Architectural Research

This book introduces the basic principles and methods of scientific research in architecture. Due to the specificity of the creative process and the architectural industry, the presented issues have also been adapted to the needs of architecture teachers, architects active in the design market, and others interested in the topic. The first chapter explains four crucial research skills: focus, reasoning, critical thinking, and creativity, supported by ethics. The second chapter focuses on preparation for research by formulation of the research problem, hypothesis, and correlated research questions. The third chapter is an introductory part presenting the various classifications of architectural research and explaining the roots and significance of reasoning, creativity, and ethics. The fourth chapter presents the main research methods applicable to architecture, starting with the literature review. All of them can be modified and adjusted to ever-changing requirements. In the fifth chapter, visual tools are described for clearly presenting the research related issues. The sixth chapter is the introduction to academic writing. It includes the main rules of article preparation using elements such as abstract, keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion, conclusions, references, and the application of citation styles. Additionally, this chapter is concerned with general requirements for critical review preparation.

Dr Tomasz E. Malec is an architect, lecturer, and researcher in the field of architecture, including tangible and intangible culture, human needs in architecture, interdisciplinary relationships between spatial units, and Jewish architecture and urbanism. Between 2000 and 2013, he was the author and co-author of multiple architectural designs, mostly connected with renovating historical buildings. He authored the textbook Simple Introduction to Architecture (Gliwice, 2011 and 2018; Istanbul, 2017) for new architecture students, and the monograph Jewish Architecture and Urbanism in the Years 1495-1815: The Jewish City in Casimir, Cracow (Rome, 2015), along with over 25 articles in scientific journals. Results of his research on the role of cultural and non-cultural conditions in spatial development provide insight into the basis behind the process of human-centred design. His work may be also used for future sustainable architectural and urban design, environmental design, and multidisciplinary projects involving human settlements on other planets.