Session 2: Individual presentations by participants

(and most architectural research falls into this category) requires large funds and means of providing staff with some longer term security and the possibility of a career. Fortunately, in architecture, research work is very often aimed at specific problems of a fairly practical nature especially that commissioned by an executive authority and the results may often be used to earn funds to bridge the gap between contracts at a later stage. Finance to support publishing of results, typing and secretarial assistance is another problem with some sponsored research projects. Until now ARU has through its practice been able to provide overheads of this nature, but with the fall-off of practice work this service is now in jeopardy. The department administration in the University is normally expected to supply secretarial assistance but in practice it is usually fully committed to teaching needs.

Teaching

It is in teaching that ARU has made the least progress. Although many members of staff are used for teaching (up to 10 in any one session), the contribution has tended to be unco-ordinated and not as useful to the students as it might be. The biggest demand for ARU help is normally in tutoring final year and postgraduate theses. The accumulated practical and research experience is now considerable and a more co-ordinated approach is under consideration, where the practice section of ARU would become the core of a consortium of practices to provide the equivalent of a teaching hospital. Continuity of work, continuity of staff and sufficient staff to cope, are again the main problems. The Chairman thanked Professor Robertson for his paper and a discussion took place.

Discussion

The main points made in the discussion are recorded below together with the names of participants associated with the points. Twenty years ago, although there was willingness in the local authority, the local architects' association objected to "live" projects for students. In setting up the research unit some years later, these objections were carefully observed and projects were arranged outside the city. ARU's activities have since never been restricted by narrow geographical limits. (Professor Matthew) It is necessary to work for authorities or clients (as in ARU's case at Salford to develop industrialised components) where the research and development expertise can meet the client's needs. (Professor Johnson-Marshall) The objections to a University based practice very often come from those practitioners who complain of students' lack of practical knowledge and experience.

(Professor Hinton)

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Two problems occur in a University practice which give rise to complaints: The freedom with which Universities can obtain work When teaching members of staff are in a position to make a profit in addition to salary. (Professor Hinton) In Montreal staff members who are registered architects are allowed to practice but are restricted in earnings to two-ninths of their salary for any extra earnings entering the University's account- ing system. (Dean Desbarats) In Edinburgh the ARU staff are all on salary (including the Director and Professor) and no profit is earned by individuals. (Professor Matthew) The Department of Architecture in Edinburgh is now in the process of introducing a new course structure which includes a 4 year honours degree. In this reorganisation it is essential for the Department and the Research Unit to be fully integrated. There is a need for a nucleus of research people in the ARU to have permanent positions in University. (Professor Wilson) The orginal research unit was set up in a pragmatic way. It seemed to me that buildings were not being designed as well as they might be to meet modern conditions; schools of architecture were relatively detached from practice and there was little application of the need for research. We entered the field of housing partly because of the national need and partly by chance. Our proposals to examine a particular form of house, build it and then appraise it in use were attractive to the various grant giving bodies who eventually gave us the money we needed to start. (Professor Matthew) There is little research going on in India. I am now involving my students in projects where they obtain plans of well-designed buildings and interview the architects. They also talk to the users to determine their response. (Professor Prakash) The Building Science Section of the School of Architecture began as a Research Unit. After five years of operation it became apparent that the results of our research were not being applied, as architects were reluctant to read research publications unless a specific design problem required it. It was realised that the only way to obtain feed-back from the application of research results was to become involved in the design of actual buildings. This came about by architects asking for design advice and eventually resulted in our becoming involved in projects as consultants. In addition, the School of Architecture set up a Live Project Office. We now realise that unless research units are in some way involved in the practical problems of building design and construction, it is very difficult to identify the priorities in research subjects. (Professor Hardy)

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SESSION TWO

Individual presentations by participants:

Chairman Charles Robertson

Chairman

In this second session we are going to take contributions from the floor and expand upon the background of the organisations that are represented here. I believe in this way we shall see common problems emerging as well as identifying unique problems relevant only to particular cultural and social backgrounds. We have representatives here of Commonwealth Schools of Architecture. In addition we have representatives of the Commonwealth Association of Architects, the Scottish Development Department, the Building Research Establishment and the Great London Council. Some members of the University of Edinburgh staff have also experience of teaching in other parts of the world which may be of value to add to the proceedings. I will therefore call on the participants in turn to explain to the Seminar the structure and origins of the organisations they represent.

Mr. F. Joyce, University of Aston The Joint Unit for Research at Aston is a multi-disciplinary group, which was set up and funded by the University. There are at present seven full time members of staff. The steering group is run by four heads of departments, two of whom are also heads of Polytechnic departments. Staff includes geographers, Engineers, Town Planners and sociologists. Initial research was into acoustic problems of the urban environment. At present we are not seeking any financial support as all our staff are salaried permanent academic staff. We are however exploring contractual relationships with other organisations. Professor Hinton who, as Director of the Birmingham School of Architecture is a member of the steering group, is better qualified to explain the broader structure in the University of Aston and Birmingham School of Architecture.

Professor Denys Hinton, University of Aston in Birmingham Like some other Schools of Architecture, the research which has developed in Birmingham has been pragmatic and based largely on the interests of members of the teaching staff. Support work has been carried out in the senior years of the undergraduate course and in a few cases carried through to work at M.Sc. level, but until recently this has not been co-ordinated by a Research Unit. For many years the School has operated a Live Project Unit, the aims of which have grown from providing practical experience for undergraduates to providing an embryonic development unit.

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In 1971 the University of Aston set up a Joint Unit for Research on the Urban Environment. Its Director is a Reader and he is supported by a modest research establishment founded by the University, working under a Steering Committee consisting of the four Professor Heads of Architecture, Building, Civil Engineering and Planning. This Unit has begun work in Urban Planning Studies and will expand in areas related to the four departments seeking research contracts from the Research Councils, Central and Local Government and from industry. The strongest area in Architectural Research is Environmental Science where David Walters and Antony Sealey have both established reputations respectively in Noise Acoustics and Climatology. This is paralleled by a good deal of consultancy work on the one hand, and a particular interest and its application to teaching on the other—thus combining the areas referred to in the wide interpretation of practice given in the seminar papers. The same combination of Research/Development and practice is also a feature of the Live Project Unit in its present form. This Unit has its own Principal, responsible for its professional administration and will, as well as continuing to provide, in various forms, practical experience for students, work increasingly as an agency for specialised research—in close collaboration with the Joint Unit for Research on the Urban Environment enabling it to take on the Development aspects of Environmental Research and to refer to the Joint Unit areas which throw up Research needs. The growth pattern is therefore likely to be:

A Continuation of research programme by individual members of the teaching staff and associated work in consultancy.

B Promotion of higher degrees by research

C Enlargement of the development role of the Live Project Unit.

D Expansion in the work on the Joint Unit.

E Feed back into undergraduate course.

F Co-ordination by research A—E.

S. 0. Larbi, Faculty of Architecture, University of Kumasi, Ghana. Before considering the details of research activities, one has to examine the field of architectural practice in my country. Ghana to some extent is a country of extremes. It contains communities in need of the most basic forms of shelter and community amenity side by side with those requiring sophisticated forms of accommodation in a modern urban environment. Similarly, the means used to achieve the results demanded, cover as broad a range, from construction in swish to building pre-fabricated-post-tensioned reinforced concrete structures. It is also to some extent an illogical and contradictory place. Much of this contradiction has its roots in the old colonial concepts, and also in the political and economic situation resulting from the changeover to self-rule. Planning and building regulations are either out of date or

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based on arbitrary rules unrelated to established principles of modern building. Most local authorities do not even recognise that architects exist. The architectural profession is a late corner in the history of professional practice and the history of research in Architecture does not date back more than about thirty years. There are just over a hundred architects practising in the country, nearly 90% of whom are in the metropolitan areas of Accra and Kumasi. A fair proportion of these are expatriates. The Public Works Department is the largest in the country; other practices vary in size from about 4 architects to the one-man practice. The Public Libraries contain hardly any information for the architect. The need for the supply of technical information for design is great. The Faculty of Architecture of the University of Science and Technology and the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences situated on the University Campus undertake fundamental and applied research in environmental science. The former West African Building Research Institute, a predecessor to the BRRI, covered considerable grounds in many areas of building research mainly in the context of West Africa and, to a small extent, of Ghana in particular. Research is therefore needed to serve the needs of an expanding architectural profession in Ghana. The education and training of Architects in Kumasi began in 1958 as the School of Architecture. Town Planning and Building as part of the Kumasi College of Technology. In 1963, this School became a Faculty of the University. A revised structure was set up during 1963 and 1964 covering broadly the requirements of Architecture, Planning, Building Technology and associated Research Development. The Faculty comprises the Department of Architecture, Building Technology, Planning and Housing and Planning Research. The courses offered cover the Economic and Physical Planning processes, the Design Processes and the Production and Management processes of the Building Industry. A Faculty projects office was established within the Faculty two years ago, to provide consultancy service. All members of the teaching staff can undertaken consultancy work through the Faculty Projects Office. This term, a Teaching Office has been set up to offer opportunities for students and staff to work jointly on live projects. Education and training is based on inter-disciplinary study and applied research. The Department of Housing and Planning Research relates its work closely to resource development on a wide basis. Emphasis is given at present to urban and rural low income housing. The Department provides a feedback of information for teaching in the Faculty and offers a consultancy service, mainly to Government agencies etc. In all courses, emphasis is given to Environmental Studies in the context of Ghana, the West African region and continental Africa. There is a wealth of knowledge available for the teaching of Architecture, Planning and the associated building processes, one of the problems being Page fifteen

to ensure appropriate teaching for the requirements of Africa, and to endeavour to maintain current international standards.

However, if to this reservoir of learning, is added the necessary basic technological inventiveness, then the emphasis and balance of teaching becomes a study of the development of science and the application of technology in terms of the total environment. The Faculty therefore concentrates on the problems of designing for the environment and on the prediction of the future requirements directly related to the development of Ghana. Research activities related to the total environmental can be broadly classified into two: Applied Research, and Fundamental Research Applied Research is here used to denote that type of research activity aimed at providing solutions to problems in specific areas of design. It may comprise the collection and analysis of climatic data as a necessary part of the design process. Although meteorological data can be obtained for a number of stations for periods of up to 50 years, it is common that new projects such as new towns or agricultural establishments are several miles away from the nearest Met. Station. In other words, in a developing country, the absence of such data makes it necessary that studies are always done whenever there is going to be a new project. The design of facades with a view to providing adequate openings for ventilation, air movement, lighting, avoidance of glare and exclusion of the sun, all require expert handling. In a tropical country solar control and the provision of adequate facilities for air flow are essential but tend to be ignored. On all projects in the Faculty, whether theoretical projects by students or live projects by the teaching staff in the Faculty Projects Office emphasis is placed on maximising or minimising the effects of the elements. It is difficult to expect the small practices in the country to undertake investigations in these fields. It is therefore necessary to document these projects so that they can be made available for use later. Fundamental Research may be used here to include basic research aimed at developing certain theories. This type of research at the subjective level may include physiological responses to the built environment or the collection of data on, say, sky brightness with a view to establishing absolute levels for daylighting. This type of research requires sophisticated equipment and is time consuming. Very little has been done in this direction and, as a result, it is impossible to come by any data on, say, the physical performance of building materials under Ghanaian climatic conditions.

The Faculty therefore proposes to undertake research in the following priority areas: Thermal Performance of building material under Ghanaian conditions: Airflow in and around buildings; Daylighting.

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Sand cement blocks, soil cement blocks, timber in its various forms, mud and various corrugated sheets are the commonest materials for wall and roof constructions. The commonest materials for ceiling are hardboards, asbestos cement slates, soft boards and plywood. Data available, such as U-valves and Thermal Diffusivities of these materials are not applicable to West African conditions because they were established under temperate conditions of Europe and America. For the purposes of fundamental research we are constructing two buildings within the Faculty. The first building consists of a permanent concrete roof and flexible walls. The second structure consists of a flexible pitched roof and walls. Some of the building materials used in the country will be tested on these two structures. Various forms of shading devices will also be tested with a view to establishing their effectiveness. Daylighting and ventilation studies will also be carried out. This exercise is aimed at providing a feed-back for both practice and teaching. Applied research and teaching are backed by a regular supply of information. Studio projects normally begin with the study of a town or parts thereof. The physical environment as well as the socio-economic structure are studied before any proposals are made. In the advanced countries statistical data are readily available. However, in Ghana, students and the teaching staff have to collect and analyse such data. Documentation becomes an important aspect of research and practice. Some of the Faculty's publications receive a wide reading and circulation and they are a useful source of information for practising architects and research students. It is proposed therefore to establish a documentation centre within the Faculty to be responsible for publication. Some of the activities undertaken by the Faculty are set out here in detail. These comprise: Live projects by the Faculty Projects Office. Research and development of resources by the Department of Housing and Planning Research. Urban and Rural Housing Studies. Resettlement and New Town Projects.

Terraced Houses on the Campus The Faculty Projects Office has undertaken the design of several schemes within its two years of existence. The first project to be built is a terraced housing scheme for Senior Members of Staff. Terraced housing has not been popular among Ghanaians. Hitherto all staff houses were planned as free standing single family houses with parklike gardens around. The houses were conceived for high standard living, offering opportunities for higher densities, use of cheaper locally produced material and the introduction of a more rational method of construction. They are also designed to provide acceptable environmental conditions indoors. At the design stage the thermal performance of the walls and roofs was theoretically assessed. Two of the units were constructed with soil-cement blocks manufactured by the Faculty using a press also designed by the Faculty's Housing and Planning Research Department.

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Currently we are carrying out user studies. Temperature readings have been taken, simultaneously in the living room of the middle unit and in the living room of an older house for comparisons. The results are being analysed. Further studies are planned in the following areas: Ventilation rates Acoustics Daylighting

Agricultural Development Bank The Agricultural Development Bank is the most ambitious project to be designed by the Projects Office. This is a 15 storey block of offices with two levels of basement. This will be the tallest building in Ghana when completed. It was therefore necessary that a thorough investigation of the soil structure and the micro-climate be carried out at the design stage. The site changed several times as a result of the discovery of faults in the sub-structure and each change affected the orientation and hence required a fresh look at the design as a whole. The Faculty carried out the climatological studies upon which the detailed design of the subshading was based. The Faculty's wind tunnel (the only one in the country) is being modified and when this is completed models of this scheme will be tested in order to establish the distribution of wind pressure across the tower block.

Pilot Studies:

The Department of Housing and Planning was established to carry out both research and development. The Department has constructed low cost model houses in timber, mud, stabilised earth and sand-cement blocks. Some of these are in and around the University Campus. The principal objective of these projects is to demonstrate the techniques in low cost rural and urban housing. Materials are selected from the point of view of structural and economic performance. Theoretical calculations are done to give an indication of the internal environment. These need to be followed up with actual measurements inside the built form.

Resettlement and New Towns: Under the Government's rural housing scheme, a number of model villages are planned and a few are under construction. The Department of Housing and Planning Research, with considerable expertise gained from resettlement work in connection with the Volta River Project, are responsible for the design of a new township for Nsutam. Site selection, soil investigation and climate analysis were important pre-requisites for the scheme. Like all the other projects, resettlement work provides feed-back for teaching and practice.

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Research into Multi-Family Rental Houses in Kumasi:

Rapid urbanisation is one of the problems facing the country at present. Houses are needed to cater for the migrant urban population as well as for the natural growth in the population. The State Housing Corporation is unable to build enough houses to cater for these needs. Private Builders build "Multi-Family Rental Houses" in the cities and towns. These houses although not designed by architects and offering minimum facilities for cooking and even toilet, provide the migrants with an atmosphere of communal living which is common in the rural areas. Research so far has been limited to measured drawings and socio-economic surveys. It is, however, proposed to extend the research to include environmental factors such as room temperatures, acoustics, etc. Finally, proposals will be made for future development in this field of housing. In conclusion, it is necessary to realise that the Ghanaian research architect is always venturing into the unknown. Techniques of building remain comparatively primitive. The largest and the most widely used unit of walling material is the sand-cement block. There has been hardly any advance in methods of construction. Quite apart from the limitations imposed on building by economic factors, present day construction techniques will be unable to meet the demands of rapid population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation. Research is needed in the development of the physical resources of the country. Research needs to be co-ordinated with practice and documentation. One finds therefore a progressive Faculty of Architecture influencing, to a disproportionate extent, the trend in architectural practice through applied and fundamental research, professional practice and documentation. Finally, it must be emphasised that none of the research activities outlined is capable of producing any results that will make a meaningful impact on the architectural profession and the building industry. Our objective should be to bridge the technological gap between the advanced countries and ours. What difference will it make in terms of real need for houses if one comfortable house is produced? What difference will it make if a thousand people are employed to produce 50 houses in, say, two years in a country which needs about 10,000 houses per annum? The building industry in Ghana needs "a kick in the pants" so that it will wake up from a deep slumber. Science and technology should be harnessed in a co-ordinated approach if they are to be effective. This may require efforts in a regional basis or perhaps on a wider continental scale.

Charles Doidge, Henry Moss, Unit for Architectural Studies, University College London. The Unit for Architectural Studies got under way about five years ago in a unique way. University College realised that it had a space problem and that more use of existing facilities would have to be made. The School of Architecture was therefore commissioned to undertake a small

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research project, aimed at looking at the space problems of the College and with the objective of trying to develop design tools which would help future buildings. Professor John Musgrove was appointed the Director of the project. Since this beginning six projects have been undertaken supported by the College, DES, SRC and the Overseas Development Administration. These projects have shown the need for more fundamental questions to be tackled. Support from the SRC is helping to take the applied aspects back to the theoretical end of the research spectrum. The research undertaken by the Unit for Architectural Studies was therefore traditional in its organisation; there was one permanent member of the University staff. Other members were employed on contracts with the possibility of renewal. There is a 2 year forward programme.

Ross King, Department of Architecture, University of Sydney, Australia. The Fell Research Project was established in 1968 in the Faculty of Architecture as a result of a bequest to the University by the late Ian Buchan Fell, a Sydney architect. It operates as a separate unit within the University, but is also able to use the resources of the Departments of Architecture, Architectural Science, and Town and Country Planning, and it normally tries to work in areas common to the interests of those Departments. The Project mainly operates as a unit of full-time research workers in differing disciplines, but it also supervises research students whose work is related to its activities, or who, in the opinion of the University, would benefit from the association.

Object

The Project has been established to study HOUSING, specifically in Australia. Housing is here understood more broadly than the simple fact of residential dwelling space or the design of dwelling units. It is seen rather as the residential or housing quality of settlements, particularly of urban areas. Residential quality is probably a difficult concept to comprehend and to analyse, particularly as our expectations become more complex. Once the Australian cities could grow comparatively simply: land could be subdivided, the speculative builders (the state housing authorities included) would build houses, sometimes very sparsely over great areas of land, the local government council might pave some of the roads, and the utilities authorities connect the sewer . . . eventually! A few shops could start after a while, and over a considerable time reasonable shopping centres might develop. The result could end up very good indeed, though only after a long period. But today the expectation seems to be that new residential areas (and old ones) should have much higher standards of urban services. These certainly include full servicing of residential land (electricity, water, sewerage, drainage), made road, "open space" • . . AND, increasingly, complete shopping facilities the day you move into your new house, schools operating locally, kindergartens and baby health centre, a hospital, playing fields and recreation centres, pubs and clubs (including clubs for adolescents and for the aged), reasonable access to tertiary education and entertainment and sports, churches and a library and so on,

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and of course reasonable access to adequate employment . . . including tertiary employment for women and for adolescents! These are all aspects of residential quality that we seem to have come to expect. For many in Australia—in the better established suburbs of the cities, for example—the realisation comes very close to the expectation. But in the great majority of newer suburbs, and perhaps in the majority of country towns and in their hinterland, there seems to be an increasing gulf between expectation and realisation (although of course it may well be aspects of the expectation that are most awry . . . country towns in particular seem to point up positive qualities of residential communities that seem to feature less and less in our expectations: a strong sense of community and social cohesiveness, for instance). But the gap between residential expectation and residential realisation is even wider for many in the 1970s automobile-dominated community: the workman's wife in her suburb without adequate public transport (rendered uneconomic by the automobile, and so its service allowed to run down), and with the family car driven to the husband's factory or the railway station, can become isolated in a low-density world, unable to drive to her drive-in shopping and entertainments, with great distances for her children to get to school. . . in the "automobile city" the poor, and even the lower middleincome, become unable to use the city in the form to which it has evolved, and the women in particular can be the great disprivileged. For the rich, however, this city caters better and better as residential habitat. So what are "housing needs" in the context of this broader understanding of residential quality and expectations? With its great general affluence the 1970's city has been assured of a dwelling stock whose technical and space standards are immensely high, both in a national historical and in a world context. The city's failures as residential habitat seem therefore the more severe: the very poor, the old, wives and children of the middle and lower income—all those for whom this city has ceased to cater—are at least as severely disprivileged as any groups of the past, and it could well be argued that social and economic differences continually widen rather than diminish; with the changing role of the family and declining family responsibility for the aged, the plight of the aged and the dwellings they are forced to occupy are frequently horrifying; with the changing housing market—and the changing housing finance market—more and more people seem to find that the housing which our expectations dictate as needs, is increasingly beyond their reach, so that while the rich can afford more and more in this golden age, the poor may have to accept less! The Project aims then to study housing in this context of an increasingly complex understanding of residential quality, of an increasing gulf for many between expectations of residential quality and realisations, and of increasing evidence of a major breakdown in the system for the supply of housing and of housing finance in Australia.

Programme

More specifically, the Fell Project is attempting to define and describe "HOUSING NEEDS" in Australia.

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Two approaches are being used. First, a case study approach is being taken to the question of perception of residential quality: how do people actually see the quality of residential areas, what are its characteristics, and so what are the values underlying that perception. Values are different for different groups, for people in different areas and of different backgrounds, and they vary with age; thus perceptions of quality and concern for various aspects of that quality also vary. A number of studies of this have been completed, mainly by research students attached to the Project, and others are under way. Secondly, a survey is being made of housing conditions in the metropolitan area of Sydney. Clustered random sampling is being used, and housing is being described by characteristics of space and technical standards, locational quality or convenience (covering such things as access to employment, to shopping, to educational facilities, to recreation and so on), and physical environmental quality. We are attempting to explain characteristics of the use of this dwelling stock in terms of these characteristics of the stock itself. (It is at this level of understanding the use of the dwelling stock, including locational behaviour, that the two aspects of the study are integrated: characteristics of the stock, and perception of its characteristics.) It is hoped that from this work understanding and measurement of "housing need" in Sydney can be determined. It is also intended that this study be duplicated in Melbourne and in Canberra, but at present our resources do not permit this. However, a related study of the town of Yass in NSW is currently under way. Yass has a number of advantages for this work: it has not been too severely hit by the current rural recession, it has very good communications, and even reasonable access to certain urban services in Canberra nearby, and it has good recreation opportunities. Its size of some 4,000 people makes it fairly manageable for thorough survey. It is hoped that differences in characteristics of its dwelling stock and in values and behaviour of its residents, compared with those in Sydney, will help to an understanding of both communities and of their needs. A further major aspect of residential quality that we are studying is the development of government policies that affect that quality. An analysis of governments' housing, urban and economic policies, and of the relationships between these at the Commonwealth and state levels, is now nearing completion. A further section of this work, looking at the role and effect of local government controls on residential development and environmental quality, is also under way, with an emphasis on the quality and control of medium density residential areas. Little work is being done on the performance of individual dwellings or dwelling types (other than the study of medium density housing just mentioned). A number of projects by research students have been carried out on problems and needs of housing for aborigines, old people, and other groups, and other studies again have been made of the detached house, but current resources have not permitted any large-scale work on these areas. One subject on which an exception has been made, however, is that of mobile and transportable housing: even though the technology of dwelling production is not a major area of the Project's interest, it is already clear from our other work on the performance of the housing market and industry that a major

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revolution is needed and coming, and that the mobile and transportable dwellings industry will be both an instrument and a beneficiary of this revolution, as it is proving to be in the United States. This aspect of the work is continuing. Results of the programme are published by the Project in Reports, Research Papers, and other formats, although as with any similar organisation we find that at any one time a great majority of our work will not be in a published form. Enquiries are therefore invited on any aspect of the programme where published results seem inadequate.

Dean T. Howarth, Faculty of Architecture, Urban & Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture, University of Toronto, Canada. My Faculty consists of three separate Departments; the Department of Architecture, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and the Department of Landscape Architecture. Most members of the academic staff are tenured and full-time; they are salaried and do not rely upon research funds for support. Research is in its infancy in most, if not all, North American Schools of Architecture due, primarily, to a lack of a research tradition. In addition to active individual and group research programmes in our planning department, and at graduate level in architecture, we embarked some years ago on research into special problems of building in the north (in arctic and sub-arctic regions) and of living in domed spaces. We have received financial support from the Federal Government and will shortly produce our first research report on this subject. The member of staff in charge of the programme has travelled extensively in the north recently and examined related Russian and Scandinavian experiences. Two members of staff have been working for several years on a project for recording early (pre 1850) buildings of architectural importance in the Province of Ontario; this is government supported. One of my colleagues has been helping to set up a national inventory of such buildings for the Federal Government in Ottawa. In the technical field we have had individuals working on methods of improving concrete finishes. A number of architects in private practices carry out their own independent research sometimes sponsored by Government agencies or by industry. Two such projects of especial interest have to do with air curtain systems and a method of pre-fabrication for energy conservation under northern conditions. Three major publications recently by members of staff have established our reputation as one of the major centres of historical research in Canada—Eric Arthur's "Toronto No Mean City"; Anthony Adamson's "The Ancestral Roof", and James Acland's "Medieval Structure: The Gothic Vault".

Bruce Beckett, Scottish Development Department. The function of the Architects' Division of the Scottish Development Department is primarily to provide advice and service on building policy aspects of fixed investment in services for which

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the Secretary of State has statutory responsibilities. There is a secondary role which is growing in importance, i.e. a building design and procurement service mainly in the Scottish Home and Health Department field for penal institutions but increasingly for live building demonstration projects for the other three Departments. The primary function is discharged in six principal ways: by advising, in association with the Quantity Surveyors and Engineers, on building standards' implications, in so far as they affect the planning of investment (space x quality = cost). by similarly creating control mechanisms, techniques and methods in association with administrative divisions. by operating these mechanisms in association with administrative divisions. by providing a building information service. by undertaking research and development work. by building joint development projects with Local Authorities, Hospital Boards, etc. The responsibilities of the Architects' Division arise out of the work of the four Departments of the Secretary of State for Scotland, and cover a wide range of building types and building activities which are dealt with by separate Ministries in London. These interests range from regional planning to the equipment of individual spaces in buildings. They provide a special opportunity to co-ordinate standards of space, performance, efficiency and cost, building techniques and components for Scottish geographic, climatic, social and legal conditions. It is thus possible to consider the environment as a whole, and to secure consistency of policy and methods across a wide spectrum of classes of user. This unique opportunity leads to a facility for bridging the gaps between different responsibilities; for considering the balance of provision in different fields; and for developing multi-function buildings, where appropriate, with significant advantage. To-day, building techniques involve an integrated system of structures, services, and cost equations; elements which develop in parallel and which are fully interdependent. Consequently cost advice to administration, divorced from design advice is as unreliable as design advice which is not fully compatible with costs, planning or engineering requirements. Just as building solutions are comprehensive, the simple division of advice into its component parts is no longer reliable or realistic. Failure to recognise this trend would lead to an administration in the broadest sense, which could easily find itself subordinating its true end, i.e. a building development policy based on objectively-determined priorities and standards—to the mere saving of money. If that were to happen, it would produce not economy but delay and frustration. All these considerations underline the significance of the research element in the work of the Architects' Division.

The Division carries responsibility for advice and research and development in Housing, Health, Education and Welfare, and Special Buildings which include Prisons, Agricultural

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Colleges, Research Institutes, Fire Stations, State Managed Hotels, Crematoria etc. It works in close collaboration with the Department's Engineers, Quantity Surveyors and Planners. Housing: Control procedures in the public sector (local authorities, New Towns, Scottish Special Housing Association etc.); research and development projects leading to published guidance on standards and performance; development of housing techniques; improvements of existing housing and environment. The Group aims to have at all times at least one live demonstration project in the pipeline. Health: Research and development on the following: design, standards and costs for hospital departments, including the development of industrialised building; and the new programmes for health centres. The work involves collaboration with medical staff and leads to joint development projects with Regional Hospital Boards. Education and Welfare: This Group provides an architectural service to the Scottish Education Department consisting essentially of research and development but also involving collaboration with Local Education Authorities in their current programmes, and buildings required by the Social Work Act of 1968. The Group also undertakes the design and contract administration of live development projects on behalf of Education Authorities. Special Buildings: Executive Prison and State Management building programmes including new projects using industrialised building methods and requiring the improvement of social standards of accommodation and new Prisons embodying advanced methods of security. The Group also provides an architectural advisory service on Agricultural Colleges, Research Institutes, Fire Stations, Police Stations, Slaughterhouses and Crematoria. This Group is responsible for executing an annual building programme in excess of £2,000,000 per annum. Building Regulations: Scottish Building legislation is acknowledged to be amongst the most advanced of its type. The Group advises Administration on technical aspects of this legislation, and is engaged in research and development on the next generation of building regulations. This work presents opportunities for skilled and practised architects with imagination, and an intellectual appreciation of the contribution which progressive building legislation can make towards better buildings and environments in the future. Intelligence and Research: This is a multi-disciplinary Group which brings together the skills of the building professions with scientists. The Group is responsible for liaison and integration or research with other Government Departments and research bodies including the Universities; its officers administer research contracts and co-ordinate the research effort in the Architects' Division. This Group provides scope for research-orientated architects and surveyors, with an interest in scientific methodology, programme analysis and building economics etc.

Patricia Apps, Dean Hawkes, Land Use Built Form Studies, University of Cambridge, School of Architecture. The Centre for Land Use and Built Form Studies was established in October 1967 as a research

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division of the University of Cambridge School of Architecture. It is supported by research contracts and grants.

The broad aim of the centre is to foster research and to advance knowledge in the fields of architectural design and physical planning with special emphasis on the quantitative study of activity systems and built environments. The common method of the Centre's work is to formulate mathematical and logical models which make it possible to characterise and to explore the ranges of spatial patterns which accommodate various activities. This method is shared by studies ranging over the continuum of physical scales from the individual building to the urban region. Thus the work consists on the one hand of the quantitative and geometrical description of the spatial and physical form of the building, the site or the urban area; and on the other the modelling of patterns of activity at these scales.

The staff consists of some sixteen full time research workers in several disciplines with about the same number of post-graduate doctoral candidates and visiting associates. The centre is directed by Lionel March who is responsible to the Professor of Architecture, Sir Leslie Martin. The research is mainly in the field of quantitative methods, mathematical and logical models, and computer aids for building and environmental design, planning, development and management.

Sponsors have included the Centre for Environmental Studies, Department of Education and Science, Department of Health and Social Security, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Housing Research Foundation, Department of the Environment, and the Social Science Research Council.

The purpose of these notes is to place on record the attitudes which inform the work of Land Use and Built Form Studies. In compiling these notes we have drawn upon the paper, Modern movement to Vitruvius—themes of education and research, given at the RIBA on 11 January 1972 by Lionel March, since this describes the LUBFS philosophy better than anything we might say.

In his paper Lionel March refers back to the 1959 Oxford conference on architectural education and in particular to Sir Leslie Martin's summary:

"A strong case can be made for the development of schools of architecture in universities and for the transfer to universities of schools in other institutions. The characteristic feature of architectural education is that it involves widely different types of knowledge. From the point of view of the university this raises two considerations. If architecture is to take its proper place in the university and if the knowledge which it entails is to be taught at the highest standard, it will be necessary to establish a bridge between faculties, between the arts and the sciences, engineering, sociology and economics. Furthermore, the universities will require something more than a study of techniques and parcels of this or that form of knowledge. They will expect and have a right to expect that knowledge will be guided and developed by principles: that is by theory. "Theory", as one speaker said, "is the body of principles that explains and interrelates all the

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facts of a subject". Research is the tool by which theory is advanced. Without it, teaching can have no direction and thought no cutting edge." In this paragraph lie ideas which still influence our thought in Cambridge. The theoretical content of our work was referred to by Sir Robert Matthew in his opening remarks. These placed us at one end of a spectrum of research activity which at its other limit relates closely to the day-to-day needs of architectural practice. Our only qualification of this picture is to remind that theory and practice are mutually dependent. The following extract from Lionel March's lecture states our position: "It is, I believe, the prime purpose of universities and research laboratories to increase the body of theoretical knowledge. Because of the level of generality required, and the long-term nature of the enquiry, I do not see this work being undertaken within architectural practice. And yet it is crucial to the well-being of our practice. I believe it is for university departments to do research to increase our fund of knowledge, and it is for others to apply this knowledge to practical purpose. This may require some intermediary but any such organisation should, in my view, be outside the university. To mix practice with research within the university is to dilute the unique opportunity to the academic to take a long, cool view away from the hurly-burly of day-to-day decision-making and compromise. In this I count myself a staunch defender of what the American sociologist Robert Nisbet has called the academic dogma. The dogma says: "Knowledge is good". As Nisbet claims: "Not necessarily knowledge in the service to self-survival, nor to power, nor to affluence, nor to religious piety; but knowledge in its own service. The kind of knowledge that springs from the itch of curiosity, from dispassionate, disinterested desire to obtain objective knowledge of nature, society and man." Having established our standpoint, we can now describe our experiences in research which are relevant to the session subject defined at this seminar. Our objectives are adequately described in general above and in particular in the description of our work. It is perhaps worth stressing that our objectives at all levels cannot be separated from theoretical concepts and certain methodologies nor from the influence of the state of the technologies which we utilise. The implementation of many of our theories would be impossible without the computer. Technology is, however, a tool which we use and is not an end in itself in our work. We must state that our work is not concerned with computer-aided design in the sense that the computer becomes a drawingboard-side aid for the practising architect. We are concerned about the relationship between the results of our research and practice, but not about the relationship between computer aids and the design process. It is convenient to group together our experiences under the three session topic heads, Research, teaching and practice, implementation and communication. Sir Leslie Martin's summary at the Oxford conference outlines a framework for the relationship between research and teaching. After something less than five years LUBFS is contributing to teaching in the Cambridge school in a number of ways. Staff members of the centre give lectures and lecture courses on their respective basic subjects and personal enthusiasms ranging from statistics, computer

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programming and lighting studies on to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, the de Stijl movement and the biological analogy in architecture. The beginnings of a longer-term contribution are now apparent in that the methods and results of the research are being introduced into the school. Clearly there is a time-lag here since there is a responsibility to allow work to reach maturity before it is taught. The main explicit connection between LUBFS and practice exists via Applied Research of Cambridge. There is a company formed in 1969 with members of the centre as shareholders to develop the centre's skills in the field of computer applications in architecture and planning. There were two main reasons for setting-up this organisation: first, the general desire to see aspects of research applied in a relatively short time cycle and secondly, to establish some mechanism which could accept commissions for work which were seen to relate to our work but which did not have "academic" content. The quotation from Lionel March above insists upon maintaining the independence of the work of the university department from the problems of direct application in practice. An important point to mention is the way in which ARC has benefited from the centre's existence. The main contributions have been in the centre's solutions of fundamental problems and, an important element, in the centre establishing a confidence that a marriage between computer methods and architecture and planning is both possible and desirable. ARC is a fully independent, commercially orientated company operating from its own premises and with a staff which now, after two years, numbers sixteen. These are drawn from a wide range of academic backgrounds. The members of the centre occasionally contribute to ARC by acting in a consultancy capacity in the early stages of projects. LUBFS's research findings are communicated to ARC chiefly through the centre's Working Paper programme as they are to any other body. Also in the early stages of development research-directed computer programs have been transferred although it has been found that these invariably have to be totally rewritten within ARC for successful commercial application. Indeed much of ARC's work consists in tailoring computer packages for special client needs. In its experience, the universal computer program is either a myth, or grossly inefficient. The centre communicates information about its work in a number of ways. The most common medium is the Working Paper series. These are published by the centre and are generally fully detailed descriptions of research theories, methods and results and are intended primarily for consumption by other research workers, although their circulation extends beyond this relatively small circle. There is, in addition, a small number of Working Papers which set out the historical background leading to some of the centre's work. Working Papers are supplemented by Technical Notes which aim to present descriptions of techniques used in research in a straightforward manner. The Notes each deal with a single topic. At the end of a research contract a Final Report is produced which outlines the work done. The content of individual Working Papers is summarised and the opportunity is taken, where appropriate, to show the implications of the work for research or practice.

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Finally, on the subject of published material, we should mention the forthcoming first volume in a series of Cambridge Environmental Studies to be published by Cambridge University Press. This will present a group of essays mainly about the centre's work at the urban scale. Future volumes will deal with other aspects of the work. In this way the established work will be preserved in more permanent form than the Working Papers and will also reach a wider public. A significant "spin-off" from the centre is the book Geometry of Environment by Lionel March and Philip Steadman. This was published by RIBA Publications in 1971. On the topic of Finance in research, LUBFS experiences the problems of most of the institutions represented at the seminar. The difficulties of being able to offer any kind of career structure to staff when the whole of the work is supported by relatively short contracts are a part of our experience. With this problem in mind it becomes necessary to define subjects for grant applications which one feels will be favourably received by sponsoring bodies. In our situation in Cambridge, where our main aims are not "product-orientated", this means that we must compromise some of our goals in order to maintain the institution. In some respects this is no bad thing, but from the point of view of senior staff it is difficult for them to develop ideas fully and to find time to write and lecture when they feel a responsibility to a sponsor and a particular piece of work. The solution must lie in removing a nucleus of senior staff from the problems of contract support. If we return to Lionel March's paper, he made a plea for a shift in emphasis in the teaching staff of university schools of architecture so that a balance is achieved between those who teach and practice and those who teach and research. Then research orientated teachers could direct programmes of work to be carried out by research students aided by professional research assistances drawn from related disciplines. This brings us to the subject of the multi-disciplinary team. The staff of LUBFS is drawn from many fields including architecture, planning, geography, mathematics, computer science, engineering and operations research. We do, however, have serious reservations about a simple education between multi-disciplinary teams and success in environmental research. We can best explain by describing the growth of the centre. Our first concern is with architecture— in a very broad definition. The first members of the centre all came from an architectural background. Because they were motivated in their work by a deep understanding of problems derived from architecture, they acquired for themselves knowledge and skills, for example in mathematics and computer science, to enable them to progress. As the work developed new people with specialist skills were brought in so that, gradually, the centre became multidisciplinary. There are three points which can be made from this experience. First, the centre became multi-disciplinary as real needs for other skills were demonstrated. Secondly, few of the people have remained specialists. Architects might understand aspects of mathematics, computer science and physics. Computer scientists have certain insights into architecture which many architects would envy. A consequence of this is that the people brought in can make fundamental contributions to our thinking rather than simply being used to supply specific skills and information. Finally, there is another dimension to the way in which our work cuts across disciplines.

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We have built-up working contacts with other institutions and university departments so that advice and help can be sought on problems without the need to have permanent staff with the "missing" skills. This seems to be an economic use of resources. We believe that an "informed narrowness" in an institution encourages excellence within its defined field. Provided centres of excellence connect with each other the disciplines can come together better than if the skills are spread thinly amongst a large number of institutions.

Professor A. C. Hardy, School of Architecture, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne The Building Science Section of the School of Architecture has a variety of functions. It is basically a multi-disciplinary postgraduate research department which also provides courses on Environmental Design to the School of Architecture. It operates outside the University by providing a specialist consultancy service to architects in the fields of heat, light and sound, as well as investigating environmental failures in buildings. It is this latter function which identifies the areas for future research.

The Section has concentrated its research on the integrated fields of heat, light and sound in relation to both human requirements and the performance standards for buildings. At any time three main research projects are in operation, one in each of the physical fields. The research teams do not, however, work in isolation, but are closely interrelated to avoid the situation which can arise when the results of an isolated project can produce design parameters that will conflict with another field. In addition, as the research teams tend to cover a wide range of disciplines, a specialist from one team will often be a useful contributor to another team's work, whereas such specialist advice could not be employed full time on all the projects. Although the Professor is an architect and his main function is to identify research projects, obtain the necessary outside financial support and process the research results into useful design parameters for architects, no architects are employed on the research work itself. This is because it has been found that most architects have an inadequate scientific background to be research workers and tend to predict the results of experiments and adjust the measurements to fit their predictions. Most research projects are for a three year period with the possibility of a further two year extension. The basic research team consists of a Senior Research Associate, who already has research experience, a postgraduate research student, a technician and a part-time secretary, who may also undertake routine data processing. The greatest part of the research funds are obtained from Government sources. Research Associates or students are eligible for a two year MSc (Environmental Design) or a three year PhD qualification by research. The Environmental Design Courses for the School of Architecture are specifically designed to integrate the results of research and to give students experience in designing buildings to performance standards. The first year studies the external site conditions and the conditions required inside the building for human needs, so that the comparison of the two sets of data identifies the performance standard required for the building enclosure. Second year is basically

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the teaching of prediction techniques and their application to design decision making, and third year the process of designing buildings to overall performance standards. This direct relationship between research and studio work provides a situation where the effects of new design parameters on the overall building design can be assessed. Consultancy work has developed due to the realisation by the Section that the published results of research were not being applied in practice and that advice was being sought by architects at too late a stage in the design process. Development work in advanced building design has been carried out in light industrial buildings, primary and secondary schools and in large scale open office design. Involvement in such schemes also provides access to the occupied buildings for the purpose of obtaining feed-back information by both measurement and questionnaire techniques. The investigation of building failures tends to be a small part of the work of the Section. Its importance lies in the identification of the reason for failure and the development of design parameters or prediction techniques that can avoid the failure occurring, due to inadequate information at the design stage. In fact, almost all the major research projects have been based on field studies of environmental failures that have revealed the need for more information to be made available to the designer, so that alternative design decisions can be checked for performance standards. The Section occupies a building specifically designed for its purpose, comprising a number of laboratories which are used mainly for the calibration, assembly and development of equipment for measuring the physical environment; a large thermal test chamber for the thermal analysis of full size models of forms of construction, an artificial sky room and wood, metal and electronics workshops. There are individual study rooms for staff and research workers, a research library, seminar rooms and, in another building, a double reverberant chamber. A large demonstration laboratory is used exclusively for teaching purpose. A mobile laboratory with its own independent power supplies is available for field work.

Jeremy Taylor, Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, University of York. The Research Section of the Institute was formally set up by the University in January 1971 with the appointment of a full time Research Director. The creation of this unit was given impetus by the need for a research capability to extend and complement the Institute's established educational role as a centre for mid-career education amongst the building professions. It also answered the pressures for research to examine certain problems being identified by the Institute's own architectural practice. The mid-career short courses at the Institute have over the years developed around certain aims and ideas—architectural history and conservation of buildings were amongst the earliest of these and emphasis has also been placed on courses concerned with questions of management and the design process. The particular approaches of the Institute are now being further clarified by the provision of the first year long Diploma courses in Conservation Studies. As a

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context to these approaches there is in addition, the City of York—seen as a potential workshop for studies in upgrading the urban environment in the Esher report—and the educational contribution of the University of York. These related threads: mid-career learning, the updating of information and techniques for course members, teaching methods themselves and the experience of a conservation situation have all helped to state the nature and likely direction of the Research Section. The work undertaken therefore follows from a set of related circumstances—educational process, location, defined research need—with each piece of research being supported by outside funds. Recent projects include: A research contract for the Building Research Station was in progress during 1969 and 1970 at the Institute. This was commissioned to enquire into the communication of BRS's own research results to architects in practice, whether present methods were effective and whether the design of published material was itself in a suitable form. A report entitled Architects and Information was submitted to BRS in 1971 and formed the subject of a special colloquium at BRS to consider the recommendations.

Since February 1971 research has been developed on the conversion of existing town housing stock as a source for student living accommodation. This was financed initially by the University of York, with a special interest for its own future housing needs. The study also went on to survey conversion work of this type carried Out SO far in other universities and polytechnics throughout the UK. A report on the work to date, House Conversions for Students, was issued as the Institute's third Research Paper in February 1972.

The area of enquiry on this topic is now being widened to consider the potential of house conversions for single young person accommodation generally, and since

April 1972 is being supported by a new grant from the Department of the Environment.

The work will include an examination of three case studies of urban centres where

Higher Education Institutions and the "young and mobile" housing sector face a dwindling resource of available accommodation. The processes by which conversions might be used to relieve such housing pressures, and an assessment of suitable housing stock for this, will be among the points investigated. 3. From autumn 1972 a one year research study is being financed by the National Council for Educational Technology into the Design of Learning Spaces. This will survey the design and suitability of a range of typical learning environments in secondary and tertiary education in the UK; specific emphasis will be put on the needs for new teaching and learning methods and use of new educational technology. The study will also consider whether adequate channels of communication exist at present between educational innovators, those who commission educational buildings and their designers.

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The results will, it is hoped, provide an initial "state of the art" survey which should show up present levels of knowledge and identify problem areas. An important part of this study will be to explore the presentation of results in alternative, or "non-book" forms including the use of packages of audio visual information, films or videotapes. 4. Also commencing in 1972 is a two year project funded by the Architects Registration Councils of the United Kingdom to evaluate the present Learning Needs of MidCareer Education for the Building Professions. With the expansion of mid-career courses for the building professions, and with a desire to examine questions of effectiveness for different types of course attender, this work seeks to establish how current teaching methods relate to the motivation, experience and expectation of individual students. The research programme will also include an appraisal of the use of relevant new educational media in continuing education of this type. The projects at present being undertaken allow for the development of the Institute's interest in the "Communication of Research Results to Practice"—an interest which initially has concentrated on the use of the written word in the project for the Building Research Station, but which will now be exploring in addition the use of self paced learning techniques and the mid-career situation itself as useful alternatives. This concern for what happens to research results is of growing importance when the volume of research for the environmental sectors is increasing and the suitability of results, for transfer to the relevant user groups, is still very much left to chance. This suggests that once a project is undertaken we must also consider carefully its continuing activity after the formal project time; this could call for a small group to be maintained to keep up expertise in the particular subject areas, update information and carry out innovative studies such that the Institute will be able to offer a research consultancy service to clients and design teams. For the latter there is also the benefit at the Institute of the interaction with the related York University Design Unit architectural office which can handle executive commissions, assist with prototype work or incorporate test procedures in relevant schemes. Main outputs from the projects will be in the form of Research Papers, or the publication of work by journals, plus the emphasis already mentioned on alternative visual or "non-book" formats. Coupled to these there is a further feedback of general concepts and research findings into the Institute's courses. As graduate studies develop allied to the long courses, for instance with the Conservation Course, they in turn will be able to explore subsidiary problems and offer theses and working documents to supplement the main research areas.

John Skakke, Housing Research and Development Unit, University of Nairobi, Kenya. The Housing Research and Development Unit was started on the recommendations of a research team from the United Nations that in 1964 was evaluating the housing situation in Kenya. Among other recommendations issued by this research team was a suggestion that the Govern-

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ment of Kenya in co-operation with the then "University College" should take action to encourage research and development activities in the sector of low cost housing. The suggestion was adapted in a government declaration in 1966, and in the University's development plan 1967-70 the suggestion was detailed into a concrete description of a Housing Research and Development Unit. Early in 1967 an agreement was reached between the Ministry of Housing and the University which contains the following points on the objectives of the Research Unit: to explore social, technical and economic problems of housing and community planning and to help to establish appropriate standards; to build up a body of knowledge in preparation for advanced training in the fields of urban and regional planning and environmental science; to assist the Government of Kenya by advising on social, technical and economic aspects of housing and community planning; to produce prototype designs, to test building systems and to assist in the construction of experimental housing projects including community facilities in collaboration with public or semi-public bodies; to participate in the teaching of subjects concerned with housing and planning in University College. The frames for the Housing Research and Development Unit were thus established and the Unit started in February 1967 with a staff consisting of an Architect Planner, an Economist, a Sociologist and supporting staff. There are at present 10 staff. The main activities are defined in the basic papers as:— Documentation, Formulation of Standards, Development of Prototypes and Erection of Experimental Buildings. This "Feed-back method" includes all activities, economical, social and technical.

Ruth Camnock, Colin Thunhurst, Medical Architecture Research Unit, Polytechnic of North London.

The unit started life in the Southend School of Architecture some six years ago and has existed in its present setting for less than five years. Its instigator was its present Director, Raymond Moss, who had experienced the difficulties of the national Hospital Building Programme from within a Regional Hospital Board Architects' Department, had worked in the DHSS' Architects R & D Group and wanted a broader base from which to try to "establish criteria for improving the design of health and welfare environments". He retains a part-time commitment to the DHSS development work, which provides a salary supplement comparable to that derived from fees for building projects in some other units.

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He and his deputy are salaried staff in the Department of Architecture at the Polytechnic, though the latter is only part-time, and has additional teaching commitments unrelated to the unit. The rest of the research staff depend entirely on their project contracts, and come and go according to their success in obtaining such contracts. At present there are two more architects, a mathematician and a biochemist. One of the architects is also a doctor, and the biochemist has been teaching in a school of architecture. The unit has very little contact with the undergraduate school, apart from ad hoc service teaching, but it has taken the unusual step of actually setting up a postgraduate course in Health Building Planning, whose students, as yet mainly from overseas, provide an excellent sounding board for its research workers' ideas. Much of the teaching is done b outsiders, and a full-time tutor has recently been added to the establishment, so that this should remain, from the Research Unit's point of view, a stimulus and not a burden. It seems likely to provide a source of useful research assistants—though it is too recent an innovation to be sure about that. Achievements, as indicated by the list of publications, might seem to be unco-ordinated snippets because they appear under the labels of the various administrative divisions and building types within the health field. In fact most of them are linked by a thread which is becoming steadily stronger: a concern for the briefing stage of building projects, for communication between designer and building user, for the user's view of his building and ultimately for the designer's view of the user's organisation and his concept of his design objective. Health buildings presented an immediate challenge—comparable to the challenge of the existing out-of-date housing which faces the unit in York. But, though they are providing an excellent vehicle for the development of ideas, it is no part of this Unit's policy to restrict its work to the health field. Indeed as it progresses from its initial applied research projects toward more basic issues, the possibility—and relevance—of generalisation increases. Progress in this direction presents a major practical problem—that of funding. Much of the work, so far, has been sponsored by the DHSS, and the topics—bedspacing in hospital wards, reception and waiting facilities in health centres, a mathematical model to derive the arrangement of spaces in outpatient departments from the operational policies, etc.—reflect the priorities of a government department pressing for practical answers to short-term problems. The unit is certain that more fundamental studies of long-term issues will yield bigger dividends, dividends for the architectural profession and for the built environment as well as for the health service, but its chief sponsor is only interested in the last of these three—so there is need for all the ingenuity and influence the unit can muster to keep itself in existence long enough to develop proposals and win support for such a programme.

Dean Guy Desbarats, Faculte de l'Amenagement, Universite de Montreal. Research is organised within our Faculty structure. The "Faculté de l'Aménagement" includes two departments: the "Ecole d'Architecture" and the "Institut d'Urbanisme".

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The "Ecole d'Architecture" offers three major programmes: —architecture —landscape architecture —industrial design

The "Institut d'Urbanisme" offers a post-graduate interdisciplinary programme in urban and regional planning. A modest and fluctuating university budget allows us a part-time research officer and full-time secretary as administrative support for the teaching staff research work. The "Research Committee" is a committee of Faculty Council. This committee is mandated to propose research policies to council, and to promote research generally within the Faculty. The majority of research projects have been proposed and moneys obtained by individual staff members, even in the case of group projects. The University has occasionally given small grants to help start new projects, or to bridge gaps in financing between phases of a project. Our research office registers can guarantee complete reporting on research work administered through University accounts. Our Faculty members have the right to carry on personal projects; they are theoretically supposed to register these with administration, but we know that our records are far from complete in this category of research work. Students, graduate and undergraduate, are encouraged to participate in research work, and our University allows, under certain conditions, remuneration for this participation. Our Faculty research office has been recently empowered to administer contracts for the experimental teaching-practice that our Faculty has begun to operate this past year. This is a transitional mechanism, operating in anticipation of the completion of the teaching-practice charter. All University administered research contracts come under the jurisdiction of the Vice-Rector for Research, who directs the University's main Research Office. Our research officer acts as administrative intermediary between teaching and research staff and this University Research Office. Among the main research directions that we have tried to promote in the Faculty, the following can be noted: the development of an information base for the Faculty, computer applications in design and planning, industrialisation of the building industry, citizen participation in urban planning activities.

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David Wisdom, GLC Department of Architecture and Civic Design, Housing and Town Development Branch. The municipal government of London is shared between the London Boroughs and the GLC under the London Government Act of 1963. Among its other functions the GLC is responsible for a considerable amount of public housing, and this work is very largely carried out by the Housing Branch of the Architects Department. The exceptions are Thamesmead, which, because of its size and complexity, is managed by a separate Division, and some smaller schemes for which private architects are commissioned. A wide variety of work is carried out by the Branch. Schemes vary from 110 persons per hectare to 336 persons per hectare in density, and up to 4,000 dwellings in size. Dwellings have been built in association with other authorities under the Town Development Act in places as far afield as Andover (Hampshire) and Wellingborough (Northamptonshire). The Branch is also carrying out an extensive programme of modernisation and rehabilitation of older dwellings. Value of work under construction at the moment is of the order of £100,000,000. The Branch is organised in three constructional Divisions supported by a Central Services Section. The CSS provides policy and programme co-ordination and specialist functions such as preacquisition site investigations and feasibility studies, children's playspace and equipment design, design of murals and research and development. The R and D Group was set up originally with three objectives: to evaluate new materials and construction techniques for housing: to develop building components where no satisfactory commercial alternatives existed: to develop type plans. At a later date a sub-group was set up to investigate the application of systematic design processes to the work of the branch. Changing circumstances have now brought about a review of these objectives. Available sites are increasingly more difficult to develop economically and the architect is required to deploy greater skill to satisfy rising Client expectations within rigid central government financial control. Because of this the architect must take a very close look both at the precision of the design brief and at the efficiency of his design process. For these reasons future R and D work will include a greater concentration on systematic design methods, the development of building in use studies, and the formulation of more accurate design criteria.

Allan Rodger, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University of Khartoum. The Democratic Republic of Sudan is not and never has been a member of the Commonwealth.

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Until independence in 1956 it was the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan—a condominium administered by the British Foreign Office under a joint arrangement between Britain and Egypt. The educational system of the country has been based on British precedent. Until recently all secondary education was in English. The University of Khartoum works almost entirely in English. The first architects to work in the country were British. These were then followed by a very small group of Sudanese and others most of whom trained in Cairo. In the late 50s a department of architecture was formed in the University of Khartoum. It was staffed almost entirely by British architects. At about the same time a small group of students went to the Department of Architecture in Leicester. The graduates of the School, together with the Leicester graduates now dominate the architecture profession in the country and staff the Department of Architecture. Their education, whether it has been in Sudan or UK, has been in the mainstream of the British architectural education tradition.

The Sudan Institute of Architects is not a member of the Commonwealth Association of Architects but it has a well established relationship with it and, through the Department of Architecture, has taken part in a series of meetings of the Association to consider the problems of architectural education in East Africa.

The Department produced its first graduates in 1962. The most successful students from this and succeeding years were appointed to junior posts on the academic staff of the University. After a probationary period as senior scholars they were eligible for postgraduate scholarships for study abroad. Several took master's degrees and doctorates at the University of Edinburgh and Liverpool. Others took the diploma course in tropical architecture at the Architectural Association.

During the early days of the Department a strong emphasis was placed on research. It was essential that this should be so since the information necessary for the realistic development of project work was not available. As part of the undergraduate work studies were made of several traditional villages. This was then published as the Bashagra and Kereiba Reports. These described the nature of the extended family and the interrelationships within the villages. The relationship of the villages to their trade and agriculture was also studied and related to the overall form of the villages and their relationships to their catchment areas. The materials, skills, availability of labour for building and constructional technique were carefully recorded. For historical purposes, surveys were made of the now abandoned city of Suakin on the Red Sea. These early studies established the need for a very close relationship between architectural research and practice and education. This relationship has had a strong influence on the development of architectural practice and on the work of the Department of Architecture in both of which it retains a central position. Over the years many building projects were undertaken by the Department of Architecture. Page thirty-eight