Visual Communication for Students’ Creative Thinking in the Design Studio: Translating Filmic Spaces into Spatial Design

Abstract

Representing visual experiences is an essential part of architectural design education for creativity. The representation of creative ideas relates to the ability to communicate spatial design concepts. This study examined whether filmic spaces could function as visual communication to enhance students’ creative thinking in architecture. It explored how creativity can be supported throughout an architectural design studio with a conceptual tool that translates filmic spaces into spatial design. To investigate the ways to translate filmic space into spatial design tools for creative thinking, we conducted a design studio with first-year university students. Focusing on using various elements of film, including movement, frame, montage, light, and color, and scene changes to represent architectural languages, a curriculum was developed and implemented in a Visual Communication Design Studio for one semester, stimulating students to engage in expressing their ideas in three-dimensional spaces. The overall results suggested that the design education method that used the filmic space as a stimulating tool for creative thinking, emphasizing the role of visual communication, could enhance students’ creative thinking, leading to improved creative design processes.