Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
MEGARON, cilt.7, sa.2, ss.103-115, 2012 (ESCI)
This study focuses on the early design phase experienced by students in the architectural design studio. The early design phase wherein the first design concepts are created is the most important part of the transformation process which forms the major decisions of design concepts. In the early design phase, the designer begins to produce various concepts based on his/her personal and professional knowledge and experiences. The purpose of this study is to examine how students of architecture transform their knowledge to form their first design decisions in the early design phase. For this purpose, a model that examines the transformation of knowledge by means of analyzing architectural representations produced in the early design phase has been developed. It is composed of stages of (A) Knowledge Acquisition, (B) Synthesis, (C) Analysis, (D) First Design and Evaluation and Stages A, B, C are in relation with cyclical feedback on the first degree. Stages C and D provide data with cyclical feedback on the second degree. The process of the model of early design phase can be explained as follows: 1. WHAT the declarative knowledge groups used in stage (A) are (technical knowledge, theoretical knowledge, environmental knowledge, social knowledge) and HOW procedural knowledge is used. 2. In stage (B), the knowledge to be used in stage (A) is related, whether this relationship is carried out spatially, functionally, symbolically, typologically, technologically, socially or not. 3. In stage (C), the first design solutions demonstrating the relationships detected from stage (B) are produced, whether these solutions are produced analogically, pragmatically, canonically, iconically, integratedly or not. 4. In stage (D), solutions presented in stage (C) are evaluated. Whether these solutions meet the criteria of formal, functional, environmental, spatial and technical evaluation or not is analyzed. The implementation of the proposed model has been fulfilled by a case study. 12 students from Architectural Design Studio 3 at the Department of Architecture at Yildiz Technical University participated in the case study. First findings of the case study have shown that the relation to cyclical feedback presented in the early design phase model is only realized when the acquired knowledge is transformed as much as necessary. Transformation is a determinant only if it creates new knowledge that can be used in the first design product.