A Focus on Pedagogy: Teaching, Learning and Research in the Modern Academy

A PRACTICAL METHOD TO GUIDE THE ARCHITECTURAL

DESIGN PROCESS
Author:
FRANCINE VAN TONDER, MEL STANDER

Affiliation:
TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SOUTH AFRICA

INTRODUCTION
This paper presents a practical method to guide the architectural design process. The paper introduces
the author, Errol Pieters, of two memoirs1 that serves as the literature review content of this paper. The
paper then tests the arguments posed in the memoirs as a research methodology and the conceptual
sketches and architectural drawings produced during the tests are presented as research data. Finally,
the paper is concluded with recommendations.

ERROL PIETERS
The practical method to guide the architectural design process presented in this paper was taught
verbally, lecturer to students, by the Head of Department, the late Errol Pieters (5 April 1951 – 18 April
2020), of the then Department of Architecture at the Tshwane University of Technology. There are few
records of the teachings of Errol Pieters. This paper aims to present some of Pieters’ pedagogy methods
and thoughts.

Pedagogue
Pieters was an enigmatic mentor and great artisan in architectural drawing, thinking and pedagogy who
profoundly impacted thousands of students over a period of more than thirty years. He taught both the
authors of this paper, first as his students and later as his colleagues. He taught his students the history
of architecture, how to think architecturally, the fundamentals of design, how to argue a case or
theoretical premise, and how to present an idea effectively from concept to detail. Pieters also invested
time in teaching his students to be courageous and honest, act with integrity and always be ethical. Most
importantly, he taught us how to sketch conceptually and draw architecturally.

The human
Pieters was a renaissance man and approached everything from the cooking of a meal2 to the prelim of
a painting with artistic vigour. As a result, at times, in his search for excellence and accomplishment in
himself and others, he alienated students and colleagues who found it hard to live up to his expectations.
The two authors of this paper acknowledge the struggle in their being when considering their mentor’s
approach to teaching them and how hard it was at times to reach the standards he set. That said, both
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authors conclude, without question, how privileged they were to have been taught and influenced by

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A Focus on Pedagogy: Teaching, Learning and Research in the Modern Academy

him so closely. What Pieters taught the authors could not be read or searched with the same exuberance
as he transferred his extraordinary knowledge base to those who wished to learn from him.
In this paper, the authors make available some of Pieters’ theories and arguments on methods for future
architectural students and designers, to demystify the architectural design process.

Figure 1. A compilation of architectural drawings by Errol Pieters, used with permission from Désirée
Pieters

MEMOIRS AS A LITERARY STUDY

Origin of the memoirs
After Pieters’ died in 2020, his widow Désirée Pieters began archiving and documenting his large body
of work with the hope of publishing a coffee table book of his work.3 Pieters’ work is only known by
those who studied with him, studied under him, or came in contact with the architectural presentation
drawings or ‘perries’ he was commissioned to produce for commercial architectural organisations. To
date, Pieters’ work is scarcely used in publications.4 While assisting with this archiving process, one of
the authors of this paper identified two (among others) of the memoirs Pieters wrote as noteworthy for
further research on teaching the architectural design process. The memoirs outlined the practical method
vested in conceptual sketching and architectural drawing presented in this paper.
The memoirs are written in Afrikaans and the tone (narrative) of the pieces is the same way Pieters
spoke with colleagues and students. It is humorous, embellished, ambitious, dramatic, egotistical, and
inspirational. It is also familiar and strangely comforting to those who knew Pieters.
The memoirs were written in 20185 and tell of an epiphany Pieters had late in his career after a somewhat
energetic and criticism-laden discussion with one of the authors of this paper. Pieters had an open-door
policy and encouraged thoughts (and even complaints) from students, thereby ensuring the constant
betterment of the department. The discussion the first memoir refers to took place in 2010 in the office
that Pieters shared with professorial colleague Gerald Steyn. One of the authors (Pieters’ thesis student
at the time) visited Pieters to criticise how architectural design was taught in the department. Pieters
writes of the discussion that followed and how, as a student, the author was not satisfied with his
response. Consequently, Pieters writes that he ruminated on the criticism for a few days.

The epiphany
Pieters writes that his epiphany is that design can be better taught by a master designer demonstrating
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their architectural design process. A method not yet used to its full potential in the department and
limited only to what a lecturer or a senior student can demonstrate to a student seeking help. Pieters

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writes that he realised that the master should demonstrate their process in a workshop and that various
masters with different approaches should be asked to present each workshop. Each master has a
different refined method for the architectural design process.
As a result of the discussion and the consequent epiphany, Pieters agreed to give just such a master
design workshop on the architectural design process to junior year students in the department. In the
workshop, he demonstrated his method vested in conceptual sketching and architectural drawing. Most
of the students in the department (junior and senior) attended. In the memoir, Pieters speaks of the
success of the workshop. For this paper, the practical method outlined in the memoirs is tested to
generate the research data and provoke discussion.

The context and environment best suited for architectural teaching

In the memoirs, Pieters argues against the blank slate or ‘tabula rasa’6 used by the Bauhaus foundation7
and commonly across most architectural schools. The tabula rasa argues that a student finds their own
way. Pieters argues that the best environment for teaching design to be a studio where an apprentice
learns from a master. He argues in his memoirs that he finds that design is artisanship, first and foremost,
for which one should learn the basics while observing a master at work.
Pieters advocates for learning environments such as the renaissance ‘Bottega’8 and ‘Master and
Apprentice’9. The renaissance methods advocate for students to observe and participate, thereby
learning from how a master goes to work and how they think, argue, and conduct themselves in the
design process. He writes how he has developed various methods applicable to different situations to
resolve a design problem based on a process influenced by the moment, his mental state and ability,
and the time allowance. Pieters then goes on to state his process in six steps as a method for the design
process.

How to design in architecture – six steps

Pieters recommends the following six steps as a method he used to ‘get rid of designers block’ as he
put it, and as a method for starting his architectural design process. As stated in Pieters’ memoirs, these
six steps are the steps that he taught in the master workshop he conducted in 2010.10
Step 1: Define the problem
Step 2: Gather the information
Step 3: Analyse the problem and the information and ‘brainstorm’ the case
Step 4: Develop solutions
Step 5: Gather criticism and self-evaluate
Step 6: Improve.
It is interesting to note that the above six steps encompass most creative processes, including writing
this conference paper. As mentioned before, for Pieters, the creative process was facilitated by pencil
and pen on paper and vested in the artisanship of sketching conceptually and drawings architecturally.
He agreed with the brain-hand connection, as discussed in literature by Betty Edwards11 and Juhani
Pallasmaa.12 Pieters believed everyone could learn how to draw, and he argued the importance of
drawing to unlock creativity and creative thinking.
Pieters continues to elaborate further in his memoirs on how he goes to work to resolve a design
problem, complete with prompts or notes of encouragement below each of the six steps. Due to a need
for brevity and limited space, these prompts are not listed within this paper but rather used to inform
the tests done where the six steps were applied to a low-cost housing unit design.
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TESTING THE ARGUMENT OF THE MEMOIRS AS A RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Testing the six steps on a practical project over two days
Step 1: Define the problem
In order to test the theory, the authors met up in Pieters’ studio (or what was his Bottega) in Hatfield,
Tshwane, South Africa. A low-cost housing unit plan and section at scale 1:50 previously used as a case
study for another conference paper13 were used as a design set-off point to test the six steps.
Step 2: Gather the information
The design process that one of the authors employed, and the other author observed, was to first warm
up by looking through some of Pieters’ architectural and landscape drawings that filled the drawers of
his studio.

Figure 2. Left: Steps 1 and 3. Right: Step 2

Step 3: Analyse the problem and the information and ‘brainstorm’ the case
Careful to put away the drawings once information was gathered, the author imagined and hypothesised
the users of the units (clients) by drawing them as sketched figures on a large A114 sheet of paper.
Step 4: Develop solutions.
Once the client and their needs emerged and were developed through a creative process, one of the
authors started with the architectural drawing of a dwelling based on the case study provided. Using the
patterns of Christopher Alexander15 as the theoretical premise for the design, the dwelling soon became
an urban kitchen not far from the road with a fireplace and a juxtaposed external room. The drawing
was developed to include an overhead plane of a pergola. The section became a plan, and lastly, a
perspective aerial view of the sketched unit. The process took approximately two hours.

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Figure 3. Step 4

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Step 5: Gather criticism and self-evaluate

Figure 4. Step 5

Both the authors discussed, enjoyed, and criticised what was produced on day one. The seductive nature
of hand-produced architectural drawings sometimes discourages criticism and rather provokes
encouragement and betterment as a form of criticism.
Step 6: Improve
On day two the testing continued with a repeat of Steps 1-5 and an improvement, continuation, and
addition to day one. Once again, the process took approximately 2 hours.

Figure 5. Step 6
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ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING AS RESEARCH DATA

Figure 6 shows the research results in architectural drawings as collected over the two days.

Figure 6. Left: Day 1. Middle and right: Day 2

CONCLUSION
This paper contributes to the body of existing research on the architectural design process by providing
a method to guide this process effectively. As a result of the test over two days, the authors of this paper
concluded that design can be taught with steps and an underlining methodology as per Pieters’ epiphany
and argued six steps.
Furthermore, the authors argued that each master workshop demonstrates the master’s specific method
and artisanship in the architectural design process. Therefore, this paper argued that artisanship
development is an important part of pedagogy and encourages the development of an architectural
design process. It is noteworthy to point out that the artisanship of sketching and drawing is developed
the more one applies the skills, and therefore students should start using the artisanship of conceptual
sketching and architectural drawing in their pre-graduate years, following Pieters’ six-step method.
As a result, by the time the students become postgraduate students, their abilities will be well formed.
The authors believe that this research is useful and important. Future architectural students will benefit
posthumously from the teachings of Errol Pieters as published in this paper.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper emanates from a larger research project, specifically a Doctor of Architecture in progress.
The authors extend their gratitude to the National Research Foundation (NRF) for funding, Désirée
Pieters for permission to use Errol Pieters’ memoirs and drawings, and Hanro du Plessis for graphic
support to the conference presentation. The authors also thank the reviewers of this paper.

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NOTES

1 Errol Pieters. “How to Design in Architecture (‘Hoe Om Te Ontwerp in Argitektuur’).” unpublished memoir, 2018.
Errol Pieters. “How to Get Rid of ‘Designers Block’, How I Start Designing (‘Hoe Om “Designers Block” Kaf Te Draf,
Hoe Ek Begin Ek Ontwerp/ Ontwerp Werkswinkel Notas’).” Design workshop notes, 2018.
2 Sieg Schmidt. “A Tribute to the Life of Errol Pieters Friend, Colleague, Mentor and Inspiration, 5 April 1951–18

April 2020.” ArchSA, February 2022. https://businessmediamags.co.za/built-environment/arch-sa/a-tribute-to-the-

life-of-errol-pieters/.
3 Désirée Pieters, and Francine van Tonder. Errol. A life devoted to art, architecture and teaching. Unpublished

book in progress, n.d.

4 A Google scholar search indicating only two academic journals with images of Errol Pieters’ architectural

drawings:
Gerald Steyn. “The Relevance of Historical Referencing in Contemporary South African Architecture.” South
African Journal of Art History 36, no. 1 (n.d.): 126–146.
Gerald Steyn. “Current Trends in South African Architecture and the Way to the Future.” South African Journal of
Art History 24, no. 2 (2021): 41–64.
5 Errol Pieters. “How to Design in Architecture (‘Hoe Om Te Ontwerp in Argitektuur’).” unpublished memoir, 2018.

Errol Pieters. “How to Get Rid of ‘Designers Block’, How I Start Designing/ Design Workshop Notes.” unpublished
memoir, 2018.
6 Claire Gorman. “Tabula Rasa: Mechanism, Intelligence, and the Blank Slate in Computing and Urbanism.” Yale

Undergraduate Research Journal 2, no. 1 (2021): 4.

7Maristella Casciato, Gary Fox, and Katherine Rochester. “Building the New Artist.” Getty.edu, 2022.

https://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/bauhaus/new_artist/history/principles_curriculum/.
8Marriam-Webster Dictionary. “Bottega.” Marriam-Webster Dictionary, 2022.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bottega#:~:text= Definition of bottega,commissions of the major

artist,.
9
Master and Apprentice, Pattern 83, Alexander, (1977: 412-415).
10 The six steps are translated from Afrikaans into English.
11 Betty Edwards. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1989.
12 Pallasmaa Juhani. The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture. Hoboken: John

Wiley & Sons, 2009

13 A low-cost housing unit plan and section at scale 1:50, van Tonder, 2022.
14 A1 in size. An A1 size paper is 594mm x 841mm and is part of the A series as defined by the ISO 216

international paper size standard.

15 Christopher Alexander. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford: Oxford University Press,

1977.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1977.
Casciato, Maristella, Gary Fox, and Katherine Rochester. “Building the New Artist.” Getty.edu, 2022.
https://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/bauhaus/new_artist/history/principles_curriculu
m/.
Edwards, Betty. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1989.
Gorman, Claire. “Tabula Rasa: Mechanism, Intelligence, and the Blank Slate in Computing and Urbanism.” Yale
Undergraduate Research Journal 2, no. 1 (2021): 4.
Marriam-Webster Dictionary. “Bottega.” Marriam-Webster Dictionary, 2022. https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/bottega#:~:text=Definition of bottega,commissions of the major artist,.
Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture. Hoboken: John Wiley
& Sons, 2009.
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Pieters, Errol. “How to Design in Architecture (‘Hoe Om Te Ontwerp in Argitektuur’).” unpublished memoir, 2018.
Pieters, Errol. “How to Get Rid of ‘Designers Block’, How I Start Designing (‘Hoe Om “Designers Block” Kaf Te

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A Focus on Pedagogy: Teaching, Learning and Research in the Modern Academy

Draf, Hoe Ek Begin Ek Ontwerp/ Ontwerp Werkswinkel Notas’).” Design workshop notes, 2018.
Pieters, Désirée & van Tonder, Francine. Errol. A life devoted to art, architecture and teaching. Unpublished book
in progress, n.d.
Schmidt, Sieg. “A Tribute to the Life of Errol Pieters Friend, Colleague, Mentor and Inspiration, 5 April 1951–18
April 2020.” ArchSA, February 2022. https://businessmediamags.co.za/built-environment/arch-sa/a-tribute-to-
the-life-of-errol-pieters/.
Steyn, Gerald. “The Relevance of Historical Referencing in Contemporary South African Architecture.” South
African Journal of Art History 36, no. 1 (n.d.): 126–146.
Steyn, Gerald. “Current Trends in South African Architecture and the Way to the Future.” South African Journal of
Art History 24, no. 2 (2021): 41–64.
Van Tonder, Francine. “A Knowledge Management Comparison of Nine House Typologies for Varying Climatic
Regions in South Africa: Managing Risk through Knowledge Management.” In WBC2022 World Building
Congress Proceedings. Melbourne, 2022.

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