CREATIVITY AND CRITICISM IN ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION

Ar-Suvarna Lele
Creativity and its important aspects
Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize the ideas,
alternatives or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with
others and entertaining ourselves and others. It is most essential part of solving a design
problem.
The question is whether creativity can be taught? A student coming to
Architecture is unaware and totally new to the concepts and implementation of word
‘Design’. He is like raw clay which has to be molded into a sculpture. To make him
understand the basic principles of design is a task in itself and the Design Complexities
go on increasing with the advancing years. Building is not only a monument which stands
solely for aesthetic purpose but it is inhabited by human beings and has to be functional
and incoherence with environment, appropriate technologies and social structure. Every
human being is creative some way or other and these creative instincts in students are to
be explored by a teacher.
Creativity is inventing a product or a process in usual terms which as per
Macquarie Dictionary defines meanings of to create as to bring into being, to compose, to
conceive, give in rise to, author, and parent, throw together. Creative means generative,
innovative, ground breaking, originate, handmade.
Creativity involves the translation of our unique gifts, talents and vision into an external
reality that’s new and useful.
In case of Architecture, creativity can be used to design buildings, building
processes and services better and creativity would make your organization and clients
become happier through improvements in your quality and quantity of output in practice.
The exercises in creativity start from subjects as basic design and workshop in
first year which end up in designing complex problems in last year.
Every material to be explored has certain characteristics. The exploration of the
qualities of materials and formation of the compositions through them becomes the first
exercise in creativity. The generation of novel and useful ideas to the problems is first
step towards creativity.
The creativity unavoidably takes place inside personal, social and cultural boundaries.
The three important aspects of creativity to be considered of great significance are –
1) The creative process focuses on the mechanisms and phases involved as one packages
in creative art.
2) The creative person – personality traits of creative person are significant.
The environmental atmosphere and the social influences are the third aspect.
Criteria or characteristic of creative products are sought.
It is unfair that all students should be judged through same parameters while assessment
of a Design salutation as the values, ideas and perceptions change from person to person.
Inculcating habit of creating thinking – Using special techniques, deliberate
creative thinking can be used to develop new ideas. These techniques force the mergence
of wide range of ideas to spark off new thoughts and process.
Group discussions and analysis on a certain problem helps in creation of new ideas and
questionnaire on problems also helps in generation of new ideas. It might be merging of
someone else’s ideas with your own to create a new one. The process can be accidental or
deliberate. Without using special techniques creative thinking does still occur but usually
in accidental way. Brainstorming is also one of the techniques which help in building
ideas, although they might not be original.
The continuous investigation, questioning and analysis that develop through
education, training and self awareness occurs all the time. Ongoing creativity maximizes
both accidental and deliberate creative thinking.
Ongoing creativity takes time and deliberate practice to become skillful at, but it is
technique surprising how quickly it becomes an attitude
Aids to increase a student’s creative thinking power.
1]Experience – Experience and experiments with several materials like paper, cotton,
wood, metals, clay, thermo Cole, and plaster of Paris would lead them to understand the
characteristics of the materials. Experience can be first hand or second hand but first hand
experience is superior.
2] Traveling- It’s necessary to get out of the environmental rut and expose you to new
people, customs, ideas and ways of living. Traveling broadens and refreshes your
outlook. It necessary to inculcate the ideas of traveling. Every culture is unique and
provides a way of looking at common situation and solving problems. Taking photograph
and maintaining diaries is excellent way to record the moments and cultures.
3] Personal contacts –. Look out for creativity in an individual. One way to think
creatively is to associate your self to different arena of people with diverse culture and
diverse living style and attitudes. An individual can stimulate your thought process
4] Children - A child’s world is filled with fantasy, if you make an effort to interact with
them you can have fantastic ideas yourself. Relate yourself with children around as they
are constant source of inspiration and creativity. Playing imagination games with
children and creatively interacting with them is one good way to get back in touch with
your imagination.
5] Hobbies – Painting, drawing or sculpture, photograph can be real workouts for
imagination; Technical hobbies too can provide creative exercise. For example, amateur
radio, electronics, home computers, mechano and several others. These hobbies cannot
avoid putting your brain to extra work and imagination.
6] Reading and Writing – To write down your experiences in your own words or
describe a certain product, procedure or process requires imagination. Inculcating writing
habit might improve this power.Slelective and active reading would also help a great deal
to improve the creativity although reading can be considered as a second hand
experience.
7] Self reliance – The self analysis and self dependence is significant for development of
creative thinking. The solutions to given problems may be wrong experts and consultants
should be viewed as collaborators. Criticisms should be taken in the right spirits.
Student should be taught to rely on nobody to solve any problem, however difficult that
might be.
8]Watching movies and net surfing – Creative movies with different themes develop
your ideas and instigate the imagination process while net surfing gives access to various
sites with general information and academicals information. Gives access to several
informative sites which are knowledge vaults themselves
RESOURCES TO INCREASE CREATIVE THINKING
Internet Resources
creativity Mailing Lists World Wide Web

Tools for individual use

Books Software Audio Recordings

Magazines and Journals Films and Videos Miscellaneous Products

People related
People & Organizations Conferences & Events

Understanding Brain Anatomy and its relation to creativity.

Human brain and computer are very different in working. Human brain is
complicated in the sense that it works linearly like computers as well as associatively. It
compares, integrates and synthesizes simultaneously. Association plays significant role in
every mental function.
A very effective method of note taking and useful for generation of ideas by
association is developed by Tony Buzan called as technique of Mind Map which contain
the development of new idea, through development of web diagram, composed of key
words and key images, producing a growing organized structure. Key features of mind
mapping are –
1]Organisation, keywords – Association, clustering
2] Outstanding character – Every mind map needs a unique centre.
3]Visual Memory – Print the key words, uses colours, symbols, 3D effects and outlining
group of words.
4] Conscious involvement.
Multiple Intelligences – as per Professor Howard Gardner of Hardware University, there
are at least eight different kinds of human intelligences. One can categorise our own
intelligence as one of these.
Mind Maps

Process of Creative thinking.

There are several steps a student must follow to instigate creative thinking process –
When a problem is given a student must be helped to think by visual images, images in
action, skillful thinking with the help of slide shows, group discussions and libraries.
All the tools and material must be kept ready with proper environmental conditions and a
thorough concentration and relaxed attention
Drawings and model workshops for experimenting with lines, textures, colours, forms
,shapes becomes important in the process of creation. Externalised thinking, seeing by
drawing, patterns seeking, group spacing, analysis of shapes and forms comes through
this experimentation.
The forms perceived, seen and visualized can be brought to actual form by or sketch
fantacising, abstracting, visual recalls and structuralizing the imagination.
The sketch form can be converted to actual design by computation and cognition.
All methods of teaching creative thinking include taking a different point of view, to look
at the problem in a different angle also a deliberate application of absurd ideas.
Consequently, playfulness and associated spontaneity become an essential part of the
mix. So, in a simplified form, the ‘moment of ‘pure’ intuition may be traced
back through a combination of steps such as -
Knowledge of subject matter, Spontaneity, Gestation and Intuition. Creative Thinking has
no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ outcomes as a Mathematics problem, just more or less applicable or
effective outcomes.
There are techniques for defining a problem, exploring attributes of a problem, generating
alternatives, visual explorations, metaphors, analogies, and evaluating and implementing
ideas. It is better if an Architecture student gets well versed with all the techniques.

CRITICAL THINKING
What is design thinking?
Design thinking is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that
look for improved future results. Design thinking is creative process based around the
building up of ideas. There are no judgments in design thinking. This elimination of fear
of failure encourages maximum input and participation. In visual arts composition is the
plan, placement of the elements design according to the principles of design within the
work. It contributes to the response from the viewer, the work of art is said to be
aesthetically pleasing.
Aesthetic judgment – It is a significant part of a design. It is a branch of value theory
which studies sensory or sensory-emotional values some times called judgments of
sentiments or taste. One can identify the object of analysis as beautiful sublime,
disgusting, cute, harmonious, and tragic and so on. Judgments of aesthetic value clearly
rely on our ability to discriminate of sensory level.
With aesthetics, function also plays a significant role in a design. Critical thinking
about a design categorically includes aesthetics, function, sociology and environment and
all these things are intimately, intertwined. Architecture is a public art, utilitarian as well
as ever present act.
Designs teaching as a process – Students coming from Science Faculty are quiet raw
and the field is extremely different with the subjects which are totally new. The students
who are aware of principles of design, compositions, and colour schemes may be said to
have a better chance of understanding. The design process with advancement in year gets
complicated with several considerations being added. To understand a better structure it
is necessary to learn what a better structure is. At first year level the problems might be
simpler as designing for a single family unit but here the student is not well equipped in
totality to analyse the design to full.
A basic question asked here would be why the structure is good? What are the
criteria’s to define the structure to be good? Here the depth of understanding basic design
by a student can be perceived. The various basic design principles whether applied
properly to give the ultimate good results, can be judged.
Architecture certainly is no Mathematics where the end results of 2 + 2 might not
be 4. Here the emotions and senses are also involved while giving the judgment. If a
design is aesthetically appealing then why is it so? Here the knowledge of basic design
like principles of design, compositions, 2D forms, and use of various materials and
ultimately implementation of this into ultimate design is widely applicable. The other
criterion applied to Design is functionalism. Architecture is totally utilitarian art where
the user plays a significant role in resulting design. Contrary to other design forms as
painting, music, dance this form of art is totally related to satisfaction of the user due to
its physicality. An aesthetically pleasing form need not be functional every time.
With the advancement in grades the other criteria’s like social, environmental,
political and advanced technological aspects are included in Design process. To analyse
these criteria’s and whether they are perfectly co-coordinated is to be judged by a student;
where teacher can help him and teach him for self criticism at every level of design.
Students must be equipped with knowledge, information and second hand experience
through Libraries, internet, slideshows, and seminars and so on.
Also in the success of any design studies, choice of assignments is first step to the
success of design. The presentation and configuration of these assignments is very
significant. Introduction to a series of incremental and additive exercises within a defined
set of constraints is effective step in design teaching.
Objectivity can be applied to analysis of design as good proportions, good colour
schemes, and good textures giving rise to a visually pleasing architectural form which is
totally functional. There are several techniques applied to increase the analytical power.
The ability of mind to generate more and more two or three dimensional images is real
strength of designer. Student must be well versed with visual vocabulary of forms,
shapes, figures linked with function.
General Goals of teaching Criticism.
Limited visual perception can be increased with the help of books, net, drawings,
slideshows and discussions. A teacher can inculcate the sensitivity towards spatial
relationship. When an object is placed in front of a student’s eye he should be able to
differentiate psychological, physiological and emotional responses to visual art products.
The creative workshops can be used to broaden the scope with respect to tools,
equipments, materials, processes, medium selection and techniques which would also
help in establishing appropriate standards of composition, content and craftsmanship.
Teacher should also keep in mind that the teaching criticism should help them to
define and depend on their own standards of aesthetic judgment and value and the
interaction with the fellow students is transparent and productive instead of just being
competitive. Student should be able to understand visual art concepts after analysis. The
visual vocabulary should go beyond ‘I like’ or ‘I don’t like’ with a categorical and
methodical analysis of the object with questions like ‘Why I do like’ or ‘Why I don’t
like’ with respect to his work.

Various skills inculcated in students increase the Analytical thinking power.

a) Design vocabulary plays an important role in analysis of an object with the terms like
primary vocabulary – as point, line, plane, forms, and volume.
b) Hierarchy plays a significant role in design process where a relationship of primary,
secondary, tertiary can be analysis.
c) Articulation-The next components for analysis would be how the structure is
connected with what kinds of joints and connection with its workability
d) Drawing Analysis-Plans sections, Orthographic projections, isometric projections are
to be understood and analysed in totality.
e)Special Precincts (Zones), treatments solids and voids, capacity, transparency,
translucency, reflectivity, light qualities and colours, variations themes (constants and
variables).
f) Analog and digital – Integration of design techniques with currently available.
2) Fundamental Design Skills - The basic design principles must be applied properly to
the buildings, interiors and landscape.
3) Developing Graphic skill abilities – Use of technical skills and computers to convey
the combination of design elements to convey the concept.
4) Critical thinking skills – Exact analysis of the structure using precise questions and
reach a well reasoned conclusion. Consideration of contradictory or diverse point of
views also helps in judging a structure. The analysis can be compared to the set of
standards and criteria’s.
5) Skill for understanding relation between form space and order which can be
cultivated by presenting Architects several slide shows and power points of renounced.
Points to be considered teaching Design criticism:-
With the advancement in technology, growing awareness regarding environment, and
wide use of computers in design, it has become necessary to rethink in the way design is
taught and criticized. The designs are interlinked with environment, history, politics,
sustainability, its urban set up and several other issues. There should be a proper
cognisance of these factors by students while designing and it becomes a teacher’s duty
to make him realize all these aspects.
1] Innovation – The awareness to all newer materials, technologies, their suitability to a
particular design, their economies and feasibilities are to be taken into consideration
before starting any design process. The ultimate design should be sustainable functional,
technical with proper aesthetic requirement suitable to an appropriate urban context.
2]Environmental comfort and psychology – Microclimates landscape design climatic
factors site conditions have become important considerations in design process which
have become essential part of the studies in all Architectural schools. Energy efficient
designs have become an integral part of the design procedure. Due to global warming
and dilapidating natural resources it has become necessary to think about recycling and
reuse of scarce natural resources. Simulation tools can be introduced at teaching level to
evaluate air-conditioning, acoustic electrical consumptions and so on. Several research
methods have grown but design often fail to anticipate user comfort.
3] Computer Aided Design: Computers have become an integral part of Design
process. The introduction of several packages to evolve a design according to Architects
perception have been introduced in markets including ACAD, REVITT, ARCHICAD,
3D MAX, HOME ARCHITECTS and several others. The permutations and combination
of several perceived forms can be directly seen on the screen not only three dimensions
but also colours, textures, cut thorough, site sections, camera, photographs of the site and
so on. A student should be made aware 70 explore fully the computers ability to store
and retrieve information coming from diverse design variables.
4] Sustainability – A design becomes sustainable through implementation of several
factors as soil quality, use of appropriate materials, soil conservation, construction
density and several others. This factor certainly influences the design procedure. A
Building should be durable as well as functional; it should also take into consideration the
ecological factors for comfort of the user. Building services and infrastructure quality is
important through the combined concept. As per question of sustainability student
should be able to analyse building materials as per their life cycle cost, strength,
durability, and economies of scales, raw material and transportation costs.
Attributes of a critical thinker:
A critical thinker should be clear in his perception along with being accurate and
relevant. The reasoning should be fair and significant and the logic should be coherent
and valid.
A critical thinker should have command over language where vagueness anal
ambiguity can be avoided by use of exact words and definitions can be put to use
effectively. The evaluation of simple and analogical reasoning, scientific and concept
theories should be perfect. Also evaluation of source of information, arguments,
relevance of evidences becomes significant for proper reasoning.
Thus an Architecture student should be well versed with the principles and
processes used in Critical thinking, Appraisal and Evaluation of Design. The aim to
teach criticism in Architecture should be to develop a logical and coherent
framework for aesthetic appraisal, leading to an in-depth knowledge of the various
value attributes of the often misunderstood entity called "Aesthetic Architecture".
Value attributes of Architecture as social and cultural, moral, religious, economic
genetic, aesthetic should be thoroughly studied by a student of Architecture before
criticizing an Architectural work

REFERENCES-1) Aesthetic judgement-Wikipedia.org,

2)www.Paulgolberger.com/speeches,www.members.optusnet.com,Critical
3)Thinking for Architects- Barry D. Yatt, AIA, CSI,
4)Mind Maps-Tony Buzan, http://wiki-riba01.seoss.co.uk,
http://www.igs.net,www.wisegeek.com
5)Donald Welch: Pedalling Creativity