The
nature of a design solution is
related to how a problem is perceived, defined and articulated.
The
Design Process requires the collection of as much critical and relevant data
and information as possible concerning any particular design problem and from
this information you can begin to formulate your intentions and ideas. The more
information and knowledge you have gathered of the design issues and parameters,
the greater the potential for a fluid, efficient and realizable project.
I am presently in the
process of developing 'Code Mapping for Designers', which is intended to help
guide you through the complex and confusing IBC. This mapping is from a designer's point of
view and will help you account for and integrate applicable regulations in a timely
fluid manner which is directly related to the design process. The mapping organizes the basic required codes into an accessible
list with section references that will support and strengthen your designs.
Knowledge of the
applicable codes will affect your early intentions, ideas, concepts and design decisions. It is imperative for you
to integrate these basic regulations into your design thinking strategies so
that your creativity is grounded in
the applicable regulations and requirements, which will then allow your
creativity to flourish without major design flaws showing themselves later in
the design process, causing you to make major design adjustments or possibly worse.
Account for regulations
Interpret application
Accommodate within schematic
Integrate into design
"Codes act as boundaries for design
options that can be considered. Therefore, full awareness of all codes is a
crucial foundational element to solid design decisions for any client."
Botti-Salitsky, pg. 124, Programming and
Research
Your design is required to respond to, integrate and
fulfill all applicable codes and regulations governing the project. The
regulations are absolutes unless you can prove them otherwise. They have been
developed by experts in the field through research and evidence and are there
to protect the public's life safety, health and welfare. We need to think of
these regulations as working for us and not against our creativity. To adjust
our thinking that they are there to serve our creative thinking,
just like gravity, heat, wind, rain, etc.
Think of these regulations as a process of:
assembling
layering
interlocking
&
penetrating
assembling
layering
interlocking
&
penetrating
Codes is one of the twelve factors in the Datum Line Equation.
I will be offering 'Code
Mapping for Designers' on-line soon.
