Architectural Thesis Manual

Architecture Thesis Manual
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“If I had to teach architecture....I would strive to inculcate in my pupils a keen

sense of control--unbiased judgment and of the “how” and the “why.” I would
encourage them to cultivate this sense till their dying day. But I would want them
to base it on an objective series of facts. Facts are fluid and changeable
especially nowadays, so I would teach them to distrust formulas and impress on them
that everything is relative.” --Le Corbusier
FOREWORD
Your THESIS is the one project that should integrate all your learning in your 4-
year (or so...) stay in BS Architecture. It is suppose to justify your right to
graduate. So, you will have to dig into all the knowledge that you have acquired
(architectural and otherwise) to come up with a project that is not only feasible,
but is also believable and distinctive. It begins with a problem, and ends at
finding a solution to that problem. This is not an easy task. With a series of
research works and evaluations (and reevaluations... and probably more research
work), you need to come up with enough proof that your solution is right. But
that’s getting ahead of the job... Right now, you are faced with one big problem.
That is, HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THE PROBLEM? But before we get into that, you have
to choose a certain topic first. This will help you narrow down the number, the
extent and the magnitude of the problem you want (?) to solve. SUGGESTED PROBLEM
AREAS 1. Formulation or development of a project that does no exist yet 2.
Generation of useful technical data or technical properties of new material or
process 3. Improvement of existing knowledge 4. New application of an existing
knowledge 5. Comparative study of two or more entities or development of an
improved version of an existing one 6. Physical development of a research work 7.
Documentation
CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING A TOPIC OR PROBLEM 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The research topic must be

one which YOU selected. It must be within your interest. It must be within your
specialization. It must be based on your competence to tackle the necessary work.
It must be within your financial capability.
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6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
It should have definable limits to suit your available resources. It must be

researchable and manageable. It must be completed within a reasonable span of time.
Its solution must require original, critical and reflective thinking. It must be
significant, important and relevant to the present time and situation. It must
contribute to the national development goals for the improvement of quality of
life. It must contribute to the Institute’s “body of knowledge.” It must not
undermine nor compromise the moral and spiritual values of the people. It must
advocate changes in the present order of things. It must offer some kind of return
for your efforts. It must not involve any hazards such as physical, social or
legal.
These criteria, by the way, are not the only bases for your selection. You may have
some criteria of your own that will help you decide.
PROPOSING A PROJECT When you have already set your mind on a certain topic or
problem, the next step is to find out its physical application. Your thesis, after
all, does not just involve research. Most of the time, the topic or problem chosen
must be translated into a structure or a set of guidelines. Here are some questions
to help you determine what kind of project you may carry out to interpret your
research. 1. What are your interests? Do you know of any organizations or groups
that support your interest? They may have possible projects. 2. Do you know of any
possible proposal by a government agency and unit which you can further develop? 3.
Are you aware of any new concept, technology or project which may be tested for
feasibility in local application? 4. Again, you may have other bases that you might
want to add to these. Now that you’re set at zeroing in on the topic and the
project that you want to work on, it might be really useful in the future to list
them down. Read and reread them. If one does not sound good to you, maybe it does
not deserve to be in the list. This means you will have to wrack your brains one
more time to come up with another one, but then again, it has a big chance of being
better than the one you struck out, right? To further assist you in the final
decision, you can use a table such as the one shown in Figure 1.
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CRITERIA 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. availability of data personal interest financial

capability time requirement etc. … …
Project 1
Project 2
Project 3
Rating: 1 - Poor 2 – Fair 3 – Good 4 - Very Good 5 - Excellent
Figure 1. Selection of Project Please note that this exercise is not part of the
book, but for sure you would do things like this to ease your way. After all, the
acceptance of the responsibility of undertaking “whatever” is needed to meet your
goals is the most important part in selecting a topic, aside from truly
understanding every purpose, scope and requirements of the project. Lastly, here
are some basic rules in writing your thesis. In this exercise, it is not enough
that you know the data, have analyzed them and made your own conclusions based on
them. It is also very important that you know why and how you should present such
data on your thesis book. DOs AND DON’Ts in writing your paper: 1. Don’t ever copy
text from any published works. That is a capital offense in thesis writing. In case
you don’t know it yet, you could be jailed for that! Write in your own words. Your
comprehension of the things you write can only be shown by your ability to
summarize reports. 2. Don’t include photocopied texts in your book except as an
appendix. 3. Do acknowledge and cite your source. This applies to all possible data
sources including personal interviews. This will save you a lot of effort in
explaining some concepts that are not really your own to begin with. 4. Do read and
check your work. Checking includes grammar, spelling and composition. Remember,
it’s always nice to be short and sweet. ☺ 5. Do include pictures, graphs, maps,
charts and sketches. Architecture is a visual medium so always reinforce your ideas
with figures. Of course, there should be proper captions. Make your reader
understand the significance of that graph that took you hours to make! 6. Don’t use
abbreviations, and unnecessary acronyms and contractions. 7. Do make the effort to
introduce new ideas, new chapters, etc. This will create a smoother flow of your
discussions. 8. Don’t be afraid of computers. They will facilitate editing and help
you come up with better visual presentations.
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CONTENTS
THE THESIS BODY
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION A. The Problem and Its Setting a. Background of the Study
b. Statement of the Problem c. Architectural Thesis Goals/Objectives/Strategies d.
Scope and Limitations e. Purpose/Relevance/Significance of the Study f. Assumptions
g. Definition of Terms & Concepts B. C. D. E. Review of Related Literature and
Studies Theoretical/Conceptual Framework Methodology of Research Bibliography
PRESENTATION OF DATA
Chapter 2.
A. Data Management a. Present Condition b. Primary Data c. Tables and Graphs B.

Case Studies a. Scope and Delimitations b. Case Studies c. Summary and
Recommendations Chapter 3. ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION A. Situational Analysis a.
Identification/Assessment of Needs b. Restatement of the Problem c. Recommendations
B. The Site a. Background
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b. c. d. e. f. g.
Site Selection Criteria Site Selection and Justification Site Analysis SWOT
Analysis Baseline Studies Factors and Issues Relevant to the Site
C. Behavioral Analysis a. Activity Flow Diagrams b. Environment-Behavior Studies c.

Interrelationship Analysis D. Viability Studies a. Technical Viability and
Environmental Impact Assessment b. Legal Viability c. Financial Viability d. Design
Proposal
Chapter 4. A. B. C. D.
PROGRAMMING
Behavioral Analysis Interrelationship Analysis Qualitative Analysis Quantitative

Analysis
Chapter 5. SYNTHESIS A. Design Philosophy B. Design Goals & Objectives C. Design

Concepts D. Design Parameters Chapter 6. TRANSLATION
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chapter 1. INTRODUCTION
A. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING a. INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
This is the part that is supposed to give the reader a clear idea of what your
thesis is all about. Remember, clear idea. So you cannot just go discussing
anything you come across without understanding how it relates to what you want to
achieve in the end. Here are some of the points you have to cover to make sure that
you are writing your Introduction properly. A proper Introduction will give the
reader a strong strong vision of the direction you want your project to take. 1.
Present the problems and concerns which brought you to choose to work on your
proposal. You should do this without using the word “I” and without presenting your
proposal just yet. 2. Inform your reader of the present scenario -- the
unsatisfactory conditions and the problems that you feel need to be solved (and
that YOU can actually solve ARCHITECTURALLY). These would include such aspects such
as technical problems; absence/incompatibility of present site; need for proper
planning; need for recognition of potentials; etc. Make sure, though, that you
stick only to the relevant factors. Try not to lose focus so early, okay? 3. State
the reason/s why it is necessary to conduct the study which will lead to your
solution. This is sometimes called the “RATIONALE” (which is also a tip: this is
where you rationalize what you are doing. Why in the world must you do this!? Will
it make the world a better place?) 4. Does your problem have a historical
background? Most problems do. Trace it. Then present it clearly and coherently. But
be careful about delving too much on the historical context. Once you've connected
the historical events with present developments and the problem at hand, move on.
5. Ask yourself these questions: Do you have a clearer and deeper understanding of
the conditions pertinent to your problem? Do you want to find a way to solve it? If
there are already existing ways of solving it, are you interested in going the
extra mile to come up with a better solution? If your answer to these questions is
a resounding “YES!”, then tell your reader so (again: do not use “I” and do not
actually address your reader). All you have to do here is convince your reader that
your project is worth your effort and the reader’s attention. 6. Describe the
conditions of your study locale. You should do this in an informative manner which
is not too technical for readers with no
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background in architecture. And you should do this whether the locality is being
used as a source of basic data or a targeted site for application. 7. Wrap up.
Before you start with the next part, make sure that you have linked all the things
you’ve discussed. Do not leave the reader wondering where on earth you got the idea
of conducting this study. If you can come up with a clever parting statement here,
then by all means, DO!
b. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This is composed of a GENERAL STATEMENT of a MAJOR PROBLEM and SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
or SUB PROBLEMS pertaining to your thesis topic. If you have formulated them in the
Introduction, you only need to repeat them in this section. Since you will be
focusing on several RESEARCH TOPICS, you may be able to come up with different
specific needs that may be addressed by your thesis. The specific needs that you
have identified are supposed to make your project unique from other studies. Let
your reader know this by stating your problem in a SIMPLE, CLEAR and DIRECT manner.
c. ARCHITECTURAL THESIS GOAL/OBJECTIVES/STRATEGIES

ARCHITECTURAL THESIS GOAL There is one very important word here and that is
“ARCHITECTURAL.” You can begin “selling” your project here by defining what kind of
STRUCTURE you want to see in the translation of your study. A brief description of
the outcome could also help so that a conceivable “image” may be formed. Keep in
mind that you are doing an architectural thesis. Refrain from devising PROGRAMS for
the operations of your project. OBJECTIVES Objectives are more SPECIFIC targets
which eventually leads to the attainment of your architectural goal. You may want
to group them by certain categories as determined by your goal, or arrange them
according to importance. For time-specific objectives, a chronological arrangement
may be more advisable. Though you haven’t defined your conceptual and theoretical
frameworks at this point, you must have a clear idea of what their basis would be
(clue: RESEARCH TOPICS?). Therefore, make sure that your objectives are consistent
with the topics that you want to work on. Again remember the keyword:
architectural! STRATEGIES Strategies are simply particular actions you have to do
to achieve each specific objective. Forget about architectural for a while and
focus on RESEARCH WORK. What do you need to know, study, research on, survey,
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observe, estimate or program in order to create a body of knowledge that will lead
to meeting your objectives. It would, therefore, be more comprehensible if you
follow the succeeding outline in stating your thesis goals, objectives and
strategies. GOAL OBJECTIVES 1. STRATEGIES 1. 2. 2. STRATEGIES 1. 2.
As you enumerate the objectives and strategies, keep checking their relevance to
your goal. If you do not see a direct relationship, scrap the objective before you
get carried away identifying the strategies. And please be consistent with your
sentence structure. If you begin the GOAL and the first OBJECTIVE with “To +
verb....”, use the format until you ran out of objectives to state. Strategies are
a totally different thing. They are structured in the imperative form (the better
to scare you into doing them, perhaps?).
d. SCOPE and LIMITATIONS

SCOPE OF THE STUDY It is very important that you state in the clearest manner
possible the coverage of your study and project. To do this, you must first ask
yourself what you need to do and why you need to do them. Once you’ve identified
these you can again categorize or group them to gauge the task better. Let’s say
you will be covering a lot of investigation with respect to the site. Identify what
you need to know as required by your project. Then let’s say again that you also
have to conduct deeper research about your thesis topic/s. Do you know why? Of
course, you do. Write your purposes. Elaborate if possible. Then let’s say further
that you’ll be conducting case studies. What will be your subjects? What will you
be looking into? Will it be the locale, the users, the activities, what? Then (as
you may have already guessed) you have to explain why. Then let’s say you stop.
Good. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Most researchers make the mistake of using this part
of the paper to state simply what their project will NOT be about. But then again,
who said that you are like most researchers? You’re not, right? Right. So make this
a statement of the constraints or limiting factors that might affect your research,
and therefore, the final output. Some examples would be budgetary limits (don’t we
all have
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this??), unavailability or inaccessibility of data, and of course our favorite

excuse: time constraints However, these limitations are determined only to keep
your study at a realistic level and in no way should be used as an excuse for
personal shortcomings or blocks in the outcome of the project.
e. PURPOSE/ RELEVANCE/ SIGNIFICANCE OF THE THESIS

Who will benefit from your studies? How can this study be of any help in fostering
a better architecture? These are few of the questions you have to take into
consideration in writing the significance of your thesis. This may deal with the
social, economic or cultural aspects of the project. You can even combine or
address all of the aspects if you like. But HOLD IT! Do not think of yourself as
some kind of a God who can actually SOLVE the problems with your thesis in blink of
an eye. You can not alleviate poverty nor improve the whole bureaucratic system
through your study. But it can be a TOOL. ( and it MUST be a tool if that is what
you aim). Always keep in mind that you are an architect, not a psychologist,
sociologist, physician nor a politician. And so you must always direct your
discussions on the ARCHITECTURAL aspect of your work. Oftentimes, you are carried
away by the description drawn from the client’s project proposals and thereby
forgetting the architectural contributions you want your project to have. Example,
if you are working on a Rehabilitation Center for Drug Dependents, you will not say
that your thesis can actually heal these addicts. Instead, you can state your
possible contributions, as an architect, to meet this concern.
f. ASSUMPTIONS
The thesis, though a theoretical exercise which need no immediate application,
should however be as REALISTIC and ACHIEVABLE as possible. It would only mean that
you will be dealing with assumptions which will support your study and give
substance to your work. These may be conditions where you base your study that need
some validation through key informants you have interviewed. Your client’s name,
the possible funding source, the organization who will run the proposal and the
likes are examples of these. Your assumptions can be of great help when dealing
with programming and cost analysis Further, it can bring your project into a more
realistic sense and create a more formidable framework for the design.
g. DEFINITION OF TERMS and CONCEPTS

One caution in doing this: This is NOT a mini-dictionary. And so you are reminded
that you will just write words that you believe are TOO TECHNICAL for your readers.
Do not include terms which are only unfamiliar to you. You might end up doing a
list of terms for you and not your readers.
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The following are some guidelines in writing an effective definition of terms: 1.

Only terms, words or phrases which have special or unique meanings in the study are
defined. Example: Learning areas may be defined as a classroom, but may take
another meaning as to what your study is all about, say a laboratory or a drafting
room. 2. Terms should be defined operationally, that is, how they are used in your
study. For instance the study is about accessibility. What do you mean by
accessibility? To make the meaning clear you have to define what covers the term,
essential for a clearer understanding of your study. 3. You may develop your own
definition from the characteristics of the term defined. Thus, a house made of
light materials may be defined as one made of bamboo, nipa, buri, etc. This is also
an operational definition. 4. Definitions may be taken from valid sources.
Encyclopedias, reference books, magazines and newspapers are samples of these. And
hey, because these are printed and published materials, you need to acknowledge
them in any form possible. Definitions taken from these kinds of materials are
called conceptual or theoretical definitions. 5. Acronyms should always be spelled
out especially they are not commonly known or if they were used for the first time.
You may be using and typing the same long meaning of Department of Environment and
Natural Resources for a hundred times or even more along your work. So don’t you
think DENR would be a better alternative? 6. Use simple words in defining your
terms. It would be more complicated if you will not, and therefore building another
bulk of things to be defined. 7. Definitions should be as brief, clear and direct
as possible. Need we say more?
B. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

When you have already established your scope, you probably would have also known
the coverage of your thesis. Hence, you are ready to define varied literature
related to your study. These are summarized versions of articles, researches,
writeups and other thesis works which are somehow related to your topic(s). The key
here is simple. The more you read, the better! And therefore the easier for you to
visualize and understand the needs of your work. This would also help you know
where will you take-off. Having known what were already written and published, you
will then have the idea where would you start your study. Will it just be a
continuation of an existing project? Will you just be pushing a new theory related
to those previously stated? Or is it a totally new project with totally new
concepts related to the existing ones? To help you further understand, here are
some guidelines on citing related literature.
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1. Materials must be as recent as possible. New learnings are discovered everyday.

Your piece of literature may be true and relevant today but not in the next months
or years. It is not that changes occurs that abrupt but developments may arise
which may have altered the theories presented on your researched literature. 2.
Materials must be as objective and as unbiased as possible. You have to avoid
material which are obviously and extremely siding an organization, group or an
individual figure, whether political, religious or otherwise. 3. Materials may not
be too few or too many. It is always best to know where and when to stop. Maintain
a balanced presentation of literature, just enough, not to overwhelm your readers.
In an undergraduate thesis like yours, ten (10) pieces of literature for review is
recommended.
C. THEORETICAL/CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Your thesis is a research-based thesis. It means that you are supposed to formulate
ideas based on your gathered facts and information to later on be applied to a
specific project. To know the applicability of these theories, it is essential that
you create a framework. Something which will bind your thoughts into one concrete
THRUST-- where ALL your inputs as well as your outputs will be based. Usually, your
research topics correspond to these. You must always remember that these topics are
supposed to be supportive ideas in the development of your study, if not the main
end of it. This will be the part where you will inform your readers if there is a
theory you want to prove e.g. a limited area can affect the behavior of a drug
dependent, or a concept you want to test say, a moving space is best suited for the
healing mind. You might wonder what the difference between a theory and a concept
is. According to Homans (1967), a THEORY has three basic components (1) conceptual
scheme (2) set of proposition stating relationships between properties or variables
and (3) context for verification. Your Architectural Theory of Design subjects (AR
273 and 263) clearly state this as a relation between two properties, in the given
example, space and behavior. Theories have been subjected to further studies by
various people and yet they are still something that can be verified. Your thesis
can be a supportive study and a test if the theories presented are really true. A
theory is something which already has a proponent. It means that a person before
you had already proposed this theory and other people have been verifying this as
well. Therefore, your framework should be based from a proponent and the
consolidation of studies made as well to see the extent of verification done.
CONCEPTS on the other hand are just ideas or concrete expression of terms (see
chapter on concept). These may be based on your OWN ideas and NOT coming from
another researcher or proponent. If your research topic will be working on this
type of a framework, then you have to state so. Yes, this may sound a little bit
confusing and difficult at first but you have already done this before, haven’t
you? You are just to organize and give your work a more solid basis by stating the
theories and/or concepts and HOW will you go about this. Again, these may just be
part and parcel of the research topic or the entire thesis.
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D. METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH
In any research, it is not only important that you know WHAT to do but more
essentially HOW you will do it. The methods of research (check your AR 483) will
help you with this process. You see, this is an organized table or framework which
explains the step by step process of doing your study. You can choose from a number
of methods used in an architectural research (descriptive, analytic or a
combination), you have to enumerate them and elaborate and explain as well why are
you using them. If it is an interview: with whom? why?, etc. If it is a survey:
what type of questions will you be asking? How were you able to establish them? And
so on and so forth... It is also recommended that you prepare a WORK PLAN. This is
a synthesis of your plan and how are you going to conduct the study. a. SYSTEMS OF
INQUIRY b. RESEARCH DESIGNS c. RESEARCH TACTICS
E. BIBLIOGRAPHY
This is the list of references (books, magazines, interviews, etc.) you have
consulted in the development of your book.. Here items are arranged alphabetically
regardless of the articles a, an and the. You may provide bibliographies for every
chapter and have them listed at the end. You can break down a rather long
bibliography according to topics or type of publication, but you have to maintain
an alphabetical arrangement within each section. Remember to put the authors’
surname first, then the first name and middle name or intial (if any). Separate the
major elements with a period. Page numbers are only necessary if the source is an
article, but if it is a book, you need not indicate them. The following are some
examples of possible sources and the manner by which you should include them in the
Bibliography. 1. Bibliography style for a book by one author Jodidio, Philip.
Architecture Now. Cologne, Germany: Taschen GMBH, 2001. 2. For a book by two
authors. Use commas to separate names. Kirk, Stephen J. and Spreckelmeyer, Kent F.
Enhancing Value in Design Decisions. New York: Random House, 1993. 3. For a book by
three or more authors. Use semicolons to separate names Dacanay Jr., Julian E;
Encarnacion, Rosario S; and Perez III, Rodrigo D. Folk Architecture. Quezon City:
GCF Books, 1989. For when there are more than three authors, you could include the
names of all the authors, space permitting, or use and others or et al. Bradock,
Richard, and others. Research in Written Composition. Urbana, Ill.: National
Council of Tecahers in Englih, 1963. 4. For a book by an organization US Department
of Commerce. Pocket Data Book USA 1976. Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing
Office, November, 1976.
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5. For a book by an author with a pen name. Use the pen name of an author if that
is what the title page shows. No need to supply the real name. 6. For a book with
the author’s name not given • name known but not given on the title page [Nesmith,
Eleanor Lynn.] Instant Architecture. New York: Byron Preiss Visual Publication,
1995. • name involves guesswork [Nesmith, Eleanor Lynn?] Instant Architecture. New
York: Byron Preiss Visual Publication, 1995. • name is not given nor ascertainable
(do not use anon. or anonymous) Air Pollution Primer. New York: National
Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Asscociation, 1991. 7. For a book with editor,
compiler, or translator in place of author. Editor or other term is abbreviated and
places after the name. Devoto, Bernard, ed. Mark Twain: Letters from the Earth. New
York: Harper and Row, 1962. Cromley, Elizabeth Collins and Hudgins, Carter L., eds.
Shaping Communities. Knoxville, Tennessee: The University of Tennessee Press, 1997.
8. For a book with editor, compiler, or translator in addition to author. Author’s
name first. Place the name of the editor, compiler, or translator after the title
Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Edited by Henry Nash Smith. Boston:
Houghto Mifflin Co., 1958. 9. For a book edition, series, or volume. Himstreet,
William C., and Baty, Wayne Murlin. Business Communication: Principles and Methods.
7th ed. Boston: Kent Publishing Company, 1984. Churchill, Winston E. The Second
World War. 6 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1948. Mencken, H. L. The
American Language. 4th ed., corrected, enlarged and rewritten. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1986. Mencken, H. L. The American Language. Supplement 1. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, 1986. 10. For a book in a reprinted edition. Data on the reprinting
publisher are given after the data on the original publisher. Bierce, Ambrose. The
Devil’s Dictionary. Neale Publishing Co., 1911. Reprint. New York: Dover
Publications, Inc., 1958. 11. For an unpublished work (thesis, manuscript, book in
draft). Title is placed in quotation marks and is not underlined. The word thesis
or a similar term is used to label the work Dela Cruz, Juan. “Revitalization of the
City of Malolos.” Undergraduate Thesis. Bulacan: Bulacan State University, 2001.
12. For articles. Give title of article in quotation marks, title of periodical
underlined, volume number and issue number and date and the inclusive pages that
the article appeared on Lacayo, Richard. “Buildings that Breathe” Time Magazine.
(September 2, 2002), 60-62. • With newspapers, it is sometimes necessary to give
the section number or name with the page number Clines, Francis X. “The Mother
Tongue Has a Movement.” New York Times (June 3, 1984), 8E.
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13.
14. 15.
16. 17.
Corwin, Miles. “A City with Its Own “Official Language.’” San Francisco Chronicle
(May 19, 1985), Punch, 3 • For when an article is continued Lacayo, Richard.
“Buildings that Breathe” Time Magazine. (September 2, 2002), 60-62, 83 For a work
cited in another work. Walpole, Jane R. Why Must the Passive Be Damned?” College
Composition and Communication. 30:3 (October, 1979), 251. In Bush, Donald. “The
Passive.” Technical Communication, 28:1 (First Quarter 1981) 19-20, 22. For
government documents. Follow the style shown for a book by an organization. Use the
style appropriate for the number of author/s For a computer software program. •
Include the name of the writer of the program, if known. • Underline the title of
program • Label Computer Software neither underlined nor enclosed in quotation
marks. • Include name of distributor and the year of publication. • Separate items
with periods, but place between distributor and the year of publication. • Add any
pertinent information like the computer for which the software was designed, the
number of units of memory, and the form of the program For an on-line information.
This is treated as a printed material, but with a reference to the source/site at
the end of the entry. For repeated Bibliography items. When several works by the
same author are listed in sequence, you may repeat the author’s name, or use a line
of 5 hypens in place of the author’s name.
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chapter 2. PRESENTATION OF DATA

Architecture is not in the empty building, but in the vital interchange between
building and participant. - Cesar Pelli (1926 - ) Argentine-born U.S. architect. A.
DATA MANAGEMENT
After drawing a clear introduction and orienting your readers with the particulars
of your thesis, you are supposed to give them the “meat” of the book in this
chapter. You are to give your readers a comprehensive report of the facts you have
gathered during the course of your research. However, you should be careful on what
to present. This is not a mere tally nor collection of data. Presentation involves
organization. To give you a clearer picture, you may do the following suggestions:
1. Segregate the facts from the concepts. You probably know now what the difference
is between these two. Factual data are those information based on what is existing,
something which is of truth and reality. Conceptual data may be written ideas which
you could use as basis for your study. It is necessary for you to know this so as
you would determine which data can be processed and what are not. 2. Recognize what
data to present. You might be tempted to present several bits of information or a
huge number of knowledge about the topics you are studying. DON’T. Analyze the
articles, tables, etc. and their relevance to your thesis. Ask yourself. Are these
really helpful? Are these important? Can I do without them? You see, not because an
article or a clipping tells you about your topic, it would automatically qualify
and be accepted as data. 3. Organize your data. It would be necessary to have
proper sequencing of the data you will be presenting. Sequencing would mean
developing your data presentation from the simplest to the most complex ideas. It
would also help if you would relate topics after topics so that you would establish
the links between them, to later on be connected to the main thing. Alright, you
may be a bit lost about that, but here’s a more comprehensible way of looking at
it. The following is a detailed discussion of the types of data to be presented and
the manner it should be presented.
a. PRESENT CONDITION
It is inevitable to come up with basic data about your proposal. These come in
statistical form. You may have to come back to your good old junior year in high
school to be able to understand this. But hey, haven’t you done this before when
you were doing your research methods a year ago? Yes, this is as simple as showing
factual data to your readers, whether in textual, tabular or graphical form.
15
However, you have to take note that these are “statistical” data and so these are
data, already processed, initially, by the agency where you got them. Population,
vehicular volume and Growth in Rice Production are just few samples of such. 1.
DEMOGRAPHIC DATA Present and Projected Population Population Distribution by: Age,
Sex, Religion, Educational Attainment, Employment, Income Urban-Rural Population
Distribution Population Density Growth Trends Literacy Rate Household Size Number
of Dwelling Units by: Type of Construction Materials, Structure, Ownership 2.
PHYSICAL DATA Macro-Site Data Political Boundaries Area and Land Uses Climate
Adjoining Areas and Uses Access Micro –Site Data Boundaries Area Land Use
Topography/ Landform Water Bodies and Quality Orientation in relation to solar
paths and wind paths Vegetation Flora and Fauna Visual Resources Existing
Structures 3. SECTORAL DATA General Public Services This covers the administrative
systems of the municipality, e.g., organizational structure, policy development and
information management. This also includes the local government’s financial and
fiscal administration. Social Services This encompasses education, culture, sports
and manpower development; health and sanitation, nutrition and population policies;
housing and community development; social welfare, protective services and
recreational facilities of the municipality. Economic Services This covers
agriculture, trade and industry, tourism, labor and employment; existing and
projected uses of and demand for land; projected income and employment
opportunities; direction and pattern of growth of agriculture and industry.
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Physical Infrastructure
This includes the inventory of roads, transportation, communication, sewage and

drainage, power, telecommunication, drinking water, solid waste disposal, transport
terminal, traffic management.
4. INDUSTRY PROFILE
This consists of pieces of information relative to particular industries or aspects

of the economy. Following are some examples of industries that need to be studied
relative to a number of thesis topics.
Industries The housing industry Thesis Topics Subdivision development Community
development Housing components and materials Commercial development Pharmaceutical
Facilities Hospital Complex Sea Port development Multi-modal facilities Industrial
development Production Centers Food processing plants Historic town renewal plans
Information Technology Centers
The retail sales industry The health care industry The transport industry The
manufacturing industry The food industry The tourism industry The telecommunication
Industry
Some of the basic data that make up the industry profile are the following: •
Current Standards of Operation • Accomplishments and Shortfalls vis-à-vis industry
targets • Administrative/Organizational, Technical/Technological, Problems •
Outlooks or envisioned future business environments • Players and Leaders in the
Industry • Competition and Competitive Advantages • Opportunities for Improvement
b. PRIMARY DATA
Primary data come from original sources. They are not commentary about the topic,
but rather consists of information that must be commented upon by succeeding
topics. Tactics that may be used to gather Primary Data include interviews,
listening (to symposia, lectures), focus groups, surveys and observations
(participatory, nonparcipatory).
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Tactics Interviews
• • •
Interactive In-depth interviews Key informants interview Career histories • •
Non-interactive
Listening Focus Groups • • • • • Discussions guided to test in small groups

Participants help construct the right questions Multiple sorting Projective surveys
Participant observation
Symposia Lectures
Surveys Observation
• • • •
Non-participant observation stream of behavior Chronicles Field notes Visual

mapping
c. TABLES and GRAPHS

You may have already identified these tables and graphs at the beginning of your
book, but you might be wondering where these will appear. If you think that they
will all come in a single bulk in just a single chapter, think again. This chapter
may contain most of these figures but you are free to present some whenever the
need in certain discussions arises. We are architects and so these graphs and
illustrations will always be our most effective tools in expressing our thoughts.
Now, the question you might have in your mind is what are these tables? What about
these graphs? A statistical table or simply table is defined as a systematic
arrangement of related data in which classes of numerical facts or data are given
each a row and their subclasses are given each a column in order to present the
relationships of the sets or numerical facts or data in a definite, compact and
understandable form or forms. Now, you may probably recognize a table when you see
one, right? A graph on the other hand, is a chart representing the quantitative
variations or changes of a variable itself, or quantitative changes of a variable
in comparison with those of another variable or variables in pictorial or
diagrammatic form. There are some advantages of using a graph over a table. These
are: 1. It attracts attention more effectively than tables, and, therefore is less
likely to be overlooked. Your readers may skip tables but pause to look at charts.
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2. The use of colors and pictorial diagrams make a list of figures in thesis
reports more meaningful 3. It gives a comprehensive view of quantitative data. A
moving line exerts a more powerful effect in the reader’s mind than the tabulated
data. It shows what is happening and what is likely to take place. 4. Its general
usefulness lies in the simplicity it adds to the presentation of the numerical
data. But graphs have disadvantages as well as advantages. They are generally
inaccurate, incomplete, more expensive and time consuming. Further, graphs can only
be made only the data have been tabulated. Listed below are the varied types of
graphs you may encounter: 1. Bar graphs a. Single vertical bar graph b. Single
horizontal bar graph c. Grouped or multiple or composite bar graph d. Duo-
directional or bilateral bar graph e. Subdivided or component bar graph f.
Histogram
2. Linear graphs
a. b. c. d. e. Time series or chronological line chart Composite line chart
Frequency polygon Ogives Band chart
3. Hundred percent graphs or charts a. Subdivided bar or rectangular bar graph b.

Circle or pie chart 4. Pictograms 5. Statistical maps 6. Ratio charts You might
just be copying these tables, graphs and charts as part of your presentation of
data. But don’t you think it would be more fruitful on your part if you’ll be doing
these by yourself? Why not? You might have already gathered your data and so you
are in the right position to process them yourself and show your readers these data
as you understand them. Come on, you can do it.
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B. CASE STUDIES
This chapter is actually an extension of your Research Data. The difference is that
with Case Studies, you are analyzing existing related structures, groups,
localities and situations and you might be getting information that may not be
available in textbooks or previous studies. This is especially true for local cases
that may have some connection with your project. Focus, however, should be on the
variable that may be difficult to determine without actual reconnaissance. Do not
forget that you are the one who has the best understanding of your project and what
information you need from the case studies. That simply means that it is also YOU
who can conduct the studies most effectively. If you need information regarding
structures or scenarios abroad (especially if you want to determine the
applicability of certain theories and principles to the Philippines), you can use
secondary data. It is best, in this case, to come up with at least one local study
(besides the foreign one) so that it would be easier to determine the applicability
and feasibility of foreign concepts in local settings.
a. SCOPE and DELIMITATIONS

As you study different cases, it would become evident to you that each structure,
user group, locality or situation is made up of several variables. A study of a
municipality, for instance, could cover its physical, cultural, historical, social
and economic frameworks. But not all of these may be relevant to your project. So,
you have to state in the SCOPE all the specific concerns that you will focus on.
You also have to discuss the extent of work that you will cover in regard to these
elements. To further clarify matters, you can discuss all those concerns that you
will NOT be covering in the DELIMITATION. This will give your reader a more
simplified view of what to note in the cases under study.
b. CASE STUDIES
Each case study can be presented by first explaining how they are related to your
project. You can discuss the situation by dividing it into sub components and
presenting their respective merits. If you think that sketches, maps, graphs and
photographs would help you explain them better, then use them to support your data.
Just remember to provide proper captions or else, they may be useless. Lastly, you
have to make sure that all the specific concerns are discussed properly, and their
relevance to the project stated clearly. It is also advisable that you choose cases
that are related to your thesis in distinctly varied ways. One case study may be
concerned with a project similar to your proposal and another which employs a
technology which is comparable to what you are proposing. You might also be able to
draw more reliable conclusions by studying both local and foreign cases. At least
three TOPICS for study would be ideal -- a study of similar user groups, a study of
a case similar to the project (local and foreign), and a study of
20
the current trend/s (local and foreign) pertinent to the project. It might also be
useful to include a failed case that used the same technique or was intended for
the same user group. Even failed cases are helpful in your research as they give
you a fairly good idea of what NOT to do. However, please take note of the word
TOPIC. This does not mean that you have to limit your case studies to three also.
c. SUMMARY and RECOMMENDATIONS

This is where you correlate and summarize all the factors that you have studied to
see their implications to the project. You can end this chapter by recommending and
endorsing concepts and approaches learned from the case studies according to their
suitability to your project.
C. RESEARCH TOPIC (or you can write the TOPIC TITLE)

A research topic is something born with your thesis. Ideally these topics should be
thought of before the project since these are basically the things of your
interest. But of course, we don’t want to be too idealistic here, and so they may
come together as a package, with the source of your project hooked on these topics.
In selecting a research topic, you should look into your thesis project and see the
possible requirements or kind of character which will make it unique or increase
its architectural value. In other words, being the “soul” of your book, this
section will give your readers a great deal of what they will be reading as they go
along with your thesis. These research topics do not only explain the essential
things about your study but clarify as well the theoretical or conceptual framework
you mentioned in Chapter 1. This would require you to write the applicability of
these topics to your project and so you should be wise in selecting the topics. Be
very specific. Focus. How will you do this? First, you have to orient your readers
why you choose the topics as your focal points of study. You can very well do this
by reiterating the roots of your problem(s). You have to go back to the background
you have presented in Chapter 1 and stress the need for the topics to be studied so
as to have a clear solution, in the end, to the problems posted in your statement.
THE RESEARCH BODY This is the thorough discussion regarding your research. This
should contain studies, approaches as well as trends (of course acknowledged)
relative to your topic. But don’t be misguided. A common mistake here is that the
contents of the research body are lifted from published work, completely! This is a
big no-no! Any data or information appearing on this part will have to be processed
and quoted. Discussions should be paraphrased and again – for the nth time –
properly acknowledged! The information should be brief and discussions well-
organized. Again, the key is focus. If for example you are to discuss behavioral
analysis as a research topic, do you need to write everything about behavior
including the psychology of the human mind if your only concern is the behavior of
a child? Just to inform your readers about the basic, why not? But the meat of the
discussion should be on the psychology of
21
children. Focus! You may also want to mention cases and examples, but you must not
discuss them fully as you would be required to do in the Case Studies. APPLICATION
It was mentioned earlier that your research will not have any value or significance
unless you connect it with a project which will manifest the studies made. This is
the part where you relate your topics with your project. Let us continue our
example on the behavioral analysis. It will be pertinent to note not only the
theories on behavior but its application to the architectural sense as well. You
may have to study theories on perception, color and space to support your
documented research when applied to the “real thing”. Again, you have to be
specific. Bear in mind that what you’ll be writing should be something which will
give your readers a clear understanding of your thesis and not confuse them. So go
straight to the point. However, you will not stop when you have given the
application. You still have to cross examine these data. Check on its economic
feasibility and other areas you might think is appropriate for study.
This lecture was compiled from the following references: The Far Eastern University
Architecture Thesis Manual Guide for Writing the Master of Architecture Thesis,
University of the Philippines
22
3. ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION OF DATA
A. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS a. IDENTIFICATION/ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS
If you think that it is enough just to gather and present your data think again.
They will have no value unless they can be related to the project. What you have to
do in this chapter is “sift” through the information that you have presented in the
previous chapters and come up with those that can serve as a basis for further
developments. With the theoretical foundation that you’ve laid out in Chapter 1 and
the factual components that you’ve presented in Chapter 2, you can very well
analyze WHAT REALLY NEEDS TO BE DONE. But remember, the needs you identify here
should always be ones that can be satisfied by ARCHITECTURAL SOLUTIONS. Otherwise,
discard them or process them so that although the root may be social,
psychological, physiological, etc., the expressed needs and requirements are
architectural.
b. RESTATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Okay, so you might think that we’re going back to Chapter 1 here. This time, you’re
right. At least, in a way. You have to reread the Statement of the Problem you
formulated with only preliminary information and high hopes. You have the facts
now. This time, they should anchor your thoughts to the ground. Your situation can
have you viewing the problem in a new light. You might need to come up with a NEW
STATEMENT. Just don’t veer too far from what you have previously stated. Keep this
in mind: new view but not necessarily new problem. If, on the other hand, all the
facts just reinforced the problem you stated in Chapter 1, do not feel compelled to
change your statement. All you have to do in this case is to RESTATE it. That
simple.
c. RECOMMENDATIONS
So, you have made the problem clearer and more specific than before. What do you do
now? That would be what you will be discussing in this section. This may be a
statement of what structure you have concluded is necessary to solve the problem.
If there are concepts and theories that need to be studied and discussed further so
that you could arrive at the most effective design solutions, you have to present
them along with your recommendations. Same goes if you think that there is a new
design approach which has to be developed and used for the proposal.
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B. THE SITE
It must be our primary concern as designers to find the most ideal combination of
function and location. We might struggle to create a very well-contrived plan but
if the structure juts out like a sore thumb in its location, all the programs we
use and the designs we produce can come to nothing. For this chapter, you will have
to conduct several types of studies at several levels to come up with the best site
for your proposed project. The extent of what you will discuss here will depend
basically on how important and influential the choice of site is to your project.
Your focus should be on the appropriateness and feasibility of possible sites to
the intended use. And to determine this, you have to conduct comprehensive analyses
of the characteristics of the site and its surrounding areas. Of course, in the
end, you will have to indicate how these factors and attributes will affect the
project. There are several topics to be covered in this chapter. However, this is
once again NOT a standard thing. You can add relevant topics but make sure that
each one will be discussed clearly and thoroughly. a. BACKGROUND With a reliable
knowledge and a vision of your project proposal, you can now determine its
requisite site requirements and the possibility of having to seek for alternatives.
Your site may be given, but that does not mean that you will have a lighter
workload than if you have to look for one. At this point, at least acquaint your
reader with your situation (or predicament?) and what you plan to do about it. If
the site is given, brief your reader about pertinent matters in regard to it
(location, size, etc.). If it’s not, don’t whine. Just tell the reader so and give
him an idea of your game plan for your quest.
b. SITE SELECTION CRITERIA In this section, you will have to discuss what features
of a site -- both natural and built -- are best-suited to your requirements. It is,
therefore, a huge advantage if you can coherently state the character of your
project, the site attributes that it requires and why. Don’t worry. The “why?” is
quite easy to answer. Did you get them from a textbook? Did you so brilliantly come
up with it on your own? Are you following standards set by a government agency? Or
is it all of the above? Once you have stated your answer, discuss each criterion
intensively. And voila! There’s your SITE SELECTION CRITERIA. Some points may be
helpful here: 1. Be specific. Avoid vague statements such as “big enough”, “should
be accessible”.... 2. Stick only to the criteria that are most relevant to your
project. Timedistances relations, for example, may mean the world to one project
and have no effect whatsoever on another.
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3. Be realistic. Do not seek qualities that would be impossible to find. Yes, that
makes a location on top of a snow-capped mountain here in the Philippines totally
out of the question!
c. SITE SELECTION and JUSTIFICATION

So, let’s say that you were lucky enough to find three possible sites for your
project. Start by pointing out their favorable and unfavorable aspects by BRIEFLY
discussing each one. It might also simplify the work if you can try to evaluate the
sites’ merits using a rating system (1 for severe limitation, 2 - moderate
constraint, 3 good condition, 4 - excellent condition). Then, select the most ideal
one. This is the site that could meet the project requirements with the least
modifications. Try to see if the score in the rating system validates your choice.
The table on Figure 2 is a very effective tool in selecting the best possible site
for your proposal.
d. SITE ANALYSIS
Although the Site Selection Process has already given your reader an idea about
your site, deeper analysis is still needed. This is usually done in two levels --
the MICRO SITE ANALYSIS which studies the specific area within the property
boundaries and its immediate environs; and the MACRO SITE ANALYSIS which includes
the examination of the site environs up to the horizon (sometimes even beyond). In
this analysis, the condition of various factors such as utilities, natural
elements, climate, infrastructure and sensuous characters are presented. Of course,
a discussion of how these factors affect your project always follows. It is
sometimes very tempting to limit the discussion of the effects to the most obvious
and conspicuous. But since an extensive analysis should be involved, it is possible
to learn how each factor influences the project at a deeper level. There will be
times, too, when you would feel like you have to LIE about some of the factors.
Please DON’T. Your site needs not be perfect. Ideal, yes. But perfect? Not really.
If some important elements are absent in your site, say water system, tell the
truth. They might sound like big limitations now, but in the end they will serve
you better as useful design determinants. So, the more honest you are about them,
the better.
e. SWOT ANALYSIS
To most designers, a tabulated SWOT analysis (defining its STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES,
OPPORTUNITIES and THREATS in relation to your project) may be the best visual guide
to the analysis. It can give your reader an idea of how suitable the site is to the
project with just one look. It will also enable you to relate these aspects to each
other so that you can have a clear idea of your site’s potentials as well as its
imperfections.
25
Figure 2. SITE SELECTION CRITERIA From Landscape Architecture: A Manual for Site
Planning and Design By John Ormsbee Simonds New York: Mc-Graw Hill, 1998
CRITERIA I. REGIONAL Climate (temperature, storms, rainfall, etc.) Soils
(stability, fertility, depth) Water supply and quality Economy (rising, stable,
declining) Transportation (highways and transit) Energy (availability and relative
cost) Landscape character Cultural opportunities Employment opportunities Health
care facilities Major detractions (list and describe) Exceptional features (list
and describe) COMMUNITY Travel (time-distance to work, shopping, etc.) Travel
experience (pleasant or unpleasant) Community ambience Schools Shopping Churches
Cultural opportunities (library, auditorium) Public services (fire, police, etc.)
Safety and security Medical facilities Governance Taxes Major detraction (list and
describe) Exceptional features (list and descried) NEIGHBORHOOD Landscape character
Lifestyle Compatibility of proposed uses Trafficways (access, hazard,
attractiveness) Schools Conveniences (schools, service, etc.) Parks, recreation and
open space Exposure (sun, wind, storms, planning) Freedom from noise, fumes, etc.
Utilities (availability and cost) Major detraction (list and describe) Exceptional
features (list and descried) Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5
II.
III.
26
CRITERIA PROPERTY Size and shape (suitability) Aspect from approaches Safe entrance
and egress On-site “feel” Permanent trees and cover Need for clearing Ground forms
and gradients Soils (quality and depth) Relative cost of earthwork and foundation
Site drainage Adjacent structures (or lack of) Neighbors Relationship to
circulation patterns Relative cost of land and development Major detraction (list
and describe) Exceptional features (list and descried) BUILDING SITE Topographic
“fit” of programmed user Gradient of approaches Safe distance at entrance drive
Orientation to sun, wind and breeze Views Privacy Freedom from noise and glare
Visual impact of neighboring uses Visual impact upon neighboring uses Proximity to
utility leads
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
Site 4
Site 5
LEGEND * - severe limitation # - moderate constraint ^ - condition good > -

condition excellent Note: By substituting numbers for symbols, the arithmetic sum
for each column would give a general indication of its relative overall rating. It
is to be realized, however, that in some cases a single severe constraint or
superlative feature might well overwhelm the statistics and become the deciding
factor. And remember that this is SITE analysis. Some municipality, city,
provincial or even regional data may help but they should NEVER be the focus of
this part, much less its only content.
27
f. BASELINE STUDIES
Baselines are starting points from which the design proper takes off. They help
paint the backdrop against which the research undertaking is being pursued.
Baseline information can be the bases for formulating the parameters by which the
outcomes of the research can be evaluated. 1. MAPS Base Maps Municipal or General
Base Map Poblacion or Urban Base Map Base Maps for other Built-up Areas Vicinity
Map Thematic or Analytical Maps Contour Map Soil Map Slope Map Land Capability Map
Soil Suitability for Agricultural Uses Soil Suitability for Urban Uses Hydro-
geologic or Groundwater Map Facilities/ Infrastructures Map Development Constraints
Map (geologic, fault, flooding, etc.) Special Projects Map Weather Map 2. EXISTING
STANDARDS Quality Standards Governing benchmarks that regulate the physical make-up
of industry outputs. These are often measured by getting feedbacks from users or
consumers Performance Standards These are standards that regulate operations or
ways of doing things. These are often quantified and measured in terms of units
such as speed, rate, efficiency, etc.
g. FACTORS and ISSUES RELEVANT TO THE SITE

These are factors and considerations in regard to the site that will be relevant to
your project. You may begin this section by presenting a Code Survey. Look for
local laws, codes and policies (or even international ones, if necessary) that will
help you define the limits of your development. Aside from these, you also have to
identify and study other factors that are not based on the law. These would include
phenomena which are natural to your site (flooding, strong coastal winds, etc.),
local ordinances, local customs and community characteristics. Of course, in the
end, you will have to state how all these will affect your site.
28
CHECKLIST OF SITE DATA From Site Planning by Kevin Lynch M.I.T. Press,
Massachusetts. 1979 a. INITIAL PERSONAL RECONNAISSANCE – observation of the site’s
apparent character, problem and possibilities presented through notes, sketches,
photographs, etc. b. COLLATION OF EXISTING DATA such as contour maps, aerial
photos, geological soil and water surveys, climate records, ecological studies,
engineering reports, boring tests, census materials, histories, social studies,
market reports, traffic studies, legal and public control documents, official
proposals, records and current controversies c. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF THE OFF-SITE
CONTEXT AND ITS CHANGES – geographic location, surrounding populations, social and
political structure, general economy, ecological and hydrographic system, land use
patterns, access system, principal off-site destinations and facilities d. DATA ON
THE SITE AND ITS IMMEDIATE CONTEXT A. PHYSICAL DATA 1. Geology and soil •
Underlying geology, rock character and depth • Soil type and depth, value as
engineering material and as plant medium • Fill, ledge, slide and subsidence 2.
Water • Existing water bodies - variation and purity • Natural and man-made
drainage channels - flow, capacity, purity • Surface drainage patterns, amounts,
blockages, undrained depressions • Water table - elevation and fluctuation, springs
• Water supply - quantity and quality 3. Topography • Pattern of landforms •
Contours • Slope analysis • Visibility analysis • Circulation analysis • Unique
features 4. Climate • Regional data on variation of temperature, precipitation,
humidity, solar angle, cloudiness, wind direction and force • Local microclimates:
warm and cool slopes, air drainage, wind deflection and local breeze, shade, heat
reflection and storage, plant indicators • Sound level, atmospheric quality, smells
5. Ecology • Dominant plant/animal communities - location and relative stability •
Their dependence on existing factors, self-regulation, sensitivity to change •
Mapping of general plant cover, including wooded areas
29
Specimen trees to be retained: their location, spread, species and elevation at

base 6. Man-made structures • Existing buildings: outline, location, floor
elevations, type, condition, us • Circulation facilities (roads, paths, rails,
transit, etc.): location, capacity, condition • Utilities (storm and sanitary
sewers, water, gas, electricity, telephone, steam, etc.): location, elevation,
capacity 7. Sensuous Qualities • Character and relation of visual spaces •
Viewpoints, vistas and visual focal points • Character and rhythm of visual
sequences • Quality and variation of light, sound, smell and feel
B. CULTURAL DATA
1. Resident and using population • Number and composition • Social structures and
institution • Economic structure • Political structure • Current changes and
problems 2. On-site and adjacent behavior settings: nature, location, rhythm,
stability, participants, conflicts 3. Site values, rights and restraints •
Ownerships, easements, and other rights • Legal controls: zoning and other
regulations • Economic values • Accepted “territories” • Political jurisdictions 4.
Past and future • Site history and its traces • Public and private intentions for
future use of site, conflicts 5. Images • Group and individual identification and
organization of site • Meanings attached to the site, symbolic expression • Hopes,
fears, wishes, preferences
C. DATA CORRELATION
1. Classification of site by areas of similar structure, quality, and problems 2.
Identification of key points, lines and areas 3. Analysis of current and likely
future changes - the dynamic aspect of the site 4. Identification of significant
problems and possibilities
Thesis Manual.2006 References: University of the Philippines Masters of
Architecture Guide for Thesis-writing Draft of Far Eastern University Architecture
Thesis Manual
30
C. BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS
1. ACTIVITY FLOW DIAGRAM As your project will cater mainly to its users, it might
be useful to your study to look into their patterns of activities as these would
help determine the characteristics of spaces which will be provided for them. The
pattern of activitiy will also create a basis for the interrelationships of spaces
and, consequently, structures. For some projects, the activity flow diagram may be
governed by a given schedule. This is true for schools, for example, where the
activities of the users as based on the scheduling of classes. For others, the
pattern may have to be determined through direct observation, interviews or any
first-hand procedure. It is also important to note the less obvious details in the
pattern aside from those which are based on a given program or are easily
discernible through observation.
2. ENVIRONMENT-BEHAVIOR STUDIES Should your thesis have the behavior of the users
as its main thrust, you should expand this part and have a thorough and in depth
output. You may not only be dealing with the activities of the users for the time
being but would most probably extend your analysis to the culture of these people.
Moreover, this would entail a comparative analysis of your users’ behavior with
that of other paradigms. Again, this is an analysis and so you would not just list
the activities. Apart from identifying the activities and behavior of your users,
whether individual or group, you are to give your readers a hint of why you’re
discussing these things. How will these affect the overall concept of your thesis?
In what way can these behaviors be a tool in designing an effective working
environment? Do you need to apply your knowledge in space engineering? The concepts
of territoriality, defensible space and space bubbles are very helpful tools in
analyzing the behavior of people in relation to the environment. In the end, this
procedure will help you understand how the environment shapes behavior and vice-
versa.
3. INTERRELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS This is the simplest part of space programming-- but

not quite. If you think that doing matrices and bubble diagrams would be too easy
for you to do, well unfortunately, they’re not. Although such graphical instruments
help facilitate the organization of spaces, they may be too flexible, and so you’ll
have the tendency to overlook at the appropriate circulation. To avoid this, it is
recommended that you have to go further and create alternative schemes or bubbles
(variations of your design) and even zoning (based on the result of matrices) with
circulation diagrams of various types of users. The results of your case studies
would probably be applied here. Again, you are encouraged to draw various schemes
to present probable solutions- and it will not stop there. You have to orient your
readers of the variances
31
and indicate the advantages and disadvantages of each scheme so that you would not
have the difficulty of explaining the design of your choice when later on tested
against the concepts. Remember to include the services and utilities. There are
different methods in programming spaces. It can be a matrix which allocates
specific variable depending on the activity e.g. pivotal and then coming up with
the area. You may also use basic standards from the National Building Code or other
building standards and multiply these with the number of users. Another way is to
layout a scheme containing the furniture, spaces, and circulation (of course in
scale). This may be most helpful for rooms requiring specific furniture as in
hospitals, laboratories, factories and the like.
D. VIABILITY STUDIES
Viability studies are undertaken to ascertain the possibility of the project
getting implemented. They are used to determine probable impediments to project
realization and to identify measures by which these impediments may be minimized or
eliminated. a. TECHNICAL VIABILITY & ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
The Technical Design Constraints - All designers must work within a set of
parameters based on the following: Technology The project must be realizable based
on the available systems, infrastructure and know-how. Production, replication,
testing must be possible within the existing framework of expertise and tools by
which the processes can be carried out. Propositions must be grounded on theories
that are sufficiently backed up by past research undertakings. It’s also possible
that the proposed project is illustrative of new technology. In this case, the
research output must include recommendations on the development of the proposed
technology. Cost Project Cost - these are expenses that are directly attributable
to the completion of the project. Examples are: design development cost,
construction/ development/ production cost Capital - this covers all initial, one-
time expenditures. Examples are: construction of production plants, equipment
purchase, land acquisition Operating - regular/periodic expenses such as utility
bills, salaries for personnel, rentals Maintenance - periodic or one-time expenses
for repairs and facilities upgrading
32
Time Timeframe - a schedule showing how the project will progress over a projected
duration must be shown. Schedules may be in the form of a bar chart, an S-curve or
a PERT-CPM diagram Phasing - project completion may be done in phases or in
distinct time frames Gestation - a lead-time or preparatory period may be needed
before a project can fully take-off Resource Requirements Materials - the types,
sources and availability of needed building or product components need to be firmed
up Manpower - the labor component, required expertise, organizational requirements
also need to be identified Equipment - pieces of light and heavy equipment needed
for the production and operating stages must be available
Site Conditions Location/ Surrounding Areas Land Area and Configuration Access
Climate Landforms Topography Geology Soil Type Water Bodies Hydrology Oceanography
Vegetation Atmosphere/Air quality Fish and Wildlife Visual Resources Danger/ Hazard
prone areas Existing Structures Infrastructure Utilities Water Power Drainage
Communication
Environmental Impact Assessment- An EIA is undertaken to compare scenarios with and

without the proposed project. The results are used to weigh favorable
33
against unfavorable impacts of the project on the environment. The word

‘environment’ here refers to both the physical and non-physical dimensions. The
physical dimensions cover ecological and technological concerns while the
nonphysical dimensions cover the social, cultural, economic and political concerns.
The Environmental Impact Statement outline prescribed by the Department of

Environment and Natural Resources.
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 14.0 15.0 •
Name and Address of Project Proponent Type of Project Overview Summary The Project
Setting The Proposal A Brief History of Past Environmental Conditions and a
Description of the Existing Environmental and Resource Use. Future Environmental
Conditions without the Project (An average of five years projection) Prediction and
Assessment of Impacts Contingency Plans Environmental Briefings and Monitoring
Mitigation Measures Residual/ Unavoidable Impacts Information Deficiencies
Appendices Consultation and Comments including Public Recommendations
Details are in the attached Readings
Considering that projects of all types and scale have varying degrees of
environmental impacts, the EIA is used to identify ways by which unfavorable
impacts may be mitigated.
b. LEGAL VIABILITY Projects must be developed and implemented within the existing
legal framework that is defined by the following: Design Laws, Codes, Guidelines –
examples are the National Building Code, the Referral Codes, Batas Pambansa 220,
Batas Pambansa 344, Condominium Act, ICOMOS, Presidential Decree 957 Patent Laws/
Intellectual Property Rights – there are procedures for claiming ownership over
intellectual properties in the form of creative work, inventions, models and
paradigms
34
Accreditation – there are also procedures for recognition prior to entry into the
target market. For example the AITECH (Accreditation of Innovative Technology) is a
task force that screens, evaluates8 and approves new technology for housing Other
Laws- other laws that can directly or indirectly affect the project outcome are the
Civil Code, laws that cover national defense, trading, taxation, etc. Another legal
concern has to do with the entities or personalities that will be tapped to develop
and implement the proposed project. Institutional Arrangements- the type and level
of networking required to effect project completion need to be identified Concerned
Agencies- the particular public or private organizations and their roles in the
network should also be clarified It would also be possible that the project is
illustrative of the need to modify certain aspects within the existing legal
framework. In this case the research output must include recommendations on how
these modifications can be systematically effected. c. FINANCIAL VIABILITY Sources
of Funds Funds, for various project types, come basically from either public or
private sources. Investments of any form and origin need to be recovered and in
most cases with an acceptable level of profit. Recovery of investments could be
through any of the following: Sales These are the proceeds from the outright
disposal of completed products or its independent components. Selling price is
determined by market forces and by the prevailing ratio between supply and demand.
The final price that is passed on to the buyer/consumer should cover the cost of
production and the mark-up. User Charges/ Rentals This strategy attempts to extract
the amount required to finance services from those who benefit from their
existence. Under perfect conditions, i.e., when the benefits are acknowledged by
the beneficiaries, as allocated, then user charges must show a direct linked
between the quantity of services and the revenues generated to finance their
services.
Shared Taxation A tax is a compulsory contribution to government without reference

to a particular benefit received by the taxpayer. Subsidy from general taxation
occurs when there is
35
some degree of general benefit, or where consumers cannot afford the full cost of a
service that is regarded as essential to human welfare. Funding Terms
Borrowings/Loans Large capital investments are usually financed by loans that are
granted based on specific lending terms. These terms specify repayment period, mode
of payment, interest rates and provisions for penalties. The total amount of loan
is distributed over its life and, therefore, to successive beneficiaries. Grants
This form of assistance is usually given for pre-identified projects, i.e.,
conditions for use are normally stipulated. Full cost-recovery is not always
expected out of projects that are financed through grants. Financial Benchmarks
Profitability The assessment of profitability is begins with the computation of the
net income, which basically is equal to Total Revenues less Total Cost. The bottom
line figure is then used to compute for the following profitability ratios :
Return on Investment (ROI) =
Net Income Total Investment
Project Life
Profit Margin (PM)
Net Income Total Sales
Gross Profit Ratio (GPR)
Gross Profit Total Sales
36
d. DESIGN PROPOSAL
Take a deep breath. You’ve come a long way. Take a minute or two to congratulate
yourself for what you have accomplished so far. Actually, you will be needing all
the confidence you can muster as you forge through the next step: stating your
DESIGN PROPOSAL. Since this is the foundation of all that you will be
conceptualizing from hereon, the Design Proposal should be discussed in the
clearest and most coherent manner possible. Avoid words that may be too technical
or too complex or too vague. With just one look at the Proposal, the reader must
have a good idea of what to expect in the translation. Aside from this, you must
also enumerate the specific functions that your project will perform and the
specific activities that it will house. Refrain from naming specific spaces though.
This should be done in the Programming part. For example, you can say “a venue for
the exhibit of native Filipino art” but you cannot say “museum”. Not yet. Remember:
functions and activities only.
37
chapter 4.
PROGRAMMING
This is perhaps the most important part of your thesis. Here, you have to come up
with the possible areas for your project as a concrete solution to the things you
discussed in the earlier part of your work. It would be difficult to understand and
appreciate what you’ll write here if you don’t give your readers a background of
your project, its purpose, and users. In addition, since the discussion to follow
will delve on the administrative structure of the proponent, then it would be
helpful if you could also explain what this organization does. Your organizational
chart could be your best tool in doing this. Before you go deeper with the details
of space programming, it would be appropriate to define the term for you. Space
programming is an exercise for the student to concretize the abstractions of space
relationships into units of measure as well as the flow or circulation. It is the
consolidation of all the requirements, standards, rules and regulations.
Requirements would mean the needs of the project (users and systems) in terms of 3-
dimensional spaces, facilities, spatial relationships, etc. These may be guided by
legal standards or conditions informally set by the unit of analysis as dictated by
the needs. Rules and regulations are the legal guidelines that you must follow in
the course of the design. The main end of this exercise is to have a systematic
presentation of all these requirements to later on be translated in into schemes
and plans. For the purpose of the thesis, you are to stick to the minimum
requirements. However, should the project need to provide areas for expansion, let
this be stated and taken into account.
a. BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS
As your thesis will cater to its users, more than anyone else, it is but rightful
to take a look into their activities as well as their operations if they move in an
organization. The visiting public would also share an ear with the analysis. In
this part, you will enumerate the main departments or units and how they relate to
each other. This will give you and your readers an idea how a certain department
works and interrelate with each other. In doing so, you will find yourself
identifying which units are active, thus requiring an active space, and which are
not. You have to indicate the magnitude and level of sensitivity of service to
adequately and effectively provide a space for them, afterwards. Analyzing the
schedule of the activities would also be helpful. Should your thesis focus on the
behavior of the users as its main thrust, you should expand this part and have a
thorough and in depth output. You may not only be dealing with the activities of
the users for the time being but would most probably extend your analysis to the
culture of these people. Moreover, this would entail a comparative analysis of your
users’ behavior with that of other paradigms. Again, this is an analysis and so you
would not just list the activities and presto! You’re done with it! Apart from
identifying the activities and behavior of your users, whether individual or group,
you are to give your readers a hint of why you’re discussing these things. How will
these affect the overall concept of your thesis? In what way can these behaviors be
a tool in designing an effective working
38
environment? Do you need to apply your knowledge in space engineering? You watch
and see.
b. INTERRELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS
This is the simplest part of space programming-- but not quite. If you think that
doing matrices and bubble diagrams would be too easy for you to do, well
unfortunately, they’re not. Although such graphical instruments help facilitate the
organization of spaces, they may be too flexible and so you’ll have the tendency to
overlook at the appropriate circulation. To avoid this, it is recommended that you
have to go further and create alternative schemes or bubbles (variations of your
design) and even zoning (based on the result of matrices) with circulation diagrams
of various types of users. The results of your case studies would probably be
applied here. Again, you are encouraged to draw various schemes to present probable
solutions- and it will not stop there. You have to orient your readers of the
variances and indicate the advantages and disadvantages of each scheme so that you
would not have the difficulty of explaining the design of your choice when later on
tested against the concepts. Remember to include the services and utilities. There
are different methods in programming spaces. It can be a matrix which allocates
specific variable depending on the activity e.g. pivotal and then coming up with
the area. You may also use basic standards from the National Building Code or other
building standards and multiply these with the number of users. Another way is to
layout a scheme containing the furniture, spaces and circulation (of course in
scale). This may be most helpful for rooms requiring specific furniture as in
hospitals, laboratories, factories and the like.
c. QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
This has been proven as one of the most effective, if not the most effective way of
programming spaces. It is a two-fold analysis, which initially caters to the
qualities of the project, and later on translated to be a quantitative one. Let us
first deal with the first one. Qualitative analysis, as the term suggests is an
analysis pertinent to the QUALITIES of your proposal which will inevitably become
bases for the design. This would have to do with five major concerns namely: (1)
Establishing GOALS, (2) Collecting and Analyzing FACTS, (3) Uncovering and Testing
CONCEPTS, (4) Determining NEEDS and (5) Stating the PROBLEMS. All these concerns
will have to be interacted with four (4) considerations: FUNCTION, FORM, ECONOMY,
and TIME. You may notice that this programming method includes the basic steps in
design or what you familiarly know as DESIGN PROCESS. You’re right! You will have
to use the objectives in chapter 1 (goals), the data (facts) you have gathered in
chapter 2, and the proposed ideas (concepts) you have in the next chapter to do
this. Like the interrelationship analysis, this analysis also comes in matrix form.
Therefore, it can be interchanged so as to fit the desired program. Provided with
this manual is a sample table with possible issues for each concern. You may
consult the book Problem Seeking by Pena to further understand this discussion.
39
d. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
Like any other data, a qualitative input would have to be translated into a more
perceptible program to be understood and later be translated into a plan. This is
what a quantitative analysis does. It translates the qualitative matrix you did to
a more tangible thing. That’s right, the word is TANGIBLE. While the qualitative
speaks of the abstract, the quantitative talks of the more realizable output-
something which can be grasped by the readers at once. You may ask: why then can’t
you go directly with the quantitative? The answer is simple. Because all the inputs
in this section will be taken from the Qualitative analysis. Remember, you will
only TRANSLATE on a quantitative evaluation. What then would be the content of this
part? You will be enumerating the areas which you think will be needed by your
proposal (again, based on the qualitative analysis). These are general areas which
can be specifically named in various terms, depending upon the function it will
perform. Example, when you’re dealing with schools, you may want to call a
classroom, a laboratory and a drawing room under a single heading, say learning
areas. This way, you can generalize the function of the space you are providing.
But you have to identify all these rooms as well since you will be determining the
required number in the end. Yes, you read it right! NUMBERS. Quantitative analysis
involves quantities, figures, numbers, numerals and therefore computations. This
will contain the mathematical computations for your project. From the most basic
computation of space areas to CONSTRUCTION COSTS, OPERATION COSTS, LIFE CYCLE
COSTS, MAINTENANCE COSTS, etc. Perhaps, you could also deal with the analysis of
the COSTING and RETURN OF INVESTMENT through concepts on funding and its possible
revenue schemes.
40
chapter 5. SYNTHESIS
You’re almost done! This is the phase where you summarize all that has been done in
the book. You may have to go back to your objectives and see if you were able to
meet them or restructure your concepts so that your readers will have a clearer
vision of what you plan to do in your Design 10 (knock on wood!). This chapter will
be your LINK to your translation in your bid for an architectural degree. How about
that for a push?! The discussions to follow may not be new to you for you have been
doing this for the past four, five, or more so years in your stay in the institute.
These are the basic contents of your concept board. Something you should have known
now by heart.
a. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Sure, you have established the theories and the concepts you’ll need for your
proposal, but it wouldn’t be enough to just have them and let loose of the unifying
thing in work. Philosophies do this. These are the bases of your ideas for the
proposal, a guiding dictum which gels your proposed work into one, single
composition. There are two types of philosophy. One, coming from a person, living
or not, who may have studied the same topics you’re dealing with and defined ideas
appropriate for your study. Thus, you have to quote them and tell your readers so.
And two, it may be YOUR OWN notions for the project. Yes, you can be a philosopher,
why not? And so, you are able to conceive your own thoughts especially if you were
the one who proposed the study. CAUTION: You may be tempted to use philosophies you
already have used for your design plates when you were in your lower years. Why
not? But see to it that it would be applicable for your project you’re doing.
Philosophies are NOT FIXED. On the contrary, they should be FLEXIBLE. Meaning, they
must bend to where they should go and reflect the design you would like to have for
your project, and vice versa. AND you must understand them! “Form follows function”
may be a cute cliché but WAKE UP! You CANNOT use it all the time. Dictums of well-
known architects (refer to your Theory of Architectural Design 02) will be a great
deal of help for you in doing this part of your thesis.
b. DESIGN GOALS and OBJECTIVES

Nope, you are not going back to your chapter 1 and rewrite the objectives and goals
you have written there, though this may be your take-off point. You could base your
design objectives from the objectives of your thesis. But take note that these are
DESIGN goals and objectives – different from the goals and objectives of your
STUDY. The things you’ll present here are the ones relative to your probable
DESIGN. What do you wish to do with your structures? How would you like the systems
to go? What would you like to achieve at the end of your translation? Hey, wait!
These do not only pertain to the possible appearance of the structures but the
overall objectives of the design as well. In other words, these are more FOCUSED on
the DESIGN aspects of your project. See, perhaps you now realize that there REALLY
IS a difference after all.
41
c. DESIGN CONCEPTS Concepts are thoughts concerning the way several elements or
characteristics can be combined into a SINGLE THING. In architecture, a concept
also identifies how various aspects of the requirements for a building can be
brought together in a SPECIFIC thought that DIRECTLY influences the DESIGN and its
CONFIGURATION. This only means that the concepts you will be providing will somehow
wrap up the totality of your design program. Do you still remember the discussion
in the framework? While that framework will be your THRUST, the Design Concepts
will be the BACKBONE of the ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN. And they should go hand in hand
to effectively work together – the framework and the concepts. This may be simple
for you to understand if you were getting high grades in your concept boards in
your past design subjects. If not, here’s a review of your design concepts.
Basically there are five (5) types of concepts in architecture. See if you can
still remember them: 1. Analogy (looking at other things) Here you identify
possible, literal relationships between things. You tend to look for a desirable
characteristic of an object and make this as the model for your project. 2.
Metaphors and Simile This type of concept also identifies relationships between
things. However, the relationships are abstract rather than literal. You may have
to establish certain patterns of parallel relationships. 3. Essences The whole
program that you have for your thesis, complicated as it is, is explained in terms
of terse, explicit statements. It has to connote insights, meaning, and your
personal accounts for the project. Most of the time, this comes with a conceptual
scenario- a short essay that tie together all the important factors and ideas that
influenced the design solution. It may also be something which discovers the roots
of the issues. 4. Programmatic This is what you have been doing all the while in
your lower design subjects, where you write the problems, come up with the
objectives, state your philosophies and come up with a concept at the end. In that
way you directly respond to the stated requirements. 5. Ideals Here you look at the
universality of the concept. You view the project as a universal one – something
which will be a universal solution for even a general problem
So, how well did you fare in remembering them? You don’t have to use all five at
the same time. You just have to choose which of them fits your thesis.
42
d. DESIGN PARAMETERS All done! All you need to do now is check the existing
standards applicable to your thesis for translation. These will comprise your
design parameters. You may also want to call these as Design CONSIDERATIONS. And as
the term conveys, you are to state the things you would have to consider in doing
your design. This applies both to the structures and its immediate environment
(both the micro and the macro). You may have to be guided with legal documents and
follow pertinent laws to do this. Building Orientation, Circulation, Security,
Accessibility, and Economy may be the factors you would be looking at here. But it
would not just end in writing these headings. It would involve an explanation along
with a long list of the laws, rules and orders governing such considerations. Yes,
you’re right again! This part will be your DESIGN GUIDELINES which will tell your
readers as well the restrictions for your project. Having established the
guidelines would only mean you’re ready to go to your drawing board and translate
this book into ARCHITECTURAL PLANS.
43
chapter 6. TRANSLATION
Don’t get too excited. You may have to wait for the next semester to see the
contents of the discussion on this. So good luck! Aim to do chapter 6. You know
what we mean. ☺
44
GUIDELINES FOR THE THESIS BOOK

• THEME
For this academic year, the theme for the thesis shall be FILIPINO ARCHITECTURE IN
RESPONSE TO THE GLOBAL SCENARIO. The student-proponent shall have to come up with a
thesis which will embody concepts and design solutions that are locally feasible
and globally competitive.
• RESEARCH TOPICS
The student can choose any three (3) from the given list of research topics. These
topics should provide adequate foundation for the title/proposal. 1. THE NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT a. Green Architecture b. Tropical Design c. Sick Building Syndrome d.
Architecture in Response to Natural Phenomena 2. THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT a.
Anthropometrics b. Ergonomics c. Proxemics d. Environment-Behavior Studies 3. THE
SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF ARCHITECTURE a. Historical Preservation b. Urban Renewal c.
Social Engineering d. Filipino Architecture 4. THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE a.
Psychological Effects of Spaces b. Principles of Scale and Proportion c. Design of
Interior Environments d. Theories of Territoriality and Defensible Spaces 5.
ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY a. “Intelligent” Building Design b. Indigenous Technology
c. Architectural Innovations d. Interior Architecture e. High-rise Structures
•
TIMETABLE FOR SUBMITTALS A schedule of submittals will be provided by the Thesis

Advisers to guide the students in programming their activities with respect to
given deadlines. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION A copy of the Final Draft of the Thesis
Book shall be submitted not later than 5:00 in the afternoon, fourteen (14) days
before the Finals Week of the first semester. Failure to submit the Book on time
shall mean automatic disqualification for AR 541543D (Architectural Design X).
45
THESIS BOOK FORMAT Size of paper: A4 (29.7 x 21.0 cm) Orientation: Landscape
Language: English Text Format: General 12 Times New Roman Subtitles 14 Times New
Roman Bold Titles 16 Times New Roman Bold Margins: Left 2 ½ inches Right 2 inches
Top 1 inch Bottom 1 inch THESIS COVER FORMAT A uniform pattern for the cover of the
Thesis Book must be followed. The cover shall also be in landscape format using the
text font and sizes as indicated in Figure – If the academic year ends in an even
numbered year, the cover shall be white with maroon letters. Thesis books submitted
in even numbered years, on the other hand, shall have maroon cover with silver
letters.
GUIDELINES FOR ORAL DEFENSE OF THESIS BOOK

•
SCHEDULE OF DEFENSE The Final Draft of the Thesis Book shall be defended one week
before the Finals Week for the first semester. A Schedule of Thesis Book Defense
will be distributed to the Thesis Classes a week before the first presentation. A
copy of the Schedule will also be posted on a visually accessible bulletin board.
This shall be done to inform the students of their individual schedule and give
them adequate time to prepare for their Defense. The proponent should come 30
minutes before his/her schedule to defend. Those who will come 30 minutes after
their schedule shall not be allowed to defend anymore, and, therefore shall get a
failing grade for the Defense.
MANNER OF DEFENSE The Thesis Book shall be presented by the proponent in front of a
Panel of Jurors using MS PowerPoint. A compact disk containing the presentation
shall be submitted after the deliberation. Each student shall be given 15 minutes
to present the Book. Questions coming from the Jurors may be answered in another 15
minutes. After which the Jurors shall assess the merits of the Book and give their
grade for the Defense. A member of the Thesis Council shall compute the grade. If
there are recommendations, these shall be read by the Adviser who shall also
announce whether the Proponent passed or failed the Oral Defense. The Jury grade
shall comprise 60% of the student’s final grade for the book while the Adviser
shall give the remaining 40%, which will come from the performance
46
and submittals of the student during the course subject. Since the grade for the
book comprises 75% of the grade in Ar 551-553D, a failing grade in the Book Defense
will certainly mean automatic disqualification for the next Architectural Design
subject which is Ar 541-542D.
•
PANEL OF JURORS A panel of jurors composed of faculty members from the Department
of Architecture shall deliberate on the merits of the Book. The Panel of Jurors
shall be composed of not more than three architects from the Department of
Architecture. The Thesis Council, being the regulating body in this procedure, is
excluded from sitting as members of the panel. The jurors shall be selected so that
the schedule of defense will not be in conflict with the schedule of their classes
and other co-curricular activities. Knowledge and/or exposure to the respective
research topics will be the primary criteria for the selection of Jury members.
DELIBERATIONS GRADING SYSTEM The Jury’s grade will be based upon a set of criteria
which was previously presented and agreed upon by the Thesis Class. This grade will
represent 60% of the student’s final grade for the book. Therefore, a failing grade
for the book shall also mean failure in Ar 551-553D and disqualification from the
next Architectural Design subject which is Ar 541-543D. The grade for the Oral
Defense shall be based on the following criteria: Content Presentation Oral
Graphical 60% 20% 20% 100%
DRESS CODE The proponents are strictly required to wear the prescribed school
uniform including his/her identification card during the Book Defense. FEES Each
student shall pay the amount of five hundred pesos (P 500.00) at the Dean’s Office
for the deliberation of the Book. This amount is broken down into two scheduled
payments: P 250.00 – before the Proposal Clarification P 250.00 – one week before
the Book Oral Defense
47
GUIDELINES FOR SITE DEVELOPMENT COST From Problem Seeking by William Pena
1. SITE PREPARATION Estimate 1% to 3% of building cost 2. PARKING Refer to required

ratio to get number of parking slots. Estimate per slot. 3. ROADWAYS Estimate per
linear meter 4. SIDEWALKS AND TERRACES Estimate 1% to 7% of building cost 5. WALLS
AND SCREENS Estimate .5% to 2.5% of building cost 6. OUTDOOR SPORTS FACILITIES
Estimate lump sum per unit per type 7. ON-SITE UTILITIES Estimate 1% to 3% of
building cost 8. OFF-SITE UTILITIES Estimate 3% to 5% of building cost 9. STORM
DRAINAGE Estimate .5% to 2.5% of building cost 10. LANDSCAPING Estimate 1% to 2% of
building cost 11. OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT Estimate lump sum 12. OUTDOOR LIGHTING Estimate
pedestrian lighting 1% of building cost; parking lighting lump sum per car
48
DESIGN PROPOSAL
Take a deep breath. You’ve come a long way. Take a minute or two to congratulate
yourself for what you have accomplished so far. Actually, you will be needing all
the confidence you can muster as you forge through the next step: stating your
DESIGN PROPOSAL. Since this is the foundation of all that you will be
conceptualizing from hereon, the Design Proposal should be discussed in the
clearest and most coherent manner possible. Avoid words that may be too technical
or too complex or too vague. With just one look at the Proposal, the reader must
have a good idea of what to expect in the translation. Aside from this, you must
also enumerate the specific functions that your project will perform and the
specific activities that it will house. Refrain from naming specific spaces though.
This should be done in the Programming part. For example, you can say “a venue for
the exhibit of native Filipino art” but you cannot say “museum.” Not yet. Remember:
functions and activities only.
49

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Architecture Thesis Manual

“If I had to teach architecture....I would strive to inculcate in my pupils a keen

CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING A TOPIC OR PROBLEM 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The research topic must be

6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

It should have definable limits to suit your available resources. It must be

CRITERIA 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. availability of data personal interest financial

Rating: 1 - Poor 2 – Fair 3 – Good 4 - Very Good 5 - Excellent

A. Data Management a. Present Condition b. Primary Data c. Tables and Graphs B.

C. Behavioral Analysis a. Activity Flow Diagrams b. Environment-Behavior Studies c.

Behavioral Analysis Interrelationship Analysis Qualitative Analysis Quantitative

Chapter 5. SYNTHESIS A. Design Philosophy B. Design Goals & Objectives C. Design

b. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

c. ARCHITECTURAL THESIS GOAL/OBJECTIVES/STRATEGIES

d. SCOPE and LIMITATIONS

this??), unavailability or inaccessibility of data, and of course our favorite

e. PURPOSE/ RELEVANCE/ SIGNIFICANCE OF THE THESIS

g. DEFINITION OF TERMS and CONCEPTS

The following are some guidelines in writing an effective definition of terms: 1.

B. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

1. Materials must be as recent as possible. New learnings are discovered everyday.

chapter 2. PRESENTATION OF DATA

This includes the inventory of roads, transportation, communication, sewage and

This consists of pieces of information relative to particular industries or aspects

Interactive In-depth interviews Key informants interview Career histories • •

Listening Focus Groups • • • • • Discussions guided to test in small groups

Non-participant observation stream of behavior Chronicles Field notes Visual

c. TABLES and GRAPHS

3. Hundred percent graphs or charts a. Subdivided bar or rectangular bar graph b.

a. SCOPE and DELIMITATIONS

c. SUMMARY and RECOMMENDATIONS

C. RESEARCH TOPIC (or you can write the TOPIC TITLE)

b. RESTATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

c. SITE SELECTION and JUSTIFICATION

LEGEND * - severe limitation # - moderate constraint ^ - condition good > -

g. FACTORS and ISSUES RELEVANT TO THE SITE

Specimen trees to be retained: their location, spread, species and elevation at

3. INTERRELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS This is the simplest part of space programming-- but

Environmental Impact Assessment- An EIA is undertaken to compare scenarios with and

against unfavorable impacts of the project on the environment. The word

The Environmental Impact Statement outline prescribed by the Department of

Details are in the attached Readings

Shared Taxation A tax is a compulsory contribution to government without reference

Return on Investment (ROI) =

Net Income Total Investment

Profit Margin (PM)

Net Income Total Sales

Gross Profit Ratio (GPR)

Gross Profit Total Sales

b. DESIGN GOALS and OBJECTIVES

GUIDELINES FOR THE THESIS BOOK

TIMETABLE FOR SUBMITTALS A schedule of submittals will be provided by the Thesis

GUIDELINES FOR ORAL DEFENSE OF THESIS BOOK

1. SITE PREPARATION Estimate 1% to 3% of building cost 2. PARKING Refer to required

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