Design Technology in Contemporary Architectural Practice

✍ Scribed by Dominik Holzer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 181
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Design Technology in Contemporary Architectural Practice lifts the curtain to unveil how eleven world-leading design studios integrate technology (such as computational design, BIM, and digital fabrication) as part of their day-to-day design exploration and delivery. Via first-hand accounts, the book offers rare insights about how these firms apply technology to purposefully disrupt and support their creative design processes in order to then explore how technology can be integrated on an organisational level. The resulting practice stories are loosely tied to four chapters that discuss how Design Technology corresponds to studio culture, collaboration and delivery protocols, business opportunities, knowledge sharing, staff empowerment, and more.

The author is less interested in presenting the latest and greatest tools than in focusing on cultural and organisational challenges and opportunities. This book benefits both the professional market (such as design firms reflecting on their technology use), as well as the academic context (with its critical reflection on the interface between design process and technology support). Stories from the following design firms are included:

Coop Himmelb(l)au

Foster + Partners

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

Zaha Hadid Architects

Diller Scofidio + Renfo

Heatherwick Studio

Morphosis Architects

SO-IL

Woods Bagot

Herzog & de Meuron

LASSA

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
1. Introduction – Defining Design Technology
1.1 Background to Design Technology
1.2 How the ‘Information Age’ Has Transformed Architectural Design Practice
Practice Insert: Coop Himmelb(l)au
1.3 Computational Design in Architecture Practice – A Brief History
Practice Insert: Foster + Partners
1.4 The Proliferation of Parametric Design and Scripting
1.5 Object-oriented Design Documentation Going Mainstream
1.6 Digital Models for Structural and Environmental Performance Feedback
Practice Insert: BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
2. Positioning Technology Within Design Practice
2.1 The Ambivalent Relationship Between Architects and (Design) Technology
2.2 Becoming Strategic About Technology Choices
Practice Insert: Zaha Hadid Architects
2.3 Matching Studio Culture With Technology Support
Practice Insert: Diller Scofidio + Renfo
2.4 Addressing Design Technology on an Organisational Level
2.5 Setting Up and Positioning Design Technology Within the Office Structure
Practice Insert: Heatherwick Studio
2.6 Project Support
Practice Insert: Morphosis Architects
2.7 Design Technology: Liaising With Practice Leadership
2.8 The Next Level – Design Technology as a Business Opportunity
Practice Insert: SO-IL
3. Tooling
3.1 Seeking Alignment Between Design Process and Tools
3.2 Tool: From Drafting Support to Decision Support (and More?)
Practice Insert: Woods Bagot
3.3 More Flexible/Smaller/Lighter
3.4 The Virtual Office
Practice Insert: Herzog & de Meuron
3.5 File to Fabrication
Practice Insert: LASSA
3.6 Convergence – Tooling Across Domains
3.7 Design Technology, Semiotics, and Human Behaviour!
4. Moving Forward
Interview With Four Leading Design Technologists
Index