Case study or studying the case?

If we look back into the history,  the pattern of development of the cities, their architecture, we find one thing common all over the world. Many of you must have also noticed this before that each and every civilization/dynasty have been more or less 'inspired' by the previous one. In terms of architecture we see different 'ages' or 'periods' or 'styles' of architecture which have borrowed something from the earlier period. In my understanding of the subject, I find them as the earliest examples of a 'case study'. Why is case study important to design something?  In college, the things that we are supposed to learn are the 'basics of architecture and design'. I feel, the college is not supposed to and cannot teach you how to design a building/space. For this, you need to study a similar 'case'; a case which has been attempted and tried before. In some cases, it could be a masterpiece or on the other hand, a work which would let you understand 'what NOT to do'.

The Tree of Architecture
source : Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture

Lets take an example of an ongoing studio, the cultural center. Lets examine what you can learn from the college and what you can learn from a good case study - 

Then we come to the question, 'how many case studies are required for a particular design'? Answer would be, as far as I believe, in N-numbers. The second most important aspect of studying a 'case' is 'comparison'. Not all designs can be good, neither all can be bad! It all depends in how we perceive it. A particular space might give great experience to one person and could be horrible for another. It is very subjective and thus you need to look at as many examples as possible. Then, charting out the perimeters of your study based on which you will decide which space was good, better or bad. These perimeters are our day-to-day basis of rating a building. Once you are done with the rating you will have a vague idea of what a cultural center would be like. For this you might need to have a walk around the building. First, as a layman, keeping all your architectural instincts/knowledge aside. Just a simple walk. 

One of my presentation sheets for Thesis, showing the comparison of few of the important case studies.

Then at last is the experience of the user. Ask people who live in that environment daily. Prepare a questionnaire and dont ask dumb questions like "kaisa mehsoos kar rahein hain aap?" If you feel that the questionnaire is a tough job then follow the 'Reverse Q-chain' or the reverse question-chain.

The most exciting case studies of my college times was the Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur. I would put some light on it in another post as I dont want to overburden you with so much text in one post!

Happy studying the case!

For any queries, requests, suggestions or just to say Hi, mail me at ar.dishantbhatia@gmail.com