I am teaching the Systems Dynamics course within the Masters in Strategic Management of Architectural Projects (MAM) at Universidad de los Andes. This program develops skills for students to successfully propose ideas that add value and innovate in alternatives to act within the architectural realm. The objective is to materialize these ideas in the strategic management and understanding of dynamic behaviors and innovations in related sectors.
The System Dynamics course, is an essential component within the “Strategic Thinking” curriculum axis, which teaches skills in formulating, designing, representing, communicating and executing the project’s strategy to generate a clear value proposal that is relevant to diverse clients. This strategic vision will equip alum to successfully act in early stages of design. This type of thinking is built based on case studies and workshops (simulation of scenarios in order to make decisions) that allow students to understand the complexity of architectural projects based on a network of problematic situations.
As part of the blended course, I prepared this video to discuss with students architecture and urban design case studies that illustrate the concept of leverage points. How can we as designers pull the right levers in order to generate the highest impact with our projects? We discuss projects with high leverage points and therefore high impact, which re-imagine and transform behaviors, mental models, patterns and rules. Students then apply these concepts of “high leverage points'“ in their own final projects.
Collaborators: Camilo Olaya, Maria Alejandra Victorino, José Guevara