What
is
architectural
research?
Unpacking
a
research
project
A
monthly
lunch-hour
faculty
research
seminar
12:40-1:25pm,
free
pizza
provided
Format:
25-minute
presentations,
followed
by
a
20
minute
Q+A
The
purpose
of
these
presentations
is
look
under
the
hood
at
a
single
research
project,
in
order
to
understand:
- what the research question is,
- what research methodologies are used,
- how a project is funded,
- who participates in it and how,
- what the research findings are, and
- how those findings are disseminated.
The
objective
of
the
seminar
is
to
give
faculty,
students
and
staff
a
better
sense
of
the
breadth
of
research
undertaken
in
the
school,
to
demystify
the
process,
and
to
better
understand
how
to
get
involved
in
these
projects
or
to
start
new
ones.
Seminar
2:
Quality
of
housing
Date: February
27
Waterloo
Region
has
been
experiencing
a
boom
in
the
construction
of
high-rise
condominiums,
provoked
by
a
number
of
factors
including:
the
region's
location
within
the
urban
agglomeration
of
Southern
Ontario's
Greater
Golden
Horseshoe,
Canada's
high
immigration
targets,
the
Region's
knowledge
economy,
and
new
investments
in
local
and
regional
transit
that
have
increased
urban
connectivity.
The
rapid
construction
of
these
buildings
to
capitalize
on
their
profitability,
raises
serious
questions
about
their
environmental
and
social
effects.
They
constitute
a
significant
percentage
of
building
in
the
Region
and
their
construction,
operation
and
maintenance
will
contribute
significantly
to
the
Region's
greenhouse
gas
emissions.
These
buildings
are
built
for
the
growing
number
of
tech
workers
in
the
region
and
they
gentrify
central
urban
areas,
displacing
lower-income
residents,
while
doing
nothing
to
address
the
Region's
protracted
crisis
of
homelessness.
In
order
to
better
understand
these
problems
this
research
team
will
undertake
a
longitudinal
study
of
high-rise
buildings
built
in
the
region
in
different
eras
of
housing
in
order
to
better
understand
possible
futures
and
potential
failures
of
contemporary
buildings.
This
research
is
part
of
5
year
national
partnership
grant
studying
quality
in
the
built
environment,
with
14
research
sites
across
Canada.
Faculty
Research
Team:
Arfa
Aijazi
Mohamad
Araji
Andrea
Atkins
Adrian
Blackwell
David
Correa
Maya
Przybylski