The Architect as Composer

What will the future of the architectural design process bring? Will you carry forward your trusted design methods while also injecting the opportunities that emerging design technologies bring? As a forward-thinking designer, I invite you to consider what your own future design process could be like, with the continual development of augmented/virtual reality, prediction algorithms, and faster global communication. Such convergence of advancements will help you to see more deeply into your designs sooner – which is a very special benefit.

The future of architectural design will likely become even more a composition. Just as a musical score is composed by synergistically harmonizing all parts in time, architectural design’s adaptive dynamic qualities will be composed in time as well. As an architect, your role within the future of the building design process will be more like a composer who guides the elements of built form into a meaningful and poetic experiential journey, within space and time. And future design process tools will propel this evolution.

The Evolution of Design Mastery

Imagine putting on a virtual reality (VR) headset and designing your architectural project while simultaneously getting probabilistic analysis and input from future building occupants or city’s citizens. Such tools would create a workflow that positions you, the architect, as a linchpin with the critical information needed at just the right times during the design process to make best optimized decisions. Thus, the future of architectural design as a process is about positioning the designer to work with emerging technologies that empower best design opportunities to be leveraged for the good of the building occupant, project client, and surrounding contextual environment.

By considering the future of the architectural design process today, you can already begin to shift toward these more beneficial practices. For instance, you can use today’s technology to get instantaneous feedback on your design solution, and you can use VR technologies to make faster and higher quality decisions earlier in the design process. As a designer, there is a balance between mastering and evolving your design process. On the one hand, you want to stick with what works so you can gain competence. While on the other hand, true mastery is born when one evolves. Thus, I invite you to open and expand your design methods to help you evolve your design results to extraordinary heights.

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