When we talk about design iterations here, possibly the assumption could be that there is this one bungalow or a stand alone building that is getting designed. And as that is designed, we move from the hazy understanding of that bungalow or standalone building; and move thru various iterations till we finally reach the design that is ideal for that particular project.
But that is a very simple case – it does happen, but architectural designing does not always mean that is the only thing that happens.
Take the case of a set of multiple buildings… Say a large gated community for housing. Or designing all the buildings in a neighborhood or say a business campus for a large organization.
In all those complex projects; it is not just “one thing” which is going thru design iterations, but there are many. Not just that, there would be interplay between those multiple parts.
To add further to the complexity of understanding the intricate process; an architectural design process need not result in just one final design. Agreed, that there is just that one built-environment (be it a building, or in the other example; a business campus or a gated housing complex) that actually gets constructed – it does not mean that the architect works only on that thing that gets built
Many offices work in selecting the design to be taken up for construction after arriving at several design. A process that is known as using abductive logic (A discussion on abductive logic is also needed to be done here)
Not understanding the interplay between various identifiable parts of the project is a common source of architectural mistakes.
Take a look at this Youtube article explaining the phenomenon of “street canyons” and how it can contribute to the heat-island effect in cities
What would be your thoughts on this?