Architecture is basically a container of something. I hope they will enjoy not so much the teacup, but the tea. Yoshio Taniguchi.
Architects practice an art that is in the world and also of the world. But at the same time — stands apart — is its own animal. As Thom Mayne has said: Architecture is involved with the world, but at the same time it has a certain autonomy.
This autonomy cannot be explained in terms of traditional logic because the most interesting parts of the work are non-verbal. They operate within the terms of the work, like any art.
Architects help people and organizations make their mark on the planet — and do so with the widest appeal and the smallest carbon footprint. For better or worse , the first subject Prince Charles really went for as Prince was architecture. It made an impact. He was very intent to use his years as Prince of Wales to make his mark and architects helped him to do so.
They will at least be responsible, keeping all of the factors in mind. So make your mark! But we are all born collaborators. Architects are trained and educated to work productively in teams, and despite the current interest in autonomy know that they get the best results when involving all stakeholders and working well with others. This matters because we live in a time of crowdsourcing, of co-creation, of participatory design. Architects are there to work with others to come up with the best solutions for all involved.
Architecture serves to connect us in time — with works from the past, with past civilizations. Helping to locate and place us in time, to provide us with a sense of continuity, help us get our bearings and makes us truly inhabitants of this planet, not just hangers-on. Reason Architects work with a palette of possibility. Architects are concerned not with the necessary but with the contingent — not with how things are but with how they might be.
Reason The work architects perform touches so many parts of life — and of learning. It has so many facets, it can keep a person interested for a lifetime. As Richard Rogers said: I believe very strongly, and have fought since many years ago — at least over 30 years ago — to get architecture not just within schools, but architecture talked about under history, geography, science, technology, art.
Attorneys leave law due to burn-out as well as a lack of meaning in their work. Architects may leave the field for financial reasons, but few if any have done so for lack of what was found there. Architects still believe that their works and deeds can help to heal the places where they are privileged to work. But the modernists had the absurd idea that architecture could heal the world.
And today nobody expects architects to have these grand visions any more. Nobody expects this — except us architects, ourselves. When a sales rep calls and asks for a decision-maker they hand the phone to an architect. Architects matter because we have to make the hard decisions — thousands of them in every project.
Architects are first and last decision-makers. We make the decisions that count. Reason Architects design for the heart as well as the head. Architects create projects and places that affect us emotionally as well as intellectually.
We address the whole person. Architects do what they do because they are passionate about architecture and design. Despite the rigors of school and the relative lack of money to be obtained in the field, architects that have been in the field already for some time do what they do because they love to do it: plain and simple.
This assures that we will go the extra mile, which is often necessary, to achieve a successful outcome. Reason Architects matter because they sign and seal documents. Randy Deutsch AIA, LEED-AP is a building design architect immersed in the worlds of technology, creativity, design thinking and the way all types of architects utilize these tools and processes. He is a professional thought and practice leader, instructor, mentor and writer; public speaker, contributor to magazines, newspapers and blogs, featured in Architectural Record and WTTW.
Therefore, anything you read on this site is not a substitute for actually working with me. Following my casual advice is at your own peril … if you want my undivided attention, I would recommend hiring me. If architects were to disappear tomorrow — who would care? So to say that we matter. To whom exactly? And what for?
To feel appreciated and valued, not left-for-dead, abandoned or ignored. Architects can still matter. Why the world still needs architects The reasons that follow may seem like overkill. A tad bit much. But we need reminding. Really need reminding. Before we can convince anyone else that we matter we must first convince ourselves.
And as with most things worth doing, if I had more time there would have been far fewer. People are not born with an appreciation for architecture. Your employer may not always tell you that you — and the work you do — are valued.
It does. And we do. And our interventions. Our ideas and ideals. Think of these as the gifts architects give to society. Reason 2: Architects balance multiple intelligences. Reason 4: Architects are strategists. Reason 6: Architects think laterally and simultaneously — not linearly. Reason 7: We do more with less. Reason 8: Architects design outdoor spaces.
Reason 9: Architects are well-educated. Reason Architects are T-shaped — both deep and wide. Reason Architects transform chaos into order.
Reason Architects give the world meaning. Reason Architects uplift the downtrodden. Reason Architects think differently. Reason Architects are masters of branding. Reason Architects traffic in beauty. Reason Architects provide the wow effect.
Reason Architects are technologists, artists and craftsmen. Reason Architects serve the underprivileged. If not architects, whom else? Reason Architects keep moving the ball forward. Reason Architects are intrinsically motivated. Reason Architects operate from both sides of the brain.
Reason Architects are practical dreamers. Reason Architects get design. Reason Architects involve all of the senses. Reason Architects take ideas and pay it forward — by giving it a twist. Reason Architects are sexy So what? Reason , Architects are problem identifiers. Reason Architects got your back. Reason Architects wow. Reason Architects draw by hand, mouse and by wand.
Reason Architects are change agents. Reason Architects — by just being architects — give hope. Reason Architects serve as role models. Reason Architects make connections. Reason Architects rise to a good challenge. Reason Architects draw crowds. Reason Architects are driven from within. Reason Architects see the big picture. Reason Architects make the world a better place for all.
Reason Architects represent and serve all clients — paying and non-paying. Slowness is usually seen as a negative characteristic, lacking the vibrancy of speed.
But everything… Read More. By Nicholas Olsberg. Early in , RIBA president Halsey Ricardo reported on an acquisition that, when added to the works of Bibiena, Palladio, Jones and Wren, would begin to build a more continuous corpus of the drawn history of architecture.
Tags plan section detail construction drawing. By Emma Letizia Jones. They contacted the young Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who, having recently returned from a two-year grand tour of Italy, was back in Berlin eking out… Read More.
Tags section elevation detail presentation domestic construction drawing Extracts: Women Writing Architecture. To do this, they also have a healthy measure of empathy. They genuinely want to know more about the end user in order to create the best solution. Architects work on tight budgets and tighter deadlines.
This conservation mindset spills over into historic preservation, too. Why destroy something just to replace it with something else, especially if it can be updated to improve function? Although most architects work for one client at a time, the effect of that work influences individual people and whole communities. Something as simple as a sidewalk can permanently alter traffic patterns. User-friendly outdoor spaces can change the way people take lunch breaks.
No one understands the ripple effect better than architects. Architects are concerned with the safety of end users for every project they design. The fact that no one in this binary is happy with a profession that is seen as effete and socially indifferent requires an analysis that goes beyond handwringing and cross accusations. This book is it, as it systematically analyzes both the history and structure of this dilemma.
It argues that the profession needs to be clear about what it knows and the value of what it knows if it is to work successfully with others. Without this clarity, the marginalization of architects from the production of the built environment will continue, preventing clients, businesses and society from getting the buildings that they need.
This is particularly important at a time of global economic downturn, with ever greater competition for contracts and funds driving down fees and making it imperative to prove value at every level.
The book will therefore be of interest to professional architects, architecture students and anyone with an interest in our built environment and the role of professionals within it. This book was written as a result of her concern about the amount of waste and suffering caused by the poor quality of much of our built environment. She has received extensive funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for her work on the value of architects and on the way in which they evidence that value.
She also delivers research training in practice and is a supervisor of practitioner PhDs. Flora Samuel is known for her unorthodox writings on Le Corbusier, about whom she has published extensively. A mother of three daughters, she is based in Wales. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Description: New York : Routledge, Includes bibliographical references and index. Architects—Training of. S33 DDC ACTS vi ix Contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction xi xiii 1 Part I The undervaluing of architectural knowledge 11 1 Public image, misinformation and the bogey of dispensability 13 2 The profession 29 3 Cracks in the professional foundations: the right body of knowledge 51 4 The research culture of architects 74 5 The value agenda 90 Part II The value of architects 6 So what is an architect?
Reproduced with the permission of the Architectural Association. Reproduced with the permission of Charles Jencks. Reproduced with the permission of Anne Thorne. Photo author. Reproduced with the permission of the BRE. University of Reading School of Architecture students constructing a gridshell with Piers Taylor AStudio research strategy timeline to A lecture at the University of Reading on using photogrammetry to capture existing buildings and create virtual models in immersive virtual reality.
AiBuild Interior Finishes research showing a 2. AiBuild puddle chair. Ash Sakula Lightbox custom build housing system. Photo Charles Hosea. This book is in many ways in memory of him. I hope he would approve. I have been the beneficiary of many conversations but all errors are entirely my own.
It is such a pleasure to be helping Lorraine Farrelly develop her vision for the new School of Architecture at the University of Reading. The late Johan Verbeke has done so much to promote the case of research in architectural practice, despite not being an architect. He will be sorely missed.
There are some remarkable people working in and around the RIBA. The help and support of Presidents Jane Duncan and Ben Derbyshire and members of Council, especially student members Lily Ingleby and Simeon Shbutanaev, who have been right behind me on promoting research in the institution has been great.
Liam Foster Sheffield has been a generous and rigorous source of social science advice for its development and I am very glad that Kelly MacKinnon Northumbria has taken over its leadership to give it new life. I have had the privilege of working with two really excellent research assistants, Laura Coucill and Rowena Hay. Robin is a very inspiring person with seemingly xiv xv Acknowledgements inexhaustible energy to fight the cause of good architecture.
His introduction to the talented and highly resourceful Edge Group has been really important to me. Being part of the Hong Kong Research Excellence Framework opened my eyes to the remarkable research work that is going on in Asia.
My thanks are due to my reviewing colleagues and the amazing organizational team. I look forward to developing our PhD programme together. My thanks also go to Fran Ford at Routledge, who had faith in the book, and Trudy Varcianna, who has been very patient and helpful for several years. Being xv newgenprepdf xvi Acknowledgements a radical change of subject for me, it has been like doing a second PhD, but my conviction that this book is needed has kept me going, together with Alex, my husband, and home.
Alan Penn Farrell, , p. In the words of Michael Sorkin , p. I was inspired to write this book when I wrote to complain to my local council about the design of the library at the edge of my local park. In my experience architects are remarkably good at making something from almost nothing. The resultant waste is unacceptable Osmani et al. One of my fundamental premises is that not all architects are the same.
Although it is always worthwhile to highlight the problems of the developing world, the distinctly unglamorous look of British deprivation often remains ignored. There is a chance that we can produce a built environment for future generations that we can be proud of by encouraging an understanding of value in its fullest sense. To be a profession is to profess custody of a particular body of knowledge.
In making the case for architects I am making the case for what it is that they know and what they do with that knowledge. I want to highlight what it is that architects know in the hope of 2 3 Introduction improving organizational learning. It has been conceived, in particular, to cross the uneasy cultural divide between architects and other built environment professionals. This is, however, largely uncharted research terrain.
I am particularly concerned with making the business side of professional training more engaging by setting it within its cultural context, in this way encouraging critical engagement with this neglected area of practice. I will argue that architects are neither autonomous nor dependent Imrie and Street, The book has been developed in conversation with Simon Foxell, whose Professionalism for the Built Environment is forthcoming.
An additional aim is to offer researchers outside architecture a way into the field and to encourage them to help us investigate the links between the built environment and wellbeing. One solution, adopted by Gutman , p. Supporting the development of research in practice in order to generate the knowledge necessary to be more effective and more inclusive is a primary 3 4 Introduction concern.
Parts I and II are built on more solid research than Part III, which is more speculative, with the aim of galvanizing an industry readership into action. I have peppered the text with references to other work partly, of course, to give acknowledgment to others, but partly also to show the extent of further reading that is possible, particularly within refereed journals, the highest quality information source, now more freely available over the internet.
The references form the backbone of the online platform Valuing Architects developed in parallel with this book to help professionals communicate their offer and, unlike this book, designed for consumption at speed. Thinking fast and slow are radically different procedures, as Daniel Kahneman has shown Kahneman, To say that Why Architects Matter focuses on Western culture alone would be to stereotype what is Western and what is not Bonnett, At any point in time architects may be in demand on one side of the globe while floundering in recession on the other, with large global practices adjusting their services and presence accordingly.
In approximately What then is the situated nature of my 4 5 Introduction authorship? Well, a born and bred Londoner, I was a practitioner for eight years and have been an educator outside London for over twenty more, Head of the University of Sheffield School of Architecture for four of them. My interest in business and leadership was spawned when, like most academic leaders, I was catapulted into this role for which I had remarkably little training.
The positions I have held have not traditionally been held by women Samuel, One of the things that makes this book on the construction industry unusual is that it includes a consideration of the way in which women and indeed other minorities have been excluded from the way the built environment is made.
Drawing on feminist approaches to writing, I dust my account with moments from my own highly subjective experience as a counterbalance to the academic argument.
I hope it gives the book a different flavour, making it more widely accessible than some others in this territory. As a mother of three daughters I am fully aware of the difficulties faced by the next generation and I want to write a book that they can read. This book is a snapshot at a certain moment in time. As a trustee of the RIBA and a chartered architect I am bound by rules of professional conduct in reporting my observations. As a piece of Participatory Action Research essentially researching by doing things with other people it has been challenging to fit within the established boundaries of university ethics procedures, which correctly favour extreme transparency Hart et al.
The need to develop practical ethical guidelines for collaborative work such as that done by architects and other construction professionals is urgent. Practice can be interpreted very differently by different theorists see for example Pantzar and Shove, Why Architects Matter is a plaintive call for the role that history plays in understanding where we are now Cayer et al.
The history of the architecture profession has been eloquently set out by Andrew Saint in his book The Image of the Architect , in which he builds on the work of Howard Colvin, Barrington Kaye and Frank Jenkins.
Most histories foreground issues of design and philosophy, one result being that we have a very poor understanding of how architects have operated as professionals over time and in relationship with others. Did they, for example, deliver on time and on budget? Such issues, of low import to academia, continue to be neglected in professional education. In this book I will not dwell on the normative readings of history that make up the canon of architecture; my account is unbalanced by what I perceive as a need to bring in other voices.
Unless stated otherwise, references to art refer to the former, traditional, category. I argue that the key attributes of a profession are knowledge, ethics and professional judgement. However, lack of clarity about what it is that architects know makes it very difficult for them to defend their territory.
This book is built on the scenario of business roughly as usual — developments such as climate change might change everything.
This group has provided an important means to gather information and test some of the ideas herein. Disagreements between architecture and the social sciences over the nature of rigour and the need to be propositional will emerge as a recurring theme in this book.
If I go too far in generating conclusions from a set of dislocated circumstances Abbott, , p. References Abbott, A.
The System of Professions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Betsky, A. Architecture Matters, 1st edition. Bonnett, A. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.
Boyer, E. Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Cayer, A. The Culture of Building. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Duffy, F. Architectural Knowledge: The Idea of a Profession.
Spon, London. Enquiry, 9, pp. Wiley, London. Farrell, T. Why Architecture Matters. Groak, S. Gutman, R. Architectural Practice: A Critical View.
Princeton Architectural Press, New York. Hart, A. Hay, R. Occupying Architecture: Between the Architect and the User. Routledge, London. Huskinson, L. Routledge, Oxford. Imrie, R. Jarzombek, M. After Art. Kahneman, D. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Penguin, London. Miller, M. Osmani, M. Waste Management, 28, pp. What is a Designer: Things, Places, Messages. Hyphen, London.
RIBA, RIBA, London. Saint, A. The Image of the Architect. Samuel, F. Vintage, New York. Sorkin, M. Till, J. Architecture Depends. What is Architectural Research? Journal of Management Studies, 30, pp. Reverence for beautiful buildings does not seem a high ambition on which to pin our hopes for happiness, at least when compared with the results we might associate with untying a scientific knot or falling in love, amassing a fortune or initiating a revolution.
To care deeply about a field that achieves so little, and yet consumes so many of our resources, forces us to admit to a disturbing, even degrading lack of aspiration. De Botton, , p. Media representations of architects veer from adulation to contempt, the latter exemplified by this piece by Michele Hanson in The Guardian in support of the Japanese decision to shelve their planned Olympic stadium to be designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.
Near me lives an elderly woman in sheltered accommodation, with the fire alarm placed above her cooker. But who cares? These places are for plebs. No architect would leave their dog in one overnight. They are an easy target as they have neither powerful patronage nor public sympathy and are, in general, poor at fighting back. Architects are very often used as the butt of jokes. Satisfaction with the choice of architecture as a career is deteriorating ACE, , as is student satisfaction with architectural education RIBA, a.
Architects in the UK regularly work unpaid overtime RIBA, b and their average income is little more than that of a train driver. Architects have a status classification of 1. Clothes play an important role in the construction of identity and the development of agency. For Georg Simmel social mobility takes place through adopting and impersonating the clothes of the elite Simmel, Nowadays fashion is more about the creation of identity than social mobility Crane, Architects are also known for being unintelligible.
Such loose use of language may beguile students but generally fails to impress those beyond the profession. While archispeak might be important for the construction of group identity, it is also exclusionary Richards, Acceptance by peers seems to be more important to architects than public approval Chaplin and Holding, Interestingly there are more women architects working in London than elsewhere GLA Economics, , p.
The gender pay gap across the UK was 9. Many of the professions are experiencing a reduction of status in relation to their feminization Bolton and Muzio, , yet architecture seems to be experiencing a reduction in status even without being feminized. It is, however, important not to assume that things are the same across the globe, particularly on site. However, the wide variety of material on the web, on the shelves of the newsagent WHSmith and in our libraries pertaining to the issue of home extensions does little to further the cause of the RIBA professional.
Time and time again the architect is depicted as a dispensable figure. It should, however, be remembered that his most contentious plans, the Ville Contemporaine and Plan Voisin for Paris, were conceived largely as a polemic to draw attention to the inadequate slum conditions persisting in France in his time. Negative perceptions were compounded by the Poulson Scandal of , caused by an architect who had had remarkable success in bribing public officials to award him building contracts.
The Grenfell Tower tragedy provides clear evidence of the failure of the construction industry to protect vulnerable people. They were built too fast without the resources to provide the infrastructure and quality that was known, from past experiments, to be key to the success of mass housing. Where responsibility for the Grenfell Tower tragedy lies remains to be seen. Robin Hood Gardens was earmarked for demolition apparently for reasons of tenant dissatisfaction.
Whether it was the fault of the architects or because of the poor running of the estate is not clear. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that: The profession is looked upon as venal and selfish. Architects are perceived as people who are mainly interested in advancing, often on the basis of spurious arguments, the economic interests of building owners and developers; and therefore, indirectly, the wealth of professionals themselves.
This respect is based only circumstantially on confidence in technical skill. More important for the continuation of respect is the belief that architects will apply their skill not only for the benefit of the persons who pay their fees but also in response to the interests of persons, groups, and communities beyond the purview of the immediate client.
Architects who ignore this fact in their selling efforts imperil the future of their own practices and the practices of other architects. Gutman, , p.
Since architecture is about making environments for people, with people, it will always have an ethical dimension. Do UK architects have a responsibility for health and safety on building sites here and overseas? Ethical issues that the profession appears to condone include the poor working conditions in Qatar as it builds up to the World Cup and its involvement in industries that have a detrimental impact on the built environment such as air transport Morrell, , p.
None of this helps the image of the architect. Architects have learned through experience that the key to winning a competition of the first sort is to hastily create and sell an exciting solution to the jury, leaving more practical issues such as cost to be sorted out at a later date. The image that has been sold often becomes an impossible promise that cannot be translated into reality Loe, , p. The result has been a series of highly visible competitions and controversies in which architects are once again the losers.
Apparently none of the finalists for the Scottish Parliament competition, launched in , referred either to the brief or to the budget Fraser, , p. In these unsustainable circumstances clients are bound to feel let down. Historically among the major problems of competitions, which relate back to a general confusion about what constitutes good architecture, are the vague criteria for success Lipstadt, , p. The RIBA runs a regular programme of awards, as do most other countries across the globe.
A recommendation in the Farrell Review of Architecture was that awards need to focus more on everyday social value than on bespoke multimillion residential properties and the work of star architects Farrell, , p.
This is why the RIBAJ McEwen award for social architecture is such a welcome arrival on the scene, its first winners being ACG Architects, who with The Point, a new youth centre at Tadley, have managed to achieve a tricky balance between something designerly and something that its inhabitants enjoy Figure 1.
It is arguable that the Stirling Prize tells us more about the values of architectural culture than about architecture itself and that its opaque judging system devalues architecture in the eyes of the public. The increased marginalization of the Stirling Prize from our television screens suggests that the public is not excited by the sight of architectural luvvies living it up BD, Ironically we have to turn to other organizations to find robust criteria for the valuation of architecture.
English Heritage, for example, assesses buildings of 20 21 Image, misinformation, dispensability Figure 1. Until the profession presents some kind of united front on what constitutes good practice, the public will remain unimpressed. Unfortunately competitions are a very public way of showing our confusion in this area. McNeill, , p. Many architects identify with these elites whether they have any chance of reaching their elevated status or not Spector, Starchitects, despite having large global practices, represent only a tiny proportion of architects and employ only a minute percentage of the profession.
In London only 3. This is especially the case if their activities are actually undermining the profession as a whole Gutman, ; McNeill, Another reason might be the emphasis that it gives to the single creative individual, other members of the team rarely receiving any credit McNeill, When architects do try to acknowledge their teams, their words are often ironed out by the media, historians and other commentators, perhaps to save space or for the sake of a good story.
The way in which building projects are credited has to change to show the full diversity of input from different members of the project team.
While the canon of architecture often celebrates individual genius, architecture is always, in reality, a collective act Larson, , p. Because it is very business like, and you will probably be very shocked to hear that.
Starchitects have got where they are because they are good at winning competitions, they think globally, they are flexible about project delivery and are innovative when it comes to technology.
They are also heavy with cultural capital, as will be discussed in Chapter 9. They are often hired by vast global contractors because of their particular ability to win competitions Flanagan, While the power of starchitects to impact on policy may be relatively small, they have more power than the rest of the profession to influence the shape of the built environment. It is ironic, though, that people look to famous architects to change a system from which they have benefited and therefore have no interest in changing Imrie and Street, Although these architects might be relatively powerless on the global stage, they have a great deal of influence on the younger generation: When I applied to study Architecture and Landscape at the University of Sheffield, I would consider my interpretation of the subject to have been distorted by the impressive physical qualities of iconic buildings by the likes of the greatest modern architects of today and that I only had a basic understanding of what an Architect was.
It should, however, be noted that observations about their value are culturally specific. Koolhaas has learned a great deal about using architecture as a Trojan Horse to bring in other ideas that were not necessarily part of the brief from his inspiration Le Corbusier, but is it really possible to be complicit and critical at the same time? Conclusion There is a mismatch between public perceptions of architects and what it is that they actually do, or believe that they are doing Imrie and Street, When practices say one thing and do another, it is not surprising that the public is confused.
More importantly it prevents us from serving and sustaining the field as well as we could. This is why a key aim of this book is to achieve greater clarity on what architects actually do. The real problem is those who choose not to employ an architect in the first place. References ACE, The Architectural Profession in Europe. ArchDaily, Attoe, W. Architecture and the Critical Imagination. Wiley, Chichester. BD, Building Design, 14 October, p. Beegan, G. Journal of Design History, 21, pp.
Benedikt, M. University of Minnesota Press, London, pp. Bolton, S. Work Employment and Society, 22, pp. Briggs, M. Bleak Houses: Disappointment and Failure in Architecture. CABE, Introduction, in: Chance, J.
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