Creative Designing – Teaching the Impossible?!

Abstract

<p>Structures as the essential element of architecture are the result of a creative design process. It is accepted, that a design process is a unique, innovative and emotional activity, expressing the personality of the designer. But in contrast today’s engineering is characterized through rationality, computability, technocracy and reproducibility. But who - if not engineers - are designing structures? This paper shows that structural quality can only originate, if the border between art and technology is overcome. One possible and essential way to reach this goal is through teaching creative designing. Therefore so called basic elements of creativity which can be taught will be introduced: firstly knowledge about the history of structures, secondly to deal with the process of designing, thirdly to know the characteristics of perception and fourthly to be capable of (constructive) criticism that means to criticize and to review.</p>