In our new foundation program, we proceed from two principles of instruction: first, we direct the focus of work away from conventional architectural topics and use analogy to awaken native critical insight; second, we postpone traditional design activity by strictly emphasizing observation skills and critical analysis. We delay design activity until the first quarter of the second year, in preparation for which we organize firstyear \tudio workshops around short iterative exercises that capitalize on the students\u27 familiarity with the everyday world. We then structure these problems to render the everyday world in unfamiliar terms. This oscillation between the ordinary and the unfamiliar greatly intensifies the analogical resonance between everyday experience and the production of buildings. The result is greater confidence in critical thinking earlier in the student\u27s academic career
