SSAA Final Year Thesis

Architectural Thesis: An Invitation to Innovate The Bachelor of Architecture degree culminates in a final semester design thesis project. This provides a vehicle for students to reflect upon, consolidate, and extend the knowledge they have gained in the five years of the program. The thesis project is also an opportunity to demonstrate ability to pursue an independent and coherent line of investigation in an architectural or urban context leading to a design solution. The thesis project above all provides a space for innovation. Students could choose to engage with topics that have a potential to contribute to the development of architectural discourse and debate through innovations in programming, design, style, technological innovations or in any other aspect of the architectural design process. The projects should seek to be conceptually rigorous, and provide inventive responses to contemporary architectural issues. Students will demonstrate their ability to systematically develop an architectural/urban design agenda; pursue a coherent line of investigation; and undertake a range of complex design-based investigations leading to a comprehensive visual, written and oral presentation. The work will need to address a wider cultural context that identifies the key technical, environmental and social implications of the project. Scope of the Thesis: Students are required to set their own design research questions and parameters in consultation with an individual supervisor and thesis coordination faculty. A well done thesis opens up directions for future practice and research trajectories. In particular a thesis project should hope to achieve the following: 1. Demonstrate the architectural/urban relevance of the project and place it in a wider cultural context 2. Identify the key technical, environmental and social implications of the project and address these issues through programming, planning and detailed resolution of the building (or in the case of an urban design topic, in a masterplan or siteplan).

Students must have their proposal approved during the early formal presentations. A series of open presentations will be scheduled at different stages to give an opportunity to students to demonstrate their level of control over the process. The architectural thesis will be presented primarily in graphic form and defended orally before a critical jury. It will also be supported by a critical Thesis Project Report. As the final project of the architectural program, students need to demonstrate design competence and innovative problem solving abilities. However, time management, a crucial aspect of future professional life, will also be crucial as the project has to be achieved within a prescribed time frame. Timetable Students will be allocated guides based on their preference, matching of interests and availability.

SSAA Final Year Thesis

You should arrange to meet your guide at least once a week during the Design Thesis period. There are six further major thesis reviews with internal and invited critics each of which will provide feedback and advice.

January 2012: February 2, 3 & 4 2012:

Choice of guide, first presentation of thesis subject Review 1 Introduction to topic, program components, case studies and site assessment. Review 2 Preliminary Concept Review 3 Sketch Design Review 4 Design Development Review 5 Pre-final design including technical design Final Submission

February 27 & 28: March 19 & 20: April 16 & 17: May 7 & 8: May 25:

Thesis Project Report The Project Report is prepared in conjunction with the Thesis Design project and aims to summarise the architectural and intellectual content of a project. The report should include the following: A clear articulation of the projects objectives and questions. What questions were asked at the outset? A chronological account of events. How did the project evolve since inception An explanation of why the project has taken the chosen format (building design, urban design) and why this makes a useful contribution to architecture Project drawings including plans, sections, sketches, 3D images, photographs and maps. If necessary diagrams may be included to assist comprehension of strategy An evaluation of the key technical and environmental issues, together with a strategy for addressing them Consideration of the legal, regulatory framework of the context

SSAA Final Year Thesis

A conclusion, answering the questions posed at the outset.

Reports should be a combination of text and visual material and compiled in a way that allows reviewers to easily understand the relationship between your visual material and the text.

Thesis Coordinators: Dr. Sudeshna Chatterjee and Prof. Anurag Roy