Knowledge and Architectural Practice

This paper focuses on the specific knowledge residing in architectural practice. It is based on the research of 35 PhD fellows in the ADAPT-r (Architecture, Design and Art Practice Training-research) project. The ADAPT-r project innovates architectural research in combining expertise from academia and from practice in order to highlight and extract the specific kind of knowledge which resides and is developed in architectural practice (creative practice research).

The paper will discuss three ongoing and completed PhD projects and focusses on the outcomes and their contribution to the field. Specific to these research projects is that the researcher is within academia but stays emerged in architectural practice. The projects contribute to a better understanding of architectural practice, how it develops and what kind of knowledge is crucial.

Furthermore, the paper will develop a reflection of the level of research methods and will explain that the research methods and processes in creative practice research are very similar to grounded theory which is an established research method in the social sciences.

Finally, an argument will be made for a more explicit research attitude in architectural practice as it is the central place of innovation and development in the architectural discipline.