One of the major concerns of the architectural design is what features make a place meaningful. My question is what features can transform space to place, to make it meaningful in terms of encouraging social interaction among strangers. Tehran as capital city of Iran, despite of having so many parks, restaurants, coffee houses and shopping mall centers, it still misses something; Real social interaction and passion.

Unfortunately, with passage of time, the passion of people to go to the parks decreased because of safety issues and therefore enjoyability has decreased. Parks became places for homeless and addicted people. On the other hand, restaurants and coffee houses in Tehran are typically designed in a way that they do not engage people in social interactions. This can be due to different design characteristics; for example, furnitures are arranged in a way that does not easily provide an opportunity for individuals to have informal dialogues with one another. In addition, furniture arrangement is mostly focused on separation of spaces, meaning that they provide a private space for groups of people and do not take into account the individuals.

Also, in these kind of places there are no special events to provide a foundation for connecting people with different backgrounds, cultures and thoughts. So, you can usually see individuals enjoy their privacy for relaxing by having a snack or a meal or groups of people who usually have history in between them from before. Therefore, it is unlikely to see sparks among strangers.

The focus of this study is to explore new methods and information about features that will support social interaction in public spaces in one of the significant historical streets in Tehran. Valiasr street is a tree-lined street which divides this city into eastern and western parts, which makes it one of the major paths for both pedestrians and motorists. Even though it is one of the major attractions of Tehran, lack of a decent public space is sensed. Although it has a lots of common public spaces such as parks, restaurants and cafés, as a developing country there is a lot of room for improvement.

To achieve this goal, multiple methods of gathering data such as archival information, observation and surveys will be used. A part of this study relies on social science to find trends and patterns in people’s behavior. Also historical research has to be used to study the past and present state of the area to develop a design for the future.

There are some questions that author is trying to find answers for them such as:

1. What features can transform space to place, to make it meaningful in terms of encouraging social interaction among strangers in public urban spaces
2. What factors of place can transform passive users to active users?
3. What features of a public space can make passion for people who go there and spend their time?
4. How is it possible to spark something among strangers who have no previous history from each other?

“Even more than Architecture” – Richard Coyne

1. Is it justified to compare the number of hits of a YouTube video to number of citations of an academic article? The author mentions there is a difference in content type but other than that there is limitation of access which means YouTube is a free service but most journals are too expensive for a curious uneducated person (uneducated only in that specific field).
2. The author states that architectural research has a relatively small audience and architectural researchers may start to skew their outputs to appeal to a wider audience. Is it really necessary for architecture researchers to deviate from their principles just to attract more audience?
3. Comparing design approach to deliberate introduction of an object to a community that had never before seen such a device: Shouldn’t designs be based on needs? History proves that introducing products that are ahead of their time which are not based on needs are doomed to fail.

An “Artificial Science” of Architecture – Philip Steadman

1. The author states that both John Cristopher jones and Christopher Alexander were leading protagonists of ‘design methods movement’ but distanced themselves from their earlier positions. The reason why is not mentioned and it might be interesting to know. Also, again in this context it is mentioned that deep contradictions in Alexander’s approach was the reason he abandoned the method. Again, nothing about these contradictions are is explained.
2. From 1960s to 1970s, there seems to be a shift in application of computer-aided design (CAD) from generating plans to representation of designs. What are the differences between these two approaches?
3. The outcome of all the three pieces of research in the article was not either a design or a development in design. Therefore, is the outcome of artificial science of architecture suitable for a research studio project or M.Arch thesis?

Reading 1: “A Two-Fold Movement”

1. Based on the article, the author mentioned that “Design research in architecture thus needs to see itself as being entirely framed by socio-economic and cultural factors”. Isn’t it mean giving people what they want but not what they need?

2. According to the two-fold movement, one of them is town-design from the future toward the present and the other one is town-design from the present toward the future. How can we make balance between these two?

3. Based on Lebbeus Wood’s comments about Rem Koolhaas design, how is it possible to judge the outcomes of a design if it was never built? Doesn’t it imply that the chosen design which was built is less worthy?

Reading 2: “A Way with Words”

1. In the previous articles the main focus of architectural design was to provide solutions. A new concept is introduced in this article: What are the examples in which architectural design research can raise questions and make ‘problematic’ artifacts instead of solutions?

2. The author believes that “critical spatial practice” projects are situated at a triple crossroads: between theory and practice, between art and architecture, and between public and private. Public and private are antonyms therefore, they can be compared. On the other hand, art and architecture are not antonyms and also theory is perquisites of practice. So, my question is that how they can be compared with each other?

3. Based on muf’s work which implies that process is the product, can this notion extend to the thesis in academia? To be more precise, is this method acceptable as the outcome for thesis of a Master of Architecture student?

One of the major concerns of the architectural design is what features make a place meaningful. My question is what features can transform space to place, to make it meaningful in terms of encouraging social interaction among strangers. Tehran as capital city of Iran, despite of having so many parks, restaurants, coffee houses and shopping mall centers, it still misses something; Real social interaction and passion.

Unfortunately, with passage of time, the passion of people to go to the parks decreased because of safety issues and therefore enjoyability has decreased. Parks became places for homeless and addicted people. On the other hand, restaurants and coffee houses in Tehran are typically designed in a way that they do not engage people in social interactions. This can be due to different design characteristics; for example, furnitures are arranged in a way that does not easily provide an opportunity for individuals to have informal dialogues with one another. In addition, furniture arrangement is mostly focused on separation of spaces, meaning that they provide a private space for groups of people and do not take into account the individuals.

Also, in these kind of places there are no special events to provide a foundation for connecting people with different backgrounds, cultures and thoughts. So, you can usually see individuals enjoy their privacy for relaxing by having a snack or a meal or groups of people who usually have history in between them from before. Therefore, it is unlikely to see sparks among strangers.

The focus of this study is to explore new methods and information about features that will support social interaction in public spaces in one of the significant historical streets in Tehran. Valiasr street is a tree-lined street which divides this city into eastern and western parts, which makes it one of the major paths for both pedestrians and motorists. Even though it is one of the major attractions of Tehran, lack of a decent public space is sensed. Although it has a lots of common public spaces such as parks, restaurants and cafés, as a developing country there is a lot of room for improvement.

To achieve this goal, multiple methods of gathering data such as archival information, observation and surveys will be used. A part of this study relies on social science to find trends and patterns in people’s behavior. Also historical research has to be used to study the past and present state of the area to develop a design for the future.

Reading 1: “Designerly Ways of knowing”

1. If the phrase ‘further research is needed’ is counted as an excuse in science and the humanities, isn’t the author using ill-defined or ill-structured problems in design also as an excuse?

1. According to the reading, is it better for designers to understand the problem deeply then explore its solution rather than being solution-focused? For example, one of the main concerns of a thesis for an architect student is to define the main question of her topic.

1. Based on this paper and the previous ones, it seems to me that the question is not whether design needs researching or not. In science, the outcome of each research topic is unique and it will be counted as an achievement only for that specific researcher. On the other hand, in design the same topic can be studied in different situations such as different geographical locations or different cultures and the topic is not unique and is dependent on the conditions.

Reading 2: “This is Research by Design”

1. Based on the concepts of ‘knowledge of’ and ‘knowledge for’ by Ranulph Glanville, designers do not need knowledge of what it is, they need knowledge for changing the world.  Isn’t “what it is” a necessary part of the knowledge for changing the world? How is it possible to change the world before getting to know what it is first?

2. Both ‘Mode 1’ and ‘Mode 2’ knowledge and ‘Nomothetic’ and ‘Idiographic’ sciences which were introduced by Gibbons and colleagues and Wilhem Windelbrand respectively, try to draw a line in types of knowledge. However, is this kind of distinction completely applicable to architecture.

2. Why in the conclusion part of the article, thinking in the narrow sense and exploration are discussed as conflicting matters? Isn’t it true that designers need to pick a narrow topic and explore a lot to find an answer for that topic?

One of the major concerns of the architectural design is what features make a place meaningful. My question is what features can transform space to place, to make it meaningful in terms of encouraging social interaction among strangers. The focus of this study is to explore new methods and information about features that will support social interaction in public spaces of Valiasr street in Tehran, Iran. Valiasr street is a tree-lined street which divides this city into eastern and western parts, which makes it one the major paths for both pedestrians and motorists. Even though it is one of the major attractions of Tehran, lack of a decent public space is sensed. Although it has a lots of common public spaces such as parks, restaurants and cafés, as a developing country there is a lot of room for improvement.

To achieve this goal, multiple methods of gathering data such as archival information, observation and surveys will be used. A part of this study relies on social science to find trends and patterns in people’s behavior. Also historical research has to be used to study the past and present state of the area to develop a design for the future.

Research in Art and Design

1. According to the article, there are two different approaches about research in art. First, the Picasso’s opinion about research in art is that “to search means nothing in painting. To find is the thing.” said Picasso. He opposed the research in art. While, John Constable has other opinion against Picasso statement. He believed that “painting is science, and should be pursued as an inquiry into the laws of nature.” he said. The question is, which opinion is closer to the truth? Maybe these are two interpretations of the truth from two different aspects.

2. By research a boffin can either prove or falsify a hypothesis. Now the question is, is this applicable in art? The nature of art is accompanied by individual intuitions, insights and  thoughts that ultimately lead to be innovative and effective results. Falsifying a hypothesis in design might be a rare thing to happen and outcome is usually an improvement to the previous conditions.

3. Does the necessity of research in art and design have to be this black and white? It seems that as long as people see it black and white, each side will have its advocates. However, maybe for each topic in art, based on its requirements, different methods can be used to get the desired results.

Experimental Cultures: On the “End” of the Design Thesis and the Rise of the Research Studio

1. Can Research Studio by itself and without Thesis extend the boundaries of Art and in our case Architecture?
2. What are the boundaries or frameworks that qualify and define Design Thesis? Furthermore, what is the difference between different research studios that a student has to take each semester? Isn’t the last two semesters a time for students to experience another method of learning?
3. According to the article, author tries to prove that Thesis is a personal work without a specified framework and research studio is less personal and also formulated. Is the thesis option really that personal and without any framework? Every student that chooses thesis is assigned with a Chair and one more committee member. Their job is to make sure that the student is always on the right track and the desired outputs are achieved.