What is architectural research today and where is the ground?

Abstract

Why make large structures from rubber bands with students of architecture? How does such an endeavour relate to architectural education? And if rubber band structures are neither buildings, nor models of buildings, but experiments of some sort, what kind of knowledge do they generate relevant to construction industry and the built environment? These are some of the issues which have surfaced at the conference "ISSUES? Concerning the projects of Peter Eisenman" held in Belgrade in November 2013. They are related to a string of design research projects recently completed at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture and documented in the thematic volume of Serbian Architectural Journal titled "Architectural Education in the Post Digital Age" which was published independently but almost concurrently with the conference. In continuity with arguments given in that publication, this paper will provide a brief overview of some relevant and generally accepted theories and manifestos related to design research methodologies, providing grounds for the current work at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade.