 Background information

 outline of what was investigated in this experiment

 hypothesis
 summary of method
 summary of results
 summary of discussion

The architectural design processes

To carry out the architectural design process there is much to know, reason and propose. Every
time someone asks us to make a design, we ask ourselves many questions.

We have a lot to think about, there are many aspects to relate to, there are many decisions to
make.

The first questions to carry out an architectural design process are:

• Who will the work be for?

• Who will use it?

• Where will it be located?

• What activities will take place there?

• What financial and technological resources are available to build it?

With our design we will try to give an adequate response to the physical and psychological
needs of the people who will use the architectural work, but we will also have to ensure that
said design relates harmoniously with the environment, that it does not harm the environment
or waste energy.

The architectural design is developed through a process that begins with the knowledge of
certain specific accommodation needs, and ends with the graphic proposal of how these needs
will be resolved. With the project we propose to express in advance how the work will be.

We say that the design of a project is developed through a process because we go through a
series of successive phases and many trials that bring us closer to the final solution.

Generally, the first thing we do to start the architectural design process is to meet the people
who will use the work to be designed and ask them what architectural needs they have and
what resources they have. It is important to know your needs, desires, customs and ideas well
to make a design that meets your requirements and expectations. The next thing is to know the
place where the work will be located, in the event that said people have already chosen a
place. If not, we can help you choose a suitable site.

The architect, when designing, starts from the needs of the people who will use the
architectural work, from the characteristics of the place where it will be built and from the
material and technical resources available. Of course, the tastes of the architect also intervene
in its creation because each one has dreams, memories and experiences that he wants to
relive, etc.
That is why, for example, if twenty students carry out the design of a building, let's say the
house of the same person, twenty different solutions are obtained, all of which can be valid.

The architect responds to the physical and psychological needs of the people who will use the
architectural works.

In order to give an adequate response to the bodily and spiritual needs of users, architecture
has to do with both reason and feeling.

Among the physical needs are those of being able to move adequately in spaces, having a good
amount of fresh air to breathe, good lighting, privacy, etc.

Within the spiritual or psychological needs, there is the aesthetic need because it is not only
about creating spaces where users can adequately carry out their activities, but rather that
these spaces transmit harmonic and pleasant sensations; spaces with good views that provide
tranquility, joy, etc.

Knowing the future users and their needs, we prepare a needs program, that is, a list of all the
spaces that the work will require, indicating the requirements of each of them in terms of
shape, size, lighting, ventilation, views , furniture, equipment, etc.

We then carefully study the relationships between these spaces.

Knowing what the necessary spaces are and their relationships, we decide where on the land
the building will be located; which spaces will be to the north and which to the south, east or
west, which near the access, which withdrawn, etc. That is, we will do a zoning.

Once we have established, in a general way, the location of each space on the ground, we
proceed to make the first three-dimensional diagrams, beginning to shape the spaces, taking
into account their function and considering how to structure them.

These schemes are gradually developed and improved until reaching a specific proposal that is
shown to the person who has commissioned the design. This proposal is known by the name of
draft.

When designing an architectural object, we follow a series of successive steps that start with
the knowledge of the needs and end with the architectural proposal. But it is not a linear or
rigid process, but a dialectical process, because we are constantly taking ideas from reality and
proposing new alternatives, which are readjusted with greater precision as we confront them
with the specific needs to be resolved.

Generally, when carrying out an architectural design, we follow a process that consists of
several steps. It is important that students of architecture develop each of these steps because
this allows them to acquire order in the mental process of producing an architectural design.

It is necessary to emphasize that the design process is not linear or rigid but rather flexible. The
ideas, thoughts and mental processes of human beings are expressed in an integral way and
not separating the different aspects. At the same time we think of a thousand different aspects
and it would be absurd to establish a rigid and linear design process; but we always need a
guide to help sort us out. It is necessary to take into account an order, to channel our mental
process, to follow some steps when designing.
Experienced architects often do not explicitly develop all the steps, as they are so practiced
that they can establish the different relationships mentally. For example, sometimes they don't
need to draw flowcharts or matrices because they do it in their heads.

Steps to carry out the architectural design process

It is important to plan our work, consider the times, establish a schedule, make a critical path
that helps us organize the work, so as not to fall behind and be able to meet our commitments.
In general, the steps we follow when carrying out an architectural design are the following:

• General knowledge of the place where the work will be built (territory, municipality, city,
town).

• Knowledge of the future users of the architectural work and the activities they will carry out.

• Study of the site where the work will be built (natural, social and artificial aspects)

• Knowledge of analog models.

•Needs program.

• Study of the relationships between spaces (organizational charts, flowcharts and matrices).

• Guiding ideas.

• Zoning.

• Three-dimensional diagrams.

• Draft.

•Project.

• Supervision of the work.

•Assessment.