At Boston Architectural College, Design Development has recently been broken into to parts. Design Development 1 and Design Development 2. 

Real world "Design Development" is where an architectural design goes from "what" the designer wants to do to a more descriptive "how to." As such, the main decisions about the design become apparent.

For Example:

I have been designing a trade school that is centered around a courtyard. Now I am asked, "how" is that courtyard going to look? Out of what material will it be made? "How" will that courtyard be structured? "How" will you shade the southern exposure side of that courtyard.

I have wanted to include a theater in my design. It has now ended up on the basement level. "How"will that theater space be laid out? "How" deep does the space need to be to hold lights and equipment? "How" will you be connected to what is above ground? 

The splitting of design development into two phases is suppose to address the students' tendencies to focus more on the design concept in the first review and on technical questions and approaches on the second review. 

My first review went well as such as the concept of a building with a central core that inverts relationships between inside and outside (read as: host and guest) and the program and circulation seems feasible. The parts that were missing from my review were the how's. Like, "How" is the curtain wall around the building supported? "How" much glazing do you want in that courtyard? How will the Moroccan artists and users of the space move freely through the building?

These how's will be my glorious torture for the next two weeks. 

Oh right, did I mention that they are only giving us two weeks to resolve all of this before the next review? Yeah, and we are suppose to be working full time as designers in the BAC fashion... 

I'm not bitter, no, not at all :)

-Until next time- Darian