An analysis of architectural design process

Abstract

It is important to the profession of architecture that the educational aspect of architecture be suitable enough to maintain standards within the profession. The design process is one of the more crucial components to the understanding of architectural pedagogy. Several schools of thought exist on architectural design process. Consequently, several different basic design processes are taught within architecture programs. This paper analyzes two different design processes: one experienced through an academic project with real clients overseen at Texas A&M University's College of Architecture; the other experienced in a senior level design studio as part of a four year Bachelor's degree from the university. As criterion for evaluation, the project will be analyzed in terms of scope, quality, and time. Scope denotes the scale of the project. Quality simply refers to the projects' practicality and aesthetics as reflected in the design. Time refers not to the amount of time spent on the project totally, but to the amount of time spent on specific aspects of the design process. Using these criterions, an analysis of the design processes is conducted in order to identify the inherent differences between both processes, and to explain the reasons behind these differences. From further analysis of literature related to the subject and through my own documented observations, I suggest why the differences in structure of the two design processes are critically important to the design in each instance and suggest my opinion on a better and more effective method of design.