Revealing Architectural Design ─ Methods, Frameworks and Tools

"- How do you use methods to create unique outcomes in the architectural design process? - how do you set up methods that have a high degree of success based on your intentions? - how do you develop and apply conceptual tools to assist in the design process? - how do you use methods to satisfy the cultural needs of innovation and usability? - how do you make an architectural design inherently defensible? All of these questions and more are answered by examining the architectural design process from the point of view of knowledge domains, domain syntax, coherence, framing, thinking styles, decision-making and testing. Using straightforward language, the book connects general design thinking to underlying frameworks that are used in the architectural design process. The book provides historical grounding as well as clear examples of real design outcomes. It includes diagrams and explanations to make that content accessible. The frameworks and their methods are described by what they can accomplish, what biases they introduce and the use of their final outcomes. Revealing Architectural Design will be useful to anyone interested in increasing the quality of their architectural design proposals through understanding the conceptual tools used to achieve that process. While it is intended for undergraduate and graduate students of architectural design, it will also be useful for experienced architectural practitioners. For the non-architect, this book opens a window into the priorities of a discipline seldom presented with such transparency"--

Philip D. Plowright is Associate Professor of Architectural Design, History and Theory at Lawrence Technological University. He is a founder of the systems-based think tank, synchRG, a registered architect, and Managing Editor of Enquiry/The ARCC Journal of Architectural Research. He has published and lectured widely around issues of meaning, interpretation and process in architectural design.