According to the cognitive approach, the paper develops the analysis of the design process in architecture and reflects on the cognitive processes applied to space and design, in order to identify the role that creativity place in the process. The paper analyses also the variations and the restrains, which feeds creativity during the development of the architectural project. The paper wants to demonstrate the fundamental importance of memories in developing planning process and creativity expressed in it. The explored contribution of cognitive science supports this thesis. Even the writings of architects as well as critical writings on architecture lead us in the same direction. By means of an experiment we demonstrates how the same planning request activates in the expert agent particular links and not others. These links start a specific, special and adventurous trip in memories and in study references. They may be technical, personal references, more or less revealed, more or less aware, not randomly generated by a planning question, which is potentially fortuitous and substantially unknown.
