Precedent Studies
This week we bring to you guys a tutorial on how to effectively use your precedent studies. We have seen on countless occasions students smack a couple photographs on a page and call it a ‘precedent study’ but in reality… it isn’t. By the end of this post you will be confident in getting the most out of the projects you are taking inspiration from.
Let’s begin!
1. Resources
Before diving into the analysis and dissection of your precedent studies, you have to find the building you are taking inspiration from. Other than your good ol’ google search, there are great platforms dedicated to listing all the creations within the architecture world.
For general searches about the trends in the industry, ArchDaily and Dezeen come in really handy. Both platforms almost act like a wikipedia for buildings by sourcing you with the basic information, a bit about the architects and the design process along with photographs. Sometimes there will be technical drawings but do not depend on these magazine-esque platforms since they specialise less in sourcing orthographics and more in providing a flick through collection.
The Detail Magazine is a popular source for technical drawings amongst university tutors at our university. The platform is truly an amazing source when it comes to structurals for certain projects and the library is endless. You are bound to find what you are looking for. However if you can’t, it’s always worth a try to look at the architect's own website or having a thorough search through the RIBA online catalogue.
Architect’s Journal Building Library and the Divisare act as library searches for built projects. You can also find technical drawings, descriptions and simple data like the year the building was built. It is always best to search for the same building across all platforms because some may not have the drawings you need.
2. Selecting your Precedents
Choosing the right precedent to inform your project is just as important as the analysis itself. Whilst you can take inspiration from any other work of architecture, certain projects are more valuable than others when it comes to analysing them more thoroughly. Choose a precedent that closely follows the scale of your own project that you’re working on. A project that’s too large may mean that some design strategies are at too big of a scope to apply to yours. On the other hand, your project may require more complex design strategies than smaller projects out there. When it comes to designing the environmental aspects of your project, the location of your precedent is vital. For example, whilst certain sustainable materials may work really well in some parts of the world (e.g. bamboo, rammed earth), they might not be suitable for the long term if your site is based in the UK.
3. Research
When researching a precedent study you need to go beyond a basic online search. You can use available resources, as listed in the beginning of this post, to find specific information that will inspire or support your design ideas. The type of research you collect could consist of original orthographic drawings, concept development, details of the structure, materiality, design and construction processes. When researching you may also decide to use that project to justify your ideas and show that your design could actually be built. Once you have found the research, do not copy and paste the text directly onto your work, you need to summarise the most important points that are relevant to your proposal. You can also step ahead in presenting your research through diagrams or sketches. For example, it might be better to explain the circulation of a precedent through a programmatic diagram rather than a bunch of text.
4. Visit your Precedents
If possible, try to visit your precedent as this means you will be able to take your own photos and produce first hand sketches, as well as allowing you to experience the project for yourself. In doing so, this can help you to explain and communicate the factors of the building best shown in diagrammatic formats i.e circulation of people throughout, in and out of the building. This way you are able to create a first hand study of an existing project observing how it's occupied, which might be relevant to your concept. You get to see the building in motion and how it is occupied by people rather than freeze frame photographs taken off of google.
5. Draw your Precedents
There is a difference between adding photos of your precedent onto an InDesign file and an actual effective precedent study. There is only so much we can get from a set of photographs and technical drawings so why not draw it yourself. When you view a technical drawing that has been drawn by someone else, you are bound to miss a detail but once you redraw the same thing, you have this freedom to explore and reconstruct the design. You have the ability to move things around and see what works and what doesn’t. It is difficult to have this flexibility when you are constrained to a fixed drawing on a printed sheet of paper. You don’t necessarily need to redraw technical drawings but maybe envisioning what a certain space could feel like through a different medium; collage, film, perspective drawing, etc. The aim is to capture something or a moment which isn’t highlighted by simply looking at existing drawings or photographs.
6. Model your Precedents
Modelling the building you are studying can be incredibly insightful in aiding you to learn about the building structure and the organisation of space. Whether this is an analogue or digital model, involuntarily you need to think about the structure which gets you considering the technical elements and specific components. On the other hand if your precedent is focused on one aspect of your design idea such as translucency of the cladding, your model can be crafted as a massing model which focuses on material transparency. This process of modelling exemplary projects can lead to you creating concept models for your own design.
7. Reflect on it
Consider the value of your precedent as a whole. Whilst we should look to other real-life built projects as a whole, no work of architecture is perfect in all areas. Bear this in mind as you critically review your precedents. Eventually, you’ll take the best parts of the project to inform your own design. For example, did the users actually end up socialising in the communal spaces designed for them? Was the environmental design strategy actually effective once the building was built? Whilst you don’t need to include all this information in your portfolio or final presentation, it’s beneficial for your own understanding and own projects to take the successful aspects of existing designs and make them work even better.
8. The Don'ts
One of the biggest traps that students fall into when presenting a precedent study is giving a wikipedia fact sheet along with photographs. This is not effective for yourself or the panel you are presenting to. Usually, nobody really cares about when the building was built. Unless it adds to the ideas extracted from the precedent, then make sure to mention it but 90% of the time, informing the reader about the completion date doesn't add anything to the quality of your project.
Another mistake made by students is the misunderstanding of ‘precedents’. Some students feel the need to take a huge aspect of a project as inspiration. You do not have to be referring to the form or the material as the element you have been inspired by. It can be as simple as a certain foundation detail that you feel like incorporating into your project but do not feel pressured to have to link major aspects of your proposal to a precedent.
That brings us to the end of this blog post. Feel free to share with us your precedent studies on Instagram by tagging @archidabble and using the hashtag #dabblefeature
If you have any questions feel free to get in contact with us via email dabbleenquiries@gmail.com or on Instagram.
See you next week!
