Explaining the role of spatial reasoning in architectural design(Qualitative case study: design experience in an architectural atelier)

Although spatial reasoning as a form of cognition is one of the mental factors influencing the creative response of architecture, there are many unresolved educational and cognitive problems regarding its place in architectural design and its stages. Therefore, the present study aimed to explain the position of spatial reasoning in the process of architectural design and its stages.

The method of this research was qualitative, and due to the nature of model explanation and case study, had two main steps. The first step was performed by a descriptive-analytical method using content analysis in two fields of cognitive sciences and architecture. In this step, the effects and interrelationships between theories that explain the mental process in creative thinking and their relationship with the architectural design process were investigated. The current study was conducted to explain the role of spatial reasoning in architectural design. The second step included a qualitative case study of senior architecture studentschr('39') experience about their design experience and a descriptive analysis of questionnaire data. In this regard, 30 master students in the architectural design atelier, in the process of architectural design during one semester, answered the questionnaire. The questionnaire included 10- checklist items based on architectural abilities related to spatial abilities. Students answered the questionnaire with the control of professors in each stage of the architectural design process and according to how the work progressed.

Based on the analytical findings of the first step, the development of spatial reasoning through the development of working memory indirectly plays a role in improving the architectural design process and improving skills such as spatial visualization, reconstruct images, and spatial orientation that require many capabilities. They are the foundation in architecture, directly improving the process of architectural design. The second step’s findings indicated that the necessary capabilities related to spatial reasoning are used in all stages of architectural design, especially in the illumination stage. The visualization ability, which is related to the component of image reconstruction, was most commonly used in the design process, which was in the incubation stage. The imagination of embodied space from different angles, which is related to the mental rotation component, was the second most used in the architectural design process. Moreover, the ability of visualization and 3D-2D conversions were used in all stages. In general, the second step’s results in this research confirmed the first stepchr('39')s analytical findings.

The model, which is explained from the role of spatial reasoning in information processing and its impact on the stages of the creative process of architectural design, indicates that spatial reasoning is a fundamental factor for improving the process of architectural design. The case study results also show that spatial reasoning plays a role in all stages of architectural design. However, its effect on all architectural design stages was not the same, and the amount of interest was different according to the capabilities used in each stage.