STUDIO INSTRUCTORS TALK ABOUT SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, AND PROFESSIONAL ROLES IN ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE-ARCHITECTURE

This article examines the attitudes of studio instructors in architect ure and landscape architecture departments throughout the United State s toward the designer's role, sources of knowledge and inspiration in design, related disciplines, and essential skills. A cluster analysis of instructors' responses to a questionnaire identified five groups ac cording to conceptions of professional identity: master designers, com municative designers, political designers, researcher designers, and t hose who see design, research, and political skills as almost equally important. The two most common self-conceptions are ''master'' and ''n egotiator.'' In-depth interviews with some instructors further elucida ted each approach. The results revealed the coexistence of a multiplic ity of ideas and convictions within a shared ethos and suggested vario us strategies for increasing the effectiveness of design education and practice. The article concludes that the professional identity of des igners is being transformed from that of isolated creative individuals to that of politically active professionals.