CONCEPT - The " EUREKA" moment in any design process.
The moment when architect gets in full energy to proceed with design.
The moment of that basic idea around which your design revolves.
Concept is evolved.
Concept is the raw idea that describes your design.
Concept is what distinguishes each building from other.
Concept is the feeling that a building will provide its occupants.
Concept can be inspiration as well as evolution of form.
Concept can be design objective as well as solution to challenges.
Concept can be sketch as well as formulated sentences as well as a word.
Concept can be biomimcry as well as genre of architecture.
Concept can be solving problems as well as hypothetical imagination.
Concept can be design principles as well as breaking of rules.
A concept is definition to your design.
Concept comes with great understanding of client, site and any other prominent feature that may affect our design.
If we consider a building as a living entity then concept is the soul of it.
Concept is endless, far to beyond to express in definitions.
With each architect you meet you will find a new understanding of concept.
Understanding of concept comes with seeing different works of architects.
It comes with imagination and knowledge of possibilities.
It comes with thinking.
We actually want to clear our mind from hidden assumptions we may make about any project before even starting it.
To suggest a start-up I would suggest a few steps-
1. ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS:
Sit with a peaceful mind whose ready for the project. Start thinking about the project. One may start with a simple sentence by client like " Design a cultural center in Dubai" and break it down into key aspects. Ask yourself what the project means:
a. WHAT kind of project is it, according to the client, according to the users, according to the site, according to the climatic zone of site? What do you want from this project?
b. WHO are the users? What kind of people are they?Are they from same genres of life? Are they using space from same use? What cultural factors should one incorporate in this design? Who are you, and how do your temperament, personality and interests impact on this project?
c. WHERE will the project be located? What meaning does the site give to the project? Think about geography , climate , imagery , context , local attitudes, site surrounding , site topography etc.
d. WHEN will the project be occupied ? Daytime or Nighttime use?
Winters or Summers or both? How will the use differ?
e. WHY is project being built? What is the nature of the demand, and why now?Why client needs this project?
f. HOW much? How much luxurious or economical? How will it be used? How is this design different the your previous design projects? How are the proposed program, site, or users different from those you've experienced in past.
g. WHICH experience you want to bring in by this project? Which feeling would you like to feel if you were the client yourself.
2. BRAINSTORM ANSWERS:
Note down answers to these questions on paper as fast as they enter your brain. Continue working until you feel that you've addressed all the issues. You may want to refer client on their particular needs.
3. GET PERSPECTIVE:
Walk away from your work for a few minutes to clear the thoughts from your mind. Have a cup of tea or coffee, go for a short walk, listen to music or anything you would like to do to ease your mind , but don't think about what you just wrote down (Difficult but necessary).
4. EXTRACT THE ESSENCE:
Come back to what you had written, and now re-read it, encircling or underlining or highlighting the key words only. Key words are the ones that define the essence of what you had been thinking. Out of an entire page of writing, you may select only 5 or 10 words. These words are your basis to your further design.
5. COMPILE:
Read over and over the words you just highlighted. They represent the distillation, at this early stage of design, of what you know to be true about the project. Compile the highlighted words into a concise statement describing the Core Premise of the project. A typical statement might contain three to eight primary points of two or three words each, each point addressing different aspects of the project. This preliminary statement, which will be fine-tuned as you explore the project further. It will evolve into a " core of assumptions" which will support all further development. One may further want to examine each core premise by applying the same above steps to each component of the premise.
Example: If your Core Premise states, in part, that it is intended "for adolescent student users", you might ask:
a. Who are adolescents? What are their needs? What are their values? How do their perceptions differ from my own? What aspects do I want to focus on?b. What are students? What are their needs? What activities do they partake in? With whom do they interact? Do I need to also design for those with whom they interact? Who supervise them? What are the needs of the supervisors? What types of support do the supervisors need.
6. THINK OF CONCLUSIONS:
Look at all the conclusions you've generated from your Premise Development. Are they all compatible with each other? Do any of your conclusions need to be modified in order to be consistent with any of your other conclusions? Do you see any patterns emerging? Anything that begins to suggest itself as a point of departure for your Design Concept?
7. EXPERIENCE THE SPACE YOU WANT TO CREATE:
This is the first time that you get to have input on the project's eventual outcome. What do you think about the program? What do you see as its most important elements? How about the least important? Where do you think the most aesthetic emphasis should be placed? Use the perspective you gained from the Premise work. Write these ideas down also, so that you have, in effect, an annotated program.
8. SKETCH AND ELABORATE:
Now, and only now, are you ready to start thinking about Design Concepts.
The Design Concept summarizes the graphic seed of the project. Take another look at your Core Premise and your Developed Premise. Ask yourself what design "devices", what "parti" might address the issues in manifest in this project? What metaphor, or overriding image, will guide your attitudes toward massing, detail development, facade design and materials selection? The image you decide on should reflect your own personal view of the project. You may try several different Design Concepts before you decide on which one will guide your design work.There is a story about Frank Lloyd Wright and Falling Water. It seems that for six months after the first client consultations Wright did no drawing; he only thought about the project. It wasn't until Mr. Kaufman announced that he would be dropping by Mr. Wright's office that the architect began with paper and pencil. The few hours he had while awaiting the client was sufficient to draw what was to become the approved design, since so much time had been spent thinking about the problem.
Try out this technique as outlined, but feel free to modify it thereafter to work best with your own temperament.
