This research paper attempts to shed more light on an area of the design studio which concerns with the use of physical modeling as a design medium in architectural form creation. An experiment has been carried out during an architectural design studio in order to not only investigate physical modeling as a tool of form creation but also improve visual design thinking that students employ while using this manual tool. To achieve the research objective, a method was proposed and applied to track form creation processes, based upon three types of operation, namely: sketching transformations, divergent physical-modeling transformations, and convergent physical-modeling transformations. The method helps record the innovative transitions of form during conceptual designing in a simple way. Investigating form creation processes and activities associated with visual design thinking enables the research to conclude to general results of the role of physical modeling in the conceptual phase of designing, and to specific results of the methods used in this architectural design studio experiment.

Abdelhameed, Wael. "Architectural Form Creation in the Design Studio: Physical Modeling as an Effective Design Tool." In ArchNet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 5, issue 3 (2011).

Wael Abdelhameed

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