Top 15 Trends Transforming Architecture

As excerpted from James Cramer of the Greenway Group at the AIA 2005 National Convention and Design Exposition.

Architects are learning to do things differently and to take new approaches that are determined to continuously improve the process and the result. It is said that architecture is now the number one art form in our culture, beautiful buildings make beautiful design and the languages of business and architecture are starting to merge. Real estate, design firms, architecture firms, graphic designers are all now part of the design business.

The future of architecture is both wonderful and worrisome. Technology will annihilate the traditional industry practices. Firms that cannot keep up with fall to the wayside. It is a constantly changing business and firms need to be able to change at a moments notice, keep good employees and look for the interesting and challenging design problems.

The 15 Trends

1. Technology is changing how architecture firms do business
2. Productivity is improving both inside and outside the design professions and bringing more competition inside- changing the fundamental tenets of the design and construction economy.
3. Intelligent and full-integrated smart buildings will become more of the norm; they require sophisticated and specialized professional service delivery.
4. Globalization is redefining the who, what, when, how, why, and how much in construction. It is a threat and an opportunity. (China !)
5. Speed to market is forcing new fields of collaboration, including advanced design-build models and more sophisticated forms of Internet web based project management and teaming models. "Fast Architecture"
6. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a tool of change. 3-D and 4-D smart objects operating in real time with parametric dimensions will become increasingly important.
7. The best firms are becoming less concerned about control and more flexible on how to achieve top quality. Rapid change is leading to more flexible organizations that can create collaborative value in non-linear terms. Service firms are thinking flatter, more agile models of management and using temporary organizational structures. Well-managed and well-led firms will be the new industry champions.
8. Not all design has to be sexy. Building lifecycle management solutions will open new doors to entrepreneurial firms. For those with a passion for programming, commissioning, consulting, and real estate facility management there are huge opportunities waiting according to client research and gap analysis in the industry.
9. Architects and designers of the future are not just designing buildings but experiences. Spaces will employ refreshable information, messaging, content, images, luminosity, activity and digital technology as key components of shaping and choreographing social experiences.
10. It won't be in the official RFP's but the attitude of strategic optimism will be a key differentiating point for the most successful and sought after firms. Confident and informed experts will lead the industry.
11. Green and sustainable design and development will shift gears into mainstream demand. LEED standards will expand significantly but professionals will think beyond them. Imagine in the future "living buildings" that produce more energy than they consume. Sustainable design integrates perfectly with design excellence and will be universally expected.
12. Leadership in design and construction will become more competent, courageous, and visionary. Leadership is every designer's business.
13. Strategic partitioning and modular processes will become new standards to allow mixing and matching of different components comprising a whole building. Faster and leaner construction will achieve both good design and high quality buildings.
14. Architects will lose their reliance on buildings as their medium. The distinction between architects, designers, and contractors in the mind of owners will diminish and blur. Professionals will cross-traditional borders. Architecture will meld the visual and three-dimensional but will also embrace video, theater, and experience.
15. Change will change!