Architectural design communication (ADC) in online education during COVID-19 pandemic: a comparison of Turkish and Spanish universities

PurposeThe paper aims to examine the concept of architectural design communication (ADC) for updating design studio dynamics in architectural education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Within this perspective, the changing and transforming contents of architectural education, the thinking, representation and production mediums are examined through the determined components of ADC. There are five components in the study, which are (1) Effective Language Use, (2) Effective use of Handcrafts, (3) Effective Technical Drawing Knowledge, (4) Effective Architectural Software Knowledge and (5) Outputs.Design/methodology/approachThe research method is based on qualitative and quantitative methods; a survey study is applied and the comparative results are evaluated with the path analysis method. The students in the Department of Architecture of two universities have been selected as the target audience. Case study 1 survey is applied to Altinbas University (AU) and Case study 2 survey is applied to Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) students during the COVID-19 pandemic; ‘19-‘20 spring term, online education.FindingsAs a result, two-path analysis diagrams are produced for two universities, and a comparative analysis is presented to reveal the relationships of the selected ADC components.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills an identified need to study how ADC can be developed in online education platforms.

Design Thinking for Computer-Aided Co-Design in Architecture and Urban Design

Bringing the designer’s concept to the non-design expert’s communicative level requires a significant understanding of the communication media. Primarily the design communication depends on the type of the tools used. Virtual tools with their pre-set operability limit the designer’s ways of interaction with the artefacts. This article proposes a framework for designers to interact with non-design experts through an enhanced communicative media. The design framework indicates steps of design thinking to develop the interface by understanding both the virtual artefacts’ perceptual affordance to the users and the design task. The paper discusses about projects tested in three different scenarios, urban design, architecture, and product design. It concludes with the arguments on designers’ role as authors of the system design.

Laypeople's Collaborative Immersive Virtual Reality Design Discourse in Neighborhood Design

The article discusses design communication and participation of laypeople in a virtual participatory urban design process. We speculate that an immersive virtual environment facilitated instrument can allow laypeople to take part actively as designers in the early stage of urban design ideation and generation. We have developed a design communication framework where laypeople can participate in design discourse on a neighborhood's future urban form. The strategy describes an urban design intent, which is informed by the development procedure of an instrument and workflow to engage participants. The integration of the instrument and the engagement procedure enable continuous designing of urban form by laypeople. A protocol analysis has been undertaken to investigate design communication. A coding scheme is applied to investigate, analyse, and understand how laypeople communicate with the design instrument and control design in the virtual environment. Through engaging non-experts, the research impacts on the perceptual affordance created by immersive 3D buildings artifacts and verbal conversation. The protocol analysis validated the setup so that subsequent studies can address the meaningfulness of such design conversations.

Laypeople's Collaborative Immersive Virtual Reality Design Discourse in Neighborhood Design

The article discusses design communication and participation of laypeople in a virtual participatory urban design process. We speculate that an immersive virtual environment facilitated instrument can allow laypeople to take part actively as designers in the early stage of urban design ideation and generation. We have developed a design communication framework where laypeople can participate in design discourse on a neighborhood's future urban form. The strategy describes an urban design intent, which is informed by the development procedure of an instrument and workflow to engage participants. The integration of the instrument and the engagement procedure enable continuous designing of urban form by laypeople. A protocol analysis has been undertaken to investigate design communication. A coding scheme is applied to investigate, analyse, and understand how laypeople communicate with the design instrument and control design in the virtual environment. Through engaging non-experts, the research impacts on the perceptual affordance created by immersive 3D buildings artifacts and verbal conversation. The protocol analysis validated the setup so that subsequent studies can address the meaningfulness of such design conversations.

The effectiveness of interactive virtual reality for furniture, fixture and equipment design communication: an empirical study

PurposeThis study aims to propose a novel approach to developing an interactive and immersive virtual environment for design communication in the furniture, fixture and equipment (FFE) sector. The study further investigates its effectiveness in enhancing the design communication and coordination between the stakeholder.Design/methodology/approachQuasi-experimental research was adopted involving 12 FFE professionals, designers and end-users in single-group pre-test-post-test design. The tests were performed primarily to ascertain the impact of the application of interactive virtual reality on delivering furniture design selection and coordination tasks. Further interviews were used to elicit participants' views on the functionality and usefulness of the proposed approach.FindingsThe findings indicate that an interactive immersive virtual FFE environment: enhances the productivity of the design team through a collaborative virtual workspace offering a synchronised networked design testing and review platform; reduces the time required for the stakeholders to comprehend the design options and test those; enhances the design communication and quality of the design and encourages the collaborative culture in the industry; improves the design satisfaction of the stakeholders; and finally, requires significantly less time for design decision-making when compared to traditional methods.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should incorporate space planning concepts and explore non-experimental methodologies in a real-life FFE project setup.Practical implicationsThe proposed approach provides opportunities for enhanced interpretation of design intent in FFE as well as efficiency in design selection and coordination tasks when compared with conventional two-dimensional methods of communication.Originality/valueThis study proposes a step change in the way furniture design is communicated and coordinated through an immersive virtual experience. Previous studies have not addressed the issue of impact on design coordination instead focussed on marketing and sales.

VARIATIONS OF MULTIMODALITY IN DESIGN

The article is devoted to variations of design multimodality within the framework of social semiotics and discourse theory, describing the simultaneity and holism of multimodal design texts in a socio-cultural context. The article gives a detailed analysis of multimodality in three directions: deep into the semiotic structure of the design product and the mental processes of its perception; in breadth – in numerous forms of organizing the interaction of communication participants; in time – in aspects of cultural citation. The author identifies and describes structural, citation, a priori multimodality and multimodal interaction. The a priori nature of multimodal perception and conventionality of multimodal design texts is considered as tools for achieving the goals of design communication.

Extramural but not Extracurricular

This paper considers the introduction of a Personal Development Portfolio into our assessment for architectural education. When revising out undergraduate course structure we moved to a fully integrated model, where assessment was based on a portfolio or ‘body of work’ produced during a ten-week studio project. These projects introduce, develop and integrate understanding and ability of the key knowledge and skills of the curriculum; design, communication, realisation (technology) and contextual studies. Each year of study also includes one unit where professional knowledge is also assessed. Alongside these ‘learning outcomes’ we introduced a PDP: a separate report documenting and reflecting on everything that falls outside the predicted aims of the project.

Online communication of accessibility conditions in touristic spots: the design–communication gap in Porto destination

Purpose It is important to design accessible destinations for disabled tourists. However, to attract this market segment, it is also important to efficiently communicate online the accessibility provided. This paper aims to analyse the online communication of physical accessibility conditions designed for disabled tourists, to discuss the existence or non-existence of a design–communication gap in tourist destinations. Design/methodology/approach The authors analysed the physical accessibility of a selection of touristic spots in Porto, Portugal. The online communication regarding the physical accessibility of these spots’ informative websites was also analysed. Subsequently, a content analysis of these same websites was conducted to ascertain whether accessibility conditions for disabled tourists are disclosed in line with the physical and online facilities observed. Findings The destination websites’ online contents targeting disabled tourists are generic and do not inform about all the accessible facilities provided by the touristic spots analysed. Originality/value The authors found a gap between the accessible destination design and its communication in destination websites. This situation creates a barrier for people with physical disabilities and it is particularly concerning, considering that this market segment seeks for information in online sources to plan trips and does not find on the internet all the information about the accessible facilities provided. This fact may hinder the positioning of destinations as inclusive places and impair accessible tourism competitiveness. A better online communication of the accessible destination design is recommended.