Developing a New Culture of Industrial Research in Architecture

The industrial architectural researcher based in building industry and affiliated with an architectural PhD school is a fairly new constellation in Denmark. Block Masonry/Masonry Blocks was the first of this kind and executed between 2005 – 2008 (?) as a collaboration between Center for Industrialised Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture and the manufacturing companies; Wienerberger AG (insulating ceramic blocks) and Maxit A/S (mortar/plaster).
Having no comparable research references within the field; the terminology, the theoretical framework, the methodologies, the very type of knowledge, and the research culture - all had to be developed from scratch. More importantly, the mutual expectations to the research elements, results, and impact on the business development had to be re-adjusted and aligned throughout the whole period of the project. For that reason the ‘epistemological learning curve’ of each partner of the project; the PhD-student, the supervisor, the business supervisors, but also the PhD-school (institutional framework) was very steep.
Due to the business partners’ strong expectations to the commercial output of the project – the academic contents had to be defined, protected, and managed by the PhD-student and the supervisor in ways that are not common to regular academic research practice.
Based on structured, critical analyses of empirical data; personal experiences, revisiting notebooks and minutes from meetings with academic and business supervisors - the article will look into the discrepancies between research in building practice and practicing building research, which may be thought of as directly compatible endeavors.
Questions asked are; who defines and ensures the standards of the research quality during the project period? How can industrial research lead to original findings when problems are negotiated with the business partners, who are driven by commercial logics?
How can industrial research enhance academic knowledge production without compromising it?