Designing with medium: Exploring the agency of representational media in architectural design

Abstract

This study attempts to elucidate the relative impact of the designated representational medium on architectural design knowledge during the design process. It focuses on the relationship between designers’ cognitive processes and the revealed design information corresponding to different representational media. The assertion here is that designing, specifically the act of representation, necessarily involves a medium and that representational media possess agency, which affects the information content available to designers during the design process. Designing is defined as a process of constructing representations, where the act of representing facilitates a reflective dialogue between the designer and the object of representation. This study’s framework is aims to reveal the agency of representational media through a community of practice situated within shared sociocultural, and environmental contexts. The interaction between the designer and the media of representation is structured upon the theoretical model of–Activity Theory–, which provides a framework for analyzing human actions oriented toward specific purposes through instruments within particular conditions.–Within the framework of the article, two workshop sessions were conducted, along with semi–structured interviews related to those sessions. The data derived from the interviews were examined using the reflexive thematic analysis method. Information content related to various representational media within the shared sociocultural and environmental context was revealed.