Medium of ‘Curiosità’: An innovative studio environment for design education

Basic Design is a studio course in architectural education that requires creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills, a non-ending appetite for knowledge, and non-diminishing curiosity. This article describes an innovative studio environment that allows for this particular mentality to flourish and appropriate professional skills to be strengthened. The manuscript further outlines a studio project that utilizes an olfactory stimulus to rekindle curiosity. The project is an introductory exercise, using line as a conceptual design element, and a tool for communication. Through subsequent content analysis, the qualitative case study methodologically records this two-week exercise, and uses verbal and visual data, as well as written student responses to assess the benefits of this altered learning experience. The authors argue that, only through curiosity will the studio environment become the catalyst to foster innovative design ideas.