Graphic design thinking is a key skill for landscape architects, but little is known about the links between the design process and brain activity. Based on Goel’s frontal lobe lateralization hypothesis (FLLH), we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brain activity of 24 designers engaging in four design processes—viewing, copy drawing, preliminary ideas, and refinement—during graphic design thinking. The captured scans produced evidence of dramatic differences between brain activity when copying an existing graphic and when engaging in graphic design thinking. The results confirm that designs involving more graphic design thinking exhibit significantly more activity in the left prefrontal cortex. These findings illuminate the design process and suggest the possibility of developing specific activities or exercises to promote graphic design thinking in landscape architecture.
Design thinking is a highly cognitive activity that is widely used in design-related fields to solve problems in the man-made environment. “Design methodology,” as described by Cross , is the design process on work and thinking developed by designers through techniques or methods that reflect the knowledge to solve a problem. “Design as a discipline” involves different perceptions in the sciences, humanities, and design thinking, knowing, and practical methods. Hence, we could infer that design thinking involves a series of reasoning mechanisms to select, identify, and then solve the problem . This design process is called “real-world problem solving” with the “select-and-combine model”, which relates to the mechanism of conceptual sketches of cognition that might support the frontal lobe lateralization hypothesis (FLLH) in brain activations . Gero and Milovanovic considered that design thinking involves cognition, and researchers have tried to explore the design process through “protocol analysis,” “Black Box experiment,” and “survey” during design. Goel
demonstrated architectural designs that included initial sketching with ambiguous lines, conceptual transformation, analysis, and adjustment of the spatial form, gradually converging the style and precision of its spatial structure to solve current problems. By contrast, Gillieson and Garneau highlighted that graphic design thinking as a design process uses visual communication, such as organization and logic, to define deductive and inductive thinking in space, which also involves personal experiences to recall, reframe, and solve the design problem. Their study addressed the design process by drawing a series of graphics to identify the space in the landscape. Therefore, in this study, we used the term “graphic design thinking” to explore the “Black Box” in landscape architecture design.
Laseau described a questioning method assisted by using sketching, while Geol identified 4 characteristics in layout, which includes problem structuring, preliminary design, refinement, and detail, which use sketching to refine ambiguous ideas in the associated arts (e.G., architectural layout). This shows that designers assume thru sketching to visualize and spatialize a idea map within incomplete ideas and refine the ones mind thru abductive thinking . Landscape architecture layout includes a hard and fast of design strategies, which include the scope of the hassle, the reason, and the purpose, which translates “what” and “how” thru the choice of material, landscape factors, colors, and many others. Within the design method to meet needs and create values . The abductive thinking helps designers to develop ideas and connect factors for notion final touch . Moreover, the voices of capability customers and associated stakeholders are important . After the development of the chosen answer, the unique idea for actualizing the designated design will be taken into consideration whole. Based on the idea of sketching-assisted questioning proposed by using Laseau , Geol , and Kolko , we might infer that, for landscape architects, the panorama structure design manner is associated with the conceptual tiers of a undertaking, as panorama architects use sketching to nurture innovative thoughts, and image layout questioning refines the thoughts to broaden and join panorama factors for of completion.
A study proposed a framework of the use of electroencephalography (EEG), purposeful magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and functional close to-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to degree brain activation, which could provide a glimpse of the layout system, which includes design creativity, layout reasoning, and trouble-fixing, for the duration of exclusive layout tasks . FMRI may additionally permit a better understanding of layout cognition, consisting of visual and spatial reasoning, in design questioning and creativity
. Goel ] proposed the FLLH, in which the left and right prefrontal cortices (PFC) are chargeable for specific capabilities in actual-international problem-fixing. The hypothesis hyperlinks the design cognitive process to mind interest in architectural layout and planning . The proper PFC is concerned in planning, visual processing, or reasoning out of the initial idea and initial thoughts. The right PFC contributes to the abstract, vague, and conceptual elements of performance. By comparison, after deciding on a particular answer and proceeding to similarly refinement, the left PFC assists in processing specific, clear, and realistic facts
The involvement of the PFC in cognitive mechanisms has been proven in neuropsychology . Related research on architecture and indoors studies in design consequences related with brain activation. The precise design responsibilities replete with sketching the body and layout gadgets in space in various forms brought on our research layout. In their study, Goel and Grafman [13] verified that a affected person with frontal lobe lesions who was an architect become unable to perform a initial design in sketching the ideas. However, regular topics may want to perform the initial design, refinement, and detail thru the layout manner within the open-end design. The finding highlights the position of the right PFC in design thinking duties, consistent with other findings on indoors layout . Alexiou et al. Confirmed that once topics of their examine used a trackball mouse to move gadgets in the course of interior design obligations (and not using a restriction), positive mind areas (e.G., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), middle frontal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus) have been more lively than throughout problem-fixing tasks (with the conditions). These consequences have been constant with the ones of Gilbert et al.
, who determined that the right DLPFC and left frontal lobe were extra lively, stimulating potential answers within visible imagery in layout duties. Further, these studies indicated that in layout responsibilities, the activation of ACC may want to relate to cognitive and emotional features . The DLPFC and ACC aren't best involved in govt features, together with visible imagery and semantic processing, but additionally paintings together to assemble new ideas that reply to hassle fixing in layout obligations .
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