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The Architecture Chronicle PhD Thesis in Architecture (UCL), supervisors; Prof. Jonathan Hill, Dr Penelope Haralambidou, 2009 Most books on architecture start when a building is completed, carefully editing out any evidence of the design and production process. As a result, architecture is often seen as a product rather than a process. The Architecture Chronicle is about architecture as a practice. Adrian Forty observes that the pre-Renaissance architect worked on the building site amongst other tradesmen in an environment of dispersed authorship. It was his ability to draw and to write, acquired during the Italian Renaissance, that allowed the architect to remove himself from the site of construction and to upgrade his status from anonymous craftsman amongst others to artistic creator. New procurement methods have changed the role of the architect in contemporary construction projects. To minimise liability, and as a result of the increased specialisation of building professionals, contemporary buildings are designed by a design team. This threatens the status of the architect as artistic creator. Today, the architect operates once again in an environment of dispersed authorship as a member of the design team working alongside other design professionals. Drawings are more often produced by visualisers, engineers and sub-contractors than by architects while text is more often written by surveyors or specifiers. To maintain his status as artisitc creator, the architect in The Architecture Chronicle takes on three distinct characters. The architect-inventor challenges conventions and questions the social status quo. The architect-activist transgresses the boundary of the profession and enters the construction process. The architect-arbitrator engages the audience to realise the ambitious project. The Architecture Chronicle concludes that the contemporary architect still draws and writes, but that it is often the architect's ability to engage and direct that asserts his or her status. In the design team, the architect's ability to talk and to act is more important than his or her ability to draw and write. Read sample pages: 10 & 11, 21 & 22, 150 & 151, 152 & 153, 232 & 233, 246 & 247
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