Project 1 Case Study: Research and Design

1. RESEARCH METHODS (RES70103)
Assessment 1:
Case Study: Design and Research
GOH YONG QUAN – 0807P69276
TEO KEAN HUI - 0310165
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
Centre for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia

2. RESEARCH AND DESIGN IN ARCHITECTURE
Design and research are two key notions that form the pedagogy to acquisition of knowledge
within the architecture discipline. All good design is informed by some kind of research.
Hence, terminologies such as „Design Research‟, „Research informing Design‟, „Research by
Design‟, „Research through Design‟ and „Design as Research‟ will be discussed in this
literature review. It will be founded on journals and articles composed by researchers and
specialists of applicable fields, concentrating on themes identified with outline, which will give
better bits of knowledge and comprehension towards the connection amongst research and
architectural design.
Research is characterized as a systematic investigation that sets up novel certainties, takes
care of new or existing issues, demonstrates new thoughts or develops new hypotheses. It is
to search for information particularly in sciences and innovative field. Design deal with act of
planning and communicating a course of action to others, usually through the creative
exploration of an area of interest (Faste, 2012). Besides that, Frayling (1993) claimed that
research always involves going over old territory while design are concerned with the new.
Design research combines to have well-understood areas of practice, research and design,
resulting in seemingly meaningful merger roughly equivalent to the investigation of knowledge
through purposeful design.
Frayling (1993) has mentioned in his paper, the concept of „design as research‟ is either
applied research where the resulting knowledge is used for a particular application or action
research, where the action is calculated to generate and validate new knowledge or
understanding or even fundamental research. Similarity has been clarified by Faste (2012)
when design is viewed as a kind of research, it could be the study of materials, technologies,
design methodologies, design theories as well as the manufacturing processes. It could also
involve education, historical or critical approaches. Besides that, the creation of new
knowledge throughout the research may be a new idea, way of working or a conceptually
visionary experimentation.
The phrase „research by design‟ is widely used in the design field. However, it has not yet
been defined (Friedman, 2008). On the other hand, The European Association of Architect
Educations (2000) tries to define „research by design‟ as any kind of inquiry in which design is
a substantial part of the research process. EAAE (2000) recognized with the Dutch practice at
The Faculty of Architecture in Delft that „research by design‟ is similar to „research through
design‟. The idea has been utilized as a part of various ways in which design and research
are for the most part interconnected creating new understanding or information about the
world through the act of designing (Hauberg, 2011). Furthermore, „research by design‟
develops critical inquiry through design work that may incorporate acknowledged activities,
recommendations, conceivable substances and options. It produces forms of output and

3. discourse proper to disciplinary practice, verbal and non-verbal that make it discussable,
accessible and useful to peers and others (Hauberg, 2011). Through „research by design‟,
concordance is sought between the methods of research and a form-giving, experimental
design practice.
„Research through design‟ is meant to investigate on existed research model, then
experiment and the outcome would be a new design creation. It is also a combination of
process and research climax. „Research through design‟ is also widely used by designers as
it enables to envision the conceivable result in future. Frayling (1993) proposed „research
through design‟ as one of the three forms of relationship between research and design in his
paper. „Research through design‟ is not a new approach; the term itself is two decades old
(Frayling, 1993). Moreover, Findeli (2004) mentioned that „research through design‟ as the
“closest to the actual design practice, recasting the design aspect of creation as research.”
Designers or researchers who use „research through design‟ actually create new products,
experimenting with new materials and processes. Findeli (2004) and Frayling (1993) has
common view towards „research through design‟, which is new outcome as the ultimate aim
by studying existed source with conduct of experiment. It can be in all forms as long as it‟s
relevant and similar processes result in creation of experienced artefacts. (Zimmerman,
Forlizi & Evenson, 2007, p. 493) mentioned that “No agree upon research model existed for,
designers to make research contributions other than the development and evaluation of new
design methods”. This research method often being discussed and debated over the time as
some of the sources are from „everywhere‟ which yet to get agree upon by professionals.
Thus, it is always difficult for researcher to fully identify the current state of the approach
through the ramification of publication. Faste (2012) in “Demystifying Design Research”
mentioned „research through design‟ enables the enhanced performance of future design
action through knowledge disseminated through broader means than that of traditional
research. The most beneficial result of „research through design‟ would be for future
investigation opens to greater probability.
„Research informing design‟ is to investigate on legitimate research material and transfer it
into design. The process would be the research and outcome as „research oriented design‟.
Research into design is the most straightforward (Frayling, 1993). The most common
research source is historical research, aesthetic research and research into variety of
theoretical perspectives. Variety theoretical source could be in social, economic, political,
ethical and cultural. It is straightforward as there are countless models and archives to study
about. Design practitioners take part in research to seek inspiration, evaluating existing
solutions and approaches to similar problems, identifying user needs, testing the usability of
concepts, finding and experimenting with different materials, predicting the marketability of an
idea and deliver them into the design (Faste, 2012).

4. In conclusion, there are two different types of relationship amongst research and design.
„Research informing design‟ and „research by design‟ both have similarities. The main tasks
of these terminologies are to study philosophy and history while designing. Besides that,
there are also a few aspects which could influence or inform the design process, such as
precedent studies, studying architectural theories and also collecting empirical data. On the
other hand, the similarities between „research through design‟ and „design as research‟ are
creating new knowledge. The knowledge could be formed from part of the design process or
at the end of design process. A designer has gone through explorations and experiments
during the design process in order to generate relevant design method. It also involves study
models, simulated models and diagrammatic exploration. Thus typical research tends to have
the goal of narrowing its focus towards specific solutions to well-defined problems; design
research often results in a broadening understanding of the problem domain and many
alternative potential solutions.
REFERENCES
Faste, T., & Faste, H. (2012). Demystifying "Design Research": Design is not Research,
Research is Design.
Frayling, C. (1993). Research in Art and Design. Royal College Of Art Research Papers, 1(1).
Friedman, K. (2008). Research into, by and for design. Journal Of Visual Arts Practice, 7(2).
Godin, D., & Zahedi, M. (2014). Aspects of Research through Design: A Literature Review.
Hauberg, J. (2011). Research by Design – a research strategy. Architecture & Education
Journal.
Jonas, W. (2006). Research Through Design Through Research - A problem statement and a
conceptual sketch. Design Research Society - International Conference In Lisbon.