Future-tech: Infusing technology integration in architecture pedagogy

— The aim of the paper is to illustrate a series of pedagogical strategies utilised in the teaching of Architecture and concerns the integration of technology in the design process towards redefining ways of envisioning the future of Architecture. Via the agenda of a specific design studio laboratory, the quest for integration is tested and the boundaries of architecture and other technology-based disciplines are being challenged. The thematic of the future-tech studio poses “technology” as a lens to inspect the future of architecture, therefore it provides a fertile ground for reciprocally investigating the future of other disciplines. A series of specific methodologies and processes are explored in order to encourage a multidisciplinary approach. These processes spread throughout the design-studio duration as a continuous crossover of themes, exercises, workshops, references, case studies and discussions. The “Reality Check” exercise utilized within the future Tech design studio as an integrative pedagogical tool is discussed in this paper. The theoretical background of the thematics is discussed along with examples of work produced as part of the exercise. The exercise aims at redefining ways of innovatively conditioning space by integrating personalised insights from the disciplines of mechanical, environmental and structural engineering, construction and building services.