Bilgisayar Destekli ve Geleneksel Mimari Tasarım Süreçlerinde Tasarım Kararları

This publication is derived from a PhD thesis that aims to explore the possible reflections of the design domains on the students design behavior by analyzing the similarities and differences between the computer-aided and conventional architectural design process. The focus of this study is on conceptual and overall design decisions in these two different cases. A comprehensive literature review was conducted before starting to design the research method. Theoretical concepts and empirical findings were revised with the focus on possible dimensions of measurement, analysis and evaluation methodologies. It was concluded that there is a lack consensus in the research area. Although there is a variety of unstructured observations and assumptions about computer-aided design process, only a limited number of empirical studies have been carried out in the related research area. In all of the empirical studies, computer aided architectural design (CAAD) process was evaluated in comparison to the conventional design process. Thus, different descriptions of the design activity by different researchers were reviewed and considered in all research phases, especially while determining the preliminary and final dimensions of measurement. A hybrid theoretical model is used to combine two major approaches to design research (rational problem solving by Herbert A. Simon and reflection-in-action by Donald A. Schon) for investigating the design process. After the general survey of former empirical research on CAAD, it was decided to conduct a controlled experiment with two conditions: first experimental condition (E01), the subjects were obliged to design with the software they prefer while participants in the control condition (E02) were only allowed to utilize only conventional tools. The sample population was determined as senior students of Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture. This decision was based on the homogeneity of design expertise and software use among the students, shared design terminology between the researcher and the students, high accessibility of subjects and possibility of contributing to the architectural design approaches in ITU. The duration of the experiment was defined as 120 minutes, considering time length of the previous studies and feasibility issues. The experiments were conducted in ITU Faculty of Architecture and a total of 1890 minutes of protocol recordings were obtained. In terms of the number of participants and length of the experiments, this research is one of the most comprehensive studies ever undertaken among the indexed publications. The design problem for the experiment was formulated considering the characteristics of the research question, sample population, the duration of the experiment and the problems that were used in similar surveys. The problem description is decided to be relatively short in order to motivate the participants to restructure and redefine requirements. Analysis of the experiments revealed that there is significant difference between the means of total number of design decisions in conventional design and CAAD conditions. Moreover, in certain experimental sessions, the design decisions were found to be differently organized in time. These observations may be related to the unique properties of CAAD media. The potential of the medium to create automated reproductions, complex representations and rich visual content may have led the subjects to focus more on the design process and the medium itself. The expertise level of the students that participated CAAD experiments may also have affected the findings, as their awareness in this area is lower than professional architect. Another possible reason of the difference in the mean number of decisions on design process can be the fact that sketching is a goal-directed automatic behavior. In contrast, CAAD processes require human computer interaction, conscious reasoning, thinking about the tools and process planning. The interactive nature of the medium may be shifting the focus of the subjects to the process itself, as they are obliged to use a certain format, which can be transformed, processed and stored by the computer. It is important to note that findings of this study are generalizable only to a limited domain as they are limited with the number and profiles of participating students and specific to the design problem and setup used in the experiments. All of the observations reflect the conceptual design phase; therefore, they cannot be generalized to the whole design process. Further research on the use of digital domains in the design process is needed for a clearer insight into architectural education and professional practices. Keywords: Design research, computer aided architectural design, protocol analysis.