How to Develop Concepts in Architecture School - Impress Your Teachers

Concepts are the key themes and ideas underpinning every studio project in architecture school. This is how you develop a successful architecture concept.

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Concepts are what drive your architecture projects forward. Without a concept, your project has no legs. With a concept, you can get passionate for your project to take it to higher levels.
For studio 4 I was given a brief to design something having a key focus on the design concept. There was little focus on budget, structure, sustainability and detailing. Rather, we were able to immerse ourselves in the purity of architectural creativity. I’ll be going over my studio 4 project which has been my most successful concept and project to date to explain how you can develop successful architecture concepts in architecture school. Stick around to the end of this video to hear my best advice for developing concepts.

There is a lot that goes into an architecture concept. And I’m going to go over an exact strategy plan for you to follow to come up with your own successful concepts, But if there was one thing I’d like for you to take away from this video, it’s this - the most important thing to know is that a concept takes time to develop. It’s not something you can pump out in 20 minutes. It’s not a word you pick from the air, or a diagram you sketched, it’s an idea. It’s a multitude of ideas. It is not something that is chosen but formed and developed over time. Think of the forming of the Earth. The mountains and valleys weren’t just placed there, scientifically speaking, but moulded from external elements, volcanic eruptions, wind, water, temperature, climate, natural events that formed the rocks over millions of years.
Your architecture concept is an idea that is moulded over time from external elements. Just by working on your project and spending time on it. It needs time to stew and ferment.
This doesn’t just mean waiting patiently at your desk. Here’s the process for stewing up the perfect concept.

Step 1 – distilling the brief.
All studio projects begin with the briefing. In architecture school, you’re given a brief. A document stating what is being asked of you for this project. In real life, you’ll need to talk with the client to understand what it is they want so that you can form this brief yourself.
This is fundamentally where projects rise, and other projects fall. It’s overlooked how important understanding the brief is. I would spend a whole day underlining, highlighting and trying to debunk the brief. Understand what is being asked of you. This is where your first ideas will start to cook up. The key for step 1 is to sum up the brief in your own words. Don’t underestimate the power of who, what, where why, how. List everything you can.
You want to try and distill the brief down to a couple of key words. Through a filtration process you want to filter out the unimportant and focus on the key information.
A lot of people become so overwhelmed with their projects that they start to get stuck. They stagnate and lose motivation. This is often caused by looking at the brief as this huge document, and the brief ends up becoming a wall from stopping you moving forward.

Step 2 – visualising the brief diagrammatically
Once you’ve filtered the brief into 2-3 key words, you want to visualise this diagrammatically.
Take out your pencil and an abundance of sketch paper and write these key words. Begin drawing what you think these key words look like. Don’t hold back. Draw anything that comes to mind and don’t throw it out. For my studio 4 project I began by layering a3 sheets. I drew all over them, drew over other drawings and scribbled all over it. When the page was full, I’d layer another sheet on top and continue. I ended up with a 100-page folio showing my concept development through sketch designs to more detailed plans and sections. This wasn’t apart of the project, but it was something extra I handed up with my project that was just something cool to look at to see my process. Unfortunately, my professor wanted to keep my project as an example for future years so I don’t have that anymore, but I encourage you to do this.

Step 3 – stay inspired

Step 4 – consider the site

Step 5 - revision

Each step of developing a successful concept should be revisited over the course of your project. They happen in order but are constantly referred back to and revised as your ideas progress. Don’t be afraid to return to step 1. Don’t be afraid to explore a new key word or a new theme for your project. In fact, your first idea is never going to be your final idea. Developing a concept is a process that happens over time through filtering, refinement. It’s a journey of experimentation.

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