Evidence-based design in architectural education: Curriculum visibility, recognition and interest

Abstract

Architectural education is increasingly expected to prepare students to base design decisions on research, evaluation and a clearer understanding of user needs. This study examines the position of Evidence-Based Design (EBD) in architectural education, focusing on the documented curricular visibility of EBD-related content and the recognition of EBD as a coherent design methodology. The research combined structured curriculum mapping of 44 institutional cases across Europe with a questionnaire survey of 213 students and academic staff from 13 higher education institutions in five countries of the former Yugoslav region. Curriculum mapping showed broad EBD-related visibility: 41 of 44 cases (93.2%) were coded as Direct or Strong, while only 5 (11.4%) met the criteria for a Direct EBD connection. Thirty-five institutions (79.5%) included at least three of the five EBD-related thematic dimensions. The survey showed limited familiarity with EBD and low reported curricular exposure, but high interest in EBD application and research. Taken together, the findings indicate a convergent but non-causal pattern of broad curricular visibility alongside limited explicit EBD labelling and recognition. The results suggest that already present themes, methods and approaches aligned with EBD principles could be more clearly integrated within an evidence-based design reasoning framework.