AN ASSIGNMENT ON
DESIGN CONCEPTS IN ARCHITECTURE
BY
Akinwumi Olufemi I (Arc/09/7359)
Being in partial fulfillment of the requirements of
Arc 308 (History of architecture)
Broadbent identified four fundamental forms, which he called paradigms of design, including: i. ii.
Pragmatic Iconic
iii.
Canonic
iv.
Analogical design.
Pragmatic: when the designer employs and manipulates materials directly until a suitable solution is created. Iconic: which builds upon pragmatic design by treating successful solutions: 1) as templates for new structures 2) as the generally accepted form for structures of that type.
Canonic: which, like the classical Greek and Roman orders, builds upon iconic design by the provision of rules, or components, as design resources. Analogical: when an analogue medium, such as a drawing, is used to simulate or represent an invented design. The first three, pragmatic, iconic and canonical design can be readily associated with pre-modern design, but all describe actions one could see modern architects apply. Pragmatic ("try it and see") design commonly occurs on building sites; eg. Where and when inadequacies in documentation become evident and immediate action is necessary to avoid delays and claims. Residential and commercial property developers routinely instruct consultants, including architects, to apply iconic and canonic principles; eg. To match floor areas, standard layouts, fittings and finishes to a target purchaser model identified through market research. However, in analogical design, when the designer shapes and develops a representation of a design, or variations of it in detail, before making a physical embodiment, it is the most familiar and dominant paradigm. It is the method student designers are taught to apply, almost universally. The actions of analogical design, such as drawing, model making or using CAD, typify what many people would identify as the outward actions of designing. Recent developments of 2D and 3D design computing software have magnified the
power of analogical approaches by enabling almost any aspect of a design to be modeled, throughout its life cycle.
A more process oriented form of classification than Broadbent's, divides designing into; v.
Routine
vi.
Innovative
vii.
Creative. Routine design; is applied to designing which proceeds from existing
prototypes. This would include iconic design. Innovative design; refers to designing which also proceeds from existing prototypes, but with the freedom to change the ranges of prototype variables. This could include rule based canonic design. Eg. Where a designer adopts traditional forms but changes their proportions. The typical result of innovative design, by this definition, has a familiar structure but novel appearance because the values of the defining variables are unfamiliar. Creative design; is distinguished from the first two by the use of new variables, producing new
types and providing the capacity to produce a paradigm shift. Creative design and analogical design can themselves be regarded as analogous when they involve transfer and adaptation of prototypes or an analog medium Innovative and creative designs are two forms of non-routine design.
In summary, Iconic design Treats successful solutions (prototypes) as: 1. Templates for new structures 2. Accepted form for structures of a type. Routine design Proceeds from existing prototypes Canonic design Builds upon iconic design by providing rules, or components, as design resources. Innovative design Proceeds from prototypes, with freedom to change the ranges of prototype variables Analogical design Analogue medium, such as a drawing, is used to simulate or represent an invented design. Pragmatic design Designer employs and manipulates materials
directly until a suitable solution is created.
