Visual reasoning in faciltating transformational moves as discerned from sketches in architectural design

Productive transformation in the architectural design process is vital in generating and developing nascent concepts and ideas that transpire through the many phases of designing. Through sketches, designers could potentially seek and create more desirable and sustainable forms by transforming previous images through various cognitive techniques such as visual additions, deletions, and modifications. The aim of the research is to propose a design reasoning framework of visual cognition for the development of design expertise in the architectural studio environment. The current study compares the sketching and design transformative skills (DTS) between selected third- and fifth-year undergraduate students of architecture. Fourteen architecture students from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) were involved in the observations, with seven respondents each from the groups of third- and fifth-year students. This was undertaken by observing and analysing the outcomes of student sketches, as they develop designs for a proposed gallery building within a stipulated two-hour task session and based on parameters and limitations outlined in the design brief. The whole exercise undertaken by each student was captured on video through a High Definition camera, and the results were then collated, encoded, segmented, tabulated, and analysed. A retrospective protocol analysis method was then applied to examine the sketch data gathered from all the design tasks performed. A non-parametric testing method was applied to determine whether or not there were significant differences in the nature of the design transformation activities between the specified student groups during observation. Substantial findings were obtained based on the analyses of differentiated ability in the design transformations between the two groups of undergraduate students. The study reveals that the fifth-year students utilised the vertical move (convergent thinking) more than the third-year students when it came to refinement design. In contrast, the vertical move occurred for a longer duration for the third-year students compared to the fifth-year students in regard to detail design. Potentially, the study provides a means for enhancing student ideation and conceptualisation capabilities through a productive design process. This study further benefits future planning and implementation towards a more effective design education and training process