Brief

The objective of this seminar is the pursuit of an intense inquiry into design process and methodologies.. The seminar will address the creative and intuitive as well as problem solving and decision making within the process of building design.

There are many ways to approach design. How does the kernel of an idea begin and how does that idea, through many transformations become an artifact-a building? This seminar will also address different design methods, particularly how analog and digital media affects the design process. We will fully immerse ourselves in how architects think, how they operate, and their own theory of making. Ultimately, you will learn a bit about your own position as a thinker and maker.

Course Organization and Requirements.

We will begin the seminar with a series of lectures and discussions which will introduce the framework within which the seminar will unfold. Various design processes will be examined in relation to design theory.

Specific architects and their methodologies will be analyzed, including Louis Kahn, Robert Venturi, Tod Williams, Tom Phifer and Paul Lewis. All architects were Rome Academy Fellows, an influence appearing years later in their design thinking and production of architectural space.

Each student will choose one architect from a given list and conduct research, deliver a presentation on the architect's design process through his work.

Selected, intensive readings will augment discussions in the seminar. This will help you define your own design theory. The course will conclude with each student documenting and evaluating his/her own design process.