| ARC505 Thesis Prep Spring 2002 The Thesis Prep Book |
Return
to course index page. |
| This is
intended as a generic outline which provides an indication of the expected MINIMUM breadth
and depth of a final Thesis Prep book. It is offered as a point of departure and should
not be misconstrued to act as an exact template for individual work. |
| I.
Title page The Thesis Prep book title should be concise and descriptive. One suggested strategy for structuring the title is to identify the contention with an initial phrase, then particularize this by identifying the program and site. An example of this would be something like "The effects of globalized capitalism on localized architectural production: a McDonald's restaurant in Kathmandu, Nepal." |
| II. Table of contents |
| III.
Thesis statement This section provides a concise, overall introduction to all components of the thesis. It should be a maximum of one page long. A. The contention, presented in the form of an active, directed statement (i.e., the contention is not a "study" or an "investigation"). B. An introduction to the specific program and site to be addressed, as well as design issues presented by this problem and any anticipated strategies of process or technique. C. Ways in which you anticipate that the design problem will act as a vehicle for testing the contention. |
| IV.
Glossary of key words and concepts It is important to remember that every member of your committee may not be familiar with specific words, phrases and concepts which characterize your contention and/or the design problem used to test it. Also, some words, phrases, and concepts used architectural discourse and related discourses, such as "place", "memory", "culture", and "public realm", to name a very few, are themselves problematic and contested terms. It is your obligation to clearly and fully define your usage of such key words, phrases and concepts, and to demonstrate the basis for your definitions in some existing body of thought. |
| V.
Supporting discussion for thesis statement This section recapitulates and extends the concise thesis statement which it follows. It should be thought of as a serious work of written research. The supporting discussion typically occupies between 10 and 15 pages. All images and the sources of all quotations should be fully identified, and the writing should be appropriately supported by complete footnotes. A. The conceptual and theoretical foundations of the contention. Specific sources and Inspirations should be identified and discussed. These may include written texts or designed artifacts and may derive from within architecture or other discourses. B. The aspects of the program which enable it to most effectively act as a vehicle for testing the contention should be identified and discussed. The connections between contention and vehicle must be explicit and clear. This might emphasize the evolution of architectural or urban typologies, the social or cultural role of the program as an institution, and should address analogous or related programs if necessary. A more generalized discussion of the program may also be appropriate. Specific examples should be documented briefly here; these can be more fully documented as well as analyzed in the Precedents section below. C. The aspects of the site which enable it to most effectively act as a vehicle for testing the contention should be identified and discussed. The connections between contention and vehicle must be explicit and clear. These should include the site's present condition. The historical evolution of the site's landscape character or human settlement patterns might be emphasized. If geological or climatological conditions are significant, these can be introduced here and more fully documented as well as analyzed in the Site section below. D. The issues presented by the design problem, or the issues which you are bringing to your understanding of the design problem, which enable it to most effectively act as a vehicle for testing the contention should be identified and discussed. The connections between contention and vehicle must be explicit and clear. This might include your own values and position as an architect, as well as design issues which you would like to address in your thesis design project. It might include form-making opportunities presented by the character of the program, the site, or their interaction. It might include social or environmental issues and opportunities arising from the program, the site, or their interaction. E. Processes and techniques |
| VI.
Documentation and analysis of program The program description is an important design tool whose influence on form is often under- appreciated. The way in which the activities comprising a program are presented, and the specific types of information which are included or omitted all affect the designer. This information may be in any combination of tabular, written, and graphic presentation which is most appropriate. -Activities to be accommodated and their planimetric / volumetric requirements. This includes "servant" as well as "served" activities. -Adjacencies and separations between activities. -Objects associated with the programmed activities. This includes dimensions and any other relevant characteristics. -Qualitative requirements of the programmed activities (i.e., north light; acoustical isolation, etc.). -Social role / hierarchy of activities and spaces (i.e., public / private; collective / individual) -Any functionally-suggested sequences of activities |
| VII.
Documentation and analysis of site This material is generally presented pinned up in original form as well as in reduced format included in the thesis prep book. A. Documentation of the site and its larger context in its present condition, or as modified for the purposes of the thesis (i.e., selective removal of existing buildings, etc.) This documentation should be communicated through plans, sections, and facades of existing adjacent buildings. Be aware that there is no such thing as "neutral" or "objective" documentation, and the choices of representational techniques which you make in documenting your site should reflect your understanding of its significance and its relationship to your contention to the greatest extent possible. B. Graphic analysis of the site and its larger context. The content of this analysis will vary according to the specific site and the contention to be tested. The following is necessarily incomplete list of possible analysis topics: -Formal ordering principles (plan, volumetric, building facades) -Relationships between architectural typologies and urban morphology -Movement systems (vehicular, pedestrian, etc.) -Historical transformations (human settlement patterns; flora and fauna; climatological) -Material and tectonic characteristics of buildings, streets, infrastructure -Experiential characteristics -Angles of solar exposure -Prevailing wind patterns -Ecological ordering principles of site -Vegetation characteristics -Social structure and significance of human settlement patterns on site -Cultural significance of human settlement patterns on site C. 3-dimensional representation sufficient to allow preliminary testing of program / site fit and preliminary parti studies D. Photographic documentation VIII. Program-site fit / preliminary parti studies This material is generally presented pinned up in original form as well as in reduced format included in the thesis prep book. It consists of a series of different strategies (generally 3 in number) for accommodating the volumetric needs of the program on the site. This is also an opportunity to speculate about the role of programmatic accommodation on the site as a tool of testing the hypothesis. These studies are preliminary and should be quite diagrammatic; vertical surfaces, specific materials or systems do not need to be addressed at this point. They should be conducted and / or presented at some small scale which is adequate to register major volumetric characteristics. The studies may be presented as drawings or as documentation of models. Enough of the surrounding site context should be visible to assess the impact of the program on this extended area. |
| IX.
Documentation and analysis of precedents This material is generally presented pinned up in original form as well as in reduced format included in the thesis prep book. It is very important that this material is not simply photographs and drawings reproduced unaltered from books and journals - such appropriation does NOT constitute analysis. Appropriate drawings should be redrawn as analytical diagrams, or if necessary, new drawings made for the purpose. Also, the content of this analysis should not be generic or superficial; in addition to describing the overall ordering strategies and other issues of the precedent, it should explicitly reveal its value and significance for your hypothesis and / or design problem vehicle. Be aware that there are 2 different types of precedents which may be useful to you: A. Programmatic precedents -Formal principles of program accommodation -Resolution of program on site -Morphological implications of program (multiple repetitive spaces or sets of spaces, hierarchy, etc.) -Structural implications of program (clear-span spaces, walls vs. columns, etc.) -Mechanical / non-mechanical environmental control implications of program (system types, passive strategies, etc.) -Spatial implications of program (cellular spaces, interpenetrating spaces, transformable spaces, etc.) -Architectural representation (characteristic formal typologies, material or tectonic strategies, role in urban form, organization of facades, etc.) B. Non-programmatic precedents (comparisons or analogies) -Siting strategy -Social role of institiution and architectural representation -Cultural role of institution and architectural representation -Morphological resolution of program -Structural resolution of program -Environmental control system resolution -Intentions, values, hypothesis of architect |
| X.
Annotated bibliography and other resources used Proper scholarly format (such as MLA, Chicago Guide, etc.) should be observed wherever appropriate. Books Journal articles Maps and other graphic documentation People |
