week 12_research methodologies

Allen, "Practice vs. Project" Introduction, Practice, pp X-XXIII:

1. "Constraint is not an obstacle to creativity, but an opportunity for invention, provoking the discovery of new techniques." (p. XV)

How does constraint benefit and/or effect our own work in studio and what are some of those constraints that we are faced with?

2. "Meaning is not something added to architecture; it is a much larger, and a slipperier, momentary thing. It is not located in the architecture; it is what happens to and around architecture as part of a complex social exchange. It happens in the interval, as the result of an encounter between architecture and its public, in the field" (p. XIV)

This idea of social infrastructure and interaction creating meaning in architecture is very powerful, developments can create social and architectural impact on a multiplicity of scales. How do we as designers create these scenarios? In the context of Milwaukee, I think of developments such as Fiserv Forum, The Hop, and the Summerfest grounds.

3. "Two important senses of the word practice intersect here: practice designating the collective and peripatetic improvisations of multiple inhabitants in the city connects to practice as the creative exercise of  an intellectual discipline by an individual." (p. XIX)

Where these two senses of practice intersect there is spectrum of intensity between strict and creative. Are there nodes along this spectrum that are more applicable to different aspects of the design process? The above quotes relate to the Lopez-Pineiro reading as it describes a bridge between practice and production in both a professional and academic construct.


Lopez-Pineiro, "How to do a Thesis: Practice Models as Investigators for Academic Theses", pp 1-9:

4. In regard to the categories described within the Lopez-Pineiro reading (p. 3-7):

• Herzog and de Meuron or {{{{Operations}Projects}}}
• Aranda\Lasch or {{{{Operations}}}Movement}
• Le Corbusier or {{{}Projects}Theses}Movement}
• OMA or {{{{}Projects}Theses}}
• Bruno Taut or {{{{}Projects}}Movements}
• Enric Miralles or {{{{}Projects}}}
• Diller + Scofidio or {{{{}}Theses}}

  How would you classify your own design characteristics/process in relation to the above categories?

5. Pre-thesis students: 30-second elevator pitch of your current thesis research (i.e. topic, location, advisory, concept, etc.). What are your personal opinions of the process so far?

6. Even if you are not in thesis, how could these ideas described in the reading be applied to daily studio/seminar work to better evolve projects and create more innovation?