Sculptors and architects: can they facilitate the design process?

Methods or tools that designers use can originate from potentially anywhere. The aim in this research was to explore sculpture and architecture with the intention of uncovering new methods or ways of working that could facilitate the design process. A study was devised to compare the working processes of sculptors and architects with those of designers. Professionals from each of the three disciplines were asked to solve a design brief in their spare time, over a period of a few weeks. Data collected from diaries, interviews and design sheets, enabled their design processes to be identified and consequently, similarities and differences were revealed. The architects’ way of working was too similar to the designers to offer any new methods, however the sculptors’ processes were found to be the most different, especially with regard to how they approached and explored the design brief. They focused on intangible and more abstract aspects and did not allow existing products to inform their design. They were also more self-expressive and more concerned with the general experience of use than about solving precise problems with existing products or methods of mass manufacture. This approach resembled that of the architects, who participated in Alessandro Mendini’s Tea and Coffee Towers project in 2003. This demonstrates the potential use of a sculptural process when designing products in order to produce interesting solutions.