module specification

This module asks the student to establish a critical position, with the context of an MA Digital Architecture and Manufacture. Working within the design studio, students develop techniques that allow them to engage pro-actively with the area of study and to establish a particular field of research.

This module aims to:

• Encourage and develop student’s ability to engage with the specialism and its wider context.
• Enable students to develop a critical position in relation to the area of study and identify and establish a research interest
• Develop students’ ability to understand the parameters and direction of their research, through the reflective and iterative processes of the design project

The students are asked to build creatively upon the knowledge acquired within the specialist module in the autumn semester and to apply it to their own field of study, or to their specific agenda. The intention is that this will allow the student to develop a critical position, in relation to the area of study. The students are asked to identify and establish a research interest and will, through the course of the module, be encouraged to develop that area of research. From it, the students are asked to generate a programme of study, in dialogue with the tutors. The students are expected to develop their ability to rigorously test and represent the body of research in an articulate, visually, verbally and technically literate manner. Throughout the module, the students are introduced and asked to develop a range of appropriate skills and techniques that will aid them in these aims.

The module runs across both autumn and spring semesters, it operates in conjunction and in parallel with the Design Project module. Throughout the year, the students are asked to apply the skills and knowledge gained and to further explore their developing area of research, through this related module. This reflective and iterative process allows the students to construct a more precise understanding of the parameters and direction of their research. The student should, over the duration of the module, develop an increasingly precise and sophisticated ability to understand how the particularity of circumstance within a design project can refine a conceptual proposition and vice versa.

Teaching & Learning methods include:

• Discussions and Seminars within the studio environment.
• Talks and workshops involving the student group, tutors and external input.
• Individual and group work, developing skills in a range of media, techniques and processes, relevant to the specialism.
• Site and other visits, relevant to the specialism.
• Critical evaluation, individually, in discussion with the tutors and in the context of the group, examining the effectiveness and value of processes, methods of working and means of representation.
• An individual reflective and iterative process of evaluating the relationship between the research and conceptual development undertaken within this module and the process of development within the parallel Design Project module.
• Individual development of methods and areas of research, drawing upon the work undertaken above and in accompanying modules.
• Individual development of a comprehensive and precise research document, that fully states the processes of development and intentions of the research, within the context of the field of study and which articulately and effectively communicate these, both visually and verbally.

On successful completion of this module, the student will be able to:

1. Develop and evaluate appropriate, relevant methods of engagement with a field of study, within the context of an area of specialism.
2. Develop systems for gathering, analysing, interpreting, spatialising and otherwise using research material, in order to establish and progress a defined and distinct area of study.
3. Understand and effectively employ the skills, tools and techniques demonstrated and generated through the programme of seminars, workshops and tutorials, alongside self-directed study.
4. Construct effective processes that rigorously test ideas and information in terms of their relevance to a given area of study or situation.
5. Formulate and communicate, through the development of a research proposal, a clear and well founded conceptual framework.
6. Reflect upon and develop the manner in which such a conceptual framework might inform and engage with a particular working process or situation, in an iterative manner.
7. Understand how working within the circumstances of a particular context or programme, will inform and potentially adjust or transform an established conceptual framework.
8. Critically engage with the potentials and issues raised by the developing research programme, including being able to identify and adjust to unintentional consequences.
9. Effectively and articulately communicate the ideas and intentions established by the body of research, through appropriate forms of representation, both visual and verbal.
10. Articulate and defend a defined position within the field of study, established through a comprehensive and precise programme of research and tested through design.

The students are assessed in verbal seminar presentations of their design portfolio and research with invited guest critics. The portfolio of which the Research Document is an integral part of is assessed by:

1. The MA Digital Architecture & Manufacture tutors
2. A panel of AAD tutors
3. The MA Digital Architecture & Manufacture External Examiner

The following are indicative only. 

Crouch, C and Pearce, J. (2012) Doing research in design, Berg, Oxford
Laurel, B. (ed), (2003) Design research: methods and perspectives, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Simonsen, J. et al, (eds), (2010) Design research: synergies from interdisciplinary perspectives, Routledge, London; New York
Aish, R. (2005). Form Intuition to Precision. AA Files 52, 62-63, London
Benjamin Aranda, C. L. (Dec 2006). Tooling . Pamphlet Architecture, Princeton Architectural Press
Cache, P. B. (u.d.). Towards a Non-Standard Mode of Production.
Conway, F. A. (2005). Dark Hero of the Information Age: in search of Norbert Wiener, the father of cybernetics. Basic Books, New York:
Fernandez, J. (2005). Material Architecture: Emergent Materials for Innovative Buiilding & Ecological Construction. Architectural Press, Oxford
Frazer, J. H. (2005). The digital practice ecosystem: supporting change in the construction industry through digital practice. Journal of Designing in China, ss. pp. 46-49.
Garcia, M. (March 2010). The Diagrams of Architecture. AD Reader. London.
Grusin, D. J. (2000). Remediation: Understanding New Media. The MIT Press.
Guidot, R. (2006). Industrial Design Techniques & Materials. Editions Flammarion.
Hardy, S. (2008). Environmental Tectonics: Forming Climatic Change. AA Publications, London
Kolarevic, B. (2005). Architecture in the digital age: design and manufacturing. Taylor & Francis Ltd. London
Refereed journals in different subject areas:  issued according to programme
Refereed or equivalent journals in the built environment:  issues according to programme
Articles relevant to design research in refereed or  equivalent journals:  issued according to programme
Electronic sources relevant to design:  issued according to programme

Further texts are included in the briefing documentation provided by the course tutors at the beginning of the course. The readings include both historical and contemporary titles.