Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-tnzcf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-14T11:11:49.203Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Architecture: functional approach or the case for user research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2008

William Fawcett
William Fawcett
Affiliation:
Cambridge Architectural Research LtdThe Eden Centre47 City RoadCambridge CB1 1DPUnited Kingdom
Get access

Abstract

Architects rely on conceptual models of users during the design process, but if these models are inadequate the buildings may fail to meet user needs. User research, carried out by architects themselves or by specialist researchers, can improve architects' understanding of user needs. The dissemination of specialists' research findings to practising architects is crucial. Examples of user research on five topics are summarised.

Information

Type
Issues
Information
arq: Architectural Research Quarterly , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , Spring 1996, pp. 8 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Akin, O., Lin, C. (1995) ‘Design protocol data and novel design decisions’. Design Studies vol.16, no.2, pp.211–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, C. (1964). Notes on the Synthesis of Form. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M. (1977). A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Alexander, C., Poyner, B. (1966). ‘The atoms of environmental structure’. Reprinted in Moore, G. T. (ed) (1970) Emerging Methods in Environmental Design and Planning. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Arup Associates (1979) ‘Arup: CEGB’. Architectural Review vol.166, 07 79, pp.9–22.Google Scholar
Bennett, T, Wright, R. (1984). Burglars on Burglary: Prevention and the Offender. Gower, Aldershot.Google Scholar
Black, F. W. (1972). ‘Office building: the needs of small firms’. Building vol. 222, 27 02 72, pp.87–95.Google Scholar
Cooper Marcus, C., Sarkissian, W. (1986). Housing as if People Mattered: Site Design Guidelines for Medium-Density Family Housing. California University Press, Berkeley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darke, J. (1984). ‘Architects and user requirements in public sector housing [three parts]’. Planning & Design vol.11, pp.389–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Education and Science (1985). Assessing the Capacity of Public Sector Higher Education Buildings. Design Note 45, DES, London.Google Scholar
Department of the Environment (1995). Digest of Data for the Construction Industry. 2nd edn, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Fawcett, W. H. (1979a). ‘All possible and most probable schedules in organisations’.Environment & Planning B vol.6, no.2, pp.123–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fawcett, W. H. (1979b). ‘Catalogue of activity schedules for small organisation’.Environment & Planning B vol.6, no.3, pp.293–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fawcett, W. H. (1992) ‘Staff satisfaction in new offices: findings of an interactive computer questionnaire’. Property Management vol.10, no.4, pp.338–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Girouard, M. (1977). Sweetness and Ught: the ‘Queen Anne’ Movement 1860–1900. Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Hendry, M. (1950). Planning Your Home for To-morrow. Faber & Faber, London.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, E., Raeburn, B., (eds) (1960). Frank Lloyd Wright Writings and Buildings. Meridian Books, Cleveland, Ohio.Google Scholar
Kernohan, D., Gray, J., Daish, J., Joiner, D., (1992). User Participation in Building Design and Management. Butterworth Architecture, Oxford.Google Scholar
Kitchin, R. M. (1994). ‘Cognitive Maps: What are They and Why Study Them?’ Journal of Environmental Psychology. Vol.14, pp.1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nasar, J. L. (ed) (1988). Environmental Aesthetics: Theory, Research, and Applications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newell, P. B. (1995). ‘Perspectives on privacy’. Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol.15, pp.87–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, O. (1973). Defensible Space: People and Design in the Violent City. Architectural Press, London.Google Scholar
O'Reilly, J. J. N. (1987). Better Briefing Means Better Buildings. Building Research Establishment, Garston, Herts.Google Scholar
Poyner, B., Fawcett, W.(1995). Design for Inherent Security: Guidance for Non-Residential Buildings. Thomas Telford/CIRIA London.Google Scholar
Poyner, B., Webb, B. (1991). Crime Free Housing. Butterworth Architecture, Oxford.Google Scholar
Robson, E. R. (1874). School Architecture. Reprinted 1972 by Leicester University Press, Leicester.Google Scholar
Rykwert, J., Leach, N., Tavernor, R. (1988). Leon Battista Alberti: On the Art of Building in Ten Books. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Sergeant, J. (1976). Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian Houses. Whitney Library of Design, New York.Google Scholar
Sharrock, W., Anderson, B. (1994). ‘The user as a scenic feature of the design space’. Design Studies vol.15, no.1, pp.5–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stirling, J. (1974). James Stiriing. RIBA Drawings Collection, London.Google Scholar
Summerson, J. (1957). ‘The case for a theory of “modern” architecture’. Reprinted in Summerson (1990) The Unromantic Castle Thames & Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Sundstrom, E. (1986). Work Places: the Psychology of the Physical Environment in Offices and Factories. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Templer, J. (1992). The Staircase: Studies of Hazards, Falls and SaferDesign. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Universities Funding Council-Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (1992). Capital Funding and Estate Management in Higher Education. UFC-PCFC, Bristol.Google Scholar