THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE

SKILLS IN ARCHITECTURAL
DESIGN EDUCATION

Assoc. Prof. Ab Aziz bin Shuaib

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.”

Socrates
Creative thinking skills are considered one of the
key competencies for the twenty-first century
Creativity will allows us to remain flexible by providing us with the
capacity to deal with the opportunities and challenges that are part of
our complex and fast-changing world.
(Reiter-Palmon, Mumford, & Threlfall, 1998)
Creativity plays an important role in everyday problem solving
(Cropley, 1990; Runco, 1994)
Architectural design education is a highly sophisticated
means of building creative problem solving abilities
The complex and flexible nature architectural design
education can be seen to accommodate three types of
learning:

i. Learning about design (the development of knowledge)

ii. Learning to design (the development and application of
skills) (Schon, 1984)
iii. Learning to become an architect (the transformative
pedagogy in which learning is identified as changing as
a person) (Dutton, 1987)
 Architectural design education

Visual Expression + Verbal Expression

Unfortunately, visual expressions are often perceived as

a non-rational way of learning (Goldschmidt, 1994)
and therefore classified to only play a secondary role in
design education.
 Creative Skills vs. Cognitive Ability

i. Primary value is often attached to theory (verbal expression),

which focuses on developing cognitive abilities at the expense of
creative skills
ii. Educational preferences continue to be shaped by linear
predictive models
iii. Due to the highly prized theory within the university structure,
more and more academics with high cognitive abilities (such as
PhD holders) are being hired even when they have little or no
creative skills
This situation, according to Ayiran (2007) has estranged design
education from its essential necessities (such as visual thinking) and
deteriorates the balance between theory and praxis:

In architectural education, students tend to explain their project ideas

verbally instead of through visual mediums. However, architectural
thoughts are primarily non-verbal thoughts

Therefore, more emphasis should be on verbal expression than on

visual expression in design education, because true creativity starts
where language ends (Koestler, 1990)
The major role of visual thinking is to solve design problems
through visual representation of concept, as research shows that
visual representation increases creativity during the design process
(Goldschmidt, G., Smolkow, 2004)
i. It is important to establish a balance between theory and
praxis in curriculums

ii. Since the learning process in design studio requires

active participation, learning by creative self-discovery
is essential

iii. It is also imperative to balance the academics in a

design institution with skilled staff (who are good in
design skills) regardless of their educational levels
 Fostering Creativity in Design Education
Robinson (1999) and Rutland and Spendlove (n.d.) suggests that when
teaching for creativity educators should ensure the following:

i. Include broad and narrow experimental activities

ii. Encourage a positive attitude to imaginative activity and self-expression
iii. Provide space for generative thought that is free from immediate criticism and
discouragement
iv. Encourage self-expression;
v. Understand the phases of creative activity;
vi. Be aware of the differing contexts for the development of ideas, the role of
intuition, unconscious mental processes and non-directive creative thinking;
vii. Encourage and stimulate free play with ideas, the use of imagination,
originality, curiosity and questioning and free choice
 Conclusion

i. In architectural design, theory and praxis are interwoven,

which makes the boundary between them ambiguous
ii. In order to redress the balance between theory and praxis
in architectural design education, it is important to give
primary role to visual expression and praxis by
employing creative staff who can teach design skills and
build visual thinking abilities in students.