As a lecturer at the University of Salford, I convened the Dissertation Group: Ethnography, Archives, Translations in the Dissertation Research Project module for the third-year undergraduate design students.
This group adopts pragmatist and realist approaches to study architecture and urban design. Pragmatist means observing and analysing how the world relies on its agencies – thus eschewing idealism (see James, Pierce); realist means according objectivity to objects and observing things as they exist independent of the mind and perception (see Latour, 1999; Yaneva, 2009). Both philosophical approaches are grounded in the empirical and explain how action takes place with practical bearings in this world.
We will read and analyse architectural practices within their situated environments and milieux, as they exist in this world not as they ought to be (after Yaneva, 2022). Our methodology is to follow actors (humans, nonhumans), trace associations (speculative historiography), and reassemble narratives (writing and visualizing). The Digital Humanities inform our methods, which include quasi/ethnography, archival research, and translation. We will learn how to write (Latour, 2005; Yaneva, 2017b) – in research mode (vs how to make, in design mode) – and tell stories (Murphy, 2006; Bissell, 2010; McGranahan, 2015; Tsing, 2015).
The city is our laboratory. You will get an opportunity to explore realized or imagined architecture and urban design projects in the Greater Manchester area (especially Manchester, Salford, and Stockport) and in world cities. The list of suggested projects offers an array of architectural programmes, styles, layouts, structures, and materialities situated within and evolving across diverse social, political, cultural, and environmental landscapes. Some projects express an iconic character or boast a known architect; however, most projects engage with mundane and pop aesthetics akin to what we experience in our everyday. Nevertheless, the politico-cultural and socioeconomic conditions that inform the production of these architectures are continuously dynamic and complex.
Download >>> UG Dissertation Group Syllabus: Ethnography, Archives, Translations
Page from Garcia Metzger’s dissertation documenting the original brochure (circa 1990) of the Stockport Pyramid Development Scheme by MHA Architects (2023)
2023-2024 Student Dissertations Sample:
01\\\ The Dilemma with Sustainable Design: Balancing aesthetics and ecology in the Church of Light (Aaron Limmer, Arch)
02\\\ The Beautiful Game: How stadia have evolved over time and influenced society around them (Adam Daniels, Arch)
03\\\ The Merseyway Shopping Centre’s Economic Decline (Amelia Gaskill, Arch)
04\\\ Meaningful Spaces for Meaningful People: Providing ‘good’ residential architecture for more (Ben Thorley, Arch)
05\\\ Pyramidal Architecture (Cristina Garcia Metzger, Interior Arch)
06\\\ A Comparative Analysis of Social Housing Typologies (Sehar Ahmed, Arch)
07\\\ Iconic Architecture, Exploring Iconicity: Frank Lloyd Wright takes on Micheal Jordan (Shervin Ghaemi, Arch)
2022-2023 Student Dissertations Sample:
01\\\ Socially Engineered Societies (Alvin Kintu, Arch)
02\\\ How do collaborations materialise ethics, and what role do they play in sustainable architecture? (Azaan Ahmed, Arch)
03\\\ Parametricism – A Reflection of Technology or Style in Architecture? The case study of the MAXXI Museum (George Mikolajewski, Arch Eng)
04\\\ How Transparency is Employed to Conceal/Reveal in Architecture (Jayne Townley, Arch)
05\\\ How has the Oculus Centre Honours Trauma? (Joshua Guy, Arch)
06\\\ On the Question of Experience: The unclear boundary between the architect and the user (Lucy Masset, Interior Arch)
07\\\ The Controversies of the Hagia Sophia Renovation? How are they important to Islam, other religions, society, culture, and politics? (Sowaibah Iqbal, Arch)
