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I first came across his work around ten years ago on a BBC series based on his book called “How Buildings Learn”- at the time he was making valid points about ways in which we can adapt buildings, not to reduce their environment impact by reducing their energy consumption per the current thinking, but by simply avoiding the need for new ones.  His way – adapting buildings to accommodate many uses – places the least demand on our resources.  Much of my doctorate was built off his “layers of change” principle which was in this work.

Everything that he has done has challenged the convention of the time and has, by and large, turned out to be true.

So, please take 15 minutes to watch this, his very latest presentation: http://www.ted.com/talks/stewart_brand_proclaims_4_environmental_heresies.html The points it makes should shake you to your very core.  He is a true “big picture” man.

Other links:

The whole “How Buildings Learn” tv series: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=stewart+brand+how+buildings+learn&emb=0&aq=0&oq=stewart+brand#

The Long Now Foundation (we can see a model of their clock in the National Science Museum): http://www.longnow.org/

His wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Brand

The HaCIRIC project welcomes Dr. Chaham Alalouch into its fold.  Dr. Alalouch will join Dr. Pronk in the investigation of benefits quantification.

We’ve got a good academic team now and strong industry partners with more looking to join.  The issue is real and timely.  Now we just need to work out insightful and practical ways of operationalising stakeholders’ quantification of benefits “worth” at key stages in NHS programme delivery.

Fun times!

I am a huge proponent of the “Presentation Zen” philosophy but sadly, due to teaching mainly wordy legal subjects, I haven’t yet been able to put most of the principles into practice.  I am getting there, albeit very slowly.

Today, I came across this website: http://www.treesmapsandtheorems.com which supports a book that I really must buy because I am *blown away* by the quality of the advice.

I can only implore you to have a look, because the downloads and examples really are top notch.

The advice on structure of argument and the nuances of writing *well* (rather than a lot, or using fancy words) sits so well with my principles, I just wish I had the clarity of thought to write it myself.

Here are some sample pages from the book

Here is some fantastic advice on structuring technical writing, which all my students would really benefit from.  It’s aimed at PhD level, but the practicalities fit anywhere.

And here’s some advice on structuring a presentation.

Just great stuff.

Well, today I graduated (once again).  I’m now offically qualified to do a big part of the job I’ve been doing for the last four years!

Jennifer Whyte and Boris Ewenstein have a *fantastic* (although it’s a bit long…) paper out on the role that design information plays helping groups of people understand a shared (construction design) problem and develop new knowledge in doing so.  They characterise design information as the”boundary object” that links two groups with distinct prior knowledge.

Although it’s interesting that they’re using the term solely with reference to epistomolgy – they haven’t picked up on the communities of practice angle.  Better not say too much!  They also don’t ground it in reflective design theory, which is a bit odd (they hint at it in passing, but that’s it)…

Anyway, this is the paper – it’s worth a read:

Knowledge Practices in Design: The Role of
Visual Representations as ‘Epistemic Objects’
Boris Ewenstein and Jennifer Whyte
Organization Studies 30(01): 07–30
DOI: 10.1177/0170840608083014

We use a detailed study of the knowledge work around visual representations to draw attention to the multidimensional nature of ‘objects’. Objects are variously described in the literatures as relatively stable or in flux; as abstract or concrete; and as used within or across practices. We clarify these dimensions, drawing on and extending the literature on boundary objects, and connecting it with work on epistemic and technical objects. In particular, we highlight the epistemic role of objects, using our observations of knowledge work on an architectural design project to show how, in this setting, visual representations are characterized by a ‘lack’ or incompleteness that precipitates unfolding. The conceptual design of a building involves a wide range of technical, social and aesthetic forms of knowledge that need to be developed and aligned. We explore how visual representations are used, and how these are meaningful to different stakeholders, eliciting their distinct contributions. As the project evolves and the drawings change, new issues and needs for knowledge work arise. These objects have an ‘unfolding ontology’ and are constantly in flux, rather than fully formed. We discuss the implications for wider understandings of objects in organizations and for how knowledge work is achieved in practice.

Yesterday I welcomed a new Research Associate – Dr. Laura Pronk – into the School.  She’ll be working on the HaCIRIC project looking at how numbers can be associated with stakeholders’ judgements of benefit “worth.”  Good luck!

This week I actually got to go back to my roots and “work” a real problem we’re facing on one of our projects with other academics.  It was time to get the whiteboards and the pens out to see what emerged.  This is why I do this.  Shame we couldn’t work out the answer but at least we have a clearer, shared idea of what the problem is….

Takes me back…

The squiggly line is the problem.  How do you get the measurement systems on one side of it to work with the objective-driven system on the left.  Don’t know yet.