Abstract
This book concentrates on the potential relationship between client and architect. Whilst reviewing the book I discovered that a neighbour of mine is an architect. We agreed to review the book together and share our thoughts from our professional viewpoints. This seemed entirely in keeping with the ethos of the book.
It is often a joy to discover the language of other professions. How do they make sense of the world? Of course architecture is ubiquitous; it is all around us and is easily taken for granted. This book opens up some of the processes that are undergone in order to bring any dream of a building into reality.
I came to this book review anticipating ideas around Freud’s concept of topography of the mind, that building spaces are manifestations of individual psychic space. This may be true in terms of how individuals design their own houses, how their homes become a physical solid representation of private, shared and transitional psychic spaces. However, the authors primarily use as their examples buildings with a social purpose; schools, places of worship/spirituality, museums, social housing, courts, and libraries. This perspective relocates buildings as belonging to the community rather than the individual. As such the authors are able to bring group analytic theory to bear as a way of developing the psychological mindedness of all of the stakeholders, including not least the client and the architect.
Applying the vernacular of architecture to this book review; what is its use, its meaning and its form?
Regarding ‘its use’ the book does seem to be making a position statement that clients are best served if the architect and client are able to engage in dialogue with each other. Dialogue is expanded upon; ‘do not understand too quickly, keep in mind that understanding is never ending. Be tentative with what you think you might know. Knowing interferes with dialogue—it can preclude learning about the other, being inspired by them and the spontaneity intrinsic to genuine dialogue’ ( p 97). It felt as if there were an appeal to architects to listen more to their clients’ needs rather than merely offering architectural solutions to client problems from an expert-based position. An encouragement is offered to both clients and architects to hold a tension; to not swoop into a premature decision without fully considering the use, meaning and form of the building. Architecture is able to offer solutions at the human scale. Good design can transform everyday experiences and actions from the mundane to the special.
Clients reading this book may be emboldened to hold their own point of view and develop their own creativity rather than be in awe of the architects’ vision. A number of case studies are offered where the client was dissatisfied with the completed design because they were not ‘heard’ by the architect and equally could not assert their difference of opinion.
Differing schools of architecture are acknowledged and it is recognized that architectural design is almost exclusively visual. The authors value design that engages the five senses.
Instead of detaching us from the physical and sensuous realities of the world, such as gravity, temperature, materiality, texture and the interplay between shadow and light architecture needs to invigorate and heighten sensory experience. It should not project a dream world of unreality but re-enchant, re-eroticize and re-poeticize the experiential world. (Juhani Pallasmaa, 2007)
At times a tension was evident between the authors, with an exasperated question being posed of why persist so much with relating and dialogue. It is suggested that by holding this tension that transformation is able to take place. A fascinating example is offered of how Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Wellington was commissioned, designed and developed with a key principle of biculturalism being at the heart of the design. Although the terms of racism and post colonialism are not used in the book this project did embrace and transform these differences, of power imbalances and stereotypes of what a museum should be like.
Building design similar to the psyche has an internal world and an external face and has meaning for both the occupants and the public. In parallel, the internal worlds of both architect and client may be activated in the design process. The architect is counselled to stay open to her own unconscious processes, which may manifest as ‘reverting to type’ which limits how much dialogue is possible to be had with the client.
Putting myself into the client position, the book emboldens and gives confidence to assert ideas and doubts. The book could be imagined sitting in architects’ waiting rooms for clients to peruse. I found myself wanting whole page images of the designs to see the detail to emphasize the point that ideas are communicated via images.
This book describes itself as a guide for architects and clients, so it was interesting as I delved into the book to see how or if it would be equally relevant for both parties, with their potentially different backgrounds, attitudes and viewpoints. As a practising architect the premise of ‘designing through dialogue’, establishing a truly collaborative design process with all parties involved, is not an alien concept, in fact it is something that is understood by professionals to be a fundamental part of the design journey. What new insight, therefore, would this book bring to the architect, and how would it assist on-going design aspirations? On the other hand clients often have very little design experience; this may be partly why they have employed an architect in the first place. Their view of design is often very different from that of the architect, certainly in the commercial world, having different objectives and end goals, so how can this book bring the two different worlds together? Ultimately I found this a surprisingly insightful book, reaffirming what I perhaps already knew but had forgotten to practise, and also providing fresh perspectives, viewpoints and attitudes. Most surprisingly however was how it demonstrated and illustrated the importance of the relationship between the client and architect, and the importance of input from the client to make a project truly successful.
The book examines the relationship between client and architect through inception to completion, and informs this through a series of case studies: mostly large high profile / public buildings. From a commercial architects’ viewpoint, my initial ‘knee jerk’ reaction to the processes described in this book was of awe and ultimate jealousy at the amount of time and effort spent on developing relationships as part of the design process in the examples described. These were prestigious projects and not part of the every-day ‘real world’. Nevertheless, I soon came to appreciate that it takes exemplary cases to illustrate the point, and that it was up to me to take away from the cases what is relevant to me, however small. As initially anticipated, the discussed theories of the process of listening to, understanding and collaborating with the client is nothing new but often forgotten in practice, and rather surprisingly I found myself taking elements from the book and immediately putting these into practice.
Whilst on the train to London to see a client for example, I found myself reading a chapter about listening to the client and understanding about how they will use the finished building or space. When with my client, I found myself consciously quizzing them about what I had just read: how would they use the space, what do they like from other projects, what do they not like etc. I would like to think that these were discussions that I would naturally have had anyway, but surprised myself with the level of influence that the book would have upon my meeting in a positive manner. I was subconsciously taking elements from these rather high profile case studies, and relating them in practice to my more commercial world.
In addition to the reaffirmation of things already in my subconscious, the book also includes surprise elements of enlightenment about how design may be influenced by factors not so clearly obvious. In particular I found it insightful when reading about inner and outer worlds; we all have experiences tucked away in our ‘inner worlds’, which will influence us. Understanding these inner most influences of both client and architect can help us to enhance and understand the design process; whether these are based upon past experiences, where we live, health issues or any number of hidden issues.
The book goes on to examine various stages of the relationship between client and architect through a series of chapters not by case study but by analysis of the stage of the relationship: dialogue, relating, talking, exploring and transforming. Whilst in terms of this book this seems a logical way to break down the discussion of the relationship process, I often found myself rather confusingly jumping back and forth from case study to case study. Perhaps it is the architect in me that wants to review the entire process in detail of one particular project before moving to the next; in my head fully understanding each case study in turn. Notwithstanding this, throughout the chapters I was consistently being inspired from different stages of the process: by the levels of commitment in case studies from both architects and clients, establishing relationships with clients, communication techniques, being open minded and ultimately being able to develop imaginative schemes. In the end I have come to the conclusion that the splitting of the book into stages rather than case studies was indeed a more logical approach to dealing with the complex topic of relationships and understanding; matters of which I happily feel more comfortable and informed on. I was however pleased to come across short studies of the finished projects discussed throughout the book towards the end, although being visually minded you can never have too much imagery to tell a story.
Having come away from reading this book suitably enlightened, I attempt to put myself in the position of a potential client and what they may get out of this book. I recently had a client who said to me ‘you are the architect; you tell me what I should have’, and I wonder now whether this book would have been perfect for them. The book goes to explain how the course of design is not purely down to the architect or sole designer, and that it is a process requiring input and involvement from numerous parties; most significantly the client. It was interesting in the book that in design competition scenarios where the client has been invisible, often architects have made up imaginary clients to focus the design process, demonstrating the importance of input from the client.
Expertise and knowledge from all involved needs to be nurtured and managed to culminate in successful and truly collaborative design. The book ultimately helps to explain what to expect from the process of architectural design, and how understanding this can lead to success. Enabling clients to understand the twists and turns that architectural design may take is invaluable, and this book systematically walks through various scenarios that may occur throughout the life of an architectural project.
Going back to my original question of who is this book for, whilst of benefit to both architect and client, I cannot help but feel that it is more revolutionary to the client. As an architect I found myself enlightened and refreshed by the processes carried out by other designers, and to the insights of the inner workings of the mind; in many areas the content goes to reaffirm what I already know to be good practice, but is useful to have a reminder. To a first time client however, much of the content will be ground breaking and invaluable. For a client to understand the design process, the importance of their role in this, and to appreciate how a development evolves through collaboration and mutual understanding is a worthwhile reward from picking up this book.