Comparative Assignment

This assignment focuses on investigating historical works to not just enrich student proficiency in architectural language, design and ideas but most importantly to develop and hone students’ historical and architectural criticism skills. Through the study of an existing building (from a list issued by the lecturers), students will be able to communicate and expand their own architectural vocabulary and develop design concepts. In a group of 7-8, students are required to conduct precedent study analysis on specific buildings via site visits and through online forum discussion, sketch analysis journal, verbal and digital presentations. The precedent study analysis project should help clarify questions of “why” the case study is historically, culturally and architecturally inspired and “how” the design concepts derived from the past have influenced and/or been reflected in the case study, and by extension how these can be developed and expanded to be creatively and innovatively integrated into a prospective design project.