9.0 New roles
New roles, new opportunities New knowledge provides new opportunities for changing ingrained habits and traditional ways of thinking. Architects already work together with a wide range of professions in the development of projects. This cross-disciplinary collaboration should be expanded further. Traditionally, architects work alone in the early phases of design. The first sketches are made by the architect without interference by others. Not until a long way into the process, when the creative concept is almost determined, the engineers are involved in the project.
design process. It should be disseminated to the rest of the world. The employees of the Sustainability Department at Henning Larsen Architects give lectures, speak at conferences, write articles and participate in development projects, think tanks and other related activities.
As the preconditions for the energy consumption of a building are partly defined by the urban/landscape context and partly by the basic parameters of the design – as described in the previous chapters – the logical consequence is that architects and engineers should work closer together at an early stage of the design process.
Research results cannot always be applied in the design process as they are. Most often, they need to be adapted and transformed into a format that makes them applicable. By connecting new research results with knowledge generated in developments projects with a more narrow focus, you achieve an application-oriented design tool. Focus can be on an individual project – where a number of sustainable objectives are formulated – or it can be on cross-disciplinary collaborations – where a building material, a typology or a digital tool is developed. This approach creates innovation.
Therefore, it is also natural that architects contribute to build and activate new knowledge. Acknowledging that the best results in sustainable building are achieved when the design itself is based on a scientific foundation qualifies the work in sustainable architecture. Architects should work in more open processes, and engineers should be willing to contribute in creative processes that are not as strictly methodological as they are used to.
Research results should be applied to add value. It is essential to bridge the gap between research and its practical significance and use. The following pages present a selection of the development projects that Henning Larsen Architects is engaged in.
Therefore, it is also natural that architects contribute to build and activate new knowledge. Research should pro-actively be brought into play in the everyday work. It should form an integral part of the DESIGN WITH KNOWLEDGE |
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