Theory Space: The Architecture Studio

Somewhere around the late 60's, the architectural studio underwent a 'conceptual' turn which, some fifty years later, would unknowingly become the model for the now fashionable 'start-up', 'business incubator' and 'think-tank' spaces that have sprung up from the venture capital and crowdfunding economies. This article highlights five of the features of the post 60's architectural studio environment, which make it into a specific kind of creative generator: discipline, social interaction, notation, multi-media and critique. Architects have traditionally played down the disciplinary know how and compound expertise that they have mastered for a long time, and that has shaped the work environment of the studio. With the discovery of their creative bubble by more PR-savvy branches of the economy, architects need to wake up and lay claim to the conceptual tools that they have developed over many decades. False modesty should no longer parade as a virtue.