Demystifying the Two Different Design Approaches of Architect Paul Stallan, Descriptive and Comparative Analysis of His Conventional and Iconic Design Approaches

The design process is a mysterious problem solving activity which is full of hidden cognitive processes. Investigating the design behaviour of expert architects may demystify the hidden aspects in the design cognition. Accordingly, the paper emphasizes that more thinking aloud sessions with expert architects can give the opportunity to investigate the design behaviour towards the design briefs and constraints. Therefore, the protocol analysis is used as the research method to investigate the two architectural design approaches of the pioneering Scottish Architect Paul Stallan. The analysis of the two design processes presents significant differences in the design methodology of the two different design approaches.