design_theory

1. Lecture 2
Design theory

2. Design knowledge

3. Design knowledge Types
• Design knowledge involved in the design process can be grouped
under two broad categories:
• A)The knowledge produced within the design process including the
design problem and the design theory.
• B)The knowledge transferred from the wider knowledge environment
including:
• Technical knowledge, and the values which constitute design criteria and
constraints.

4. Design knowledge Sources
• Design knowledge is found in published design information, in
buildings and in people, from which;
• The data needed for use in the design process is extracted and
processed through the knowledge producing channels of the design
process system.
• Four components of design knowledge are developed, they are:

5. Design knowledge Components
• (1) The design problem refers to the need and the values of the
owner, the users and the community. These are interpreted into
activities and spaces to accommodate such activities.
• (2) The design theory describing the basic principles of design, which
derive from past experience.
• (3) Technical knowledge of design including structural, mechanical
and electrical engineering in addition to smart technology services.
• (4) Design values refer to a host of external influences which are
manifest in design criteria and constraints, constitute the
environmental, socio-cultural or economical design context.

6. Knowledge produce research
• Producing design knowledge involves two types of research activity:
• Type (I) is a pre-design research concerned with defining the design
problem including the goals and the strategies to achieve such goals.
• It aims to study both the immediate determining factors, which may be
described as internal influences and the external influencing factors at the
wider level of knowledge.
• The determining factors are design goals including need, need
generated activities and space requirements.
• The external influencing factors are design criteria and constraints,
which constitute the design context.

7. Knowledge produce research
• The predesign research aims to explore and interpret data and to
produce a problem statement document known as the brief or
programing.
• Type (II) is concerned with the formulation of design theory.
• This research is part of the design process, which aims to study the
precedents, to discover the norms which governed design in the past and to
formulate the design theory.

8. Design knowledge
conception

9. • The design process achieves its objectives by a number of goals:
people and their activities, space and knowledge.
• The relationship between these three goals in terms of knowledge
interaction involves using knowledge, concept generation,
• Managing knowledge interaction within the design process system
and between the process system as a whole and the wider knowledge
environment is the key activity in the concept generation.

10. • The design process relies in achieving objectives on knowledge
interaction between need, activities as defined in the design problem
on the one hand, and space as the design theory describes on the
other.
• Using knowledge is the activity concerned with concept generation.
• It is a synthetic activity in which objectively produced knowledge and
creative skill are both necessary for concept generation and the
creation of design.

11. Design Theory

12. 1)Design theory: definition
• Design theory refers to the knowledge derived from the past design
experiences or design norms in terms of the organization of function
spaces within structures.
• Another definition is:
• The way space is articulated within structures in which they are
accommodated is called design theory.
• How structures or forms evolve in close association with the
articulation of space, as a logical result of function and the method of
construction and in response of design context.

13. 2)Design theory: objectives
• Design theory is concerned with managing the
interaction between three components: need, need
generated activities, required spaces and form to
accommodate them.
• If defining the design problem involves analyzing the
need, activities and the space requirement, then
• Design theory should be concerned with discovering
and explaining the interactive relationship between
these components within the forms.

14. 3)Design theory: evolution
• Design theories should be constructed to describe space patterns and
to explain the interactive mechanism which has led to the evolution
of forms as have been practiced in the past.
• These are tested experiences that should be chosen as models, which
may also guide to design novelty.
• Design time should be invested in new ideas based on old ones, that
is re-introducing the experience of the past taking advantage of the
vast technological advances of our time.

15. 4)Design theory: methodology
• The development of design theory begins with extensive library
document-based research, which involves data analysis and
interpretation.
• The analysis should lead to identifying the common practices, and
understanding the principles followed in designing specific types of
buildings in the past.
• The aim is identifying the basic principles of design the influencing
values including those manifest in criteria and constraints,
• Finding out how they were interpreted in terms of space, how they
influenced spatial relationship and shaped architectural form.

16. 5) Design theory: functions
• Design theory should,
• Describe the way designs are built from the basic functional units.
• Explain the spatial relationships within structures and the reasons
why they occur the way they did.
• Define the characteristics of the basic functional units: the way they
are articulated and clustered within structures.
• Determine the influencing factors and their impact on characteristics
of the spatial organization within form.

17. 6) Design theory: construction
• Design theory should
• Describe patterns of basic units and explain the criteria that determine
their organization within enclosing structures.
• It discovers the rules that govern space arrangement and the adjacency
relationships such as those on basis of circulation.
• Some activities for example may create certain movement between spaces,
which require different types of connections ranging from doors, links or
passages.
• Connection through circulation lines may occur between certain spaces
more frequently than others.
• Then spaces which are required to be more frequently connected are
located closer than the others which are less frequently connected.

18. 7) Design theory: evaluation
• Design theory may need supporting evidence from empirical
research.
• Data-based research is best being compared with a confirmatory
knowledge drawn from studying the precedents.
• Learning from observation is necessary to add real life dimension of
space, people and activities interface.