Unit IArchitectural Design II

The Design Process & Communication

Working the process — and showing it — at every stage.

≈ 35 min

Architectural Design I introduced the design loop; this studio teaches you to work it and to communicate it. Design is thought made visible — so it begins with the language of representation, runs as an iterative cycle, and is shared at every step with yourself, your team and the public.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to — mapped to the course outcomes for Architectural Design II:

CO3 · Apply

Represent ideas with drawing skills, conventions, abstraction and expression.

CO3 · Understand

Work the studio cycle — analysis, exploration, discovery and verification — as an iterative loop.

CO6 · Understand

Communicate a design as an individual, in a team and in public.

CO6 · Apply

Represent the design process itself, graphically and in multiple media.

Basics of the process

Representation & the loop

The basics are the language of representation — drawing, convention, and the move between abstraction and expression — and the shape of the process: an iterative loop, not a straight line. Select a topic.^{[1, 5]}

Drawing, convention, abstraction

Design is thought made visible, so the basics are the language of representation: drawing skill, the shared conventions (plan, section, scale, symbols), and the move between ABSTRACTION (a diagram that strips a problem to its essentials) and EXPRESSION (a drawing that gives an idea feeling and character). You move constantly between the two.^[5]

DiagramThe design process as an iterative loop of analysis, exploration, discovery and verification

DiagramAbstraction as a bubble diagram and expression as a characterful sketch of the same idea

Analysis · Exploration · Discovery · Verification

The working cycle

This studio works the loop in four moves — and loops back when the test fails. These are the studio's working terms, in the long analysis–synthesis–evaluation tradition.^{[1, 2]}

Move	The question	What you do
Analysis	What is the problem?	Read the brief, user, site and standards; frame the real question.
Exploration	What are the possibilities?	Generate many options — diverge, don't fix too soon.
Discovery	Which idea has promise?	Recognise and develop the strongest direction.
Verification	Does it actually work?	Test against brief, standards, feasibility — then loop back.

Individual, team & public

Communicate the design

A design is a conversation held in many media — and the process itself is part of what you present.^{[3, 4, 6]}

DiagramDesign communicated at three levels — individual, team and public

DiagramThe media of design — sketch, CAD drawing, model, diagram and words

PhotoA student sketching design options in a sketchbook with a pen.

PhotoA studio pin-up wall of design process drawings and diagrams.

PhotoHands adjusting a small study model beside process sketches.

PhotoIndian architecture students at a desk crit, drawings and a model on the table.

Check your understanding

Self-assessment

1. The design process is best described as:

2. ‘Abstraction’ in design representation means:

3. Designing ‘in public’ refers to communicating with:

In a nutshell

Recap

Representation is the language of design — drawing, convention, and the move between abstraction and expression.

The process is an iterative loop (analysis–synthesis–evaluation), because design problems are ‘wicked’.

This studio works it as analysis → exploration → discovery → verification, looping back.

Communicate the design — and the process — to yourself, your team and the public, in multiple media.

The evidence

References & further reading

[1]Markus / Maver — the ‘route map’ of the design process (analysis → synthesis → appraisal → decision; iterative). Design-process overview. https://ioannouolga.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/markus-maver-route-map-of-the-design-process/
[2]Rittel, H. & Webber, M. (1973) — ‘wicked problems’ (no definitive formulation, no stopping rule). Overview. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem
[3]Lawson, B. — How Designers Think: the design process demystified (design as communicated, negotiated activity). Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/How-Designers-Think/Lawson/p/book/9780750660778
[4]Schön, D. (1983) — The Reflective Practitioner: ‘reflection-in-action’, thinking by doing. Reference. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sch%C3%B6n
[5]Ching, F.D.K. — Architecture: Form, Space and Order (representation, drawing and ordering). Wiley. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Architecture%3A+Form%2C+Space%2C+and+Order%2C+5th+Edition-p-9781119853381
[6]Architectural drawing & design communication — drawings, models and digital media for different audiences. Overview. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_drawing