Assignment 5b

Proposal 5B

Research Methods To Develop ‘Bridges’ Brief

For one of my self- motivated projects, I chose to explore ‘Bridges’, concentrating on their structural build, their aesthetic appearance and their use as connections to get over waterways .My proposal for an alternative approach is to put more focus on primary and secondary research skills to tackle my original brief more diversely, developing my initial ideas and understanding further.

At the start of any design brief, I always begin by creating a mind map to collect together my initial ideas for research. Usually one idea sparks another idea, leaving me scope to go off on different routes as the project progresses. I would still use the mind map for this brief, adding new ideas as I looked at other research methods. A mind map helps to create a clear picture about how you are going to progress and which areas you are most interested researching into. At this point, I could further develop the topic by having a brainstorming session with friends, feeding off their ideas and adding these into my mind map. This would bring in other routes for researching which I might not have thought about. One idea could lead to several ideas to create a more developed and diverse study, for example, why bridges are built the way they are due to the land formation or their location, the environmental surroundings of a bridge including depiction of colours and what you can see through the architectural patterns of a bridge’s build. By using a variety of research methods, I could develop ideas from a mind map that were not so easy to tackle, instead of automatically going for options I feel more comfortable approaching. By looking into less obvious ideas, I feel I would get more interesting research from it.

Using the cross search tool would allow me to find appropriate resources in articles, journals or books. I could access diverse information on the topic, bouncing off ideas and also providing questions/answers from other people’s research and approaches to highlight an area I might not have considered before. Through such resources I could access historical information about bridges, information about design & construction and reasons for particular styles, because of the natural surroundings or usage. I would feel motivated by looking into other people’s research, another link to consider when creating my own brief. Reading extra literature would help broaden my understanding and encourage me to question and think more deeply about my own ideas on the topic. I might question why certain aesthetic materials were used and search for sources in connection to this. From using this tool previously, it does make you analyse more critically your own initial ideas and also introduces new ones for further consideration. This research method also provides answers to and results for specific aspects of the topic , for example the decisions taken on the type of architecture, the materials used to cope with vehicle weight and pressure, bringing in aspects of engineering, and the aesthetic appeal of the design. Although time-consuming, I feel using this tool would open up other areas to research and would be an effective research method to apply for this project especially as I have only a limited background knowledge of bridges.

I already use observation when carrying out any topic and in this topic I have already explored bridges and the surrounding environment to obtain good observational drawings and ideas to develop from. Taking more obscure photographs of the architectural build of different bridges, showing structural patterns, colour and surrounding landscapes, in connection with bridges of different times and styles would add an alternative approach. Looking at the different materials used to build rural bridges, compared to bigger urban ones would be interesting. The choice of materials would be related to the usage and weight on the bridge and through observation I could look at how this choice would affect the aesthetic look of bridges. I think videoing for a limited time to monitor usage of bridges as connections and to study people’s reliability upon them would also be interesting. Probably most people take for granted the importance of bridges in letting them reach their destinations more quickly and easily. The video would let me study their reactions and behaviour. It would be more valid to take video footage at peak travelling times to obtain most information. Previously when I undertook an observation, taking photographs helped to capture specific concepts I was looking into, which was useful to back up what I had said. Therefore, taking a series of photographs at the scene would allow me to capture valid observations, giving a sense of the place and atmosphere of where different bridges are, so the photographs would be telling their own story.

Conducting interviews would allow me to find out whether people really do take bridges for granted or whether they do realise their importance as connections to destinations. I would get varied opinions through Interviewing commuters and occasional travellers. It would be interesting to find out what they consider to be important aspects - the structure and design, the aesthetic look, including the surrounding landscape, ease of use- traffic jams /tolls, and the convenience of the service. I would be able to gather information about the importance of bridges in different locations. Would opinions vary for different bridges, for example busy urban ones compared to remote, quaint rural ones? From carrying out interviews previously, I have found people are willing to share their thoughts and by interviewing commuters as well as general members of the public I would be able to gather a range of opinions which would be useful to develop ideas from.

To conclude, by applying a variety of research methods, I would broaden my general knowledge of the topic and would be able to create a more diverse approach when developing my brief. I would get a lot of information from literature and images, but interacting with users through observation and interviews would add another dimension, which would be more meaningful for design issues, as their views would be important.