Research for Architectural Practice

Description

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. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 2 Making the case for research in practice 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Why do architects in practice conduct research? 2.2.1 To expand and demonstrate practice expertise 2.2.2 To innovate 2.2.3 To fulfil passion projects 2.2.4 To introduce new thinking 2.2.5 To raise the practice profile 2.2.6 To deliver commissioned research 2.2.7 To attract talent 2.3 Overcoming the barriers to conducting research in practice 2.3.1 Finding funding 2.3.2 Working with academia 2.3.3 Overcoming a lack of research training 2.3.4 Size matters, or, is research is only for large practice? 2.3.5 Support for research at a senior level 2.3.6 Post occupancy evaluation and the fear of being sued 2.3.7 Publishing, non-disclosure agreements and the loss of competitive advantage 2.4 The scope of practice based research 2.4.1 Research across design sectors 2.4.2 Cross sector research 2.5 Conclusions 3 Funding research in practice 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Research and development tax schemes 3.2.1 Three pitfalls to avoid when applying for R&D tax credits 3.2.2 R&D tax schemes by country 3.3 Client commissioned research 3.4 Academic collaborations 3.5 Funding sources 3.5.1 American Institute of Architects – Upjohn Research Initiative 3.5.2 Arts Council England 3.5.3 Ashden Awards 3.5.4 Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science 3.5.5 Australian Institute of Architects – David Lindner Prize 3.5.6 British Council: Newton Fund Institutional Links Grant 3.5.7 Global Challenges Research Fund 3.5.8 Heritage Lottery Fund 3.5.9 Historic England 3.5.10 Horizon Europe 3.5.11 Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships 3.5.12 National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts 3.5.13 National House Building Council Foundation 3.5.14 National Science Foundation 3.5.15 New South Wales Architects Registration Board – Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship 3.5.16 Royal Institute of British Architects – Boyd Auger Scholarship 3.5.17 Royal Institute of British Architects Research Trust 3.5.18 Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Research Trust 3.5.19 Royal Society Research Grant 3.5.20 UK Research and Innovation 3.5.21 Winston Churchill Memorial Trust 3.6 Conclusions 4 Developing the research proposal 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Writing an abstract 4.3 Setting out a research proposal 4.4 Conclusions 5 The research process 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Reviewing existing knowledge, writing a literature review 5.3 Referencing and citations 5.3.1 American Psychological Association 5.3.2 The Chicago Manual of Style 5.3.3 The Harvard referencing system 5.4 Data collection methodologies 5.4.1 Gathering data from people 5.4.2 Case studies 5.4.3 Archival data collection 5.4.4 Digital data 5.5 Verifying data, dealing with false data and fake news, and triangulation 5.6 Analytical methods 5.6.1 Comparative analysis 5.6.2 Content analysis 5.6.3 Gap analysis 5.6.4 Social network analysis 5.6.5 Policy analysis 5.6.6 Post occupancy evaluation 5.6.7 Spatial analysis 5.6.8 Space syntax 5.7 Writing up and image selection 5.7.1 Background and context to the research 5.7.2 Research arguments, questions and project aims 5.7.3 Data sources and research methodology 5.7.4 Data analysis and findings 5.7.5 Conclusions, impacts and significance 5.7.6 Image selection 5.8 Conclusions 6 Research ethics 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Established research ethics 6.3 Applying for ethics approval 6.4 Interview ethics 6.4.1 Identifying potential participants 6.4.2 Contacting potential participants 6.4.3 The interview 6.5 Working with vulnerable groups and children 6.6 Data storage and management 6.7 Plagiarism, copyright and referencing 6.8 Conclusions 7 Publishing your research 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Knowledge capture and management in practice 7.3 Self-publishing 7.4 Publishing books 7.5 Academic journals and university publications 7.6 Industry media and journals 7.7 Conference and event presentations 7.8 Exhibitions 7.9 Content for website and social media 7.10 Conclusions 8 Case studies 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Micro practice case studies 8.2.1 Counterspace Studio 8.2.2 ZCD Architects 8.2.3 Baca Architects 8.2.4 Tonkin Liu 8.3 Small practice case study 8.3.1 Pomeroy Studio 8.3.2 Architecture Research Office 8.4 Mid-size practice case study 8.4.1 Architype 8.4.2 Gehl Architects 8.5 Large practice case study 8.5.1 Hayball 8.5.2 PLP Architecture 8.5.3 White Arkitekter 8.5.4 Perkins&Will 8.6 Conclusions 9 Conclusions References Index