Studio as Agent: Modes of Inhabiting and Belonging in Contemporary Design Education

Studio as Agent: Modes of Inhabiting and Belonging in Contemporary Design Education examines how different ways of inhabiting the design studio shape participation, agency and belonging within architecture and design education. Challenging conceptions of the studio as a neutral backdrop to learning, the paper argues that spatial environments actively participate in pedagogic processes. Through two contrasting case studies; a permanently inhabited Foundation Year studio and a temporary collective making intervention within an undergraduate interior design programme, it explores how occupation, material engagement, shared practices and time influence students' orientation towards learning communities. Drawing on theories of participation, experiential learning and spatial practice, the paper demonstrates that belonging emerges not solely through curriculum or social interaction, but through repeated engagement with the physical and temporal conditions of the studio. It proposes the studio as an active pedagogic agent, contributing to wider debates on spatial pedagogy, studio culture and learning environments in design education.