Case study or archival analysis

 I think what you may be looking at has some similarities with some of my research work on planning history and heritage.  I use quite a lot of archive materials adopting a range of techniques such as textual and content analysis and visual methodologies.  I would suggest you consult Gillian Rose's monograph Visual Methodologies and the following chapter from Iain Hay's edited monograph Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography:

Chapter Qualitative research and its place in human geography

Architectural history often draws methodologically on a diverse range of theories and fields to inform its methods. Phenomenology, STS, Semiotics, Critical Theory, Feminism, Archeology, Human and Political Georgraphy... The variety is important because architecture engages with pretty much all of human life, and much of the natural world. You might find the architectural humanities research association helpful: http://www.ahra-architecture.org/

Or also the Routledge Thinkers for Architects series: https://www.routledge.com/Thinkers-for-Architects/book-series/THINKARCH

Thank you very much to all of you for enlightening me on the subject. These are really useful resources. 

http://carolegray.net/Papers%20PDFs/cc.pdf

http://www.ilpi.com/artsource/pdf/beginres.pdf

http://carolegray.net/Papers%20PDFs/cc.pdf

 Thaks Farzaneh

These resources are quite significant for me. It is what I was looking for.

regards

Hi, I think you can try to explore those methods and approaches used in the study of social and cultural as a way of studying architectural history. It is because history is a subject that relates the most with art, social, and cultural of a society, while architecture is one of the best element that well reflecting the identity of a society. And, the main method that mostly adopted in social and cultural study is through case study and interview.

For your information, there are some journal specifically issue on vernacular (traditional) architecture. You may obtain more info by visiting the following website:

http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/yvea20/47/1?nav=tocList

Thanks.

Dear Asif, all the architectural research need the research methods including architectural history research. The mosque could be analyzed through three covering the building forms, ie. bottom covering (the floor), side covering (the wall), and top covering (the roof). The elements and forms of each of these coverings look for similar building reference architecture (religious buildings). From reading the elements and forms interconnected between the elements and forms of the mosque with elements and forms of the reference architecture, which is based on these three covering, the mosque's history can be traced.

Hi. There have been various methods to pursue research in architectural history. The ontological and epistemological positions also change with times (read paradigms). For example, the Modern Architecture primarily wandered around the architect and her/his philosophy. In the postmodern times, the discourse witnessed a turn towards 'theory'. The methods of exploring the visual elements and style (like art history) remain classical with the newer methods like STS (as described by Ben) emerging in the second half of the twentieth century.

One of the new sub-domains, with considerable potential in writing Architectural History, is the Cultural History of Architecture. In a context like India, the incorporation of indigenous accounts and cultural concepts like 'myth' can lead to unique forms. However, it will also depend on a variety of other variables.

Thanks Saurabh for your contribution.

The cultural history is a significant aspects of writings in architectural history. My present research ' Mughal Architecture in North India and its Influence to Mosques in Peninsular Malaysia' is based on cultural transformations within societies. I agree with your point of view. Thanks again.

No, you can prepare a good relation between scientific parts of architecture and its history methods as you architectural history part

The best method for me to investigate the history of an architectural object is combination between data compilation from any data sources and observation of the remaining or the existing of architecture.

Hi dear Asif Ali.

Types of historical research methods

1) Historical analysis method: Analysis of the historical course of social change and evolution of values in a given society

2) Structural similarity analysis method: Historical comparison of two issues in terms of structure and function based on simultaneous interaction

3) Functional analysis method: analysis of changes and transformations in the functions of social organizations

3) Descriptive Research Method

we can compare the relative texts and documents specifically which are more reliable among these types of studies and can be found in the references of the similar articles.

Exploring architectural history involves a combination of research methods that draw from various disciplines. Here are some common research methods used to explore architectural history: