The elements of product design

In every area of life from the most basic functional tool to the most elaborate ornament, materials, processes and activities are controlled and organised by design in response to a wide range of human needs, for practical purposes, for information, entertainment and pleasure. In this context, the phrase ‘by design’ is used to convey a sense of deliberate intent rather than accidental consequence.

The best design solution

In a sense, it is a circular process, repeatedly rotating through each stage, but rather than returning to the same point in the cycle, if the rotations take the form of a decreasing spiral, then it can be seen that progress leads closer to the centre. It would be meaningless to imagine the process as a target with the bulls-eye as the perfect design solution, as for any brief there could be many equally valid alternative proposals, and every designer could produce a different response to the same set of circumstances. However, the centre can be regarded as the best design solution that could be achieved under the circumstances. If the spiral took the form of a maze, then reaching the centre would depend on the starting position and wrong decisions at turning points would lead to dead ends. Progress could only be made by retracing earlier steps and starting again. As most building design contains compromise, a good designer tries to get as close to the centre of the target as possible, or has to stop when time runs out.

The design process

It can be argued that trying to meet these aims is a process demanding logic; an intellectual, rational review of the matter, but it is by no means clear that this is how all, or any designers work in practice. Much has been written about brainstorming, mind mapping and even daydreaming as ways in which unexpected, apparently illogical design solutions appear. However, in many cases, the design development process involves the following actions.

The aims of design

From the outset of a new project, the designer’s preliminary work can be based on very limited information which may be sufficient to justify putting forward ideas for consideration. However, it is very unusual to find that the finished design materialises effortlessly, translating initial ideas into reality without any revision. This quote from Karl Popper ‘An Evolutionary Approach’ sums up the situation concisely:

The elements of building design

It is always easy to criticise of course, and with the advantage of hindsight, every building would be perfect. It is said that ‘history is a good teacher’ and everyone involved in creating new buildings would do well to study past successes and failures so that the same mistakes are not repeated. This can only be achieved by understanding as far as practically possible the true requirements and purposes of buildings so that significant elements are not ignored or forgotten.

Buildings' characteristics.

In principle, the elements of buildings are the same as the elements of any product; materials, processes, forms and appearance, selected and arranged to meet the demands and needs of manufacture and use. Although a building could be regarded as one product, it is in fact an assembly of many individual products, some of which are purpose designed to suit special requirements but many of which are obtained from suppliers, chosen from ranges of pre-designed alternatives.

The activity of design

Much has been written about design and how designers do or should think, but there appears to be no absolute agreement on the nature of creativity or any universally applicable methodology for approaching design. Creativity can take an abstract form with or without obvious meaning, as in the work of the artist who produces extraordinary or unexpected work. It can also describe ‘lateral thinking’ as a means of solving problems, perhaps leading to innovatory solutions which had not been seen, noticed or recognised previously. Creativity may have nothing to do with innovation at all, but simply a competent, well-organised attempt to produce an obvious, workable solution to a problem which attracts little or no attention. At its most basic level, creativity can just be the act of making anything, which may be good, average or poor.

Introduction Building Design

The design and construction of the new car-dealership involves people who fulfil generally understood roles and have professional relationships with one another throughout the duration of the project. Their purposes vary substantially from the creatively proactive to the incidentally supervisory, often taking individualistic views about what is appropriate under the circumstances. The first section of this book reviews the nature and process of design, and outlines the essential skills and potential contributions of the members of the design and construction teams as they communicate ideas and instructions to each other. The section concludes with a summary of the extensive legal constraints governing the design, construction and occupation of new buildings in the UK.