Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Justification of Research Approach
In San Diego, one particular building is losing value and becoming of great concern, the Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. Expenses for a previous retrofit and daily maintenance exceed revenue for the city. There is also concern whether the Chargers stay in San Diego. A new stadium is also proposed in Chula Vista or possibly Oceanside. This leaves the existing stadium and the city land it sits on questionable (sdnn.com, 2009).
The reuse and adaptation of buildings is beginning to increase (Kohler 2002), which makes the stadium a great opportunity to adapt and reuse. To develop a new design for the existing stadium research will be conducted to determine an overall function within the limits of this project. Research will include, but not limited to, variables in social, political and economic factors. Case studies will be selected based on conceptual and existing buildings of adaptive reuse.
The research approach will be mainly based through quantitative methods. The aim of the research is to carry out a preliminary investigation of building owners’ views about adaptive reuse and strategies for predicting the function of Qualcomm Stadium. The significance is that examining building owners’ views may identify specific needs and uses towards the urban context of Mission Valley. Analysis of these factors will identify the features that will develop an adaptable and sustainable new function for the stadium.
There are strengths and weaknesses through the quantitative research method. This method produces reliable data but can be very time consuming as supported by Siegle (1994). Through a deductive approach several surveys will be developed to drive respondents’ answers towards a specific function for the stadium rather than leaving ideas open. Quantitative measures conduct needs assessments or for evaluation purposes, compares outcomes with baseline data (Siegle, 1994). This method breaks down when the subject under study, such as the new function towards the stadium, is difficult to measure. The greatest weakness of the quantitative approach is that it decontextualizes human behavior in a way that removes the event from its real world setting and ignores the effects of variables that have not been included in the model (Weinreich, 2006).
Research will investigate building owners instead of the more traditional area of design, as the drive for sustainable buildings will come from clients of building projects. Kohler (2002) supports this because there is an urge by building owners to embrace sustainability. Kohler (2002) also justifies this approach with the argument that the building stock plays a minor role in the conscience of the architectural profession. A survey can gather data relating to this urge towards sustainability. It can include open and scaled questions to allow a full range of movement from general to specific comment and back again to maintain the interest of the respondents, thus creating a positivist paradigm (Siegle, 1994).
The survey is a preliminary stage of a program to research the effectiveness of adaptive reuse as a sustainability strategy for the Qualcomm stadium while generating ideas for the new function it will adapt.
Though adaptive reuse may not be the best solution towards the stadiums future intention, the quantitative research method will justify it as a great sustainable design approach.
The reuse and adaptation of buildings is beginning to increase (Kohler 2002), which makes the stadium a great opportunity to adapt and reuse. To develop a new design for the existing stadium research will be conducted to determine an overall function within the limits of this project. Research will include, but not limited to, variables in social, political and economic factors. Case studies will be selected based on conceptual and existing buildings of adaptive reuse.
The research approach will be mainly based through quantitative methods. The aim of the research is to carry out a preliminary investigation of building owners’ views about adaptive reuse and strategies for predicting the function of Qualcomm Stadium. The significance is that examining building owners’ views may identify specific needs and uses towards the urban context of Mission Valley. Analysis of these factors will identify the features that will develop an adaptable and sustainable new function for the stadium.
There are strengths and weaknesses through the quantitative research method. This method produces reliable data but can be very time consuming as supported by Siegle (1994). Through a deductive approach several surveys will be developed to drive respondents’ answers towards a specific function for the stadium rather than leaving ideas open. Quantitative measures conduct needs assessments or for evaluation purposes, compares outcomes with baseline data (Siegle, 1994). This method breaks down when the subject under study, such as the new function towards the stadium, is difficult to measure. The greatest weakness of the quantitative approach is that it decontextualizes human behavior in a way that removes the event from its real world setting and ignores the effects of variables that have not been included in the model (Weinreich, 2006).
Research will investigate building owners instead of the more traditional area of design, as the drive for sustainable buildings will come from clients of building projects. Kohler (2002) supports this because there is an urge by building owners to embrace sustainability. Kohler (2002) also justifies this approach with the argument that the building stock plays a minor role in the conscience of the architectural profession. A survey can gather data relating to this urge towards sustainability. It can include open and scaled questions to allow a full range of movement from general to specific comment and back again to maintain the interest of the respondents, thus creating a positivist paradigm (Siegle, 1994).
The survey is a preliminary stage of a program to research the effectiveness of adaptive reuse as a sustainability strategy for the Qualcomm stadium while generating ideas for the new function it will adapt.
Though adaptive reuse may not be the best solution towards the stadiums future intention, the quantitative research method will justify it as a great sustainable design approach.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Research Essay: Giving new life to a troubled building
Sustainable design is design that goes beyond just being efficient, recyclable, on time and on budget. It is a design that cares about how these goals are achieved and about its effect on people and on the environment. As future architects, we make a commitment to constantly try to find ways to decrease design's impact on our natural environment. It is also the fastest growing component of our industry.
Adaptive reuse is the process of adapting old structures for purposes other than those initially intended. When the original use of a structure changes or is no longer required, we as architects have the opportunity to change the primary function of the structure, while retaining some of the existing architectural details that make the building unique.
In San Diego, one particular building is losing value and becoming of great concern, the Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. Expenses for a previous retrofit and daily maintenance exceed revenue for the city (sdnn.com, 2009). There is also concern whether the Chargers stay in San Diego. A new stadium is also proposed in Chula Vista or possibly Oceanside. This leaves the existing stadium and the city land it sits on questionable.
By retrofitting the football stadium to take on a new functional responsibility for the public and private sectors, it can gain economic value and reintroduce the term sustainable design. This project will become an iconic building of architectural advancement through adaptive reuse and technological achievement.
To develop a new design for the existing stadium research will be conducted to determine an overall function within the limits of this project. Research will mainly include, but not limited to, quantitative studies through surveys. Case studies will be selected based on conceptual and existing buildings of adaptive reuse.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
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