Abstract

The conflicts of modern times demand high levels of creativity from the architect. Creativity, with all its social and physical connotations and implications, should therefore be the guiding concept in the revision of architectural education. The basic design course, which is deemed to foster creativity, plays an important role in the education of architects. Approaches of the mentors of this course vary. However, the progress under any of these approaches that students make in conceiving and solving architectural problems creatively has never been tested. This study focuses on the conceptual approach in basic design courses and successfully demonstrates that students (irrespective of their inborn talent levels) learn creative modes of thinking that are highly important in practicing architecture.

Key words: Design education, conceptual design, creativity, evaluation, basic design course.