Design through Dialogue: A Guide for Architects and Clients - Softcover

Franck, Karen A.; Von Sommaruga Howard, Teresa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470870710 ISBN 13: 9780470870716

Publisher: Wiley, 2009

Synopsis

Completed projects receive more public attention than the process of their creation and so the myth that architects design buildings alone lives on. In fact, architects work with a great many others and the relationships that develop, particularly with clients, have a significant impact on design. Design through Dialogue explores the relationship between client and architect through the lens of four overlapping activities that occur during any project: relating, talking, exploring and transforming.

Cases of design and collaboration range from smaller scale retail, residential and educational projects in the US, Sweden, the UK and the Pacific Rim to large institutions, including Seattle’s Central Library, the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, the Supreme Court in Jerusalem and the Museum of New Zealand. Material is taken from interviews with clients and architects and research in psychotherapy, group dynamics and design studies. Throughout the book aspects of process are linked to design outcomes to illustrate how architects and clients collaborate creatively.

About this title

About the Author

Karen A. Franck is a professor in the College of Architecture and Design and the College of Science and Liberal Arts at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Previous books include Architecture from the Inside Out written with Bianca Lepori and Loose Space edited with Quentin Stevens.

Teresa von Sommaruga Howard is a practising architect, an organizational consultant and a group analytic psychotherapist with a specialty in conducting dialogue groups. She lectures and writes about the dynamics of large groups, culture and change and involving people in the design of their environments.

Cases of design and collaboration range from smaller scale retail, residential and educational projects in the US, Sweden, the UK and the Pacific Rim to large institutions, including Seattle's Central Library, the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, the Supreme Court in Jerusalem and the Museum of New Zealand. Material is taken from interviews with clients and architects and research in psychotherapy, group dynamics and design studies. Throughout the book aspects of process are linked to design outcomes to illustrate how architects and clients collaborate creatively.

The best buildings are truly co-created through a process in which architect and client exchange knowledge in an unfettered way. This engaging, wide-ranging book puts forward a powerful case for such dialogue. I welcome it as a timely antidote to some of the myths that prevail about making excellent buildings and places.
Sunand Prasad, President, Royal Institute of British Architects, 2007-2009

Design through Dialogue documents the discussions between architects and their clients that rarely get into print yet make all the difference between a successful project - and a happy client - or not. I highly recommend it for students and practitioners alike.
Thomas Fisher, Dean, College of Design, University of Minnesota

This book addresses a pivotal but previously neglected topic - the collaborative relationship between architect and client - in an exceptionally intelligent, accessible and (above all) useful manner.
Jeremy Till, Dean, School of Architecture, University of Westminster

I welcome the stress that this book places on collaboration and partnering between the client, the design team and the constructors. That is the best way to proceed because it avoids disputes and adversarial conflict during the project.
Sir Michael Latham, author Constructing the Team, 1994

An important and timely book countering the widely held view that certain building types do not deserve a special relationship between architect and client. In housing this attitude is both prevalent and dangerous. It resulted in manifest failings when the most important part of the client body - the residents themselves - were entirely absent from any dialogue and were simply expected to enjoy what they were given.
David Levitt, Levitt Bernstein, Regeneration Architects of the Year, 2004

Cases of design and collaboration range from smaller scale retail, residential and educational projects in the US, Sweden, the UK and the Pacific Rim to large institutions, including Seattle’s Central Library, the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, the Supreme Court in Jerusalem and the Museum of New Zealand. Material is taken from interviews with clients and architects and research in psychotherapy, group dynamics and design studies. Throughout the book aspects of process are linked to design outcomes to illustrate how architects and clients collaborate creatively.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470870710
• ISBN 13: 9780470870716
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208