Digital Thinking EuropIA.11 A Comparing Study of the influence of CAAD Tools to Conceptual Architecture Design Phase By Yi Zhu, Tomás Dorta and Giovanni De Paoli Faculty of Environmental design, University of Montreal Abstract: The research presented here intends to achieve a better understanding of the influence of the CAAD tools on the contemporary conceptual architectural design process. The overall research methodology composes of two parts: an interview study with experienced architects and a controlled design study carried out with two groups of senior college architecture-majored students. The research of the first study is set to find out the answers of what the architects’ needs are during the conceptual design phase and how current commercially available tools address their needs; the second study is to find out how the tools influence designers’ design quality so as to further justify the result obtained from the first part. The final results demonstrate that the creation procedure has not been influenced by the adoption of CAAD tools and that current widely adapted CAAD tools still have no significant advantage over traditional design tools in the conceptual design phase. Key words: CAAD, Architecture, Conceptual, Design 1. Background The conceptual phase of design is one of the most critical parts in the design phases because it is the foundation for the development of design ideas. Most original ideas emerge in this phase, and these ideas continue to develop or are revised throughout the rest of the design process. It plays a significant role in the whole project. A promising solution during the conceptual phase means a lot to the cost of the building’s life span. During the conceptual phase of design, freehand sketching has traditionally been used widely for design ideation and regarded as an essential design conceptual tool (Schon, 1983; Goel, 1995; Suwa and Tversky, 1997; Cross, 1999; Tversky, 1999; Kavakli, et al, 1999 and Bilda and Demirkan, 2003). It was referred to by Schon as a process of reflection-in-action (Schon, 1983). He suggested that through drawing designers created a ‘virtual world’, where the drawing disclosed qualities and relations unimagined beforehand. Sketches are representations which will often allow the designer to ‘try out’ a new idea on paper, quickly and cheaply. The ‘seeing as’ and ‘seeing that’ notions were presented by Goldschmidt (Goldschmidt, 1991; Schon and Wiggins, 1992; Goel, 1995). Also sketches were studied in order to find out how they can be a good medium for conversation. Other studies of design protocols managed to disclose insights into varied aspects of the design behaviors (Kavakli, et al., 1999; 29