STRUCTURAL GLASS FACADES - USC School of Architecture

Firms and schools
• Provide an opportunity for practitioners to reflect on their practice and approach to their
next project, and to incorporate new ideas (including ideas from students) into their work
• Expose interns and students to practice issues and promote professional development
within firms
• Provide an effective teaching tool and opportunity to publish faculty work that has gone
through a peer review process to satisfy academic requirements for promotion and tenure
• Provide a basis for collaboration between firms and schools
• Provide a vehicle for mentoring and structure for sharing knowledge
• Earn continuing education learning units for research on and discussion of case studies
Knowledge agenda
• Develop the discipline of architecture through teaching, scholarship, and research
• Capture and share the knowledge, experience, and expertise of both educators and
practitioners
• Make this information accessible through a searchable database, which the AIA is
currently developing
Clients and the public
• Make case studies available to clients and the public to better inform these constituencies
The AIA guidelines reveal the expectation of a very comprehensive treatment of the case
(American Institute of Architects 2008b):
a concise abstract describing the most significant elements of the case and identifying
key team members, including the client and user representatives. (no more than onehalf
page)
learning objectives that articulate the topics to be studied and provide a guide to
understanding the lessons learned from the project (two pages)
perspectives, including protocols for decision-making, stories of practice, innovative
ideas, and the value placed on innovation, measures of success, and graphic
illustrations. Various “voices” should be considered, including client perspectives and
those from the prime professional firm, consultants, contractors, and regulators.
(approximately 10 pages)
analysis of and reflection on the specific relevant details of the case, focused on a
particular topic or considering a series of practice issues. The analysis may include
measures of success or difficulty, often reconstructing decision-making to understand a
project’s flow. Client concerns, business issues within the practice, design
considerations, project delivery issues within the firm as well as project delivery in the
construction process are among the issues to be considered. The format for this section
can parallel that of The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice. (approximately
10 pages)
These are excellent guidelines primarily intended to provide consistency to the body of
studies collected by the AIA, but may need modification for different subject matter,
depending upon the presentation medium, target audience and other factors.
Case studies are one of the best ways to create a knowledge-based asset for a learning
resource, and there is certainly significant potential value for any design-based resource in
the inclusion of case study content.
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