Jurnal UMP Social Sciences and Technology Management Vol. 3, Issue. 1,2015

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1 Jurnal UMP Social Sciences and Technology Management Vol. 3, Issue. 1,2015 The development Sources of Architectural Design Ideas (Essay on the Ideation Process of some of the Architects, teaching at the Faculty of Architecture, Mashhad) Atousa Ghannad, MSc student of architecture, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran Pedram Baghani MSc student of architecture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Abstract The basic idea of design is a reflection, which is formed in designer s mind when facing with a design problem and is not obvious in many occasions. However, the questions that "from where the basic idea of architectural design is stemmed? What are the sources of architectural ideation? And how much is each one s share in it?"are the ones the present study seekes answer to them? In order to answer the mentioned question, a survey was conducted in which data on the ideation process of some of the professors of the faculties of architecture of Mashhad city, Iran, were collected through a questionnaire during two years and the report of its results is presented in this paper. In the study data collection was conducted through some questionnaires and also interviewing the architects. Analyzing the responses of architects, this paper introduces the factors that the "design problem" and "designer" bring with them as the main elements of "the design", as the sources of architectural ideation. These sources include the issues under focus in the design problem, factors related to design precedents, human factors and design tools, which may have contributed to the development of the basic idea of architects. The results are represented in tabular form in the paper. Keywords: Architectural design, the process of design ideation, design problem, designer Introduction Concept Perception is a design step within which the designer experiences the maximum levels of joy and hopelessness (Mirmiran, 1999: 62). Questions such as why an architect derives his/her ideas from different sources in facing with design problems? or which factors are influencing in architects ideation processes? and how are their priorities of the factors effectiveness? have always been in designers minds. But one usual question of the students in architecture design workshops is that from which point the design process should be started and from where stems the basic design idea. This important question can be pursued in a literature that has been the result of six decades of research on design. (Bayazit, 2004; Broadbent, 1979; Cross, 2007).What is nowadays drawing more attention of the researchers is the research focuses on the expert designers and competence in design (for example Cross, 2004, 2006; Lawson & Dorst, 2009). Because the actual mechanism of expert designers thought can be followed in all expert designers minds with its complexity. Understanding the pros and cons of the process of designers ideation process can bring a kind of knowledge and self-confidence for the students and novice designers.what is introduced in design research literature as design primary generator is mostly derived from other researches or is according to the researchers analyses. For example we can conclude that in the research of Restrepo and Christian (2004) the two primary generators have been the design problem and the solutions in designers minds, and we can mention the triple classification of Lawson for the sources of primary generator including design program,

2 The development Sources of Architectural Design Ideas external limitations such as the site and designer s guide principles. (Lawson, 2005: ) Dr Nadimi divides architects ideation sources into two general classes including the factors related to the designer and the factors related to the design problem. In the present study we have tried to evaluate the results of the researches and finally we have revised the architects ideation sources in a corrective pattern. Research methodology and procedures The study is conducted in a two years of research. In order to research we have studied the ideation process of 100 architects (professors of architecture in Islamic Azad University of Mashhad and some other institutes of higher education). We should explain that the process is done in two phases; in the first phase we have examined the results of other researches. According to what was said, 100 information packets were collected during the study, each packet containing the documentation of answers to the questions in the questionnaire and interviews. In the questionnaire all architects answered to seven main questions. Then they were invited to explain the ideation process of themselves at the bottom of questionnaire and explain what had been neglected about ideation sources. Then, the key propositions were put together in order to extract common concepts within them. Relying on research and related literature review and conclusions extracted from the questionnaire, a new classification of "the sources of development of ideas" was achieved. Studies have shown that all the architects have not received their primary ideas from the same source and have not taken a consistent approach in dealing with the design problem. Such changes in ideation of an architect, in two different design situations, indicated the changeability of proportion of the sources in generating the primary idea. The second phase aims to evaluate the classified sources in the process of ideation of architects, in order to determine each factor s proportion in another survey questionnaire. The results will be discussed in another article by the authors in future. Analyzing the data collected from architects answers was done using data extraction in software. Thus, concurrent comparing of the answers in seven classifications became possible and this way common concept in answers to each question for each architect and also among different architects in research was extracted. Finally, the two authors discussed the subjects and classifications and compared them with the architects answers to achieve agreements and conclusions. Research results The designers were asked about the first impression about the design problem in order to find out what had been the most important issue in their first facing with the design problem. Then the designers were asked about their first spark of an idea and its source. This way, the researchers were determined to find that is it possible to classify design ideation sources using data analysis? The design is formed when a designer faces a design problem, and this confrontation, becomes the beginning of the design process. So it can be said that the design includes in the first level all the factors that have become associated with the design problem and the designer. Analysis of the data from the architects descriptions represents four major focus of their attention in dealing with a design problem that can be considered as the main elements of any design; they are: Factors related to the design problem, factors related to design precedents, human factors and factors related to the design tools. Each of these elements can be identified in the architects description of their first spark of an idea and its origin as a source of ideas. Architects ideation sources Each architectural monument and urban design and so forth and so on is a subordinate of the five factors of political, economic, social, cultural and geographical factors. Therefore, in each design project, identifying the components of each of these factors related to the subject and the analysis, causes achieving the desired results. But, firstly we cannot apply all factors in design process practically and secondly all of the factors don t influence the designer or 161

3 Jurnal UMP Social Sciences and Technology Management Vol. 3, Issue. 1,2015 the design certain subject similarly (Rezvani, 2014: 14). Accepting the influence of the 5 factors based on the results of the questionnaires, the architects sources of ideation can be classified into 4categories: 1.3. Factors related to design problem The factors related to design problem are divided into two general groups of design subject and site. Site takes into account just the features, such as geometry, topography, etc. design subject includes all those things that always come to design situation with the problem but aren t considered in the definition of "site (Nadimi and Shariatrad, 2012: 9) Factors related to design precedents Some researchers believe that utilizing design precedents and patterns especially in the initial phases of the design is so beneficial and increases the designer s ability in solving the design problem (Schon, 1988, p: 185, Gelemter & Payne, 1997; Ledewitz, 1985, p: 5). Oxman (1994) believes that a set of experiences and design solutions is saved in the monuments that can be retrieved and used in new designs. The process is called design precedents when being used in physical production and is called design memory when being used in mind and thinking area. (Oxman, 1994, p: 152) Eiliuti states that design precedents can be defined as a design or a precedent solution to the problem that contains important issues such as form, structure, composition and meaning and engineering or architectural systematic components that can be used in new design (Eiliuti, 2009, p: 356). Some researchers consider precedents samples as a kind of indirect research which is conducted usually before designing and includes evaluation of present samples in terms of their subjective similarities with the designing subject (Jamil, 2009, 9: 385, Milbum & Brown, 2009, p: 59). Many evidences have been recorded in the field of architecture in which the architects had used previous samples, before designing and also in design of new products (Health, 1984, p: -, Clark & Pause, 1985, p: -, Akin, 1986, p - :). One of the eternal and infinite sources of ideation that is built by the architect of the universe is the nature that is permanent and accessible source for design and thus is treated as a separate case Human factor Lawson believes that human factors influencing the ideation process include the designer, the employer and the legislator. In the modern world we cannot ignore the role of planners in creating different architectural and urban laws. Thus, instead of "legislator" we have used "planners and legislators" Factors related to the designer What is presented in a certain project shows the designers way in observation, understanding and explaining that project and is based on his/her accepted values in life and his/her design viewpoints (White, 2011, p: 46-38). Diverse factors affect the designers decision to choose a project s idea and concept and they are: The designer s experience Multi-dimensionality of architectural design has been evident from "Vitruvius" time. He described the architecture area as adynamic balance between the three areas smaller areas: beauty, durability and practicality and he considered them as the three corners of his mythical triangle. But nowadays, there is the need to a polygon with more corners to portray different issues that an architect should know about. With new developments in the profession, architects are forced to adopt new roles that require at least being familiar with very novel areas of knowledge (Heylighen & Neuckermans, 1999: 216) Designers viewpoints and ideology White introduces two factors of General philosophy and life values of the designer and Design philosophy of the designer influencing the created concepts of a certain project. These issues are not within the traditional realm of architecture although they profoundly influence it. Designer values, attitudes, life views and general behavioral patterns all play a critical role in the formation of the designer's general views about design. "Designing" in this sense is but one segment of man's behavior and is as governed by psychological

4 The development Sources of Architectural Design Ideas considerations as the rest of his behavior. Certainly these may change over time, having a corresponding effect upon his design philosophy and procedures. Their influence upon design activity is a critical relationship to understand in tracing the origins of the designer's architectural concepts (White, 2011, p: 40) Factors related to the employer The problem in design doesn t usually stem from employer s mind but from designer s mind, and sometimes the designer faces an employer and in some cases faces the employers Board. "Michael Whilford" emphasizes the importance of therole of employers in the design process: There is a great employer behind a great building that spends his/her time and energy on understanding the ideas of designer (Lawson, 2005, P: 99-98) Factors related to the user: Lawson considers an effective role for the design users and states that nowadays most of the designs are ordered by employers that aren t the design users (Lawson, 2005: p: ) Factors related to planners and policy makers Although the legislators are not so much involved in design they pass some limitations and the designers should work within the limitations framework. There is no need to conceal the tension between designers and those responsible for executing work determinant laws (Sukle, 1980) (Lawson, 2005, p: ) Factors related to design tools Design, as the first and most important solution for transmitting one s thinking has been examined and evaluated in several studies and there are different definitions which can be divided into some groups. Definitions like the one of Hank and BElliston (1992) that consider design as a source for generation new ideas and definitions like one of Han (2004) that introduces design as an element to express design ideas and concepts and Goel defines sketches as a necessity for regenerating and revising ideas, producing concepts and facilitating problem solving process (Goel, 1995). Design has a dual nature, while it is an element to provide and display the architect s ideas and concepts, acts asa basis for generating the projects ideas and concepts.using computer as an effective utility in process of designing and producing architectural works is being developed increasingly and has extended human mind s imaginary dimensions and has been able to provide conditions in order for architects to produce dorms and places which without complex computers, imagining them is impossible (Kheirollahi, 2014, p: 60). In recent years we have witnessed a series of new activities among architects who use computers to create space and form of the building. These architects determine a primary law for building the form of the building and give it to the computer, then; it is the computer that creates the building form. Architects such as"hani Rashid", "Ocean North Group", "ShoP Group" and many other young architects are in this category. They are trying to build buildings that are made of computer brain not human brain. But answering the question of what would be the effects of the new use of computer in the future of architecture needs passing some time to judge. In the modern world, some architects like "Zaha Hadid" and "Peter Eisenman" have delegated their idea and concept selection and receive power to the computers and they just analyze the information and pass their chosen information through computer catalyst to achieve the desired results. On the other hand, we can pay attention to the role of technology in the building process, which most often because of lack of the building technology, many ideas become neglected.

5 Jurnal UMP Social Sciences and Technology Management Vol. 3, Issue. 1,2015 Conclusion The design situationis formed by the designer s desire and the problem and the confrontation of the designer with the design problem is the initiator of design process. Analyzing architects answers showed that each one has focused on one of the design elements more in facing with the design problem and they find their primary idea from such an attention. So, the design situation and its elements can be initially introduced as the main source of architects ideation. Initial analysis of the architects answers showed that the origin of all the ideas provided by the architects can be followed in the design. A deeper analysis of the interviews, showed that different design elements were obtained dividing into factors related to the problem, factors related to design precedents, human factors and factors related to design tools. Each of mentioned sources has a proportion in ideation of the studied architects. Studying ideation process of the architects showed that they haven t receives their primary idea from the same source and hasn't taken the same approach in dealing with the design problem. Such changes in ideation of an architect show the changeability of the proportion of each source in generation primary idea for different projects. In the present research we have examined initial source of some architecture professors of Mashhad Faculties of architecture using survey questionnaires. At the end in order to summarize the above points and in order to represent a more appropriate classification in a tabular form we have brung sources of development of the architectural design ideas as bellow. Sources of development of the architectural design ideas Design site Subject Design problem Design site Subject Design precedents Design legislation and principles Works forms Works functionality Works meaning and concepts Nature Tools Available technological facilities Using sketches, diagrams and Marquette s Design place quality The type of design process Human Factors Designer Designer s experiences Designer s viewpoints and ideology Architect s special style Academic power Creativity and talent Taste Others User s viewpoints or opinions Employer s viewpoints or opinions Planner and policy makers viewpoints or opinions Figure: sources of development of the architectural design ideas

6 The development Sources of Architectural Design Ideas References 1- Akin, O., (1986), Psychology of architectural design, Pion LTD, London. 2- Bayazit, N. (2004), Investigating Design: A Review of Forty Years of Design Research, Design Issues, 20, Broadbent, G (1979), the Development of Design Methods, Design Methods and Theories, 13, Clark, R H & Pause, M, (1985), Precedents in architecture, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York. 5- Cross, N. (2004), Expertise in design: an overview, Design Studies, 25, Cross, N. (2006), Designerly Ways of Knowing, London, Springer. 7- Cross, N. (2007), Forty Years of Design Research, Design Research Quarterly, 1, Eiliuti, B, (2009), Design knowledge recycling using precedent- based analysis & synthesis models, Design studies, Vol 30, No4, pp Gelemter, M & Payne., (1997), Alternative concepts in architectural design education, proceeding of the environmental design & research association conference, Urbana, Illinois. 10- Goel, V., (1995), Sketches of thought MIT press, Cambridge, MA Hank & Belliston, (1992), Draw! A visual approach to thinking, learning & community. 12- Health, T. (1984), Method in architecture, Chichester, Wiley, 13- Heylighen, Ann & Neuckermans, Herman, (1999), walking on a thin line between passive knowledge & active knowing of components & concepts in architectural design, Department of Architecture, Urban Design & Planning, and UK. Leuven, Arenbergkateel, B3001, Front matter Design Studies 20 (1999) , Vol 20 No 2 March. 14- Jamil, Ali, (2009), a model integrating theories of architecture lecture in architectural design studio, in proceeding of the fourth international conference on architectural education: flexibility in architectural education, Turkey, Kayseri, May, pp Kheirollahi, Mehran (2014); Imaginarypaintingsinthe architectural design process, City nature, No. 14, 7 th year, summer, P: Khiabanian, Ali (1990); Creativity in architectural design process, Tabriz, Mehre-Iman. 17- Lawson, Brayan, (1994), Design in mind, Butterworth Architecture, London, UK. 18- Lawson, Brayan (2005); how designers think: the design process demystified, (translated into farsi by Nadimi, Hamid, Tehran, University of Shahid Beheshti) 19- Lawson, B., & Dorst, K. (2009), Design Expertise, Architectural Press. 20- Ledewitz, S. (1985), Models of design in studies teaching, JAE, 38(2), pp Mahmoudi, Amirsaeed, Zakeri, Mohammadhossein (2011); extracting practical knowledge from precedents and its effects on creativity in architectural design, fine arts magazine, NO 47, Fall, P: Milbum, L. & Brown, R. (2003), the relationship between research & design in landscape architecture, Landscape & urban planning, 64, pp Mirmiran, Seyed Hadi (2001); Design node, Architecture and urbanism magazine, NO 45-55, P: Nadimi, Hamid and Shariat rad, Farhad (2012); Architectural ideation sources, essay on ideation process of some architect in professional society of the country, fine arts magazine, architecture and urbanism, 17 th period, No. 2, summer 25- Oxman, E R, (1994), Precedents in design: a computational model for the organization of precedent knowledge, Design studies, Vol15, No2, and pp Rezvani, Alireza (2015), bilateral interaction (Physical identity or identity-maker body) examining the importance of city body in changes of five fold identities, Yazd, the first national conference on research methodology in architecture and urbanism 27- Schon, D.A. (1983), the reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action basic books, New York. 28- Yu, Y., Han, T., & Li, Y., (2004), Product design model presentation, Shanghai: shanghai people's fine arts publishing hours. 29- White, E. T (2011); A Vocabulary of Architectural Forms, (Transleted into Farsi by Kiani, Hoda and Mahvash, Abdorahman, first publish, Tehran, Ketab-e-Varesh Publishing, spiring). 166

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