Research, design and Popper

This paper is intended as a contribution to the discussion of the declared topic of this journal, architectural research. It stems partly from the author's bookFrom Idea to Buildingand is mainly an analysis of the similarity between architectural design and scientific research based on Karl Popper's hypothetico-deductive theory, and in particular the sequence from problem recognition through tentative solution and error elimination to an explanation which may become the problem in the next sequence of research.