Traditional vs Digital Understanding Design Process in Architectural Education

This research brings into question, the ever-increasing role of CAD/CAM technologies in architectural design education. Within this scope, a design workshop for the students of architecture was organized, to investigate the effects of design tools and methods on the design process. Participants were asked to start their design by using traditional methods, followed by developing models with CAD -3d modelling programmes- and prototyping with CAM -3d printers-. Design processes were recorded visually and auditory, during the workshop for protocol analysis. Relationship between design approaches, design tools and design process was analysed in detail by observing the frequency of used concepts, actions and words in both methods. Outcomes of the research showed strengths and weaknesses of design methods for different approaches.