Nicosia Walled City, on the northern side of Cyprus, encapsulates historical imprints from various cultures and civilizations within its layered structure, despite being a divided city since 1974. Based on this beautiful Medieval sequence, this study investigates the implications of architectural design approaches aimed at incorporating contemporary architecture into this heterogeneous historic city to conserve its historical identity. While the threats facing this diverse built heritage composition are various, the changes brought about by design outcomes and development actions can be challenging. This is especially so when designers are obligated to adhere to conservation principles that clash with the city’s character and that resort to design strategies that prohibit the addition of new layers. This study employed a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods and examined three case studies based on buildings that were erected during the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus period, spanning from 1983 to when the crossing began in 2003. This study’s conclusions revealed that the design schemes negatively impacted the city’s historical identity layers because the designers followed selective conservation principles that entirely concentrated on nostalgia rather than typological values. Rather than creating new layers, preferences energized this problem, and the designers’ attitudes towards the place’s heterogeneous character maintained the same context uniformity patterns. Efforts to add sequences of layers reflecting the identity of the present time and its perceptions were thwarted. These reductions in the historical layers, the subsequent transformations, and the current social–cultural necessities should stimulate individual determination and practical policy instruments. The tools proposed here will accommodate inclusive ideas that encourage fresh dialogues with the past, thus keeping the city’s identity significant for the future.

Nowadays, architecture education concentrates mostly on form, space, and general subjects as well as considerations of function, and art theories about design. Least attentions are on technical matters, construction courses, which cannot stand separate from the design process. This lack of synchronization between architectural design and construction courses have resulted in the idea that only design product is paramount in architectural education. However, the nature of construction courses is mostly technical and mechanical, which make it challenging for students to understand and truncate their passion for furtherance on the subject. This paper aims to examine the problems related to the learning and understanding of construction technology and its connection with the architectural design. And also to identify the primary learning necessities essential for achieving a better learning performance in construction courses, by analyzing the curriculum of construction courses of Faculty of Architecture, EMU (Eastern Mediterranean University) as case studies, and related information in the current literature written between (1993-2015) whose discourses focus on: Teaching construction technology, Bridging the gap between Theory and Practice, Education and practice of building and Evaluating Constructive Thought of Master Builder.

Apart from scalable classrooms, learning in virtual space for pro-technology and pro-Internet generation contributes significantly to developing their inherent domains. This process manifests through the use of digital materials, making the pedagogical scheme enjoyable, catchy, innovative, and inclusive. Today’s staggering educational challenges of tertiary institutions, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, call for operational rejig. Still alarming is the difficulty of containing the recent evolution into variants. Sequel to this, different countries adopted various strategies to achieve tension-free and inclusive learning environments as part of the ‘new normal.’ This study addresses the pertinence: Could the use of virtual spaces for instructional delivery constitute sustainable strategies for tension-free, and more inclusive, methods of educating learners during and after COVID-19 dispensation? To answer this question, we adopted a theory-based adaptation conceptual approach and inside-outside approach and brought the Nigerian situation into focus where virtual learning was sceptically debunked because of operational and policy slackness. This study agreed with the positive potentials of virtual space and disagrees with earlier studies deficient at uncertainty variables. Based on these, recommends areas of gaps filling in developing countries’ education systems, who stopped learning during the pandemic period for future adoption and adaptation.

This paper critically examines the weakening connection between design and construction in architectural education, highlighting the underrepresentation of construction courses in comparison to their design counterparts. By analyzing contemporary pedagogical methods, it aims to uncover a more effective teaching approach that simultaneously nurtures students’ enthusiasm for construction and design, emphasizing the synergy between technical proficiency and creative vision. Proposing a hands-on, problem-solving methodology integrated within design studios, this study suggests a paradigm shift towards an ontological observational approach. It argues for a transformative change in perception among educators and students alike, advocating for a unified educational framework that fosters technical and theoretical coherence, ultimately contributing to sustainable architectural practices.

Historic square's naturalistic layers harmonize in contrast with man's unstable taste, changing intentions with time, and neoliberal policies. Consequently, the challenge of what will stand out on the square's expression to the future remains an enormous pertinence amid the identity struggle. Recall that historic squares represent the bedrock for the chronological events that shaped human settlements, be it socio-economic, cultural, religious, political, art and architecture, educational, and folklore. This paper aims to analyze the square's identity as part of its historical and cultural representation. Besides, examine the layers on the surfaces (facades) facing it and their functional changes from history to now. The paper adopted an integrated study approach, using a literature review simultaneously with fieldwork to perform the analysis to describe and observe beyond the structural image to the social implications of the surrounding works of art, architecture, and nature. Based on the results, Namik Kemal Square is characterized socially, physically, and functionally by the surfaces of Lusignan, Venetian, Ottoman, British, Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus, and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to now. The square exemplifies a mix of hard/soft surfaces and old/new textual layers. Presently, some functions have changed; others are changing, while only a small percentage maintained uncompromising character. The study hypothesizes that though place remains, occupancy changes with preexisting tissues. Therefore, the surfaces of the diverse identities about people's existence in a setting (square) should be conserved for livability. Furthermore, design principles that will displace the square's identity should be discouraged. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by IASE.