2 : 2MASTER CYCLE
Semester 8
Architecture Research and Experimentation
S08-TRA-2-1: Research Seminar
Objectives
The three semesters of the seminar “The Existing: An Ecological Resource” aim to develop the following foundational research skills:
• Gain an accurate understanding of scientific research. Depending on the introduction provided during the bachelor’s program, the master’s program will focus on gaining a deeper understanding of research methodologies, their subjects, the conditions under which they are produced, and their fields of application, in all their variety. In terms of specific skills, students must be able to situate their research activity within different epistemological currents and characterize the various meanings of the term “research .”
• Conduct a state-of-the-art review. Conducting a state-of-the-art review involves identifying existing works, knowledge, and methods that shed light on a given issue, and evaluating their consistencies, contradictions, and complementarities. Students must therefore be able to analyze their reference material according to explicit criteria. Thus, the abilities to synthesize, analyze, and evaluate are inseparable. They enable students to assimilate previous work so as to integrate it into their own approach.
• Practice a scientific approach. Here, we consider that logical argumentation is the foundation of any scientific approach, regardless of the field in question, from philosophy to quantum mechanics. Since the ability to argue is constantly called upon in everyday life, research-oriented instruction must clarify and uphold the conditions for the validity of such arguments. Students must therefore be able to articulate their evidentiary framework, identify the descriptors and parameters of the phenomenon under study, and employ appropriate tools.
• Communicating scientific results. This involves being able to adapt the form of communication to the scientific nature of the content. It focuses on highlighting the soundness of the approach, the novelty, the scope, and the limitations of the results obtained. This skill cannot be developed without the two preceding ones, which include, in particular, the ability to synthesize information and the quality of argumentation. Finally, the specific content requires writing that clarifies the thought process, using precise and unambiguous terms.
• Understanding the research environment/integrating into a research dynamic. This competency involves being able to conduct research within a dedicated research context. This competency includes the ability to integrate into a research project with its constraints regarding objectives, resources, deadlines, and stakeholders. It also involves understanding the organization of research teams, knowing the variety of associated tasks—from responding to calls for proposals to strategies for commercialization.
• Gain an accurate understanding of scientific research. Depending on the introduction provided during the bachelor’s program, the master’s program will focus on gaining a deeper understanding of research methodologies, their subjects, the conditions under which they are produced, and their fields of application, in all their variety. In terms of specific skills, students must be able to situate their research activity within different epistemological currents and characterize the various meanings of the term “research .”
• Conduct a state-of-the-art review. Conducting a state-of-the-art review involves identifying existing works, knowledge, and methods that shed light on a given issue, and evaluating their consistencies, contradictions, and complementarities. Students must therefore be able to analyze their reference material according to explicit criteria. Thus, the abilities to synthesize, analyze, and evaluate are inseparable. They enable students to assimilate previous work so as to integrate it into their own approach.
• Practice a scientific approach. Here, we consider that logical argumentation is the foundation of any scientific approach, regardless of the field in question, from philosophy to quantum mechanics. Since the ability to argue is constantly called upon in everyday life, research-oriented instruction must clarify and uphold the conditions for the validity of such arguments. Students must therefore be able to articulate their evidentiary framework, identify the descriptors and parameters of the phenomenon under study, and employ appropriate tools.
• Communicating scientific results. This involves being able to adapt the form of communication to the scientific nature of the content. It focuses on highlighting the soundness of the approach, the novelty, the scope, and the limitations of the results obtained. This skill cannot be developed without the two preceding ones, which include, in particular, the ability to synthesize information and the quality of argumentation. Finally, the specific content requires writing that clarifies the thought process, using precise and unambiguous terms.
• Understanding the research environment/integrating into a research dynamic. This competency involves being able to conduct research within a dedicated research context. This competency includes the ability to integrate into a research project with its constraints regarding objectives, resources, deadlines, and stakeholders. It also involves understanding the organization of research teams, knowing the variety of associated tasks—from responding to calls for proposals to strategies for commercialization.
Content
While pursuing this educational objective, the seminar aims to serve as a forum for the generation of cumulative knowledge specific to the field of study, periodically resulting in high-quality scholarly publications. More specifically, each first-year master’s student is expected to contribute to a regional inventory (of techniques, buildings, urban forms, etc.) that is periodically redefined and critically examined. From the student’s perspective, this initial output will take the form of a document combining a standardized data sheet for one or more examples with their analysis in the form of case studies.
The theme selected for the years 2022–2024 is the characterization of Normandy’s built environment in terms of its suitability for future climates. Environmental concerns were already leading committed architects to implement the principles of eco-design, whose objective is to minimize the impact of buildings on the environment throughout their life cycle: combining a bioclimatic approach with the selection of ecological materials—minimally processed, transported over short distances, renewable, or reused—that minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite these efforts, established habits and profit-driven logic have limited the adoption of new practices, and it is clear that climate change is already evident. Assessments by local IPCC climatologists predict with near certainty an increase in the number and severity of droughts, floods, and heat waves. While interventions likely to reduce the risks associated with the first two are primarily technical in nature, architecture as a whole plays a greater role in mitigating the impacts of heat waves on well-being, health, and the economy.
Architects are therefore called upon to provide society with a better understanding of the potential of local architecture to cope with the increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves, region by region, microclimate by microclimate. To this end, it is necessary:
* to characterize local buildings in terms of summer thermal comfort
* identify urban heat islands, and more broadly, areas of heightened risk;
* propose intervention strategies by building type and location;
* assess the benefits and feasibility of a proactive policy regarding building adaptation.
The pedagogical approach involves working with students to develop the appropriate methodology to:
* inventory the building characteristics that influence summer thermal comfort
* identify major typological groups likely to exhibit similar behaviors
* collect data through observation and archival research and enrich the databases.
* Identify representative examples on which to conduct the evaluation of summer thermal comfort and the building qualities to be preserved.
Following an initial group effort to develop the methodology, each student or pair of students will be responsible for describing a sector of the urban area, so as to cover the full range of conditions (dates, density, microclimates).
The theme selected for the years 2022–2024 is the characterization of Normandy’s built environment in terms of its suitability for future climates. Environmental concerns were already leading committed architects to implement the principles of eco-design, whose objective is to minimize the impact of buildings on the environment throughout their life cycle: combining a bioclimatic approach with the selection of ecological materials—minimally processed, transported over short distances, renewable, or reused—that minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite these efforts, established habits and profit-driven logic have limited the adoption of new practices, and it is clear that climate change is already evident. Assessments by local IPCC climatologists predict with near certainty an increase in the number and severity of droughts, floods, and heat waves. While interventions likely to reduce the risks associated with the first two are primarily technical in nature, architecture as a whole plays a greater role in mitigating the impacts of heat waves on well-being, health, and the economy.
Architects are therefore called upon to provide society with a better understanding of the potential of local architecture to cope with the increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves, region by region, microclimate by microclimate. To this end, it is necessary:
* to characterize local buildings in terms of summer thermal comfort
* identify urban heat islands, and more broadly, areas of heightened risk;
* propose intervention strategies by building type and location;
* assess the benefits and feasibility of a proactive policy regarding building adaptation.
The pedagogical approach involves working with students to develop the appropriate methodology to:
* inventory the building characteristics that influence summer thermal comfort
* identify major typological groups likely to exhibit similar behaviors
* collect data through observation and archival research and enrich the databases.
* Identify representative examples on which to conduct the evaluation of summer thermal comfort and the building qualities to be preserved.
Following an initial group effort to develop the methodology, each student or pair of students will be responsible for describing a sector of the urban area, so as to cover the full range of conditions (dates, density, microclimates).
Evaluation method
Continuous assessment: 30%
• Attendance and participation:
• Interim assignments such as book reports, observation logs, research reports, and thesis progress reports:
Final assignment: 70%
• Oral presentation: 20%
• Written assignment: 50%
• Attendance and participation:
• Interim assignments such as book reports, observation logs, research reports, and thesis progress reports:
Final assignment: 70%
• Oral presentation: 20%
• Written assignment: 50%
Work required
Research report incorporating elements from S7, leading to the creation of standardized inventory forms
Hours
Lectures: 0.00
Tutorials: 42.00
ECTS credit
6.00
Coefficients
10.00