Final thesis - under the supervision of Pierre Bourdareau
ENSCI - Les ateliers

My thesis explores the path that leads an idea to become a design project. Rooted in the etymology of the word method, from the Greek methodos, meaning « the pursuit of a path », it examines the trajectories designers follow in their creative process.

Is there a universal method ? Can it adapt to each situation or evolve along the way ? Through these questions, I seek to understand how thought takes shape and transforms into tangible form.

Drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks, from Design Thinking to analogical approaches in architecture, I highlight the diversity of methodological models. Methods act as landmarks on a map: they provide direction, yet can never fully anticipate the detours, uncertainties, and adjustments that arise in every project.

Through conversations with designers, my research reveals a plurality of ways approaches shaped by words and images. Articulating these practices in writing makes them visible, shareable, and an opportunity to reflect on one’s own ways of designing.

This work is both an investigation and an exploration. It combines interviews, fictional writing, and model-making to spatialize thought and give form to language. Through this thesis, I affirm the role of the designer as a mediator: someone who transforms ideas into forms, opens up possible worlds, and imagines ways of inhabiting the real.