sample question paper 2

TEST [revision + sample question paper]
5 th October 2011 ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH METHODS SEM I: 2011‐12
PART A
Read the research proposal given below carefully and answer the following.
Q1. What is unclear in the aim of the proposal? (5)
Q2. Critique the validity of the objectives in relation to the stated aim. (5)
Q3. What is missing and what is unnecessary in the introduction of the proposal? (5)
Q4. Critique each of the 3 points mentioned in scope and limitation separately. (5)
Research Proposal
Introduction: The need for shelter is as old as man himself. Since time
immemorial man has been trying to build a shelter to respond to his specific needs.
Society has become much more complex and this relation between needs and shelter
has changed. Culture is a very important part of any society. Different people have
different cultures and this is evident in the houses that they build. It is therefore
necessary to study this relation between culture and house‐form.
Patan, an ancient fortified town, was founded in 745 AD by Vanraj Chavda, the most
prominent king of the Chavda Kingdom. He named the city Anhilpur Patan or
"Anhilwad Patan" after his close friend and Prime Minister Anhil shepherd. It is
variously referred to in Sanskrit literature as Anahilpatak, Anahipattan, Anahilpur,
Anahilvad Pattan, Pattan etc. These Chalukya rajputs, with Paramaras of Malwa, the
Chauhans of Sakambhari and Chandellas of Kalanjar and Mahoba, were serious
contestants for supremacy in northern India. At the zenith of their imperial greatness
the bounds of Gujarat were extended to cover Saurashtra and Kutch in the West,
Lata in the South, Malwa in the East and Southern Rajasthan in the North.
Historian Tertius Chandler estimates that Anhilwara was the tenth‐largest city in the
world in the year 1000, with a population of approximately 100,000.
Aim: To study the physical form of Brahmin streets by understanding relation
between culture and behaviour
Objectives:
1. To understand the traditional Brahmin houses of Patan
2. To study how the soci‐cultural aspect affects evolution of house form
3. To study the issue of changes in the built environment
Methodology:
Initially the study will focus on understanding the concepts of house form, streets,
and space making elements through secondary sources. Study will try to understand
the place using secondary sources on Patan. This will be followed by a study of the
history of Brahmins through interviews and secondary sources, a study of culture and

TEST [revision + sample question paper]
5 th October 2011 ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH METHODS SEM I: 2011‐12
built form of streets through documentation, and understanding the urban fabric and
structure through observation.
Scope and Limitation:
1. This study is limited to the Brahmin streets of the old city of Patan
2. Only traditional buildings using old construction methods are selected
3. The main focus will be on the physical aspects and character of space only
PART B
Answer the following questions based on this thought process for conducting research.
I keep looking trees and I think that architecture and cities can be explained by
comparing it with a tree. Not all trees are the same; there are shrubs, flowering and
non‐flowering plants, evergreen and deciduous trees and yet they have so much in
common. I could also study it at various scales‐ leaves, twigs, and trunk; as various
systems‐ food and water cycles, growth and decay etc.; as form and pattern; or as
material and structure.
Q1. What, according to you, are the advantages of following such a thought process to begin
research? Suggest a substantially different way of starting research. (5)
Q2. State 2 different research topics based on this train of thought. The research is to be conducted
in the field of ‘built environment studies.’ (5)
Q3. Write the aim/hypothesis for one of the above mentioned research topics. (5)
Q4. Show one sample of analysis for this research. Analysis could be in the form of drawings,
diagrams, text, and charts. (5)