Architectural Research Methods

By David Wang and Linda Groat

Book Overview

A practical guide to research-just for architects From searching for the best glass to prevent glare to determining how clients might react to color choice for restaurant walls, research is a crucial tool that architects must master in order to effectively address the technical, aesthetic, and behavioral issues that arise in their work. This book's unique coverage of research methods is specifically targeted to help professional designers and researchers better conduct and understand research. Part I explores basic research issues and concepts, and includes chapters on relating theory to method and design to research. Part II gives a comprehensive treatment of specific strategies for investigating built forms. In all, the book covers seven types of research, including historical, qualitative, correlational, experimental, simulation and modeling, logical argumentation, and case study and mixed methods. Complete with real-life examples of how good research can be used from project inception to completion, Architectural Research Methods is an essential reference for architecture students and researchers as well as architects, interior designers, landscape architects, and building product manufacturers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471333654
• ISBN13: 9780471333654
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

GREAT resource

This is a GREAT resource for students in the design professions, even if their thesis is not a design thesis. It has great examples and explains how to utilize built works, not just written works in research. It is very helpful for undergraduate students with little to no research experience. A truly invaluable source of information for architecture/landscape architecture/urban design and planning/interior design students.

Libro excelente

Este libro es de mucha ayuda para entender los metodos de investigacion, especialmente en el campo de la arquitectura. Ha sido de mucha ayuda para mi trabajo de investigacion.

Cohesive and comprehensive

I found this book to be excellent: comprehensive and approachable, eclectic and interdisciplinary. It should save any student, researcher or instructor much time and can serve as a text book and/or a comprehensive reference manual. It also adds to the body of knowledge by freshly demonstrating the application of the research methods of many other disciplines in the specific context of architecture (including many cases and examples), all within a nice, logical, unifying philosophical framework.

Arc hitectural Research Methods

The text is relevent for those interested in "Evidence based architectural design". It is excellent for both a beginning researcher in acadamia or an experienced practitioner involved with architecture research. It provides a broad research background as well as specific application to architecture. It is well organized and usable as an office reference or classroom text. It is written with jargon and graphics familiar to architects.

At last, a comprehensive text related to architecture

Having completed three doctoral level research methods courses using bits and pieces of material from a variety of sources, I am happy to at last have a comprehensive text that relates specifically to architecture. Groat and Wang have developed a wonderful, thorough, well-written, and well-illustrated text. I imagine that everyone in methods courses will feel very lucky to have such an excellent resource. And the usefulness to researchers overall can't be understated. Many, many, many congratulations to both authors for an excellent job on a much-needed resource for architectural education.