Influenced by your Subconscious

The question that triggered my topic of research is 'Can you design without being subconsciously influenced? Everybody has experienced design previously in one way or another, whether it has sparked a reaction of dislike or admiration. Objects that have been designed are all around us, whether it be a door handle, a sustainable facade system or a garden fence. The question I ask is, when I design a building with a similar facade system to the one i have previously seen, is this plagiarism within architecture? Have I stolen somebody else's design and work? I would be prosecuted if I directly copied a chapter of a book, so why is it that 'rip off architecture' so regularly occurs.

In the architecture education system, i believe students are actively encouraged to plagiarize, however it is  cleverly disguised a sourcing precedents. Students are told to look into projects that relate to their brief, whether that be the materials, concept site. Often features of these projects will then be incorporated into the student's own work.

Is researching previous projects, intellectual plagiarism?

This is one of the questions i will attempt to answer in my study. The opposing side of the argument is one is always subconsciously influenced by the physical world around us. We may see a building we like or admire, this building, or the feelings it provoked, are then conscious when we go on to design at a later time.

precedentnoun |ˈpresid(ə)nt|an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to beconsidered in subsequent similar circumstances : there are substantial precedents for using interactive media in training | breaking with all 

An Attempt to Avoid the Inevitable

An Attempt to Avoid the Inevitable

Where to start on a Masters of Architecture Dissertation? I can imagine that is the question on everybody's lips this summer. Architect's DONT write! Opening Word processor is a daunting thought when you have been staring at the Photoshop interface for the past 5 years, never mind comprehending the fact we actually have to write 10,000 words. 

A 10,000 word dissertation is fairly small compared to some other disciplines, and fellow University students may be wondering what all the fuss is about. However architecture students are more used to 'blagging' their way through a critique, pretending to know what we are talking about, whilst surviving off copious amounts of caffeine due to an all nighter!. Research, the Library and avoiding plagiarism were foreign objects until last semester. It appears this module will be the greatest task of them all.

And it is with Plagiarism i will attempt to start my dissertation: