Design Research In Architecture

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Design Research in Architecture

Author : Murray Fraser
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351945106
Total Pages : 560 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (519 download)

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Book Synopsis Design Research in Architecture by : Murray Fraser

Download or read book Design Research in Architecture written by Murray Fraser and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-07-28 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

LabStudio

Author : Jenny E. Sabin
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781138783966
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (839 download)

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Book Synopsis LabStudio by : Jenny E. Sabin

Download or read book LabStudio written by Jenny E. Sabin and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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

Architectures of Chance

Author : Yeoryia Manolopoulou
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351957317
Total Pages : 580 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (519 download)

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Book Synopsis Architectures of Chance by : Yeoryia Manolopoulou

Download or read book Architectures of Chance written by Yeoryia Manolopoulou and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Research for Architectural Practice

Author : Katharine A. Martindale
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000409724
Total Pages : 266 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (4 download)

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Book Synopsis Research for Architectural Practice by : Katharine A. Martindale

Download or read book Research for Architectural Practice written by Katharine A. Martindale and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-08-11 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Space Architecture

Author : Neil Leach
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118663306
Total Pages : 136 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (186 download)

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Book Synopsis Space Architecture by : Neil Leach

Download or read book Space Architecture written by Neil Leach and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-01-12 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forty years on from the first moon landing, architecture in Space is entering a new era. Over the last decade, there has been a fundamental shift in the Space industry from short-term pioneering expeditions to long-term planning for colonisation, and new ventures such as Space tourism. Architects are now involved in designing the interiors of long-term habitable structures in Space, such as the International Space Station, researching advanced robotic fabrication technologies for building structures on the Moon and Mars, envisioning new 'space yachts' for the super-rich, and building new facilities, such as the Virgin Galactic 'Spaceport America' in New Mexico designed by Foster + Partners. Meanwhile the mystique of Space remains as alluring as ever, as high-profile designers and educators – such as Greg Lynn – are running designs studios drawing upon ever more inventive computational design techniques. This issue of AD features the most significant current projects underway and highlights key areas of research in Space, such as energy, materials, manufacture and robotics. It also looks at how this research and investment in new technologies might transfer to terrestrial design and construction. Space architects: Constance Adams, Marc Cohen, Ondrej Doule, Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger, Scott Howe, Brent Sherwood, Madhu Thangavelu, Andreas Vogler, Robert Zubrin. Architects: Bevk Perovic Arhitekti, Dekleva Gregoric Arhitekti, Foster + Partners, Neil Leach, Greg Lynn, OFIS architects, SADAR + VUGA.

Architecture and Design: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice

Author : Management Association, Information Resources
Publisher : IGI Global
ISBN 13 : 1522573151
Total Pages : 1385 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (225 download)

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Book Synopsis Architecture and Design: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice by : Management Association, Information Resources

Download or read book Architecture and Design: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice written by Management Association, Information Resources and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2018-11-02 with total page 1385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Integrating Innovation in Architecture

Author : Ajla Aksamija
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1119164826
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (191 download)

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Book Synopsis Integrating Innovation in Architecture by : Ajla Aksamija

Download or read book Integrating Innovation in Architecture written by Ajla Aksamija and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-03-13 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Research Methods for Architecture

Author : Ray Lucas
Publisher : Laurence King Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1780679823
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (86 download)

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Book Synopsis Research Methods for Architecture by : Ray Lucas

Download or read book Research Methods for Architecture written by Ray Lucas and published by Laurence King Publishing. This book was released on 2016-01-18 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While fundamentally a design discipline, architectural education requires an element of history and theory, grouped under the term ‘research’. However, many students struggle with this part of their course. This practical handbook provides the necessary grounding in this subject, addressing essential questions about what research in architecture can be. The first part of the book is a general guide to the fundamentals of how to do research, from assembling a literature review to conducting an interview. The second section presents a selection of case studies dealing with such topics as environmental psychology, the politics of space, ethnographic research and mapping.

Handbook of Research on Methodologies for Design and Production Practices in Interior Architecture

Author : Garip, Ervin
Publisher : IGI Global
ISBN 13 : 1799872564
Total Pages : 534 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (998 download)

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Book Synopsis Handbook of Research on Methodologies for Design and Production Practices in Interior Architecture by : Garip, Ervin

Download or read book Handbook of Research on Methodologies for Design and Production Practices in Interior Architecture written by Garip, Ervin and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2020-11-20 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Studio environments can be defined as multi-dimensional integrated production spaces where basic design trainings take place and where design issues including theoretical notions such as sociological, political, phenomenological, and other dimensions are discussed. Present approaches within the literature and social media on this topic gives cause for students to evaluate their future professions over finished and pictorial products rather than ontological and processual means. While there are many resources available on the present approaches of aesthetics and visuality of interior spaces, there is not much research available on new design methodologies, related design processes, and new applied methods in interior arcitecture. Based on different contexts, these methods of design practice have the potential to enrich design processes and create multiple discussion platforms within project studios as well as other design media. These different representations and narration methods for research in the context of interior architecture can be effectively used in design processes. The Handbook of Research on Methodologies for Design and Production Practices in Interior Architecture proposes new design methodologies and related design processes and introduces new applied method approaches while presenting alternative methods that have been used within design studios in the field of interior architecture. The chapters deal with four major sections: the design process and interdiciplinary approaches; then scenario development and content; followed by material, texture, and atmosphere; and concluding with new approaches to design. While highlighting topics such as spatial perception, design strategies, architectural atmosphere, and design-thinking, this book is of interest to architects, interior designers, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students looking for advanced research on the new design metholodologies and processes for interior architecture.

The Changing Shape of Practice

Author : Michael U. Hensel
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317504828
Total Pages : 535 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (175 download)

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Book Synopsis The Changing Shape of Practice by : Michael U. Hensel

Download or read book The Changing Shape of Practice written by Michael U. Hensel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-14 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 in Landscape Architecture

Author : Adri van den Brink
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1315396882
Total Pages : 435 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (153 download)

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Book Synopsis Research in Landscape Architecture by : Adri van den Brink

Download or read book Research in Landscape Architecture written by Adri van den Brink and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-11-10 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Defining a research question, describing why it needs to be answered and explaining how methods are selected and applied are challenging tasks for anyone embarking on academic research within the field of landscape architecture. Whether you are an early career researcher or a senior academic, it is essential to draw meaningful conclusions and robust answers to research questions. Research in Landscape Architecture provides guidance on the rationales needed for selecting methods and offers direction to help to frame and design academic research within the discipline. Over the last couple of decades the traditional orientation in landscape architecture as a field of professional practice has gradually been complemented by a growing focus on research. This book will help you to develop the connections between research, teaching and practice, to help you to build a common framework of theory and research methods. Bringing together contributions from landscape architects across the world, this book covers a broad range of research methodologies and examples to help you conduct research successfully. Also included is a study in which the editors discuss the most important priorities for the research within the discipline over the coming years. This book will provide a definitive path to developing research within landscape architecture.

Visual Research Methods in Architecture

Author : Igea Troiani
Publisher : Intellect (UK)
ISBN 13 : 9781789381863
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (818 download)

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Book Synopsis Visual Research Methods in Architecture by : Igea Troiani

Download or read book Visual Research Methods in Architecture written by Igea Troiani and published by Intellect (UK). This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a distinctive approach to the use of visual methodologies for qualitative architectural research. It presents a diverse selection of ways for the architect or architectural researcher to use their gaze as part of their research practice for the purpose of visual literacy. Its contributors explore and use 'critical visualizations', which employ observation and sociocultural critique through visual creations - texts, drawings, diagrams, paintings, visual texts, photography, film and their hybrid forms - in order to research architecture, landscape design and interior architecture. The visual methods intersect with those used in ethnography, anthropology, visual culture and media studies. In presenting a range of interdisciplinary approaches, Visual Methodologies in Architectural Research opens up territory for new forms of visual architectural scholarship

Research Methods and Techniques in Architecture

Author : Elzbieta Danuta Niezabitowska
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351677578
Total Pages : 371 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (516 download)

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Book Synopsis Research Methods and Techniques in Architecture by : Elzbieta Danuta Niezabitowska

Download or read book Research Methods and Techniques in Architecture written by Elzbieta Danuta Niezabitowska and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-07-11 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Landscape Architectural Research

Author : M. Elen Deming
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118057090
Total Pages : 278 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis Landscape Architectural Research by : M. Elen Deming

Download or read book Landscape Architectural Research written by M. Elen Deming and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-03-11 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical, single-source guide to successful strategies for landscape architecture research As the scope of landscape architecture expands to engage with other disciplines, and streams of information directing this field continue to grow and diversify, it becomes increasingly important for landscape architects to be able to implement a range of effective research strategies when seeking, creating, and validating knowledge. Landscape Architecture Research offers a framework for advancing better design thinking solutions by supplying readers with a system of inquiry tactics that open up a wider range of research possibilities. With a logical and innovative approach that favors legitimacy of knowledge based on collective, grounded practices, rather than strict adherence to protocols drawn only from scientific models, this comprehensive, illustrated guide produces a sound argument for establishing a new paradigm for legitimizing research quality. Landscape Architecture Research presents: Case studies that show how the range of presented research strategies have been successfully used in practice New perspective on the relationship between theory, research, practice, and critique, a relationship that is specific to landscape architecture Detailed coverage of the ways that new knowledge is produced through research activities and practical innovations in landscape architecture The first and only book on this topic of growing importance in landscape architecture, Landscape Architecture Research keeps professionals and students in step with the latest developments in landscape architecture, and delivers a dynamic and flexible game plan for verifying the integrity of their work.

Performance-Oriented Architecture

Author : Michael Hensel
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118570138
Total Pages : 215 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (185 download)

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Book Synopsis Performance-Oriented Architecture by : Michael Hensel

Download or read book Performance-Oriented Architecture written by Michael Hensel and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-05-20 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Architecture is on the brink. It is a discipline in crisis. Over the last two decades, architectural debate has diversified to the point of fragmentation and exhaustion. What is called for is an overarching argument or set of criteria on which to approach the design and construction of the built environment. Here, the internationally renowned architect and educator Michael Hensel advocates an entirely different way of thinking about architecture. By favouring a new focus on performance, he rejects longstanding conventions in design and the built environment. This not only bridges the gap between academia and practice, but, even more significantly, the treatment of form and function in design. It also has a far-reaching impact on knowledge production and development, placing an important emphasis on design research in architecture and the value of an interdisciplinary approach. Though ‘performance’ first evolved as a concept in the humanities in the 1940s and 1950s, it has never previously been systematically applied in architecture in an inclusive manner. Here Michael Hensel offers Performance-Orientated Architecture as an integrative approach to architectural design, the built environment and questions of sustainability. He highlights how core concepts and specific traits, such as climate, material performance and settlement patterns, can put architecture in the service of the natural environment. A wide range of examples are cited to support his argument, from traditional sustainable buildings, such as the Kahju Bridge in Isfahan and the Topkapí Palace in Istanbul to more contemporary works by Cloud 9, Foreign Office Architects, Steven Holl and OCEAN.

Ways to Study and Research Urban, Architectural and Technical Design

Author : T.M. de Jong
Publisher : IOS Press
ISBN 13 : 1614991804
Total Pages : 559 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (149 download)

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Book Synopsis Ways to Study and Research Urban, Architectural and Technical Design by : T.M. de Jong

Download or read book Ways to Study and Research Urban, Architectural and Technical Design written by T.M. de Jong and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 559 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Explorations in Architecture

Author : Urs Staub
Publisher : Birkhaüser
ISBN 13 : 9783764389215
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (892 download)

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Book Synopsis Explorations in Architecture by : Urs Staub

Download or read book Explorations in Architecture written by Urs Staub and published by Birkhaüser. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The job description of the architect has fundamentally changed with the emergence of a globalized society, and it will continue to do so in the future. Already today, the demands of the job no longer correspond to the profile on which classical architectural training is based. In this context, the question that arises is no longer that of the building alone, but also that of a changed approach to building and new pathways within design itself. This is where Explorations comes in: internationally celebrated authors, all of whom are professors as well and hence directly involved in the processes they describe, address the principal topics of contemporary architectural research. Taking the works of their own design studios as examples (Eidgen ssische Technische Hochschule ETH] Z rich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich]: Marc Ang lil, Fabio Gramazio/Matthias Kohler; Ecole Polytechnique F d rale de Lausanne EPFL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne]: Harry Gugger, Dieter Dietz), they offer concrete discussions of those topics and place them in the context of applied research and practice. Short and accessible essays on the most important architectural movements of the twentieth century clarify the relationship between the subjects discussed and canonical architectural research. Reto Geiser is an architect who studied at the Eidgen ssische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Z rich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) and Columbia University in New York. As the William Muschenheim Fellow and a lecturer in architecture and design, he spent the 2003-2004 academic year at the University of Michigan (USA). He is currently a doctoral candidate at the Institut gta (Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture) at the ETH Z rich. In addition to his academic work, Reto Geiser also works on projects at the shared frontiers of architecture, installation, and visual culture. In Basel, he is director of the series Standpunkte: Informelle Gespr che zur zeitgen ssischen ArchitekturKultur (Points of View: Informal Conversations on Contemporary Architecture/Culture). Geiser is currently curating the Swiss contribution to the XI Biennale of Architecture in Venice. The exhibition at the Swiss Pavilion of the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale is merely intended as a springboard for further study of the subject.