Amogh N P
✦ In loving memory of Amogh N P — Architect · Designer · Visionary ✦
An Indian student exploring many design options as quick concept sketches.
Unit IIIArchitectural Design II

Design Strategies & Methods

Where ideas come from — and how to move from many to one.

≈ 45 min

How do designers actually arrive at form? Not by waiting for inspiration. This lesson — the heart of the studio — surveys the generators of form and the methods that organise them, so you can choose a strategy deliberately rather than by habit.

Learning objectives

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

1
CO2 · Understand

Describe the main generators of architectural form and where ideas come from.

2
CO2 · Understand

Explain Broadbent's four mechanisms — pragmatic, iconic, analogic, canonic.

3
CO5 · Apply

Use the three-stage process — divergence, transformation, convergence.

4
CO5 · Analyse

Choose an appropriate design strategy for a given problem.

Context & generators

Where ideas come from

Design answers a context and a function, and a first idea usually starts from one of a few recognised generators — nature and geometry, music and mathematics, precedent, or the site. Select a topic.[4, 5, 6]

Designing in context

No design starts on a blank page. It answers a CONTEXT — the site, climate, culture, brief and budget — and a FUNCTION. ‘Constituents of design’ are the raw materials of the response: space, structure, materials, light, movement and meaning. Strategy is choosing how to put these together.[6]

Where ideas come from nature geometry music / maths site / sun form A first idea usually starts from one of these — then strategy combines them.
DiagramGenerators of architectural form — nature, geometry, proportion and site feeding a building
Proportion — number as a model φ ≈ 1.618 navel divides in φ Le Corbusier's Modulor builds dimension from the body and the golden section — a tool, not a law.
DiagramA golden-ratio rectangle and spiral beside a proportioned human figure
Four ways to make form

Broadbent's four mechanisms

Geoffrey Broadbent (1973) named four ways to generate architectural form — most real schemes blend several.[3]

MechanismThe ideaExample
PragmaticTrial and error — do what worksVernacular houses refined over generations
IconicCopy a proven type / imageA new courtyard house on the traditional model
AnalogicBorrow a form by analogyA roof shaped from a leaf or a shell
CanonicDesign from a system or ruleA plan set out on a structural grid
Broadbent's four ways to make form Pragmatictrial and error — what workse.g. a vernacular house, refined Iconiccopy a proven type / imagee.g. a courtyard-house model Analogicborrow a form by analogye.g. a roof from a shell or leaf Canonicdesign from a system / rulee.g. a plan on a structural grid
DiagramBroadbent's four mechanisms for generating form — pragmatic, iconic, analogic, canonic
Diverge → transform → converge

The three-stage process

J. C. Jones's classic method moves through three stages — and the golden rule is to diverge before you converge. There is no single right method; choose by the problem in front of you.[7, 3]

Diverge → transform → converge Divergence search wide Transformation patterns · judgement Convergence narrow to one
DiagramThe three-stage process — divergence widening, transformation, then convergence narrowing to one design
A building form inspired by natural geometry against the sky.
PhotoA building form inspired by natural geometry against the sky.
A proportion study with golden-ratio construction over a facade.
PhotoA proportion study with golden-ratio construction over a facade.
A spread of explored design option sketches on a desk.
PhotoA spread of explored design option sketches on a desk.
An Indian student exploring many design options as quick concept sketches.
PhotoAn Indian student exploring many design options as quick concept sketches.
Check your understanding

Self-assessment

1. In J. C. Jones's three-stage process, the FIRST stage is:

2. Designing a building by borrowing a form from nature (e.g. a shell roof) is Broadbent's:

3. Le Corbusier's Modulor is a system of:

In a nutshell

Recap

Design answers a context and a function; strategy is how you combine the constituents of design.
Form has generators — nature/geometry, music/maths (proportion), precedent and site.
Broadbent's four mechanisms: pragmatic, iconic, analogic, canonic — most schemes blend them.
Use the three-stage process — diverge, transform, converge — and choose the strategy to fit the problem.
The evidence

References & further reading

  1. [1]Le Corbusier — the Modulor (proportion from the human body + the golden section, 1945). ETH Library. https://library.ethz.ch/en/collections-and-archives/platforms/virtual-exhibitions/fibonacci-un-ponte-sul-mediterraneo/reception-of-fibonacci-numbers-and-the-golden-ratio/le-corbusier-the-modulor.html
  2. [2]Wittkower, R. (1949) — Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism (Palladio's musical proportion; note: contested). Overview. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Wittkower
  3. [3]Broadbent, G. (1973) — Design in Architecture: the pragmatic / iconic / analogic / canonic mechanisms. Overview. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Broadbent
  4. [4]Idea generation in architecture — generators of form (nature, geometry, precedent, site). StudySmarter. https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/architecture/interior-design-in-architecture/idea-generation/
  5. [5]Ching, F.D.K. — Architecture: Form, Space and Order (ordering principles: axis, symmetry, hierarchy, rhythm, datum). Wiley. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Architecture%3A+Form%2C+Space%2C+and+Order%2C+5th+Edition-p-9781119853381
  6. [6]Lawson, B. — How Designers Think (constituents of design; choosing methods). Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/How-Designers-Think/Lawson/p/book/9780750660778
  7. [7]Jones, J.C. (1970) — Design Methods: divergence, transformation, convergence. Reference. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chris_Jones

Further reading

  • Jones, J.C. (1992). Design Methods (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley — divergence, transformation, convergence.
  • Broadbent, G. (1973). Design in Architecture: Architecture and the Human Sciences. London: Wiley.
  • Ching, F.D.K. (2023). Architecture: Form, Space and Order (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Sources gathered and fact-checked June 2026. Published values vary by source, sample and method — treat as indicative and confirm against the cited standard before structural use.