Summary: |
In the ever-changing “new economy”, buildings are among the few capital goods that are actually left. The Construction Industry drives a very high level of resources, marking the paths of the economy. It is, however, a non-integrated process, with few or none sinergies and with a relatively ambiguous relationship with technology. Moreover, we architects have limited ourselves the role we play, concentrating more in representation than in the work as a whole. The proposal wants to conceive our work as a long-term Strategic Alliance between several actors around the building: Customers / Manufacturers / Vendors / Architects / Specialty Engineers / Builders / Contractors / Managers / Supporters / Users, and so on We are facing a historic opportunity to clarify the relationship of our Industry with technology, allowing it to gain its true dimension on this century. Besides, this will re-define the role of the architect in the Industry: we will evolve from designers, project-oriented, to be creators, owners and managers of “Virtual Buildings” that manage, coordinate and give value to the building as an integrated process, and co-exist with it along its lifecycle. |