups of buildings that they serve. Real Estate Management students may visit a town centre to understand better how its precise lay out affects the valuation of individual properties sited there.

A well-structured field visit will be dovetailed into the module so that there will be preparation before the event. This preparatory work may take the form of an orientation lecture and/or of structured reading about the subject and location of the visit. There may be printed or video/web-based material relating to the site being visited, so that buildings and points of interest are highlighted to students in advance. This means that students know what to look for during the visit and maximum use can be made of the scarce field visit time. Following the field visit, students may have an assignment to complete, or seminars may provide the opportunity for reflective discussion of the experience.

Field visits are important as sources of real experience of the built environment, but also as a medium for developing students’ powers of observation of the built environment. These observation skills will be useful both during project work and also in professional employment.

This content has been taken from Chapter 6 of Studying the Built Environment by Marion Temple.