Alhambra Palace

ABSTRACT THINKING An Introduction to Creative Thinking in Basic Design
OMAR M. AMEIREH Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan [e-mail]

Abstract. This paper critically examines the nature of the dramatic increase in the number of students accepted in schools of architecture in Jordan, and the contradictory decrease in their artistic, creative, thought process, projects problem solving and other skills. The paper also reviews architectural curriculum and courses to identify weaknesses in handling the changes and ultimately within these constraints and in order to handle the students variable potentials, abilities and contradictions, certain exercises in the basic design course are devised in ways that; reduces its dependency on learnable manual skills and conceptual thinking; uses teaching techniques that correlates and incorporates Arts, Architecture and Sciences as complementary topics; approaches and reaches creativity as a procedure not a gift; transfers and travels easily between complexities and simplicities, between natural and artificial intelligence, between abstract and relative thinking; employ geometries and design tools as the main structure of any composition; makes self evaluations of choices, decisions and variables easier. Taking Abstraction as a framework in solving the problem of the exercises gave answers and solution to many problems that was not easy solving under the conventional ways of design.

1. Introduction Innovative thinking for scientists and researchers is considered a gained skill, while for many artists and architects creativity is a gift we are born with, which is hard to obtain. Some say it can be taught with application of simple techniques. In the field of education all is possible depending on the process of bringing out the gift in those who have it and giving it to those who don’t. Bringing out or giving creativity to students of art and

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