Mastermind: CRASH (Conservation, Re-use, Architecture, Sustainability and Heritage)

Students work in groups on a selected case study. Each group is expected to present a coherent research result on the impact of architectural redesign. The research will be divided among group members, and each student chooses his/her domain in the case study.

The five domains are:

• Conservation, reveals the nature and impact of the architecture redesign concerning the building physical condition / deterioration, by comparing the building condition assessments, before and after the architecture redesign.

• Reuse, reveals the nature and impact of the architecture redesign concerning the buildings functionality (i.e. use, performance, behavior), by comparing the building functionality assessments, before and after the architecture redesign.

• Architecture, reveals the nature and impact of the architecture redesign concerning the buildings typology (e.g. style, form, proportion, geometry), by comparing the assessments of the building typology, before and after the architecture redesign.

• Sustainability, reveals the nature and impact of the architecture redesign concerning the buildings sustainability (i.e. social, economic and ecological), by comparing the building sustainability assessments, before and after the architecture redesign.

• Heritage, reveals the nature and impact of architecture redesigns on the buildings cultural / heritage significance (i.e. attributes and values), by comparing the cultural / heritage significance assessments, before and after the architecture redesign.

• Lectures: Students are offered a series of lectures on how to best code the nature and impact of architecture redesigns, and on the different domains (Conservation, Reuse, Architecture, Sustainability and Heritage).

• Seminars: Two seminars are organized for the students, including a series of lectures and discussion. Seminar on research invites researchers to showcase state-of-the-art research related to the domains. Seminar on Practice invites practitioners from heritage, architecture, consultancy, as well as local government to share their experiences in redesign projects.

• Tutorials: Two tutorials are offered to monitor and give feedback on the progress of their research. The students will meet per project, as well as per domain to discuss their research with the tutors.

• Self-study: The students are expected to be proactive in doing the research and preparing the assignments. Field work include but not limited to: archival research, conducting interviews with stakeholders, building survey and document analysis, etc.

By the mid-presentation, students should have collected all the data needed to perform the analysis.

By the final presentation, students are to present their research results (codes) in pecha-kucha format. The code of the architect will be revealed and compared to the one defined by the students.

By the end of the course, the students will compile the research in a written report.