Probing the black box : experiments in design and design education

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-77).Conventional analysis and design methods based on preexisting methods and assumptions preconditions and limits the designer's level of engagement with the specific context that is under investigation. A structural analysis is concerned with the disclosure of [subconscious] tendencies and agendas from within a form or site. This thesis develops methods that facilitate the organization and evaluation of 'design information' gathered from a structural analysis. The methodologies developed in this thesis place an equal emphasis on excavating the logic and tendencies of both the physical context and the logic of the conceptual structuring of the designer's processes. This approach acknowledges that each situation offers its own specific truths and that each project needs to readdress the issue as to what constitutes the discipline of architecture. The methodologies developed in this thesis analyze the site through the lens of events as a means to suspend preconceptions and investigate the tendencies of the designer. It takes as axiom that some thoughts and intentions cannot be reached frontally, but rather require analogies, metaphors or other such strategies to uncover the subconscious meaning. The design methodology developed in this research is a proposal for such a strategy. This suspension allows for the emergence of intuitions and strategies directly from site and the context. These methods also become a means to elicit, record and classify the 'conceptual schema' or the structure of the designer's thought. They attempt, in a constructivist manner, to aid the students in clarifying their thought processes. This thesis will explore the mapping of concepts and approaches clearly and externally as a means to create an intellectual space for the designer to work within. This space becomes a way to test and evaluate ideas, and intuitions within a 'conversational approach'. This approach defines the role of the designer as both writer and reader.by Christopher P. Mulvey.S.M