The modeling of ideation process in architectural design instruction by semiotic approach (Case study: Residential design)

One of the main problems in contemporary Iranian architecture is the loss of identity and its related factors, such as a sense of attachment to the place due to neglecting the semiotic aspects of architectural reading and design in instruction ideation. The design meaning and indicators are effective in creating identity, beauty, and pleasure in architectural work via giving rise to an internal perception of space. Semiotics provide the most important meaning factors and can effectively upgrade the sense of place for a better relationship between architecture and users. Using the principles of semiotics is one of the best solutions to investigate how meaning is granted to space. As the most distinct semantic factors in creating mental associations via relying on the concept of implication, symbols can effectively enhance the sense of place in relation to the audience. Thus, using semiotics from the perspective of the designer's relationship with the audience in instructing design can be a step towards granting meaning to space and creating a sense of place for the users. However,  the imitation and copying of samples result in a lack of identity and social culture. Ideation is one of the most seminal and most important parts of the design instruction process. Therefore, the negligence of the meaning in the design process can also affect the ideation process because the final design is the representation and reflection of the ideas. The ideas mentioned in the literature review, including "patterns of design," 'sign," and effective factors on readability," show that previous researches have neglected the semiotic approach in ideation. Therefore, there is a need for a semiotic approach. In this study, the first research question is: "what are the effective factors in the creation of ideation process" and the second question is: "How is the relationship between the effective factors in design instruction process based on semiotics." The factors of  'human,' 'time' and 'place' that are effective on mental images should be considered when semiotic is used. This research aims to correct the design instruction process in ideation levels using semiotics by emphasizing the users' perception.

The qualitative and quantitative research methods, path analysis, factor analysis, and modeling have been used in this research. The quantitive research method can be defined in two phases. In the first phase, the "cross-sectional survey" is used for exploring the user community, and the correlation method is used in the second phase. The survey study method begins without any presumption. In this article, the opinions of a group of architecture students and their professors on the research subject have been collected in the form of a questionnaire, and at the end, based on this information, concepts and effective variables are identified, and factor analysis is performed. The second phase of the research begins with the assumption obtained from the survey. This study is of descriptive-analytical type in terms of the method because, because in addition to showing the facts, the reasons for the problems are also explained.

According to the findings, "the research-oriented analysis" directly influences the dependent variable. Moreover,  the "aesthetic aspects" that act as the intermediary variable are influenced by the "research-oriented analysis" because the aesthetic aspects differ based on the social-cultural background. Thus, it is necessary to recognize the aesthetic aspects of the context's social culture through research-oriented analysis in the instruction process. On the other hand, it influences other factors such as "ideation" and "collective reading-oriented evaluation of the signs". Another intermediary variable that influences the dependent variable based on the model is the aesthetical aspect. One of the factors influencing the reading and perception of the signs is the psychological issues. Since the reading and perception of users are the main parts of semiotics, "the collective reading-oriented evaluation of signs" also plays as another intermediary variable in the formation of the model. This could increase the audience's satisfaction since their needs are met.  Also, the design idea is presented for the audience's collective evaluation, and the model forms the "research-oriented analysis" in case of dissatisfaction. That is because dissatisfaction with an idea shows inadequacy and/or imprecision in the identification of the context and the semiotic researches. Hence, the ideation is repeated until the audience's satisfaction is achieved in the evaluation stage.

The results show that "research-oriented analysis", "aesthetic aspects", "psychologists aspects", and "collective perception-based evaluation of signs" are the effective factors in the creation of the ideation process. The proposed model is introducing a cycle that concentrates on the evaluation of user's perceptions by signs.