The problem is?

Comment I posted on: https://youtu.be/u_JQs5CbP1U entitled The First Problem Every Architect Faces

Good review of the factors that go to siting a building. My practice has been that good buildings come from a thorough understanding of the purpose the client has, at a strategic level, the program (what the client needs/wants/is interested in) developed to achieve the purpose, the place and the people (client, users, customers, servicers, builders). Of course, what flows from this is the performance the building is to achieve. The 5 Ps of architecture!

But all that aside, I want to comment on the title: the 'first problem'. At uni my tutors always referred to architectural design programs as 'problems'. My colleagues still tend to do so. Engineers, bless them, solve problems, and sometimes very creatively.

Architects go further. We organize new potentials for people. So, the problem a city has is that there's no library in a neighborhood? Problem? The idea of 'problem' is reductionistic and turns architects into solution preparers -- like chemists?. This is a triviality compared to what we really do: find opportunities and make places for people to invent their futures.

We expand, we don't reduce. We create what has not yet been conceived. Doing that we solve a myriad of problems, or we avoid the problems, or we redefine them to exploit the benefits in an opportunity. A design commission is never a problem, it is always a challenge, an exploration, an opportunity, a desire.

Problem analysis

Systems such as the McKinsey system are good as systems in certain contexts, but they tend to be reductionistic.

1. Define problem - What key question do we need to answer?
2. Structure problem – What could be the key elements of the problem?
3. Prioritize issues – Which issues are most important to the problem?
4. Develop issue analysis/work plan – Where and how should we spend our time?
5. Conduct analyses – What are we trying to prove/disprove
6. Synthesize findings – What implications do our findings have?
7. Develop recommendations – What should we do?

A system better for architectural and many engineering projects might be modelled on Soft Systems Methodologies which start with the 'circumstance of interest', or the 'matter of concern'. General terms: there might be no 'problem' only options, or opportunities. There might be a better future than merely 'solving' a 'problem.

Analyse the circumstances using Rich Pictures and a 'CATWOE' study.

CATWOE is

Customers

Actors

Technology

World-view (or socio-technical context)

Owner

Environment (total socio-technical environment)

This can lead into a 'design' process that starts with outcome options, then works through constraints and pathways to develop options to create a new future.