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This study seeks to explore the impact of social upbringing on architectural learning. The theory of "habitus" helps to understand how students' personality dispositions might affect the way they approach learning in the "field" of architectural education. The notions of learning approaches and knowledge codes in literature are used to develop a framework for the study that helps to explore the field of architectural education. It is a qualitative study, conducted through semi-structured interviews with 44 students in 10 architecture schools in Pakistan. Interviews explored students' habitus as well as their learning approaches, later explored through the framework developed in the study. Interviews are transcribed and coded using Nvivo 12. A detailed analysis explores the connection between habitus and learning approaches and finds out that habitus plays a major role in determining the way students approach learning in Architecture, with most cultivated habitus students showing a deep learning approach.

The socioeconomic class system defines every aspect of life in Pakistan, education being one of them. Varied socioeconomic backgrounds along with a strongly discriminated education system produce individuals with a varying level of cultural capital that is familiarity with the dominant culture of society. Success in education is largely dependent upon inherent personality attributes or habitus, as defined by Bourdieu, playing a vital role. To understand the relation of students' cultural capital with architectural education from a neutral point of view, this study focuses on comprehending teachers' perception of the impacts of social background on students' personality and their performance in the design studio. Detailed semi-structured interviews are conducted with 14 design teachers from four architectural schools in Lahore. The results show that the majority of teachers believe that social background has vast impact on students' personality and defines their cultural capital, which dictates their design ability.

This study investigates the intricate form development process of imperial tombs of Lahore. The major objective of the study is to investigate the form development process based on geometric analysis and formation in Mughal funerary monuments. Furthermore, it inspects how Mughal dynasty reflects the influences of Architectural styles from neighboring regions on Mughal funerary monuments of Lahore. This research employs methodology of using existing literature to procedurally analyzes and compare underlying geometric principles and design such as shape, symmetry, scale, ratio and portion, symmetry, importance of sacred geometry, use of golden ratios and concept of hast bahisht is studied in detail. Furthermore, it also analyzes evolution of the form of these magnificent tombs from simple basic geometric shapes. By examining the prime examples of Mughal funerary monuments, this paper uncovers the geometric formation, evolution process, concept of octagonal formation and use of design principles such as symmetry in these tombs. Through, detailed analysis and historic connotation, the research provides an insight into the geometric formation in Mughal era and its amalgamation with indigenous architectural styles. This comprehensive study contributes towards better understanding of form evolution in Mughal funerary monuments and its impacts on enduring legacy on the architecture of subcontinent. To further understand the Mughal Funerary Architecture, authors recommend that future research focus on analysis of the detailed study on symmetry, spatial analysis, 3d evolution of form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a patriarchal society like Pakistan where people are marginalized based upon their gender and socio-economic class, women from working class and transgender communities are often the most relegated. The built environment is a factor that affects everyone living in the city, and so it does the marginalized genders. However, they never have a voice and most of the time not even has an understanding of what they want from their built environment. Moreover, to make the matter worse, the mainstream architectural and urban design practices and research in Pakistan is rarely focused on the problems faced by these genders and communities. This paper attempts to use co-design to give these genders a voice and explore their understanding and expectations of their city. This study is generated through a class group project where co-design was explored as an idea and activities were designed to engage with the targeted genders, with a focus on exploring their perception of the context of Lahore, Pakistan. Data generated from these activities in the form of a series of imaginative drawings is used to perceive how these marginalized genders experience the built environment of Lahore and what changes they would like to see in their city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Converging visual behavioural and attentional allocation studies within neuroscience have shown culture influences the processing of visual information obtained from the visual field. While attending (reviewing) a visual scene, individuals from a collectivist culture attend more to the context (background) compared to those from an individualist culture who view more the focal object. This highlights the effect of cultural conditioning in terms of holistic and analytical processing of visual information. This study aimed to demonstrate these principles in the context of an assistive product, a wheelchair, highlighting the key visual elements of the form; and, how a congruent background (hospital room) or incongruent (athletics track) influenced cultural bias during visual processing and assigned meaning. A combination of research methods (Semantic Differential Scale and eye-tracking) was used to triangulate the results. A total of 126 adult student participants, (Pakistani/collectivist, n = 57) and the (UK/individualist, n = 69), viewed a visual presentation of a wheelchair with semantically congruent and then an incongruent background and responded via an online questionnaire. A sub-sample completed the survey whilst monitored via eye-tracking. Pakistani respondents used shorter and less frequent fixations on the foreground compared to the responses of their counterparts (UK respondents). The wheel of the wheelchair was highlighted as the prominent form by both groups. Results demonstrate a culture-influenced pattern of visual processing even when the product was displayed against a semantically incongruent background. The findings from this study also validate and extend the outcomes of similar studies revealing a more specific, yet consistent, cultural effect on individuals' visual perception. Finally, the efficacy of triangulated research methods in their relationship to exploring the AT product's semantics was discussed. The knowledge of AT products' semantics will be significant to investigate, for their improved social acceptance, particularly when considered from a diverse cultural standpoint. A model of best practice, focussing on semantics manipulation, will provide AT product designers, practitioners, and those involved in their marketing, Internationally, with a suitable process/tool to positively reframe the perception of these devices. Finally, this research will help product and industrial designers to consider cultural cognitive styles in the design of products for the better adoption of products within the global marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]