Hypnagogic. Appears to be the more technical term about the state of mind I am referring to here in my use of the term meditation for the purposes of designing. In this state some scientists believe imagery arises from what psychologists call "implicit memory" and "procedural memory" (source: Thompson), in other words - my yet to be founded opinion - very much like what DiCaprio says in the movie "Inception", certain trained tasks can resolve the dream or vision itself and in the hypnagogic state you can consciously observe or access the memory of this process. Which I believe would substantiate the purposes of working a design through based on an initial sketch, or the process described by EKE with regard to esquisse....EKE any reading recommendations would be great..........NAM great link.

I was pretty sure you were hallucinating before. Now I'm certain.

The pedagogy isn't  all academically focused. The idea of analyzing, understanding, and iteratively designing is done to create a process that stays academic but develops a skill set that is applicable throughout a professional career in design.

You're asking why there's a "fervor" over process. It's because it actually works. And while you may feel a little mentally taxed from this over-focus on some academic minutiae, I don't think you should let it get you down. The abstraction of academia can sometimes get really confusing (the sleep deprivation doesn't help) Ultimately it'll be good training for you to think critically about problems that come up in the design process that you didn't anticipate.

E.g. The wrong windows were ordered and are already on site and the client doesn't want the delay to get the right ones so now you've got to find a nice way of fitting a square peg into a round hole at a minimal cost. Your details, planned meticulous months ahead of time, are shot. The exercises in school to iterate over and over until it works will come back to help you have a honed discipline to understand how to create effective solutions to these real problems.

Nam, I like the 2nd paragraph from top on page 38 and 2nd paragraph from bottom on page 40, kind of sums it up and proposes a resolution tor this DAR stuff...Good essay by Javier Arbona.

Miles, I knew that word would scare an old fart like yourself, but my guess is you probably enter that state a lot when designing...or do you have to draw everything to figure it out?

which brings me to -

Center for Ants, the last bit is scary advise, re-iteration for re-iteration sake is stupidity and you learn nothing doing things over and over...the dumbest process is the one you do many many times.  How many times can you add 2+2 to 4?  Although, your example is accurate, you're explaining it all wrong - you have openings for windows, you need windows, make it work!  That's how simple it is, none of this - let's get out the trace paper and deplete the fee or bill for doing something a REAL "problem solver" can do in seconds...I've never understood this stupid behavior of many architects.  It's easy to do things over and over, its kind of lazy frankly, it takes effort to be smart about it - one and done...and we all know there are plenty of chances to solve the problem in the process, not all at the beginning.
 

thwoomp - here ya go -

"Although the term "Beaux-Arts" is inextricably linked in most people's minds to the ornamented classical style of the late 19th century, there was nothing inherent in the teaching method that required a classical outcome. Rather, the Beaux-Arts philosophy was based on the belief that architectural design should be anchored in a systematic method that can be taught. This idea that architectural design is a rational process that can be developed through rigorous discipline is at complete variance with the Modernist dogma that dominates most architecture schools today.

Compared with today's architectural education, the Beaux-Arts method relied less on bursts of individual inspiration and more on detailed analysis and application of basic principles. By contrast, contemporary attitudes toward teaching architectural design has best been summarized by Notre Dame's C. W. Westfall: "The most prestigious programs . . . follow the one rule of the Abbey of Theleme, 'Do what thou wilt,' which reduces the design instructor to an enabler of the fantasies of eighteen-year-olds or cocky graduate students."

from review of Lost Secrets of Beaux-Arts Design

EKE is that a good read (by John Harberson)

appears to be in conflict with my translation of EKE's post...but good for comparing to hypnagogic state.

"Of all the features of the Beaux-Arts method, probably the most unusual to us today is central importance of the esquisse. This was a preliminary sketch showing the student's main ideas for solving a design problem. The esquisse was done in a short time period (usually under 10 hours) and done without the aid of books or advice. The ultimate finished version of the student's design project needed to contain the main features shown in the esquisse – or else the competition jury would disqualify the project. The purpose of the esquisse was to teach mental discipline and avoidance of fuzzy thinking at the project's inception."

this supports my meditation point, I believe...

Thanks EKE for the info.

Chris Teeter:

The new book published by Rizzoli, Americans in Paris, by Jean Paul Carlhian, is the best resource on the teaching process at the École des Beaux-Arts that I know of.  And it's beautifully illustrated.  I can't recommend it highly enough.  The book describes in detail the esquisse.

http://www.amazon.com/Americans-Paris-Foundations-Americas-Architectural/dp/0847843408

Yes, I definitely recommend reading Harbeson.

sorry the book is The Study of Architecture by Harbeson  The review was the titled I qouted.  There's a call for a submittal for papers that I can merge what i'm learning here into a paper....

i'll order both books, yours and Haberson.

thanks again.

Yes.  I recommend Harbeson highly.  That book is considered important in trad arch circles.