'An extremely readable book, due in part to the soundbite-sized chapters'
Architects Journal, 19.01.06
Reviews of previous editions:
'It has a great virtue of being thorough and readable... excellent bibliography.'
Built Environment
'This book makes a valuable, if individualistic contribution to the literature of design theory.'
Science and Technology Press
'The author succeeds in demystifying his subject for the lay reader.'
New Scientist
'The chapters are well written in a readable form and packed full of data undeniably valuable to students.'
ASI Journal
'Its success is well deserved, because it is clearly written, the arguments are logically presented, and the design process is indeed demystified.'
Architectural Science Review
Book Description
Gain insight into a designer's thought process...
Product Description
How Designers Think is based on Bryan Lawson's many observations of designers at work, interviews with designers and their clients and collaborators. This extended work is the culmination of forty years' research and shows the belief that we all can, and do, design, and that we can learn to design better. The creative mind continues to have the power to surprise and this book aims to nurture and extend this creativity. Neither the earlier editions, nor this book, are intended as authoritative prescriptions of how designers should think but provide helpful advice on how to develop an understanding of design.
In this fourth edition, Bryan Lawson continues to try and understand how designers think, to explore how they might be better educated and to develop techniques to assist them in their task. Some chapters have been revised and three completely new chapters added. The book is now intended to be read in conjunction with What Designers Know which is a companion volume. Some of the ideas previously discussed in the third edition of How Designers Think are now explored more thoroughly in What Designers Know. For the first time this fourth edition works towards a model of designing and the skills that collectively constitute the design process.
* A unique look at the psychology of the designer that provides a greater insight to the process of design
* 'Demystifies' the complexity of the subject and uncovers new ways that design can be done
* Conclusions are drawn from years of research and provide the very latest debate on the subject
From the Publisher
How Designers Think is based on Bryan Lawson's many observations of designers at work, interviews with designers and their clients and collaborators. This extended work is the culmination of twenty-five years' research and shows the author's belief that we all can learn to design better. The creative mind continues to have power to surprise and this book aims to nurture and extend this creativity. This book is not intended as an authoritative description of how designers should think but to provide helpful advice on how to develop an understanding of design. 'How Designers Think' will be of great interest, not only to designers seeking a greater insight into their own thought processes, but also to students of design in general from undergraduate level upward. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
About the Author
Bryan Lawson is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. He is however both an architect and a psychologist, which has enabled him to study the nature of the design process.
