Abstract Narrative Description: This proposal supports the collaboration of Dr. Omer Akin, Professor of Architecture, Carnegie-Mellon University and Dr. Nur Esin and Assistant Professor of Architecture, and his graduate student, Mr. Belkis Uluoglu, both of the Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University. These collaborators intend to examine the design decision making process and structure of design knowledge used in architectural offices or firms both in the United States and in Turkey. There is an professional concern internationally among architects about their profession and its educational processes. This comparative study of skill of architects and the implications for architectural education will have its main focus on the structure of the information network between members of design teams, the content of this information, what are the knowledge areas used by architects in their collective design efforts and the integration of these knowledge or information areas with each other and with whole design effort. Scope: The study method proposed will be undertaken in three major stages. The first will build a theoretical model for design decision making in architectural office settings. In the second stage different office settings will be selected for data collection concerning structure and the content of the information flow between design team members at sites in the U.S. and in Turkey. The last stage will be to develop a descriptive model of design decision making in architectural office settings. The goals of this study are: o to advance the exchange of knowledge between the U.S. and Turkey o to advance the exchange of knowledge between the two collaborating universities o to contribute to the development of a theory of the expertise of architects and to describe the design decision making process in architectural office settings, and o to increase understanding of the collective design process for potential contributions to education and practice in architecture This proposal does meet the objectives of the Science in Developing Countries of advancing the international exchange of scientific knowledge and of contributing to the enhancement of science in the developing country.
