Continuing the SHoP Discourse…

Last Thursday evening, co-founding principal of SHoP Architects Christopher Sharples presented a lecture to the New York Institute of Technology, titled “Manufacturing Brighter Futures.” Likely organized before the firm’s unionization campaign went public, the mood at times resembled a reunion of 25 friends all gathered on Zoom. The talk covered themes like placemaking and placekeeping, and relevant innovations such as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and Design for Disassembly (DfD). About halfway through the lecture, the tone shifted, turning towards a discussion of how architects need to take responsibility for the way the industry conducts business.

“We love designing buildings, but we’ve got some big problems,” began Sharples. “We’ve got a housing crisis […] we’ve got a climate crisis that is just accelerating […] and there is a lot of slavery that goes into construction.”

The way forward, suggested Sharples, is to break down the silos that exist in the AEC industry, and “begin to manage risk collectively and change the value model” through technology and innovation. Digital platforms involving augmented reality, as well as model-based processes, were floated as solutions. “We have to move from a deliverables fee-for-service model to an award based on performance, so that we can actually get proper compensation […] if we can help manage that risk for [the client] in a very transparent and collective way, we should be rewarded for that,” Sharples concluded.

All in all, the big issues were raised, a cause was championed, and solutions were proposed… but the elephant remained in the room.