Design-Build as Collaboration: Hands-on Construction to Facilitate Communication and Dedication

Design/build has become so ubiquitous in NAAB accredited architecture programs that over 80% have some form of design/build program. This is necessitated by the interest of both faculty and students to provide an alternative to lectures as the only form of information transfer, primarily through interactive learning experiences such as design/build. However, collaboration is an important, and necessary, component to design/build that can teach students the skills needed to communicate with colleagues and to aid in the investment in the project by all involved parties.This abstract proposes a paper that examines three various design/build projects in three different courses. The scale of the projects vary as well and include small constructed details focused on specific connections, storage sheds for Habitat for Humanity Houses, and partial full construction mock-ups for a Habitat for Humanity prototype. The range of scales, courses, project types, and pedagogies created a wealth of information on how collaboration can work, or not work, in design/build projects. The paper will discuss the specific collaboration methods for each project and critique each as to its efficacy and duplicability.Collaboration has become more important in the field of architecture over the past few years. The NCARB 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture noted “Collaboration/Cooperation” as only the 7th most important change wanted in the field of architecture. However, the NCARB 2012 Practice Analysis of Architecture released in June 2013 gives more in-depth information on the importance of collaboration. Educators, interns, and licensed architects were surveyed to gauge the level of agreement on the knowledge and skills that students were achieving during their education.The Education section of the 2012 NCARB Practice Analysis of Architecture delves into the knowledge and skills that educators and practitioners think architecture students should achieve. Select data from this report shows that over 50% of architects and educators agree on the importance of the understanding of certain knowledge and skills such as different project delivery methods, the roles, responsibilities and authorities of project team members during construction, and building information modeling (BIM) and its impact on planning, financial management and construction documentation. Additional results of the 2012 NCARB Practice Analysis of Architecture are that more than 80% of practitioners that completed the survey feel that “collaboration with stakeholders is important, very important, or critically important.” Educators note that collaboration is included in their program, with a response of over 50%, and 70% of educator respondents noted that students worked collaboratively with either guidance or feedback from faculty, or collaborated independently.The use of design/build projects of various scales and scopes will allow architecture programs to facilitate the collaborative knowledge needed to educate our students for the future of the profession, as well as initiate research into working with the construction sector. The analysis of collaboration in past projects will allow the development of best practices for the inclusion of not just learning about architecture and construction, but also working out projects and ideas with others.

Volume Editors
Sergio Palleroni, Ted Cavanagh & Ursula Hartig

ISBN
978-0-935502-94-7