Artifacts of the Architectural Process

September 18, 20090 Comments Tagged: artifact, design, Model, photo, process

A few weeks ago I was talking to Tom Rivard about an upcoming project. In our discussions we briefly touched on the topic of the stagnating ways in which architects document their work. we were talking more about documentation for public consumption, rather than personal or internal documentation.

From the public eye the architectural process could be seen to be something like this...
Come up with a few sketches; create a scale model; maybe produce some photo-montage examples of how it will look; Have professional photos taken of the final building, showing it in the best possible light. (Somewhere in there the building must have been actually constructed - but there seems to be no evidence).

Now you and I know that these things make up a ridiculously small proportion of what actually goes on within the process, but the public don't know that. They don't see the regulations you have to adhere to, the submissions you have to make, and the endless redrawing that takes place throughout the process. They are oblivious to it all, knowing that something must be taking place, but unsure of exactly what.

You could argue about the importance and relevance of public understanding of the architectural process. I, however , am not going to - I see great value in the public seeing, and understanding what is being done in the construction of their buildings and spaces. It should allow them greater appreciation, and an understanding greater than "oh, that looks nice!"

Now, for the record, I think the media mentioned above are fantastic ways of presenting architectural work. I have a certain soft spot for scale models (the craft, and detail that goes into them), and the leaps and bounds that have taken place in photomontages over the past 10 years have been quite astounding. I think both hold a valuable place in the process, but I want to ask if there isn't more that could be done.

Tom mentioned a phrase - Language of Making - that really resonated with me. There is an idea in there that the process of making is in many ways as important as what is being made. The path of creation is of as much interest as that which is being created. Yet so much of what is produced in tandem to the design and construction of something architectural is essentially images of the finished/proposed project.

There MUST be room for the documentation and publishing of the architectural process. Revealing it all, the good and bad, the simplistic and complex - and presenting it in a way palatable to the public. There must be more left behind when a project is completed than models, sketches and photos.

We need Artifacts of the Architectural Process.