Conceptual design: A search space Authors Alexander Gushchin Ural State University of Architecture and Art named after N. S. Alferov Marina Divakova Ural State University of Architecture and Art named after N. S. Alferov Downloads PDF (Русский) DOI: https://doi.org/10.51461/issn.2309-3072/86.2675 Keywords: project activity, scientific activity, conceptual project, construct, search space for design solutions Abstract The authors show that project and scientific activities have an antinomic relationship. The project requires going deeper into the singular, and the result of the project is unique. The scientific activity requires generalization of particular (single) results, and the result is universal. This paradigm allows us to formalize the concept of the “search space for design solutions”. The authors formalize the structure of the search space for conceptual solutions using the concept of constructs introduced by the Soviet philosopher and logician S. P. Nikanorov. Constructs are a universal language for design patterns. How to Cite Gushchin, A., & Divakova, M. (2025). Conceptual design: A search space. Project Baikal, 22(86). https://doi.org/10.51461/issn.2309-3072/86.2675 More Citation Formats ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver Download Citation Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX Published 2025-12-09 Issue No. 86 (2025): diversity Section refereed articles License Copyright (c) 2025 Александр Гущин, Марина Дивакова This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. References Boden, M. A. (2004). The creative mind: Myths and mechanisms. Routledge. Bystrova, T. Yu. (2011a). Kontseptualnoe myshlenie v arkhitekture i dizaine: k postanovke voprosa [Conceptual thinking in architecture and design: towards raising a question]. In Cultural studies of the XXI century: theory and practice: Collection of scientific papers. 20 years of the Department of Cultural Studies and Design (pp. 37-48). Yekaterinburg: Publishing House of UMTS UPI. Bystrova, T. Yu. (2011a). Spetsifika proektnykh kontseptsii v arkhitekture i dizaine [The specifics of design concepts in architecture and design]. Akademicheskij Vestnik UralNIIproekt RAASN, 2, 35-40. Chernikova, I. V., & Chernikova, D. V. (2018). Constructivist schemes in the contemporary theory of cognition. Evolutionary constructivism. Tomsk State University journal of philosophy, sociology and political science, 42, 14-24. Gardenfors, P. (2004). Conceptual spaces: The geometry of thought. MIT press. Gushchin, A. N., & Divakova, M. N. (2024). Higher professional education. Architecton: Proceedings of Higher Education, 2(86). Retrieved October 10, 2025, from https://archvuz.ru/2024_2/26/ Korotkovsky, A. E. (1975). Vvedenie v arkhitekturno-kompozitsionnoe modelirovanie: Ucheb. posobie [Introduction to architectural and compositional modeling: Textbook]. Moscow: Moscow Architectural Institute. Levin, K. (2001). Regressiya, retrogressiya i razvitie [Regression, retrogression and development]. In Dynamic Psychology: Selected works. Moscow: Smysl. Mitchell, T. M. (1982). Generalization as search. Artificial intelligence, 18(2),203–226. Nikanorov, S. P. (2008). Kontseptualnye metody i proektirovanie [Conceptual methods and design]. Moscow: Concept. Retrieved October 10, 2025, from https://www.acconcept.ru/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/conceptual-methods.pdf Ovchinnikova, N. P. (2011). Osnovy naukovedeniya arkhitektury: Ucheb. posobie [Fundamentals of the science of architecture: Textbook]. St. Petersburg. Poliarush, A. A. (2023). Constructivism and representationism as a unity of alternative paradigms of the educational process. International Journal of Humanities and Natural Sciences, 11-2(86), 239-241. Solovyova, Yu. V. (2025). Arkhitekturnolandshaftnaya rekonstruktsiya Shlyuzovskogo lesobolotnogo kompleksa v gorode Novosibirske [Architectural and landscape reconstruction of the Shluzovsky forest and swamp complex in Novosibirsk] [Master of Architecture dissertation]. Yekaterinburg: UrGAKhU.