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Are you interested in how to make prototypes for the built environment?

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Our summary today works with the article titled Built environment prototyping for design-value from 2023 by Darcy Zelenko and Duncan Maxwell, published in the Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2023. This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Ted Baillieu in episode 182 talking about why experimenting with the built environment is very important. Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how we could use prototyping to trial specific solutions. This article proves the prototyping is a value-adding activity but there are inherent fragmentations for the built environment disciplines.

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Welcome to today’s What is The Future For Cities podcast and its Research episode; my name is Fanni, and today I will introduce a research paper by summarising it. The episode really is just a short summary of the original paper, and, in case it is interesting enough, I would encourage everyone to check out the whole paper. Stay tuned until because I will give you the 3 most important things and some questions which would be interesting to discuss.

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The built environment sector, tasked with producing substantial, high-cost structures like buildings, faces challenges in project delivery, often leading to cost and time overruns that impede productivity. This complexity is exacerbated by the involvement of multiple stakeholders, making streamlined execution challenging. A notable gap in this sector is the underutilization of prototyping, typically limited to basic representation rather than as a strategic tool for improvement.

Prototyping, or creating a full-scale, functional version of a new design, is widely embraced in industries like engineering and software development, each tailoring it to their specific needs. In contrast, the built environment’s approach to prototyping is less developed and more focused on complex designs. The insights from architecture and engineering highlight prototyping’s role in refining complex design elements before construction, emphasizing the need for more integrated prototyping methods to bridge communication gaps between designers and tradespeople.

Prototyping is crucial in many industries, notably engineering design, software development, and design management, where it’s a key element of the design process. These fields have their own unique interpretations and applications of prototyping, shaped by their specific needs. For instance, engineering design uses prototyping at various design stages for learning and communication, while in software development, it’s focused on early testing of applications. Design management views it as a versatile tool for creating new products and services. These diverse applications highlight prototyping’s integral role in enhancing the design process across different sectors.

In the built environment, unlike in engineering or software development, prototyping is less common and mainly used for complex design projects. This limited use has resulted in a less developed understanding of prototyping in this sector. Insights from architecture and engineering, however, show that prototyping is valuable for refining complex designs before actual construction, highlighting its potential to enhance the construction process, which traditionally has seen less use of prototyping methods.

Prototyping in the built environment is key for architects and engineers to refine designs, address aesthetic aspects, and communicate ideas, leading to improved final structures. It’s effective in pre-testing building components and systems, streamlining decision-making and reducing on-site challenges, thus enhancing efficiency in time and resources. However, its current isolated use limits knowledge sharing, suggesting a need for more integrated methods to improve collaboration and potentially adopt more efficient construction approaches like Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA).

The primary aim of prototyping in the built environment is to create better, more resource-efficient buildings, treating each design as a learning prototype for future projects. The field’s diverse terminology for prototyping, like ‘scale model’ and ‘mock-up’, may cause confusion, but standardizing these terms is challenging due to their deep-rooted use. The focus should be on promoting a strong prototyping culture and effective techniques, using models that guide practitioners in structuring their prototyping around key questions to streamline the process and save time and resources.

There seems to be two distinct approaches to prototyping in other industries: idea conceptualization and physical implementation, influenced by their main outputs. An integrated prototyping model that accommodates these approaches, tailored to the unique requirements of the built environment, is needed. Such a model could pave the way for a more unified approach to prototyping and its effectiveness could be tested through pilot projects, enhancing the practices within the sector. Expanding prototyping understanding across fields is essential, with a need for deeper research to grasp its varied use in the built environment and address knowledge gaps. This includes exploring how construction trades apply prototyping and conducting future studies to quantify and analyse their methods. Prototyping is important in the built environment for its ability to enhance design quality, improve efficiency and communication, and foster continuous innovation and learning.

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What was the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Do you have any follow up question? Let me know on Twitter at WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the transcripts and show notes are available! Additionally, I will highly appreciate if you consider subscribing to the podcast or on the website. I hope this was an interesting paper for you as well, and thanks for tuning in!

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Finally, as the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Prototyping in the built environment, less common than in industries like engineering or software development, plays a crucial role in refining complex designs before construction, underscoring the need for its wider adoption and more integrated methods.
2. While prototyping enhances design quality, communication, and decision-making efficiency, its underutilization in the built environment limits knowledge sharing and the adoption of efficient construction methodologies, such as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA).
3. There is a significant opportunity for advancement in the built environment by developing an integrated prototyping model that combines idea conceptualization and physical implementation, tailored to its unique requirements, which could transform practices and lead to more efficient, resource-saving buildings.

Additionally, it would be great to talk about the following questions:

1. How can prototyping bridge the gap between design and construction in building projects?
2. What role does prototyping play in enhancing the design process in the built environment?
3. How can you use prototyping in your environment to test out changes for a better living experience?

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