The strategic management of architectural practice

The paper develops a model for the strategic management of architectural practice with the aim of better understanding how practices compete with each other for work around a tripartite definition of quality. It assesses the ways in which architectural practices are distinctive as knowledge-based organizations, before assessing some of the characteristics of their industrial context. Drawing on the work of Maister and Porter, it then develops a model of generic strategies for architectural practice which, it is suggested, can form the basis for further research and consultancy. Finally, some comments are made suggesting why architectural practices are relucant to think in strategic terms.     

数字技术在建筑设计中的应用

基于建筑方案设计与建筑评价两个方面介绍数字技术在建筑设计中的应用,同时用新的手段提出非线性设计法、参数设计法及生成设计等新的设计方法在建筑设计中的应用,这对新的数字技术在建筑工程设计的使用和建筑设计的优化有着重要意义。     

Technology adoption in the BIM implementation for lean architectural practice

Justification for researchThe construction companies are facing barriers and challenges in BIM adoption as there is no clear guidance or best practice studies from which they can learn and build up their capacity for BIM use in order to increase productivity, efficiency, quality, and to attain competitive advantages in the global market and to achieve the targets in environmental sustainability.

Purpose

This paper aims to explain a comprehensive and systemic evaluation and assessment of the relevant BIM technologies as part of the BIM adoption and implementation to demonstrate how efficiency gains have been achieved towards a lean architectural practice.Design/methodology/approachThe research is undertaken through a KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) project between the University of Salford and the John McCall Architects based in Liverpool, which is an SME (Small Medium Enterprise). The overall aim of KTP is to develop a lean design practice through the BIM adoption and implementation. The overall BIM implementation approach uses a socio-technical view in which it does not only consider the implementation of technology but also considers the socio-cultural environment that provides the context for its implementation. The technology adoption methodology within the BIM implementation approach is the action research oriented qualitative and quantitative research for discovery, comparison, and experimentation as the KTP project with JMA provides an environment for “learning by doing”.

Findings

Research has proved that BIM technology adoption should be undertaken with a bottom-up approach rather than top-down approach for successful change management and dealing with the resistance to change. As a result of the BIM technology adoption, efficiency gains are achieved through the piloting projects and the design process is improved through the elimination of wastes and value generation.

Originality/value

Successful BIM adoption needs an implementation strategy. However, at operational level, it is imperative that professional guidelines are required as part of the implementation strategy. This paper introduces a systematic approach for BIM technology adoption based on a case study implementation and it demonstrates a guideline at the operational level for other architectural companies of architectural practices.     

建筑技术的探索与实践

结合湖南长沙华天大酒店和湖南国际金融中心的设计实践，论述了建筑师应不断更新设计理念，应根据建筑的使用性质、使用功能和地域环境，注重规划构思和空间素质的提高以塑造良好的城市建筑形象。     

Breathing architecture: Conceptual architectural design based on the investigation into the natural ventilation of buildings

This study explores architectural design by examining air, fluid mechanics, and the natural ventilation of buildings. In this context, this research introduces a new way of dealing with the process of architectural synthesis. The proposed way can be used either to create new architectural projects or to rethink existing ones. This study is supported by previous investigation into the natural ventilation of buildings via computational and laboratory simulation (Stavridou, 2011; Stavridou and Prinos, 2013). The investigation into the natural ventilation of buildings provides information and data that affect architectural design through various parameters. The parameters of architectural synthesis that are influenced and discussed in this paper are the following: (i) inspiration and analogical transfer, (ii) initial conception of the main idea using computational fluid dynamics (digital design), (iii) development of the main idea through an investigatory process toward building form optimization, and (iv) form configuration, shape investigation, and other morphogenetic prospects. This study illustrates the effect of natural ventilation research on architectural design and thus produces a new approach to the architectural design process. This approach leads to an innovative kind of architecture called “breathing architecture.”     

工程管理专业生产与管理实习教学与实践

工程管理专业生产与管理实习是一门非常重要的实践教学课程。文章从生产与管理实习准备、生产与管理实习动员、教师监督、指导与协调及实习成绩评定等方面对工程管理专业生产与管理实习教学与实践进行了深刻的剖析。实践证明,这种方法能使学生在技术管理、社会交往等各个方面的能力得到较大的发展和提高。     

谈建筑项目管理

结合工作经验及数个建筑工程项目管理的实践,从项目的前期工作、设计阶段工作及后期服务三个阶段剖析了建筑项目管理的内容,并简要介绍了项目管理的主要途径及管理目标,以保证建筑企业持续、健康的发展。     

Concept evolution in architectural design: an octonary framework

A framework that integrates the fragmented elements of concept derivation, processing, and translation is developed and discussed. This framework aims to consolidate the divergent components of design conception into a comprehensive system that facilitates design conceptualization, initiation, and integration of various concept evolution phases, components, layers, and aspects. Accordingly, the framework describes a comprehensive approach based on a series of alternating divergence/convergence cycles. Subsequently, the approach encompasses a concept evolution process, derivation methods, aggregation/segregation technique, translation channels, and development layers. Each of the major divergent phases of the framework consists of eight parts. Furthermore, the skills and tasks associated with framework implementation are mapped into the main processing phases. The scope of this study is architectural design in higher education and practice. To demonstrate its applicability, the framework is implemented and illustrated by a case study. Reflections about its implementation and limitations are reported and discussed.     

Design response to rising sea levels in the Maldives: A study into aquatic architecture

Climate change and rising sea levels present immediate threats to humanity. However, the global catastrophe fails to generate sufficient action. Subject to total submergence within 80 years, this study undertakes an iterative design process seeking sustainable adaptation strategies for the coastal island nation of the Maldives, specifically, Malé, its capital, which exists under a “state of alert” by order of government. Research methods include literature reviews, site analysis, mapping, and iterative design processes to develop an implementation framework strategy. Infrastructure concepts are presented as speculative images with context-specific spatial relationships and functions. Concepts do not intend to represent a conclusive prototype, rather, an ideation—a solution-based discourse among key audiences highlighting the need to act decisively and adaptively.     

依托双师型教师提高建筑学本科生设计实践能力的教学改革探索

针对建筑学本科生设计实践能力不足这一现状,中国矿业大学建筑学专业教改课题组通过对国内外建筑学教学历史及现状的追溯和总结,在对比归纳不同教学模式的基础上,结合学校的现实状况,提出依托双师型教师提高建筑学本科生设计实践能力的教学改革方案和相关措施,以期对建筑学本科教学改革有所助益。     

A hybrid representation of architectural precedents

We present a hybrid representation of architectural precedents that separates precedent instances from the concepts they embody, where the concepts are defined in terms of multiple classification taxonomies. The representation allows us to combine the classical view of concept acquisition with aspects of the probabilistic and exemplar views and to organize the database into the equivalents of “episodic” and “semantic” memory. A first application and test context is provided by the Software Environment to Support Early Building Design (SEED), where precedents are used as prototypes and cases. But the representation is flexible enough to support the use of precedents in other application contexts.     

Managing CAD in architectural practice

After reviewing the state of the art of Computer-Aided Design use amongst 20 architectural practices, and identifying the typical uses of CAD in architectural design, the argument will review how systems are managed before making some comments on the future development of architectural practice in the light of the widespread diffusion of CAD.     

Forcing biological sciences into architectural design: On conceptual confusions in the field of biomimetic architecture

Certain confusion may be observed in the field of biomimetic architecture, as it emerges at the crossroad of two disciplinary domains: architectural design and biological sciences. If biomimetics is defined as a science, once it is applied to architecture, biomimetic architecture should logically be defined as a science too. This assertion collides with the nature of architectural design, which may rather be defined as a technology: its aim is to transform the world, not to explain it. On the one hand, there is no obvious relationship between architecture and life sciences. On the other hand, the biomimetic approach tends to redefine the concept of science itself by seeking to avoid the excesses of scientism. Moreover, existing applications of biomimetic design show that it is difficult to observe a genuine biomimetic architecture; most cases are closer to engineering component or urban planning and sometimes they involve little or no life sciences. The aim of this paper is to describe this conceptual confusion through two movements called “forcings”, occurring between design and science. These forcings are conceptualised as shifts between constructed scientific objects and given empirical objects. Models, used in biology as in architecture, allow these shifts by virtue of their double function. They are both tools for knowledge and for design, thus they may be conceptually forced into what they are not supposed to be, particularly in the field of biomimetic architecture where design process and scientific knowledge are said to meet.     

非理性设计手法在建筑创作中的运用

文章通过几个工程实例设计手法的分析,提出了几种经常在建筑创作中运用的非理性手法--变异、抽象、渗透、散漫、动态.     

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) in architectural design in China

Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) are one of the best ways to harness solar power, which is the most abundant, inexhaustible and clean of all the available energy resources. This paper discusses issues concerning BIPV in architectural design in China, including how to choose between BIPV and building-attached photovoltaics (BAPV), whether it is necessary for photovoltaic components to last as long as buildings and how to design BIPV structures. The paper shows that we should consider the function, cost, technology and aesthetics of BIPV, rather than solely the high integrations. According to developments in technology and markets, photovoltaic structures and design should be focused on the maintenance and replacement of photovoltaic cell modules, rather than simply prolonging their lives. To solve problems associated with the existing photovoltaic structures in China, we design a building photovoltaic structure that allows convenient maintenance and replacement of photovoltaic components.     

从建筑评论中反思设计方法——阅读《建筑评论——现代建筑与历史嬗变》

建筑评论是建筑理论与建筑实践之间的纽带。该文通过对艾伦·科洪的建筑评论集《建筑评论——现代建筑与历史嬗变》的阅读,探讨了现代建筑设计方法及其实践之间的关系,并针对国内建筑师忽视历史文化背景、直接采取＂拿来主义＂运用现代建筑设计方法的现象展开了反思。     

Biology and architecture: An ongoing hybridization of scientific knowledge and design practice by six architectural offices in France

As a highly interdisciplinary field, architecture is being influenced by many subjects of natural and social sciences. Biology despite being apparently distant from architecture is currently a scientific field blending into design practices, which have evolved and shifted towards a new hybrid framework. In this article, we present an emerging design field of what we categorize as biomimetic architecture pioneering by six architectural offices in France. We observe the impact of scientific researches on design processes and practices through six case studies led by these offices, which can be seen through the actors who involved in various types of interdisciplinary collaborations, through the competencies of the architect himself, and through new sources of ideas coming from biological sciences and related fields. We propose to use a classification of theoretical uses in modeling practice to better understand the role that biological knowledge plays in architectural design practices. Finally, the result of this analysis shows that the use of biology taking place in a design space has external purposes, which transform it to produce engineering devices or urban schemes rather than architectural projects. It also shows that biology in architectural design induces other kinds of non-biological knowledge, is not strictly theoretical and could be obsolete or approximate. These findings lead to an epistemological discussion concerning the confusion between biological ‘knowledge’ and architectural design ‘know-how’.     

建筑设计教学方式改革的探索与实践

从方法论的角度对教学方式改革进行了新的探索与实践：建立了师生互选的教学机制,采用了互动研讨的教学模式,强化了模型推敲的教学作用,试行了设计工作室的教学制度,开展了多专业联合进行毕业设计的教学试验,从而使建筑设计的教学改革取得了良好的教学效果。     

建筑设计的过程管理与控制

通过归纳目前建筑设计过程中存在的问题,证实了设计阶段加强管理与控制的重要性,从合同管理、进度控制、成本和质量控制、人员素质管理等方面进行了论述,对建筑工程设计项目的管理有一定指导意义。     

建筑理论与实践浅析

通过对东西方建筑实践与理论的对比,总结出建筑实践与理论正从历史上的游离的关系向当今的共生关系进行转变,并由此指出我国当下建筑创作中所面临的困惑之一是理论的匮乏。