抄録
Case studies have been used as a means to inspire design activity. Design is about the creation of form that integrates aesthetic intention, functional performance and material durability into a spatial entity. Because the appearance of a building is easier to evaluate than its other intangible qualities, case studies are often simplified into an analysis of form that emphasizes the abstract perfection of an ideal form itself. This makes case studies a systematic way to provide ideal architectural forms to copy rather than inspire original design. A form involves not simply what is done, but also how it is done. If the purpose of case studies is to inspire creation, the conception of form that translates a concept into physical and spatial form, therefore becomes the focus of case study analysis.
The paper proposes a case study analytical model. Through analyzing the key words found in a discourse and the corresponding formal expressions in a chosen architect′s works, what we can learn from a case study is the coherence and legitimacy of the relationship between concept and form.
