Environmental Design in the Developing World: Some Thoughts on Design Education

Abstract

Disaffected by the quality of modernizing environments, students from the developing world come to the West, desirous of an education that will show them how to design and plan environments that best satisfy local needs But, unfortunately, conventional design training in the U S often amounts to a socialization to professional world views and values of the Western world Little relevance is offerred, therefore, in approaching the staggering environmental problems of most Third World countries which continue to experience polarized development and explosive urban growth. It is argued in this paper that there is a serious need to re-think the nature of education for Third World designers who come to the West for advanced professional training In developing this argument, some of the typical concerns of Third World environmental design are discussed Preliminary ideas about how the design curriculum can be reoriented to be more responsive to the needs of foreign students are also presented