ASU – Ain Shams University Faculty of Engineering Department of Architectural Engineering ARC 122: History & Theory of Architecture Fall 2017 Instructor: Dr. Yasser Mahgoub Lecture 3 - DESIGN EVALUATION FUNDAMENTALS
Topics • Alternatives’ assessment • Design Critique • Design Evaluation
Introduction Design evaluation is an important activity because we all need to evaluate the appropriateness of design on a daily basis. When we sit in a chair, we check to see if it is structurally sound so it will safely support our weight. We also check to see that it is made well, so that it will stand up to the use we are planning to give it, and so we can assess whether it is worth the price being asked for it.
Introduction These are design decisions based on the evaluation of performance, and whether the design in question will deliver an acceptable level of performance. Each field of design: urban design, landscape architecture, architecture, interior, industrial, and graphic design -- has specialized evaluation criteria that can be applied to it alone. However, there are also general evaluation criteria that can be applied across all of these fields.
Alternatives Assessment
Design Critique • The design critique is a method used by the designer and his/her colleagues to evaluate a design at different stages in its development process. • The method typically evaluates design options being explored during development against initial project criteria.
Design Critique
• In most cases we are not aware of to the original design criteria the designer used. • However, many of these criteria are obvious or implicit in the finished work of design.
Design Critique
• Even when the exact criteria the designer worked from are not known, it is both possible and necessary for us to formulate what we think and feel the proper criteria of judgment to be and to apply these as best as we can.
Five Ws and an H This method seems simple at first, but can become more complicated and involved as one tries to apply it. The "Five Ws and an H" stand for specific words which trigger the asking of more and more detailed questions. The questions are:
• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• Why
• How
WHO is the design for? • That is, who is the "end user"? • Is there one or many different users? • If the work of design is a chair, does the chair meet the various needs of the user, or different users? • If the end user is an elderly person, perhaps the chair should be especially easy to exit, taking the least amount of energy to lift oneself up and out of it.
WHAT is the purpose of the design? WHAT is it meant to do or accomplish? • Sticking with the example of the chair, its primary purpose is to support a sitter. If it is a lounge chair it may be meant not only to support a person but to do so in a manner which is comfortable for extended periods of time.
WHERE and WHEN is it meant to be used? • Again, if the work of design is a chair, the context of use is very important. If a chair is meant to be used at the beach, it should probably be light weight and portable, like folding chairs with a wood frame and a canvas sling that conforms to different body sizes and shapes.
WHY was it created? Why does it look and function the way it does? • Asking WHY causes us to consider not only the user's need, but the designer's and client's motivations as well.
WHY was it created? Why does it look and function the way it does? • If a manufacturer's motivation to make a chair is only to make money, this might explain why the materials are cheap, or the design copies another design rather than being original and fresh. • Asking WHY it looks and functions the way it does might cause us to compare it to other chairs.
HOW does it function, use materials, etc.? • Asking HOW requires us to examine the design carefully, often comparing it to similar designs. The question, "HOW does it use materials?," in the case of a chair, might lead us to assess how ecologically responsible it is in the type of wood it uses, how the chair is dealt with at the end of its life cycle (can its materials be recycled and reused, disposed of safely, etc.).
Five Ws and an H Conclusion • The value of this method of evaluation is that the "Five Ws and an H" are easy to remember, and can be applied to virtually any type of design: an architectural or urban environment, a product, a piece or system of graphic communication. • It is a very flexible method because it is nondirective, requiring the evaluator to apply the trigger word in an appropriate way. • Very often it requires research, because although many of the questions may be answered in a preliminary way, they usually force us to gather more information to give a complete answer.
Form, Function, Significance • This method of evaluation looks at three overlapping dimensions of design: its visual FORM, its intended FUNCTION or functional performance, and its various forms of meaning and SIGNIFICANCE.
(Visual) FORM
(Intended) FUNCTION
SIGNIFICANCE (Meaning)
Form, Function, Significance Interpreting and evaluating works of design is important because the majority of our modern world is designed. Design surrounds us in the places we live and work, the products and objects we use, and the things we read. These works of design can make our lives better or worse, depending on how appropriately they are designed. It is therefore important that we know how to evaluate works of design so as to: • understand how works of design affect us • guard ourselves against ineffective or even dangerous design • become more informed and demanding consumers and users of design • increase our appreciation and enjoyment of design
Form, Function, Significance • One goal of design evaluation is to get beyond a first impression where one simply "likes" or "dislikes" a work of design.
• The aim is to go the next step to understand why the designer made the design decisions he or she did, and to assess the appropriateness of those choices.
Form, Function, Significance • With practice, you will find that you can appreciate works of design which you might not initially like because you now understand the logic and merits of the design's form, function, and significance.
Design Evaluation Criteria
FUNCTION • What is the design's function of purpose? • How is this function fulfilled?
• What is the origin of this function? (Visual) FORM
(Intended) FUNCTION
SIGNIFICANCE (Meaning)
Design Evaluation Criteria
FORM • What is the design's formal (visual) logic and "vocabulary"? • What is influencing this form? • What is the genealogy of this form? (Visual) FORM
(Intended) FUNCTION
SIGNIFICANCE (Meaning)
Design Evaluation Criteria
SIGNIFICANCE • • • • •
What is the design's perceived significance or meaning? What is the design's general significance? What is the design's historical significance? Does the design carry symbolic meaning? What is the design's impact? (Visual) FORM
(Intended) FUNCTION
SIGNIFICANCE (Meaning)
CONCLUSION As simple as these questions may at first appear, the ability to answer them confidently requires a good deal of information, much of which requires special knowledge. For example, to answer even the first question, "What is the design's purpose?," one would ideally know the client's and designer's intentions (represented in the project "brief"), as well as how those intentions were modified as the project developed and trade off decisions had to be made.
CONCLUSION One would ideally also know how the different audiences and users of the design responded to it. • Did they perceive the purpose as being the same as the designer intended? • Was the purpose satisfactorily fulfilled for the different user audiences? As you can see, these can be very difficult questions to answer without user surveys, etc.
CONCLUSION However, just because all questions cannot be answered with complete confidence does not mean that one should not ask them! Partial answers are possible, and can be quite illuminating. What is perhaps most important is understanding that many factors inform the design process, and that cultivating the ability to ask the right questions is the first step to gaining critical insight into design.