Design Innovation for the Built Environment : Research by Design and the Renovation of Practice

Today architecture and other fields in the built environment face the steep task of answering complex questions pertaining to sustainability, performance, and adaptability.

• How are these disciplines to accomplish these difficult tasks at such an immense pace?
• How might architectural practice renovate itself accordingly?

Worldwide it is becoming increasingly clear that different modes of research are emerging which are triggered directly by the need to renovate practice. One significant prevailing mode is what has come to be known as ‘research by design’.

This book delivers an overview of this pluralistic domain. Bringing together a range of leading architects, architectural theorists, and designers, it outlines the developments in current practice from leading individuals based in the USA, UK, Australia, Japan and Europe. Edited by a recognized expert, this book exposes the undercurrent of research, which is taking place and how this will contribute to the renovation of architectural practice.

Michael U. Hensel is an architect, researcher, and writer. He is Professor for Architecture at the Oslo School of Architecture where he directs the Research Centre for Architecture and Tectonics. He is a board member of the OCEAN Design Research Association and of BIONIS, the Biomimetics Network for Industrial Sustainability.