The Inner Studio - Riverside Architectural Press

THE INNER STUDIO
Is it soulful?
Is it related to my inspiration?
What do I like most about the idea?
This project needs more______?
This project needs less_______?
What are the questions you are aware of asking as you design?
What questions would you add to this list?
The question is also the rudder of our creative process–we will go
in the direction set by it. To do this effectively, we need to address
still another layer of the question: the emotional tone we establish
inwardly when asking it. This is particularly essential when you
consider that we often don’t ask a question consciously. We begin
to sketch or draw as though the images were coming from somewhere
else rather than from ourselves–albeit unconsciously.
Including your heart’s desire in the formation of a question will
help to ensure that the emotional tone of the question is positive
and true. The simplest way to accomplish this is to take a moment
to ask yourself about what you want–before addressing the project.
When we consciously ask a question, we are committing to owning
our intentions during the process of design.
The question is an active ingredient. It’s job is to prompt or
activate the unconscious. The question is a message sent from the
conscious mind to the unconscious mind. The whole premise of
design starts with an aspiration to produce something new. An
original design presumes there is something unknown to be
discovered. This unknown will come into being through the way
you move through the creative process. If our question is too rigid,
or too narrow, or too far from the present, then we will likely get
back an answer that doesn’t help us. This is because we are resigning
ourselves to a very limited relationship with the unknown. The
psyche is no more responsive to a flagrant act of will than to
extreme dullness. In order to establish a relationship with the
unknown, the question must be genuine. It will then fly into the
unknown–powered not by will but by the heart’s desire for an
answer–and lift our heart’s desire into the unknown.
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