Visualization In the Design Thinking | The Architectural Design Process

Visualization is the major tool of Architects in expressing their design solutions to the design project. There are several ways to do the visualization, these can be a Graphic presentation of the whole design process, video presentation including animation of the scene. This will give clarity to the design intent of the architect as far as the design brief is concerned. 

Here's a sample video presentation in the schematic design phase. As we progress in our design development of this unique house design, see and learn how each of these elements produce a synergy of what the architect wants to achieve.

The Design Thinking 

In our Design Thinking, this visualization captures the story board which conveys an idea of how the house would look like in all sides, the major consideration of building orientation is executed and a walk thru of the interior space is shown with an imagery of the development process. It shows a spot of each of the major spaces needed to complete the house design and provide more information to the Interior designers as to what spaces are available for their design conceptualization or design thinking as well.

The spaces are arranged in a manner that will coincide with all the activities within the house spaces and how it will interact with one another like the linkage of the kitchen to the dining area, the living room to the options of going to the private areas like bedrooms or toilets, or to dining and kitchen areas. The common spaces are usually the halls where the access route is shown.

In our attempt to explain the details of spaces within the house, the walk thru can give the feeling and imagination of how it will go in actual. This virtual tour opens a lot of opportunities to think and evaluate the plan in connection with the design brief. 

One basic question to ask is, "Are we able to provide a practical design solution?"

Visualization opens a new door of opportunity to explore design possibilities. So, the process continues, and the architectural design process brings closer to the conclusion of the Schematic Design stage. This will serve as the basis for making the decision on the part of the client. It can be another set of design thinking and modify what was made and update as per the client's approval. 

There is other basis for making this design proposal a more acceptable project to be executed in the near future. The ultimate goal of the design brief is to make this design proposal into reality. The Architectural Design process then is geared towards producing architectural documents that will lead to the construction of the house designed.

The architect has the sole responsibility to ensure all the standard measures of providing architectural documents are within the industry's standards. Whenever the Architectural Design proposal was approved, this will guarantee the client that the house designed by the architect abide by the standards of building construction such as the building laws, the minimum standard requirements. maximum comfort ensuring health and safety of the users including all of the persons involve in the execution of the project. 

The architect's responsibility is a very huge responsibility that it does not only ensure an outstanding design but design a house to change lives of the people going to use. How? by providing a shelter that will meet the needs of the end-user. This will include reachability, anthropometrics, proxemics, boost of their identity and character associated with their unique house design.

The Design Thinking is so critical and its basically designing for the people. The architect should possess a skill in psychology. in terms of relating to the needs of the client in defining their spaces requirements, knowing what satisfies them with their usual activity and providing that space for each individual need.

The Design Thinking Process

 To understand better, the Design Thinking Process will guide you to make a wise decision in the design proposal, the Design thinking process includes different steps which include.

• Empathy 
• Definition of the Problem
• Ideate
• Prototype
• Testing

Empathy is learning about the end-user. Who are you designing for? There are different approaches to designing a space for a particular user. For House Designs, this will make your design more personal. The Size, Shape, color and other design elements can be specifically designed based on the need of each user. This will coincide in the design of interiors. Architecture design includes space programming and analysis of circulation pattern and accessibility of every individual within the house. How they go from one space to another and how they interact. What are the spaces that are common and what are the spaces that needs more privacy. Identifying the space requirements will somehow fall into the next step.

Definition of the Problem or Identifying the obvious and not so obvious problems and come up with a solution to the problem. For example, one member of the family is disable, it would be very difficult for that person to go from living to dining, to bedroom or to the bathroom. Using wheelchair as a means to go back and forth will influence the floor levels using ramps or avoiding multi-level floor adjustments.  

Ideation means creating a solution to specific problem. As discussed above, the use of ramp can be the best solution to help the user transfer from one space to another using wheelchair. It would be a different space solution if the situation is differing from each individual user. 

 Prototyping is the next stage after identifying the problem. The solution will be carried over the space requirement. These are some of the parts of the architectural design thinking process. From the smallest detail to the overall design solution of the House Design. How all of these spaces impact the overall shape of the house. The architect's design is a unique phenomenon for each design requirements, it is authentic and brings different design character that's shapes the overall design of the house. 

Testing is the last stage of the design thinking process. A scaled model or 3d model is done to further analyze the design solution. The virtual tour is a very useful tool in the testing of the design solution which leads us to the next step of the Design Thinking, the Visualization.

The Visualization in the Design thinking Process

Visualization in the Design thinking process is very helpful in completing the design proposal. The best presentation to convince the client of the design proposal. Some of the Visualization tools use by the architects are.

 A concept board is one of the visual presentations used in the design and creative process. Architects, Interior Designers, Landscape Architects, Fashion Designers, Graphic Designers Product Designers used concept boards to convey their visions and ideas which inspires the client and provide a guide in the development of the project. It usually arranged in a collage showing images, texture, colors and other visual elements to communicate the design intention.

The key points of the concept board are to outline the Purpose, which is the starting point of the design exploration. This will capture the overall theme of the project, and help the client understand the direction of the project. 

The components in the visualization are Images, Color Swatches, Texture and Materials, Typography and Inspiration.

The concept board facilitate discussion among the clients, designers and team members. This will allow collaboration among them and visualize the project to provide feedback.

The method of visualization can be physical or digital. Physical can be created on foam boards. Material samples and texture are viable in the design presentation in order to have an actual feel and touch which would give much better impact in the visualization process. 

Digital forms are those that are assembled using software including 3d modeling, 3d rendering, animation and virtual reality tour. 

The Architectural Design

The Architectural Design is the art of designing building. It is an art of drawing and crafting a design of a structure with the acuteness and functionality in mind. It is the imagination of the shape of buildings size, shape and scheme, consolidation of spaces, formation of geometry and artistry, blending with technology and aesthetics that will create a living space that resonates with the form and function. It encompasses various disciplines beyond mere construction, which includes space efficiency, color theories, design composition and technical details. 

Some of the noteworthy Architectural Design styles include Greek architecture, Roman Architecture, Classical, Gothic, Victorian, Mediterranean, Modern, Post-Modern, Neo-futurist Architecture. 

 The Architectural Design Process

The systematic steps involve in creating this architectural design was painstakingly done in a way that it goes into a lot of sketches which is the initial visual tool used to define the building envelope. You can read this article "Crafting Distinctive Dwellings: Unraveling the Design Conceptualization Journey for a The Architectural Design Process". In this blogpost, you can see how the idea was generated. As a result, the shape was a metaphor of an Initial of the Client. This can be one of the many design approaches. 

The standard architectural design practices pass through these stages. Upon the visual presentation of the architect, the client will use this basis for proceeding to the rest of the design process which are as follows: The Schematic Design Phase, The Design Development Phase, The Contract Document Phase and the Construction Phase. 

The Schematic Design Phase is the Stage where design concepts are developed as shown in this article. There are more relevant Conceptual Design examples in this blogsite. You can see other related articles in our earlier blogpost. Links are in the description below. 

The Design Development Phase are more technical drawing presentations that are relevant to the construction of the Design. The size, shapes and proportions are related to the building standards of the locality where the design will be constructed. The building code requirements varies from different locations in the world. The architect handling the design have the license and jurisdiction over the design and is the overall collaborator in the production of construction documents supplied by different allied professionals like the engineers with different specializations like; Structural, Mechanical, Sanitary, Electrical etc. 

The Contract Document Phase are the next stage in the design process, where the design is awarded to the corresponding building contractor who will manage the construction activities. It is a process where the architect and the client will invite prospective contractors who are qualified to carry out the execution of the design in conformity with the architectural designs. The Estimated cost of the building will be under bidding process where contractors are invited to submit their own bids who can undertake the construction. 

Finally, the Construction Phase is the actual construction activity where the winning contractor will do the building construction program for a duration of time required. All the details are in conformity with the building laws, the specification and the architectural plans. 

The Provisions of the contract documents are based on the building code that shall encompass the safety of life, health and property. 

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