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Dissertation topic for undergraduate architecture (B.Arch)

priyanka17

Hello there everyone!!

Okay just like any other architecture student am also caught in this dilemma which topic to be selected!!? All I want is that my topic should not be just a topic it should send a powerful message and change the meaning of architecture as it is just not related with buildings.. it is more than that .. that is  what I want to make that evident in my thesis topic.. so please help me out with this!!

 
Jun 28, 15 1:18 pm
alrightalright

i find these types of posts comical. this is the last place you should be looking for the direction of your dissertation. it should be entirely self driven.. of course there will be research and influences in other areas, but the initial spark should be something that is (for the lack of a better word) interesting to YOU. if it isn't you'll never make it through the process, let alone "change the meaning of architecture."

forget this forum and do some soul searching.

Jun 28, 15 2:27 pm  · 
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priyanka17

Mr./Ms. Alrightalright, thanks for being so straightforwardly rude. It must be comical for u but not for me, I guess I just had doubts and I felt like sharing it...and such a shame u found it comical...

And start talking with some politeness...that will help u out!!

Jun 30, 15 1:04 am  · 
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polvytomy

Gys plz help me looking.. For dissertation topic about flooring

Mar 25, 17 9:38 pm  · 
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MrVSNET

Want an idea there? Let us look at the facts.

Take a look around you in architecture today, more talk on politics than technology. Although architects now use 100% developed tools, or close, created by programmers using known accessible technologies, whether Vectorworks, SketchUp, Autodesk or Bentley based, to name a few, they STILL do not hire programmers in house to be an integral part of their "Business Intelligence Model" teams. See the incongruity in that fundamental trend in architecture?

Yet, the forecast is, an architecture firm that takes this seriously today can literally be 4 times faster and more efficient than the rest of the industry which is already 20 years behind the technology curve in 2 years. And the real shame is you do not have to know how to program to know how to apply modern inter-application programming concepts to your production and data management process not to mention web marketing and Web or Cloud project engagement.

The problem is Microsoft and Google and Apple ALL have a secret. It is called the "I Wish it Did This" list and they have applied it from inception, and because they are programmers that REAL LIST is being completed and added to as we speak. For your thesis, you may consider examples of how various architecture design bottlenecks can be broken once and for all to create time for?

1. more design, 

2. more quality control and 

3. getting more jobs. 

Is that not a good reason to consider technology more seriously as an industry?

Imo, find a way to merge true cutting edge technological concepts and trends with known architectural system backwardness and obstacles which can be quantified, and thus, proven to be improvable; so your thesis goes from "Pie in the Sky" ideas everyone has, to tapping these ideas into REALITY in the team all around you.

Since technology is what will continue to change the field of architecture and the world itself, you cannot lose by synergizing your architecture thesis and making a programmer a part of your real world research project. Technology is now global and rampant; and if it is still "disruptive technology" then it is not being applied as it was designed to be used, thus you can teach the entire field of architecture HOW to "roll with the changes" rather than hoping it all goes away. The news is, it is here to stay.

Architects: To start, hire a full-time programmer and tell them what you wish it did, START your own "I Wish it Did This" List today!

It is a problem that must be attacked at the root level in architectural academia and organizations, that is why this is all news to architects today, no they are not "dumb", no one told them the news yet.

Architects are great at giving critiques but they do not take criticism well, so stick to it, the wave is here and it has passed the field of architecture and they will have to catch up, and those who do first can literally devour their competition. True, you still need to be able to design and get jobs, BUT you might as well tap the world-changing technological CONCEPTS which have already done this very thing for the likes of Microsoft, Google and Apple. Believe it or not your "business intelligence model" can benefit from the study of those just mentioned.

Proof?

If you want to know what age architecture is in just look at the "digital version" 1970s job listings they are now hiring which are production and management aids which merely help them drag their dead horse, rather than resurrecting it with proper technological planning and application at the principle level first. Get them to know the principles of modern technological automation and your whole field will thank you thank you thank you in just 10 years once you get the ball rolling.

THINK BIG

Mar 26, 17 10:27 pm  · 
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archietechie

Having a background in coding myself, I think the issue with firms not wanting to hire programming professionals isn't because they don't want to but rather they're skeptical as to what they can ACTUALLY do. I certainly don't expect designers to know a thing or two about computer workflow/data management etc.

And you mentioned about the educational requirements in tertiary institutes. 5 years of education is a long time for any professional discipline. This 5 years is so tightly packed that only the basics of the profession is covered, e.g. detailing/designing/history/visual programming (recent years)/a bit of management. So honestly, I don't see how that'll change without additional night classes here and there.

The silver lining tho, bigger AEC firms are starting to value what programmers can bring to the table and as you mentioned, are certainly increasing their workflow output at a much faster rate are showing the rest of the industry their true capacity. There was a recent appreciation archinect thread for large firms willing to do so.

Mar 27, 17 12:11 am  · 
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MrVSNET

It is a golden window of opportunity but once it can be shown to monetize a process to allow time to be redirected to at present neglected areas it will pick up speed. But the academic sector also has to catch on.

Mar 27, 17 1:54 am  · 
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Volunteer

priyanka17,

Have some mercy on your professors. Do something useful that has not been done before and could be of some interest. Forget building paper buildings for aids people to die in or building for various categories of disabled people to get the pity factor from your prof. The disabled don't want it and it makes your prof want to off himself.  

Here is one: Do something like a study of Frank Lloyd Wright's use of fireplaces in his houses over time. Analyze their size, material, location in the house, ect. and how it became the core of many of his houses, built and unbuilt.  

You could analyze the German Atlantik Wall fortifications in WWII as the very start of the Brutalism School. Your profs might run screaming down the hall with their hair on fire but the written evidence evidence is irrefutable and has recently been the subject of a lot of interest.  

You could analyze pedophile Adolf Loos statement that "Ornament is a crime". If he had said "Art is a crime" people, even architects, would have realized at the start how batshit insane he really was.

In any event, good luck.

Mar 27, 17 8:01 pm  · 
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