A study of professional perspectives on structural frame selection

The choice of an appropriate structural frame can contribute to effective short‐ and long‐term performance, and enhance client satisfaction but limited research indicates that the issues taken into account during structural frame selection are not very well understood. With this in mind, a major research programme, including interviews and an industry survey, examined the attitudes of project managers, cost consultants and construction clients in analysing the issues they typically consider when choosing the structural frame for a building, and to provide insights about how such decisions are made in practice. Ten key issues were identified as being the most important affecting structural frame selection, but the extent to which different parties considered these and at what stage was found to vary. Also, the variations, between what these parties themselves think of the issues and what others perceive their attitudes to be, were examined. In particular, the results showed that what clients perceive differs considerably from how clients’ views are perceived by others. For instance, according to cost consultants and project managers, their clients’ preference to regularly select a ‘preferred’ frame type or material is a far more widespread tendency than clients themselves actually acknowledged.     

Using nudges to realize project performance management

Organizations face continual challenges in identifying, analyzing, controlling, and evaluating their performance. These challenges are frequently addressed through control systems or plans, but rarely through the behavioral changes needed to achieve project performance. We examine how the behavioral concept of nudges can be used in projects to address the ‘iron triangle’ of time, cost, and quality measures. Utilizing semi-structured interviews with project professionals working for multinational organizations to deliver large-scale projects across a range of sectors, we combine insights from nudge theory and project performance management to explore typical settings in which particular nudges drive time, cost, and quality performance. We unpacked 21 relevant nudge tools, and show the direct and indirect impacts of these on three key measures of project performance – time, cost, and quality. We also position a future agenda of research and practice considering the application of nudges on project performance.     

Mastering the urbanization process. The urban questions of engineer August Mennes in the Antwerp agglomeration

Processes of urban expansion at the turn of the twentieth century have generally been described in terms of ‘regional planning’. However, in the Belgian context, and in Antwerp more specifically, the concept of the ‘agglomeration’ was put to the fore rather than the ‘region’, and ‘urbanization’ was a more common practice than ‘planning’. This paper shows how a ‘programme of urbanization’ centred on pertinent ‘urban questions’ shaped the contours of the Antwerp Agglomeration. In adopting this perspective of ‘programmatic urbanization’, the paper seeks to place the development of Antwerp extra muros within a different lineage, outside of the quest for comprehensive planning. Recomposing an eclectic catalogue of five pertinent ‘urban questions’, this paper investigates how and to which extent the Study Committee for the development of the Antwerp Agglomeration and its prominent engineer August Mennes, tried to master the urbanization process as it unfolded. Urbanization, then, is framed as a collective practice that generates positive agglomeration effects and surplus values that could not have been produced by individual actors. As such, the paper expands the understanding of urbanization from a random process of capital accumulation to a project that includes the building of social and cultural capital.     

Down to Earth: Linking Planning Theory and Practice in the ‘Metropole’ and Beyond

The paper explores the issue of the link between planning theory and practice, and achieving what is sometimes termed ‘situated’ planning theory. It argues that mainstream planning theory (i.e. the various strands of communicative planning theory [CPT]) has come closer to this than most previous theorizing, but that there is still a significant gap between theorizing about, and the reality of, practice in particular contexts. While this issue has been a subject of debate within that part of the world where CPT has its origins (the global North), the relevance of mainstream planning theory to practice in other parts of the world has had less attention. This paper asks how well CPT ‘travels’ across the globe, and what might be required to improve its portability.     

Claiming Invited and Invented Spaces: Contingencies for Insurgent Planning Practices

Insurgent planning practice is an emerging idea for counter-hegemonic urban planning in the Global South, derived (generalized) from empirical work on specific southern contexts (Watson, V. 2013. “Planning and the ‘Stubborn Realities’ of Global South–East Cities: Some Emerging Ideas.” Planning Theory 12 (1): 81–100. doi:10.1177/1473095212446301). In this paper, we position ourselves with Meth (2010. “Unsettling Insurgency: Reflections on Women's Insurgent Practices in South Africa.” Planning Theory and Practice 11 (2): 241–263) who argues that insurgence and insurgent planning practices cannot be generalized across contexts but requires specific case by case empirical analysis to understand tactics and strategies within very different political and institutional situations. This paper is based on empirical evidence from two specific case-by-case analysis of potential insurgent action in Kathmandu, Nepal. We find that if insurgence is to present hope for counter-hegemonic outcomes in the context of Nepal, it is contingent upon a maturity of grass-roots organization, sharing of power among these, what constitutes ‘planning’ in insurgent planning and how success of such actions is measured. There is also a strong role of the nature of social mobilization and the institutional context of planning.     

Evaluation of enhanced design and build system a case study of a hospital project

This study involves an investigation of a hospital project which adopted an ‘enhanced design and build’ form of building procurement. The paper assesses the procurement system from the perspectives of the client, client's consultants, contractor, contractor's consultants, and contractor's subcontractors. A detailed case study of North District Hospital is described to illustrate the process of this procurement system. All the interviewees generally agreed that the hospital project was successful in meeting the time, cost, quality, functional and safety requirements set by the client. As the first project adopting the ‘enhanced design-build’ procurement system in Hong Kong, the benefits of applying this innovative procurement system were demonstrated.     

Common Artefacts

With offices in Beijing, Mumbai and London, Serie Architects is an international practice that spans Asia. Here, co-founder and principal Christopher CM Lee looks beyond the superficial ‘exotic’ stereotypical image of ‘orientalism’ that was traditionally imposed on Asia by the West. With particular reference to Serie Architects' Tote, Mumbai, and Yan Zhenqing Museum in Linyi, China, he shifts the question of identity to what is common within the context of architectural production: what might imbue architecture with social and cultural validity? How might it be possible to attempt to create ‘common artefacts’ through the most typical elements – the ‘dominant types’.     

Innovation in small construction knowledge‐intensive professional service firms: a case study of an architectural practice

Small construction knowledge‐intensive professional service firms (SCKIPSFs) are becoming increasingly important agents of innovation within the construction industry. The nature and process of innovation in SCKIPSFs, however, is generally considered through the constraining prism of research results generated from significantly different contexts, such as from manufacturing sectors or non‐project based firms. A theory of innovation for SCKIPSFs is developed from a longitudinal 22‐month case study of a small architectural practice. Two forms of knowledge‐based innovation were discerned from the empirical work: exploitative innovation and explorative innovation. ‘Explorative innovation’ was found to be located in immediate ‘new’ project domains, and entailed search, variation, experimentation, activity to solve project‐specific problems; while ‘exploitative innovation’ concentrated on developing generic organisational infrastructure to ‘refine’ and ‘improve the efficiency’ of the firm operations to nurture capability for future activity. The key challenge for SCKIPSFs is to develop and manage an appropriate balance between explorative and exploitative innovation over time in order to generate sustainable competitive advantage.     

The inconceivable agenda

While the ‘unthinkable doctorate’ conference aimed at forming the ground for an inquiry that is at once legitimate, necessary and important, its premises, as articulated in the call for papers (see above: Introduction), failed to grasp the conceptual (and institutional, and historical) foundations of what its organisers considered to be ‘the current lack’ by posing this question through a rhetoric of ‘inconceivability’. In a direct response to the conference call, this essay argues that the classical separation of architectural science from architectural practice is all but productive as a starting point for rethinking and broadening the scope of the doctorate as a degree and as an academic process. Surpassing discursive and institutional frameworks upholding and consolidating the seemingly immutable division between architectural practice and the intellectualisation of architecture, we propose to position the doctorate as an investigatory ‘project’ implicating in equal measure both the university and the profession. ‘Thinking’ of ‘scientific work in architecture’ as a genuine architectural enterprise, we consider the doctorate as an institutionally authorised challenge to the disciplinary bases and techniques of architecture itself, that mobilises both theory and practice, however specific or traditional the individual project. The role of the doctorate is thus not simply to test the limits of architectural knowledge, but also the academic tools and media addressing that corpus.     

Postcolonial urbanism across disciplinary boundaries: modes of (dis)engagement between urban theory and professional practice

This paper critically examines the epistemological status of urban professional practice, i.e. architecture and urban design practice, in the theoretical debates on postcolonial urbanism. Despite joint interests in topics such as subalternity, informality, and learning, we can identify various gaps between urban theory and professional practice which contribute to the ‘alienation’ apparent in the interactions between these two disciplinary fields. The paper discusses three aspects which are hampering a more systematic reflection of the theory–practice nexus in the context of postcolonial urbanism: first, the dominance of the figure of the ‘global architect’; second, the lack of a truly inter- and trans-disciplinary perspective within the popularised debate on urban issues; and third, the insistence on epistemological difference out of tactical concerns. In contrast, the recent shifts in the intellectual foundations and teaching approaches in architecture and urban design are not yet sufficiently acknowledged within urban scholarship. It is shown how these fresh approaches advance a rethinking of the concepts of agency and authorship and expand the tools and modes of acting in urban contexts. I suggest that these recent shifts within architecture and urban design can be particularly rewarding for urban scholars to take into account in their search for new ways and tools to address real-life problems, confront inequalities and include marginalised knowledges.     

Creative Multiplicities: Urban Morphologies of Creative Clustering

While the geography of ‘creative cities’ is widely explored, the urban morphology of creative clustering within cities is relatively ignored. This paper excavates the morphological properties and capacities of creative clustering through Australian case studies with a series of mappings informed by assemblage theory. Such clusters are characterized by synergies that emerge from a ‘mix of mixes’—a mixed morphology linked to a multiplicity of functions (production, exchange, reproduction, recreation) and socio-economic mix. The ‘buzz’ or ‘atmosphere’ of a creative cluster is the emergent effect produced through an intensive co-functioning of people, practices, identities, spaces and built forms.     

Balancing value creating logics in construction

Construction companies apply different logics to create value. Some companies are organized according to one primary logic, while others are based on multiple logics. Different value creating logics have different cost and value drivers according to the type of activities involved and the interdependencies between them. Where multiple logics coexist, the different cost and value drivers may generate tensions. The purpose of the paper is to study how construction companies maintain a balance between multiple logics and how they handle tensions between them through a case study from the Norwegian construction industry. Both project management and supply chain management perspectives have been used to explain construction practice. By applying a ‘value configuration analysis’, it is clear how value creation is achieved in construction practice by balancing the needs of both the project and the supply chain. Both intra‐ and inter‐organizational interactions are vital in creating value across different logics. The contribution of the study lies in applying this framework to the construction area by adding knowledge about the underlying principles of different logics, including the tensions between them. Furthermore, the case study illustrates how these may be handled in order to create value in construction.     

Knowing the impact costs

Though dealing with North American practice, this article on quantifying the true costs arising from changes during construction is considered from the analytical rather than the legal standpoint, and thus raises issues of wider interest. Four main guidelines for the contractor are presented and discussed, concerned principally with the logical analysis of the impact on ‘normal’ productivity and the methods of quantifying the effects correctly. The author is head of management consultants Revay and Associates, of Canada.     

Developing a tendering strategy in two-envelope fee tendering based on technical score-fee variability

Consultants, in competing for work through two-envelope fee tendering, have been urged to consider variability differences between fees and technical scores, since the criterion with the greatest variability will influence which consultant is awarded the contract. Fee and technical score variability arising from different client fee tendering competitions is analysed in this paper, and a method proposed for determining whether a particular client's two-envelope fee tendering competition is likely to be dominated in terms of technical score or fee. Such information should be useful to consultants, as part of their bidding strategy, in deciding whether to aim for a higher technical score or submit a lower fee. Standard deviation is used to measure fee and technical score variability. Fee and technical score standard deviations are determined for each tendering competition, expressed as a ratio and aggregated over a series of competitions. A technical score-fee standard deviation ratio approximately equal to unity indicates that for future competitions consultants should adopt a balanced bidding strategy in putting equal emphasis on fee and technical score. A smaller ratio indicates that consultants should adopt a ‘low fee’ strategy whereas a larger ratio shows that consultants should adopt a ‘high technical score’ strategy. Fee tendering data from two large Hong Kong public sector clients were analysed. Fees were found to dominate the vast majority of tendering competitions, thereby indicating that consultants would be wise to adopt a low fee strategy in future competitions.     

The Enamelled Mead: History and practice of exotic perennials grown in grassy swards

The history of the practice of growing exotic perennials in grassy swards, which is considered by some to be a new practice, is researched. The available information is surveyed, and a number of different trends are identified. It is concluded that there is a long pedigree, with the earliest verified evidence dating from the Middle Ages, from which time the practice has continued in private gardens, but has been applied in public parks only in the 20th century. The earliest known terminology for the practice, in use by the early 17th century, appears to be ‘enamelling’, but this word became disused during the 19th century, when it became seen as an aspect of ‘wild gardening’. During the 20th century the mediaeval representation of this practice has been referred to as ‘flowery mead’, while the contemporary 20th-century practice became known as ‘meadow gardening’.     

Finding resilience through practical wisdom

Delivering resilience will require innovative systems-thinking skills of practical wisdom that go beyond technique. Aristotle's notion of phronesis as practical wisdom, which was largely lost until contemporary thinking about virtue ethics, provides a basis for a modern interpretation. Resilience, risk, vulnerability, robustness and sustainability need to be set not just in the dominant paradigm of scientific/technical rationality but also within a reflective practice that nurtures practical wisdom and questions ‘why’ before ‘how’. Practical rigour, as part of practical wisdom, is the meeting of a need by setting clear objectives involving many values (some in ‘wicked’ conflict) and reaching those objectives in a demonstrably justifiable way. Seven elements in practical rigour are described. Two keys to delivering resilience are: (a) to allow professionals to publicly admit that we do not know when we genuinely do not know; (b) to integrate people, purpose and (old) process through collective practical wisdom emerging from collaboration and learning together.     

Architectural mimicry and the politics of mosque building: negotiating Islam and Nation in Turkey

This paper discusses the politics of mosque architecture in modern Turkey. The classical Ottoman mosque image has been reproduced in state-sponsored mosques throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Defining this particular design strategy as architectural mimicry, I discuss the emergence of this image through the negotiation between the nation-state and the ‘nationalist conservative’ discourse within the context of Cold War geopolitics. Comparing the Turkish case with the Islamic post-colonial world, I argue that the prevalence of architectural mimicry is related to the nostalgia it generates. Nostalgia is a discursive effect of architectural mimicry which is in tune with the nationalist conservative worldview in its relationship to the state's anti-communism. This particular image was taken up by the Islamist AKP in the 2000s, within the context of the global rise of political Islam. In this instance, the same representation took on a different meaning. It functioned as a simulacrum representing the ‘nation in Islam’ with a claim to authenticity amongst the competing Islamic representations.     

Value creation in projects: Towards a narrative perspective

It is contended that value is a social construct, and that the processes of social construction are rooted in language. On this basis we argue that value creation is a process which lends itself to interpretation from a narrative perspective. Previous attempts at value creation have been promoted under the label of ‘value management’. There are two approaches which are identifiable in the literature. The first is based on the traditional narrative of value engineering (aka Hard VM) and is primarily directed towards cost reduction. The second more recent variant is labelled ‘soft’ value management (Soft VM) and is primarily directed towards the achievement of a shared understanding of the value criteria relating to an individual project. The two approaches are critiqued in terms of their underlying assumptions and it is suggested that they are best understood as different forms of narrative. The emerging literature on value creation is similarly critiqued in accordance with the adopted narrative perspective. The distinction is made between formalised narratives of value on the level of the organisations involved in the project coalition and the anecdotal stories which individuals use to make sense of their own lived experiences. Emphasis is given to the ways in which different narratives interact, and to the way in which they remain contestable over time. Particular attention is given to the confluence between storytelling and identity work.