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The following four articles represent a precis of the session "Approaches to the Urban Past" held at the C.H.A. Conference in Kingston in June of this year. The papers were edited by the Review editors. Copies of the originals may be obtained by writing directly to the authors. It is the hope of the editors that they have rendered the original ideas of the contributors in a form that does at least partial justice to their original manuscripts.

In this paper, a pedagogical model for fostering transdisciplinarity in the built environment is described. Unlike learning situations in design education which use multidisciplinary teams, this model is characterised by students working side-by-side on the same project each producing their own proposal. As is explained, the development of this model was inspired by a growing awareness of the need to look beyond discipline boundaries in order to more effectively address issues involving the design of the built environment; issues associated with a rapidly changing and increasingly technologically complex world. In this respect, transdisciplinarity formed the philosophical and theoretical basis for the development and implementation of a cross-discipline studio elective for architecture and interior design students from years three to six in their course. While there are limitations with the model, the evaluation reveals insights into how we might continue with constructing more appropriate learning opportunities for engendering transdisciplinary attitudes in students and graduates.

Narration or story telling is proposed as a process which enables researchers in interior design/architecture to deal with the crux of environmental design - experience and relationships. This approach addresses the limitations of more superficial understandings of the built environment represented by discussions of form or appearance. Narration generally occurs as written or verbal accounts, but it may also involve graphical representations, stained glass, movement, dance, or music (Barthes: 1979). How narrative inquiry is of value in the study of interior architecture, and consequently for research into the built environment is discussed in this paper with specific attention to identifying how these concepts may be applicable for research focusing on environmental interpretation and the construction of meaning.

The architectural profession is generally considered by its members to be engaged in the practice of an art and as such has resisted for a time the application of computer aids to the design process. This process is concerned with the organization and specification of the built environment which houses man for work or pleasure. For those in architecture familiar with the computer, the pace of the profession's involvement has been slow. This paper covers some of the past developments that have produced the current state of the art. Questions concerning the methods and costs of utilizing technology in design are now being answered. Conferences and workshops such as this one are restructuring the profession's concern; how can the designer integrate available techniques into his personal design approach? This is the major question remaining for architecture.