Prolegomenon to an investigation of inhibition in design

Abstract

This thesis is a preliminary investigation of the phenomenon of inhibition in the design process. My interest stems from observations of the vagaries of my own success as a designer. Sometimes things have gone well, or flowed and other times not. This is a phenomenon, which I consider as distinct from questions of talent. On the surface it appears to be the designer's counterpart to that ailment known as writer's block. Just what it is that prevents one from utilizing the full potential of his talents in solving an architectural design problem? As the term writer's block implies, it seems very much of a question of constraint, of something restricting what is ordinarily an unforced, naturally occurring activity. When I began my inquiry into a deeper understanding of the design process, my interest had been in the role of play in architecture. It appeared to me that the fountainhead of creative activity or innovation essential to design, lie in the innocuous activity of play. If play and playfulness are fundamental to creativity and innovation, I reason that, it makes sense to identify those conditions, which preclude something otherwise endemic to design. Is there a limit to that? While ensuring playfulness in the design might do much in the way of eliminating dry spells at the drawing board, I propose that inhibition is not always a negative quantity. My approach to this inquiry has been to identify common ground among play, design, and inhibition at the theoretical level and then to attempt to apply those ideas in understanding field data that I have gathered. I have evaluated the proceedings from design workshops attended and recorded in the form of notes and videotape. Concretely, I have identified where instances of inhibition seem to be present, for what reason, and how they might eventually be lessened to the extent that, that appears desirable.