Transdisciplinary design thinking in architecture curricula

Purpose Integrating competencies from other built environment disciplines into architectural curricula and studio projects fosters transdisciplinary education for students. Drawing on the core elements of the United Nations' (UN) Sustainable Development Goals – People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership – and the UN's commitment to bridging theory and practice across disciplines through inclusive collaborations, the paper aims to explore how educational institutions can develop transdisciplinary approaches without compromising the disciplinary depth of architecture. Design/methodology/approach Following an ontological and epistemological commitment to addressing the ethical concerns and “wicked problems” of the urban condition in architectural education, this paper involves conceptual and critical analysis of transdisciplinarity in architecture curricula. It is based on empirical experiences in architecture education studios, interactions with built environment professionals, alignment with the criteria of four education-validating organizations and existing literature discussing transdisciplinarity in both the allied industries and education. Findings To avoid the pitfalls of rigid academic silos and to enrich architectural thinking, the paper suggests structural and cultural shifts, including co-teaching, curriculum co-creation and incentivizing other collaborative pedagogical innovations. Through studio-based problem-seeking and peer-to-peer solution development, students engage in cultivating critical competencies – systems thinking, dynamic negotiation and civic responsibility – essential for addressing today's urban challenges. Originality/value The paper highlights how collaborative pedagogical frameworks, spanning the built environment disciplines, reflect the real-world demands of integrated project delivery and regenerative design mandates, calling for new educational models that enable shared authorship of sustainable, inclusive and adaptive urban futures.