Rationality and Creativity Interplay in Research by Design as Seen from the Inside

Main Article Content

Issue Vol. 2 No. 2 (2019)
Published Jul 30, 2019
Section Articles
Article downloads 591
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7454/in.v2i2.65
Submitted : Jul 8, 2019 | Accepted : Jul 30, 2019

M. Mirza Y. Harahap Kate Tregloan Anna Nervegna

Abstract

While research by design is critical in the development of architecture and design knowledge, there is still a need to deeply understand the design knowledge about the interplay between rationality and creativity in research-by-design projects. This paper attempts to address this issue by illustrating, rather than conceptualising, the inside process of a research by design project. The inside process will be discussed from three different points of view: (1) research or design interest tendency, (2) the performance of reflective attitude, and (3) a combination of views (1) and (2). The study resulted in an illustration of the interplay that suggests a dynamic forward-backwards act of thinking and making of a research-by-design project.

Keywords: research by design, inside process, rationality, creativity

Article Details

How to Cite
Harahap, M. M. Y., Tregloan, K., & Nervegna, A. (2019). Rationality and Creativity Interplay in Research by Design as Seen from the Inside. Interiority, 2(2), 177–194. https://doi.org/10.7454/in.v2i2.65
Author Biographies

M. Mirza Y. Harahap, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

M. Mirza Y. Harahap is a teaching staff at Interior Architecture Programme at the Department of Architecture, Universitas Indonesia. He obtained Sarjana Arsitektur (Bachelor of Architecture) in Interior Architecture from Universitas Indonesia and Master of Design in Interior Architecture from Monash University. He is an active researcher at the Architectural Design Research Cluster at the Department of Architecture, Universitas Indonesia. His research focus is around the material and immaterial aspects which construct territory in various scale of interior spaces and how the knowledge could contribute interior architectural design discourse.

Kate Tregloan, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Associate Professor Kate Tregloan focuses on creative education and its contributions to interdisciplinary impact, the built environment, and addressing community need. She has developed architecture and interdisciplinary projects in NSW, Tasmania and Victoria, and has led cross-faculty and cross-institutional programs.  She is a registered architect, and is most interested in the decisions and values that influence creative work, and how digital tools can support learning and making. Research outcomes apply design thinking to develop interactive tools for practitioners and educators, and offer new ways to look at praxis and production. Recent projects include the internationally award-winning RIPL POE built and technology design evaluation framework and panoramas (2015); and MyHomeSpace, a VR gamespace to inform supported housing design for people with disability through the NDIS (2018). Kate was primary chief investigator of Multiple Measures, an Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching funded project investigating assessment design for interdisciplinary education (2016). 

Anna Nervegna, Nervegna Reed Architecture, Australia

Anna Nervegna (BArch (Hons) RMIT University, PGrad Arts (Hons) University of Melbourne, Associate AIA) is a director at Nervegna Reed Architecture. Nervegna Reed is an award-winning architectural firm established in 2004 by Anna Nervegna + Toby Reed, focusing on architectural design, interiors, urban design and other related design services. The architectural practice has undertaken a variety of architectural projects, as well as a number of cross-disciplinary works. Informing their professional practice with an interest in exploring the growing connectivity between creative disciplines such as built form and media. Nervegna Reed is interested in delivering projects which exceed client expectations, and designs which transform while respecting their environments. The firms focus on client brief, budgetary requirements and project management is complemented by a commitment to design and built form which will contribute to our culture.

References

Barnett, R. (2007). A will to learn: Being a student in an age of uncertainty. New York, NY: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

Basballe, D. A. & Halskov, K. (2012). Dynamics of research through design. Proceedings from Designing Interactive Systems. Newcastle, UK.

Bashier, F. (2014). Reflections on architectural design education: The return of rationalism in the studio. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 2014(3), 424-430. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2014.08.004

Burdick, A. (2003). Design (as) research. In B. Laurel (Ed.), Design research: Methods and perspectives (p. 82). London: The MIT Press.

Canaan, D. (2003). Research to fuel the creative process. In B. Laurel (Ed.), Design research: Methods and perspectives (pp. 234-240). London: The MIT Press.

Carey, J. (2018). Indeterminate duration. Interiority, 1(2), 185-202. https://doi.org/10.7454/in.v1i2.25

Cross, N. (2007). From a design science to a design discipline: Understanding designerly ways of knowing and thinking. In R. Michel (Ed.), Design research now: Essays and selected projects (pp. 41-54). Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag AG.

Cross, N. (1997). Creativity in design: Analyzing and modeling the creative leap. Leonardo, 30(4), 311-317. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1576478

Donahue, S. (2003). Enabling design. In B. Laurel (Ed.), Design research: Methods and perspectives (pp. 164-171). London, England: The MIT Press.

Dorst, K., & Cross, N. (2001). Creativity in the design process: Co-evolution of problem-solution. Design Studies, 22, 425-437. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-694X(01)00009-6

Faste, T., & Faste, H. (2012). Demystifying “design research”: Design is not research, research is design. Proceedings from IDSA Education Symposium 2012Boston, USA.

Gero, J. S., & Mc Neill, T. (1998). An approach to the analysis of design protocols. Design Studies, 19, 21-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-694X(97)00015-X

Gnezda-Smith, N. (1994). The internal forces of creativity: When hearts start to flutter. Roeper Review, 17(2), 138-143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02783199409553643

Gowans, S., & Wright, R. (2007). An interest in the uninteresting. In N. Temple & S. Bandyopadhyay (Eds.), Thinking practice: Reflections on architectural research and building work (pp. 44-57). London: Black Dog Publishing.

Hauberg, J. (2011). Research by design – a research strategy. AE… Revista Lusófona de Arquitectura e Educação, 2011(5), 46-56.

Krippendorff, K. (2007). Design research, an oxymoron? In R. Michel (Ed.), Design research now: Essays and selected projects (pp. 67-80). Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag AG.

Michel, R. (2007). Introduction. In R. Michel (Ed.), Design research now: Essays and selected projects (pp. 15-17). Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag AG.

McCarthy, C. (2005). Toward a definition of interiority. Space and Culture, 8(2), 112-125. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1206331205275020

Nijstad, B. A., De Dreu, C. K. W., Rietzschel, E. F., & Baas, M. (2010). The dual pathway to creativity model: Creative ideation as a function of flexibility and persistence. European Review of Social Psychology, 21(1), 34-77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10463281003765323

Plowright, P. D. (2014). Revealing architectural design: Methods, frameworks and tools. New York: Routledge.

Rhea, D. (2003). Bringing clarity to the "fuzzy front end": A predictable process for innovation. In Laurel, B. (Ed.), Design research: Methods and perspectives (pp. 145-154). London: The MIT Press.

Roggema, R. (2017). Research by design: Proposition for a methodological approach. Urban Science, 1(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci1010002

Stappers, P. J. (2007). Doing design as a part of doing research. In R. Michel (Ed.), Design research now: Essays and selected projects (pp. 81-91). Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag AG.

Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The nature of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), 87-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1801_10

Zimmerman, E. (2003). Play as research. In B. Laurel (Ed.), Design research: Methods and perspectives (pp. 176-184). London: The MIT Press.