DESIGN CONCEPT

TYPES OF DESIGN CONCEPT

The way in which basic architectural needs are met to satisfy client, are democratically determined by the architect, using different approach, sometimes he uses certain approach unconsciously. The design behavior architecture is such that we tend to reason in three dimensional views on how the building will look like; we do this through any of the following basic approaches.

1.      ANALOGUE CONCEPT

 There are aspects of architecture that need to be ‘taught,’ particularly at the beginning levels of architectural education. At the upper levels, when students have acquired skills of architectural drawing, model-making, design, and face the prospect of leaving school and working in the architectural profession, it is time to ‘teach’ individual initiative, thinking, and action. Authority figures, such as teachers, must at this stage become mentors. Students not prepared for the degree of independence required by this work will not be prepared to practice architecture with independent conscience and sense of responsibility. There is need to learn by examples from precedent professionals by studying their works.

The analog circumvent history in other to determine or help in making decision and liberates the imagination of student in ways that can impact the primary “reality” the problem on ground concerning design, under consideration. In today’s world of rapid changes, where history is less and less reliable as a guide to the future, intellectual freedom and inventiveness of the type enabled by the analog are increasingly important. These four modes of designing; pragmatic, iconic, analogy and canonic, seem to underlie all the ways in which architectural form has been, or can be generated. An example of analogue concept reflects in the works of walter Gropius and Ludwig mies vanda rohe due to their work experience with peter brehen at the A.E.G Factory design.

Advantages Analogue concept

Ø  Its help architect to improve on their own ideas

Ø  Its create an intellectual freedom and inventiveness due to different perspectives and idea generated by analogue concept

Ø  Its improves the imagination of student, and increase the experience of student through practical works

Disadvantages of Analogue concept

Ø  Depending on the individual student, it can lead to grooming of dependent student that cannot think on their own

Ø  It tends to produce repetitive works, if the students are mediocre.

2.      CANONIC CONCEPT: this approach involve the use of grids and axis, upon which designers generate their idea, such that using the same grid and measurement can be used to generate different internal space, Geometric ratios, and geometric figures were often employed in the design of Egyptian, ancient Indian, Greek and Roman architecture. Medieval European cathedrals also incorporated symbolic geometry. Indian and Himalayan spiritual communities often constructed temples and fortifications on design plans of mandala and yantra. These grids are said to be rooted in the study of nature and the environment, it was discovered in the golden section. The unique properties of the golden section have long attracted the interest of geometers, mathematicians, and architects. Pythagoras loved the golden section and considered it one of the divine mysteries

       

THE LLONBASE 36/   BALLONART completed in 2005

ARCHITECT BEHF ZILFILTECHNER

Advantages of Canonic concept

Ø  Its provides a key to proportion in architectural designing, through it geometrical and mathematical innovation

Ø  It does not restrict designer in a the way it gives freedom of space allocation, that will in the end produce different form,

Ø  It makes use of grids and axis and that makes construction easy.

Disadvantage of Canonic concept

Ø  It discourages the need for student to learn from their environments.

3.      ICONIC CONCEPT: long before now when human being was a wanderer, man does not know how to erect shelter ,what he did was to observe animals like birds through try and error he started getting a befitting shelter for himself, human being grow as a member of a community, which his total way of life is influenced by his immediate geographical, political and tradition situations, different culture appears in different geographical location, and they have their own distinct architecture and traditions, their architectural structures are rooted from their quest to survive in that geographical location, making their structural and constructional technique different through their ability to learn from their immediate environment.

For example, the structure and construction technique of ijaw, shekiri in the south-south part of Nigeria is different from the structure of northern Nigeria. Within each culture this idea of design his repeated over time. User-participation is conceivably the most potent method of all for the recurrence of design icons.

The Bird Nest observation tower, Germany is an example of iconic conceopt

ARCHITECTS: p.karle/bulbuun

Advantages of iconic concept

Ø  It leads to testing and innovation of new construction technique

Ø  It allow intuitive thinking in the process of finding solutions to construction problems

Ø  It create a cultural significance in construction such that the way of construction reflect the tradition or way of life of people

Disadvantage of iconic concept

Ø  It tends to be repetitive

1.      PRAGMATIC CONCEPT: this approach involve the use of available material to provide shelter which was also achieved and established by tried and error, as at the primitive life of man, man has to make use of exactly what nature offers him, and he uses leaves and other natural material that he could find around to create his shelter, this concept his use when we have new discovered building material and we would like to use it to see how good it is, the after like ten years of observation we deduce if that material is actually efficient for the said purposes. After industrial revolution, the use of material really changed, due to new discoveries of new material, and after the second world war ended, the emphasis on the truth of material and rational use of material where the basis of design. for example the use of mud in northern Nigerian and in the southern part they use bamboo and timber, and this concept spreads within the localities, as it is the available and functional means of that time, but now in northern Nigeria they now have fired clay bricks, and in the southern Nigeria, they have pile foundations of timber, concrete. All of these are pragmatic approach in architectural design.

Advantages of pragmatic concept

Ø  It leads to justification and innovation of new building materials

Ø  It helps to generate new building materials through tried and error

Ø  It leads to exploration of means and natural resources

Disadvantages of pragmatic concept

Ø  It tends to be repetitive.

Large Mosque,

Djenne, Mali, built 1935 built with earth as a sustainable building

Conclusion

The above design approaches is an exercise of systematized procedures in the decision-making of design. In canonic concept procedures are mathematically-based and these lead to the generation of solutions in such variety that it almost not matters when some of them have to be eliminated. While in analogue we are sure of learning from experience of mentors, and from iconic and pragmatic approaches we learn how to observe our environment to create what we need.