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With its traditional focus on authorship, art history has long disregarded the complexity of architectural design processes. In the Low Countries, during the late Middle Ages and early modern period, the specialisation of a first generation of architects paradoxically went hand in hand with extensive teamwork in the production of architectural drawings. The design of buildings was surprisingly often a collaborative practice, not only involving the ‘architect’ but also experts from different backgrounds as well as the patron. In this period, a master of the works usually had the prime responsibility for the design, though others could have great influence on the final appearance of the building as well. This article focuses on architectural drawings, arguing that in the 16th century their production was not a solitary activity, but regularly involved multiple hands. This heterogeneity in architectural practice stimulated a search for new graphic methods and benefited from crossovers with the pictorial arts.

Just as Gothic cathedrals have long dominated the perception of medieval architecture, the spectacular drawings of the German lodges have shaped our view of the medieval design process. However, their towering importance has diverted scholarly attention from alternative drafting practices and reinforced the view of a homogeneous Gothic design practice based on quadrature. Historians generally accept that in the 16th century a new Renaissance graphic language challenged and ultimately replaced the Gothic tradition north of the Alps. However, this antagonistic narrative of one dominant practice superseding the other needs to be re-examined because hitherto neglected drawings for other types of buildings reveal that medieval drafting practice was more varied and open to new developments than is often believed. This paper will examine three rare sets of architectural drawings, together consisting of over thirty sheets, made for three stone sluices in the provinces of Utrecht and Holland between 1556 and 1563. They show that for technically demanding hydraulic works, drawings directed every step of the process, from enabling discussion of the most suitable design to guiding the stonemasons in the execution of the work. Moreover, they demonstrate that for such projects, Gothic masters did not adhere to tradition but engaged with new design methods, using scale, colour, and multiple views to convey all aspects of the project, thus indicating that changes in style and method were not always interrelated.

Design in Egypt must be shifted from imitating design in developed countries that focuses on design as a synonym for styling and producing luxury products, towards concentrating on the needs of the Egyptian society. In the context of craft development in Egypt, different activities of design must be redirected strategically toward meeting the needs of the local people both as consumers and as producers. In so doing, designers must work actively on improving craftsmen productivity in order to increase their income as well as to interpret people's needs into appropriate and affordable products. Then at certain point these products must be connected efficiently with niche markets. This paper argues that recent design thinking can support designers with new strategic insights and methods to anticipate challenges, to optimize the choices, and to synthesis the desirable solutions in the future. This in turn will lead to empowering local people and integrating them in a sustainable economic situation. To ensure effective cooperation and participation at the national level, designer's efforts must go hand in hand with other disciplines and must be sponsored by different stakeholders to promote development in specific craft sector. This paper is mainly concerned with answering the following questions: What kind of design solutions could be expected to empower local craftsmen? Who exactly can participate in producing this solution? How could designers support national policy towards sustaining crafts development efforts in Egypt?

عقب حركة الفتوحات الإسلامية وتشكل الخريطة الجغرافية والسياسية للعالم الإسلامي، بات المسلمون جارا مباشرا لإحدى القوى العظمى في عالم العصور الوسطى، وهي الإمبراطورية البيزنطية، وكان طبيعيا أن تتسم القرون اللاحقة بتطور علاقات بين العالمين تراوحت ما بين العداء والسلم، ما بين الحروب والمعاهدات والسفارات الدبلوماسية وفداء الأسرى والتأثيرات الحضارية المتبادلة . وراح المؤرخون والجغرافيون والرحالة المسلمون يكشفون في كتاباتهم عن هذا العالم البيزنطي من حيث خريطته الجغرافية، وأصول سكانه، وعاداتهم وتقاليدهم وطبائعهم، وعلومهم وصنائعهم . وتهدف هذه الدراسة إلى إلقاء الضوء على الكيفية التي تصور بها المسلمون عدوهم الرومي من حيث: أصوله العرقية، ومسميات الروم ؟ وتقدمهم في العلوم، وحرفهم وصنائعهم، وعاداتهم وتقاليدهم، وأخيرا طبائعهم ونظرتهم للمرأة .

This chapter contains sections titled: Historical Background Intellectual Currents of the Later Middle Ages The Traditions of Medieval Criticism Transitions: Medieval Humanism