Research For Architectural Practice

This book provides a clear guide for practitioners looking to establish or already conducting research projects in a practice context and graduate students looking to support their studies and role within practice. The book is divided into three key sections. The first section, across Chapters Two and Three, discusses why research is relevant to practice, how it benefits both practice and their clients, the breadth of topics, and tackles the key challenges facing research in practice and discusses how to overcome them, including how to fund research in practice. Section two, across Chapters Four to Seven, focuses on the mechanics of a research project, providing a step-by-step guide to reviewing literature and publications, data collection and research methods, ethics, writing up and publishing. In the final section, Chapter Eight presents profiles of twelve architecture practices ranging in size, structure, location, research interest and approach, followed by illustrated profiles of their design influenced research work. The practices featured here are Counterspace Studio, ZCD Architects, Baca Architects, Tonkin Liu, Pomeroy Studio, Architecture Research Office, Architype, Gehl Architects, Hayball, PLP Architects, White Arkitekter and Perkins&Will. With practice based examples throughout, beautifully illustrated and written in a clear and accessible style, this is an essential guide to conducting research that is relevant for architectural practices of all size, location and expertise.

"This book provides a clear guide for practitioners looking to establish or already conducting research projects in a practice context and graduate students looking to support their studies and role within practice. The book is divided into three key sections. The first section across chapters two and three, discusses why research is relevant to practice, how it benefits both practice and their clients, the breadth of topics, and tackles the key challenges facing research in practice and discusses how to overcome them, including how to fund research in practice. Section two, across chapters four to seven, focuses on the mechanics of a research project providing a step-by-step guide to reviewing literature and publications, data collection and research methods, ethics, writing up and publishing. In the final section, Chapter Eight presents profiles of twelve architecture practices ranging in size, structure, location, research interest and approach, followed by illustrated profiles of their design influenced research work. The practices featured here are Counterspace Studio, ZCD Architects, Baca Architects, Tonkin Liu, Pomeroy Studio, Architecture Research Office, Architype, Gehl Architects, Hayball, PLP Architects, White Arkitekter and Perkins & Will. With practice based examples throughout, beautifully illustrated and written in a clear and accessible style, this is an essential guide to conducting research that is relevant for architectural practices of all size, location and expertise"--

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.

Research Methods for the Architectural Profession introduces research as a systematic process, describes how to formulate research questions, provides an in-depth explanation of different research methods (qualitative, quantitative, and experimental), and explains how to select appropriate research methods and execute research studies. It describes the process of documentation, knowledge dissemination, and application of research results in architectural design and practice. Most importantly, it provides guidelines for integrating research into profession and uses extensive case-studies and practice-relevant examples to illustrate main concepts, procedures, and applications. Integrating research into practice is essential for developing new knowledge, solving design and technical problems, overcoming different types of challenges present in the contemporary profession, and improving the design outcomes. Innovation requires a much stronger correlation between research and design, and it is pertinent for the future of architectural practice that research becomes an integral part of architectural profession. This book provides a roadmap for successfully integrating research into architectural design and for establishing innovative practices, regardless of a firm’s size. Written by an architecture professor with an extensive research and professional background—specifically focusing on integrating research into practice—and richly illustrated with over 150 color images, this reference will be useful for both students and practitioners.

This practical, hands on introduction guides you through the basics of undertaking research in day-to-day architectural practice helping you to exploit the growing opportunities on offer. It explores how developing a research specialism can improve the quality of your projects, help to define your brand and generate new channels of revenue with innovative services for clients. The text is divided into four sections focussing on different types of Architecture Research Practice; commercial, cultural, social and technology. Each section includes a series of inspiring case studies written by practitioners themselves on the way in which research benefits their business as well as an essay by an expert which sets these projects in their methodological context. In this way the book highlights the broad spectrum of research being undertaken and the practical implications for the practice and their projects. This is designed for architects and practices who want to develop a clear specialism that adds brand value and will enable them to access new funding streams as well as students of architecture who are getting to grips with architectural research.

Expanding Disciplinarity in Architectural Practice presents an argument for the role of an architect as a generalist with a particular ability to bring spatial intelligence to bear on the significant issues of planning, settlement, and identity. The book draws on strategy and planning, landscape, infrastructure, urbanism, historical conservation, and interpretation, architecture, and the creative reuse of existing structures to encourage you to incorporate a holistic approach to your designs. Tracing a series of projects developed by his practice 5th Studio, author Tom Holbrook argues the critical importance of involving spatial practitioners in large scale strategies and designs to combine interdisciplinary thinking and concrete experience of buildings. The book incorporates interviews with prominent figures in the field of architecture, eleven UK case studies, and over 200 beautiful illustrations including the author’s own award-winning designs. With twenty years of evolving practical experience, together with associated research, teaching, and writing, Holbrook shows you how a participatory infrastructure creates a crucial bridge between strategic thinking and the reality of the built environment. This book is a must-read for professionals seeking to incorporate broader design strategy into their practice.

Research in and on architecture is as complex as the discipline itself with its different specialist fields, and therefore the results often remain unconnected. Research Culture in Architecture combines digital and analog research issues and demonstrates how important cross-disciplinary cooperation in architecture is today. The complexity and increasing specialization are elaborated on in the various chapters and then linked to the core of architecture, i.e. design. Scientists from the theoretical and practical fields present research results in the following subjects: "design methodology", "architectural space, perception, and the human body", "analog and digital timber construction", "visualization", "robotics", "architectural practice and research", and "sustainability".