A Perceptual Study of Architectural Forms in the 21st Century Shaped by Computational Design Approach

OpenAlex İngilizce

Aim: Computational design techniques have significantly shaped architectural design approaches. Computer technologies have changed design methodologies and become a central tool in the creation of architectural forms. This study aims to examine how individuals with architectural training perceive forms created through computational design compared to those without such training. Method: The study categorized architecture students as 'architects' and civil engineering students as 'non-architects' based on the nature of their academic training. A total of 84 students participated in the survey: 42 final-year students from the Department of Architecture at Konya Technical University and 42 final-year students from the Department of Civil Engineering at the same institution. The study measured participants' perceptions of architectural forms produced using computational design methods. All buildings used in the field study are iconic buildings created in the 21st century using such methods. Participants evaluated images of these buildings using a 10-point semantic differential scale (1 indicating a positive perception, 10 indicating a negative perception) based on specific adjective pairs. Results: Architect participants were more critical than non-architect participants of the computational design product's architectural forms presented to them. While the number of forms considered beautiful by the architect participants is quite low, the number of forms considered beautiful by the non-architect group is higher. The architect group generally rated buildings as more familiar than the non-architect group. It can be stated that this situation is related to the fact that architecture students are exposed to numerous images of buildings during the architectural education process and they follow the current architectural forms. Conclusion: The hypothesis that groups of architects and non-architects would interpret computational design architectural forms differently has been confirmed by data showing that participants made different assessments of the same images. This outcome contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of perceptual variation among design-related fields. Moreover, these results offer a foundation for future research by highlighting the need to further investigate how educational training, visual literacy, and professional orientation shape the interpretation of architectural imagery.