Architectural Design

1st ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design

Job No: PD0710-67/4028

Chapter 2 final_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 7/24/10 9:01 AM Page 38

The design process

Problem solving

Critical judgement

There is one particular device that the architect uses to

counteract the absence of one right answer in architecture.

This is the ability to make critical judgements. Critical

judgement is a term much used in architecture schools.

It should not be confused with ‘criticism’: the comments

made by reviewers at crits or reviews.

Critical judgement is a way of thinking; it helps architects to

make decisions about how to solve architectural problems.

It is the ability of an architect to question their own decisions

willingly and openly and compare them to the other possible

decisions that they, or their collaborators, can imagine.

Critical judgement is a product of an architect’s core values,

knowledge, training, experience, aesthetic preferences and

current thought. It is reflective, reactive, contextual and

pragmatic. The difficulty with critical judgement as a method

for decision making is that it is not a transparent process and

is only as good as the individual architect, their imagination

and their ability to learn from their mistakes.

The strength of critical judgement as a method is its ability to

adapt to the ever-changing nature of any given architectural

problem. This flexible thinking fosters lateral thought, which

is essential for creativity. It also gives architects the will to

question existing ideas; to challenge the project brief or

status quo. It is an essential function of the architect to ask

fundamental questions, however awkward, because a flawed

solution to a complex architectural problem will cement new,

unanticipated problems into its execution. In short, it is far

better to ask difficult questions at the beginning of the design

process than to build your mistakes.

Architecture: Aperture

English: Window

Meaning: An opening (the design is not sufficiently

resolved to be able to distinguish between

windows, doors and other openings yet).

Architecture: Space

English: Room

Meaning: The quality/form/function of the space

should be further considered before it

is named as a particular type of room

or space.

Architectural language: some commonly used architectural terms explained

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1st ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design

Job No: PD0710-67/4028

Chapter 2 final_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 7/24/10 9:02 AM Page 38