Design Thinking and architecture

“Innovation” and “design thinking” may be two of the most commonly used expressions in most areas of work today, conceiving a new archetype: the design thinker, a person who has a creative toolkit to generate something disruptive.

Design thinking is a human-centred approach to problem solving that uses the practical ways in which consumers interact with a product in order to develop it further, rather than relying solely on theoretical research, assumptions and hypotheses. One of the hallmarks of design thinking is the development of an understanding with the end user, enabling them to form a sustainable connection with the product.

Today’s businesses, products and services are focused on innovation. One must have the ability to design or integrate design into an organisation to incite creativity. This approach has convinced many architects who believed that architectural practice was too systematic or stagnant to migrate into areas such as UX design, design consultancy, product and business innovation specialisations, and research and development operations, among others.

However, the presence of architects in design thinking discussions remains minimal. Many attribute this absence to a reputation for being too tidy or niche.

What do you think? Find out how at López Landa we apply this technique in our projects.