An investigation into the cognitive, metacognitive, and spatial markers of creativity and efficiency in architectural design

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Kinda Al Sayed ◽  
Peter C H. Cheng ◽  
Alan Penn
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
Design Experiment ◽  
Spatial Features ◽  
Functional Distribution ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Design Solutions ◽  
Metacognitive Activity

Abstract This paper presents a preliminary study into the spatial features that can be used to distinguish creativity andefficiency in design layouts, and the distinct pattern of cognitive and metacognitive activity that is associated with creative design. In a design experiment, a group of 12 architects were handed a design brief. Their drawing activity was recorded and they were required to externalize their thoughts during the design process. Both design solutions and verbal comments were analysed and modelled. A separate group of experienced architects used their expert knowledge to assign creativity and efficiency scores to the 12 design solutions. The design solutions were evaluated spatially. Protocol analysis studies including linkography and macroscopic analysis were used to discern distinctive patterns in the cognitive and metacognition activity of designs marked with the highest and least creativity scores. Entropy models of the linkographs and knowledge graphs were further introduced Finally, we assessed how creativity and efficiency correlates to experiment variables, cognitive activity, metacognitive activity, spatial and functional distribution of spaces in the design solutions, and the number and type of design constraints applied through the course of design. Through this investigation, we suggest that expert knowledge can be used to assess creativity and efficiency in designs. Our findings indicate that efficient layouts have distinct spatial features, and that cognitive and metacognitive activity in design that yields a highly creative outcome corresponds to higher frequencies of design moves and higher linkages between design moves.

HERITAGE IN THE LIVED ENVIRONMENT OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AND THE GULF REGION

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph John Hobbs
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
Planning And Design ◽  
Spatial Features ◽  
Gulf Countries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Islamic Values

This paper examines how the architectural, social, and cultural heritage of the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries may contribute to better development of this region’s lived environment. Modern urbanism has largely neglected heritage in architectural design and in social and private spaces, creating inauthentic places that foster a hunger for belongingness in the UAE’s built environment. The paper reviews recent urban developments in the UAE and the Gulf Region, and identifies elements of local heritage that can be incorporated into contemporary planning and design. It proposes that adapting vernacular architectural heritage to the modern built environment should not be the principal goal for heritage-informed design. Instead we may examine the social processes underlying the traditional lived environment, and aim for social sustainability based on the lifeways and preferences of local peoples, especially in kinship and Islamic values. Among the most promising precedents for modern social sustainability are social and spatial features at the scale of the neighborhood in traditional Islamic settlements. Interviews with local Emiratis will also recommend elements of traditional knowledge to modern settings. 

scholarly journals Geo-environmental Factors in Three Persian Folk Stories: A Preliminary Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-85
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Shafiei ◽  
Habibollah Ghassemzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Embodied Experience ◽  
Climatic Zones ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Essential Function ◽  
Mental Spaces ◽  
Folk Stories

Stories mirror the essential function of human cognitive activity. In the present preliminary study, we hypothesized that the mental spaces that make up the stories can be influenced by the environmental conditions of their creators. For this purpose, three stories from three different climatic zones in Iran were selected and a content analysis method was used to analyze their components. Results showed significant differences between the mental spaces of different geographic regions in these three stories.  This finding could be considered as a step taken to show the extent to which an individual’s cognition and cognitive processing in general and the creation of meaning in particular, is an extension and representation of embodied experience. We have discussed the subject in the framework of narrative analysis as well as cognitive semantics.

scholarly journals Utu

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Benjamin Tunui
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Design Experiment ◽  
Architectural Theory ◽  
Spatial Level ◽  
Surface Ornamentation ◽  
Mapping Techniques ◽  
Design Experiments

<p>Contemporary Māori architecture in Aotearoa is rapidly becoming ‘mainstreamed’ within a New Zealand architectural idiom. However, Māori architecture has been narrowed down to surface ornamentation, a handful of motifs and exhausted narratives. This dissonance is owing to the fact that Mātauranga Māori is not at the iho (core) of Māori architecture at a formal and spatial level. Consequently, this thesis aims to expand Māori architectural theory and practice by proposing that elements of tikanga Māori can be understood both formally and spatially in ways that generate new architectural possibilities. The research was conducted as an iterative design process. Three parts of the pōwhiri process are mapped for their underlying spatiality, both in the physical and meta-physical worlds. The ephemera are translated through a design methodology which reveals what these patterns could mean for contemporary Māori architecture. The three rituals: karanga, wero and hongi are explored as a series of design experiments which follow the same workflow. Each design experiment developed a range of different architectural techniques for expressing tikanga Māori. The use of speculative drawing/ mapping techniques is the principal way in which the spatiality of the ephemera is excavated and interrogated. The following research is not tied to an architectural site. The architecture is not based within a specific context, rather it is born of context, conceiving an architecture of the ephemeral and atmospheric qualities of ritual. This research acknowledges the Māori concept of tuakana-teina (elder sibling-younger sibling) knowledge exchange and draws a parallel with architectural design methodology. This thesis suggests a method of speculation for future generations of architectural designers in Aotearoa to build upon with their own whakaaro (thoughts).</p>

Machine Learning-Aided Architectural Design for Carbon Footprint Reduction

BUILDER ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 276 (7) ◽  
pp. 35-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateusz Płoszaj-Mazurek
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Design Solutions ◽  
Carbon Footprint Reduction ◽  
The Way

The built environment is considered responsible for at least 20-40% of greenhouse gases emission. The way we design may exert an impact on this percentage. A new paradigm, namely artificial intelligence, is arriving. More and more tasks are becoming automated via algorithms. How could this power be applied in order to strengthen our knowledge about the ways we design buildings? The author of the following paper presents a study in which carbon footprint yielded by a multifamily building is analysed. ML has been used to generate an extensive overview of the possible design solutions. This, in turn, made it possible to observe correlations between various parameters that resulted in a reduced carbon footprint.

scholarly journals User Experience Evaluation of Voice Interfaces: A Preliminary Study of Games for Seniors and the Elderly

Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Solano ◽  
López ◽  
Guerrero ◽  
Quesada
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
User Experience ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Wizard Of Oz ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Positive Results

Maintaining high cognitive activity is vital for the mental health of seniors. Taking part in leisure activities is an exciting and gratifying way to accomplish this, with video games having several advantages for this use. The present study is a work in progress to develop different digital games with natural voice interfaces that can be easily and pleasantly used by older adults to stimulate their cognitive needs. A Wizard of Oz with two different games was developed to evaluate the user experience perceived when using such applications. Positive results enhance the notion that using digital games powered by natural voice interfaces may appeal to the elderly, while stimulating their cognitive processes, thus fortifying their mental health.

scholarly journals Discursive design thinking: The role of explicit knowledge in creative architectural design reasoning

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinda Al-Sayed ◽  
Ruth Conroy Dalton ◽  
Christoph Hölscher
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Creative Thought ◽  
Spatial Configurations ◽  
Design Solutions ◽  
Discursive Design ◽  
Design Reasoning

AbstractThe main hypothesis investigated in this paper is based upon the suggestion that the discursive reasoning in architecture supported by an explicit knowledge of spatial configurations can enhance both design productivity and the intelligibility of design solutions. The study consists of an examination of an architect's performance while solving intuitively a well-defined problem followed by an analysis of the spatial structure of their design solutions. One group of architects will attempt to solve the design problem logically, rationalizing their design decisions by implementing their explicit knowledge of spatial configurations. The other group will use an implicit form of such knowledge arising from their architectural education to reason about their design acts. An integrated model of protocol analysis combining linkography and macroscopic coding is used to analyze the design processes. The resulting design outcomes will be evaluated quantitatively in terms of their spatial configurations. The analysis appears to show that an explicit knowledge of the rules of spatial configurations, as possessed by the first group of architects can partially enhance their function-driven judgment producing permeable and well-structured spaces. These findings are particularly significant as they imply that an explicit rather than an implicit knowledge of the fundamental rules that make a layout possible can lead to a considerable improvement in both the design process and product. This suggests that by externalizing the design knowledge and restructuring it in a design model, creative thought can efficiently be evolved and stimulated.

scholarly journals Utu

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Benjamin Tunui
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Design Experiment ◽  
Architectural Theory ◽  
Spatial Level ◽  
Surface Ornamentation ◽  
Mapping Techniques ◽  
Design Experiments

<p>Contemporary Māori architecture in Aotearoa is rapidly becoming ‘mainstreamed’ within a New Zealand architectural idiom. However, Māori architecture has been narrowed down to surface ornamentation, a handful of motifs and exhausted narratives. This dissonance is owing to the fact that Mātauranga Māori is not at the iho (core) of Māori architecture at a formal and spatial level. Consequently, this thesis aims to expand Māori architectural theory and practice by proposing that elements of tikanga Māori can be understood both formally and spatially in ways that generate new architectural possibilities. The research was conducted as an iterative design process. Three parts of the pōwhiri process are mapped for their underlying spatiality, both in the physical and meta-physical worlds. The ephemera are translated through a design methodology which reveals what these patterns could mean for contemporary Māori architecture. The three rituals: karanga, wero and hongi are explored as a series of design experiments which follow the same workflow. Each design experiment developed a range of different architectural techniques for expressing tikanga Māori. The use of speculative drawing/ mapping techniques is the principal way in which the spatiality of the ephemera is excavated and interrogated. The following research is not tied to an architectural site. The architecture is not based within a specific context, rather it is born of context, conceiving an architecture of the ephemeral and atmospheric qualities of ritual. This research acknowledges the Māori concept of tuakana-teina (elder sibling-younger sibling) knowledge exchange and draws a parallel with architectural design methodology. This thesis suggests a method of speculation for future generations of architectural designers in Aotearoa to build upon with their own whakaaro (thoughts).</p>

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