Upstream Design — An Evolution of Architectural Practice namely concerns the following hypothesis; that to address the complex challenges we as individuals and designers face today, the practice of architecture needs to undergo transformation. The specific transformation that I’m proposing is one of moving upstream, to enact systemic change whilst upholding the value of the profession in the process. I’m not alone in proposing this – at this year’s National Architecture Conference, one of the underlying themes was securing a seat at the decision-making table. What’s often left out of this vision are the steps required to get there and what one might do once they have arrived.
This, in essence, is what my Jack Hobbs McConnell Travelling Fellowship seeks to explore. Through the use of applied ethnography, including a series of interviews with twelve international experts, ¹ my hope is to apply the learnings from these conversations to the current South Australian context and identify the opportunities that exist for upstream design as a means to address the complex challenges we as individuals and designers face today.
Excerpt from Malcolm MacEwan’s 1974 essay, ‘Crisis in Architecture’ which covered topics ranging from the environmental impacts involved in construction, to public disenchantment with architecture and the sense of low self-esteem within the profession. Given many of these topics are still highly contested fifty-one years later, the need for transformation in the face of global and professional crises is now.