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EMOTIONAL INFLUENCES ON CREATIVITY
USER RESERACH & VISUALIZATION
Years of experimental research into the individual characteristics of highly creative people has revealed a remarkably consistent set of basic characteristics. According to experimental research about what characteristics are present in highly creative people, introversion, emotional sensitivity, openness to new experiences, and impulsivity are the most distinct of all. In this regard, mood disorders, both positive and negative, can accentuate creative performance (Feist, 1998; Parke, 2017). Although some data indicates that a happy mindset boost creativity (for a review, see Isen, 1993 ), many other investigations have shown that negative emotions can also enhance creativity (Kaufmann, 2003). In some circumstances, powerful endurance caused by negative emotions can lead to better creativity skills (De Dreu et al., 2008).
Certain periods of challenging conditions and conflicting demands may well come up on the way of the course of creative thinking and design, which should be seen as the inevitable propellants of such a process. In fact, a brilliant idea is not found easily as it usually comes after a long and tedious intervals and struggles of thought (Dietrich, 2004). The crux of the matter is that training and educating the mind to accomplish creativity is wrapped up with such periods of challenges and stimulations so long as there is the creative potentialperiods of challenging conditions and conflicting demands may well come up on the way of the course of creative thinking and design, which should be seen as the inevitable propellants of such a process. In fact, a brilliant idea is not found easily as it usually comes after a long and tedious intervals and struggles of thought (Dietrich, 2004). The crux of the matter is that training and educating the mind to accomplish creativity is wrapped up with such periods of challenges and stimulations so long as there is the creative potential.
In the representation of the architecture student’s daily life (Figure 6), there are nine variations of how a day can go depending on our emotional state and the workload. The outer circle serves as our activities. When there is a crack outside, it includes social events. If there is a crack in the inner circle, the activity includes more brainstorming and connecting with our soul [aka inner circle]. Those nine days can vary depending on how the individual functions. For me, stress and work overload can negatively affect my productivity, while for some others, it motivates them to study harder. However, after discussing with my studio peers, most of them preferred a lifestyle where they could have a social life, a sleep schedule, and a more comprehensive architectural education system other than a fast-paced education timeline.
As a result, we all function differently to use the full potential of creativity. Suppose the architecture school system could introduce a flexible timeline for students and their needs and have enough extracurricular resources to introduce students to a balanced lifestyle. In that case, one of the toxic traits of architecture school can be resolved for a better-balanced lifestyle.
NOTES ON THE INDIVIDUAL
Many architecture programs uphold the ideal that the best work comes through independent work and feature a convention studio model that perpetuates this model. The Beaux-Arts ideology was foundational in this regard in the United States, because it employs teaching methods that rely on individual apprenticeship and cultivating the idea that individuals would become better through direct critique (Jernigan, 2015). While school provides resources, information, and light to the student, the individuals are expected to show their creative skills and experiences. This culture brings a competitive environment among students.
The main drive behind scientific, technological, and cultural research and innovation has often been associated with creativity, which is regarded as one of the basic features of our modern world in the 21st century” stated Ritter and Mostert (2016) who explored the impact of music on creative thinking. The recurrent problems that we are to tackle and deal with in our sophisticated and fast-changing world necessitate creative thinking by which we cope with crucial changes in our surroundings sufficiently and properly (Adaman and Blaney, 1995). People have constantly been seeking ways to bring about creative cognition (Ritter and Mostert, 2016).
Looking back at the good old renaissance period, some distinguished individuals with genius minds such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael were of course capable of generating creative thoughts. Whereas creativity was only peculiar to those inspired by the divinity in the Middle Ages. Here, in this context, we cannot pass without referring to grand architect Sinan, the chief architect of Suleiman the Magnificent, who built incredible structures such as bridges, mosques with spectacular designs and applications that are still standing today upright as monuments of grandeur despite many earthquakes and catastrophes for the last 600 years.
An assessment of contemporary literature in various disciplines reveals that defining creativity can be rather challenging, considering diverse and variety of definitions in terms of the literature on creativity. It is partly due to its being estimated on different grounds. Creativity is a multiplex and versatile notion. The ways in which creativity is comprehended and conceptualized can be mainly described as unique and applicable to sorting out the problem in existence (Cowdroy and Williams, 2007). Hence, their attribute is characterized by originality, novelty, and unpredictability. The worth of the product is related to its expedience and functionality. It meets certain social needs with a specific utility within a certain situation for a specific social context.
Creativity is considerably recommended for architecture and design education as it is considered quite invaluable and beneficial for the endurance of design organizations. It supports resourcefulness in connection with thoughts and resilience in cognitive ways to serve designers time ahead to adjust to continuous alterations and challenges in design practice. Thus, the evolvement of creative thinking in design practice is the core ingredient of architecture education. Hence, making students ready for an inventive and effective utility of the mind regardless of anything in question to jump and barriers to overcome is the inevitable part of their education.
Creativity benefits students from a methodological perspective because it helps them become more efficient in how they work when they work alone and to manage their own learning while they are in school. Creativity – being open-minded, curious, willing to try and see new things – also helps students be more multi-disciplinary in their approach and and supported as they merge among disciplines for invention thrive on creativity (Greene et al., 2019; Vally et al., 2019).
According to my iteration of daily routine (Figure 7), I focus on my task and spend less time on my head during a busy schedule. At the same time, I take breaks for self-care and miscellaneous events. I sleep less than usual. Busy days are usually the weeks of reviews and exams. A typical studio day is considered a regular schedule for my weekdays. While working out and eating a good breakfast helped my day, I spent longer breaks between my work hours. I'm usually more productive right before sleep because I procrastinate. I spent more time in my head during an easy day, sleeping, relaxing, and socializing. Fridays are my usual easy days and sometimes Saturdays. I spend my time with my hobbies and overthink a lot when I have a more manageable schedule. First, I analyzed my negative moods: distracted stressed, and depressed. During these three typical days, I usually spent a lot of time in my head. During distracted days, I spent my day wandering around different tasks and not focusing on anything.
I tend to go back into an overthinking zone during my stressed days while working. Lastly, when I'm depressed, I'm less efficient during working, and I usually feel like I'm stuck in my head. During positive days when I feel social, productive, or happy, I also spend a lot of time outside my head and work with others more than usual. I'm more able to multitask and spend more time with my hobbies.
There are two circles interlaced with each other. While the outer circle represents the task, the inner circle represents our mind. The size of the inner circle [mind] varies depending on time and intensity of our thinking. Its boundary is either transparent or solid regarding creative or personal needs. The boundary of outer circle is fractured when the task requires or contains social interaction. While the door’s rotation mainly signifies the flow of time, it also functions as our tendency to go into our minds.
An Example collected from one of my users
Figure 7. Final Representation of Daily Routines with user data
COLLABORATION
New accreditation procedures from the National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB), set forth in February 2020 and went into force in January 2022, emphasize that programs should train architect to be multi-disciplinary, to work well in teams incorporating the diverse perspectives of various members, and to create designs that serve the people who will live, work, or play in their spaces (NAAB, 2020).
The challenges of today’s world, and in which architects must situate their work, demand an approach that cross pollinates from the many disciplines of design. As the progress of technology improves, a variation of professionals in the architecture field are needed to work together. As a result, multidisciplinary approach to design education is now becoming a requirement for developing more inventive solutions (Ruschet et al., 2008) In architecture education, opposition to collaborative design is a repeating problem (Tzonis, 2014a; 2014b). The fundamental point to mention is because various scholars have unique licensing procedures.
The split between education and practice began in the mid-nineteenth century, when architects were trained through apprenticeships instead of formal, college courses. Many have called for architectural education to focus on “cooperative” and “practice-based” learning, rather than the traditional classroom and studio approach, so that students are more prepared for practicing the profession after they graduate (Jernigan, 2015).
Yet many students – and I count myself among them – prefer individual competition to collaboration, as it allows them to champion their perspectives and ideas in their designs. In the Ownership Revolution, Antoine Picon mentions the difficulty of competing because of a much larger fishpond (Picon, 2018).
The meaning of ownership may even create a revolution in creative and economic practice. One of the main reasons for this transition is the simplicity in collaboration in digital tools but the uncontrollable nature in design due to the collaboration. The reading differentiates the different sizes of practices. The era of one singular author ended in architecture. While big firms question the authorship, star- architects or practices are trying to find a solution to perpetuate the authorship. Antoine also mentions the necessity of alteration in education due to the contemporary needs in entrepreneurial and communication abilities other than the design discipline. Therefore, the Bauhaus Ideology, created in the mid 20th century, proposes that the new studio culture has evolved the collaboration and connection at the school, it still needs to develop a little more to help students have a more effortless adjustment to collaborative work culture.
In the “After” iteration, I wanted to create a different illusion of connecting the outside work. While our minds are the center of our lives in individuality, collaboration plays a more crucial role than the individual mind.
In the collaborative lifestyle iteration, I wanted to emphasize how individual life can be shared in an environment [whereas studio] with different activities including music, physical exercise, and architecture brought positive chaos and a communal lifestyle for architecture students. The inner soul still plays an essential role in keeping personal space and a creative voice as an essential source for collaboration. Architecture school almost needs to emphasize the ideology of a home for us where we work hard, enjoy each other’s company, and meditate through music and personal space.
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