VKhUTEMAS pedagogy: Composition and the new language of form

Lavaf, Yahya

Abstract

This article explores the application of a modernist educational practice into a contemporary studio environment. The aim is to investigate the impact that modernist design pedagogy has on visual perception and abstract thinking. The analysis examines the replication of two design exercises created by Alexander Rodchenko and Nikolai Ladovsky at VKhUTEMAS. The outcome suggests that a self-directed vocabulary of thoughts developed as a result of students engaging with these exercises. This could potentially help novice architecture students to perceive different capacities of form and composition, and to broaden ways in which architectural design is conceived in the studio.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 6, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Mar 1, 2023
• Publication Date: Apr 30, 2023
• Deposit Date: Aug 2, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 3, 2023
• Journal: Charrette
• Print ISSN: 2054-6718
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 163-182
• Keywords: VKhUTEMAS; composition; visual perception; abstract thinking; geometric forms
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10956752
• Publisher URL: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/arched/char/2023/00000009/00000001/art00010