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COOLFACADE: Architectural Integration of Solar Cooling Technologies in the Building Envelope
Get PDFThe thesis ‘COOLFACADE — Architectural integration of solar cooling strategies in the building envelope’ aims to shed light on the possibilities and constraints for architectural integration of solar cooling systems in façades, in order to support the design of climate responsive architectural products for office buildings as self-sufficient alternatives to conventional air-conditioning systems. Increasing cooling needs in the built environment present an important and complex challenge for the design of sustainable buildings and cities. Even though the first course of action should always aim to reduce energy consumption through saving measures and passive design, this is often not enough to avoid mechanical equipment altogether, particularly in the case of office buildings in warm climate contexts.
Solar cooling technologies have been increasingly explored, as an environmentally friendly alternative to harmful refrigerants used within vapour compression systems; while also being driven by solar, thus, renewable energy. The principles behind some of these technologies have been researched for over a century, reaching mature solutions and components, and being recognised as promising alternatives to common air-conditioning units. Nonetheless, building application remains mostly limited to demonstration projects and pilot experiences. Recently, façade integrated concepts have been explored, as a way to promote widespread application throughout the development of multifunctional building components. However, while these are regarded as relevant and promising standalone concepts, further research is still needed to assess the integration potential of diverse solar cooling technologies, and identify barriers to overcome, in order to promote the widespread application of solar cooling components in the built environment.
The aim of this research project is to explore the possibilities and constraints for architectural integration of solar cooling strategies in façades, in order to support the design of climate responsive architectural products for office buildings, without compromising the thermal comfort of users. The underlying hypothesis then is that self-sufficient solar cooling integrated facades may be a promising alternative to conventional centralised air-conditioning systems widely used in office buildings in warm climates. Most research efforts on solar cooling currently deal with the optimisation of the systems in terms of their performance, testing new materials and simplifying their operation to increase reported efficiencies. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the requirements and current limits for widespread façade application.
In order to achieve the research goal and comprehensively assess the façade integration potential of solar technologies and discuss current barriers, different aspects must be acknowledged. These distinct aspects are addressed through several research questions, which in turn define the different chapters of the dissertation. Introduction and conclusions aside, the research body is structured on three sequential parts, with 2-3 chapters each. The first part deals with the state-of-the-art in the field and the theoretical framework, laying the groundwork for the following sections. The second part explores different aspects required as input for façade integration; while the third part comprises the evaluation of solar cooling technologies in terms of current possibilities and constraints for the development of integrated façades, based on the inputs identified in the second part. Furthermore, all chapters were published or submitted for publication as scientific articles in peer review academic journals.
The first part considers two chapters that lay the foundations for the research project, The first chapter after the introduction expands the background of the dissertation by identifying knowledge gaps and research trends while contributing to the generation of a reference database of research experiences, throughout a systematic literature review of cooling research in office buildings during the last 25 years. On the other hand, the following chapter delves specifically in the main themes addressed within the dissertation, proposing a framework for the understanding of solar cooling integrated façades. This considers the theoretical discussion of the concept of architectural façade integration; and the identification of the main working principles and technical components from most common solar cooling technologies, based on a state-of-the-art review.
The second part explores different required inputs for façade integration. Design and construction requirements for façade integration are explored; while the response from façade design parameters to various climate conditions is assessed in parallel. The exploration of design and construction requirements is conducted through the identification of the main perceived problems for the façade integration of building services and solar technologies, by means of a survey addressed to façade professionals. On the other hand, a separate chapter explores the relation between climate conditions and cooling requirements in office buildings, evaluating the potential impact of several passive cooling strategies in various warm climates, as a first step before considering further technologies. This was conducted through the statistical analysis of reported research experiences, and dynamic energy simulations of a base scenario using specialised software.
The third part of the dissertation consists of two chapters that incorporate previous outcomes for the evaluation of selected solar cooling technologies in terms of current possibilities and constraints for the development of integrated façades. The first of these chapters showcases a qualitative evaluation of the façade integration potential of several solar cooling technologies, based on a comprehensive review of key aspects of each technology and their prospects to overcome the identified barriers for façade integration. This is complemented by a feasibility assessment of integrated concepts in several climates, throughout numerical calculations based on climate data and building scenarios simulated with specialised software; showcased in the following and final chapter.
The driving force of the research project is the intention to test the limits of solar cooling integration in façades, showcasing current possibilities while identifying technical constrains and barriers to overcome for the widespread application of integrated façade concepts. Although interesting prospects were identified in this dissertation, important technical constraints need to be solved to conceive a façade component fail-tested for application in buildings. Furthermore, several barriers related to the façade design and development process would need to be tackled in order to introduce architectural products such as these into the building market. The identification and discussion of these barriers, along with the definition of technology driven development paths and recommendations for the generation of distinct architectural products, are regarded as the main outcomes of this dissertation, serving as a compass to guide further explorations in the topic, under an overall environmentally conscious design approach
Re-use of Building Products in the Netherlands: The development of a metabolism based assessment approach
Get PDFOver the years, the consumption of materials for construction exceeded more than half of the total materials consumed in the Netherlands, and construction waste exceeded the volume of solid waste produced by households. Since the introduction of the "Ladder van Lansink" (in the 1970’s) and the further development of the European Waste Framework Directives followed by the Circular Economy concept, waste prevention has been considered a priority measure. Whereas the goals to improve waste management towards waste-to-resource and waste elimination evolved from guidelines to political action (throughout the EU), reuse of products remained a less implicit strategy. The reuse of building products is an ancient practice; nonetheless, limited information is available regarding the aspects involved in the existing process. Reuse of building products has seen limited regulatory changes and remained a vague procedure within the resource efficiency discourse in the Netherlands.
Building products remain in use for long time spans, which affects the planning and integration of strategies to recover them for reuse. When they are released from buildings (after renovation or demolition) and recovered, these products may not be compatible with new updated technical building requirements, or may not be competitive with upgraded, certified and cheaper new products.
The weight, size, and practical challenges to deconstruct buildings are also factors affecting the harvest of such products. Besides these technical and economic aspects, used goods are susceptible to subjective evaluation regarding their "style" and used appearance. Contrary to different forms of waste treatment that transform used products into commodities; used products have intrinsic cultural, historical and aesthetic values influencing their economic value.
To foster the integration of industrial activities to promote more efficient use of resources from the anthropogenic environment, it requires a better understanding of the constraints and opportunities among relations within a non-linear economy.
This research departs from the desire to understand the practice of reuse of building products from a systemic standpoint, to illuminate its current condition and help to foresee future perspectives. System The holistic approach in this research implies the investigation and representation of a network of multiple factors influencing the process of reusing in analogy to the nature of sustainability as a systemic concept that infers a holistic construction of different conceptual subsets.
To perceive the continuity of the strategy of reuse, this research positions the object of study from an evolutionary perspective where relations condition the action of reuse. These relations are dynamic and contextually bounded defining the commercial feasibility of products to be reused rather than wasted.
Understanding these relations enables to construct an analytical discourse that takes into consideration a multidisciplinary approach from which different strategies can be designed while contemplating their connectivity.
From a pragmatic research tradition, the central research question explored is:
What are the perspectives for reuse of building products from the housing stock, given contextual factors that influence the process chain and reserves?
The Industrial Ecology concept provides a system’s perspective and the foundation of this study’s methodological framework to answer the main research question. It postulates that the internal relations of the industrial process, as well as relations that go beyond the industrial boundary, are sources of perturbations in the natural system, which is driven by human activities and motivate changes in material and substance flows by demand for services provided by products.
Through this systemic perspective, to effectuate reuse of building products in the Netherlands, this research proposes to examine this practice as an industrial ecosystem. It describes the activities; actors and how different factors influence the process of building products' reuse.
This research is the result of a collaboration between the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering and Architecture and the Built environment of TU Delft to construct a multi-scale scope ranging product thinking and regional resource management. The investigation departs from the following assumptions:
Reuse of products brings environmental benefits.
This study does not evaluate which conditions and what are the environmental benefits of reuse. Nonetheless, the study acknowledges that not one-measure fits all, nor that reuse is the best measure in all contexts. The study departs from the premise established by existing guidelines in waste management and the CE (Circular Economy) concept that waste prevention including reuse should be prioritized.
Assessing singular aspects of reuse can lead to limited or partial interpretations, risking future ineffective action plans or their complete absence.
The practice of reuse is inferred in this study as a cluster of activities that co-exists with other clusters of activities (recycling industry, technological evolution of construction systems and product innovation, waste management, lifestyle, environmental education, policy, primary resources among others), and that changes occurred in each of these parts can also affect the performance of reuse. Single focus analyses are needed but complementary to the holistic approach to increment knowledge and verification of findings.
The Industrial Ecology concept is used to emphasize the relevance to develop a systemic vision of reuse. The approach developed in this research exposes the connectivity between different factors and activities within the process and illuminates how these activities are performed. As result, different paths could be designed to improve the performance of the system.
Description of the existent practices can help sharpen the understanding of the waste prevention of building products among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
This research departs from the observation of the existing practice of reuse in the Netherlands to develop a tangible form of analysis and representation of the phenomena in the real world. The research contributes to the waste prevention and management debate, the possible conceptual vagueness, lack of detailing and transparency of what reuse consists, and how waste prevention is equivocally related to curbing economic growth. It also adds knowledge to the concerns of building a systemic approach for a CE exposed by previous scholars.
Research structure
A design-based research framework is applied to articulate how the study was performed. The analysis was divided into two main parts:
The organizational, socio-economic and technological aspects of building products reuse.
This segment examines internal relations of the industrial system of reuse, comprised by a description of the organization of activities and actors involved that characterize the supply chain and the practice of commercial reuse of building products in the Netherlands. The relations that go beyond the industrial boundary are clustered by the social, cultural economic, and technological factors influencing how building products are harvested from the building stock for consumption.
Conventionally, natural systems are assessed regarding the impact caused by industrial activities or the availability of resources to supply these same activities. As the anthropogenic environment evolves, it is relevant to comprehend how fit the industrial system is in this dynamic context, leading to the second part of the study:
The evolution of the housing stock as dynamic reserves (supply of reusable products).
The industry of reuse, by analogy, relies on the evolution of the building stock to supply the consumption of reusable building products. To exam this relation, the study investigates what products are commercially reusable (present). These products are a reference to the examination of the housing stock evolution (reserves), which affects the supply of reusable products in speed, composition, and amount of products released from the stock.
Finally, the research methodology delimits the industrial ecology of reuse as the sum of different relations influencing the flows of products harvested for commercial transactions of used building products. The representation of this network of relations reveals vulnerabilities and potentials in the industrial system to support future effectuation and evaluations for practice and policy. The conceptual model proposed is a map, a tool to assist the formulations of plans and tests in the learning curve to systematically implement waste prevention measures in the Netherlands.
Findings
The following limitations guided the mixed methodology proposed in this study: Scarce information about the practice of building product reuse in the Netherlands including social demand for used products; the availability of hard numeric information in waste prevention and periodic consumption of building products for housing construction; the metabolism of the building stock in the Netherlands including information about the survivability and obsolescence of houses as well as periodic physical description of housing the stock at the product level and building sizes.
In the first part, the research process was based on literature review, surveys and semi-structured interviews with practitioners in product reuse, experts in construction waste management, governmental agencies and designers. The central object in this stage is the representation of the industrial system of reuse connected to several relations that influence its performance. The key findings in this segment were:
Organizational
The practice of reuse currently functions as an appendix of the demolition industry, bringing benefits as well as disadvantages. Among the benefits is a lean and integrated management of activities able to absorb time, administrative and economic hurdles. Some of the disadvantages are the limited formalization and specialization of activities as product development (treatment of used products), quality control and marketing, as well as lack of formal representation affecting public recognition and political support.
Economic
In the economic context, direct costs involved in the process of reusing including transportation, storage, and workforce to deconstruct (associated with technology), as well as costs associated with processes to recondition used products for retail are critical parts of the economic equation. External factors influencing the economic benefits of reuse are for instance related to developments in waste management, tipping fees, fines of mixed materials and, prices of virgin materials and new products. The economic performance of reuse is also affected by investments and other forms of stimuli focused on developments in waste treatment or by policy regulating waste disposal and resource recovery.
Social
The social component is not only critical but has also been the least understood within the reuse process. Potential users and “waste” owners fundamentally lack knowledge on how to reuse, information about used products, where to find them and what are the benefits of reusing. Lack of certifications, warranties, standardization of products are also factors affecting the demand for used products. Additionally, the demand for used products concerns the interaction with potential consumers as the shopping experience, the image of the used product determining the “value” of the product and of reusing. Value is liable to change according to how the consumer perception arises about used products, about the action and experience to reuse and the economic benefits.
Technological
Technology is not yet developed in the building product reuse industry through three perspectives:
Building deconstruction evolved to harvest materials for recycle rather than harvesting products for reuse;
Construction technologies of new buildings indicated to evolve towards concrete intense systems less feasible to be deconstructed for reuse; and
The absence of quality control of used products to be applied in new constructions can pose risks to the performance of new buildings.
In this context, integrating cascading reuse indicated to be a beneficial strategy complementary to reuse. Although the challenges to develop methods to efficiently process (remanufacture, resize, recondition) used components into new products while securing quality standards, safety requirements and economic viability exist; cascading reuse can help to overcome barriers related to public perception and consumption of used products.
Lastly, the dynamic character of how the socioeconomic and technological relations identified above occur in the real world has to be taken into account to comprehend the status of building product reuse and to foresee future adaptation. Although improvements can be made in each one of these relations, it is relevant to understand how they can affect the system combined. For instance, increase building disassembly does not guarantee increase demand for used products in the future.
Reserves
Whereas the first part of the study revealed that a combination of factors defines what is commercially reusable in the Netherlands, the second part research analyses the capacity of product reuse in an existent context as a reference to estimate or plan strategies for future continuity. The juxtaposition between the operability of the industry of reuse and the evolution of the building stock represents the organization of a “typical” supply chain of reuse in the Netherlands.
Although in the real world different factors combined influence changes in the housing stock, in this research, the method to analyze trends in the housing stock behavior explored the evolution of different characteristics in the stock through binary “increase” or “decrease” trends based on historical data. The key findings in this research stage were:
Regarding housing survivability, the housing stock in the Netherlands evolved to be characterized by single-family private houses, apparently larger, built under non-traditional methods and better sound constructed compared to the recent post-war period. These characteristics indicated to influence (increase) housing survivability. Especially in the West, where most activities in the national housing stock are concentrated, the increase of private single-family houses influences overall housing survivability in the Netherlands (particularly when the pre-1946 group gradually decreases).
Regarding amounts of materials released accumulating in the housing stock, consumption of building materials per capita as well as continued housing stock increase were observed. As the population of single households expands, it is uncertain that house sizes will continue to rise as well. Nonetheless, despite the growth of material stock, the amount of material output can be offset by the increase housing survivability.
Regarding types of materials, the study of frequent house typologies, as well as the analysis of material consumption trends, indicates stronger dissipation of stony based products, and in particular concrete and plastic based, in comparison to wood ceramics and metals. The decrease of traditionally built houses can influence decrease supply of used wood in the future, inflicting the industry of reuse to adapt to these changes.
The analysis of trends in the housing stock and material consumption revealed how the supply of materials could affect reusing. The understanding of such trends at product scale resulted to be challenging through top- bottom approach and traditional material flow accounting. The study of the evolution of physical characterization of the housing stock from a bottom-up approach produced more consistent insight of housing stock trends at product level. Improving the classification system of the built housing stock according to physical characteristics including housing typologies, building age, description of building products (some of these characteristics are already being assessed to monitor energy efficiency) can facilitate monitoring of future material management. Strategies designed to improve waste prevention through reuse could be limited if they do not consider knowledge improvement of material reserves.
The stock is getting larger but there should be delays in material output for reuse through withdraws due to the increase housing survivability. The accumulation of stony based products indicates future challenges to overcome as the technical and economic viability to reuse them and demand for this type of products; especially when considering the competition with technological advances aiming to improve recyclability of concrete.
Tool
Finally, this holistic approach generates an overview of how dynamics in the housing stock and socioeconomic, and technological factors, associated direct and adjacent to the reuse process influence what is harvested for reuse in practice. The representation of these dynamic relations composes a conceptual model, which is the representation of the metabolism of building product reuse in the Netherlands. This “map” offers a way to improve the visualization and the understanding of how the trajectories of flows of products are reused as well as the motivations, conditions, and limitations behind them.
It is a tool that facilitates future assessments on how to improve the recovery of products for reuse (illustrated by the case of wooden products); how to support decision making by practitioners and policymakers; how to detect the connectedness among different aspects of building product reuse. Ultimately it offers different paths to (re) generate additional evaluation or action with the aim to adapt the practice of reuse to changing conditions.
The proposed conceptual model evolved from a composition of concepts adapted from the Industrial Ecology theoretical background to represent the system of the typical commercial practice of reuse of building products in the Netherlands, supplied by-products derived from the housing stock, and are centralized on the role of the practitioner. Accordingly, the data collection and most findings from the qualitative analysis departed from clustering information structured by the preconceived theoretical framework.
Overall, the insight out of this research indicates that more work needs to be done in the direction to optimize existing relations associated with materials derived from building demolition activities in the Netherlands, to improve efficiencies through these relations foreseeing future integration with the evolution of waste management and circular resource management, and as well as diversify stakeholders unfolding in new collaboration, business models and new supply chains
Paper in Architecture: Research by design, engineering and prototyping
Get PDFPaper is a fascinating material that we encounter every day in different variants: tissues, paper towels, packaging material, wall paper or even fillers of doors. Despite radical changes in production technology, the material, which has been known to mankind for almost two thousand years, still has a natural composition, being made up of fibres of plant origin (particularly wood fibres). Thanks to its unique properties, relatively high compression strength and bending stiffness, low production costs and ease of recycling, paper is becoming more and more popular in many types of industry.
Mass-produced paper products such as special paper, paperboard, corrugated cardboard, honeycomb panels, tubes and L- and U-shapes are suitable for use as a building material in the broad sense of these words — i.e., in design and architecture. Objects for everyday use, furniture, interior design elements and partitions are just a few examples of things in which paper can be employed. Temporary events such as festivals, exhibitions or sporting events like the Olympics require structures that only need to last for a limited period of time. When they are demolished after a few days or months, their leftovers can have a significant impact on the local environment.
In the context of growing awareness of environmental threats and the efforts undertaken by local and international organisations and governments to counter these threats, the use of natural materials that can be recycled after their lifespan is becoming increasingly widespread.
Paper and its derivatives fascinate designers and architects, who are always looking for new challenges and trying to meet the market’s demands for innovative and proecological solutions. Being a low-cost and readily available material, paper is suited to the production of emergency shelters for victims of natural and man-made disasters, as well as homeless persons.
In order to gain a better understanding of paper’s potential in terms of architecture, its material properties were researched on a micro, meso and macro level. This research of the possible applications of paper in architecture was informed by two main research questions:
What is paper and to what extent can it be used in architecture?
What is the most suitable way to use paper in emergency architecture?
To answer the first research question, fundamental and material research on paper and paper products had to be conducted. The composition of the material, production methods and properties of paper were researched. Then paper products with the potential to be used in architecture were examined. The history of the development of paper and its influence on civilisation helped the author gain a better understanding of the nature of this material, which we encounter in our lives every day. Research on objects for everyday use, furniture, pavilions and architecture realised in the last 150 years allowed the author to distinguish various types of paper design and paper architecture. Analysis of realised buildings in which paper products were used as structural elements and parts of the building envelope resulted in a wide array of possible solutions. Structural systems, types of connections between the various elements, impregnation methods and the functionalities and lifespan of different types of buildings were systematised. The knowledge thus collected allowed the author to conduct a further exploration of paper architecture in the form of designs and prototypes.
To answer the second research question, the analysed case studies were translated into designs and prototypes of emergency shelters.
During the research-by-design, engineering and prototyping phases, more than a dozen prototypes were built. The prototypes differed in terms of structural systems, used materials, connections between structural elements, impregnation methods, functionality and types of building. The three versions of the Transportable Emergency Cardboard House project presented in the final chapter form the author’s final answer to the second research question.
Paper will never replace traditional building materials such as timber, concrete, steel, glass or plastic. It can, however, complement them to a significant degree
energy: resources and building performance
Get PDFToday, humankind is completely dependent on energy. Energy is indispensable for growth and life on Earth, and it is also of key importance for living comfortably — for heating, lighting, cooling, ventilation, operation of machines and appliances, for transport, etc. The major energy-generating source is the sun, sending the energy to Earth and making life on our planet possible. This energy is free of charge and without negative effects. However, we only know how to use and convert a small part of the solar energy reaching the Earth into other forms of energy necessary to improve the conditions for life and the human comfort.
The production of energy that drives our civilisation still depends heavily on the use of non-renewable fossil reserves. The dependence on coal, oil, and natural gas is a major problem faced by the humankind. Buildings need energy throughout their life cycle, which consists of six stages — extraction of raw materials, production of materials and components, transport sale, construction, operation and, finally, demolition. Measures aimed at reducing the dependence of a building on energy throughout its life cycle may be implemented on at least two levels. The first important decision is to locate a building in the environment in a manner such that it will help improve the living conditions in the building by making use of the natural features of the site:
by proper orientation of the building to facilitate heating and lighting by means of solar energy;
by using the wind to facilitate natural ventilation;
by including vegetation in the external and internal environment to improve the quality of air; and
by observing the relevant distance from the adjacent buildings to prevent the shading effect.
The second important decision in the building design process refers to the selection of materials and building technology. Every stage of the building’s lifecycle calls for a choice that will contribute to the lower energy consumption of the building:
extraction of raw materials — choice of raw materials (timber, stone, earth), as they are not energy-intensive;
production of materials and components — choice of materials whose production requires little energy;
sale of materials and components — choice of materials and components that are produced locally near the construction site and not subject to great transport distances;
construction of the building — choice of building technologies that do not require much energy;
use or operation of the building — the building should be designed in such a manner as to require little energy for heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilation;
demolition — the building should be designed in a manner that permits the structure to be disassembled into the basic elements that can be sorted by specific materials and, if possible, reused or recycled.
The use of energy in buildings is thus a complex problem, but it can be reduced and alleviated by making appropriate decisions. Therefore, architects face a major and responsible task of designing the built environment in such a way that its energy dependence will be reduced to a minimum, while at the same time being able to provide comfortable living conditions. Today, architects have many tools at their disposal, facilitating the design process and simultaneously ensuring proper assessment in the early stages of building design.
The purpose of this book is to present ongoing research from the universities involved in the project Creating the Network of Knowledge Labs for Sustainable and Resilient Environments (KLABS). This book attempts to highlight the problem of energy use in buildings and propose certain solutions. It consists of nine chapters, organised in three parts. The gathering of chapters into parts serves to identify the different themes that the designer needs to consider, namely energy resources, energy use and comfort, and energy efficiency.
Part 1, entitled “Sustainable and Resilient Energy Resources,” sets off by informing the reader about the basic principles of energy sources, production, and use. The chapters give an overview of all forms of energies and energy cycle from resources to end users and evaluate the resilience of renewable energy systems. This information is essential to realise that the building, as an energy consumer, is part of a greater system and the decisions can be made at different levels.
Part 2, entitled “Energy and Comfort in the Built Environment”, explain the relationship between energy use and thermal comfort in buildings and how it is predicted. Buildings consume energy to meet the users’ needs and to provide comfort. The appropriate selection of materials has a direct impact on the thermal properties of a building. Moreover, comfort is affected by parameters such as temperature, humidity, air movement, air quality, lighting, and noise. Understanding and calculating those conditions are valuable skills for the designers.
After the basics of energy use in buildings have been explained, Part 3, entitled “Energy Saving Strategies” aims to provide information and tools that enable an energy- and environmentally-conscious design. This part is the most extensive as it aims to cover different design aspects. Firstly, passive and active measures that the building design needs to include are explained. Those measures are seen from the perspective of heat flow and generation. The Passive House concept, which is explained in the second chapter of Part 3, is a design approach that successfully incorporates such measures, resulting in low energy use by the building. Other considerations that the following chapters cover are solar control, embodied energy and CO2 emissions, and finally economic evaluation. The energy saving strategies explained in this book, despite not being exhaustive, provide basic knowledge that the designer can use and build upon during the design of new buildings and existing building upgrades.
In the context of sustainability and resilience of the built environment, the reduction of energy demand is crucial. This book aims to provide a basic understanding of the energy flows in buildings and the subsequent impact for the building’s operation and its occupants. Most importantly, it covers the principles that need to be taken into account in energy efficient building design and demonstrates their effectiveness.
Designers are shaping the built environment and it is their task to make energy-conscious and informed decisions that result in comfortable and resilient buildings
aE Journal 2014/2015: Intecture
Get PDFArchitectural Engineering brings spatial, functional, social design and technical possibilities and developments together. Subjects like product design, material research, building physics, structural mechanics, computation and model and production techniques all play a major part in architecture. In fact architecture and engineering are irreversible connected with each other. Research in the field of technology leads to all kinds of improvements in architecture. This also works the other way around, for instance improvements in architecture help inspire research and innovation. If you choose for Architectural Engineering, you’ll choose for architecture as a complete design discipline in which technical possibilities are an inspiration and an important contribution to the architectural design. This annual journal gives the faculty insight in our master programme and it shows recent work made by students of the architectural Engineering studio. We hope you all like the work of INTECTURE, integration of technology in architecture
Privatisation of the production of public space
Get PDFFrom the 1960s to the 1970s, a large number of Western inner cities went through a phase of severe deprivation due to both a relocation of manufacturing jobs that in turn led to a depopulation, a lack of investment and high unemployment and to suburbanisation made possible by the car. From the 1990’s, urban regeneration strategies were introduced to tackle this inner city deprivation. In the United Kingdom, this ‘urban renaissance’ took place within the new economic and political paradigm of neoliberalism which placed a strong emphasis on market forces as the driver of urban regeneration (see national policy document Urban Task Force 1999). The shift to this economic system led to changes in both the process of urban development and its product, the space itself. Local governments endorsed the new economic reality- which included a greater role for private and corporate actors in the development and management of cities - in order to be able to participate in the global inter-urban competition. As a result of declining public budgets and encouraged by national guidance, public authorities began to outsource tasks and responsibilities that had previously been regarded as a governmental concern to private actors and newly developed private public partnerships (urban regeneration vehicles in planning policy terminology). Public authorities themselves also adopted business-like styles of organisation in which productivity, effectivity and efficiency were regarded as the main conditions for serving the public’s financial interest, though other public values such as cultural heritage, equality and democracy were often regarded as of secondary concern. This privatisation of development in urban areas did not just affect the process but also the outcome; the appearance and use of public spaces. Within the urban renaissance agenda, a strong emphasis was put on the aesthetisation of space in order to attract the desired businesses, investors and people with a high disposable income. The objective in private management regimes appears to be on reducing risk by putting a strong focus on surveillance, safety, tidiness and the exclusion of undesirable behaviour, all of which reduces the diversity, vitality and vibrancy of spaces in order to welcome tourists and middle-class visitors, in other words consumers (Low 2006). This privatisation of public space raises valid questions with regard to the publicness of urban open space and a number of authors recognise a ‘decline’ of public space or have even declared ‘the end of public space’ as we have known it (Sorkin 1992; Mitchell 1995; Low and Smith 2006; Madanipour 2003; Iveson 2007 etc.). Other authors argue that we do not experience the death of public space but a change in its form, function and appearance that reflects contemporary economic, societal and cultural narratives (see eg Madden 2010; Carmona et al. 2008, Carmona 2015; De Magalhães and Freire Tigo 2017). To be able to incorporate these societal shifts, a revised (and wider) definition is needed to describe and analyse publicness in the production of space (Kohn 2004; De Magalhães 2010; Varna and Tiesdell 2010; Ní©meth and Smith 2011; Langstraat and Van Melik 2013; Varna 2016).
The premises for this research are based on the above discussion on the different roles that privatisation plays in the production of space, within this shift towards greater involvement of a variety of private partners in the development process and the possible decline in the degree of publicness in both process and space. The apparent need for a wider definition of public space to include current political, economic and societal changes, the relation between the public sphere and public space, the degree of publicness in both the process and space itself, the perception of the user and the role of the urban designer are hereby taken as starting points and lead to the following research question:
Does privatisation lead to a decline of publicness in the production of space and space itself, and how does urban design play a role in this?
Public sphere and public space — a very short overview from academic literature
The public sphere is a normative established notion whose definition is susceptible to change over time depending on the economic, social and cultural context. The rules and norms regarding public behaviour in public space are under the scrutiny of public debate and depend on consensus (Habermas 1989; Boomkens 1998). The public sphere in Greek ancient times and in the Western bourgeois 18th century constituted the gathering of individuals who engaged in discussions of common matters through speech and action (Arendt 1958; Habermas 1989; Sennett 1977). Other scholars however, suggest that this is too simple a representation of complex reality; there is not one single public but a multitude of publics, often with conflicting interests (Fraser 1960; Iveson 2007; Varna and Tiesdell 2010). It is within the overlapping and exchange of multiple and simultaneous daily experiences of these publics, that the essence of publicness lies (Crawford 2008; Hajer and Reijndorp 2001). Due to these multiple publics, there will always be conflicting interests and claims over space; public space is a political, social and cultural project which is negotiated, struggled over throughout history and reproduced (Lefebvre 1991; Mitchell 1995; Langstraat and Van Melik 2013). Public space is a potential geographical setting in which a public sphere (or spheres) can materialise and therefore, has a democratic function in addition to other functions such as a social or symbolic dimension, where different groups of people can meet each other. Thus, the essence of public space lies in the exchange of cultural, social and political experiences for a variety of multiple publics. In order to be able to fulfil this role, public space must be accessible and inclusive to all (Madanipour 2010), although bearing in mind that a space can never be completely accessible and hence inclusive of everybody at the same time (Low and Smith 2006).
Publicness of process and product in three Liverpool cases
An analytical and methodological framework was set up in order to provide answers to the research question. A distinction was made in the analytical framework between three perspectives, those of governance, the user and the designer, which provides the lens through which social relations between the actors, their motivations and the perceived outcome in space are analysed in-depth. Three cases within the city of Liverpool were selected that differed in their managerial approach to urban regeneration but were built over a similar period of time, therefore within a similar political, economic and geographical setting. A multi-faceted method of data collection techniques comprised policy document reviews, interviews, user survey, observations and a visual assessment. The three cases were then presented and are summarised below:
Liverpool ONE; a retail led inner city development project where the Council sold the land on a 250 year lease to a private developer who designed, implemented and manages the 16 ha urban quarter. The first of this kind of inner city privatisation at this scale in the United Kingdom.
Ropewalks: a public-private partnership (with a mix of stakeholders) implemented a masterplan for a mixed-use neighbourhood that was envisioned to be the creative quarter. The publicly funded public space works were successfully deployed to attract private investment to the private buildings.
Granby4Streets: started as a top down, publicly led masterplanning exercise of neighbourhood renewal which became a co-operation between a variety of private local initiatives supported by the Council. The first urban Community Land Trust in the UK
Discussion and Conclusions
Governance perspective: publicness in the development process
The findings from the case study analysis — organised as they were in three different ways, namely privately led, public-private partnership and publicly organised turned community led- demonstrated that both the privately and publicly top down coordinated processes lacked publicness; both in ownership of (which is related to who initiates, who has decision-making power and how the actors are organised within the process) and accessibility to (related to openness and inclusiveness for a variety of different actors to the process, including the minority voice) the process. The public-private partnership and the community led cooperative regeneration approaches that consisted of a variety of public and private actors (both corporate and non-for-profit) however, comprised a larger degree of publicness and trust between the various actors. These findings lead to the conclusion that in these three cases, a multi-stakeholder process in which both public and private actors work collaboratively and have decision-making power leads to a greater degree of publicness in the development process. Both the publicly and the privately (corporate) led projects researched were found to be non inclusive as the ownership of the process (including proposing initiatives, the degree of decision making power and the provision of funding) lay in the hands of a single actor and the accessibility to the process for other (public or private) actors was limited.
Therefore based on the findings of the three cases, the degree of publicness in the development process benefits from a collaborative multi-stakeholder process in which both public and private partners have decision-making powers where a high degree of trust leads to a greater degree of publicness in urban development.
Users’ perspective: experience and engagement in public space
The consequences often attributed to privatised spaces in academic literature — exclusion, homogenised, commodified and themed space with a strong focus on cleanliness and safety — have all been found (to a greater or lesser extent) in the privatised space. Despite, or maybe indeed because of, these consequences, the privatised space was perceived as ‘very good’ by the large majority of the respondents, more so than in the two public spaces although they were also perceived as quality urban spaces. The privatised space was also rated as being very ‘safe’ and ‘clean’ but there was no relation found between the feeling of safety and the presence of surveillance or control measures; a majority of the users did not feel watched by CCTV cameras, security guards or police (and still felt safe).
With regard to the perception of publicness, more than half of the respondents stated that they perceived the (in fact) private space as public space. Although these users regarded the space as public, they simultaneously thought that they were not allowed to exercise certain basis public rights (such as using a skateboard, being political, making music or handing out flyers). They sensed that there were limitations put on their public behaviour and they adapted their behaviour according to the nature and characteristics of the spatial surrounds. This sense was correct as these individual interventions (also called forms of appropriation) are prohibited under the corporate rules. In the public areas, a high percentage of the users also regarded the spaces as public but here they did think, also correctly, that they were allowed to exercise these rights. Apparently, the privatised space delivered different signals to the respondents on appreciated (or tolerated) behaviour than public spaces did.
Following from this conclusion, the range of new terminology that in recent years has been deployed to help address the hybridisation of public/private such as semi-private or semi-public or Privately Owned Public Space (POPS - a new terminology in the UK, of which an example is the new King’s Cross development), does not therefore contribute towards the clarification of the concept as the ownership and control mechanisms at work are sensed by users differently to the legal ownership structures the terminology refers to, this strengthens the need for a new criteria to describe publicness of space.
The case of Liverpool One demonstrates that a privatised process apparently does not necessarily lead to a private space, at least not from the point of view of its users and producers, and was perceived by institutional actors and the users interviewed as a successful urban quarter. Also the outcome of the visual assessment came to this conclusion. Two remarks can be made on the basis of this conclusion however: firstly, the space producers acknowledge that the privatised space is not truly public in a democratic or civic sense but they still perceive the area as public largely based on its physical accessibility and social and entertainment value. On the other hand, those users interviewed claimed the privatised space to be public but were only subconsciously aware that the appearance and the design of the space act to restrict their behaviour. Hence, although a privatised space can be aesthetically beautiful and socially pleasant, a degree of publicness is compromised in privatised space because users are restricted in the ways they can appropriate space.
Designer perspective on designing publicness
The visual assessment that was carried out to analyse eleven urban qualities through a combination of quantitative and qualitative assessment tools (based on Ewing and Clemente 2013), demonstrates that only the urban qualities ‘safety’, ‘tidiness’ and ‘appropriation’ were decisive in the definition of publicness in space. The privatised area rated well for visual signs of surveillance methods (CCTV, presence of security guards) when compared to the public areas that appeared to be less endowed with such measures. The same outcome was found for the quality of tidiness. There were however, very few visual signs of appropriation found in the privatised area, thus in the area where control mechanisms (‘safety’ and ‘tidiness’) were visually omnipresent, no evidence was found of individual interventions. In the public spaces, the findings show the opposite: less evidence of control mechanisms but abundant evidence of individual input in the public space, in particular in the case of Granby4Streets.
In addition to the analysis of the cases themselves, their relation to their surrounding contexts has also been assessed. The privatised space can be described as physically well integrated into its surrounds; the transition to the city centre and to the tourist attraction of the Albert Dock is smoothly designed. The connections to the Ropewalks and a social housing estate are however, very poorly designed; the boundaries are formed by buildings with blank, inactive facades with marginal uses (e.g. car parking). These poorly designed zones could be described as the liminal spaces — transitional zones — referred to as potential spaces where the new public sphere emerges according to Crawford (2008) and Hajer and Reijndorp (2001). No signs were found within these transitional zones however, of a potentially emerging new public sphere (or overlapping multitude of spheres). The function of these liminal spaces is better described as forming a barrier (or creating severance) between the ‘over-managed’ areas. Therefore, the transitional zones enhance and enlarge the differences between the over and under-managed spaces rather than facilitate new spheres. Although the experience of publicness in space is thought to occur at the boundary between friction and freedom, this analogy can apparently not be directly translated to the spatial context. The theoretical argument that the ‘real’ public sphere is found in the transitional zones between over and under-managed areas, the ‘liminal’ spaces, has not been confirmed within the case studies in this research. It can therefore be concluded that in order to enhance the ‘continuous urban topography’, these edges should not be designed as ‘left-over’ space creating severance but rather as transitional zones that provide linkage.
Recommendations
Based on the data from interviews, user surveys and visual assessment that has been collected and analysed, it can be concluded that the degree of publicness of the privatised space is compromised by the ‘corporate rules’ (including control mechanisms) that might be in place to limit individual user appropriation. Apparently the presence of control mechanisms, the maintenance regime and the opportunity to use space according to one’s own daily needs, distinctively says something about the degree of publicness in space. The latter component, appropriation, offers an interesting opportunity for describing and defining a wider notion of publicness (control mechanisms are used by both public and private stakeholders in charge of space maintenance and the user survey demonstrated that a majority of the respondents were not aware of these mechanisms). Appropriation is defined as: The way individuals renegotiate and reproduce space to take ownership and suit the space to meet their own needs. Appropriation is characterised by spontaneity and temporality.
It is therefore recommended to include appropriation within the definition of publicness, in addition to ownership and control, and accessibility.
A second recommendation concerns the public authority that still holds the ultimate power within urban development. In the current planning system, the public authority is in charge of validating and approving planning applications. Hence, publicness in the development process could be safeguarded by a change in the current legislation for the use of statutory powers within the planning process. In other words, private actors (including non-for-profit organisations such as community groups) could be forced to create a more inclusive and public development process. Firstly, the planning system could be adapted to include judgments on applications using criteria such as ownership of, and accessibility to, the process and not just on the quality of the proposal; aspects such as who was involved, who had decision-making power, how high were the levels of trust etc., could also function as decisive criteria. If the planning application fails to score on these criteria, it could be refused. Secondly, in terms of product and in addition to current aspects such as quality, sustainability, building regulations etc., an application could be reviewed on the level of opportunity that is created within the proposal for appropriation by its future users. This research concluded that the degree of publicness is related to the degree of appropriation: how individual people can make use of space to meet their daily needs. Therefore the current planning system can be adapted to include (non-negotiable) criteria on appropriation to safeguard the degree of publicness in space.
A third recommendation relates to the urban designer that might enhance the degree of publicness in space in (at least) two ways. Firstly, allowing for a larger flexibility in the spatial outcome by designing in opportunities for citizens to appropriate space. Inspiration for new urban design methods on appropriation could for instance be drawn from design literature on ‘urban acupunture’, ‘place-making’ and ‘big data’. The visual image that the designer composes is hereby seen as a starting point, the base of future interventions and not as the ultimate illustration of the designer’s own projected reality. Secondly, the designer should pay special attention to the design of the edges of urban quarters in order to create ‘soft’ transitional zones rather than severe barriers. In this way, design might both enhance the publicness within the different urban areas while also treating the city as a totality rather than a sea of physically segregated ‘archipelago islands’. Both statements assign a degree of ethics to the profession of urban design; the urban designer bears (co) responsibility for the creation of an inclusive public space rather than merely focusing on problem solving, functionality or providing aesthetic pleasure (which are of course also important components that must be met).
Epilogue
So does privatisation result in the decline of publicness in the production of public space? It cannot be said from this research that privatisation of the production is detrimental in all its aspects. Urban development and city life turn out to be complicated matters that are difficult to capture as a straightforward yes/no or good/bad equation. The research demonstrated however, that publicness within a development process was least present within the organisational structure of a single client, in both private and publicly led processes. Apparently, publicness within the development process benefits from multiple private and public actors working collaboratively. Involvement of private actors do not necessarily lead to a private process that lacks inclusiveness and vice versa, a publicly led process does not always lead to a public or inclusive process
Open for business: Project-specific value capture strategies of architectural firms
Get PDFArchitectural firms can be regarded as creative professional service firms. As such, architects need to navigate creative, professional and commercial goals, while simultaneously attempting to fulfil client, user and societal needs. This complex process is becoming increasingly difficult, as the historically established role of architects has become more blurred, contested and heterogeneous. While attempting to reclaim their role or to take on new roles in collaborations with other actors, architectural firms are challenged to develop business models that are financially viable and professionally satisfactory. These business models need to facilitate firms in capturing both financial and professional value in co-creation processes, and they must also suit the project-based structure of the firm.
This research contributes insights into how firms might capture multiple dimensions of value in project-based work. It generates new perspectives on processes of organizational value capture and business model design, and provides concrete, practical insights into the difficulties of and opportunities involved in value capture by creative professional service firms.
Context and approach of the research
This research adopts a project-specific business model perspective (Kujala et al., 2010; Wikstrãm et al., 2010) and multidimensional perspective on value to investigate the value capture strategies of architectural firms. While paying attention to the unique project contexts in which firms operate and the multiple dimensions of value they aim to capture, the purpose is to generate a better understanding of how firms attempt to capture value in order to attain their strategic goals. The research also aims to facilitate architectural firms and other organizations in dealing with the value capture challenges they face in practice. To reach these two objectives, two main research questions are addressed:
How do architectural firms capture value in construction projects?
How can architectural firms be supported in developing strategies for value capture?
Drawing on 40 case-based interviews with architects and clients from 24 recently completed construction projects, as well as observational data from 17 project-oriented strategy meetings, the value capture strategies of architectural firms are examined both in retrospect and as they unfolded in practice. The empirical insights were synthesized in a toolkit that can be used by firms to engage in projects and manage their value capture activities in these projects with greater awareness. Through the adoption of an engaged scholarship approach (Van de Ven, 2007), the researcher’s background and continued involvement in architectural practice helped to assure the scientific and practical relevance of the research.
Findings
Three types of project-specific value capture strategies were identified:
Strategies to negotiate one’s role in a project
Strategies to capture value in the project-based interaction with a client
Strategies to attain firm goals in a project
Strategies to negotiate one’s role in a project
By negotiating a certain role in a project, architectural firms attempt to shape the conditions for value capture in it. Different roles are associated with different opportunities to capture value, as certain activities or responsibilities may or may not allow firms to appropriate monetary or professional value.
A boundary work lens (Gieryn, 1983; Gieryn, 1999) was used to investigate role negotiation strategies. The analysis indicates that architects use different strategies to negotiate the boundaries of their professional role, as they have different perceptions of what their professional expertise means when collaborating with other project actors. It was found that firms attempted to reinstate their role boundaries and return to the established situation when they felt that their professional expertise was not being valued. In addition, architects were found to bend their role boundaries to take on activities and responsibilities which were tailored to project demands when they considered their expertise to be constantly changing. Firms were also found to pioneer role boundaries and pursue an active break with the established situation when they considered their expertise as more broadly applicable.
This shows that professional expertise plays a key part in firms’ role negotiation strategies and influences the value capture opportunities that firms might create in projects. These findings suggest that firms can improve their role negotiation strategies and how they capture value in a project by considering the expertise they have and wish to employ in the project, and by determining whether or not this expertise fits the specific project context and needs of the client.
Strategies to capture value in the project-based interaction with a client
Investigation of architectural firms’ project-based interactions with clients with regard to ‘use value’, ‘exchange value’ (Bowman and Ambrosini, 2000; Vargo et al., 2008) and ‘professional value’ showed that architectural firms tend to prioritize the capture of professional values over exchange value and sometimes even use value. It was found that to attain their professional goals, such as maintaining or enhancing their reputation, work pleasure and continued development, firms spent more time on activities than they were paid for, provided certain activities for free, or refrained from renegotiating the fee, thereby trading off monetary value for professional value. By delivering additional quality, which was of no value to the client, firms traded off the realization of use value for the client for professional value. This shows how architectural firms were willing to sacrifice their own capture of monetary value or the use value for the client when they recognized that their professional goals might possibly become endangered. It also emphasizes the importance of professional value in architectural firms’ value capture.
The trade-offs between different value dimensions demonstrate how the hierarchy in value capture goals plays a crucial part in the value capture strategies of architectural firms. While enabling firms to capture one dimension of value, it will constrain them in the capture of another value dimension. This suggests that firms may benefit from working towards value capture strategies that are able to generate a better balance between different values in a project.
Strategies to attain firm goals in a project
The understanding of the value capture process of architectural firms was further supplemented by providing insights into the dynamics occurring between a project and the firm. Three kinds of value capture strategies were identified at the intersection between project and firm:
Postponing financial revenues in a project (referred to as the postponing strategy)
Compensating for loss of financial revenue across projects (referred to as the compensating strategy)
Rejecting a project (referred to as the rejecting strategy)
Examination of the strategies on the basis of the interaction of use value, exchange value and professional value revealed that firms adopted three types of value slippage responses in their projects:
Taking the risk of financial value slippage
Accepting financial value slippage
Counteracting professional value slippage
With the postponing and compensating strategies, firms risked or accepted the slippage of financial value in a project. This means that firms engaged in projects that required an initial investment, or even remained unprofitable, and created more use value than they were paid for in these projects. The slippage of financial value that resulted from this decision was often considered beneficial, as it allowed the enhanced attainment of professional goals in the longer term. While firms sometimes considered financial value slippage as potentially beneficial, professional value slippage was always prevented by firms. With the rejecting strategy, firms counteracted the slippage of professional value in projects and avoided creating use value that could not be captured as professional value or that could even harm the firm’s professional resources.
The strategies and associated value slippage responses highlight that value capture is largely influenced by a firm’s willingness to take financial and professional risks in a project. The findings also indicate that firms do not necessarily aim for optimally balanced value capture in each project, but regularly accept or pursue ‘off-balance’ projects to attain higher end goals at the organizational level and over the longer term.
Business model strategizing
The business model strategizing process that architectural firms employ was studied to determine how firms arrive at their project-specific value capture strategies. Observations of 17 strategy meetings at architectural firms demonstrated that firm members developed their value capture strategies around professional values, thereby strengthening organizational identity but constraining innovation in their business models. Although actors jointly considered strategic alternatives in the strategy process, they often feared that these alternatives might be at odds with their professional values and beliefs. This typically triggered them to remain loyal to proven value capture strategies.
These findings reveal how the three aspects of expertise, goals and risks, which influence firm role negotiation and value capture strategies, are strongly related to professional identity, thereby emphasizing the importance of professional identity in the development of value capture strategies by architectural firms. This suggests that greater awareness of the most salient aspects of professional identity may help firms to reject projects that are fundamentally not aligned with their values and to develop value capture strategies that respect professional values for the projects in which they do engage.
Value capture toolkit
The empirical findings on how firms attempt to capture multiple dimensions of value in projects were translated into a toolkit for value capture in projects. The toolkit was specifically designed to ensure the well-balanced integration of professional identity, expertise, goals and risks in a project. A well-balanced integration facilitates firms in selecting projects on the basis of a role that is in line with their identity. It also helps firms to capture both financial and professional value on the basis of firm expertise and risks, and thereby attain their organizational goals. The value capture toolkit consists of four main components:
An overview of four generic professional role identities of architectural firms to specify the project and professional context in which one is involved.
A board game with cards to develop comprehensive and balanced value capture strategies for projects by answering questions around eight core aspects involved.
An overview of role identity-specific value capture challenges and recommendations to identify common pitfalls and opportunities for the type of role identity one has in a project.
Example projects for each of the four generic role identities to inspire practitioners and support the generation of well thought through strategies.
The toolkit can be used by architectural firms and other actors to analyse, monitor and improve their value capture strategies in projects. It supports actors to substantiate different strategic decisions in relation to one another in a structured fashion. This helps firms to arrive at more consciously developed and encompassing value capture strategies that can be better managed over the course of a project. The toolkit stimulates joint discussion and deliberation, which may provide firms with productive settings to develop new strategies while safeguarding the professional values and standards that are at stake.
Conclusions and implications
The investigation of architectural firms’ strategies and strategy making for project-based value capture showed that capturing multiple dimensions of value in projects is a highly complex process that is shaped by responses to tensions originating in the different contexts in which the firm is embedded. While the inter-organizational project context may give rise to tensions between a firm’s desired and actual role in a collaboration with other actors, the professional context generates tensions in the balance of different value dimensions within and across projects. The threefold theoretical implications of the research are outlined below.
First, this research extends the existing literature on organizational value capture (Bowman and Ambrosini, 2000; Lepak et al., 2007; Pitelis, 2009), more specifically by project-based firms (Laursen and Svejvig, 2016) by uncovering how dynamics between different values influence the value capture strategies of firms. While the existing literature on organizational value capture has solely focused on the capture and slippage of financial value, this research demonstrates that to study the value capture of firms with multiple strategic goals, value capture and value slippage theories need to be developed around multiple value dimensions.
Second, the research contributes to the literature on the management of architectural firms (Winch and Schneider, 1993) and other project-based, creative professional service firms by providing an integrative understanding of the tensions involved in the value capture of these firms and how these are dealt with. The insights gained underline the importance of developing project or solution-specific business models (Kujala et al., 2010; Wikstrãm et al., 2010) and suggest that research on the management of creative professional service firms may benefit from additional project-specific insights into how firms co-create and capture value on a day-to-day basis.
Third, the research contributes insights into how firm members jointly design business models in a project context and are influenced by the project and professional context in which they are embedded. The research shows that although actors consider innovations in their business models, professional norms and values constrain innovation. The identification of three key aspects — goals, expertise, and risks — that shape project-specific or solution-specific business model designs, from both the perspective of the project and the perspective of the firm, adds new insights to previous studies concerned with the design of business models (Zott and Amit, 2010) and the existing literature on project-specific business models (Kujala et al., 2010; Kujala et al., 2011; Wikstrãm et al., 2010). Thorough consideration and continuous adaptation of the goals, expertise and risks in relation to organizational identity and project conditions help strengthen the power of the business model with respect to attaining intended goals.
For architectural firms and other creative and/or professional service firms, the insights from this research and the toolkit developed will provide new means to develop and adopt more value-oriented and business-minded approaches in their projects. By facilitating the iterative development of project-specific value capture strategies, they allow firms to assess the benefits and risks of potential projects and jointly improve the conditions for value capture in these projects. Insights into the value capture process and trade-offs that practising architects must confront can also help architecture students to become successful professionals and entrepreneurs. Thus, by providing a better understanding of project-based value capture and fostering a desire to improve this process, this research facilitates creative professionals in developing and maintaining sustainable organizations that support the realization of unique, creative visions for advancing our society
CIRCULARITEIT: OP WEG NAAR 2050?
No full textDit boek is geschreven naar aanleiding van de ministerií«le publicatie ‘Rijksbreed programma Circulaire Economie’ uit september 2016, waarin de ambitieuze doelstelling wordt uitgesproken dat Nederland zich voor 2050 moet ontwikkelen naar een volledig circulaire economie.
Juist in deze periode waren wij, Peter Luscuere als trekker van het transitiepad Circular Economy binnen de Roadmap Next Economy voor de Metropool Regio Rotterdam Den Haag en Henk Willem van Dorp (DGA Van Dorp en Voorzitter TVVL) bezig met exact deze vraagstukken: hoe onze economie om te vormen van een lineaire naar een circulaire economie en dat in het tijdskader van 2016-2050. Op de vraag ‘of en zoja hoe’ een dergelijke ingrijpende transitie mogelijk is, was het antwoord van Henk Willem: “Laten we er een boek over schrijven”.
Een eerste hoofdstuk is geschreven, deels gebaseerd op het visiedocument ‘Beyond Sustainability’, dat als visie door TVVL gedeeld wordt. Dit hoofstuk is bedoeld ter inspiratie van de medeauteurs en om een aantal uitdagingen die in deze transitie besloten liggen helder te definií«ren. Vervolgens werd collega’s en bekenden op het gebied van duurzaamheid gevraagd een bijdrage van drie í vier pagina’s te leveren binnen een periode van twee maanden, een vraag waar nagenoeg iedereen onmiddellijk ‘ja’ op zei. De vraag aan hen was: “Is een dergelijke transitie í¼berhaupt mogelijk, of beschrijf waar we tegenaan lopen indien we dit pad volgen, beschreven vanuit jouw eigen perspectief/kennisdomein”. Het boek waar uiteindelijk 33 auteurs aan meewerkten, geeft in 28 hoofdstukken een breed scala aan inzichten, doorkijkjes, beperkingen en opportunities. Het zwaartepunt ligt op technisch gebied qua onderzoek en toepassingsgerichtheid, maar ook juridische, maatschappelijke en sociale aspecten komen aan de orde
aE Journal 2015/2016: aE/INTECTURE innovating architecture
Get PDFThe graduation studio of Architectural Engineering focuses on the integration of (new) technology in architecture. For this purpose, the name aE/ INTECTURE® was devised, which will be developed further as a brand in the coming years. Students start with a technical fascination and translate this into an architectural concept, finally being able to implement this within the environment in a responsible way. ‘If technology is the answer, what is the question?‘ Under the guidance of a team of enthusiastic (guest) lecturers, students search for the dot on the horizon that is necessary for coming up with solutions that improve the quality of the built environment and make it more sustainable. In addition, either the ‘making‘ (make) or ‘the energy and material flow’ (flow) is used and applied as a basis in different contexts.
Digital fabrication
The ‘make‘ theme has already earned aE/ INTECTURE an excellent reputation through the integration of the ideology of ‘digital fabrication’ by Pieter Stoutjesdijk. Pieter was the faculty’s best student in 2013 and now exhibits his work at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Last year, Nadia Remmerswaal also graduated from aE/INTECTURE as student of the year. She also works on innovations using digital production techniques. Stoutjesdijk recently developed the ‘Comfort Cabin’, an innovative solution for temporarily empty buildings to make them habitable for refugees. The project has been widely cited in the press and the Chief Government Architect regularly shows it as a good example of innovation. Meanwhile, Pieter has developed the ‘Comfort City‘ in collaboration with former aE/INTECTURE student Anneloes de Koff, which received the first prize in the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers’ (COA) design contest ‘A Home away from Home’. In addition, thanks to the digital method of production, high profile chair production projects have been rolled out to the Minor in Architectural Engineering and Junior TU Delft Architectural Engineering programme.
Collaborations
Talent development and seeking out relationships with the business community and government are the points of departure for strengthening our position in society and examining how we can integrate this into the academic domain. For example, connections have been forged with the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat), together with whom we‘ve built and managed 12 beach houses as part of the Stuiflab project during the Oerol Festival on the island of Terschelling in 2015. aE/INTECTURE has also been involved from the start as an advisor and source of inspiration in the creation of IBA Parkstad in 2020. In addition, new ideas for addressing off-the-grid housing and infrastructure solutions in kampungs (informal villages) in Indonesia have been mapped out in the recent past. Students have visited Bandung and collaborated with the local business community and university. Last year, students were assigned to work on ‘Learning from Lowlands‘, the famous annual Lowlands festival in Biddinghuizen. They examined what could be learnt from temporary building structures. Meanwhile, an inspiring design relationship has been established with the management of the Marineterrein in Amsterdam. Students and researchers are given the opportunity to collaborate on the ‘Flexible City‘ that will be developed at this unique location in the Netherlands over the coming years. Our Seismic project deals with earthquake problems in Groningen and, in particular, the design solutions being devised for that.
Inspiration and innovation
aE/INTECTURE wants to use such examples to demonstrate that architects can integrate innovative design solutions, thus contributing to the improvement of living conditions. We follow our graduates in their practice in order to see if our approach is influencing the changing world of the contemporary architect
Anne Lacaton: Visiting Professor 2016-2017/ Chair of Heritage & Architecture
Get PDFAnne Lacaton has been a visiting professor at the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment during the Fall Semester 2016-2017, hosted by the Chair of Heritage & Design. In the professional field of Heritage & Design the starting point for design is not just a functional brief and a blank sheet of paper but the challenge of an existing spatial setting and cultural-historical context. It is a dynamic and innovative field in architecture that deals with the architectural re-interpretation, adaptive reuse and restoration of historic buildings.
This book reports on her workshops and studios during her time at TU Delft. It presents re-use projects at different scales, in different situations and with different programs.
These projects generated reflection along with pertinent and inventive ideas that made it possible to overturn the situations in a positive manner, to change the approach and bring forth interesting solutions, a new situational intelligence and a new intelligence towards thinking about architecture and the urban situation.
In these projects, what is initially seen as obsolete and as a constraint or restriction through an opening of the mind and a change in outlook and approach, becomes an opportunity, a chance and an asset. If you look at a situation without a frame or filter and with an open spirit, a building that no longer has a purpose and is a hindrance becomes a liberty.
The students adhered to this specific approach: No longer looking at something existing as imperfect, constraining, obsolete, not beautiful etc., but instead as a resource, a component, a stratum/layer and a basis for creativity.
The idea of drawing value from everything existing, producing richness with less money but with the greater means and parameters offered by existing situations. Extending the story to do better and more of it. A process of regeneration, extension, adaption and re-use rather than replacement.
This way of seeing, thinking, projecting is not really widespread. Making new, remove and replace, restarting from the empty remains mostly the way of doing; whereas the superposition, addition, combination, overlapping, infiltration, appear accurate, contemporary, rich, innovative.
Therefore, with regard to this work of the semester and to conclude the guest invitation, I think it’s important to collect and publish these ideas and positions by students and teachers involved with the semester’s work.
We hope that this booklet will leave a trace and a lasting material for reflection and discussion