A case study on the change of students' perception of architectural design based on their knowledge of digital tools

Digital tools are important supportive elements in the complex structure of the architectural design process. Besides the theoretical background, functional requirements, and structural or other technical specifications of an architectural design, graphic presentations provided by digital tools play a key role in expressing the ideas and creating an effective communication between the designer and the audience. In addition, the opportunities provided by digital media in the twenty-first century also support architects in executing the design process. Digital tools in architecture and computer-aided design also constitute an important aspect of architectural education. Although in most of the approaches for architectural education design-based courses are central, graphic communication courses, including digital software, also have significant importance as supportive and decisive elements of design. The traditional hand-drawing and sketching techniques taught in architecture schools are generally mandatory for first-year design courses and have a big influence on developing the basic hand-eye coordination skills of students. In further levels of architecture education, digital methods for graphic communication are introduced and a wide range of opportunities are offered by different digital software. In these circumstances the most important aspect of developing computer-aided design skills for students is to generate proper strategies to use and combine the necessary software, and support them with hand-based drawings and sketches to create an effective process for an impressive design outcome. This article examines students' understanding of the role of digital tools in architectural design and the relationship between their knowledge of different alternatives for drawing or modeling software and the strategies they build up for creating more effective architectural design products. The case study attempts to reveal the change in students' perception of architectural design process depending on their knowledge of digital software for computer aided design. The study also examines if students' enthusiasm and productivity in design studio courses tend to increase proportionally with the knowledge they gain about digital software for architecture and design.