According to the Oxford English Dictionary, collaboration is “the action of working with someone to produce or create something.” To many in the construction industry, it is the equivalent of the holy grail—an elusive ideal of performance. In theory, in a truly collaborative venture, all parties focus on, and contribute to, a project’s goals, thus … Continued
At DesignIntelligence, we frequently hear from firm leaders that talent management is their top challenge—specifically, attracting, hiring, training and retaining talent. So we sat down with Kathleen John of Meyer, Borgman, Johnson; Bill Karanian of SLAM Collaborative; and Cheryl Kitchner of HKS to talk about talent: trends, development, acquisition and how firms can be forward … Continued
Human designs are becoming more organic. From mobile phones to automobiles to public buildings, the trend is most evident in the shapes we create. In nature, you can’t find 90-degree angles and rectangles. Similarly, we’re letting go of sharp edges in favor of natural shapes that curve and flow. When we imagine the future, we … Continued
The great and the good had departed. The new Centre for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, UK, was complete. All that remained before the official opening by the Queen was to ensure that the building services were running properly. In the control room, where the building management system was to be operated, the facilities manager stared, transfixed—eyes … Continued
The Design Futures Council (DFC) has named eight professionals as its Emerging Leaders at the organization’s 16th annual Leadership Summit on Sustainable Design. The event took place in Toronto on September 18-19, 2017. The Design Futures Council’s annual Leadership Summit on Sustainable Design brings together 100 business and sustainability leaders from the world’s most influential … Continued
A Leadership Opportunity. A Call for Courage. There is a problem in the design and construction industry today: our teams aren’t working together as well as they should. Based on client and partner feedback and metrics, as well as my own anecdotal surveys and experience, inefficient teams are still too common. Recurring stereotypes plague us, … Continued
What Schools Don’t Teach, but Should. It’s been said that the true purpose of an education is not so much to acquire facts or skills, but to learn how to learn. There’s a lot of wisdom in this. In the design and construction industry, things are changing faster than ever. New tools and technologies, constant … Continued
The rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies is propelling us toward a world where an ever-increasing amount of our experiences are mediated by digital interactivity. As this trend continues, the task of designing our built environment will be as much about designing the interactive experiences that happen in that space as it will … Continued
These thoughts derive from a presentation I delivered a few years ago at the Design Futures Council Leadership Summit on Sustainable Design. Are design firms doing enough to deliver on the promise of sustainability? Is our industry losing its momentum in advancing the state of the art of sustainable design? Will we ever meet the … Continued
Julian Anderson
DesignIntelligence
David Oakey
David Adamson
Donna Pennell
Michael LeFevre
Scott Simpson
James Patten
Phil Harrison