The goal of this course is the production of a research document – the master’s thesis.
Students will be expected to develop research questions, develop/use appropriate methods of testing these questions, and produce final architectural designs that incorporate their new knowledge. Throughout the semester students will be individually tutored in research planning, experiment design, drawing and model production, design reflection, experimental analysis, and prototype production. As a key part of research is dissemination, a large part of the focus of the semester will be the communication of research results - through written work, drawings and models, and verbal presentation – and students are expected to develop skills in these areas.

This is an architecture design studio with a focus on research. By the end of this studio and seminar, students should have: an awareness of a discrete set of research methods and methodologies in architecture, be able to identify the need for research in different situations, the ability to develop suitable research questions, choose appropriate research methods, carry out architectural design experiments, analyze and discuss results, and document and disseminate results.

In this course, participants are encouraged to, and may study aspects of computation, performance simulation, and digital fabrication as used in architectural design. These methods will be applied in a series of research and design exercises. It is expected that students will engage in the digital modelling of complex geometric form, parametric design, computer programming, digital fabrication and rapid prototyping, and performance simulation. Students should be able to carry out appropriate precedent studies and literature reviews. When examining buildings and research projects in contemporary practice, students should be able to critically reflect on their design, use of digital design tools, simulation, building performance, and digital fabrication.