Architectural Design

2nd ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design

Job No: CPD0810-27/4028

062-081 Chapter 3 final (3.1)_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 8/18/10 10:23 AM Page 64

The design project

Clients, users and brief

Most student projects do not have a real client involved

with the project, although real project briefs are often

adapted and imaginary clients may be included. Tutors

and visiting critics partly form the role of proxy-client and

the project brief will be developed by research into the

given client.

Most live projects emerge in order to fulfil the need of a

client. This need forms the basis of the project brief. A client

may decide that they need to build a new shop, contact an

architect and commission them to design and manage the

project. However there are many variations to this scenario.

The client may be a developer who needs to make a profit on

the development and therefore is not the intended user of the

building. The architect may be designing for people whom

they are not able to meet or consult. The client, the user and

their various needs and constraints, must be identified and

understood by the architect.

The brief normally has complexities that are not immediately

apparent. The brief is not a static document handed to

the architect at the beginning of the project; it must be

developed in collaboration with the client and users an often

has to evolve to cope with changes in circumstances as the

project develops. The direction, ambition and nature of the

project can be radically altered by the interpretation of the

brief that is agreed by the architect and client. The architect

is normally the driver for the detailed development of the brief

and the process of discovery that this uncovers. They must

seek to answer needs and aspirations that are both mundane

and poetic.

Typical activities

at this stage

Client meetings

Sketching

Recording ideas

Organisational diagrams

Gathering information

Opening up possibilities

Managing complexity

Research

Collaboration

Feedback

Setting priorities

Project: Tufnell Park School

Location: Islington, London, UK

Architect: East

Date: 2006

Internal perspective montage.

Text

2nd ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design

Job No: CPD0810-27/4028

062-081 Chapter 3 final (3.1)_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 8/18/10 10:23 AM Page 64