Evaluating the Effect of Digital Software Application on Creativity Promotion in Architectural Design Education

Digital technologies and the influences of software on the field of architecture, have changed architectural design tools and created questionable situation to deal with hand tools in a new condition with diverse capabilities. Each hand tools and digital applications, in the design process, have their own features and requirements and may somehow challenge the creativity in this process. So that students can take advantage of these technologies to try knowledge, ideas and demands with the mixed abilities. Creativity is a subjective process consisting of the ingenuity and flexibility and design process is based on creative developing that can be expressed by utilizing the tools of architectural design. During the design process, students thoughts acts like an intricate process of mental activity and interacts between creative and critical thinking.The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between creativity, architectural design tools, architectural design process and success rate of these tools in the promotion of this ratio.Hence reviewing of the nature, type, status and application design tool in architectural design process and comparing their efficiency analysis to achieve creative defined in this study is very important. This paper has a comparative- analytical approach. So, after reviewing related literature, the research model is developed. In the next step in a defined statistical community in a field study, status and application of design tools in all phases of the architectural design process are compared with each other about their various aspects and in this way the ability of each to promote creativity in problem-solving process in architecture, is evaluated. The comparison is carried out in two phases of qualitative (observation, interviews and document analysis) and quantitative (questionnaire) methods in architectural design studios, in academic and professional environments in Iran. Finally, summing up the conducted assessments, results of the research is obtained with multiple comparisons. Based on qualitative research, taking advantage of different types of software, specially the kinds of synchronicity, have great success in design process and in the final stage of that. This option is relative in the first stage of the process and depends on the knowledge of Individuals towards software and their type. Quantitative analysis also has confirmed this findings and endorsed the active and effective role of software and the need to complete mastery over them, in architectural design process, both in faculties and professional communities. In the current era, correct use of digital technologies in the process of architectural design, should be organized. Considering the systems development method of phasing models for different layers of architectural design, including digital technologies, and strategic planning for moving towards a dynamic and targeted structures can be helpful to promote skills related to subject, intellectual procedures and motivation in architectural design process.Therefore architectural design education with regard to the role of digital technologies and their comprehensive development, need to keep pace with all levels of strategic and practical plans to promote creativity in the process of architectural design in architectural studios.