09.07.2016
Week 1 – Brandon Stone

Reading 1

Christopher Frayling, “Research in Art and Design”

Question 1:

In design school, is the approach of research-first, then build more effective than design first, then research? This is a question that has to do with providing a means to an end. What is more productive? Is this question subjective and based on the individual designer? If you study Chris Romano and Nick Bruscia’s “2XMT” the research informed the final built product. When you compare this do Dennis Maher’s “Aggregate Lost”, the structure is built first and then studied and interpreted after.

2xmt-fragmented city

Question 2:

There are certain mediums that can be used to describe both “research” and “Research”. One example is art. There are different types of art that could be considered one or the other. How does one define the difference between the two when considering the same medium? Does the commercialization of an idea have anything to do in differentiating “research” and “Research”? Most often, “Research” is developed in hopes of gaining knowledge to use in the creation of a product.  “research” is done for self fulfillment, or fun. An example is Ball State’s tensegrity structure for a local art fair. Is this installation considered “Research” or “research”… Or both?

ball state-tensegrity

Another example of using art to inform research is photography. Photography turns art into research… The act of observation leads to a static image, which can be questioned and used to formulate a hypothesis.

NASA image acquired April 18 - October 23, 2012 This image of the United States of America at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. The image was made possible by the new satellite’s “day-night band” of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe dim signals such as city lights, gas flares, auroras, wildfires, and reflected moonlight. “Nighttime light is the most interesting data that I’ve had a chance to work with,” says Chris Elvidge, who leads the Earth Observation Group at NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center. “I’m always amazed at what city light images show us about human activity.” His research group has been approached by scientists seeking to model the distribution of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and to monitor the activity of commercial fishing fleets. Biologists have examined how urban growth has fragmented animal habitat. Elvidge even learned once of a study of dictatorships in various parts of the world and how nighttime lights had a tendency to expand in the dictator’s hometown or province. Named for satellite meteorology pioneer Verner Suomi, NPP flies over any given point on Earth's surface twice each day at roughly 1:30 a.m. and p.m. The polar-orbiting satellite flies 824 kilometers (512 miles) above the surface, sending its data once per orbit to a ground station in Svalbard, Norway, and continuously to local direct broadcast users distributed around the world. Suomi NPP is managed by NASA with operational support from NOAA and its Joint Polar Satellite System, which manages the satellite's ground system. NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data provided courtesy of Chris Elvidge (NOAA National Geophysical Data Center). Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, NOAA, and t

 

Question 3:

Does “Research” earn the title because it is peer reviewed? Does the approval of others make research valid?

 

Reading 2

David Solomon, “Experimental Cultures: On the ‘End’ of the Design Thesis and the Rise of the Research Studio“

Question 1:

Does the act of doing away with the individual thesis have a negative effect on the student? By replacing it with the “advanced studio”, does the student benefit from having a another semester of design studio similar to their previous 11 studios before that? Being able to do research, formulate an idea, and see it through is an invaluable skill that every student should learn. Even if it is directed by a faculty member and not individually.

 

Question 2:

In the late 19th century design was thought to be the most important subject taught in architecture school with the least academic credentials. Today it is still emphasized as the most important subject and it now consumes a large portion of academic credentials. Is this a matter of emphasis on design over function? Are we moving towards a phase where design is all consuming and the elements that are placed within a structure are almost an afterthought? If so, is this a good lesson to be teaching future architects. If not, should we be designing with the systems already integrated to help benefit the design. Would this force the way studio is taught traditionally today to be structured in a new way?

Question 3:

Does the thesis reflect the curriculum or does it create a new curriculum? Does the act of researching, discovering something new, and building upon it lead to the creation of something that people can use to learn and design from?