45. Models in Architectural Design

At one time, architects and construction specialists used to rely mainly on sketches and physical models as representations of their own cognitive design models. Today, they rely increasingly on computer models including parametric models, generative models, as-built models, building information models (BIM), and so forth. Of course, processes of abstraction and the actual architectural model-based reasoning itself remain in the mind of the practitioner who is in control of the design and construction process. However, this whole new array of alternative computer-based representation models has profoundly affected decision-making in architectural design and construction. In this chapter, a brief overview is first given of the state-of-the-art in design thinking research. Following this, an outline is given of how diverse data models, such as BIM and parametric models, are currently used in architectural design and construction. An indication is then given of how these models relate to the in-mind model-based reasoning on which architectural designers and construction experts rely in decision-making and creative thinking. This outline will not only review well-known theories of design thinking and architectural design practice, it will also integrate ongoing theoretical research about analogical reasoning and about abductive, deductive, and inductive reasoning.