Thesis Seminar

Wondimagegn Abera
Main Course Content

1) Introduction to the concept of Research and its

relation to Architecture (Design)
2) Research Proposal writing
3) Research Proposal Implementation
4) Introduction to the concept of plagiarism and
Referencing
Theory of Architecture II
1 – Introduction to the concept of Research and its relation to Architecture ( Design)
- What is Research?
- Why do we need research in Architecture? What are the basic forms?
- What are the major methodological form of extracting knowledge in Architectural research?
2 – Research Proposal Writing
- What are the major compartments of research proposal?
- How do we organize research proposal document?
- Architectural Research Methodologies

3 – Research Proposal Implementation

- How can we present collected data and findings?
- Drawing conclusions and recommendations from major findings

4 – Introduction to the concept of Plagiarism and Referencing

- What is plagiarism?
- How can we avoid academical wrongdoings?
- Major form of referencing and citation
1. Introduction to the concept of Research
and its relation to Architecture (Design)
What is research?
“… Disciplined way of coming to know something
about ourselves or our world“(Bouma)

“... the systematic effort to secure answers to

questions” (Reinard)

“... a process by which we answer questions and try

to draw conclusions from information gathered …”
(Reinard)
Why do we need to research to design something?
It offers an alternative way of knowledge-based
design.
So, where does the knowledge comes from?
It is a process of investigation on ‘what might be’,
using verifiable knowledge derived from analysis of
suitable precedents.
Basic Knowledge Sources
Context-driven:
Problem-focused:
Design theories: objectives and principles
Process of design: design strategies and tactics
Products of design: compositions and their representations
Interdisciplinary research:
Validity question is not “is it true”, but “does it work”
Based on the knowledge sources there are three possible
combinations of research and design:
 Research-based-design
Research feeds the design process with the ultimate objective to
improve the quality of the designed object and increase its credibility
 Design-based-research
Designs (or the process of designing) are used as a vehicle to make
spatial problems visual and spatial (‘framing’) and to generate
solutions:
 Design research-based-design
Research undertaken on existing designs as a knowledge basis for
future design:
It is aimed to generate a Research strategy that
systematically combines the above three design
system into a coherent research methodology for
successful architectural design.
Together they constitute a systematic approach for
knowledge based and creative design. This
implies systematic use of plan analysis,
typological research and goal-oriented design
experiments geared to exploring a probable or
predictable future discovery of the right
composition.
It will generate three mode of knowledge
- Generic knowledge about the issue raised.
(Theoretical Literature Review)
- Generic Knowledge about the existing design
strategies and principles.
(Practical Literature Review)
- Specific Knowledge by designing
(Context based design)
Literature Review

 Literature review is a provision of analytical

overview about the significant literature published
on the subject.
 It helps to place one’s work in the context of
existing literature.
Literature Review

 Theoretical (Design Principles)

 Practical (Case Studies)
Theoretical Literature Review

 Overview of the project

 Introduction and Definition
 Design Principles and Standards
 Summary on the practice of the project in our context.
 Identify the gap. (Knowledge 1)
Practical (Case studies) Literature Review

 What is Case Study?

 Why do we study a Case Study?
 How do we study a case study?
Practical (Case studies) Literature Review

 It is the study of a live project from the similar genre to the topic of
design project, that helps us to understand the scope of the project
better.

 Doing a case study will help to understand the various aspects that you
have to consider while designing. Such as; architect’s design principle,
functions algorithm, what worked and what didn’t.
Practical (Case studies) Literature Review
Important things to analyze in any Case Study
 Form and Function
Analyzing the reason behind the form of that particular building and how it merges with the
surrounding environment. Form and Function go hand in hand. A lot of Architects say “Form
follows Function”. As an example, an institutional building should not end up looking like a
museum or a disco. Some other Architects might disagree with that philosophy. They’d say that
the function of a structure keeps changing but changing the form of the building while its function
changes is not possible.
 Environment and micro-climate:
Analyzing the surrounding environment and the micro-climate of that place will help understand
the reason of the orientation of the structure, the kind of roof chosen and the materials used in its
construction.
Practical (Case studies) Literature Review
 Site Planning and Landscape detailing
Which deals with different aspects considered in site planning in greater detail.

 Design detailing considering the Barrier-free environment

Implementation of the Barrier-free architecture for comfortable access to disabled people. Most
public buildings have mandatory accessibility systems for the disabled.

 Parking details and standards

Measure the allotted parking area on site, say for ten cars, then calculate the average area for each
car and compare it with the areas specified in TSS (Time Savers Standards).
Practical (Case studies) Literature Review
 Horizontal and vertical circulation
Horizontal circulation consists of elements such as the corridors and lobbies. Vertical
circulation includes elevators, staircases, ramps etc. The efficiency of the placement of
these services should be analyzed.
 User behavior and requirements:
Studying the detail functioning of the program; without which you will not be able to
figure out the requirements and the area that should be allotted for each of the
requirements.
Talking to people who live at that place, will help you figure out if the requirements that
are provided are adequate and the area that is allotted is sufficient for its efficient
working.
Practical (Case studies) Literature Review
 Utility and space enhancement
Study of Utilitarian facilities is also important. Various measures taken to enhance a
particular space should be analyzed. Such as space relation with light, ventilation and
other elements.
 Structural details
Understanding and analyzing the structural details is also important. For example, large
span structures such as Auditoriums use trusses or heavy I-section steel beams and
sometimes shell-roofing that involve construction of Ring beams whereas in small span
structures, RCC construction is used.
 Building Services such as Fire Alarm system, HVAC, Water supply systems
The working of Fire Alarm system, HVAC and Water supply systems should be
examined and their space requirements are to be analyzed.
Practical (Case studies) Literature Review
 Comparative analysis of the practical
knowledge to the theoretical knowledge
(Knowledge 2)
Site Analysis: Context (Knowledge 3)

 Primarily try to develop site selection criteria from

the knowledge you acquire from the research. It
can include :-
 Location
 Neighborhood context
 Infrastructure
Site Analysis:

 It is the study of the climatic, geographical,

historical and legal and infrastructural context of a
specific site.
 The result will be a graphical presentation which
sets relevant site information of environment,
morphology, topography and built environment
(Natural and Man made)
Elements to be considered in Site Analysis:
 Location (The site relation to major landmarks and Streets)
 Neighborhood context and Site Zoning (Planning)
 Boundaries
 Infrastructure and Utilities
 Natural, physical features and Climatic features (Trees, Wetlands, rivers, Sun,
Rainfall, wind ….)
 Man made features (Buildings, paths, fences and so on)
 Circulation (Street and Road map, Major Access to the site)
 Sensory (Noise, odors, smoke and pollutant areas)
 Human and Cultural Context (cultural and contextual activities on the site and
their relationship)
How:
Techniques Description
 Mapping Sun path, Wind, places and other features plotted in as symbols on a plan of
an area to mark their influence on the site.
 Photographing Taking pictures to document the interaction of urban life and form. And to
show basic man made and natural elements on the site.

 Looking for traces Registering traces such as walking trials, dirt patches on grass and others
that gives the observer information about the life.
 Measuring and Recognizing the area of the site by measuring all of its sides.
calculating
 Test walks Taking a test walk while observing the surrounding life to notice problems
and potentials for city life on a given route.
Thank You
2. Research Proposal writing
Research Proposal Writing

 FORM and CONTENT

 Research Proposal is a structured document prepared by a

researcher to describe a research project to research supervisor,
academicians, sponsors and to guide the research process.

 It constitutes 3 major components

 What you plan to research (Your Topic)

 Why it’s worth researching (your Justification)
 How you Plan to investigate it (Your Methodology)
Research Topic/problem

Sources Criteria
 Context-driven:  Relevant problem
 Problem-focused:  Under own field of study -
 Design theories: Architecture (Space, Form and
objectives and Technology)
principles  Significance- problem size, gap to
 Process of design: be filled by the finding must be
design strategies and significantly wide.
tactics  Originality/ unstudied, unanswered
 Products of design:  Case/collectable data source?
compositions and their  Cost (time, money)?
representations
COVER PAGE

 Abstract

 Acknowledgements

Pre-Pages  Table of Contents

 List of Tables

 List of figures

 Acronyms

 Background Study

 Problem Statement

 Objectives
Research Introduction
 Research Questions

 Scope and Limitation

 Significance

 Methodology
Methodology
 Research Design

Literature Review  Literature Review

Research Proposal ( Form and Content)

 Contextual Review

 Work Plan

 Financial Proposal

 Bibliography/Reference
Final Pages
 Annex
Abstract

 Short summary/ description presenting:

- Research question
- Premise
- Method
- Significance of the problem
 A summary of the research proposal in limited number of
words (500 maximum)
Acknowledgements

Short words of gratitude to persons and firms who

provided (help, data, research fund, technical and practical
support)
Data sources, colleagues, funders, family members.
Table of Contents

List of everything: Abstract– Bibliography

Chapter Organization
Headings, sub-headings
Page numbers
List of Tables
List of Figures
Acronyms

List of Abbreviated words and phrases with the corresponding

words and phrases

 AACG: Addis Ababa City Government

 CSA: Central Statistical Agency
Research Introduction

Background Study
Research Question
Objectives
Scope
Significance
Background Description of the problem

Description of the premise (context: general, specific)

E.g. : This research is aimed at the study of the effect of
urban green on the comfort level of urban areas in AA
Premise:
- urban green is one of the contributors to env. comfort
(General).
- Many of the urban areas in AA/ ET do not have urban
green (Specific):
Objectives
 General Objectives: the total aim of the research
- (study the pollutants of Kebena river and recommend ways to reduce
the pollution)
 Specific Objectives: major activities to be conducted to achieve the
general objective
- Study river pollution
- Analyze documents on river pollution in AA
- Collect and analyze data from the river…
- Draw findings and conclusion
- Draw recommendations to alleviate the problem
Research question

The core questions that your study will attempt to answer

 Descriptive and Normative
 Specific objectives written in a question form
 Clear focus:
 Inputs, outcome or output focused: Why, What
 Process focused : How
Scope and Limitation

Refers to the range of the research project and the study limitations set
in place to define the boundaries of the project spatially and
theoretically.

 Thematic : Particular Subject

 Spatial : Geographical
Significance

 Describe the extent of the problem to be solved by the research: how

serious is the problem raised in the research?
 The size of population or geographical area affected by the problem.
Methodology

 Description of the general methodology used for the research.

 Make sure the scientific-ness of the method.
 Description of the components of the method
 Data source selection/ case selection,
 Sampling methods
 Data collection methods
 Data analysis method
 Methodological Framework/Research Design
Common Architectural Research Methodologies

 Fieldwork (Phenomena Based)

 Researchers go for data collection in a social setting that tries to reflect
the naturally occurring order of events.
 It includes: Field work encounter, Design charrette
 Case Studies (Case Based)
 Researchers look for projects that have received formal recognition
and awards to provide details about the project.
 Interviews and Surveys (Quantitative and Qualitative Data Based)
 Researchers doing interviews or surveys on selected group of people to
collect and learn data from lived experience through questionnaires
and interviews.
Research Design/ Methodological Framework
Literature Review
An overview of the previously published literary works on a certain
topic.

 What is the existing knowledge? (General summary of the

publication’s main points)
 What is the focus of the research? (Specific evaluation of the
publication’s contribution to the topic)
 The existing knowledge’s limitations of explaining ( Gap) /solving the
research problem?
 The existing knowledge’s potentials for solving the problem?
Contextual review

 What is the contextual background of the problem? Contextual

factors

 What is the local knowledge and practice?

 What local factors may be included in the framework for analyzing
data?
Work plan
No Tasks Time Cost : Weeks/months

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1 Literature Review

2 Contextual Review

3 Data Collection

4 Data Analysis

5 Drawing Findings

6 Conclusion

7 Recommendation

8 Report Writing
Financial/budget Proposal

 Cost estimation for the activities of the research:

 Literature review cost

 Data collection cost (travel, communication, data collectors, data,
reproduction, instruments)
 Data analysis cost: instruments, chemicals, software, staff
 Report writing cost
 Publication cost
 Incentives for researchers
Bibliography/reference

List of books
List of journals, documents
List of websites

Bibliography: list of all books read cited + un-cited

Reference: list of cited books
Scientific Quality Presentation
 Avoid plagiarism: stealing ideas, copying
 Borrow ideas but acknowledge by
- Direct quotation (up to two lines: in the text; beyond: indented)
- Paraphrasing
 Use argumentative, inquisitive , analytical writing style (not note style)
 Avoid:
- Personal pronouns (I want, I do not agree, I believe…)
- Categorical statements (all, none, never…)
- Informal (guys, pretty much, big deal…)
- Long sentences
- Emotional, partial (exciting, amazing, stunning, impressive…)
 Objective view: view and express most ideas as objects; facts and opinions
Thank You