Design Process

After a recent conversation I realized seeing one's design process is both interesting and eye opening. Therefore, I've decided to show a bit more of my thesis work by talking about my design implementation process. 

During the summer of 2010 I decided to design a residential treatment facility for eating disorder patients. I then spent the fall studying similar projects, my building site, architects I admired and current research in healthcare design. I also applied for and received a grant to go to France to study the therapeutic qualities of Le Corbusier's La Tourette Monastery. 

During the spring of 2011 I began with my design implementation, by imposing my program on an abandoned warehouse in Richmond, VA. 

I began with a Conceptual Design Phase

This process involved building conceptual models (as seen in the previous post) and asking questions such as...

Are the haptic qualities and materiality of the spaces different or identical?

Does form distinguish between spaces?

Is there one connector or many?

How does the connector influence the structure? 

The concept models are not meant to answer questions, rather to discover more questions. Concept models are visual aids meant to drive the overall design.

Next I approach the Programmatic Design Phase

During the programmatic design phase information is gathered regarding what spaces are needed, what square footage is required, what major and minor adjacencies exist and so forth. As the spaces are laid out the design begins to take shape through sketches. 

At this point I jump around a lot, really depending on my mood, where the project is and what deadlines are in front of me. I go to a lot of people to get critique and feedback and then continue to refine the design. During this time I do color studies and begin to visualize what materials and color palettes each space will have. Taking fashion magazines I cut out different colors and textures  analyzing patterns and putting together my own color schemes.

Eventually I arrive at a final floor plan, make final FF&E choices, and produce construction documents and renderings.

Some of the greatest things I learned about the design process during my thesis and graduate school experience was that design will always take longer than I planned and I have to be willing to go with the flow. I have to be open to adjusting ideas and hearing critique, knowing that there is both tension and conflict in creating good design. Finally, at the end of the day I must be able to make decisions and move forward with a design solution.