Visual Thinking: A Methodological Approach to Age-Inclusive Housing Research

This research is placed in the arena of architectural education and its associated professional context, exposed to numerous urban challenges and influences, such as social transformation and uncontrolled urban growth, emphasized in the housing domain. Residential typologies are evolving and transforming in a continuous synergy of spatial and behavioral patterns influenced by contemporary lifestyles and corresponding morphological formats. Addressing these challenges and finding appropriate professional responses in housing practice necessitates considering methodological approaches that are flexible across different typologies and adaptable to various scales. The current Charter of Architectural Education (UIA/UNESCO) identifies understanding methods for research, imagination, and creative thinking as key educational goals. Additionally, the EAAE Charter for Architectural Research emphasizes the need to strengthen problem-based thinking. In this context, visual thinking serves as a bridge between problem-based and creative thinking. Therefore, this paper focuses on a methodological approach to researching age-inclusive housing related to visual thinking. This research is conducted within the framework of the international Erasmus+ project sUser (https://suserproject.org/), focused on Introducing User-Driven Design and Agile Development Skills in the Case of Sustainable Service Housing for Elderly. The paper provides an overview with a clustering structure that includes four design approaches (user-driven design, system thinking, eco-design, and agile methodologies) in relation to visual thinking. For each approach, the discussion centers on visual tools (such as drawings, diagrams, maps, etc.) and their explicit use concerning specific aspects explored in designing age-inclusive housing. The study's outcome presents a systematic overview of identified visual tools followed by a comparative discussion of the four recognized design approaches.