I am wondering what kind of suggestions people may have for initiating design reviews in the professional world. As a very small firm (6 architects + misc. staff) currently undertaking more prominent and larger projects that will require more collaboration btwn coworkers, I am attempting to initiate a more thorough system of mini-charettes and design reviews. Does anyone have suggestions regarding the following?:
- Physical space for review - methods for display, office materials that help discussion, etc?
- Handouts - How do you prep your office for the review? what do they need to know before hand? how do you get the non-architecture staff involved?
- Organization - What is the best strategy for organizing the review, pinup, etc.
- Timing - Best time for reviews? pre-design, kickoff, interim, etc
I realize these are so vague as to be very open-ended and without "correct" answer but I just hope to solicit some ideas from staff that have perhaps been doing this for a while and found some good methods. I also realize that we all have done this in academia... but we all know its harder in the "real" world when we actually have clients and projects to fill our time.
at one firm i worked at they started to initiate design charrettes/
reviews every friday...with beer. this way you can relax and talk
about design as you get ready for the weekend..
as far as prepping for it...wouldn't it be just like every other
meeting more or less? in a small office it seems like you'd have
to have your head under the sand to not know the background on
every project...
having regular reviews sounds like a really good plan... for a few reasons...
1. regular scheduling would allow everyone the time to prepare in their own way... if they had a suggestion or idea, they would have a set time to complete their own work on it, meaning the idea will be better prepared than if the reviews were more impromptu.
2. they could act as a sort of social event for the office where everyone can get together and hash out ideas... something that would be a benefit to the work and to the morale of all your employees
as for preparing the staff for the review... i almost feel that defeats the purpose some what... sometimes being over prepared leaves too much room for post rationalized junk... people getting fresh looks at the new work done that week will probably give you more honest opinions on whether or not it is truly successful.
we will have informal reviews for specific projects among the people working on it and whoever happens to be walking past at the time... but rarely do we get anyone not on the project involved. it would be difficult, as our office is big... but getting fresh views on the project would no doubt be helpful.
logistically, we pin up on gator board alot... just have big sheets of it, prop them against the wall, pin them to the board
We tend to have pinups when there is a lot of SD going on. As projects morph into CD and CM a lot less. For us the space is a large conference room with tack boards that can receive pushpins.
The design lead gives an overview just as you would in a pin up from school. Prep is printing out what you want to show. We have found that this time helps our emerging professionals gain confidence in their public speaking.
our office is trying to set the same type of design reviews; here are some personal suggestions:
timing is really key...most of the time, due to recent need for quick turn around in project schedules, there isn't much time to hold a productive design review prior to getting the client involved. if your goal is to hold charretes that will influence the design direction in your office, it should probably be happening in the earlier stages of conceptual design. As a social/team building tool aimed to promote collaboration, probably when there is enough on paper to let people react and sink their teeth into.
in re. to the space, if you want the process to be public, the main conference room would probably work (or front lobby if your office is really hands on); pin up some large prints on the wall, and bring trace. No handouts are necessary, but people should be encouraged to bring their sketchbools. have the project designer present the parameters and his thoughts, along with his/her iterms for discussion, and then open it up so all can speak. let the project designer lead the discussion, and make the decisions in what could be implemented into the design.
personally, i'd make it an impromptu open casual meeting///hope it helps!
I keep thinking this when I see the title. sorry for the tangent
"I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down."
in an office doncha have conversations with your coworkers? don't principals talk to their employees? seems like a vestige of the school studio system.
Pinup Strategies
I am wondering what kind of suggestions people may have for initiating design reviews in the professional world. As a very small firm (6 architects + misc. staff) currently undertaking more prominent and larger projects that will require more collaboration btwn coworkers, I am attempting to initiate a more thorough system of mini-charettes and design reviews. Does anyone have suggestions regarding the following?:
- Physical space for review - methods for display, office materials that help discussion, etc?
- Handouts - How do you prep your office for the review? what do they need to know before hand? how do you get the non-architecture staff involved?
- Organization - What is the best strategy for organizing the review, pinup, etc.
- Timing - Best time for reviews? pre-design, kickoff, interim, etc
I realize these are so vague as to be very open-ended and without "correct" answer but I just hope to solicit some ideas from staff that have perhaps been doing this for a while and found some good methods. I also realize that we all have done this in academia... but we all know its harder in the "real" world when we actually have clients and projects to fill our time.
at one firm i worked at they started to initiate design charrettes/
reviews every friday...with beer. this way you can relax and talk
about design as you get ready for the weekend..
as far as prepping for it...wouldn't it be just like every other
meeting more or less? in a small office it seems like you'd have
to have your head under the sand to not know the background on
every project...
having regular reviews sounds like a really good plan... for a few reasons...
1. regular scheduling would allow everyone the time to prepare in their own way... if they had a suggestion or idea, they would have a set time to complete their own work on it, meaning the idea will be better prepared than if the reviews were more impromptu.
2. they could act as a sort of social event for the office where everyone can get together and hash out ideas... something that would be a benefit to the work and to the morale of all your employees
as for preparing the staff for the review... i almost feel that defeats the purpose some what... sometimes being over prepared leaves too much room for post rationalized junk... people getting fresh looks at the new work done that week will probably give you more honest opinions on whether or not it is truly successful.
we will have informal reviews for specific projects among the people working on it and whoever happens to be walking past at the time... but rarely do we get anyone not on the project involved. it would be difficult, as our office is big... but getting fresh views on the project would no doubt be helpful.
logistically, we pin up on gator board alot... just have big sheets of it, prop them against the wall, pin them to the board
We tend to have pinups when there is a lot of SD going on. As projects morph into CD and CM a lot less. For us the space is a large conference room with tack boards that can receive pushpins.
The design lead gives an overview just as you would in a pin up from school. Prep is printing out what you want to show. We have found that this time helps our emerging professionals gain confidence in their public speaking.
our office is trying to set the same type of design reviews; here are some personal suggestions:
timing is really key...most of the time, due to recent need for quick turn around in project schedules, there isn't much time to hold a productive design review prior to getting the client involved. if your goal is to hold charretes that will influence the design direction in your office, it should probably be happening in the earlier stages of conceptual design. As a social/team building tool aimed to promote collaboration, probably when there is enough on paper to let people react and sink their teeth into.
in re. to the space, if you want the process to be public, the main conference room would probably work (or front lobby if your office is really hands on); pin up some large prints on the wall, and bring trace. No handouts are necessary, but people should be encouraged to bring their sketchbools. have the project designer present the parameters and his thoughts, along with his/her iterms for discussion, and then open it up so all can speak. let the project designer lead the discussion, and make the decisions in what could be implemented into the design.
personally, i'd make it an impromptu open casual meeting///hope it helps!
whenever i see this thread title, i think it says pimp strategies. both of which i have nothing to really add to the discussion.
I keep thinking this when I see the title. sorry for the tangent
"I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down."
NO HAND OUTS, SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE, CLEAR COHERENT ARGUMENT, CLEAN PRESENTATION ON WALL. NOTHING UNESSECARY
.
Damn, I thought this was a Betty Page thread
in an office doncha have conversations with your coworkers? don't principals talk to their employees? seems like a vestige of the school studio system.
Ha you beat me to it vado.
phuyaka, that's a funny quote. Who said it?
garpike - the late Mitch Hedberg, still one of the greatest sources for one-liners
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