Residential projects, a process of design

Schools of architecture are in general oriented to place more importance on the shape of buildings, following fancy models and "discovering" rules of composition based in new fashion, and in the past of architecture as principle generators of design. Most of those schools have forgotten that the final product of architecture must be in the thinking of the users who are going to be the final consumers of the project. In designing, Architects should try to fulfill the basic needs of people and to consider the environmental characteristics of each project more than creating elements for the critical admiration of other colleagues.There is not a specific rule or order to follow in a design process which guarantees that the final product will fulfill the necessities of its future users. Each designer should discover his or her own process of design and which factors must be considered in each case. This thesis is based on the study of important elements called Environmental Factors and their intervention in the process of design, projection and creation of any architectural event. Several factors are necessary to consider in a process of design. They could be divided into physical factors such as illumination, acoustics, and climatic factors such as sun orientation and protection, wind orientation, passive and active energy systems. There are cultural factors which include psychological and social elements. Every architect should consider those elements as part of the design process in order to produce an architectural event that fulfills the needs of its potential users.The first part of the this thesis proposes a strategy of design for large scale projects that includes all the environmental considerations necessary to obtain a final habitable product starting in a small element called The Cell. The second step analyses the union of several Cells into a new element called The Unit, and the last step is the study of The Residential Development which becomes a product of the union of different Units and has urban connotations.Jose Luis Magan Architect As a conclusion, three different methods used in the design of a house are studied. In the first example, one works in the organization of a house as a whole element. Working only with a section of the house is the second method. Finally, using the geometry to generate each spatial component of the house is the third method exemplified.This thesis is the product of experience in research, design and construction of different housing solutions. It is just one step of a research in which I will be involved for the rest of my life. This is a research about the meaning of housing involving the physical, social, cultural, psychological and economical necessities of people, and how an architect could contribute with his design to make of this planet a more comfortable place for living.Department of ArchitectureThesis (M.A.