BA3: Architectural Dissertation ARCT1014 – School of Design: Architecture

BA (H) ARCHITECTURE
ARCT 1014 Architectural Dissertation
Session 2010/11

Introduction & Rationale

Current architectural practice requires engagement and understanding of a variety of levels of theoretical, historical, contextual, technological, cultural and social aspects of design. The dissertation should help students form a comprehensive and coherent analysis of design ideas, influences and programmatic considerations demonstrating the origins of a particular design strategy. This strategy could be analysed from a variety of viewpoints: architectural positions, formal influences, programmatic and users considerations, influential projects or individuals architects, in a 5000 to 7000 word, richly illustrated essay.

The preparation of a dissertation enables students to use a range of skills that have been developed throughout the programme: for example, the skills of enterprise and initiative required for thorough investigation and research into a chosen topic; the motivation and time management skills necessary to produce a substantive and organised piece of written work; the ability to synthesise and integrate complex information.

What is a Dissertation?

A dissertation is a written piece of work on a set subject, showing systematic information gathering and synthesis of information in a clear and reflective way.

The product is an illustrated essay 5000 to 7000 words (max), using appropriate IT software, which demonstrates the student’s ability to clearly understand, analyse, reflect upon, synthesise and discuss a chosen topic. The dissertation requires the student to demonstrate her/his understanding of architecture through a sequence of words and images, on an agreed theme.

Choice of Subject

Each dissertation tutor has presented a dissertation theme and you are now part of one of these dissertation groups. To some extent, the broad theme of the dissertation is therefore defined by the tutor and within each theme, you are encouraged to choose a subject that interests you. You are also encouraged to find relevant links between your dissertation topic and the current atelier design work whenever possible. The dissertation therefore may act to provide additional critical analysis and to suggest additional sources that might inform a particular design approach. The ultimate point of reference must be architecture or a related subject in environmental design/urban design. If your subject is not directly about a design approach/ an architect or group of architects/ the technology of architecture/ social issues related to architecture, the dissertation must draw conclusions which could have a bearing upon architecture or environmental design.

This is a relatively short piece of writing in a short time, so careful definition is needed. In selecting and defining the subject, you should consider the way you will write about it. The role of the dissertation tutor is to help you find a subject that excites you and also seems manageable for this particular exercise, using the group theme as a basis for getting started. Each dissertation tutor will have different areas of expertise and knowledge which will nurture the direction the dissertation.

Students are encouraged to write in a logical way and to structure an argument wich is evidence based as much as possible (you can of course use evidence which is the result of others’ research- as long as you quote/acknowledge it properly). Although a certain amount of speculative writing may be appropriate, you really need to know what you are doing if you are going to go along that route.

Tutors offer subject themes for their groups, in order to help them find a subject without delay, and so that members of the group can share their work and interests. The scope of each theme is broad, and tutors will advise students on whether their proposals are likely to make a good dissertation in the available time. It is a good idea to think of your dissertation as the first in a series of studies that you will be able to make over the years to come. It is important to learn methods of study and presentation as well as satisfying your interest in a particular subject. Resist the impulse to tell the ‘whole history’ of anything. You need to leave nine tenths of your knowledge submerged like an iceberg, and remain focussed on material that links together to drive the dissertation from a starting point to a conclusion.

However, we will always encourage the highest possible level of ambition in any student work. So do talk to your tutors about your subject. Better still: do a lot of reading on it first.

The following more detailed advice from Marko, will help students, particularly those who are more theoretically inclined.

There are four main ways in which to make sure an architectural dissertation remains within the framework of contemporary theoretical discourse on architecture:

a. The topic deals with a built object of architecture and urbanism – all themes dealing with a building and/or city are by default relevant. What is deemed to be equally relevant a theme is how these built objects have been designed – a dissertation can be written on the work of a specific architect, particular mode of architectural representation used (drawing, sketch, CAD), in other words, the very process of creation of the built environment. Another direction to be explored is the life the built object assumes once it has gone through the design and building processes, and is now utilised. Regardless of the focus – on the object itself, or how it came to be, or indeed how it comes to be utilised – all of the approaches can take a range of theoretical directions, from the analysis of formal, physical characterises (of a building, a city) to a variety of socio-political aspects of the built environment (ideology, culture, etc.)

b. The topic can equally successfully deal with the concept of space. Since the mid-19th Century and the rise of modernism, architecture has been increasingly perceived as the art of space, not only of the built object. There exist currently a number of theories of space in critical architectural theory, all of which are deemed relevant: from Cartesian space as void, represented through three dimensions and filled with solids (objects), to the social theories of space as is Henri Lefebvre’s. (A good overview of different theories of space is given in Adrian Forty’s Words and Buildings.)

c. Representations of Architecture. This subject area covers a number of themes, ranging from the mentioned issue of architectural representation as utilised in the design process (drawing etc.), to the representations of architecture/space/object/city in other artistic practices such as film, literature, painting, conceptual art, dance, theatre. These secondary representations of architecture, which do not deal with the process of architectural creation, are nevertheless relevant for the act of interpretation of architecture, since they often offer ways of observing/recording/mapping processes that are crucial for architecture as a creative practice.

d. Finally, the various theories of architecture can also be a valid topic or ‘object’ of investigation themselves. A successful dissertation can represent a discussion and questioning of various critical theories that have been called upon in the past to construct our theoretical understanding of the built environment. However, this approach is the most difficult one (especially at degree level) and it is recommended that all theoretical enquiries be conducted through a more concrete object of investigation (which would belong to one of the three previous categories).

A successful dissertation needs to contain the following three major aspects:

a. There is always the object of study/research. As was shown above, this is not necessarily literally an object, although it can be one. The main object of study, apart from a building or a city, can also be a certain space, or a film, or even a theoretical proposition.

b. This object of study needs to be researched. The research can be a matter of historiography (collection and compilation of information and data which does not come from one source only), and there is usually this aspect to every topic (When was the building built, under what circumstance, who was it built for, what was said about it afterwards, etc.). But also, research can take the shape of a theoretical framework that is confronted with an object of study (i.e. a psychoanalytic feminist interpretation of the question of space in the work of Le Corbusier).

c. Finally, every dissertation has to have an argument. Argument is the one most general question or idea that the writer of the dissertation is trying to pose (Was the Trellick Tower successful at the time of its conception and how has that changed? What kind of future projection of urbanity does the film ‘Blade Runner’ propose? etc.). Argument is also where the student is asked to make an individual contribution: a successful dissertation can never be a simple compilation of source material (information from books, newspapers, internet, etc.) – it has to have an argument already implied in the way the dissertation topic is proposed, and the students need to voice their own opinion.

Simply put, you have to say something, about something you are looking at, but be careful to do sufficient research so that you don’t say something that is: incorrect; or has been said before; or is easy to contradict because the very thinking behind the argument is too simple.

Don’t’ neglect the visual aspect of your work. An argument can be supported by the right sequence of pictures, and by the layout of the pages. Remember also that the main text and the picture captions can work in different ways to support each other.

Ethical Considerations and other Issues of access to materials.

If you are thinking of a dissertation topic which may involve contact with or research about vulnerable people (e.g. children), you MUST discuss this with your tutor and his/her advice MUST be sought. There may be ethical considerations which may need to be reported to the University Ethics Committee before the topic is approved.

Any letter to a third party for the purpose of your research will need to be approved by your tutor. You cannot use the fact that you are a student at the University of Greenwich in any correspondence or communication with others without approval from the School. Any questionnaire that you may want to use for the purpose of your research will need approval from your tutor.

If you intend to use any material which has not been published (e.g. a report done for a client by an architecture/planning office), you must get permission from the authors to use the material and respect rules of confidentiality. In some cases, you may need permission to photograph or access sites. You need to check who owns the site and whether you will need permission (e.g. The Docklands area in London). If you intend to access construction sites you need to get permission from the contractor and ensure that you are covered by someone’s public liability insurance. If you are in doubt about any risk that you may be exposed to in relation to site visits, visits of specific areas, special activities etc, please ask your tutor: a risk assessment may need to be discussed.

Teaching Activities and Studentship

The first phase of the dissertation – choice of topics, research and structuring of outlines – students will be encouraged to develop this in groups through the initial workshops and activities within the dissertation tutorial group; at the same time, each student develops her/his piece of work individually with the help of the dissertation tutor at tutorials.

Group activities and group tutorials are intended to foster debate, the sharing of information and references and critical listening by students, etc… Students are encouraged to be aware of each other’s topic and to support each others within the tutorial group by sharing books, bibliography, discoveries etc…Bring your books and other materials to the tutorial. It is a good idea to ask a fellow student to read your draft and to be a critical friend.

However, the dissertation is essentially a self managed activity. Students must take responsibility for producing work to deadlines. You are expected to attend workshops and regular tutorials sessions. Topics should be approved by tutors. We reserve the right not to mark a dissertation when the student has not attended tutorials regularly and produces a final piece ‘out of the blue’. The sooner you start writing the better. Students are often surprised at how many times they have to work on a draft before it is acceptable. This is part of the normal process of developing a dissertation.

We will not accept dissertations that have not been tutored. Regular attendance at tutorials is therefore very important.

When reading and researching, you will need to use a system to file your references by topics and in alphabetical order.

Workshops/ visits/ presentations etc

During the first phase of the course seminar discussions, visits, workshops will be timetabled as appropriate by each dissertation tutor in order to present the chosen themes, help students become familiar with the main reading list and with possible dissertation topics arising out of the tutor’s themes.

Students will be asked to become familiar with the main references and explore thematic issues quickly and to make presentations to the tutorial group. These activities should provide a strong thematic focus and depth.

Attendance at lectures from visiting lecturers: open lecture series.

Whilst the tutor’s led dissertation theme will provide focus and depth, it will be essential for students to be exposed to a breadth of views on architecture. This will be offered through the series of open lectures organized by the school on some evenings (timetable to be confirmed- in 2010-2011 it is intended that open lectures will be on Wed eve). You are therefore encouraged to attend the Open Lectures series at the School or any other lectures organized externally (e.g. at the RIBA).

Dissertation Outline

In weeks 1 through 6 the students will be encouraged to work in groups to produce their dissertation outline on interrelated topics when appropriate. These informal groups should help students share ideas, research, books etc…However, the outline is a piece of individual work.

Each student will produce an individual outline for the dissertation. The outline consists of 2000 words (max), including a description of the topic, a statement of the scope of the work, the main reading matter, and the methodology you will use (including site visits/interviews where appropriate), and a timetable for your own progress on the task. A good outline should have a clear research question. This is not necessarily something with a simple answer, but can describe a ‘journey’ that the dissertation makes from a starting point to a further point, from which another ‘journey’ can be made.

The outline MUST be submitted on time. Failure to submit the outline will result in a PENALTY of 10% of your final dissertation mark being removed.

Please submit one copy of the outline at tutorials to your dissertation tutor and one copy with the header sheet number 172409 to the school office so we have a record on banner that you have submitted. This will be the only official record that you have submitted the outline.

Dissertation first & second drafts

First Draft: This draft will contain the table of content, introduction, chapters 1 and 2, plus the outline of chapter 3 and of the conclusion (or proportional text if the dissertation is not structured in three chapters) with references, and the bibliography. It will help the writing to have pictures already in place. The draft should have a working title (this may change later). Please submit the draft to your dissertation tutor at the required date (there will be no electronic header sheet for the draft).

Second Draft: Students will submit one copy of the second part of the draft text to their Dissertation Tutor. This draft will contain revised table of content, revised introduction, chapters 1 and 2, plus chapter 3 and conclusion, references, and revised bibliography and a working title for the dissertation. It is also advisable at this stage to submit a mock up of the visual/graphic presentation you have in mind for the final dissertation. Please submit the draft to your dissertation tutor at the required date (there will be no electronic header sheet for the draft).

Final submission

1)Two copies of the finished dissertation must be submitted to the school office in proper binding (see below) by the submission date with the appropriate electronic header sheet.

Extensions only by written authorisation as a result of mitigating circumstances and in accordance with the University Policy on late submission of coursework

(see School Student Handbook).

The dissertation should incorporate the following:

Front cover with the title and your name on it.
Title page *
Acknowledgments (no need to acknowledge tutors or family or friends please only acknowledge special help when received from outside such as special access to material, places or persons).
Contents page
Word Count: the word count should be included at the bottom of the content page. The word count excludes bibliography and appendices.
List of figures and their sources
List of tables (if any)
List of abbreviations (if any)
Text and conclusions
References
Bibliography (additional material you have read in preparation but not used directly in the text).
Appendices (if any)

*at the bottom of the title page, you shall include the following declaration:

‘Except where stated otherwise, this dissertation is based entirely on the author’s own work’.

2) An abstract: This abstract is to be submitted as a word document on a CD.

It should contain the following information:

on the outside of the CD your name and ID number and the title ’dissertation abstract’ and your tutor’s name.
In the text: your name, the dissertation title, the dissertation abstract (130 words maximum) and the bibliography as it is presented in your final dissertation.
The best abstracts will be selected and put on the digital studio web site for future reference.

What is an abstract? It is a short text outlining the content, the argument and the conclusion or main questions of the dissertation or paper. Please find below some examples.

‘Architects are, with few exceptions, ‘school trained’. This paper traces the history of the relationship between architectural education and practice. It describes the approaches developed at Cambridge and the Bartlett in the 1960s- and the theories that each embodied: one based on architecture as a cultural manifestation and the other governing the science of building. The paper concludes with the view that we need to be more realistic in our attitude to artistic aspiration as a component of studying architecture while strengthening the ways by which building performance can be tested.’ (91 words- abstract for a paper entitled ‘Education for the Creative Act’ by Robert Maxwell- in Architecture Research Quaterly. Vol 3. no 4. 1999)

‘The Mise-en-Scène of architecture (i.e. staging architecture for the screen) through the world of architectural walkthroughs, animations and videos is fast developing within the architectural and building profession- and yet it appears to be disconnected from the Moving Image Culture and is emerging as a new ‘genre’. This paper analyses some of the pitfalls linked to an isolated approach and points towards some of the opportunities offered by the 100 years of audio-visual rhetoric.’ (74 words- abstract for a paper entitled ‘ the Mise-en-Scène of Architecture: opportunities and pitfalls’ by Francois Penz – in the Symposium Proceedings of the Digital Creativity Greenwich 2000 International Symposium- University of Greenwich).

This paper looks at the current interest in the design of the public realm in urban place-making, but argues that the public realm is, in addition to being a physical realm, also a symbolic (and political) sphere, as well as a relational and emotional sphere. It draws on research undertaken by the author and colleagues associated with Comedia and Demos over the past decade, into the quality of public life in British towns and cities, and cites a number of reports published in this period resulting from this research’ (89 words- abstract for a paper entitled ‘the politics and poetics of place: what do we mean by the public realm in contemporary urban policy?’ by Ken Worpole- in ‘Urban Lifestyles: Spaces. Places. People’, edited by Benson & Roe, Balkema, Rotterdam, 2000)

Dissertation Timetable 2010/2011 as PDF File

Advice on Writing

A dissertation will include the following sections:

• Title

The title should clearly state your subject without being too long. You may adjust your title as the work proceeds. It is often easier to have a short punchy title of a word or two followed by a sub-title explaining more about the subject. For example: ‘ GRID – a comparative study of the use of grid systems in 20th century British urban design’ or ‘ EARTH ARCHITECTURE – is there a role for earth architecture in high density housing in Egypt?’

• Introduction

The introduction should be short, define your subject, explain why it interests you and how you are going to approach it, and offer a preview of the content of each chapter without giving a condensed version of the whole thing. You should acknowledge people and institutions that have helped you.

• Chapters/Sections

Each chapter or section should have a title matching its contents and a coherent form that connects with what comes before and after. Three chapters as a maximum are recommended.

• Conclusion

The conclusion should again be short; avoid repeating previous material, but look outwards from the content towards other subjects or future study. You can reflect on what you have learnt in the course of the work.

• Bibliography

This is the list of books, articles and websites which you have read and consulted. It must include all the sources cited plus others that have actually been used.

It should be set out in this way:

Author’s surname, Author’s name or initials, , Title of Book (in Italics), Place of publication: Publisher, year of publication. For example:

Forty, Adrian, Words and Buildings, London: Thames & Hudson, 2000.

For articles, follow a similar format, giving the title of the article in inverted commas, followed by the name of the journal (in italics), volume number, date and page numbers. For example:

Mead, A., ‘Cultural Connections’, Architects’ Journal, vol. 212, 20 July 2000, pp. 28-37.

Arrange the bibliography by alphabetical order of author’s last name, with their various items in date order. List books first, then articles, then other sources such as websites (with URL).

• References

Referencing is an important part of a dissertation, informing the reader on where

you derive your information from. Every direct quotation from any source, written, spoken or digital, should be noted and correctly referenced. Plagiarism is an important issue that should not be taken lightly.

For the dissertation, you are asked to use the HARVARD system of referencing:

• Harvard

An easy way to reference material which is mainly used in science and social science disciplines is the Harvard System. Instead of using numbers in the text, the quotation is followed by an item (in brackets) which gives the author’s last name and the year of publication. This provides a brief version of the information, which will be found in complete form in the bibliography ( see below). Where there is a direct quotation, give page numbers, whereas for reference to an argument or information derived from a source, name and date will do. For example:

As Andrew Mead writes of Johnston’s sculptures, ‘With an eye on the essential or eternal, they quietly transform the everyday’ (Mead, 2000, 37).

Andrew Mead has written about Johnston’s sculptures in Basel, Edinburgh and Japan (Mead 2000).

If one author has more than one entry in your bibliography for a single year, you can number the articles as Mead 2000 1, and Mead 2000 2.

You can also add footnotes with additional information or explanation, but it is better to contain this in the main text.

A detailed guideline on how to use the HARVARD system of referencing can be found at:

http://www.gre.ac.uk/studyskills/referencing

• Captions

Pictures need to be captioned with appropriate information, stating the source of the image, if it is taken from a book, article or website. Include the name of the photographer if it is available. For example:

Stirling Wilford Partnership, No.1 Poultry, City of London, 1986-1999. Photo by Richard Bryant (Arcaid), from Architects’ Journal, 6 June, 1999, p.61.

You can also provide a commentary on the illustration in the caption.

Captions should not stand alone and references should be made to them in the text, e.g. (see Figure 3.6) or (see table 2.5).

Advice on the use of images/diagrams etc

Designers and architects are visual people. It is therefore very important to use images to complement the text in your dissertation. Do take care in the selection of images for your dissertation. Images should also be used very effectively during the research stages. Bring these images to tutorials and discuss them with your topic in mind. What do they add? What do they explain? How do they help the reader understand your argument? How do they relate to the text? Images can be used for several purposes:

To illustrate: for instance, a photo of a building, a detail or a place you are discussing in the text.

To express personal experience: for instance, you can use a series of sketches to illustrate your experience as you are walking in a street/a place. You can also do that with photographs or story boards etc.

To analyse, juxtapose, compare etc: the use of analytical diagrams is highly encouraged. These diagrams can help you, and your reader, understand a particular aspect of the building/places/subject that you are discussing in the text. Good diagrams are better than pages of descriptive and badly written text. There are many different ways to use analytical images as part of the dissertation.

Physical Format

Format A4 or A5 (portrait or landscape). Other format must be agreed with tutor.
The dissertation text must be typed and double-spaced (1.5 acceptable).
The illustrations should appear next to the relevant text and may be pasted in or printed. Illustrations should be of good quality.
Allow adequate margins for binding and presentation.
Number consecutively all pages, except blank pages at the beginning or end.
Number the illustrations.
Number the chapters but not the paragraphs.
The final submission should be hard (traditional binding) – or soft-bound ( spiral binding, or other soft bound) in plain colour; students can also design their own dissertation cover with illustrations, photographs, graphics.
The front cover of the dissertation must be labelled with the title of the dissertation, the student’s name, course, and academic year. These should be repeated on the title page together with the information that it is to be presented to the School of Architecture and Construction of the University of Greenwich as part of the BA (Hons) Architecture course.

Marking and Criteria for Assessment

Marking of outline: The outline will not be marked as such, but failure to submit the outline on time, will result in a PENALTY of 10% off from the final mark.

This is to stress the importance of the outline as an early piece of work which has to be agreed by your tutor. Similarly, failure to submit lecture notes for 4 open lectures will result in up to 10% of the mark being removed from the final mark.

Marking of final dissertation: each dissertation is marked by your dissertation tutor. The dissertations are then second marked by a sampling of at least 10% of the marks including all marks at the threshold between classifications. For this exercise, the second reader will be another dissertation tutor. Once the marking is done, all dissertation tutors meet for a moderation panel. After that, if there is a need, a third independent reader is asked to mark the work. In order to pass the dissertation you must submit the final dissertation.

Representative samples of dissertations are sent to the external examiners who will also have access to all dissertations when they look at students’ work during the final examination.

Marks are awarded under five equal headings, i.e. 20% for each. It is useful to remember these when working on a dissertation, as all are important:

Content (information, verbal and visual)
Structure (organisation of the content according to a consistent plan)
Imagination and intelligence (creativity in using information and structure to develop an argument, personal involvement, common-sense, lateral thinking etc.)
Language (correct spelling and grammar, correct use of words according to dictionary definition, simplicity and directness of expression)
Technical performance (correct presentation of pages and binding, effective design, illustrations of adequate quality and size, proper references, sources of illustrations and bibliography).

See final marking template in Appendix B.

Troubleshooting

In choosing your topic, be moderately ambitious, i.e. don’t attempt more than you can achieve, but don’t play too safe. Begin with the reading list suggested by your tutors and expand and/or focus from there.
It is always better to choose a subject that you can experience at first hand. For instance: a building, a place that you have been to rather than downloading images of buildings from the net, of places you do not know.
Structure your reading and research to avoid spending time on irrelevant issues.
Think in terms of comparisons between things/ideas. For example, you can compare two buildings, two plans, two elevations, a building and a text, etc.
Express your own insights and observations, founded on experience, and give your critical point of view on the studied subject matter.
Be aware of current events in architecture and the world and try to incorporate them in your work. e.g. current exhibitions, lectures, articles, films, TV, websites.
Don’t reproduce whole sections of text from books or websites in a cut-and-paste manner. We can spot them easily!
English language: Aim for simplicity. Use short sentences. Ask for help when you need it. N.B. An advanced knowledge of the English language (both written and spoken) is essential for a fruitful participation in this course (public presentations and written submissions). Students whose familiarity with English is not sufficient to document their research in writing, to develop their analysis and to give clear concise and articulate presentations are warmly encouraged to attend the English classes offered by the University.
Keep your research material well-organised.
Keep precise notes of the sources of quotes and pictures so that they can be accurately referenced.
When you have divided your dissertation into chapters, remain flexible in adding or deleting content and changing the sequence.
Start and finish each chapter with a summary of the content and purpose of the individual section.
Don’t make jokes in writing.
What is an outline? An outline gives a reduced version of the whole dissertation, summarising the content of each chapter and part, and introducing the main references and sources.
What is a draft? A draft is a full-length version of the dissertation, with conclusion, references and bibliography. It allows the Dissertation tutor to give advice for improvement and for further study and thinking. You will submit your draft in two parts and at two different stages. Both submissions should include the introduction of your dissertation: this will allow you to revise it, re-write and better focus it as the work develops.
Timing: The programme of the academic year means that after the Christmas break there is very little time for working on your dissertation. For this reason, the draft submissions dates are early. If you have done plenty of work by this stage, you will be free to concentrate on studio and other matters in Term 2.

Plagiarism

Please read ‘The Little Book on Plagiarism’ What is plagiarism and how to avoid it ‘which will be given to you. The penalty for plagiarism will normally be a FAIL. But it could also mean expulsion from University in serious cases. You must not copy from books, web sites, lectures, fellow students or anyone else without properly acknowledging what has been copied and the sources you have used. Plagiarism also means paraphrasing or summarising someone else’s ideas or work and presenting it as yours knowingly or unknowingly, without proper acknowledgment and referencing.

We will use random checks with appropriate software to find out if a text has been plagiarised. So please do not plagiarise. It’s a waste of time for everyone and particularly for yourself. If you plagiarise, you will not be able to be proud of your own work and will not know your real level of attainment. This will catch up with you eventually and may later on lead to dismissal or the end of a career.

We will not accept a dissertation that has been untutored. We reserve the right not to mark a dissertation which ‘comes out of the blue’ as a finished product without having been discussed regularly at tutorials. Your tutor must agree the subject of the dissertation with you and must see your notes and your drafts at tutorials regularly. Failure to do that may mean that you will fail the dissertation.

ARB/RIBA criteria

The following is the text of the relevant RIBA/ARB criteria relating to the dissertation and other courses of the BA (H) Architecture ( RIBA/ARB Part 1).

Part 1: Cultural Context

At Part 1 students will demonstrate within coherent architectural designs and academic portfolio awareness of:

• The influences on the contemporary built environment of individual buildings, the design of cities, past and present societies and wider global issues Knowledge of:

• The histories and theories of architecture and urban design, the history of ideas, and the related disciplines of art, cultural studies and landscape studies

And ability to:

• Form considered judgments about the spatial, aesthetic, technical and social qualities of a design within the scope and scale of a wider environment

• Reflect upon, and relate their ideas to, a design and to the work of others

Dissertation Tutors

Corine Delage (also course co-ordinator)

Marko Jobst

Alan Powers

Roger Seijo

Masiel Campos

Useful books and Sources as PDF File Download

D1	Corine Delage Public Spaces

We believe that by understanding the role and nature of public spaces, architects will become better architects. This exploration will focus on the relationship between the individual and the collective in society and the public and the private in terms of architectural quality and urban design. You will be expected to experience, record and critically analyse a series of ‘public spaces in cities’. This will be at the heart of the dissertation process. A reflection on the nature, role, attributes and qualities of public spaces will be informed by some key theoretical texts and some contemporary papers on the subject. In your investigations, you will be encouraged to make bridges between an ‘architectural’ understanding and the way other disciplines look at cities and public spaces (social sciences, politics, engineering, other visual arts, etc)

Within this broad theme, there will be a variety of possible dissertation topics ranging from, for example, a focus on urban lighting to the role of public art in cities or the notion of cultural diversity in relation to the design of public spaces and many more.

Bibliography

Benson & Roe (eds), 2000. Urban Lifestyles: Spaces-Places-People, Balkema Rotterdam

Cullen, Gordon, 1971, ‘The Concise Townscape’, Oxford

Carmona, M & Tiesdell, S. (editors), Urban Design Reader, Architectural Press, Oxford, 2007

Davis, Mike, 1992, ‘City of Quartz’, Vintage, London.

Franck, Karen & Stevens, Quentin (editors), 2007, ‘Loose Space’, Routledge.

Jacobs, Jane, 1964. ‘The Death & Life of Great American Cities’, London, Penguin books.

Gehl, Jan, 1996, ‘Public Spaces-Public Life’, Danish Architectural Press.

Girouard, Mark, 1985. ‘Cities & People – a social and architectural history’, Photecary Ltd.

Manadipour, Ali, 2003, ‘Public & Private Spaces of the City’, Routledge.

Mitchell, Don, 2003. ‘The right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Spaces’, New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Rykwert, Joseph, 1988. ‘The Idea of a Town’,Cambridge.

Rykwert, Joseph, 2000. ‘The Seduction of place- the city in the 21^st c’ Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Sennett, Richard, 2003. ‘ Flesh and Stone’, Faber and Faber, London (first pub. 1994)

Sennett, Richard, 1986. ‘ The Fall of Public Man’,Faber & Faber, London. ( first published 1977).

Papers

Landry, Charles and Bianchini, Franco, 1995. ‘The Creative City’, Demos, London.

Raziz, Zenobia, 2002 ‘Reflection on Urban Lighting’, Comedia, London.

Sennett, Richard, 2004 ‘The City as an Open System’, The Resurgent City Symposium 2004, London School of Economics and Political Science.

D2	Marko Jobst London Research

This dissertation group focuses on London.

We will start with individual buildings of students’ own choosing, researched in depth in order to reveal more general architectural, spatial and urban issues. Each student will develop a specific research question regarding broader architectural themes (social, political, material/physical, formal, stylistic, etc.) inherent in the chosen example.

The resulting research will be London-specific, while simultaneously addressing globally relevant questions. Students will be asked to conduct extensive research of historical and theoretical issues, then combine it with first-hand experience and own modes of representation in order to construct a precise and valid argument.

Bibliography:

M Coverley, Psychogeography (London: Pocket Essentials, 2006)

P Ackroyd, London: The Biography (London: Vintage, 2008)

K Allinson, London’s Contemporary Architecture (Architectural Press, 2006)

D Arnold, The Metropolis and Its Image: Constructing Identities for London, c.1750-1950 (London: WileyBlackwell, 1999)

M Coverley, Psychogeography (London: Pocket Essentials, 2007)

I Nairn, Nairn’s London (London: Trafalgar Square Publishing, 2002)

N Pevsner, London Vols 1-6 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005)

S E Rasmussen, London: The Unique City (Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 1982)

I Sinclair, London: City of Disappearances (London: Penguin Books, 2007)

J Summerson, Georgian London (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003)

A Sutcliffe, Architectural History of London (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006)

Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, Survey of London Series (New Haven: Yale University Press)

D3	Alan Powers Le Corbusier

The architect and planner Le Corbusier (1887-1965) is the subject of unending fascination and research. He documented his own career and was never lost for words. His work has inspired several generations of critics and scholars to look for different, and often-conflicting interpretations. No longer seen as an advocate of simple-minded mechanistic modernism, he now seems more like a lens through which past ideas were projected.

A good background knowledge of modern architecture is needed, and this should be acquired through summer reading of the general histories and anthologies of theory texts. Students are encouraged to visit the actual buildings of Le Corbusier (mainly in France, but also found in Switzerland and elsewhere) over the summer if they can. Information about access is available on the internet.

Students can study other architects of the high Modern Movement, the painting movements of Le Corbusier’s time, modern furniture and a range of other topics. Studies of actual buildings are encouraged, and the following topics should be avoided: Urban Planning, The Modulor, Colour, as students generally cannot bring enough knowledge to put them in context. The library at Avery Hill is well stocked with books on Le Corbusier and associated subjects.

Bibliography

Curtis, William, Le Corbusier – ideas and forms, London, Phaidon, 1992

*Jenger, Jean, Le Corbusier: Architect of a New Age, London, Thames & Hudson, 1996 (retail price £6.95 – the best of the introductory short books, in stock at campus shop)

Frampton, Kenneth, Le Corbusier, architect and visionary, London, Thames & Hudson, 2001

Gans, Deborah, Le Corbusier Guide, New York & London, Princeton Architectural Press, 2006 (good introductory essays as well as entries on each building)

*Guiton, J & M, The Ideas of Le Corbusier, Braziller, 1981, 720.92/LEC

Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture, Various editions 721/LEC

Le Corbusier, The Oeuvre Complète series, 8 volumes,

Murray, I and Osley, J, eds. (introduction by Alan Powers) Le Corbusier and Britain, Routledge, 2008, 720.92/LEC:LEC

General histories of modern architecture

Alan Colquhoun, Modern Architecture, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002 724.6/COL

*Curtis, William, Modern Architecture after 1900, London, Phaidon, 1996

Frampton, Kenneth, Modern Architecture: a critical history, London, Thames & Hudson, 1992

D4	Alan Powers Theatres and performance

Theatres are complex buildings with a rich history, and London not only has a large number of them but is currently the most exciting city in the world for live theatre at all scales. The topic allows for a variety of approaches, including the history of individual buildings, the significance of theatres in urban planning and the ideal dimensions for the auditorium. The history of performance relates at many points to the development of architecture and garden design through its use of space to create emotional situations and the accidental qualities of ‘found spaces’. Students have also extended the theme into religious buildings and the study of installation art.

Students should attend live theatre and dance events as frequently as possible and be prepared to study the background history of the subject.

Bibliography

Amery, Colin, The National Theatre, London, Architectural Press, 1977, 725.8220942132/NAT

*Brook, Peter, The Empty Space, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1972 792/BRO

*Carlson, Marvin, Places of Performance, Cornell, 1993 725.822/CAR

*Mackintosh, Iain, Architecture, Actor and Audience, London, Routledge, 1993, 725.822/MAC (copies at campus bookshop)

Mackintosh, Iain,, Making Space for Theatre: British architecture and theatre since 1968, Stratford, Mulryne and Shewring, 1995 725.822/MAC

*Southern, Richard, The Seven Ages of the Theatre, London, Faber, 1964, 792.09/SOU

*Wiles, David, A Short History of Western Performance Space, Cambridge, 2003, 792.094/WIL

Please note many of these books are in the Maritime Library, but can be ordered for delivery to Avery Hill

D5	Roger Seijo Landscape and the Genius of Place

Architecture inhabits landscapes and makes landscapes. People inhabit landscapes and make landscapes. These connections between buildings and their physical, social and cultural context form the basis for the studies to be undertaken by this subject group.

Architects and landscape architects alike are involved in the articulation of space but all too often loose sight of the fact that it’s not the spaces we inhabit and relate to it is the places they become. The Romans read a place as if it were a human face, and external revelation of the inner spirit. ‘Genius Loci’ literally ‘the genius of the place’ is the distillation of the essence of that place and what makes it particular and distinctive and unique.

There is no substitute for firsthand experience, and on the basis of this principle, over twenty years has been spent organising international design workshops (54 in total) that have focused on places and issues, cities and landscapes all over Europe. By jetting multinational groups into an unfamiliar place and culture some 1200 students and teachers have been confronted to make sense of what they find in order to generate projects and proposals for both landscape and architectural design and development. The more difficult and complex the situation the more it suited the workshop brief, and if the challenge defeats those who are local and in the know then all the better.

Students choosing this option for their dissertation will be asked to identify a specific place to which they have access (a number of suggestions will be made at the introduction). These chosen locations will have a distinctive architecture and landscape, and also a particular meaning, or purpose or use. We will use a variety of means and methods to get inside these places in order to reveal the ‘genius loci’ and in order to understand how this intimate knowledge and understanding can be brought to bear during design and planning processes.

Bibliography :

The initial researches and investigations will be site based and draw on specific local information, literature and maps. The selected further readings will likewise be dependent on the outcomes of these first explorations – possible titles include :

04 19204105 Turner T. City as Landscape

90 64503494 Aben R. & de Wit S. The Enclosed Garden

04 710322565 Appleton J. The Experience of Landscape

18 54903039 Schall H.D. Landscape as Inspiration

04 71124869 Potteiger M. Landscape Narratives

00 70577099 Symmonds J.O. Landscape Architecture

02 6212169 Lynch K. Site Planning

0 500340617 Jellicoe G & S The Landscapes of Man

0 912550236 Watts M.T. Reading the Landscape of America

Norberg-Schulz C. Genius Loci. Towards a Phenomenology

of Architecture

Norberg-Schulz C. Existence, Space & Architecture

D6	Masiel Campos Climate Adaptability

This dissertation group focuses on:

Mitigation Architecture, Urban Design and Planning for a changing world.

The consequences of global warming are leading designers towards a more sustainable design approach, opening up a new paradigm in architecture.

In the rich world, a new array of laws, rules, regulations and standards are being developed and implemented to diminish the environmental impact of construction, and improve the present and future quality of life of its inhabitants. On the other hand, in the poor world and developing countries, the consequences are drastic and dramatic; the environmental disasters are forcing the poorest to settle in city slums and refugee camps in precarious conditions, expanding the informal settlements in cities, leaving them unable to re-build their traditional way of life, leading to a hopeless and uncertain urban architecture and live hood.

Climate change is an ongoing process probably unstoppable. Both rich and poor scenarios require visionary, adaptable and resilient architecture, urban design and socio-economical planning.

Bibliography:

Girardet, Herbert, Cities, People Planet. Urban development and climate change. Wiley 2008. ISBN 978-0-470-77270

Desai A. R. Devadas Pillai S. Slums and Urbanization. Sangam Books LTD, 1991, ISBN. 0-86132 224 X

L. Birch, Eugene and M. Wachter, Susan. Rebuilding Urban Places after Disaster. Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. University of Pensilvania Press 2006. ISBN 0-8122-1980-5

Roaf, Sue. Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change. Architectural Press 2005. ISBN 0 7560 5911 4

B. Potter, Robert and Lloyd-Evans, Sally. The City in the Developing World. Longman 1998, ISBN 0 582 35741

Papanek, Victor. The Green Imperative. Ecology and Ethics in Design and Architecture. Thames and Hudson 2003. ISBN 0-500-27846-6

Hough, Michael. Cities and Natural Process. A basis for sustainability. Routledge 2004. ISBN 0 415 29855 5

J. Cole, Raymond and Lorch, Richard. Buildings, Culture and Environment. Informing Local and Global Practices. Blackwell 2003. ISBN 1-4051-0004-4

Davies, Mike. Planet of Slums. Verso 2006. ISBN 1 84467 022 8

APPENDIX A

ARCHITECTURE DISSERTATION (ARCT 1014): PRELIMINARY ADVICE ON DOING RESEARCH (this leaflet was given to students before the summer if they were able to attend the preparatory tutorial)

1. ADVICE ON KEEPING YOUR REFERENCES AND SOURCES FROM DAY ONE

During the summer period, you will be doing some reading, visiting sites, looking at web sites etc whilst thinking about a possible dissertation topic.

Even at this early stage, you are advised to organize a filing system for keeping track of all the possible references that you may use later on. This filing system can be on paper or in electronic folders. We suggest you keep several folders each with a different theme and you file your material under each theme. This will be useful even if later you transfer materials between folders and you change your themes. Make sure you back up all electronic materials.

Web Sites: When you access a web site you should keep the web site address, few lines on the subject, and the date when accessed in a folder. Each folder can be for a specific theme.

Site visits: keep a note of the exact place name, time and day and titles of photos you may have taken. Do sketches as well. Please read below specific advice on site visits.

Images and captions: keep a note of the source of each image you keep: web reference, author, date, etc… If the image is from a book, keep the complete book reference and the page number where the image is published. (see captions below). You will need to include a list of illustrations and their sources in the dissertation.

References from published materials: keep the detailed sources (including page number) of any quotations you may want to use (see how to reference below); keep detailed sources of any text you may paraphrase or take notes from ( see references below).

Spoken references : keep detailed sources of any spoken references you may use (interview notes, lecture notes etc..) you need to be able to quote: who, when, for what. If you interview someone, you need to ask their permission for their name to be quoted.

Reference from unpublished materials: see below.

2. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND OTHER ISSUES OF ACCESS TO MATERIALS

If you are thinking of a dissertation topic which may involve contact with or research about living subjects (e.g. students, children), you MUST discuss this with your tutor and his/her advice MUST be sought. There may be ethical considerations which may need to be reported to the University Ethics Committee before the topic is approved.

Any letter to a third party for the purpose of your research will need to be approved by your tutor. You cannot use the fact that you are a student at the University of Greenwich in any correspondence or communication with others without prior approval from the School. Any questionnaire that you may want to use for the purpose of your research will need approval from your tutor.

Unpublished material: If you intend to use any material which has not been published (e.g. a report done for a client by an architecture or planning office), you must get permission from the authors to use the material and respect rules of confidentiality.

Site visits: In some cases, you may need permission to photograph or access sites. You need to check who owns the site and whether you will need permission (e.g. The Docklands area in London). If you intend to access construction sites you need to get permission from the contractor and ensure that you are covered by someone’s public liability insurance. If you are in doubt about any risk that you may be exposed to in relation to site visits, visits of specific areas, special activities etc, please ask your tutor: a risk assessment may need to be discussed.

3. HOW TO PRESENT SOURCES:

3.1 References

Referencing is an important part of a dissertation, informing the reader on where

you derive your information from. Every direct quotation from any source, written,

spoken or digital, should be noted and correctly referenced. Plagiarism is an

important issue that should not be taken lightly.

For the dissertation, you are asked to use the HARVARD system of referencing:

• Harvard

As Andrew Mead writes of Johnston’s sculptures, ‘With an eye on the essential or eternal, they quietly transform the everyday’ (Mead, 2000, 37).

Andrew Mead has written about Johnston’s sculptures in Basel, Edinburgh and Japan (Mead 2000).

If one author has more than one entry in your bibliography for a single year, you can number the articles as Mead 2000 1, and Mead 2000 2.

You can also add footnotes with additional information or explanation, but it is better to contain this in the main text.

A detailed guideline on how to use the HARVARD system of referencing can be found at:

http://www.gre.ac.uk/studyskills/referencing

• Captions

Pictures/images need to be listed with appropriate information, stating the source of the image, if it is taken from a book, article or website. Include the name of the photographer if it is available. For example:

Stirling Wilford Partnership, No.1 Poultry, City of London, 1986-1999. Photo by Richard Bryant (Arcaid), from Architects’ Journal, 6 June, 1999, p.61.

It is not necessary to caption each individually, but they should be numbered and the

dissertation should include a list of images with their sources as above either at the beginning or at the end of the dissertation.

You can also provide a commentary on the illustration in the caption, which is often a good way to relate your writing to the pictures. Captions should not stand alone and references should be made to them in the text, e.g. (see Figure 3.6) or (see table 2.5).

3.2 Bibliography

This is the list of books, articles and websites which you have read and consulted. It must include all the sources cited plus others that have actually been used.

It should be set out in this way:

Author’s surname, Author’s name or initials, , Title of Book (in Italics), Place of publication: Publisher, year of publication. For example:

Forty, Adrian, Words and Buildings, London: Thames & Hudson, 2000.

For articles, follow a similar format, giving the title of the article in inverted commas, followed by the name of the journal (in italics), volume number, date and page numbers. For example:

Mead, A., ‘Cultural Connections’, Architects’ Journal, vol. 212, 20 July 2000, pp. 28-37.

Arrange the bibliography by alphabetical order of author’s last name, with their various items in date order. List books first, then articles, then other sources such as websites (with URL).

4. HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM:

Plagiarism is using someone else’s work or ideas without acknowledging the source. Even if you paraphrase someone else’s ideas you need to say where the ideas comes from.

If you follow the advices given above you should be able to avoid plagiarism. However, every year students get caught because they panic and they forget to keep their sources. Please make sure you read the ‘Little Book on Plagiarism: What it is and how to avoid it’. It is on the School Web Site under Student Resources. You should get to know it by heart and bring it to every tutorial.

5. HELP WITH RESEARCH AND WRITING SKILLS:

You are advised to check the University of Greenwich Summer University. They have courses on writing skills, research skills, and critical thinking and research method etc. You are strongly encouraged to enroll for one of the courses. It will be of great help for your dissertation. Register early as places are limited!

Courses run from 21^st to 30 June or from 1st to 8 Sept 2010. This is the link for the summer university:

http://www.gre.ac.uk/study/summer

Some courses are particularly relevant to the dissertation such as:

– ‘Dissertations: getting started’

– ‘Research Skills’

– ‘Critical Thinking’

The University Web Site has many self help advice on study skills, research skills, writing skills, how to write references, etc. This is the link:

http://www.gre.ac.uk/studyskills

Sample of Final Marking Sheet as PDF Download

ARCT 1014 Architectural Dissertation Timetable 2010/11 for THURSDAYS: FDA3 Students