Architectural Design

46 | 47

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 47

NL Architects: Prisma housing ›

Developing a concept

› Klein Dytham architecture: Billboard Building

Triggers for architectural activity

Some architects choose to portray design either as the

product of a gradual, rational and methodical series of moves

or as a sudden moment of inspiration. Most architects would

describe a mixture of both but value either inspiration or

method more than the other. The variation in the perception

of design activity would seem to stem from the fact that

some architects believe the moment of design is provoked

by activity and some by reflection.

Whatever their position along this continuum, most architects

would recognise the following description: the process

of architectural design is a creative act that requires the

designer to employ their full range of skills, which takes time

and requires periods of activity and of reflection. This

balanced approach is needed to solve architectural problems

and manage their complexity.

The debate about how and when design happens is

symptomatic of the fact that there is no single accepted

design process for architects to follow. Just as the

complexity of the design task must be broken down and

understood internally in the mind of the individual, each

architect must also make their own decisions about how to

proceed with the task. This becomes part of the architect’s

developing design process. Every architect follows their own

design process, which has been informed by their education

and experience, and which adapts to respond to the different

kinds of design problems that they encounter.

[An architectural concept] ‘should be something that overrides all scales. An

architectural concept would need to be so clear that it runs through all scales

and once that’s communicated and understood, any problem on site, at any

scale, should be able to be solved.’

Judith Lösing, East

Text

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 47