Understanding Architectural Design: Expressive and Figurative Paradigms

Creativity and design are the most important characteristics in architectural conception. They offer both new solutions in complex situations and add novelty to the architectural object.This paper develops two theoretical paradigms about architectural design, based on an aesthetic-tectonic approach. Specifically, the analysis focuses on two architectural objects: Frank Lloyd Wright's reference to Japanese architecture, and Le Corbusier's reference to Ibadite architecture.Starting with abstract–figurative processes we identify two initial paradigms: the figurative paradigm, which constitutes a direct (object-to-object) reference; and the expressive paradigm which, constitutes an indirect (object-to-idea) reference.