Architectural Ethnography

This course aims to encourage students to investigate the relationship between environmental design and human behavior from a cross-cultural perspective, while recognizing their own perspectives. It adopts a transdisciplinary approach, incorporating architectural anthropology and utilizing various research methods such as visual ethnography, spatial analysis, and participant observation to explore the interactions among humans, non-humans, and the environment.

In the initial phase of the course, participants will embark on an auto-ethnographic exercise to kickstart their learning journey. Following this exercise, they will conduct fieldwork, review relevant bibliographic references, collect and analyze data to develop a preliminary research output. In the subsequent phase, students will collaborate in groups to synthesize the collected data, utilizing architectural drawings as a primary means of facilitating meaningful communication across diverse audiences.

Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to maintain a personal logbook to record their activities and reflections. This logbook should document each student's individual perspective on the challenges, opportunities, and relevance of employing ethnographic methods in architectural research.