Modeling the Department of Architecture's Structural Strategies Derived from the Past Experiences at the University College of Fine Arts of Tehran

Scientific advancements in different disciplines have resulted in effective and considerable changes in the way the higher education institutions deal with scientific outcome through structural، developmental and practical research. Moreover، they help the transfer of this scientific knowledge through qualifying education and learning، and finally، increasing the students’ abilities in using this knowledge in order to respond to the needs and requirements of the people. Planning and elaborating on future goals and programs in different time spans، is، undoubtedly، a better strategy for achieving a desirable future، allowing the schools of architecture to cope with foreseeable changes. The School of Architecture of the University College of Fine Arts of University of Tehran، which is regarded as the leading university and the symbol of higher education in Iran، can guide and inspire other institutions of higher education in the country، by emphasizing appropriate models of architectural education in different levels by promoting better approaches towards architectural pedagogy. Moreover، considering the widespread interest in developing academic and scientific endeavors، it seems necessary to conduct a review of the role and responsibilities of UT’s School of Architecture in national and regional levels. Furthermore، it is vital to harmonize the school’s executive and educational plans for architectural pedagogy with the macro policies and economical laws that are received from above (as general guiding principles). The use of a proposal based on planning and programming is very important، so that the school of architecture can adjust its goals and better prepare the school for the future changes and transformations. This paper is taken from the first section of a comprehensive research carried out for the School of Architecture of the University of Tehran. It is divided into three principal sections: 1. evaluating the current condition with a look into the past in order to determine the positive and negative aspects; 2. dissecting the current conditions in the country، comparing and evaluating the influence of the school of architecture of the University of Tehran on the other schools of architecture and vice versa; and 3. using the previous two sections. This paper proposes various ideas to the College of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran and other policy making bodies which are relevant to the topic at hand. In this research، prepared for the University of Tehran، while acknowledging the five goals: 1. ultimate targets and external goals taken from the ultimate targets، internal objectives and prioritized objectives known as Strategies and practical strategies known as policies; three-part planning: grand strategies، intermediate plans and practical programs and projects; four-part management: interactivity، pre-activists، non-activists، and reactivists، the authors have tried to use leadership، management، planning and programming، with respect to the five parts of the education، i. e. tutor، student، education system، educational facilities and educational circumstances. They have done this in order to prepare a road map in which it would be possible to regulate the relationship between the school of architecture and its context in such a way as to achieve the best possible results. This paper، which is taken from the first section of the aforementioned comprehensive research project، considers the past conditions and looks at the current condition، in order to draw and model a sustainable future for higher architectural education. In this process، the paper identifies the strong and the weak elements of the pedagogical system. Moreover، the opportunities and the threats of the current condition are pointed out، for example، social، political، economic and cultural. This is done to offer planning and programming proposals and to suggest network models with a stable structure، which are specifically designed for the schools of architecture. The chosen methodology in this paper is “simulative” based on the division of educational approaches. This consists of organizing information (in general) and conceptual modeling in three stages of past، present and future. In addition to placing emphasis on the actualized development theories، fact-based and past-oriented philosophies، this paper، also، utilizes theories that explicate the current condition in order to foresee the possible futures. Aiming for a comprehensive plan، this paper addresses the four stages of management، i. e. mentioning the topics which existed in the past and possessed considerable value، improving the current conditions، advancing and accelerating development for the near future، and finally، qualifying development in order to achieve the ideal conditions in a distant future.