Aisling House ,Belfast
Stranmillis Embankment, Belfast BT9 5FL

Assignment II: Essay (2,500 words)
The essay must be approximately 2,500 words long (not less than 2450 and not more than 2,450), not including footnotes, image captions, and bibliography. Please indicate the word count on your cover sheet.

Objectives
This assignment is designed to develop and encourage:
• The capacity to apply knowledge of history, socio-cultural issues and theories to wider readings of architectural interests;
• To deepen the awareness of historical, social, cultural and theoretical issues and the application of these;

Content
The task is to develop an essay through primary and secondary research. In order to do so the following steps are recommended:
1. Prepare a detailed visual analysis of the building in Belfast you have been assigned to. Then research the building and write a narrative of their inception. Focus on the time when the building was completed (Do not write a narrative of the usage of the building between the 1930s and today). To research the building thoroughly, you need to consult available literature, as well as archives, current owners, building societies, or conservation authorities. You can find a list of literature and institutions below. Institutions such as PLACE and websites such as PADDI might also be able to help you in preparing this part of the essay. Use the template below as a guideline and submit the filled-out template together with your paper and appendix.
You must document your research and print out email conversations or interviews of the architect, current owners, librarians or archivist or any other institution. Include such emails in your appendix. This appendix is essential since it serves as proof for the collected information and as proof for your efforts in case you don’t receive a reply to your emails. The appendix must also contain all literature you used in order to write the presentation text. Provide photocopies of, for example, microfiche, historic photographs, newspaper articles and all primary and secondary literature you used to write the essay. Make sure your appendix is presented in an orderly fashion. Note: This is not a photocopying exercise. If the appendix consists of irrelevant photocopies and is disorderly, it will be a disadvantage to how the essay is perceived.
2. The second part requires contextual research. The research questions in the list below will help in finding pertinent literature. Begin with an outline of ‘your’ broad topic. Explain how, for example, a building type developed, when, and why. Show the most famous example and engage with the literature in that you reiterate hypothesis that authors have about the meaning of a particular building type or form. Relate this to your primary research. Explain, for example, if the building in Belfast is derived from another building elsewhere, or which stylistic elements identify it as an Art Deco building. Your research direction will depend on the essay question in the list below. When attending the tutorial in week nine it will be necessary to be at this stage of your research. If research is behind, attending the tutorial will be ineffective.

Using websites, Wikipedia, blogs etc. is not acceptable. You must use books, databases that are accessible via the Library interface, or the websites listed in this course book (below).

Step One: TEMPLATE FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RESEARCH (FILL OUT AND PLACE IN APPENDIX)

Author: (your name)

Introduction:

Write this part last. Briefly introduce to the building and architect (5Ws), to key data as well as to findings from your contextual analysis (100 words max).

PART ONE: THE BUILDING

Name of Building:
Full Address:
Built: year(s)
Name of Client:
Occupation of Client:
Other Information about the client:

Visual Analysis.
Describe the façade(s), plan and interior as far as possible from images and plans. Avoid conjecture instead, exemplify and justify your observations. When describing the building ask yourself: which are the most extraordinary and important features? How was the building different to earlier buildings? How is it part of a particular style that was fashionable at the time? What did the building mean? What can you infer from the visual analysis? E.g. the bank of Ireland has ornaments that relate to harvest and prosperity. From this it can be inferred that the bank alluded to savings and revenue with the help of its architecture.
300 words max.

Briefly describe alterations and place the description in a footnote:
When describing the alterations ask yourself: When where alterations made? What alterations were made? Who made alterations?

PART TWO: THE ARCHITECT

Name of Architect:
Born and died (dates):
Practice with (name of architect/associate):

Significance of Architect (50-100 words):
Where was the architect from? What was his education? Was he/she prolific? What does your secondary literature say about the significance of his/her work?

PART THREE: APPENDIX

Images + Captions + Credits:
Place image in a second document in small resolution and include captions and credits.
1. credits = where you found the images (book, website, archive, own photo, etc.),
2. full captions (Name of architect/artist, title, date, technique, year)
Example:

Caption: Heinrich Kulka, Weißmann House, Vienna, 1930-1933. Sections.
Credit: Bauarchiv Wien, Archive No.: E.Z.994/Lainz.

Upload images in high resolution to Dropbox.

Primary and secondary sources:
This is an essential part of your work. In order to ascertain good practice we need photocopies of all references you might find. The appendix therefore:

Must contain all collected information. Photocopies or photographs from books, journals, archives, microfiche, websites, … etc. Everything you used to write the text must be referenced in footnotes and included in your appendix.

Essay: Research-based Visual and Contextual Analysis (2,500 words)
Step 1: Research primary and secondary sources.
Primary Sources: Literature published by your architect, or that was used by your architect, that written to critique the building or the architect etc. = Literature published close to the time when the building was erected.
Secondary Sources: literature published on your architect and/or building. The building is discussed as a piece of history.
Step 2: Rewrite the visual analysis and synthesize it with your research and findings. Use the tutorial to discuss how to proceed.
Step 3: Write a narrative of the building. Find newspaper articles etc. about it and explain how people reacted towards it at the time.
On the basis of your findings in the visual analysis contextualize the building in the broader political, social, economical etc. context. What did it mean for Belfast to have e.g. a new school, a new cinema, a new bank?
Also contextualize the architectural practice. What else have they build and where? Have they travelled and were they inspired by architectural precedents elsewhere? Have they expressed aims and goals at any point of their career? Has someone reported their aims and goals (secondary as well as primary literature can be drawn upon here) If it is helping in understanding the building in Belfast, include it in the discussion. A comparison might help in understanding the significance and meaning of the building in Belfast.
Step 4: Draw on secondary literature and explain what your secondary literature says about the building. If there is no secondary literature on the building directly draw on literature on e.g. school buildings of the time or bank buildings on the time. Explain how the building in Belfast is similar or dissimilar to famous buildings elsewhere that your architect might have known about. Avoid conjecture and aim for a convincing argument based upon evidence.
Step 5: Aim for synthesis of your visual and contextual analysis. Observations made in the visual analysis should relate to facts and evidence gathered and described in the contextual analysis.
References and footnotes: It is absolutely essential to reference all literature used to write this text thoroughly. All sources must also be accumulated in an appendix.
Submission of Essay and Appendix

Submit the essay to turnitin. Submit your Hardcopy and Appendix to Student Services.
The appendix is an essential part of your work. In order to ascertain good practice we need photocopies of all references you might find.
The appendix must contain photocopies of all used primary and secondary literature such as photocopies or photographs from books, journals, archives, microfiche, websites, … etc. In addition everything you used to write the text must be referenced in footnotes.

Also include image credits in your presentation script:
1. credits = where you found the images (book, website, archive, own photo, etc.),
2. full captions (Name of architect/artist, title, date, technique, year)

Selected Literature
Brett, C.E.B. Buildings of Belfast. 1700-1914. Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985.
Briggs, Asa. Victorian Cities. Harmondsworth, 1968.
Curl, James Stevens. Victorian Architecture. Diversity & Inventions. Reading, 2007.
Camblin, Gilbert. The Town in Ulster. McMullan & Son: Belfast, 1951.
Dixon, Hugh. An Introduction to Ulster Architecture. Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1975.
Evans, David et. al. Modern Ulster architecture, Belfast UAHS, 2006.
Girouard, Mark. Cities and People. New Haven and London, 1985.
Hunt, Tristram, Building Jerusalem: The Rise and Fall of the Victorian City. London, 2004.
Larmour, Paul. Belfast An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Friar’s Bush Press: Belfast, 1987.
Larmour, Paul, Free state architecture. Modern movement architecture in Ireland, 1922-1949. / Paul Larmour. Kinsale, Gandon Editions, 2009.
Patton, Marcus. Central Belfast. A Historical Gazetteer. Ulster Architectural Heritage Society: Belfast, 1993.
Rowan, Alistair and Christine Casey. The Buildings of Ireland. North Leinster, Harmondsworth, 1993.
Doherty, James. Standing Room Only (There are a number of old cinemas listed in this book that are in the Art Deco style (unfortunately most no longer standing).)

Archives and Websites:
1. PRONI
Public Research Office Northern Ireland: http://applications.proni.gov.uk/LL_DCAL_PRONI_ECATNI/SearchPage.aspx
2. MBR
http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/built-home/recording/accessing_mbr.htm
3. Irish Architectural Archive
http://www.iarc.ie/
4. Linen Hall Library
http://www.linenhall.com/
5. Ulster Historical Foundation
http://www.ancestryireland.com/
6. Ulster Architectural Heritage Society
http://www.uahs.org.uk/resources/section.php?section=8
7. Belfast Building Trust
http://www.belfastbuildingstrust.org/
8. Belfast Central Library (Newspaper Library)
http://www.ni-libraries.net/libraries/belfast-central-library/
9. BBC Website (Broadcast Archives)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/
10. RSUA – Royal Society of Ulster Architects
http://www.rsua.org.uk/
11. This is a useful database for searching the QUB and UCD holdings – www.paddi.net
12. Queens Library – Irish Collection
13. Also visit: Jstor – Irish collection
14. Docomomo
15. NIEA
16. RSUA
17. Educational Library Board (Schools and Libraries)