Talk Architecture
Naziaty Mohd Yaacob is a dedicated Architecture Educator & Universal Design Advocate & Consultant with 28 Years of Academic Experience.
Began in April 2020, hosted by Naziaty, Talk Architecture engaged the listeners with deep conversations and reflections on architecture education and practice.
2025 series on "disability and architecture" and "women in architecture".
Talk Architecture
The Myth of the Research Framework in Design Theses - Part 3 (Conclusion)
The “research-framework” approach to design theses is a myth and must end.
Best industry preparation: give the entire studio one real, complex, shared urban site and force students to solve 10–15 genuine, layered design problems from day one. This final episode of a 3-part series explains how using two cases almost a decade apart.
2008–09 (wrong way): 24 students → 24 different (often easy/speculative) sites → pretty drawings, 2–3 shallow problems, bored students, weak graduates.
2019–20 (right way): one tough shared site (e.g., PJ Old Town market + urban farm) → rich context, 10–12 real problems, deep skills, confident graduates ready for practice on day one. Blog post on a context specific design thesis: https://designthesis.wordpress.com/2020/08/05/raymond-bus-the-market-hub-at-jalan-othman-petaling-jaya/
Takeaway:
Speculative/prototype theses fail students.
Context-specificity is not radical — it’s basic professional training. Every architecture school needs at least one unit doing it.
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