Topic Investigation Analysis

Together as a class we have been able to do in depth research about 16 different architects that are currently producing work.

Antoine Predock
Renzo Piano
Shigeru Ban
Will Alsop
Peter Zumthor
Ma Yonsong
Frank Gerry
Thom Mayne
Diller, Scafido + Renfro
UN Studio
Steven Holl
Zaha Hadid
JDS
NOX
Norman Foster
Calatrava

These architects vary greatly by experience, location and even what they consider to be Architecture although similarities and trends begin to emerge from this collective research. The next step to take as a class is to use the information collected and represented in our blog posts to focus on these common themes and begin to evaluate each architect researched based on a single topic.

Choose a topic that was given at the beginning of this research project to focus on while doing this analysis of the 16 architects. Once you choose a topic, write a response to this post stating the topic of focus you have chosen to investigate. The topic you choose should have a clear focus, for example instead of stating you are going to focus on how each architect connects to the environment, maybe you would choose to focus on how each architects connects to the natural environment, or the built environment, or society. Be sure to write a response below with your chosen topic so that your classmates can see what topics have been taken.
Once you have chosen a topic and published the title, begin investigation into each of the 16 architects to find information on how each of them relate to your specific topic. You can use the list above to make notes on each architect although the finished product for this task is to organize the 16 architects into groups that shows how these architects are similar and different to one another. The final blog post should be at least 3-4 paragraphs long and should include a good amount of information so that the reader can easily understand how and why each architect thinks about your chosen topic. Feel free to use quotes from other posts, images and links to further explain the text and remember clarity is important!

During your topic investigation if you are unable to find information out on a certain architect contact your classmate that researched that architect to see if they could help. Also, if a classmate comes to you for further information this means that it may not have been included in your 3 blog posts or it may have been difficult to understand. Use this as an opportunity to recognize missing or confusing information and edit your blog post. Only after we have completed this topic investigation will I be doing a formal evaluation of the work you have completed for this research project.

Questions? feel free to ask, or write a response below.