Theory, research and practice: Towards reflective relationship between theory and practice in architectural thinking

Abstract

At the present time researches and doctoral dissertations in architecture generally tend towards perspectives and methods which have been borrowed from other branches of science. The doctoral dissertations resulting from this, scientific-analytical, generally presented in verbal form, have an important and established position in postgraduate studies in architecture. Yet education in architecture still lacks a research model to cater for the special nature of the architects' praxis, especially the creative imparting of form. At the level of the doctoral dissertation there is no form of research within the education in which a direct, reflective connection with the practical business of the field could be achieved, and in which the special nature of architecture somewhere between art and science is duly taken into account. The present paper considers the need for new forms of practice- and architectural design-based researches.