Abstract
Materiality is the medium through which architecture engages most directly with its inhabitants, via their sensory and perceptual faculties. Current understandings of the physical traits, symbolic potential and poetic qualities of constructional materials benefit from earlier theoretical and empirical investigations. Such explorations continue through the work of contemporary architecture practices, particularly at the early design stage of projects and during the building process, when material investigations are undertaken as a matter of course. In the UK, small practices (5 or fewer staff) comprise the majority of the profession, so their collective work can be expected to contain a significant proportion of its material investigations. Their studies provide a body of constantly updated information related to current materials, design practices and constructional techniques, although in general these appear to remain undeveloped beyond fulfilling immediate, single-project requirements. Small practices are often, of necessity, frugal with their limited resources, but a wariness of research culture curtails opportunities to exploit their acquired material knowledge more fully. This paper uses examples from present-day practice to illustrate these points, and to consider how they might be overcome. Favourable possibilities exist through collaborations with teaching and research establishments, who are currently eager to augment the practical impact of their studies through knowledge exchange projects. Additionally, architects' professional bodies are keen to facilitate their members' adoption of a more rigorous engagement with research, through programmes of continuing professional development. Architects' material studies through practice can also benefit from the enhanced credibility offered by recent thinking on the topic of 'design research'. By adopting a more research- oriented worldview, small architects' practices have the opportunity to articulate and exploit more comprehensively the knowledge embedded in their projects; to contribute more significantly to the evaluation and development of constructional materials; and thereby to enhance the understanding of materials in contemporary construction.
Keywords
Material; architecture; practice; research; CPD
DOI
http://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2015.117
Citation
McLachlan, E.(2015) Material Knowledge: Unlocking the Research Potential of the ‘Micro’ Architectural Practice, in Bang, A. L., Buur, J., Lønne, I. A., Nimkulrat, N. (eds.), EKSIG 2015: Tangible Means – Experiential Knowledge Through Materials, 25–26 November 2015, Kolding, Denmark. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2015.117
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Material Knowledge: Unlocking the Research Potential of the ‘Micro’ Architectural Practice
Materiality is the medium through which architecture engages most directly with its inhabitants, via their sensory and perceptual faculties. Current understandings of the physical traits, symbolic potential and poetic qualities of constructional materials benefit from earlier theoretical and empirical investigations. Such explorations continue through the work of contemporary architecture practices, particularly at the early design stage of projects and during the building process, when material investigations are undertaken as a matter of course. In the UK, small practices (5 or fewer staff) comprise the majority of the profession, so their collective work can be expected to contain a significant proportion of its material investigations. Their studies provide a body of constantly updated information related to current materials, design practices and constructional techniques, although in general these appear to remain undeveloped beyond fulfilling immediate, single-project requirements. Small practices are often, of necessity, frugal with their limited resources, but a wariness of research culture curtails opportunities to exploit their acquired material knowledge more fully. This paper uses examples from present-day practice to illustrate these points, and to consider how they might be overcome. Favourable possibilities exist through collaborations with teaching and research establishments, who are currently eager to augment the practical impact of their studies through knowledge exchange projects. Additionally, architects' professional bodies are keen to facilitate their members' adoption of a more rigorous engagement with research, through programmes of continuing professional development. Architects' material studies through practice can also benefit from the enhanced credibility offered by recent thinking on the topic of 'design research'. By adopting a more research- oriented worldview, small architects' practices have the opportunity to articulate and exploit more comprehensively the knowledge embedded in their projects; to contribute more significantly to the evaluation and development of constructional materials; and thereby to enhance the understanding of materials in contemporary construction.