Mark Childs, Associate Dean of Research at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico, teaches Architecture 551: Research Methods, a course designed to equip graduate students in architecture with the skills to develop a research proposal.
While the class featured a lot more students and projects, below is a sample of some of their work.
Alaa Hamid obtained her undergraduate degree in architectural engineering from the University of Sudan. She obtained a Masters in Landscape Architecture at UNM and is currently pursuing a Masters in Architecture. She researched ways and means of integrating landscape and architecture education for better interdisciplinary education.
“Michaelangelo was the designer, architect and engineer of his projects. Look at his results, â€Hamid said.
When Hamid studied the landscape, she was curious about what architectural students were working on. “My goal is to collect and analyze different educational models in the form of case studies, while examining the best interdisciplinary practices to be able to understand the relationship between the two disciplines,” she said. Hamid asks how the problems of design studios can help reframe the way landscape and landscape architecture interact.
She noted that with more opportunities to interact and connect, students would be better prepared to enter the workforce where needed.
Sindhuri Patllola received his undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Hyderabad in India. She is preparing her master’s degree in architecture at UNM. His research focused on poor indoor air quality in a lumber manufacturing lab and what measures can help improve it.
“Indoor air quality can be affected by sawdust, paints and resin residue. Dangerous chemical compositions are released when used, â€Patllola said. She noted that the machines themselves can be a factor. “Every machine has an exhaust system that sucks in air. They remove the good and bad air from the room, â€she said.
His research proposal includes conducting interviews with those who use the machines and observations of each machine. His research revealed that best practices are established by the Renewable Energy Laboratory at the Department of Energy.
Brayra Lara and Ronald Rozelle go from inside the school to the wider community in their research proposals.
Lara was a Greedy student in California who met a recruiter from UNM. Her teachers told her that UNM would provide her with the support she needed to succeed in college. Lara came to UNM, graduated with a BA in Communication and Journalism, and is currently completing a Graduate Diploma in Architecture.
Lara tackled health and wellness initiatives within primary education. “Specifically, I was looking for how architecture and the built environment can help reduce obesity in K-6 children,†she said.
She explored everything from open playgrounds for physical education to home gardens and an “edible programâ€. “Farm-to-Table works with schools – it’s integrated into the curriculum and beyond through policy, planning and partnership,†said Lara. She said many factors, including socio-economic issues such as safe neighborhoods to play in and access to stores selling healthy food, contribute to childhood obesity.
Her research revealed that World Health Organization Health Promotion Schools strive to provide a healthy environment, school health education and school health services as well as school / community projects and schools. proximity activities. Health promotion schools also offer health promotion programs for staff, nutrition and food security programs, as well as physical education and recreation opportunities, with counseling, support and promotion. social and mental health.
“The WHO health promotion schools have been widely adopted and implemented around the world, but the only model in the United States is in California,†said Lara.
Ronald Rozelle retired after 20 years as a stockbroker in Denver and returned to his native Albuquerque to study architecture. The question of his research proposal is “What is the future of the gay district?” Rozelle will in fact be able to follow up on his research question because he is digging deeper into the subject for another course he is taking this semester.
Rozelle’s proposal is about the development and evolution of neighborhoods across the country that have come to be known as “gay neighborhoodsâ€. Before the 1800s, homosexuals were not ostracized. It was with the advent of the Victorian era that homosexuals were pushed aside, â€he said, adding that they were separated because the population allegedly displayed“ deviant sexual behavior â€.
In the 1920s, the areas became havens and a source of income. After World War II, the villages went underground “due to the emergence of the moral and political climate of“ red fear â€and religious evangelism.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the gay community reappeared after the Stonewall riots in June 1969, and “gay neighborhoods continued to provide security, protection, and economic means for the community to grow. ‘flourish,’ he said.
His research will explore the period from the 1980s to today within gay communities, who fought against civil rights to gain acceptance into housing, military jobs and beyond, while continuing the battle against HIV / AIDS.
Rozelle’s research also explores the present and future of the gay community to find out if there is still a need for gay neighborhoods and how they fit into the cityscape.
“Architecture requires a whole set of skills. Design is only one. Multiple research methods are also integral to these skills, which are necessary to be a good architect, â€Childs said.
