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Understanding Architecture Case Studies

• Updated: February 12, 2024

History teaches us many things, and it can carry valuable lessons on how to move forward in life. In architecture , when we are faced with a project, one of the first places we can look is the past – to see what worked, what didn’t, and what we can improve for our own projects.

This process comes in the form of architecture case studies, and every project can benefit from this research.

Here we take you through the purpose, process, and pointers for conducting effective case studies in architecture.

What is an architecture case study

A case study (also known as a precedent study ) is a means of finding relevant information about a project by examining another project with similar attributes. Case studies use real-world context to analyze, form, support, and convey different ideas and approaches in design.

Simply put, architectural case studies are when you use existing buildings as references for new ones.

Architects can conduct case studies at nearly every stage of a project, adapting and relating applicable details to refine and communicate their own projects. Students can use case studies to strengthen their research and make a more compelling case for their concepts .

Regardless of the size or scale of a project, case studies can positively impact a design in a multitude of ways.

How do you select a case study?

There are more than a hundred million buildings in the world, and your project could have similarities with thousands of other projects. On the other hand, you could also have a hard time finding buildings that match your specific project requirements.

Focusing your search parameters can help you find helpful references quickly and accurately.

The architectural program includes the spatial organization , user activity, and general functions of a building. Case studies with comparable programs can give you an idea of the spaces and circulation required for a similar project. From this, you can form a design brief catering to the unique requirements of the client or study.

Scale can be a strong common denominator among projects as it can be used to compare buildings of the same size, with a similar number of occupants or volume of visitors. Scale also ensures that the study project has an equivalent impact on the city or its surroundings.

Spaces and designs vary greatly between standalone structures and large-scale complexes, so finding case studies that emulate your project’s scale can give you more relevant and applicable information.

Project type is crucial for comparing spaces one to one. Common types include residential, commercial, office, educational, institutional, or industrial buildings. Each type can also have sub-categories such as single-family homes, mass housing, or urban condominiums.

Case studies with the same project type can help you compare occupant behavior, building management, and specific facilities that relate to your design.

Some case studies can lead you to specific architects with specialty portfolios in certain sectors such as museums, theaters, airports, or hospitals. Their expertise results in a body of work ideal for research and comparison, especially with complex public or transportation buildings.

You may also look into a specific architect if their projects embody the style and design sensibilities that you wish to explore. Many renowned architecture firms have set themselves apart with unique design philosophies and new approaches to planning.

Finding core theories to build on can help steer your project in the right direction.

Project Location

If possible, you’ll want to find case studies in the same region or setting as your project. Geographically, buildings can have significantly different approaches to planning and design based on the environment, demographic, and local culture of the area. There are also many building codes and regulations that may vary across cities and states.

Even when case studies are not from the same locality, it’s important to still have a relevant site context for your project. A tropical beach resort, for example, can take inspiration from tropical beaches across the world.

Likewise, a ski lodge project would require a look into different snowy mountains from different countries.

How are they used?

Whether it’s for academic, professional, or even personal use, case studies can offer plenty of insight for your projects and a look into different approaches and methods you may not have otherwise considered. Here are some of the most common uses for architectural case studies.

Case studies are most commonly used for research, to analyze the past, present, and future of the project typology. Through case studies you can see the evolution of a building type, the different ways problems were solved, and the considerations factored into each design.

In practice, this could be as simple as saying, “Let’s see how they did it.” It’s about learning as much as we can from completed projects and the world around us.

Inspiration

When designing from scratch, it’s common to have a few blank moments here and there. Maybe you’re struggling to develop a unified design , or are simply unsure of how to proceed with a project. Senior architects or academic instructors will often suggest seeking inspiration from existing buildings – those that we can explore and experience.

Throughout history , architecture is shown to have evolved over centuries of development, each era taking inspiration from the last while integrating forms and technologies unique to the time. Case studies are very much a part of this process, giving us a glimpse into different styles, building systems, and forms .

A study project could serve as your entire design peg, or it could add ideas far beyond the facade. The important thing about using a case study for inspiration is beginning with a basis, instead of venturing off into the great unknown. After that, it’s all up to the designers to integrate what they see fit.

As Bruce Lee once said, “absorb what is useful, discard what is not, and add what is uniquely your own.”

Design justification

Case studies help architects make well-informed decisions about planning and design, from the simplest to the most complex ideas. A single finished project is often enough to show proof of concept , and showing completed examples can go a long way in getting stakeholders on board with an idea.

When clients or jurors show skepticism or confusion about an idea, case studies can help you navigate through the hesitation to win approval for your project. Similarly, as a student, case studies can bolster your presentation to help defend your design decisions.

Communication

Unless your clients are architecture enthusiasts themselves, you’re likely going to know a lot more about buildings than them. Because of this, certain ideas aren’t going to resonate with the audience immediately, and you may need additional examples or references to make a convincing presentation.

Case studies help to make connections to existing projects. Beyond the typical sales talk and flowery words, case studies represent actual projects with quantifiable results.

With a study project, for example, you can say “this retail design strategy has been shown to increase rentable space by 15% in these two projects”, or “this facade system used in X project has reduced the need for artificial cooling by 40%, and we think it would be a great fit for what we’re trying to achieve here”.

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What to look for during your research.

Each case study should have a specific purpose for your project, be it a useful comparison or a key contribution to your ideas. Sometimes a case study could look drastically different from your project, but it can be used to communicate a wide variety of features and facets that aren’t immediately visible to the eye.

Here are a few things to look out for when doing your research.

If you’re looking to build a museum, the first kinds of buildings to look out for are other museums from around the world. A building with the same typology as yours is almost guaranteed to have similar aspects and approaches. You’ll also be able to see how the building works with its surroundings.

In the case of a museum, you’ll see if the study projects stand out monumentally, or blend in seamlessly, and from there you can decide which is more applicable for your design.

Function is another important aspect that will inform your research.

If for example, you’re comparing two museums, but one is a museum of modern art and the other is a museum of military equipment, they’re going to have vastly different spaces and functions. Similarly, schools can take inspiration from thousands of other schools, but an elementary school’s functions are going to vary greatly from a college campus.

Finding case projects that function more or less the same way as yours will give you more relevant information about the design.

There are also study projects that work well together despite having slightly different functions, such as theaters and concert halls, or bus stations and train stations. These projects, though not exactly the same, still share plenty of similarities in spatial and traffic requirements to be used as effective case studies.

If you’re exploring a certain style, you can find projects with a design close to what you’re trying to achieve.

However the forms don’t necessarily need to look the same.

For example, if you’re planning a museum with a continuous experience from one exhibit to another, you might use the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York as a case study – being one of the earliest and best examples of such style with its round, gently ramped design. But your design doesn’t need to resemble the Frank Lloyd Wright landmark.

The main purpose for finding similar styles is to see how it’s been executed with comparable planning considerations, and to see the effect the style has on a particular project type.

Whether your project is relatively small or large, it’s good to consider how projects of the same scale fare when built. Even if a building has nearly identical features and functions as your project, if it operates on a completely different scale the same principles may be far less effective on your site.

Site conditions can hugely influence the architectural design of a project, especially when working with extreme slopes or remote locations. You’ll often want to study projects that are in a similar part of the world geographically, with comparable site conditions and nearly identical settings.

Check if your site is in a rural or urban area , if it has generally flat or rolling terrain, and if the lot is a particular shape or length.

Environment

Similar to the site itself, environmental considerations will have a large impact on the way case study buildings are designed.

It’s important to know the climate, weather, and scenery of study projects to fully understand the challenges and opportunities that their designers worked with. Buildings in tropical, humid environments use very different materials and elements than those in arid or icy environments.

Circulation

Circulation is a crucial aspect of projects as it directly affects how a building is experienced.

With case studies you’ll need to look out for the flow of people, the ingress and egress areas, and how people and vehicles pass through and around the building. Circulation will determine how the design interacts with the users and the general public.

Accessibility

Though often overlooked, accessibility is becoming increasingly more important, especially for large-scale projects in dense cities. This involves how people move from the rest of the city to the site. It includes traffic management, road networks, public transportation, and universal design for the disabled.

If the target users can’t get to your building, the project can’t be used as intended. When doing case studies, it’s important to consider what measures were taken to ensure the sites were made open and accessible.

Landscape architecture encompasses far more than vegetation and trees. Each project has a unique way of approaching its landscape to address specific goals and tendencies on site.

How does the building integrate itself with the site and surroundings? How are softscapes and hardscapes introduced to create a desirable atmosphere, direct movement, facilitate activity, and promote social interaction?

Government buildings, for example, are often accompanied by wide lawns and open fields. This conveys a sense of openness, transparency, and public presence. It also frames the buildings as significant, monumental structures standing strong in an open area. These are the subtle aspects that can shape your building’s overall perception.

Construction

Construction methods and structural systems are vital for making our buildings stand safe and sound. Some systems are more applicable in tall buildings, while others are more suited for low-rise structures, but it can be interesting to see the different techniques used throughout your case studies.

You can explore systems like cantilevered beams, diagrid steel, thin shell construction, or perhaps something new entirely.

Materiality

If you’re thinking of using certain materials like stone or wood, and you’re curious to see how it was executed elsewhere, case studies can offer some great examples of materiality and the different ways a single material can be used.

The Innovation Center of UC by Alejandro Aravena is a good illustration of how a particular finish – in this case raw concrete – can be used in an unusual way to the benefit of the overall design.

Building services

Building services are one of the many aspects that make architecture a science. Understanding how a building handles things like energy, ventilation, vertical transportation, and water distribution can help you see beneath the surface to get a better idea of how the building works.

Although there are common practices, buildings can deal with services and utilities very differently. A prime example of this is the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which famously turned the building inside out to expose its services on the facade while opening up the interior space for uninterrupted volumes of light and movement.

This style became known as bowellism , and it was largely popularized by the late Richard Rogers .

Some building types are much more demanding when it comes to building services. Airports, for example, have to deal with the flow of luggage, heightened security, and all the boarding and maintenance requirements of the airplanes themselves.

The final thing to analyze while doing your case studies is the building program. This is how the composition of spaces works in relation to the building requirements. It’s helpful to see what makes the building look good, feel good, and function well.

If your study project is accompanied by a program diagram , it can be an excellent way to see how the architects were thinking.

For instance, OMA’s big and bold diagrams show how their designs are organized in a simple and logical manner. It’s become a signature and memorable part of their work, and it communicates the program in a way that everyone can understand.

A building’s arrangement of spaces can often make or break a design. It can be simple and easy to navigate, or complex and intriguing to explore. It can also be confusing or at times, troublesome to get around. Spaces can feel spacious, cozy, or cramped, and each space can evoke a different emotion whether deliberate or unintentional.

The building program is a fundamental aspect that must be considered when conducting case studies.

How do you write and present an architectural case study?

Select the most applicable projects.

There are often hundreds of potential case studies out there, and you can certainly learn from as many projects as you want, but sticking with the most relevant projects can keep your study clear and concise. Depending on the focus of your research, limit your case studies to those most suitable for communicating your ideas.

Stay on topic

It can be tempting to write entire reports about certain buildings – especially if you find them particularly interesting, but it’s important to remember you’re only mentioning these projects to help develop yours. Keep your case study on topic and in a consistent direction to keep the audience engaged.

Use graphics to illustrate key concepts throughout your projects . Even before preparing refined, colorful graphics, you can sketch visual representations as an alternative to notes for your own personal reference.

In addition to making diagrams, you can present multiple examples of similar or dissimilar concepts to compare and contrast the core ideas of different designs. Offering more than one example helps people grasp the ideas that make a building unique.

Strategic Visuals

If the visual speaks for itself, your verbal explanation will only need to describe the essence of it all. When presenting, your speaking time is valuable and it’s best to prepare your slides for maximum engagement so that you don’t lose your audience along the way.

If you carefully select and prepare your visuals, you can optimize your presentation for attention, emotion, and specific responses from the target audience.

Create a narrative

Creating a narrative is a way of tying the whole study together . By using a sequence of visuals and verbal cues, you can take the audience through a journey of the story that you’re trying to tell. Instead of showing each case study differently and independently, you can uniformly relate each project back to the common themes, or back to your project’s design.

This helps to make the relevance of each project crystal clear.

What if your project is unique?

If you’re struggling to find relevant case studies for your project, it could be a good sign that you’ve created a typology that hasn’t been done before – a first of its kind. New building types are important for shaping society and expanding the boundaries of architecture.

Innovative buildings can make people’s lives better.

As far as case studies go, you’ll likely need to gather a handful of reference projects that collectively represent the idea for your project. You can also present a progression, explaining how current and past typologies have evolved into your proposed building type. New-era architecture requires creativity, not only in the ideas but also in the research.

Case studies show us – and our clients – the many great success stories and mistakes of the past, to learn from and improve on as we move into the future. They serve an essential role in guiding our decisions as we design the buildings of tomorrow.

From school , to practice , and everything in between, case studies can be made as the foundation on which we build upon.

For a deeper dive into how case and precedent studies can build upon and influence your conceptual design approaches, we cover this and other key determining factors in our resource The Concept Kit below:

...Remove the guesswork, and start designing award winning projects.

FAQ’s about architecture case studies

Where can i find architecture case studies.

There are many resources where you can find architectural case studies. Here are some examples:

• ArchDaily : This is one of the largest online architecture publications worldwide. It provides a vast selection of architectural case studies from around the globe.
• Architectural Review : An international architecture magazine that covers case studies in detail.
• Dezeen : Another online architecture and design magazine where you can find case studies of innovative projects.
• Detail Online : This is a great resource for case studies with an emphasis on construction details.
• Divisare : It offers a comprehensive collection of buildings from across the world and often includes detailed photographs, plans, and explanatory texts.
• The Building Centre : An online platform with case studies on a variety of topics including sustainable design, technology in architecture, and more.
• Harvard Graduate School of Design : Their website provides access to various case studies, including those from students and researchers.
• El Croquis : This is a high-profile architecture and design magazine that offers in-depth case studies of significant projects.
• Casestudy.co.in : It is an Indian platform where you can find some unique case studies of architecture in India.
• Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) : They have an extensive database of case studies on tall buildings worldwide.

In addition to these, architecture books, peer-reviewed journals, and university theses are excellent sources for case studies. If you’re a student, your school library may have resources or databases you can use. Remember to make sure the sources you use are reputable and the information is accurate.

What is the difference between case study and literature study in architecture?

A case study and a literature study in architecture serve different purposes and utilize different methods of inquiry.

• Case Study : A case study in architecture is an in-depth examination of a particular project or building. The goal is to understand its context, concept, design approach, construction techniques, materials used, the functionality of spaces, environmental performance, and other relevant aspects. Architects often use case studies to learn from the successes and failures of other projects. A case study may involve site visits, interviews with the architects or users, analysis of plans and sections, and other hands-on research methods.
• Literature Study : A literature study, also known as a literature review, involves a comprehensive survey and interpretation of existing literature on a specific topic. This could include books, articles, essays , and other published works. The goal is to understand the current state of knowledge and theories about the topic, identify gaps or controversies, and situate one’s own work within the larger discourse. In architecture, a literature study might focus on a particular style, period, architect, theoretical approach, or design issue. It’s more about collating and synthesizing what has already been written or published, rather than conducting new empirical research.

In short, a case study provides an in-depth understanding of a specific instance or example, while a literature study provides a broad understanding of a specific subject as it has been discussed in various texts. Both methods are useful in their own ways, and they often complement each other in architectural research.

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Architecture Student Chronicles

How to conduct a Case Study?

When students begin studying  Architecture at a University, the first thing that they are supposed to become excellent at, is doing a documentation or a case study . It could be a case study of a small village, town, a villa, a bus-stop, or a high-rise commercial or residential building. A case study is an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, incident, or community. Other ways include experiments, surveys , or analysis of archival information

What is the purpose of conducting a Case Study?

As the term Case Study suggests, it is the study of a particular case that is similar to your topic of design project. Doing a case study will help you understand the various aspects that you have to consider while designing.

Literature Case study

Before you start with your live case studies, first of all do a complete literature case study. Literature case study consists of reading everything you can find on the subject. You can refer books in a library, use Google to look up research papers, check out Standard Code books and statutory laws or from technical journals.

A literature case study would give you a vague idea about your topic. There will be various questions arising in your mind after you are done with your literature case study. To find the answers to those questions, you will have to go for minimum two live case studies….

Always possibly go for more than two different case studies, because a comparative case study of two or more different cases is very important and helpful.

• While you are doing your first case study, say a Villa, go for a smaller Villa first so that you can figure out the basic minimum requirements.
• In your second case study, go for an extremely lavish Villa so that you are aware of the maximum requirements you could give.

(Being able to provide maximum or minimum requirements in your design is very important)

If there are some requirements that you haven’t come across while doing your case studies but you went through it while you were doing a literature case study, then try implementing those requirements  in your design.

Eleven most important things to analyze in any Case Study

• Environment and micro-climate Analyzing the surrounding environment and the micro-climate of that place will help understand the reason of the orientation of the structure, the kind of roof chosen and the materials used in its construction.
• User behavior and requirements Studying the functioning of a particular place, say a Hospital, is very important; without which you will not be able to figure out the requirements and the area that should be allotted for each of the requirements.Talking to people working at that place (Hospital), will help you figure out if the requirements that are provided are adequate and he area that is allotted is sufficient for its efficient working.
• Utility and space enhancement Study of Utilitarian facilities of a particular case is also important. Various measures taken to enhance a particular space should be analyzed.
• Form and Function Analyzing the reason behind the form of that particular building…and how it merges with the surrounding environment. Form and Function go hand in hand. The form of the building should be able to convey the function of the building. A lot of Architects say “Form follows Function”.As an example, an institutional building should not end up looking like a museum or a disco.Some other Architects might disagree with that philosophy. They’d say that the function of a structure keeps changing but changing the form of the building everytime its function changes is not possible. They say, Adopt a “Universal Design Scheme”.
• Horizontal and vertical circulation Horizontal circulation consists of elements such as the corridors and lobbies. Vertical circulation includes elevators, staircases, ramps etc. The efficiency of the placement of these services should be analyzed.
• Site Planning and Landscape detailing Refer to the Article on the blog “ A Guide to Site Planning “, which deals with different aspects considered in site planning in greater detail.
• Structural details such as Column and Beam Design, Steel  and Composite structures Understanding and analyzing the structural details is also important. For example, large span structures such as Auditoriums use trusses or heavy I-section steel beams and sometimes shell-roofing that involve construction of Ring beams whereas in small span structures, RCC construction is used.
• Building Services such as Fire Alarm system, HVAC, Water supply systems The working of Fire Alarm system, HVAC and Water supply systems should be examined and their space requirements are to be analyzed.
• Design detailing considering the Barrier-free environment Implementation of the Barrier-free architecture for comfortable access to disabled people. Most public buildings have mandatory accessibility systems for the disabled. Check out Guidelines to the Disability Standards for Access to Premises 200X. (Australian law)
• Socio-economic profile of user group It might also be important to find out the socio-economic profile of the people using the services so as to determine their requirements and available resources.
• Parking details and standards Measure the allotted parking area on site, say for ten cars, then calculate the average area for each car and compare it with the areas specified in TSS (Time Savers Standards).

Conducting a case study is hard work. Sometimes, it is so small, it could be done in days, but on other occasions, it takes weeks to document and compile all the data. It involves going on-site, meeting and taking to people, lots of traveling, plenty of photography, and some fun. It is the most important of assignments you might get as an architectural students.

This is where you learn from reality, actual stuff, as opposed to only theoretical knowledge. When I was learning law I took every chance I could get to learn from people actually doing the work I was aiming for, yes I did “donate” many hours to Winters & Yonker, P.A. , but in the end is was worth every minute. Looking at places first hand  and documenting information would give you many insights and ideas and let you peek into the minds of professional architects and designers who have used years of experience and improvisation to design and create incredible structures.

Case studies of some of the famous Structures mentioned below:

 SPA – Delhi

VNIT – Nagpur

Thiagaraj Convention Center

TKM College of Engineering (Chennai)

42 thoughts on “How to conduct a Case Study?”

We want to design an oldage home how u can help

You live in Delhi and I am in Hyderabad, so I might not be of much help, unless you want my father (Architect Javed – http://www.architectjaved.com/ ) to design it for you.

If you want more info on Old age homes, see http://architecture-student.com/design-guide/guide-to-designing-old-age-homes/

The hardest part is looking for related literature especially when your research topic is new. It may be that difficult but it is surely unique when done and published.

I’m an attorney and when studying law we spent the bulk of the time reading what is called caselaw which is existing decisions that forms our law. We are to find cases that support our clients’ fact scenario so that the decision is our clients’ favour.

The parallel with architecture is uncanny as architects use existing structures and environments to form the basis for a new project. As the saying goes, “no need to reinvent the wheel” but it’s good to evolve from existing structures. Likewise, the law evolves.

Case Study is itself a very necessary work to be done before appearing to anything to be done. It’s just a sample report before appearing for any cases to get it solved properly.

A good blog to read on and to be shared amongst all…..

For me, Case Study is really important on anything you are planning in order to have a well planned and a successful outcome. Doing a Case Study on anything gives you an idea for the pro’s and con’s of that. I’m glad there’s such an article like this!

Case studies are a great way to plan lots of things, not just architectural projects. It’s almost like doing the work without actually doing the work, so you can identify sticking points, potential problems and lots more.

thank you that really helped….!! im a first year b.arch student….

Hello Nanda, We are glad our site has been of help to you. Do keep visiting. We wish you all the best for your future!

will do 🙂 thanku 🙂

it’s really helpful!! thx a lot!

i am beginning my thesis in B. arch. n so m requiring a hypothetical site of about 3 acres here in india with the climate warm and humid. topic is performing arts centre in kerala. how do i find and fix a hypothetical site?

Hello Resbi, The best way to find an appropriate site for your project could be done by using Google Earth.

i would like to know the steps and what case studies to do about for a multispeciality hospital

As im in 2nd year of b.arch

I have not much studed about much detailed

Like casestudy,site analysis’

It will help me

Thanks u again

U can see our 1st year architecture 1st month exibition video on youtube

hi !!!I’m a 1st year b.arch and v hav 2 do a case study on an architect’s firm . cud u tell me wat all i shud include in my case study???v hav to do a case study on a bungalow also…

Hello Joan,

The following links will be of help to you.

Guide for conducting a casestudy for a villa

Also check out: Cafeteria Design

i am a first year b.arch student..i have got a case study to do..can u please guide me by teling how many sheets should i present..please guide me..as soon as posible..ur site helpd me to knw how to do case study but i also want to know how many sheets should it include..please guide me..

tanx for this good work.pls do continue.

Number of sheets doesn’t matter until you pin down your inferences correctly …… for a first year student i guess a max of 1 or 2 A1 sheets or a ppt of less than 20 slides should be enough in terms of quantity …. make sure you put the point across 🙂 🙂

This was really helpful. Thank you very much. Just about to go for a case study on 2 schools.

What r all things I should see for bedroom attached bathroom casestudy.

Thank you for some other wonderful article. The place else could anyone get that type of information in such an ideal manner of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I am on the search for such information.

this really helped alot Thankyou

love your articles ,wld love to b part of this, was just surfing the net and found this…….good work to u guys

Hey, this really helped I’m goin for a case study on resorts tmrw Would appreciate any pointers to observe there thanq ????

hello,i am second year b.arch student,i have to do case study on luxury primary school . cud you please tell me what all should i include in my case study ???and also case study for the kids school…………

For a project like that, you should visit a minimum of two schools. One would be a high profile school and the other one could be a private low budget school or a government school. After you casestudies you will be able to draw comparisons between the two and that should help you come up with your list of requirements. let me know if you have any other questions.

I am doing by 3rd year b arch n this time our project is based on housing for artist Wht all shld I keep in mind while designing for artist n der family member who are non artist

Hello Monisha, I recommend you to read this article: http://architecture-student.com/case-studies/design-of-an-artist%E2%80%99s-house-guide-for-conducting-a-casestudy-of-a-villa/

Nice bolg. Thank you. I am barch student. I would like to know how to do comparison study of any two building. Now I have done with case study of a gallery (ngma Bangalore). I have done sub case study as well as literature study. But I want to know how exactly should I do comparitive study. More than write up comparison, How well can I present it

I am doing thesis on Orphan children and oldage home combining both generations together so as to create marvelous socially conceptual design. Help me with bestest case study from which I can learn alot to create spaces for both.

I am final year in srm rampuram school od architecture and doing thesis on township. So could anyone help with sum reference for case study and literature study as soon as possible

Hello Revathy,

When you say township… what kind of township. Give us some description of your thesis project so that we could give suggestions as to how you could proceed.

thanks a lot it is great information has answered some of my questions

hello.i have taken up the topic EMBASSY(any country) Design for my final year thesis. i was wondering if you could help me out with the plans for casestudies,since i hear it will be quite a problem with all the security.

It is not an excellent topic for design. You should have chosen something that would let you explore your ideas. Embassy building would look like a commercial block…nothing interesting… this is not something people havent seen. I do not think you will get permission for a livecasestudy of any embassy. No one would let you in. So if you still have time, i would suggest you choose a more design oriented topic.

hey i am doing thesis on low cost building materials and technology.i wanna do commercial project on this topic. can you suggest me project name or case study on this topic.

I have taken service apartment complex for tourist as my final year thesis. Help me to find the best case study for thesis.

Hello. Im studying b.arch 4th year. Im supposed to do a thesis case study, on Automobile industry i.e a car manufacturing plant. Can you please help me regarding this, as what all i should include and what steps i need to follow to complete my case study. Please reply me asap. Thank you.

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The CEPT University Library, Ahmedabad by Rahul Mehrotra: Spaces within the spaces

The CEPT University Library, called the Lilavati Lalbhai Library, opened in 2017. It was the first structure on the CEPT campus that architect BV Doshi had not designed, and architect Rahul Mehrotra—an alumnus of CEPT, and Lead Architect of RMA Architects—says that he found this intimidating and challenging. 

However, the library today integrates seamlessly into the overall plan due to the eclectic nature of the architectural language of CEPT, as well as the detailed analysis conducted on the proposed site.

Design Philosophy

The CEPT University Library was designed to promote the connection and integration of faculty and students from the various academic departments. Rahul Mehrotra, envisioned the building as a source of inspiration and innovation for the students, beyond a mere repository of books. 

The library was intended as an expression of the University’s shift towards a more choice-based pedagogy, and an exhibition of the reinterpretation of climate-responsive architecture. 

Situated at a critical central point in the campus plan, the library naturally serves as a pivotal linking space, which is further emphasized by the convenient entrances at all the cardinal points that allow access into the building.

Design and Materiality

Three distinct spaces layered within each other, like tree rings, fulfill the basic concept of the building. The first area is the exterior space designed to combat the harsh climate of Ahmedabad by acting as the ‘skin’ of the building. 

The second layer is made of wide spaces meant to flood the structure with light. This second layer is created as an intermediate space between the skin and the core. The final layer, or the library core, contains the stack space and the more private reading areas and is made of steel and glass along with concrete. 

The interlocking of these different layers is responsible for creating a variety of different, interesting spaces within the library, 12 types in total. Mehrotra wished for these spaces to act as founts for learning and mental stimulation. The variety of spaces allow for greater convenience and flexibility of library usage.

Spaces Within the Library

The CEPT University Library follows and reinvents the existing architectural language. The site of the library is based on the original masterplan of the University, and the building is aligned with the pre-existing buildings. 

Mehrotra restricted the height of the structure to match the existing context and then built it downwards such that half of the building is buried, which provides the added advantage of temperature control. The library core extends down to these basement levels, with quieter spaces for reading and archiving. 

Seminar rooms and administrative areas are also present within this core. The upper levels contain the exhibition and collaboration spaces, and some open directly to the campus, promoting more informal, inviting spaces within and around the library.

Lower height spaces meant to simulate intimacy and privacy make up the internal library core, in contrast to the other layers. Mehrotra wanted to create the sense that students would feel the same comfort within the building that they would within their homes or rooms. 

Thus, in the basement levels, he created spaces through a variety of spaces for group work and ‘carrels’, which are specially designed nooks for individual study. The structural elements are integrated within the stack spaces to create a sense of ambiguity about the depth of the building. 

The lowest level is used as archival spaces and storage. The core also functions as a repository for multi-format media, to maintain the University standards of knowledge.

Shifting Facade

More flexible spaces that also connect the building with the natural context are present in the upper levels. The skin of the building plays an important role in this. While the internal layers are made of structural steel, concrete, and glass, the skin has a material palette of concrete and wooden louvers. 

Louvers are an effective method of passive temperature control and have been used as a façade element before, such as in the Mill Owners’ Association building. However, rather than a rigid, fixed structure of vertical fins, Mehrotra reimagined the concept. 

The wooden louvers in the CEPT University Library are an integral part of both the architectural vocabulary as well as the functioning of the building. The louvers can be manually angled at different orientations to control the flow of light and air into the building based on student requirements.

This constant shift in light and shadow adds a new element of interest, while also serving as a demonstration of passive architectural climatic control techniques. The whole building, therefore, behaves as a learning tool for the students on the topics of lighting, ventilation, and temperature control strategies, while also easing their experience within the building. 

The louvers are present on the upper levels of the building, where various types of reading spaces are present for multiple methods of learning ranging from collaborative to individual.

Since its opening, the CEPT library has been fully integrated both into the architectural language of the campus and also into the student culture, acting as a focal point for interaction and discussion, as well as for self-study and reflection.

Mythili Nair is an aspiring architect and lifelong student. She loves to discover the various ways architecture impacts culture, society and experiences, and firmly believes in sustainability and inclusivity.

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How Architecture Case Study Can Benefit Students

As an architecture student, how often do you take delight in doing architectural case studies? Does it excite you or make you frazzled? Irrespective of how you feel, a case study in architecture proves to be a privilege to the students in this discipline. You get to study a project of a similar genre, ascertain the design principles of the designer, and understand its scope before conceiving the design. You can also visualize the design more closely and manage the intrinsic affairs independently.

Table of Contents

What Is A Case Study In Architecture?

An architecture case study is the in-depth analysis, exploration, and understanding of an existing building. While students consider a case study in architecture as the starting point of any project, it can also serve as a reference to proceed with the intricacies of a project. For example, the following image shows the case study of “The National Gallery Of Modern Art”.

There is no definite format for representing a case study. For instance, the following images show the case study of “The Church of the Light” by Tadao Ando in various styles.

It is fun as an individual can travel a lot and meet different types of people. At the same time, how an architecture case study benefits us relies on how we perceive and deal with it. 

Philosophy of a Case Study In Architecture 

To make it easy to understand, we have summarized the philosophy below:

Literature 

You may not always be aware of the scope or objective of an upcoming project. The entire planning process might seem strenuous, and all your questions may remain unanswered. In such cases, an architecture case study can come to the rescue. It exposes an individual to the intricate details of a live project and answers all your questions practically. It helps in broadening your academic boundary, making your literature strong, and analyzing the following:

• Architectural Style

The regional or communal context and its predominance in the design.

• Micro-climate and Environment 

The surrounding nature and various important climatic factors like sun path, wind direction, or rainfall can affect the building in a particular site.

• Requirements Based On User Behaviors

The areas will suffice the purpose and efficiency by keeping gender, age group, well-being, and other factors in mind. For instance, a hospital is different from a commercial shopping center.

An architecture case study allows you to study the design philosophy that an architect used. Then you can analyze what worked and what did not, identify the pros and cons, and grasp what you need. It also helps you determine the following details:

• Planning and Analysis of Site

The site dimensions, site-to-building ratio, orientation, geology, hydrography, vegetation, etc.

• Function and Form

Which philosophy to adopt between “function follows form” and “form follows function”? Why does a building stand that way or why does it stick out from the immediate surroundings?

• Construction Materials and Technologies 

The available materials and commonly-used technologies in that region.

• Structural Details 

The columns, beams, and trusses are used in a building.

• Connectivity/Linkage 

How to link various activities inside the built space?

• Vertical and Horizontal Circulation

The placement of elevators, ramps, and staircases, or the area assigned for building lobbies and corridors.

• Access Locations

The entry and exit points of the building and the site.

• Services and Utility Systems

Determine why services like water supply systems, electrical layouts, HVAC, or fire alarms are necessary for a building.

• Barrier-free Consideration 

The design accessibility to children, people who have a disability, aged people, and pregnant women.

Imagination 

At times, you may mimic the case study you are studying instead of getting inspired by it. It happens because your thought process gets trapped in the shackles of your architecture case study. It may seem difficult to think outside the box. So, coax yourself to start afresh and let your imaginations do the rest.

Generalization 

You cannot adopt every element of it as a blueprint for your design. An architecture case study will make you realize that. Every design is distinctly unique and meant to fit in with ever-changing parameters like climate, region, and user requirements. Putting every single design problem in the same mold would lead you nowhere.

Therefore, treat every design problem differently.

Diversity 

It is necessary to have at least a couple of options to study from instead of sticking to one particular architecture case study. It forbids you to imitate an existing design and lets your creativity flow. 

So, initiate your case study with a small-scale project to outline the basics and consider another large-scale project to modify the required parameters you did not include before.

Architecture is a dynamic course where learning delves deeper and much beyond the scope of the textbooks. It is an undertaking to design the future by continuing the legacy of human civilization while minimizing past mistakes. All these reasons make the precedence of architecture case study an inevitable necessity.

Remember: we intend to research, understand the concepts that the architect has applied, and learn how that project worked. Meanwhile, we should also be able to point out the flaws and perfect them while introducing them in our projects.

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Live Case Studies Demystified

Explore more.

• Case Teaching
• Experiential Learning

L ive case studies bring real companies with real business issues into the classroom. Not only can these experiences bring business frameworks to life for students, but they also surface unpredictable situations that further learning.

In a typical live case, a leader or team from a local company visits the classroom and presents a business problem the organization is facing. Students are then tasked to develop solutions. Sometimes they do so in a consulting team throughout the semester and then present their solutions to the professor, their classmates, and company representatives. In some instances, teams with the best ideas might present to an executive advisory board, which then chooses the strongest solution. 

Bringing Real Business Issues to Light 

Why live cases.

Live case studies offer a learning process that today’s students expect, according to a  research paper  published in 2017 by Sylvain Charlebois and Lianne Foti. Whether it is business ethics students facing a moral dilemma or commerce students designing a strategy for entering a new market, real-life situations provide added context and complexities. Live cases can also “offer incentives to students, beyond the grade, which enhance the effect of co-opetition.”

“Students are tackling and solving real-world problems,” he says. “There are no teaching notes and no solutions. Students are tasked with coming up with the solution on their own,” he says.

A few years ago, Rapp partnered with IGS Energy to conduct a live case study.

“They wanted to understand how to sell and market to millennials,” says Rapp. “Their service is deregulated energy–the idea that you have an energy choice and can select who you have as your provider.” 

When IGS entered the classroom, they asked if students knew they could choose their energy provider. One out of 40 students knew, explains Rapp. “Then they went into more detail about the potential market and how much money they could generate in profit and how they could help customers. And the light switches really went on.” 

"Students are tackling and solving real-world problems. There are no teaching notes and no solutions." Adam Rapp

Why It Works: Real-World Application

Working with clients lets students develop strategies and proposals and make real decisions. These interactions also improve students’ critical thinking and quantitative literacy.

In class, students learn about abstract business concepts. But when a company visits and lays out a specific problem—like how to restructure its incentive program—students are suddenly put inside the business. They must develop different solutions and strategies, think about their implications, and then apply real performance and sales numbers to see how their proposed solutions affect salaries and compensation rates.

Rapp notes, “That real-world application helps them get a much deeper and more meaningful understanding of the topic.”

Live cases also force students to think about how they would explain their solution to a manager or company owner. “When students know they have to defend their choices to a real client, there is a level of ownership and involvement with the process that I’ve never seen students express otherwise,” says Jessica Ogilvie, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Marquette University. Ogilvie helped build the Schey program at Ohio University and is currently designing and serving as associate director of a similar program at Marquette. “To me, they put forward a lot more work and effort—because there’s not just a grade on the line, but their reputation and persona when they stand up in front of a company and talk about it.” 

What Students and Partners Are Saying

Ogilvie shares feedback from her students and companies she has partnered with on the value of live cases:

"The live case study helped me understand how an organization thinks and strategizes. This helped me understand how to navigate a sales organization with my first job." —Former student now working for LinkedIn

"The live case study made leading my first conversations with clients easier, and I could focus more on what mattered. It also cut my ramp-up time in half compared to other new hires at the company." —Former student now working for IBM

"The value of seeing a student in a ‘real life’ sales scenario is immeasurable." —Corporate partner in the tech industry 

"Students bring a new perspective and find value in things we had missed." —Corporate partner in the industrial chemical industry

For the IGS Energy case, Rapp says, his students came up with some solutions the company has since implemented. These solutions included the creation of brand ambassadors—finding students from different universities to help circulate information about IGS across their campuses, dorm sponsorships at college campuses that help educate students about energy selection, and social media ads and sponsored ads that target the millennial market.

Live cases are most impactful when the company is trying to solve a problem and is open to hearing a new perspective, adds Ogilvie, recalling a partnership with a company that was having trouble retaining millennial hires. “This company knew it had a problem with something in that onboarding process—employees were leaving after two years no matter what they did. By asking students this question, they gained insight into the next generation and the future of the workforce,” she says. “That’s what makes these more successful projects for both the students and the company.” 

“When students know they have to defend their choices to a real client, there is a level of ownership and involvement with the process that I’ve never seen students express otherwise.”  Jessica Ogilvie

How to Involve Companies: Chicken or Egg?

When planning live cases, is it better to first map out a curriculum or to start by getting a company involved? Rapp prefers to have at least some curriculum in place before deciding on and reaching out to potential companies.

“Companies are interested in coming into the classroom and talking to students. But if you don’t have a footprint, it’s tough to offer a lot of value to the company other than just getting into the classroom,” he says. “I find it’s the curriculum and the student piece first. And then you have something to show to the company to get them excited and motivated.”

In contrast, Rapp says when companies come in and try to build academic curricula, it can be too practical and lack the educational components such as the psychology and theory—the why—behind it.

Either way, it’s important to first determine what topic this live experience should address to ensure it’s applicable to the class. “We make sure it’s a relevant topic and we explain that [the company] needs to be on campus a couple times during the semester, that they are going to have to listen in and evaluate these presentations, and they will have to host us during a final presentation in front of their executive staff,” Rapp says.

The experience is written into the syllabus, and students are prepped beforehand. “They sign a student contract, so they know they have to execute on this process with an outside group,” he adds.

Prior to the company first entering the classroom to present the problem, Rapp gives an overview of the company and students do research on the company’s representatives. This ensures that students spend more time on the problem and have more meaningful discussions with the company.

Ogilvie also presents her live cases as semester-long activities. Companies present students with the problem during the second or third week of class. Each subsequent section of the course provides information students can apply to the live case question. “What you see is a more comprehensive solution with more creative and in-depth ideas,” she says.

“Live cases are most impactful when the company is genuinely trying to solve a problem and is open to hearing a new perspective.” Jessica Ogilvie

What to Know: Be Prepared

Without a teaching note or a textbook to rely on, professors who plan to use a live case must know what is happening in the marketplace and the business landscape.

“Once the company leaves, the students will ask you 100 different questions about the problem, the situation, and the things that were talked about in the classroom,” says Rapp.

It’s also important to be prepared, to add value, and to be relevant to students. “If you are not, students will see through it very quickly,” he says.

Rapp usually meets three to five times with different people at the company prior to the start of the semester to understand the challenges and where the problem originated. He also does his own research on things like competitors, pricing, and the company’s value proposition.

Live Case Teaching Tips

Build company rapport. With the companies you invite to the classroom, get their buy-in beforehand. Consider asking for a small financial commitment to make sure they are invested at every level. To gain access to budget, they need permission from other people within their organization—so once you have that sign off, you know you have their commitment.

Set expectations. Understand a company’s boundaries, what you need participants to do, and how engaged you want them to be with students. It takes a lot of time, effort, and involvement from them to make live cases successful. Lay out their involvement from the beginning. “Where some companies aren’t as involved or engaged, it makes a really challenging and painful experience for students,” says Rapp. “I’ve had others where the company was all in, and it was unbelievable. IGS was a great partner because they had representatives visit campus multiple times and were available to answer questions.”

Define the problem.  Define the business problem at the beginning of the semester and stick to that question throughout the term.

“When I craft live case experiences,” says Ogilvie, “my biggest thing is making sure there is value in the exercise—either in the experience or in the outcome, or ideally both—beyond the grade my students are going to get for it.” 

Adam Rapp is a professor of marketing at Ohio University’s College of Business and the executive director of The Ralph and Luci Schey Sales Centre. His research focuses on factors influencing the performance of front-line service and sales personnel. He has taught in and built sales institutes, and most recently developed an extensive curriculum around the topic of managing millennials and sales team performance.

Jessica Ogilvie is an assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration and associate director of the sales program at Marquette University where she teaches marketing and professional selling courses. She is also an area editor at the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management. Her primary areas of research include strategic issues related to frontline management, sales, and service topics.

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LIVE architecture: charkha

‘charkha’ by LIVE architecture in mumbai, india all images courtesy LIVE architecture

indian practice LIVE architecture (nuru karim) has sent us images of ‘charkha’, an 11-meter tall outdoor installation in cross maidan, mumbai, india. the winning entry in a monument design competition, the project draws from the ‘spinning wheel’ symbol promoted by mahatma gandhi to illustrate contemporary india’s spectrum of social and cultural dimensions.

composed of a series of triangular frames, the sculptural piece is a spatially dynamic structure that seemingly shifts in form depending on the viewer’s vantage point. three curving columns serve as the framework’s backbone, allowing the installation to cantilever in one direction before returning to the 9m x 9m base. each of the triangular units are individually unique, representing the notion of ‘unity in diversity’ as well as the nation’s richness of multi cultures.

developed using a digital applet, the spiralling gesture of a spinning wheel was explored with multiple parameters in play: diameter, density, speed, and geometries. once a self-sustaining structure was defined, the sculpture was prefabricated in six separate pieces before being assembled on site. while largely an abstract interpretation, the design represents the ideology of the spinning wheel and india’s sustainable progress through its visual motion and construction. 

project info:

area: 83.6 m2 weight: 22 tonnes height: 11 m

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Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear that the way we occupy our spaces must be re-envisioned. Could live-work buildings be the future?

Traditionally, people have lived where they worked. Examples include American Main Streets, British High Streets, and the Machiya in Japan, which allowed for a store, business, or workshop to face the street with living quarters above or behind. With the ability to transition the storefront into a private living space, the Machiya is considered the predecessor of the contemporary flex-space. Another example is the “top-shop” model, first introduced during the 17th and 18th centuries in Paris where workshops were found at the top level of homes. These attic floors would have large windows and skylights to bring in lots of natural light for workers while the living spaces were on the floors below.

For a period of about 100 years, the live-work model disappeared as urban planners addressed such issues as congestion, air pollution, and poor sanitary conditions brought upon different zones within a city by the Industrial Revolution. Working from home, or living at work, became in many cases illegal. In some places such as New York City, it wasn’t until the 1970s when laws began to change, as seen in the city’s “Joint Live-Work Quarters for Artists” zoning amendment.

The Influence of Disease and COVD-19 on Architecture

Throughout history, the built environment has transformed in response to psychological and physical reactions to disease. Likewise, there is a long tradition in architecture of retrofitting buildings for health and hygiene. For example, in New York City in 1832, a cholera outbreak attributed to the lack of clean water killed 5,000 people over the course of three months. In response, within five years, work began on the Croton Aqueduct as part of a complex regional system to supply enough water for indoor plumbing—an unheard of luxury before that time.

America’s first tuberculosis sanatorium opened in 1885 at Saranac Lake, in Upstate New York, where patients were encouraged to sit in wide, glass enclosed “cure porches” to take in natural light and fresh air. The idea of a sleeping porch or sunroom thus began to work its way into the architectural vocabulary of residential buildings from that point forward. As another example, with the onset of pollution problems created by the Industrial Revolution, local governments began to implement strict zoning laws that separated living and working spaces. This fundamentally changed how society developed as more and more people commuted to their work.

Today, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the way in which we occupy our spaces must be re-envisioned, as many find themselves working from home.

Design Opportunities

As  the COVID-19 pandemic has forced a large percentage of the professional population to work from home, many have realized that a remote office setup can be a long-term option. The sudden transition has proven to be surprisingly positive, but far from perfect. The nuances that allow live-work spaces to function best are undeveloped. Difficulties include lack of space for all family members, lack of appropriate utilities and storage, and less human interaction. The current challenge is to rectify these deficiencies while maintaining the merits live-work can provide.

For Residents, a live-work space provides the opportunities to improve their work/life balance by establishing clearly defined areas to separate work and home within the larger space. It also reduces commuting times and costs, can assist in equitably shared household tasks, and offers the flexibility for family members to be at home during business hours.

For Building Owners, renovations can be an opportunity to attract new tenants looking for contemporary amenities. For Developers of new properties, live-work options can add value to the unit types and round out the development offering. By providing a mix of residential units and commercial units, Developers can attract a wider range of potential tenants looking for different uses out of their spaces. For communities and local governments, the live-work option allows neighborhoods to be livelier and safer as areas with live-work are busy and activated both during the day and at night.

A Prototype

We’ve explored what a prototype for a new live-work unit could look like, designing a building that includes ground floor storefronts, duplex apartments with semi-private workspaces, and separate offices for residents.

To provide a range of options that would be attractive to tenants, three different types of work arrangements are proposed. There is ground floor commercial space similar to what you find in many buildings today. This model provides effortless access to businesses the tenants live above and allows for business owners to live above their storefront while living in a separate unit. The next model is a rear-facing flex space in each duplex unit that could be used as a quasi-independent office within the home. Many urban dwellers have been faced with the challenge of space and have resorted to their kitchen or bedroom dueling as an office. By offering a flex space for an office, it can easily be closed off during work hours and opened up when not in use to provide extra living space. The final model is offering separate offices on floors within the building that may be used either by the residents of the building or by other users. These office spaces can serve as the latest iteration in coworking spaces and can be used by the tenants as a new amenity or rented to people in need for a temporary office space outside their home.

To support a strong community within the building, a roof deck recreation space is proposed that may be used both by residents and commercial tenants of the building.

Looking Towards the Future

In the years ahead, cities will face some very difficult challenges. Spaces that seemed adequate before the COVID-19 pandemic will no longer function properly. The building lobby, the office, the restaurant, the grocery store, the apartment, even our green spaces will all require more permanent measures of separation and cleanliness. All of this will need to be done with great speed and with severely limited budgets. Despite the zoning hurdles, now is the right time to investigate live-work options. By starting conversations amongst people including building owners, developers, and local governments, we can begin to grow stronger communities and innovate the ways our cities are built.

• Future of work
• Katz Architecture
• live-work buildings
• New York City
• return to work
• What's Next?

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How partners by design integrates brand identity into the workplace, purpose driven design – central square foundation by lyth design.

• Written by Ankitha Gattupalli
• Published on November 12, 2022

In almost every Indian language, a colloquial term for “family” - ghar wale in Hindi, for example - literally translates to “the ones in (my) house”. Traditionally, Indian homes would shelter generations of a family together under one roof, forming close-knit neighborhoods of relatives and friends. The residential architecture was therefore influenced by the needs of the joint family system. Spaces for social interaction are pivotal in collective housing, apart from structures that adapt to the changing needs of each family. The nuanced relationship between culture, traditions, and architecture beautifully manifests in the spatial syntax of Indian housing. 

Housing in India is a complex phenomenon to understand as it is influenced by economic, social, environmental, and political factors. The country’s urban fabric is composed of informal settlements, residential colonies, and gated communities - homogenous divisions based on social and economic identity . Prior to urbanization, Indian neighborhoods were well connected and suited to people’s needs. Capitalistic motives in the construction industry have caused a separation between culture, community, and architecture.

Good architecture responds to the socio-cultural context of its location to promote communal living. Culture closely mimics a community's behavioral patterns that have organically evolved over decades. It offers an understanding of how people live meaningfully and operate in local networks. Architects are instrumental in creating culturally informed living systems. Four contemporary Indian projects demonstrate how spatial responses to social ideals can benefit people:

Versatility: Sublime Ordinariness Housing Project / DCOOP

DCOOP’s collective housing project draws inspiration from the vernacular chawl settlements found in western India . Typically, a chawl is a set of rooms strung together by a shared corridor that doubles as a functional threshold space. Such semi-open spaces are nodes for social interaction , offering refuge from the warm and humid climate.

Sublime Ordinariness responds sensitively to the cultural needs of the family and community in spite of spatial constraints. Each apartment contains non-denominational multi-purpose spaces that adjust to the family’s requirements. In Indian homes, activities are fluid and spaces tend to be used more organically. Families of varying densities can use this space for studying sleeping, cooking, or eating. 

The project in the outskirts of Mumbai seeks to establish community interaction and build a sense of belonging amongst residents. The threshold corridor space acts as a buffer between the indoors and outdoors. The kitchen has been positioned to overlook the corridor, enabling women - the primary homemakers - to socialize and keep an eye on their children from the indoors. 

Connectivity: Sanjaynagar Slum Redevelopment Project / Community Design Agency

In a warm climate like India ’s, the best place to be is outdoors and under the open sky . Courtyards are an essential vernacular element in Indian housing, forming a shared space for exchange. Located in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra the Sanjaynagar Slum Redevelopment Project houses 298 families in clusters organized around common courtyard spaces of varying sizes. In Indian houses, outdoor spaces are zones for daily chores like washing, cooking, or drying clothes, rearing domestic animals, and chatting with neighbors.

Located in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra the Sanjaynagar Slum Redevelopment Project aims to provide dignified and socially-sensitive residences for 298 families in the area. Community Design Agency designed the project to closely mimic the scale of the community’s initial settlement. Clustered settlements traditionally enhanced connectivity between people and man-made systems. When rehousing a community - especially of slum dwellers - it is important to keep their street-level socio-spatial connections intact to ensure their solidarity and resilience.

Diversity: Future Towers / MVRDV

MVRDV’s first project in India successfully responds to the country’s socio-economic needs, while presenting a new approach to housing. With a high degree of income equality, India’s urban populace is segregated into luxurious apartments and tightly packed ghettoes. The resulting urban fabric is fragmented and absent of social cohesion among different groups in society. Future Towers tackles this issue by providing affordable housing for diverse sections of the rising population in Pune, Maharashtra.

The vertical village holds 1,068 apartments of varying typologies to accommodate the full spectrum of the city's middle class. Apartment units ranging from 45 square meters to 450 square meters are scattered across the building to enable families with children, young couples, people living alone, and old people to mingle easily. Public courtyards and communal terraces promote interaction among neighbors. The building provides a breath of fresh air by standing out from the tall box-like apartments that dominate urban India. 

Flexibility: Incremental Housing Strategy in India / Filipe Balestra & Sara Göransson

With multi-generational living comes the need for houses to grow and modify. In India , families will add rooms, floors, or buildings to their existing homes to accommodate new family members from birth, adoption, or marriage. Taking cues from the traditional incremental construction and Charles Correa ’s Belapur Housing, Filipe Balestra & Sara Göransson have developed a replicable strategy for affordable housing systems. The contemporary project understands the family’s need to incrementally grow their residences as funds become available. Residents are given a sense of ownership by enabling them to customize their houses as they like.

This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: What is Good Architecture? , proudly presented by our first book ever: The ArchDaily Guide to Good Architecture . Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and projects. Learn more about our ArchDaily topics . As always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us .

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on September 12, 2022.

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This opulent Mumbai apartment is a case study in functional design

By Avantika Shankar

Photography by Niveditaa Gupta

Showcasing exemplary modular contemporary design, DIG Architects transformed a run-down 530-square-feet Mumbai apartment into a luminous luxury suite. Copper Cube Haus, which is located in an unlikely old building in the bylanes of Andheri, is a case study in creative problem solving, and an example of how good design is always ripe for the challenge. “The brief was pretty out of the box,” admits DIG Architects co-founder, Amit Khanolkar. The client is originally from Goa, but travels frequently, and has to transit through Mumbai very often. “He got tired of staying in hotels each time, and decided to get something of his own.” He acquired a small apartment in a nondescript building close to the airport, and was looking to convert it into a secondary transit home. “His idea was to create a kind of studio or lounge, where he could even conduct meetings from home,” says Khanolkar. The challenge, however, lay in making the most of the cramped, poorly-designed floor plan. “The apartment itself was a 1BHK, with a very linear layout,” explains Khanolkar. “The challenge was to open up the entire space, while making a bold statement at the same time.” Copper is the basis of the design palette, which is otherwise a wash of black and vitrified cementitious tiling. The copper cube, from which the project gets its name, is a copper sheet-clad kitchen unit that systematically partitions the living space and master bedroom. “We wanted to be somewhere in the vicinity of contemporary, dark, and a little industrial,” says Khanolkar. “The copper gets its importance because most of the materials around it are very muted.”

Copper is the basis of the design palette

In that vein, all architectural lighting was kept under 3000K colour temperature, which is yellow or golden, to give the copper its due. The result is a home that has the ambience of a plush hotel suite. “We try to be consistent in our design,” explains Khanolkar, “We know that with one or two materials, you can make a strong statement. It’s about designing responsibly.”

Living Room

The living room is furnished sparingly with a TV console, a sofa and a side table. In the centre, a table and arrangement of chairs doubles as a dining table or work-from-home table. A movable fabric screen, framed in aluminium, slides across the window—it functions as a curtain while allowing the overall volume of the space to appear seamless. A custom rug from Weavers Knot underlines the space, while a pendant light completes the arrangement. A large artwork, customised to compliment the volum etric theme of the house, provides a soft backdrop to the scene.

The focal point of the house is the kitchen, from which the project gets its name. The eponymous “copper cube” is a modular kitchen unit clad in copper sheets. The cube appears to be detached from the ceiling, thereby raising the visual height of the space and also making room for a ceiling-mounted air conditioner. All cabinets and shelves within the unit are also clad in copper sheets, and a copper inlay extends along the floor, thereby defining the cubic structure within the visual space. The front portion of the kitchen, which shares space with the living room, has been fitted with bar stools to provide additional seating. A slit in the middle offers visual connectivity between the kitchen and living room, making the unit appear more spacious. The walls around the cube are clad in black tiles that extend all the way to the master bedroom at the far end of the house. The top of the kitchen unit is wrapped in Barrisol, a fabric that distributes the light evenly across the copper surfaces. “It completely washes the copper and makes it more opulent,” explains Khanolkar, “The mood of the space is quite dark, so by using this Barrisol, we’re highlighting the primary theme, which is the copper cube.”

By Riddhi Doshi

By Divya Mishra

By Komal Sharma

Master Bedroom

A sliding door, cleverly concealed within the kitchen cube, can be pulled forward to create a private master bedroom that includes the master bath. “The doors don’t take up circulation space,” explains Khanolkar, “They disappear into the walls, so there is no visual interruption.” The master bedroom appears almost like a framed tableau, a birch ply-clad cube that is set within a thick wrap clad in black. The wrap makes room for concealed storage, both around and within the cube of the master bedroom. A full length mirror, a ceiling-height shelving unit and drawers within the base plinth make up what will function as the dressing area. The birch ply cube is the sleeping unit, fitted with a modular bed and a built-in side table, the base of which can be opened for additional storage. As in the living room, the only window in the master bedroom can be accessed by sliding back a framed work of wall art. The TV wall opposite the master bed is a fluted surface that also opens out to reveal additional storage compartments. “Smaller houses require this kind of utility,” insists Khanolkar, “and every square inch of the space that is available for storage and utility has to be made use of.”

The master bedroom appears almost like a framed tableau

The birch ply cube is the sleeping unit, fitted with a modular bed  

The theme of black is fully realised in the master bathroom, which is entirely clad in a mosaic of black ceramic tiles. White grouting offers a stern contrast, and gives the space “a digital look,” as Khanolkar describes it. “We were very minimalistic in our design for this space,” he adds, “The mosaic itself, which is busy, does the job.” Black granite shelves and a black ceramic basin enhance the palette. Copper accents appear as towel rods and racks, and the countertop which is entirely clad in copper sheets.

The theme of black is fully realised in the master bathroom

By Arya Chatterjee

Photography by PHOTOGRAPHIX INDIA

Photography by Harsh Lodha

By Barry Rodgers

Photography by Stories in Motion

By AD Staff

Architectural Case Studies – The struggles of architecture students.

• May 17, 2017

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Architecture is a dynamic course, learning isn’t based just on the text books it delves deeper, farther and way beyond the scope of those bound pieces of paper. The course in an endeavour to design the future with minimizing the mistakes of the past and yet continuing the legacy of the shared being of the human civilization. This makes precedence studies or what many of us call case study an inexorable imperative. Most, if not all architects must have gone through these things in their college lives. They must have faced the hardship of getting permissions, visiting the place again and again, eating the architect’s or supervisor’s head for the drawings.

I feel disappointed to say that none of those who had faced these troubles have ever tried to facilitate the next generations of students of architecture.

We are students not terrorists or a gang of robbers from the Oceans movie series, we are not going to use the drawings for figuring out the way to reach the multi billion dollar safe. In the remotest possibility had we been a gang from the Oceans movie series I am sure none of the hyped security arrangements could have stopped us from our goal.

Some would present a different argument on a supposedly higher plane of intellect, theft of intellectual property, well I am sure asking your own conscience the question “really?” would help a lot. I don’t wish to be disrespectful or too arrogant for a student but the truth is that your design is exemplary to be studied for good or for bad but extra ordinary in certain sense. Learning doesn’t end in college, the analysis that the students do may be helpful in the future so instead of troubling the students in the name of security concerns or intellectual property theft, try and facilitate them with drawings or details and go ahead and ask for a copy of their assessment or rather be a part of a healthy discussion.

The reason why I referred to asking the inner self regarding security or intellectual property concerns is quite simple and quite evident a scene in a country like ours. X’s father is a town planner so he is able to manage the drawings, details and the permissions to study a piece of design, Y’s uncle is a renowned builder in town so she is able to manage, my dad is nothing so I require a permission from the NHAI to study a toll booth, luckily I find some Z who gets us coffee served at the same toll booth. Why are people (including architects and builders) not open to the idea of sharing what they did, how they did, what problems they faced, what solutions they ended up with etc. Most of the cameras (if not all) are meant for photographing, a grenade wouldn’t be launched on pressing the shutter. Photographing a building isn’t going to be dangerous in any way, I am doing photography for quite some time now and I can assure you that.

Still not convinced, I have a question, how annoyed are you by the process of getting permits from governments for doing a project? Must have cursed the way of working of bureaucracy a thousand times. Is the attitude of not permitting the students (or at least not in one go) any different?

It’s a sincere request from an apparently cynical student of architecture to think about it and  bring about a change. For just this once say yes at the very outset of a request to study a building, for this once treat the fellow future professional with furniture details when he seeks the plans, for this once let him/her fill his her memory card with pictures of your building, for this once thank him for choosing your building before any other, for this once facilitate him.

A note from the heart of a Pulkit Soni, (then student of architecture) who feels ashamed in asking his father (a senior government official) for trivial things like seeking permission to study a building.

Though the article was written many years ago, much water has moved since then. I have graduated to become a practicing architect yet the difficulty in doing precedence studies remain. One thing I can now add is that we need to inculcate the culture of facilitating case studies not just for students but practicing professionals as well. Mutual learning helps the fraternity grow.

Pulkit Soni

• Architecture education , Pulkit Soni

One Response

One of the reasons why access to buildings to students is avoided is insincerety of students. The authorities of the building are also sceptical of students behaviour. Students need to learn how to behave in and around the building to be studied. Well disciplined and studious students get all cooperation from Authorities.

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