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Design Process: Start Your Research

Getting Started

During this assignment, you will learn how to do basic research on an iconic house. You will need to find background on the history of the house, including the architect, place name, date, and geographic location.

From there you'll find the building base plans, sections, elevations, and site plans as available.

This guide will help you through the resources available to you to find this information.  

 

Making a List

Knowing the full information on your house is important in conducting research. Some houses have multiple names, such a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Bear Run, Pennsylvania. The house is: 

  • Fallingwater
  • The Kaufmann Residence
  • Kaufmann House
  • Commonly mispelled as: Falling Water, Kauffmann House, etc.

Searching by multiple (and correct!) names can yield better results. 

Also record:

  • Architect
  • Dates of completion
  • Geographic location

 

Research tip

If you are off-campus clicking on links for databases, you may be asked for your NYSID ID number and password. It's the same as if you were logging into the Portal.