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C0. What Is Architectural Research - PDF PDF
C0. What Is Architectural Research - PDF PDF
What is architectural
research?
As a discipline, architecture often struggles with
the idea of research, leading to the question:
What is research in architecture? The answer is
not singular, of course, but as multifaceted as the
discipline of architecture itself. This book is a
handbook for research in architecture, considered
to be a humanities discipline l .
While technical and technological research is both crucial and valid, the
purpose of this book is to examine the research methods appropriate
to architectural humanities, developing the role of architecture as a
discipline with an interest in the theory of spatial production, the social
role of space, and the historical context within which we live.
The aim of this book is to assist the reader in producing research that
is distinctively architectural in nature. The humanities do not refer
solely to the topics within architecture with which I am concerned, but
constitute a set of practices, a methodology, purpose and sensitivity to
the world in which we live.
Vocabulary
Research
Research is the process by which you understand the world in a verifiable
and consistent manner. That is not to say that research is not contested,
but a transparency about the way that you conduct your research will
strengthen your proposition. Research is typically conducted by the
application of an existing model to a new set of circumstances, or by
developing a new framework from empirical facts. Merely collating
information is not enough to constitute research, however - the aim is to
say something meaningful as a result of the data 2 gathered.
Practice
This is a term with multiple meanings, even within the scope and context
of this book. Simply stated, practice is something that you do: an activity.
You might describe conducting research, or producing a drawing, as a
practice. Use of the term practice suggests that there is a wider context
or supporting framework, be that the conventions of academic writing
or the rules of orthographic drawing. Practice suggests a methodology,
most often one that others also engage in.
Practice-based research
In recent decades, it has become clear that research can be produced
more directly through a practice as well as through more conventional
academic activities. Conducting research by simply doing architectural
design is increasingly important to architecture, and represents an
academic recognition of alternatives to the production and consumption
of literature as ways of thinking. This is often expressed as the idea of
'thinking by doing'.
Discipline
A discipline is a field of expertise, an area of study, a discrete collection
of practices, or all three. It is useful to think in terms of disciplines,
as these can represent different professions or formalized viewpoints
that do not adhere to a profession in the same way as architecture.
The inference in the term 'discipline' of a kind of strictness and codified
way of operating is useful to think about, while not being completely
true all of the time.
Cross-disciplinary
As soon as disciplines are established, of course, there comes a
realization that they need to work with each other in order to achieve
anything as complex as a building. In the commercial and professional
practice of architecture, this will typically involve planners, engineers,
surveyors and accountants, as well as clients. Research is similar, and
architecture can learn from the work of environmental psychologists,
urban designers, critical theorists and many other specialists. There are
a number of models for cross-disciplinary working, with variations on
the theme (trans-disciplinary, interdisciplinary, etc.) suggesting specific
forms of collaboration. Fundamentally, disciplines rarely benefit from
working in isolation, particularly when it comes to research: different
perspectives allow you to think differently about places.
Theory
Typically, theory is understood as an overarching philosophy governing
certain aspects of practice. The objective of theory is to establish
something fundamental about how we act in the world, a result of
considerable analysis and rationale. This might not be consciously
acknowledged, and many theoretical constructs are mutually exclusive,
denying the position of the other. What is important is that a theory
offers a scaffold for discussion and informed debate.
Anthropology
A social science, anthropology is one of the most fruitful areas for cross-
disciplinary collaboration with architecture. This remains an emerging
field of collaboration, but the interest of anthropology in the various
ways of being human, embedded firmly in a context, and examining
the very nature of dwelling all contribute greatly to the understanding
of architecture. The ethnographic method is also gaining favour
alongside the intellectual rigour and understanding of alterity offered
by the discipline.
History
The history of architecture has a great deal to teach contemporary
practice. Offering more than just a chronology, there are themes and
ideas that have consistently returned to the practice of architecture:
the sublime and the beautiful, the Utopian alongside the functional,
Classical models and romanticism. A great deal about architecture
and the built environment can be learnt through methods of
deconstruction and discourse/content analysis applied to architecture,
drawings and writings. History provides prototypes, a catalogue of
tried and tested responses to problems, subject to adaptation to new
contexts and situations.
The etie and the ernie
Linguist Kenneth Pike's3 definition (further defined by anthropologists
including Ward Goodenough and Marvin Harris4 ) of etie and ernie
research is useful at this stage. This is a crucial distinction when
considering the role of architectural research as a scaffold for human
activity, and represents two ways of approaching the study of how
contemporary architecture operates in the world. The etic account is
from the point of view of an observer who is outside the culture or
activity in question, whereas the emic account is produced from within
a culture.
One fundamental question for your research will be where you place
tiC photograph of yourself with regards to the etic and the emic. Conventional models
,\Iurket, Seoul, of understanding, founded on scientific or objective ambitions, will
11Igh VIC,",POlllt that default to the etic in this regard. However, this is often taken to be aloof
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rather than methodologically pure. The benefits of such a stance are
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various: it might be easier to remain focused, for example - editing and
"5 and buJ!cli llg~. abstracting irrelevant details that distract from a clearly communicated
research question and your eventual findings. This complexity is often
Emlc photograph revealed by research in the emic mould. Fuller immersion in a culture
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avoids detachment from the facts on the ground, and a more immediate
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engagement with people and their lives. Much of the most successful
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Census
Context led
Allowing the context to take the lead in your research process is one
way of establishing the primary importance of the physical, social or
Methodology
FINDINGS
Theory
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Theory
(implicit or embedded in methodology)
Methodology led
Beginning with an established methodology and applying this to a
new context offers other possibilities. Methodological research places
itself firmly within the parameters of this practice, often as a test case
examining the applicability or relevance of a particular analytical
model, or as a survey from which further research is made possible.
An example of this is also discussed later, in Chapter II: the use of the
mental mapping techniques of Peter Gould and Rodney White, and
Kevin Lynch, in an unusual context - Jakarta, where the application of
this method led to both comparable results and potential modifications
of the original mapping. s
Theory led
Similar to beginning with a method, establishing a theory-led piece of
research exists within a framework of understanding first, applied to a
context by means of a methodology second. The theory-led process
of research employs an established form of understanding in order to
determine the deeper meaning. This is research that is critique, analysis or
dialectically oriented. A number of different methodologies can be used.
A dlagr,lm lllustratlll
theory· led research.
FINDINGS
Theory
Theory is a broad category, and the distinction between theory and
method is not straightforward, given that many methods have a
strong association with theoretical content. That said, the priority in
theoretically focused studies is the critical nature of the engagement,
where the methodology is descriptive. Theoretically led studies are
most often cross-disciplinary, borrowing their theory from fields such as
philosophy, social sciences or politics.
Care must be taken not to set up a false argument where your position
is deliberately selected to be ridiculous, absurd or indefensible. This
leads to a sterile debate where the nuances of the case are unable to be
discussed, and the synthesis ends up being a foregone conclusion.
Chapter I begins with an exploration of the starting point for any piece
of research: the research question. The way you frame the question is
important, as it often forms the basis for the research. Key to this is
defining the terminology used in the research. While this might appear at
first to be a game of semantics, it is important to challenge assumptions
that might be contained in even the most apparently innocent or obvious
terms, such as 'space'. One example might be to ask which concept
of space has informed this research. Is there an alternative to this
conventional term that allows you to think about how people dwell and
occupy in a more specific manner?
Strongly associated with this is the question of how you find this out,
as explored in Chapter 2. A number of research methods are available
to architects, and each of these offer different ways of knowing - some
of which might be more or less appropriate to your work, but that
have an equal degree of rigour. This chapter looks at text-based and
graphic research methodologies, as well as practice-based research,
and emphasizes the importance of describing your working practice as
part of the process of validating your work. It is not enough simply to
express opinions.
The right to the city is an important concept, with its origins in the work
of Henri Lefebvre, and underlines one of the most important disciplines
contributing to architecture: an understanding of the politics of space
and the implications of power relations in space. Chapter I I discusses
how buildings can be said to exert power over people, whether for a valid
purpose or not.
Conclusion
Rather than defining what lies inside or outside the realms of research in
architecture, this book aims to discuss research as an expanded field of
possibilities. Rather than there being a singular approach, it is clear that
there are a great many valid and useful forms for architectural research
to take. Architecture is, by its nature, a complex, multifaceted field of
study, meaning that no single approach can tell you everything you need
to know.