Prof. Joseph A. Betz, Architect

​See Brightspace for Course Syllabus/Outline

• Project 4 - Project Description

• Architectural Theory Reading from Peter Rowe

To approach this complex design problem, students will draw on Peter Rowe’s framework from “A Priori Knowledge and Heuristic Reasoning in Architectural Design.” Rowe identifies five heuristic strategies that often guide the design process:

1. Anthropometric Analogies – using the human body and its movement through space as a guide.

2. Literal Analogies – borrowing existing forms, either:

o Iconic: symbolic or natural references (e.g., Sydney Opera House’s shell-like roof).

o Canonic: abstract proportional systems (e.g., grids, platonic solids) for hierarchy and meaning.

3. Environmental Relations – designing in response to climate/environment, materials, behavior, and existing built contextual patterns.

4. Typologies – adapting and reinterpreting architectural precedents and organizational models.

5. Formal “Languages” – employing rule-based systems, whether classical, patterned, or personally developed (modern, post-modern, deconstruction, Meier’s style, etc.).​

​