Philip Steadman, “An ‘Artificial Science’ of Architecture”

1. The work regarding the floor space index is stimulating. However, it seems like it could only be used in projects where the boundaries are linear, perpendicular to each other. Could this method be used for more “curvilinear” projects?
2. Are “spacemate” diagrams still being used today? If so, how are they calculated? With today’s technology being more advanced than when it was developed, it is curious to wonder.
3. “Bon was interested in such effects as architectural cases of allometry, the biological phenomenon whereby organisms change their shapes as they grow larger, in order to preserve certain ratios essential to their physiological functioning.” Were any social sciences involved with this project, seeing as a part does interact with people directly?

Richard Coyne, “Even more than Architecture”

1. Coyne criticizes of what happens when web search is used in regarding to research. It is true that a good amount that pops up isn’t useful, but it still helps a lot more than before the internet was used. Isn’t it worth it to find articles and readings online that one would never find within a library even if it takes a little more effort and time?
2. “These media channels and content types do not of course have comparable intellectual impact and influence.” The media is one of the most powerful industries out there no matter what they put out. Ergo, doesn’t that mean that it in fact does have a big impact and influence on the population?
3. Coyne brings up the concept of “otherness” within the article, bringing different disciplines together. While this is a motivating idea in theory, how would this be done in reality? People usually go to school for only one discipline, so their knowledge of various subjects would be limited.

Student Housing

For some people, leaving home for the first time can be a challenging thing. It is starting a new life and stepping into a whole new world, especially upon entering college. Students go through a transition during those years of school. Instead of having parents to help with everything, students have to do it on their own and become more independent. This includes shopping, food, and finding balance between the schoolwork and relaxing. The transition helps with the correct environment within their school, more especially their housing.

Student housing is considered to be one of the most important aspects of a university or college. It is where the student spends most of their time. It’s where they work, sleep, shower, relax, and sometimes eat. So, having a quality residence hall that satisfies the needs and comforts of students is essential. While this statement could mean something different to each student in regards to their satisfaction, there is no denying that there are common needs and wants for various students.

For the interior, there are issues of privacy, convenience, and community. This refers to how the rooms are structured and what are offered as amenities to students. It is important for students to feel comfortable living with strangers, but at the same time, the building should create a sense of community. This can be seen in regular dorm rooms where students sleep in the same room or if they share an apartment where while they have their own bedrooms, they have shared common areas for interaction. Convenient access to amenities are also important. Students need to have access to food, laundry, spaces for social interaction, technology, fitness, and other facilities and services.

If one or more of the above can’t be placed within the residence hall itself, it is imperative to place them close to the building. Students should have easy access to stores, food vendors, and other businesses without the need to take a bus or find other means of transportation if they are unable to drive or find parking.

The goal of this project would be to design a university dormitory within Buffalo that satisfies the needs and comforts of students throughout their education. This would be done through literary review, precedent study of existing dorms and projects, and talking to people through surveys, interviews, and/or focus groups.

Murray Fraser, “A ‘Two-Fold Movement’: Design Research as Dialectical Critical Practice”

1. Sharif states that even though she knows her design proposals regarding Palestine/Israel doesn’t solve anything between them, it can be a “creative tool of resistance when backed up with a clear strategy”. Is it possible that architecture can be more than that, that one day it could help solve conflicts as big as this one?
2. “Architecture is, first and foremost, a process of creating knowledge. Because of this, the making of architecture is a major coalescing activity in society, bring together many flows into a single complex stream.” Is this the goal of what Lebbeus Woods hopes architecture could do, bring peace and fix damaging cities?
3. The definition of two-fold movement Saarinen describes is having town-design from the future toward the present and town-design from the present toward the future. Is this a concept that would still work today as Saarinen’s book was written 70 years ago? Have we gotten to a place in regards to technology and methods that we would want to work backwards?

Jane Rendell- “A Way with Words: Feminist Writings Architectural Design Research”

1. The concept of a diagonal axis is mentioned when talking about interdisciplinary and calling the construction of one a difficult business. However, what is a “diagonal axis”? Is it interacting with colleagues and sharing information or is it something else?
2. The article states that muf has had a huge influence on the development of feminist architectural design even though muf isn’t referred to as being feminist. If this is so, then why relate the two together? How could it be considered feminist architectural design if they claim not to be?
3. “One particularly important aspect of feminist critical spatial practice has been its desire to relate theory to architectural design, to make connections between built practice and written text.” Is this really anything new? Haven’t people done this in the past and still use it in non-feminist critical practices?

Student Housing

Going to college for the first time is one of the scariest things a person could do, especially if it is the first time that a student would be away from home. Ergo, it is important for an environment to be welcoming and comfortable for incoming students. Thus brings forth the issue of what makes a quality residence hall in means of both the interior and the exterior. When it comes to interior, it is referring to how the rooms are structured and what are offered as amenities to students.

When it comes to their rooms, it is important for students to feel comfortable as they living with strangers, but at the same time, create a sense of community. This can be seen in regular dorm rooms where students sleep in the same room or if they share an apartment where while they have their own bedrooms, they have shared common areas for interaction. Amenities for students are important to have within their grasp. Students need to have access to food, laundry, spaces for social interaction, technology, fitness, and whatever else the school sees fit.

What surrounds the residence hall is just as important. Students should have easy access to stores, food vendors, and other businesses without the need to take a bus or find other means of transportation if they are unable to drive or find parking. The goal of this project, through methods of literary review, precedent study, and survey/interviews/focus groups, is to design a university dormitory that satisfies the needs and comforts of students throughout their education.

Nigel Cross, “Chapter 1: Designerly Ways of Knowing”

1. Peters says that the first principal criterion for education is that worthwhile knowledge of some value must be transmitted. He then tries to define what knowledge is considered “worthwhile”, stating that it is value-laden and problematic. Shouldn’t “worthwhile knowledge” be determined by each person’s subjective opinion? Isn’t what we want to know that makes it worthwhile?

2. This article firmly states that a designer has to be properly educated and trained. However, every teacher teaches differently due to their own preference and experience. Does it make any difference that there are multiple ways of how a student can be taught to be a designer?

3. “These experiments suggest that scientists problem-solve by analysis, whereas designers problem-solve by synthesis.” This statement seems a little too cut and dry for these two groups. Don’t designers do research first before making something while scientists conduct experiments to prove their analysis?

Johan Verbeke, “This is Research by Design”

1. Ranulph Glanville states that, “Design is not interested in describing what it is, but changing what is,” using ‘Mode 1’ and ‘Mode 2’ knowledge. However, isn’t the whole purpose of research in architecture to know what is before changing it?

2. The concept discussed by this article is “research by design” and how it works. So how would the reverse, “design by research” be perceived by the author? What would change? What wouldn’t?

3. The issue of the arts and architecture were brought up in this article several times as parallels of each other. It was even stated that they were strongly linked in the past. Why aren’t they still strongly linked today? Is it our evolving research or technology that changed this or is it something else?

Christopher Frayling, “Research in Art and Design”

1. In our society, art and science are usually known to be opposites. Even our own brains are separated between the two with the left half leaning towards science and the right half leaning towards art. Despite the two having different outcomes, to prepare for both, one has to research. So, why does the term “research” usually apply more to science? No one usually thinks art has something to research. Is it related to what Picasso said?

2. John A. Walker wrote, “the idea that art might be a construction…rather than an expression or that it might be the consequence of a host of social factors is alien to the ethos of Hollywood.” However, many people have been learning about art in universities or even going art schools for years and having careers after based on their education. So, could that be considered “alien” in an industry of which probably a good amount of their people has done their own art research?

3. Throughout this article, there has been two terms to describe people who research for innovative purposes. For the first half, the term science was used. However, then for the second half, design was used instead. Was there some reason behind this? Are they trying to say that they are in the same category when design isn’t just for scientific purposes, but artistic ones as well?

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

1. In a research studio, a topic or project is already decided. This doesn’t give a lot of options for a student to research something that is important to them. Isn’t more essential for students to choose their own research as they would in a thesis, so they would be more motivated then being told of what they have to do in a research studio?

2. Having different experiences is good for students in general. It teaches us variety and how to be flexible since we don’t know what kind of job experience we will receive outside in the real world. So, isn’t it better to require a thesis where the process is completely different from a normal studio than have us do a research studio where the process is more or less the same?

3. One of the references that were called upon many times was the Boyer Report. It stated that “All graduates should be required to pull together, in a single piece of design work, what they have learned in the professional degree program and express their design concepts clearly—orally, in writing and in two- and three-dimensional representations.” If the need for research is so great, then why keep referencing this when it de-emphasizes research?