Architectural Research

Review – “Does Design Equal Research?” by Linda Groat and David Wang.

Jayant Negi (A/3126/2018)

The author through this article addresses and tries to define design and research by establishing a
connection between the two. He puts forward examples from the past and looks at how different
authors have argued on: if design and research are distinct or are complementary?

To begin with, we need to define design and research as fields that are not entirely different but share
certain disciplines. Research is narrowly defined and is mostly considered to be based on quantitative
approaches/methods. Everyone does research even though one may not realize it at first. For instance,
if a person wants to learn about the native species of plants in his region then he’ll probably search the
internet for the same. If that doesn’t give him a desired result, then he’ll approach the elders or other
people in the neighborhood. Here the research is done through the process of questioning and
identifying the problem. This leads to a researcher carrying out his/her research either quantitatively or
qualitatively. On one side quantitative methods involve technical, scientific and statistical knowledge,
while on the other, the qualitative involves going through writings, text and participatory approaches.
But research is more directed towards scientific methods and is narrowly defined. It is thus devoid of
human qualities and the intuitive qualities of design.

Design and research as viewed by different authors either have much in common or they are contrary to
each other. Milburn et al. says that design and research shouldn’t interfere with each other and that it is
a disservice to each. While Ann Forsyth believes that an integrative approach of design and research
could provide better ways of innovation.

The author says that research precedes design and has a temporal focus on the past and/or present.
And defines design as the output of research through raising a question to a problem. Research leads to
creation of knowledge through a systematic inquiry carried out by raising a question. Both design and
research could be initiated based on the context to which they are applied to. Design could be looking
for a solution to a specific or wider problem either on its own or by overlapping with different domains.
Design can’t work alone and has to collaborate with science. While in order to be able to carry out
research in architecture, it’s important to identify those domains. But sometimes a mixed approach
could also be used. I strongly believe that it all depends on the researcher’s choice whether to always
look for solutions that best work at that time or stick to a certain method. There is no strict rule that one
has to adhere to, as long as is it provides a clearer understanding of the research problem.

Design in itself is not a research. But if design is based on evidence or knowledge, then it could be
considered a research. Identifying research problem is important as a research can’t always be scientific.
Author Matt Powers too describe the same by stating that design disciplines should work “away from
the shadow of science and towards academia”. Later on, author B.D. Wortham argues that research has
an active contribution to communities be it engineering, social sciences or other focus groups. At the
end, the author describes architecture to be multi-disciplinary where involvement of a single source of
knowledge cannot address all the research questions.
Throughout the reading I found that the author has tried to convey his thoughts by relating them with
fragments of ideas from other authors. Though the article makes us constantly engaged, the
repetitiveness of certain topics makes the reading difficult to understand and loose the engagement.

References:
Booth, W. C. et al. (2003) The Craft of Research, 2nd Edition. University of Chicago Press (Chicago Guides
to Writing, Editing, and Publishing). Available at: https://books.google.co.in/books?id=VaS9NFqrMO4C.

Jing, S. (no date) ‘RESEARCH DESIGN Qualitative, Quantitative. and Mixed Methods Approaches SECOND
EDITION’. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/34731836/RESEARCH_DESIGN_Qualitative_Quantitative_and_Mixed_Meth
ods_Approaches_SECOND_EDITION (Accessed: 24 September 2020).

Till, J. (2008) ‘Three myths and one model’, Building Materials (Dublin), 17, pp. 4–10.

Linda Groat & David Wang (2002) Architectural Research Methods. New York: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.