Essay

Awakening to Your Creativity

When designing architectural environments, how do you notice your creative thinking? Yes, this question asks how you as a designer can observe your design process. Why is this important? When you become truly aware of your creative process, you are able to step outside of it to ask important questions and make critical decisions to improve and optimize how you design. For example, by observing your design process you may ask: What is this design tool helping me to see in my project? This simple question will even lead you to consider what design tool to use during your creative process at different times. For instance, will you use 3D computer animation to see your design in motion? Or will you use a physical 3D model to sculpt the geometric form? By noticing your creative process, you avoid a “default mode” of designing (where for all projects, you always reach for the same design tool). Instead, strive to become mindful and aware of why you create the way you do, so you know how to change your process to yield amazing results for the challenges different projects call upon you to solve. Awakening to your creative process will make you an even better environmental designer, creating designs that solve authentically for the challenges and opportunities each project presents.

Expanding Design Possibilities Diagram | Image Credit: © Maria Lorena Lehman | MLL Atelier LLC