Many architects and most architectural students today seem toconsider the ‘concept’ as the essence of architectural design
At one time formal considerations determined architecture, laterfunctional ones
Nowadays, a building is appreciated because of its con-cept, its meaning, its underlying and integrating idea, which gives it anadded value with regard to the commonplace
Yet, although it seems soessential to architectural competence, relatively little has been done tounderstandhow—andevenwhether—conceptgenerationisbeingdeveloped and nurtured in architectural design education
The present study tries to shed more light on this issue from a knowledgepoint of view
This perspective allows us to split up the question about0142-694X/99 $ - see front matter Design Studies 20 (1999) 211–235211PI