Design teams often rely on precedents, but the impact of using the direct experience of a precedent on design behavior requires further investigation. To explore this impact, fifteen teams of master students of architecture participated in two design sessions: one without and the other with a previous experience of visiting an example. The…

Architecture is never fixed: buildings and (urban) spaces change as their use(r)s and contexts change over time. Even when architectural projects receive recognition of their dynamic nature, it remains unclear how to deal with this during design processes. The need for sustainable building raises interest in this topic in architecture research.…

Using computational design methods, this study aims to analyze the effects of an integrated design process model on the ecological awareness of architectural students, and on their ability to incorporate ecological issues in their design work. To this end, two studies have been carried out. The first one involves a survey about how ecology-related…

In recent years, there have been numerous initiatives regarding the incorporation of building performance simulation tools (BPSTs) in the field of architecture, but unfortunately they have not been considered in updates of the curricula of building designers' careers at a global level. This paper presents an example of the use of BPSTs in the…

Biomimicry has been proposed as an important tool to reach key skills for the new century. It has taken its place as an essential resource for critical and creative thinking in design disciplines. However, as emphasized in many studies, bio-informed research requires interdisciplinary collaboration and systematic knowledge transfer. This article…

Leading architectural firms in professional practice are expanding their range of design possibilities using digital design strategies. A digital design strategy enables architects to make informed decisions and better handle the interdisciplinary nature of the discipline, while dealing with various complexities, uncertainties and an infinite…

Continuity and change have become crucial themes for the built environment and heritage buildings; also in the education and practice of architects. Embedding built heritage values into studio-based design education is a daunting new challenge that demands new didactic perspectives and tools. To address the dilemmas that come with design…

This paper reflects upon the mechanisms that enable development of curricular approaches to multidisciplinary architecture/engineering higher education. Building upon recent calls for integrated multidisciplinary building design practice, academics at UCL, industry partners and respective professional bodies embarked upon developing a new course…

Digital design and fabrication tools obtain constraints affecting creativity in conceptual design phase. There is a necessity to have a better understanding of issues related to the rationalization process of form, material and fabrication. The objective of this paper is to integrate analogue craft into architectural design studio that can be…

In this paper, I mine the scholarly work of longtime MIT professor Donald Schön for a set of tactics which, having originated in his studies of the architectural design studio, are shown to be relevant to the architectural analysis of existing buildings. In this way, a specific and hitherto untapped potential of Schön's work is developed, but more…

Research to improve aspects of architectural design education produced a collection of research-supported best practices and these lessons need integration into the studio environment. Design instructors must innovate, but in ways that allow previous result analysis. Action Research (AR) is seen as a valuable asset for providing an opportunity for…

A fascinating and rich landscape of personal views and approaches can be seen in architectural design and in architectural design education. This variation may be confusing for students. This paper focuses on the question: is the framework of generic elements that we developed for explicating the design process helpful to compare the differences…

In the architectural design process, built precedent can be a valuable resource to shape design situations. Typology, the systematic categorisation of precedent, may act as a means to interpret this information and identify relationships between existing buildings and new design. This work explores the link between typology and the design process…

This paper discusses observations of an architecture and environmental engineering undergraduate design studio project assigned to 4th year students at a UK university. In the UK, most architecture courses are characterised by a high proportion of design studio teaching supported by varying amount of technical modules that include environmental…

The architectural design process is based on a creative phase where creativity is highly valued. Although the literature on creativity is rich in ways to stimulate the decision-making process, these tools are rarely formally present in the building design process. To further the discussion on creativity and design education this paper presents a…