State of the Art
becoming ever more important. This due to the fact
hierarchical decision making. This means that when
that crucial decisions that influence the
you press the ‘start button’ for production – most of
architectural quality are being made in the early
the (design)decisions, product properties and
phases of the project brief (the concept design)
performance characteristics are defined and fixed.
and often they are made outside the specific project
Involving the user in the decision making of the
scheme. One of the problems here is that in
final design in industrialised construction then
industrialised building processes, it may be difficult
becomes a question of: When and how far into the
to involve the future users because often they are
process is it possible or sufficiently economical to
unidentified. Also, it can be contradictory to design
integrate the user? And secondly: How can the
architecture based on detailed user needs that has
ecological rationale and the architectural qualities
to appeal equally to wide-ranging groups of users
be integrated into or managed beneficially in the
and thereby fulfill general or societal needs. (e.g.
manufacturing processes? Another important aspect
client + (end)user + society).
that also influences the interchange of the two rationales is how to balance specific and subjective
The two rationales
user needs and preferences with general and more
There is no doubt that construction business can
standardised user needs.
1
benefit from optimised industrialised processes and products in order to become more
Cultural and human dimensions are central
economically efficient and productive. However,
parameters in this discussion. To exemplify: An
history shows that the industrial visions of the 1970’s
important issue in the Danish Housing Programme;
should not be replicated (as regards the poor
led by ‘Fonden for Billigere boliger’, The
social environments and technical results it
Foundation of Affordable Housing, will be to
fostered) – the movement of new-industrialization
humanise the volumetric elements (the ‘boxes’) –
has to offer a high quality alternative both
their physical features, their architectural design
technologically, socially and architecturally.
and assemblage, and finally to contextualise their scale – will be decisive for their success. As Mies van
The industrial (production) system and the
der Rohe has stated: “Architecture begins when two
technical/business rationale for the most part imply
bricks are put carefully together”.
2
linear and planning procedures, strict logistics, fixed or systemised working routines and 1 2
This refers to the common definition in the chapter by Kasper Sánchez Vibæk on: Conditions for architectural quality in an industrialised context. Carter, Peter (1961): Mies van der Rohe, Architectural Design, March 1961, p. 9
by Anne Beim
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