Devising an Inclusive and Flexible Taxonomy of International Live Projects. Issue 1 (1st November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Anderson, Jane
• Is Part Of: ARENA journal of architectural research. Volume 2:Issue 1(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-11-01
• Subjects: Live Project -- Design Build -- Extension Project -- Service Learning -- Pedagogy -- Architectural Design Studio -- Taxonomy; Architecture -- Research -- Europe -- Periodicals; Architecture -- Research -- Periodicals; 720.7204
• DOI: 10.5334/ajar.5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2397-0820

Abstract

Architectural live project education (including Design Build projects, Extension Projects and Service Learning) is evolving rapidly. Emerging research describes, defines and analyses contemporary activity. Much is based on case studies that rely on the quality of the author's critique or is not located within a wider theoretical, historical or cultural context. The aim of this paper is to develop an objective method to analyse live projects that includes the peripheral and promotes diversity and evolution. The paper analyses 154 contemporary live project case studies located in twenty-eight different countries that have been drawn from the online Live Projects Network between April 2012 and January 2016. This paper explores three connected questions: What differentiates and connects contemporary international live projects? What live project models and strategies have emerged to date? What influence are live projects having on architectural education, research and practice? Ordering live projects by singular categories such as outcome or motive fails to acknowledge their complexity or to reveal new models and strategies. Quantitative and qualitative analyses demonstrate that human and physical resources and contexts have the greatest influence on diversity of live project models and strategies. The expertise of the live project participants is capable of overcoming contextual resource limitations via design ingenuity. A Taxonomy has been developed to illustrate the relationship between these factors. This allows us to identify the ways in which live projects are influencing contemporary architectural education, research and practice.