Digital Photography to Enhance Creative Thinking in the Education of Architectural Design

One of the goals of contemporary design education, in particular, is to guide students to tools that can stimulate the search for creative solutions. Concepts such as innovative ideas and creativity have become very important in recent years. The use of Creative approaches in the architectural design process within design studios has become the backbone of architectural education.This study seeks to explore the impact of the digital photography as a visual tool on the architectural student's thinking and creativity during architectural design education, and the importance of using it as a course within architectural design education. The study included examples of digital photography tool used by students in the architectural design process, and the extent of their impact on their design results. 120 Arab universities and the top 10 international universities were analyzed within the university ranking for the year 2020-2023, that use the photography curriculum during architectural design education were presented. In addition, a questionnaire was conducted to survey the opinions of 23 students and graduates of the Architectural Department - Arab Academy for science, technology and maritime transport - Alexandria who studied the optional photography course and analyze the results of this questionnaire. To confirm the findings of previous studies, a practical application was carried out using a photographic tool for 40 students of specialized scientific program, department of architecture within the faculty of engineering, Alexandria University. The results were that the art of digital photography is important and influential in the development of the student's architectural thought and creativity, and this visual tool contributes to achieving better design results. The results suggest recommending the use of the photography tool as a mandatory course during architectural education; because of its impact on the student's architectural thought, and on the architectural product.