Design Research In Architecture

What is the role of design research in the types of insight and knowledge that architects create? That is the central question raised by this book. It acts as the introductory overview for Ashgate’s major new series, ’Design Research in Architecture’ which has been created in order to establish a firm basis for this emerging field of investigation within architecture. While there have been numerous architects-scholars since the Renaissance who have relied upon the interplay of drawings, models, textual analysis, intellectual ideas and cultural insights to scrutinise the discipline, nonetheless, until recently, there has been a reluctance within architectural culture to acknowledge and accept the role of design research as part of the discourse. However, in many countries around the world, one of the key changes in architecture and architectural education over the last decade has been the acceptance of design as a legitimate research area in its own right and this new series provides a forum where the best proponents of architectural design research can publish their work. This volume provides a broad overview on design research that supports and amplifies the different volumes coming out in the book series. It brings together leading architects and academics to discuss the more general issues involved in design research. At the end, there is an Indicative Bibliography which alludes to a long history of architectural books which can be seen as being in the spirit of design research.

Architectural discourse and practice are dominated by a false dichotomy between design and chance, and governed by the belief that the architect’s role is to defend against the indeterminate. In Architectures of Chance Yeoryia Manolopoulou challenges this position, arguing for the need to develop a more creative understanding of chance as aesthetic experience and critical method, and as a design practice in its own right. Examining the role of experimental chance across film, psychoanalysis, philosophy, fine art and performance, this is the first book to comprehensively discuss the idea of chance in architecture and bring a rich array of innovative practices of chance to the attention of architects. Wide-ranging and through a symbiotic interplay of drawing and text, Architectures of Chance makes illuminating reading for those interested in the process and experience of design, and the poetics and ethics of chance and space in the overlapping fields of architecture and the aleatoric arts.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Foreword: Reinventing Nature -- Acknowledgments -- Part I Design Research in Practice: Methodology and Approach with Historical Precedents and Case Studies -- 1 Bioconstructivisms -- Trans-Disciplinary Research Practice: Contemporary Case Studies -- 2 Design Research in Practice: A New Model -- Part II Design Computation Tools for Architecture and Science: New Tools and Forms -- Introduction to Design Computation Tools for Architecture and Science: New Tools and Forms -- 3 Networking: Elasticity and Branching Morphogenesis -- Comments on the Role of the Matrix -- New Architectural Concerns -- 4 Motility: Adaptive Architecture and Personalized Medicine -- Topologically Free Cells -- Avoiding Biomimicry -- Visualizing in Another Dimension -- Positioning Mechanism -- Newness -- 5 Surface Design: The Mammary Gland as a Model of Architectural Connectivity -- On Geometry and Cellular Mechanics -- Biological Data and Intuition -- Case Study: Understanding Behavioral Rule Sets through Cell Motility -- Case Study: Motility and the Observation of Change -- Case Study: Microfabrication: Spatializing Cell Signaling and Sensing Mechanisms -- 6 BioInspired Materials and Design -- Part III Architectural Prototyping: Human-Scale Material Systems and Big Datascapes -- 7 The New Science of Making -- 8 Matter Design Computation: Biosynthesis and New Paradigms of Making -- Project: Branching Morphogenesis, 2008 -- Project: Ground Substance, 2009 -- Workshop: Nonlinear Systems Biology and Design, 2010 -- Part IV Personalized Architecture and Medicine -- 9 eSkin: BioInspired Adaptive Materials -- 10 myThread Pavilion -- Interview: RE(IN)FORM(ULAT)ING Health Care via Medicine + Creativity -- Conclusion -- Notes on Contributors -- Image Credits -- Index

Technological evolutions have changed the field of architecture exponentially, leading to more stable and energy-efficient building structures. Architects and engineers must be prepared to further enhance their knowledge in the field in order to effectively meet new and advancing standards. Architecture and Design: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice is an authoritative resource for the latest research on the application of new technologies and digital tools that revolutionize the work of architects globally, aiding in architectural design, planning, implementation, and restoration. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics such as design anthropology, digital preservation, and 3D modeling, this publication is an ideal reference source for researchers, scholars, IT professionals, engineers, architects, contractors, and academicians seeking current research on the development and creation of architectural design.

Architectural practices worldwide have to deal with increasingly complex design requirements. How do practices acquire the ability to do so? The Changing Shape of Practice provides a handbook of examples for practices that wish to integrate more research into their work and a reference book for students that seek to prepare themselves for the changing shape of practice in architecture. It addresses the increasing integration of research undertaken in architectural practices of different sizes ranging from small to very large practices from the UK, USA, Europe and Asia. The book is organized according to the size of the practices which is significant in that it addresses the different structures and resourcing requirements that are enabled by specific practice sizes, as this determines and constrains the type, scope and modes of research available to a given practice. The practices covered include: Woods Bagot Perkins + Will White AECOM UN Studio Shop Architects PLP Architecture Kieran Timberlake 3XN ONL AZPML Thomas Herzog + Partners Herreros Arquitectos Spacescape OCEAN Design Research Association By taking stock of the current shape of practice, the book provides essential information for professional architects who are integrating research into their practice.

How can we develop a scientific basis for architectural, urban and technical design? When can a design be labelled as scientific output, comparable with a scientific report? What are the similarities and dis-similarities between design and empirical research, and between design research, typological research, design study and study by design? Is there a need for a particular methodology for design driven study and research? With these questions in mind, more than forty members of the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology have described their ways of study and research. Each chapter shows the objectives, the methodology and its implementation in search for a deeper knowledge of design processes and an optimal quality of the design itself. The authors - among them architects, urban planners, social scientists, lawyers, technicians and information scientists – have widely differing backgrounds. Nevertheless, they share a great deal. The central focus is a better understanding of design processes, design tools and the effects of design interventions on issues such as utility, aesthetics meaning, sustainability and feasibility.

A scientific approach to architectural and architectonic research from the scope of just one discipline is no longer sufficient. With contemporary considerations such as behavior, health, and environmental protection, architects and students alike need holistic research methodologies that incorporate qualitative elements as well as more traditional quantitative ones. Research Methods and Techniques in Architecture examines research methodologies and tools applied in science and architectonic practice. Beginning with a thorough introduction to the main scientific, environmental, and architectural theories of the late twentieth century, the book guides the reader through the different aspects of architectural research design, building research teams, choosing applicable research methods, and representing research results.

Today’s design professionals are faced with challenges on all fronts. They need not only to keep in step with rapid technological changes and the current revolution in design and construction processes, but to lead the industry. This means actively seeking to innovate through design research, raising the bar in building performance and adopting advanced technologies in their practice. In a constant drive to improve design processes and services, how is it possible to implement innovations? And, moreover, to assimilate them in such a way that design, methods and technologies remain fully integrated? Focusing on innovations in architecture, this book covers new materials and design methods, advances in computational design practices, innovations in building technologies and construction techniques, and the integration of research with design. Moreover, it discusses strategies for integrating innovation into design practices, risks and economic impacts. Through numerous case studies, it illustrates how innovations have been implemented on actual architectural projects, and how design and technical innovations are used to improve building performance, as well as design practices in cutting-edge architectural and engineering firms. Projects of all scales and building types are discussed in the book, ranging from small-scale installations, academic and commercial buildings to large-scale mixed-use, healthcare, civic, academic, scientific research and sports facilities. Work from design firms around the globe and of various scales is discussed in the book, including for example Asymptote Architecture, cepezed, CO Architects, Consarc Architects, FAAB Architektura, Gerber Architekten, HOK, IDOM-ACXT, MAD Architects, Morphosis Architects, SDA | Synthesis Design + Architecture, Studiotrope, Perkins+Will, Richter Dahl Rocha & Associés, Snøhetta, Rob Ley Studio, Trahan Architects, UNStudio and Zaha Hadid Architects, among many others.