The Dissertation A Guide for Architecture Students

The Dissertation is one of the most demanding yet potentially most stimulating components of an architectural course. This classic text provides a complete guide to what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and what the major pitfalls are. This is a comprehensive guide to all that an architecture student might need to know about undertaking the dissertation. The book provides a plain guide through the whole process of starting, writing, preparing and submitting a dissertation with minimum stress and frustration. The third edition has been revised throughout to bring the text completely up-to-date for a new generation of students. Crucially, five new and complete dissertations demonstrate and exemplify all the advice and issues raised in the main text. These dissertations are on subjects from the UK, USA, Europe and Asia and offer remarkable insights into how to get it just right.

Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 1.01 Why Write a Dissertation? 1.02 The Handbook 2 Starting 2.01 What is a Dissertation? 2.02 Selecting a Dissertation Subject 2.03 Assessing a Dissertation Subject 2.04 Choosing and Working with a Supervisor 2.05 Writing a Proposal 3 Researching 3.01 What is Research? 3.02 Historical and Critical Methodology 3.03 Research Techniques 3.04 Libraries and Archives 3.05 The Internet 4 Writing 4.01 Structuring a Dissertation 4.02 Working Methods 4.03 Illustrations 4.04 Referencing 4.05 Bibliographies 4.06 Plagiarism 4.07 Submitting a Draft 4.08 Word-Processing 4.09 Alternative Dissertations 5 Presenting 5.01 General Presentation 5.02 Illustrations 5.03 Computer Software 5.04 Assessment Criteria 5.05 Oral Examinations 6 Afterwards 6.01 Further Research and Study 6.02 Publications 6.03 Troubleshooting 7 Dissertation Examples 7.01 Joseph Godlewski, "Alien and Distant: Rem Koolhaas on Film in Lagos, Nigeria." 7.02 Ocean Howell, "The ‘Creative Class’ and the Gentrifying City: Skateboarding in Philadelphia’s Love Park." 7.03 Mairi Johnson, "Once Upon a Sign: Relationships of Architecture and Narrative in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum." 7.04 Joanna Rapp, "A Geometrical Analysis of Multiple Viewpoint Perspective in the Work of Giovanni Battista Piranesi: an Application of Geometric Restitution of Perspective." 7.05 Amy Thomas, "‘Mart of the World’: an Architectural and Geographical History of the London Stock Exchange."

Iain Borden is an architectural historian and urban commentator. He is currently Vice-Dean for Communications at The Bartlett, University College London (UCL), UK,where he isalso Professor of Architecture and Urban Culture. He graduated from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1985 and went on to complete a masters degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA,and anothermasters degree anda PhD at UCL. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Katerina Redi Ray is Director Emerita of the School of Art at Bowling Green State University, USA. From 1996 to 2002 she was the Director of the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. She studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London, and has a masters and a doctoral degree in architecture from the University of London. She taught architectural design and theory in the UK at the Architectural Association, The Bartlett and Kingston University before taking up her positions in America.