Reflections on Architecture Design Education III. A Model of Design Process-Systems Approach

Recognizing the failure of traditional design and the need for a new approach a research study is now being conducted in the master studio at Wollega University, Ethiopia. The research project aims to explore knowledge mechanism within the design process-system and to develop a ‘theory of design knowledge' based on the integration of rationality and creativity. The study is documented in a series of articles entitled “Reflections on architecture design education”. Article (I) introduced ‘the integrated design paradigm' as a theoretical knowledge base, which laid the foundations for the theory of design knowledge. Article (II) developed an improved version of the theory of design knowledge based on systems theory, and proposed the ‘design process-systems'. In this article (III) the research project is presented. A more developed model of the design process-system which is currently being developed in the studio is introduced. The model acts as a research plan where the proposed theory of design knowledge is suggested as a working hypothesis, will be developed and tested. The last section of this article is devoted to an empirical study, which deals with the first part of students' research work of defining the design problem, identifying problem solving and articulating design proposal. A complete documentation of the research findings will only be possible when the study is fully accomplished in a future article. The research method is based on the observation and analysis of the research findings.