Background and Objectives: Landscape design, as a creative and value-driven practice within complex and multidimensional contexts, involves a continuous interplay of intuitive and rational decision-making. Drawing on Jonathan Haidt’s Social Intuitionist Model, this study explores the hidden role of emotions and designers’ intrinsic values in this process.
Materials and Methods: This research adopted a theoretical and explanatory approach. Through conceptual and comparative analysis of selected perspectives in landscape design and Haidt’s theory, which critiques rationalist approaches to decision-making, a conceptual model was developed. This model is grounded in five elements, intuitive orientation, intuitive selection, rational orientation, rational justification, and reflection-in-action, intended to demonstrate the dynamic interaction between intuitive and rational processes.
Results and Conclusion: The proposed model demonstrates that many decisions that appear rational are in fact grounded in intuitive orientations shaped by emotions and values, while reasoning often serves as a post-hoc justification. Cultivating the capacity for reflection-in-action plays a pivotal role in improving the quality of design decisions. By uncovering hidden dimensions of designers’ decision-making, this framework provides a basis for strengthening reflective practices and attention to inner values within the design process, particularly in the context of design education.