The Intuitive Role of Emotions in the Landscape Design Process: A Theoretical Explanation Based on Haidt's Perspective

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD Candidate, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning,, Shahid Beheshti University,Tehran, Iran

3 Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The process of landscape design, as a creative and value-oriented act, emerges from the dynamic interaction between intuitive and rational mechanisms within the context of complex and multidimensional problems. This study, drawing on Jonathan Haidt’s Social Intuitionist Model, seeks to explain the role of emotions and designers’ values in design decision-making. Haidt, in his critique of rationalist approaches, emphasizes the primacy of emotion-driven intuitive orientations and the secondary construction of reasoning in moral judgments.
Adopting a theoretical approach and through conceptual and comparative analysis between selected perspectives in landscape design and Haidt’s theory, a conceptual model is proposed based on the components of intuitive orientation, intuitive selection, rational orientation, rational justification, and reflection-in-action. This model demonstrates that many seemingly rational decisions made by designers are rooted in emotion- and value-based intuitive orientations, with reasoning often constructed retrospectively as justification.
Such mechanisms can be reconsidered through the cultivation of reflection-in-action. The proposed model, by revealing hidden dimensions of designers’ decision-making processes, provides a ground for critical thinking in the design process and for greater attention to values and reflective skills_particularly in design education.

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Soffeh

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 21 September 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 29 December 2024
  • Revise Date: 13 September 2025
  • Accept Date: 21 September 2025

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