Where Do Ideas Come?
Ideas come from: 1. Analysis of important references, i.e. context and suitable precedent.
2. 'non-rational' process e.g. drawings, models, collages.
Design as a Process:
* Design is a process, it is active and dynamic.
* Determine what the problem is.
* Develop a solution to satisfy the problem.
N.B. Changing your viewpoint from rational to irrational and vice versa gives you more room to design, with more ideas, with more ideas. (no architectural block).
Dominantly Rational Process
(a) Analysing the problem by breaking it down into its essential components or characteristics.
* This is a logical and rational process that not only seeks to come to grips with the problem but also
stimulates possible solutions.
(b) Architectural Analysis
* The context particularly the site
* The programme - types of activities to be accommodated, and their organisational relationship and
characteristics.
* Precedent which includes: contextual studies, programmatic precedent, technical precedent and formal precedent.
Contextual Analysis
Resolution of problem = Architectural + Context in which situation.
Buildings should relate to its surroundings in the most positive possible taking into account:
* sun position
* views
* Dominant rain/wind
These are all direct and indirect forces acting on your design.
Context refers not only to issues of a climatic nature; it also requires one to understand the site in other ways such as typography, spatial characteristics and the programme.
By recognising special conditions and highlighting uniqueness, one would facilitate the development of a 'place -related' architecture.
The Spatial Characteristics of a Site
The more in-depth a site diagram is the more limitations and the and characteristics are represented. This helps to give ideas as to hows your design has to be thought of as how to use the site to your benefit.
"Analysis should not focus only on issues of a contextual nature,issues of a contextual nature; it also needs to focus on the nature of the programme"
One needs to consider the people using space, the way the space will be used, how will people access the space, what kind of effect would the space give you, etc.
A Consideration of the Programme
Programme is considered with the nature of the building as well as the special/organisational requirements of the particular building.
The best way to go about setting out your design is to start away straight from context. Problems themselves lead to surprising and original solutions, if you are prepared to let go of any preconceptions about how design is suppose to look. Find something unique about the problem.
The Study of Precedent
Precedent is a form of history and back-ground, it could be a collection of what you know from past buildings, a developed site, buildings you grew up around and buildings that had an impact on you.
Formal Precedent: Generally tends to emphasize spatial ideas, the way forms are massed, organised and
ordered.
Vernacular Precedent: Studying vernacular traditions helps us to appreciate th relationship between building
form and context, as well as the use of local resource and technology.
Functional Precedent: Functional precedent involves the study of different designs and technology of similar buildings to the one you are designing. Your analysis of this precedent would focus on organisational issues such as:
* What activities does the programme call for?
* How are spaces orgnised relative to each other?
* What key spaces are clustered together?
By looking at various examples, keeping scale in mind, you start to develop ideas in which to further solve your design.
'Functional precedent does not deal with the contextual issues you have to deal with, remember its primary use is to clarify organisational issues, and not formal or contextual issues'
The Precedent of Form
Formal precedent studies, concerns themselves with issues of form, structure, scale, spatial characteristics, etc. and investigates how forms are put together and there limitations.
Contextual Precedent
Is the study of buildings which occur in similar context to the one you are working on. This precedent study only deals with physical contextual issues.
Formal Precedent Studies
This includes the significance of the work of other architects, and the idea of typologies. One has to think of composition, as various architectural ideas. Architects design a space and this 'space' is then enclosed partially or fully and the way we enclose the space gives room for an architect's own personal designs that might only be understood by the architect themselves.
Ideas are important in the design process because they provide a frame of reference that enables on to make decisions and, at the same time, make it possible for one to understand more about the problem.
Ideas help us to articulate values, whereas concepts reflect values.
It is important to remember that one should never be too quick to let go of ideas or hold on to them too long, but to work them into the thought and design process, this is design as a process.
Feeling One's Way is a Dominantly Intuitive Process:
Not all ideas originate from an analytical or even logical or rational process. And one cannot say that this process can be taught or effective or effective or not, it works for some people and not for others, it depends on the way you think and develop your ideas.
A good way to work through a design is to take it in steps hold on to ideas only to as how far they can be used, depending on your research and thought develop your ideas or lose ideas that does not seem to work, always remember your main ideas and work back and forth keeping in mind all the different precedents studies and what would best suit your design and context, Drawings and models are key in designing because they help you to understand the problem and help develop solutions to these problems.
