Course as prerequisite to design
The course is a prerequisite to graduation project 1 leading to graduation project 2 in the Department of Architecture. With that in mind, the course is geared towards assisting students to understand the role of research in the design process and training them to perform research projects that would help them improve their design decisions. The ultimate goal would be a better design outcome that is acceptable by the users, appropriate to the context, sensitive to the environment, aesthetically pleasing, and safe.
The design process
In broad terms, the design process is the procedure adopted by the designer to turn a given situation into a presumably better one. Architecture has among its main goals the design of new buildings and communities for people. The design process has been a hot topic for debate among architects particularly regarding the best "way" to design. Many have written about their views on the process of design.
In simple terms, design involves a cyclical process of three main stages: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. As a designer you are faced with a problem which requires analysis, then you initiate possible solutions for the problem, then you evaluate the alternatives to decide on the best solution. The results could very well affect the original analysis or problem, hence the cyclical nature of the design process.
| The design process | K.W. Smithies (1981) | John Zeisel (1984) |
| 1. Analysis | 1. Problem statement - analyzing the problem | 1. Imaging - creating a vision of the definition of the design problem |
| 2. Synthesis | 2. Solution - producing one or more tentative solutions | 2. Presenting - communicating your ideas to yourself and others |
| 3. Evaluation | 3. Criticism - critiquing the tentative solutions | 3. Testing - reviewing, critiquing and examining the presented products for evaluation, appraisal, refutation, and judgment |
The above table compares the three simple stages of the complex design process to two quite similar propositions by Smithies and Zeisel. The differences are in the use of terms, but the meanings are essentially similar. (see the required readings)
You have had at least three design studios before taking this course. What is your experience with designing architecture?
Research methods and their significance
While performing the task of design, in whatever scale is required, the designer inevitably encounters many problems that require acceptable decisions. Based upon the encountered problems, the designer turns them into researchable questions and starts the search for possible answers. Properly answering these questions, often require certain amount and type of data to assist in the decision making process. The correctness and accuracy of the answers will depend upon the correctness and accuracy of the gathered or available data.
Research provides the avenue for accumulating accurate and applicable information and data necessary for a systematic and scientific approach to answer the relevant questions. Research is a systematic way of investigating problems in search for best answers. Without research, design decisions will suffer a higher risk of being wrong, detrimental, unfavorable, and perhaps harmful. (see example). Hence the significance of research lies in the role it plays in assisting investigators to arrive at the "truth" of matters.
Research is not only useful before design or while designing, but also extremely useful after design is already completed or even after buildings are occupied and used. In the latter case, you may ask questions related to the possible reasons for the success or failure of aspects of the building performance. For example: Why did people turn out to gather around a particular corner of a space rather than around another corner? Why isn't people using a certain space as one would have expected? Why is a certain building attracting a lot of visitors while the neighboring one is not? These and similar type questions require research to answer them correctly. Mere guessing would probably lead to an ill informed answer. Answers in these post occupancy cases should help future design of similar situations.
Research can be useful in describing the process of design itself. It may assist in understanding the issues that designers think of during design and in identifying the factors that could help improve designers' abilities.
Methods for doing research vary according to the needs of the researcher and on the nature of the research problem. Many research types are available, as will be studied throughout the course. Methods for data collection and data analysis vary significantly depending upon the type of information.
The following items are topics for discussion during this lecture. Students should prepare their thoughts and ideas around these topics.
The design process
The architectural design process
The meaning of research
Examples of research
The importance of research
General types of research
Smithies, K.W. (1981). Principles of Design in Architecture. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold (Chapter 9, pp.55-57).
Laseau, P. (1989). Graphic Thinking for Architects and Designers. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold (Chapter 10, pp.186-195).
Kane, E. (1987). Doing your own Research: How to do Basic Descriptive Research in the Social Sciences and Humanities. New York, NY: Marion Boyars (Introduction, pp.11-13).
Copyright © 2000 by Hisham S. Gabr. All rights reserved.
This page last revised: 17/03/04
