Thinking performance comparison of the designer in architectural education between the use of digital and traditional method

Abstract

It is obvious to argue that the current era is a computer age which dominate scientific and academic fields, and thus have formed a new language used in most of life disciplines. Since the architecture is the reflected mirror of the culture, social and technological development over the centuries, it has become a fertile ground in which various disciplines interact from the generation of the idea, till building construction. Many schools of architecture try to catch up with this trendby inclusion of computer studies into their educational curriculum to fit what is required from students in the exercise of the profession, without looking deeply at what can affect the design thinking productivity.This paper presents an evaluation studyof the architecturaldesign education by applying a performance comparison between students using the sketching as a design toolduring conceptual phase of design vs. students using digital means to accomplish the design mission, in order to detect the impact of digital medium on the degree of productivity of design thoughts during that phase and its returns positively or negatively on the overall productive thinking during the design process.Key words: architectural design, architectural education, digital medium, productive thinking