Data-supported Design in Architecture and Urbanism: The Use of Geospatial Data for Transport Node Design

This paper seeks to understand how data can be part of an integrated design approach, focusing on the use of geospatial data at the project scale between building (architecture) and district (urbanism). It qualifies as a Design Driven Research in several ways. First, the research frames the relationship between the shift toward digitization and the implementation of data-supported design into contemporary practices of Architecture and Urbanism. This theoretical contextualization reveals how research-by-design was determinant in discovering break-through skills and collaborations in the use of digital technologies and data-supported methods for design. Second, it looks into a theoretical background about design processes and how data can be appropriated by designers and influence the formalization of a design proposal. Here, the paper investigates existing methodological frameworks for design documented in scientific literature. The design frameworks explain in what consist the steps of design and in what order they are taken – but do not elaborate much on how data is used in the design process. Third and finally, a design case-study provides an illustrative example of how geospatial data can be used in transport node design. This case-study reconstructs the design process based on literature review, archive research and interviews with designers. The different design documents delivered as project milestones contained design material that evolved incrementally until the conclusion of the project. This archive was the main source for a near-to-complete list of geospatial data that was part of the process and conditioned the distinguished design scenarios for the five transport nodes.