Even if you havent heard of Bjarke Ingels, youve probably seen his work. The Danish designer is perhaps the worlds most successful living architect. He has designed parks, apartment buildings, four Google campuses, and a power plant hidden beneath an artificial ski slope. He has also pioneered a ubiquitous brand of bland modernism that features sleek finishes and complex, blocky forms. At only 45, Ingels is far younger than most starchitects, and he wears his boyishness proudly. He has assiduously cultivated the public persona of a millennial jet-setter, obsessed with Instagram, Scandinavian electronica, and, presumably, his hair, which juts out, like one of his spiky designs, from his forehead.

Over the years, Ingels has made much of his commitment to the environment; in TED talks, he describes his philosophy as hedonistic sustainability (according to Ingels, you dont need to sacrifice comfort to live a sustainable lifestyle). And in January, on a trip to Brazil, he met with President Jair Bolsonaro to discuss crafting a master plan for sustainable tourism in the country. When critics pointed out that Bolsonaro is responsible for letting agriculture companies slash and burn swaths of the Amazon rain forest, pushing the ecosystem to its brink and displacing hundreds of indigenous people in the progress, Ingels called their concerns an oversimplification, superficial clickbait, and sheer ignorance. Architects, he said, have to engage and embrace our differences if we want to dare to imagine a different future.

Ingels is hardly the first architect to work for an autocratic leader. The Italian Giuseppe Terragni designed the Casa del Fascio for Mussolini. Albert Speer laid out neoclassical buildings for the Third Reich. Even respected modernists, such as the German Peter Behrens and the midcentury American architect Philip Johnson, tried to ingratiate themselves with the Nazis. Through their work, they gave a distinct aesthetic and cultural legitimacy to these regimes, while lining their own pockets with what was essentially blood money.

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The Ethical Failures of Modern Architecture - The New Republic

In this difficult time that has affected every corner of society, we are not separated by borders, by nations, by color, by orientation or by political beliefwe are one species. While following the difficult protocol of social distancing, we must realize that we are connected by our human experience. It feels an appropriate time to come together in celebration of the cultural and artistic achievements of the human race over the centuries and millennia.

Introducing: Captions Only. In this series,Lee F. Mindel, co-founder of SheltonMindel, will be introducing images of places, buildings, gardens, art and architectureand the people behind themthat have made a universal contribution to life as we know it. We begin with a staple of Viennese life: the Austrian Postal Savings Bank.

Staircase view of the bank. Photo credit: LEE F. MINDEL, FAIA.

Modern thinking, science, art and architecture is said to have its birthplace in Viennawith intellectuals such as Ernst Mach, Sigmund Freud, Josef Hoffmann and Otto Wagner, the author of the 1896 lexicon Modern Architecture. The Austrian Postal Savings Bank was one of Wagners most iconic buildings. Completed in 1906, it was a new kind of civic gathering place, one that exemplified functionalism is design. As Wagner stated, What is impractical can never be beautiful. LEE MINDEL

Exterior shot of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank. Photo credit: Lee F. Mindel, FAIA.

More here:
The Architect's Eye: Captions Only - Cultured Magazine

Landscape architects are finding themselves on the front lines of the climate change crisis, having to come up with creative ways to adapt and help mitigate problems like rising oceans and extreme weather as they design projects across the country.

"The focus on sustainability has been building slowly for a long time among landscape architects, but in recent years that commitment has really taken hold," says Jacquelyn Bianchini, a spokeswoman at the Washington, D.C.--based American Society of Landscape Architects.

Landscape architect Kate Orff heads the firm Scape, known for ecologically driven projects around the country.

"Our profession has been working hand in hand with the carbon-driven world since the field's inception. We've been living in this world where we're creating beautiful gardens in the foreground while the planet is collapsing in the background," she says.

"My goal is to flip that relationship around so the focus is on ecological systems, and we then link what we do with policy ideas, and infrastructure to that reality," says Orff, who recently became the first landscape architect awarded a MacArthur "genius" Fellowship.

She is the lead designer of a $60 million barrier reef and shoreline restoration project off Staten Island, New York, called Living Breakwaters. It incorporates oyster reefs, wetlands and strands to reduce the effects of storm surges. In Atlanta, it is developing a 100-mile trail linking communities along a vast distance to encourage mobility, equity and sustainability.

While landscape architects often focus on large, community projects, they say consideration of the environment also needs to take place at home, when people are designing their own gardens.

"Even though gardening is listed in the top five hobbies of Americans, somehow we've not translated that into care for our environment. We need to try to somehow do a better job of bridging the divide between personal gardens and the larger global situation. It's all connected," says Orff.

Todd Forrest, vice president for horticulture and living collections at the New York Botanical Garden, concurs.

"People who are creating home gardens, or people like me who manage gardens for the public, deal with the reality of climate every day and always have. A gardener is the first person and the last person you should talk with about climate change, and we deal with issues of plant adaptability in everything we do," he says.

To be a good environmental citizen, he says, you need ``to learn and to pay close attention, to adapt and at the same time be a part of the effort to reduce carbon emissions."

Excerpt from:
Landscape architects shift emphasis to the ecosystem - The Times Telegram

Architectural Thinking of Grafton Architects, The Pritzker 2020 Laureates

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Yesterday Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, co-founders of Grafton Architects, received the 2020 Pritzker Prize. The first women to be jointly recognized for the award also received the Royal Gold Medal 2020 from RIBA earlier this year.

On this last occasion, they gave a lecture about some of their projects and the way they think about the architectural field, crossing other disciplines such as music, psychology, and poetry, which lead to the design thinking of their practice. Here, we highlight some important inspirational quotes from this talk which help us to reflect on the role of architects and urban planners in contemporary society.

"(...) We want to describe imagination as the central strength of architecture. The responsibility is the ethical anchor of this amazing profession. Social responsibility, the impact of what we do, how we participate, how we collude, how we make the questions, really arise of what extra ingredient can we imagine that functions, that enrich the lives of others, that helps the earth retain its beauty". (41:01)

"At this time of climate change, a time to care deeply about our world, that we repair the broken, that we reuse where possible, that we become hyperconscious, conscious of our use of materials that everything we build matters". (43:03)

"Our conviction that architecture is now the new geography developed through a body of work and reflection and what is happening in the world around us as more and more of the natural world disappears, what we do as architects actually makes the world we live in at a scale where it's possible to consider it as geography, not as individual objects. Whether beautiful or not but by the sheer amount of building architecture now is at the scale of the Earth's geography. It is a modified earth". (58:32)

"One of the components in our own search for ways of making work is a discussion about fragments in the sense that architecture is the framework for life and in order for us to make new frameworks, we have to find ways of translating the sensory experience of life into architecture and that series of sensory experiences are built through fragments over time. But we're also interested in it as an idea about history because it's something that we talk about a lot in our work that history is not linear, it's not time, and certainly not in architecture. And the older we get the more we reach back into time and there's something very important about that and it's also that we don't see the difference between the past and the future. Jung has a beautiful term where he talks about the unconscious psyche and that it's not only immensely old that it's capable of growing into an equally remote future. So that's one of the kind of wonderful phenomena of architecture: this thing of time, past, present and future". (1:15:53)

"Edith Sitwell says a wonderful thing about poetry - she says that 'risen is one of the principal translators between dream and reality in poetry' - and these kinds of comments really inform and encourage and inspire us in the making of Architecture, that other disciplines have these same words and structures and, I suppose, struggles in terms of whether it's poetry or music that architects have. And we were manipulating let's call it the notes or the order the rhythm to make each wall different - not for his own sake but simply that we could take a language of repetition but not make sameness".(1:26:08)

See original here:
Architectural Thinking of Grafton Architects, The Pritzker 2020 Laureates - ArchDaily

The architectural world lost a giant this week when Henry Cobb passed away at 93 on Monday. Cobb was a Boston native who, after attending the Harvard Graduate School of Design, left for New York. From there he joined I.M. Pei, who died in 2019, to form the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Together they had great influence in shaping the city's skyline. Natasha Espada, the chapter president of the 2020 Boston Society of Architects, spoke with WGBH Morning Edition host Joe Mathieu to discuss Cobb's life work. This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Natasha Espada: He was very important in shaping not only our skyline, but our waterfront. And he was an amazing architect and he was an amazing person. For many years, he taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and was the chair from '80 to '85. So although he actually left Boston, he was very ingrained in our city.

Joe Mathieu: The story behind his most famous building in Boston must be the John Hancock Tower. It's a pretty interesting one. Can you explain how we got to this large mirror we have in the middle of the city now?

Espada: So in the 1970s, the mirrored facade was initially controversial, not only because it was a modern building, but because it was built next to Trinity Church, which is one of the most beloved buildings in Boston. But he wanted it to be kind of a silent building, designed to respond specifically to Copley Square. And and he wanted the mirrored panels to reflect the church and the city on its facade.

So the building was very innovative for its time. But it also, interestingly enough, had a really difficult construction period. Some of the glass started popping out of the building. The windows were falling out. And eventually they discovered that it was not the design, that it was actually that the fabrication of it. And basically all of them had to be all 10,000 of them, or more had to be replaced. The building was eventually completed and won numerous awards, including an award from the American Institute of Architects, but also the Harlston Parker Medal from the Boston Society of Architects, which is for the most beautiful building in Boston.

Mathieu: So the concept for the mirror essentially is to reflect what was around the building instead of creating a new form in the middle of this old architecture.

Espada: That's correct.

Mathieu: He was tasked with designing the Moakley Federal Courthouse, which sits on the waterfront, as you mentioned. And he took up his job before the Seaport was built, sort of a cornerstone for what is our newest neighborhood.

Espada: Yes. An important part of my life was actually visiting that building during construction. I worked for a firm that did a lot of courthouses. And he actually gave us a tour and showed us one of the courtrooms, a mock-up for one of the courtrooms, and took us throughout the building. And it was pretty remarkable. It was the only building in that entire area, and created kind of a context for what now is the Seaport.

Mathieu: I mentioned One Dalton. I've been to dinner there. There's a Four Seasons in there. You can't miss it. This is a massive tower that's right there in the Back Bay. A pretty impressive achievement for someone in the twilight of their career. When did he start working on it?

Espada: I believe he started working on it when he was in his 80s. He was so interested in our city. And that's actually one of the things that I'm doing in my presidency also working with Boston as a design city and making sure that we, he was really interested in equity and bringing all of these collaboration and communities into all of the buildings and into all the areas that he worked in. And one of the things that we're doing is trying to get into all of the neighborhoods in Boston in a really equitable way.

Mathieu: That's great. How is Boston doing as a major American city, as a major city in the world in terms of architecture? We're kind of known, or at least we used to be, as a boring-looking place.

Espada: Well, that is something that Harry Cobb actually did, is to try to merge history, growth of the city and modernism. And we live in a city, one of the most beautiful cities in the United States, and it is very important city. There's a lot of development going on in the city. It's a very exciting time for the city. And we're really trying to shape the city and in an equitable way that also deals with climate change and social equity and many other pieces that Henry really started putting into place many, many years ago.

Read more from the original source:
Henry Cobb, The Architect Who Helped Shape Boston's Skyline, Dies At 93 - wgbh.org

From significant business changes to noteworthy product launches, theres always something new happening in the world of design. In this weekly roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.

Brooklinen Raises $50 Million

Big news for the bedding industry: Brooklinen announced this week that it has raised $50 million from Summit Partners, according to the Wall Street Journal. Founded six years ago by husband-and-wife team Rich and Vicki Fulop, the brand has become synonymous with direct-to-consumer companies that are focused on reaching millennials. So whats on the horizon for Brooklinen now in terms of growth? Thirty new stores that are set to open in the next three yearsand, perhaps, more of those ubiquitous subway ads.

Wayfair Lost Almost $1 Billion Last Year

The news coming out of Wayfair still isnt good. This week, MarketWatch and others reported that Wayfair lost $330.2 in Q4 of 2019. That means that its total loss for the year was a whopping $985 million. Unsurprising, the news subsequently caused the furniture companys stock to plummet.

More Than 200 Architects Urge Congress to Act

Why did hundreds of architects take action this week? They want national legislators to add the AIM Act, which would help transition away from the use of harmful hydrofluorocarbon chemicals to the energy package thats currently making its way through the Senate. According to various signatories, the move could have a positive environmental impact while helping the economy. And whats more, numerous contractors and engineers are also on board.

British Brands Unify Under Zoffany Name

Six British brandsincluding Morris & Co, founded in 1861 by Arts and Crafts legend William Morris; Sanderson; Harlequin; Scion; Anthology; and hallmark brand Zoffanyare now all available under one proverbial digital roof. Earlier this week, Zoffany announced in an email that its website, StyleLibrary.com, will offer all of the brands, with products spanning fabric, wallpaper, paint, home goods, and more. The brands can also be found on Instagram at the new @zoffanyusa account.

Story continues

One of Minnas new rugs.

Rebecca Atwood to Release a Collection for Pottery Barn

Partnershipsespecially for a small brand like ourscreate such a great opportunity to reach a wider audience at a much more accessible price point, Rebecca Atwood tells AD PRO. Its fitting timing for her to reflect on the subject, as her debut Pottery Barn collection comes out later this year. At its core, my business is focused on trade and interior designers, so to be able to create a collection with Pottery Barn, a brand Ive long admired, is truly exciting, she adds. Atwood notes too that shes drawn to how Pottery Barn has historically created products that are both aspirational and approachable. As for the specific design inspiration behind the new line, expect Atwoods characteristic textiles that recall warm weather and happy days spent on vacation.

Farrow & Ball Releases New Exterior Paint Colors

Searching for a chic new exterior paint color with a dose of fun? Then look no further than Farrow & Ball, who likely has just what youre looking for thanks to its newly available Color by Nature collection and correlating contest. We are so excited to offer families the chance to create their very own Farrow & Ball paint color inspired by nature, Charlotte Cosby, head of creative at Farrow & Ball, tells AD PRO. We had such fun developing the Color by Nature collection with the Natural History Museum in London, and want to give others that same delight of finding a color in nature and bringing it to life.

A pink colorway of Alice Sergeant's new fabric.

Soft Goods Companies Inch Toward Spring

Another week, another batch of product launches. Out from Minna is a spring collection of pillows, baskets, rugs, and moreavailable in neutral and sunset tones. In the textiles universe, Alice Sergeants beautiful new floral Habibi pattern is officially here, as is The Vales latest collection, and performance vegan leather company Ultrafabricss Ultraleather Reef Pro. The fabric, strikingly, is ink- and stain-resistant, with a highly wipeable surface. Last but certainly not least, fabrics of a more fashionable sort have been reinterpreted by Rosenthal. The German porcelain manufacturer is out with its latest Versace collection, but this time around that iconic J.Lo jungle-print dress is the focus.

A new Versace plate for Rosenthal.

Patterns of India Provides Inspiration

Searching for new global inspiration for your creative work without having to travel? Then look no further than Patterns of India, out this week from Clarkson Potter. Rajasthan, the Indian state known for its royalty and opulence, provides endless inspiration in the form of architecture, surface design, artistry, and textiles, author Christine Chitnis tells AD PRO. In my book, I highlight Rajasthans dominant colorssandstone, marigold, rose, ivory and royal blueand the stories they tell by focusing on famous landmarks, as well as the simple beauty of daily life.

Patterns of India.

Kasmin Dreams of California

Open this week, Kasmins latest show, Valley of Gold: Southern California and the Phantasmagoric, examines Southern California art through the lens of European surrealists and more. Aesthetes will note the depictions of Hollywood interiors by Man Ray, who photographed cavernous yet eerie residences, and ceramics by Beatrice Wood, an avant-garde potter who was close with Marcel Duchamp. The exhibition also includes works by John Baldassari, Ed Ruscha, Marjorie Cameron, and other greats, and is on view until April 22.

A Historic Parisian Brasserie and Music Hall Gets a Nouveau Look

Seems like Paris is full of new restaurantsand historic ones with updated looks. Case in point, the recently reopened Boeuf sur la Toit, which is just two years shy of being 100 years old. Well known as the hangout for artists, poets, and performers throughout the 1920s and 1930s, it hosted the likes of Picasso, Cocteau, Dior, and Coco Chanel. Respectful of its origins as a traditional Parisian brasserie and music hall, the multidisciplinary designer Alexis Mabille has updated the two floors with exclusive textiles and furnishings, referencing everyone from Jean-Michel Frank to Josef Hoffmann. The results are graphic, colorful, and residential in feel.

Microsoft and a Fashion Designer Partner to Create a Digital AI-Powered Quilt Archive

Sick of reading about coronaviruss spread and the Super Tuesday election results? Vogue Runways Brooke Bobb reported on news this week that should warm the heart of any design enthusiast. Fashion designer Emily Adams Bode, founder of her namesake brand and no stranger to home decor products herself, has partnered with Microsoft to create a digital quilt archive. Known as the Bode Vault and run with AI technology, the program will include much more than Bodes own pieces. So read up and enjoy.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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Brooklinen Raises $50 Million, Architects Make Plea to Congress, and More News This Week - Yahoo News

Pontiac has taken its first steps to repairing the Phoenix Center amphitheater and parking garage.

City council approved this week a $659,000 contract with Troy-based Integrated Design Solutions for architect and engineering services to bring the center up to code. The contract was originally presented in early January, but concerns over cost and funding sources delayed its approval.

The city of Pontiac has begun devising a business plan in hopes of making the Phoenix Center parking garage profitable.

The city has until Nov. 1 to repair the Phoenix Centers lighting, elevators and other structural improvements. Estimates from Auch Construction, general contractor for the project, and the city place the total cost of repairs between $13 million and $16.5 million.

In November 2018, the city signed on to a settlement agreement with the owners of the Ottawa Towers, which are connected to the Phoenix Center garage. That agreement ended a six-year legal battle between the city and the towers owners which originally began with the potential demolition of the Phoenix Center. It also gave the city two years to bring the building into compliance.

Pontiac City Council is currently considering a $659,000 contract for architect and engineering services to repair the Phoenix Center amphithe

The design phase for how the center will be brought back up to code will take about three months, according to a timeline provided by the city. Originally, that work was supposed to take place last fall. Construction was slated to begin in February.

Pontiac City Council is currently exploring options for how to pay for the centers improvements, including funding the project from the citys general fund. The mayors office has proposed passing bonds for the project. An RFP process this winter for a public private partnership yielded no qualified results' ' according to the city.

Pontiacs Phoenix Center has become a massive concrete metaphor for what the city has experienced since the 2008 recession losing nearly eve

Pontiac currently has a $19.5 million fund balance. Council President Kermit Williams requested this week that the finance department bring estimates for the projected end of the year balance to council next week as discussion on how to pay for the Phoenix Center continues.

See the article here:
Revitalization of Pontiac's Phoenix Center moves forward with architects, engineers hired - The Oakland Press

Mr. Cobbs notable projects included the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles (1989), long that citys tallest; the World Trade Center Barcelona (1999), inspired by a boat; and the Torre Espacio (2008), a Madrid skyscraper that resembles a rocket.

In 2009, he completed the Goldman Sachs headquarters, at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, which was widely praised for its discreet elegance, and a dormitory complex at Princeton University, known as Butler College, which replicates the intimacy of the campuss gothic dormitories but in modernist form. (In recent decades, Mr. Cobb shared design credit with several of the firms younger partners.)

Mr. Cobb did not have the high profile of contemporaries like Frank Gehry or Mr. Pei. He called them formgivers and himself a problem-solver. Yet he was an architect of immense creativity, Mr. Goldberger wrote, and a major influence on the profession as an educator and mentor. Mr. Campbell said that Mr. Cobbs great intelligence and great integrity which he wielded with a gentlemanly manner were as important to his status as the buildings he designed.

Henry Nichols Cobb was born on April 8, 1926, the second of three sons of Charles Kane Cobb, an investment counselor, and Elsie Quincy (Nichols) Cobb. He traced his roots to another Henry Cobb, who was born in Kent, England, in 1596 and landed on Cape Cod in 1626. But his family wasnt wealthy, Mr. Cobb, said, and his mother went to work during the Depression to help support the family.

Still, his parents managed to take him to Europe when he was 9 a trip, he said, that began his lifelong fascination with architecture. Nine, he said, is the perfect age: You are mature enough to take a lot in, but not yet preoccupied with yourself, the way you become very shortly thereafter.

Mr. Cobb graduated from Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire in 1944, had an accelerated undergraduate education at Harvard College, graduating in 1947, and then studied at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. As an undergraduate he joined the naval R.O.T.C. on campus.

More here:
Henry Cobb, Courtly Architect of Bostons Hancock Tower, Dies at 93 - The New York Times

A British critic calls two green icons, rammed earth and Passivhaus, "architectural trickery at its most cynical."

UPDATE: Critic Phineas Harper raises serious issues about the importance of embodied carbon, or as I prefer to call it, upfront carbon emissions. When I wrote this post I reacted to his paragraph linking of Passivhaus to "greenwash" and titled the post "Passivhaus is not a cult," when he did not actually call it that.

There are many buildings and architects that we have accused of being "greenwash" over the years, the poster child being the integrated wind turbines in London's Strata tower, where the developer actually wanted to put motors on them to make them turn and look like they were doing something. We have complained about the silliness of LEED certified airports and parking garages.

Harper writes that "seeing through specious gestures like living walls and tower-top wind turbines is getting easier." It's true that almost all the building-integrated turbines are pretty much useless; we have been calling them folly for a decade. I have also questioned the contribution to sustainability of living walls, but then that's just me thinking that you should keep mud and water off walls, not build it into them.

With rammed earth, Harper complains that much of it is made with a binder, calling it "a steel-reinforced earth composite with barely less cement than concrete." Harper insists that "there is no need to build rammed earth with cement." And it is true that you can build a rammed earth wall without it. But many building codes don't allow it; water can cause it to disintegrate and it doesn't hold together in earthquakes.

Rammed earth walls also use less cement than concrete walls, as little as 5 percent, and the other 95 percent is good old local dirt instead of sand and aggregate that has been dragged for miles. I suspect also that, now that people are finally getting concerned about embodied carbon or upfront carbon emissions, they will start using other binders like lime or volcanic ash (pozzolana). Like anything else in this world, it is not black and white, but a matter of degree.

Here, Harper writes:

This is an issue we have been discussing on TreeHugger for years, even complaining that they should change the standard to take upfront carbon emissions (UCE) into account. (See the Elrond Standard.) It is also true that Passivhaus buildings were often foamy, using lots of insulations with lots of UCE.

However, to be fair, concern and understanding of UCE is a relatively recent phenomenon, and many in the business are just beginning to wrap their brain around it. None of the green building standards really take it seriously; even the toughest, the Living Building Challenge, just demands carbon offsets. Even the brand new Canadian Net Zero standard just kind of says, "Measure it, and we will figure out what to do about it later."

But while Passivhaus is an operating energy standard, developed before people understood the implications of upfront carbon, many of the architects using Passivhaus are thinking seriously about UCE. Architype is a good example; I have suggested that their thatch-covered Enterprise Centre may be the world's greenest building because of its obsession with embodied carbon.

George Mikurcik of Architype writes in response to Harper's article, acknowledging that the Passivhaus standard has been historically "agnostic about what materials are used (the embodied carbon). It could be timber, concrete, steel, foam or marshmallow." But Architype has been a pioneer in building Passivhaus buildings with low UCE materials like wood and straw.

As a practice we love working with timber and other bio-based materials. They are healthy, renewable and have small embodied energy. They are also easy to reuse or recycle at the end of their life.

He concludes:

As Greta says, Our house is on fire, and we dont have enough time to mess around with reinventing the wheel. The Passivhaus community is one that personifies the opposite of greenwashing, and it works for operational energy, comfort, build quality and closing the performance gap. So lets combine Passivhaus with an intelligent use of low impact materials to make a real difference.

Architype isn't alone in this; many architects and builders are on the embodied carbon case, and plug-ins are being developed for the big PHPP spreadsheet. As I wrote in an article for the Passivehouse Accelerator, you have to start somewhere, and I believe you need Passivhaus first.

Passivhaus First is the best shot we have at decarbonizing in a hurry. Its not perfect (I think it should measure upfront carbon emissions, and measure carbon emissions instead of energy consumption, but this takes time) but its the best weve got.

Passivhaus is not a cult, and it is not ignoring embodied carbon. People get this now.

A British critic calls two green icons, rammed earth and Passivhaus, "architectural trickery at its most cynical."

See more here:
Architects have to deal with the "wicked problem of embodied carbon." - Treehugger

Since Construction Dive began taking the pulse of offsite construction, this column has been inundated with praise for the method from self-identified modular builders.

Modular-focused firms are putting together vertically integrated business models, handing over keys to turnkey buildings and even calling the movement disruptive.

But modular builders likely cant move the needle on their own, so the focus is different for this month's column: modulars other stakeholders.

While there are over 200 modular builders in the U.S., according to the Modular Building Institute, commercial modular building only accounts for about 4% of the market.It would take sweeping buy-in from traditional contractors, designers, owners and all applicable trade professionals for modular to be defined as an industry disruption, or a major disturbance in the way things are done, as Ivan Rupnik, an associate professor at Northeastern University's School of Architecture, puts it.

Ownersmay be the most pivotal, because they conceive and fund projects, and if a build is going to be modular, it has to be modular before shovels hit the dirt, according to Laurie Robert, LEED AP and vice president of modular building specialist NRB Inc.in Canada.

While Robert also expressed the common sentiment that lack of education among owners often inhibits modular's takeoff, it's important to note that there seems to be a certain threshold for a tipping point:Once owners are convinced, they go out and actively championit.

But what about architects, construction managers and subcontractor groups such as erectors and building enclosure trades? What do they seem to agree on, and where do they differ?

To that end, Dodge Data & Analytics recently released a report that culled together thought leadership on modular and prefabrication, such as the observation from Rupnik, and recorded results from a survey on modular construction that elicited responses from more 600 AEC professionals ranging from designers to steel fabricators.

To participate, respondents had to have worked on at least one project that involved prefabrication elements or full modular construction in the last three years. Of that pool, only 15 identified as modular builders or manufacturers, and their answers were recorded separately.

As a publication thats trying to shine light on the industrys more comprehensive and often varied views of modular, it's refreshing for Construction Dive to see a vast array of tangential stakeholders weigh in on the topic.

Answers were broken out by three professions.

Who's chiming in?

Analysis shows how much they dovetail on myriad sentiments and also some of the ways in which they contrast.

General contractors that responded, for example, overwhelmingly showed support for offsite building methods. That may not be a total surprise, considering that last month we heardheavyweights that have made their name in traditional stick building, such as Mortenson and DPR, talk about benefits theyve had with offsite construction.

But its important to consider where GCs stance fits among other stakeholders in the built environment.

For one, this was the group that most forecasted increased use of full-volumetric permanent modular construction.A slight majority predicted only 25% or less of their projects being composed of mostly flat-packed or 3D modules built offsite in the next three years. But more importantly, aquarter of that group said theyll be using the method on more than half of their projects. Only 13% anticipated no involvement at all.

Out of 14 market segments, GCs found medical facilities the most promising for modular construction. Forty-one percent selected healthcare as being in the top 10 most-promising sectors, which represents a higher volume than any other category.Respondents were going out on a limb on their healthcare predictions, because that number is double the percentage of firms that ranked it as one of the top building types theyd done through modular means in the past three years.

Healthcare ranked similarly for the 219 trades representatives that responded. Like the GCs rankings, it also came in as the subs strongest category for modular growth, with 56% crowning it in their top 10 despite only 31% putting it in that class when looking back.

But the consensus of contractors and subs differ from that of designers, who stand behind multifamily as the strongest contender for increasing modular inroads. Half of the more than 200 architects and engineers polled ranked it in one of the top spots, despite only 16% saying its been one of the most prominent categories in recent years.

Multifamily is perhaps the biggest enigma of the report. Design firms, for instance, according to co-authors Stephen Jones and Donna Laquidara-Carr, are extremely positive about the role of modular on multifamily projects going forward, and the numbers back that up.

Trades, on the other hand,more frequently ranked it as being significant in the last three years yet not nearly as likely to hold such importance in the next three. GCs take seems to be that it will taper slightly but remain about the same, with only 33% saying it has been and will continue to be one of the top building types for modular.

GCs and trades are also more optimistic about modular in the hospitality segment, with it coming in second and third in that same index, respectively, for the next three years. Designers, on the contrary,anticipate the sectors use of modular slowing.

For all groups, the desire to increase productivity reigned as the most important factor influencing the move to offsite in the past three years, according to Laquidara-Carr and her teams findings, though builders and subs ranked productivity gains even higher than designers, likely because of how it impacts their workflow.

"Remaining competitive was the second-most influential factor among all three, and even more so for subs.

Interestingly, the report notes, design firms report having been most highly motivated by seeking improved cost performances (58%) out[pacing] both GCs/CMs (49%) and trades (50%).

This, the findings continue, [indicates] that architects and engineers understand both prefabrication and modular construction can have a positive influence on cost control and should lead to more development of design solutions that consciously enable both.

The rub, however, is that designers forecasted the lowest overall percentage of prefabricated assemblies usage in the coming three years. Only 16% anticipated use of prefab components such as behind-the-wall plumbing assemblies for headwalls or multi-trade assemblies such as above-the-ceiling corridor racks in hospitals, as opposed to full-volumetric room modules.

This means, the authors wrote, that designers need "to become more engaged with designing in a way that enables contractors to implement prefabrication."

Getting on the same page in the development of both prefabricated assemblies-based and module designs takes teamwork, and the culture needs to change, NRB's Robert said. "The formation of your team, including the owner, the architect, the general contractor, the modular builder and all other stakeholders," she continued, "is certainly the most important aspect of a modular project's success."

"Design firms and GCs most highly value expertise, but design firms are far more influenced by owners on their modular supplier decisions than GCs."

Donna Laquidara-Carr

Industry Insights research director, Dodge Data & Analytics

Luckily, for the sake of modular's advancement, there are many things to agree on.All three groups leaned into the idea that modular construction improves project schedule performance, with that factor resonating as the biggest driver for growth. Around half of each groups respondents believed modular reduces project costs enough to consider it a highly influential factor in stirring up demand.

But GCs didnt agree with most subs and designers on modulars penchant for improved quality as being a top driver. Only 34% believed it will play an important role, whereas half of the designers and half the subs said itd have an increasingly high level of influence.

Another area in which all groups aligned included their take on whats inhibiting modular growth the most. Owners, as noted, are still one of the biggest influencers on whether industry players toying with offsite tactics actually employ them on projects or not and thats true for all groups, with each ranking lack of owner interest a top obstacle.

KendraHalliwell, associate principal of the women-owned Icon Architecture,also previously expressed the fact that availability of modular factories, or lack thereof, can be a big determinant in whether a modular project gets greenlit. Thats even more evident for designers, according to the report, with half of that group ranking it as a huge setback to growth and GCs trailing slightly in that opinion.

"One thing I want to emphasize is, if you're doing a modular project, to visit the factory at least once a week while it's being constructed," the AIA and LEED AP architect said during a case study presentation of her firm's first modular build, the 171-unit, 129-module The Graphic Lofts, Boston's largest modular multifamily development. "We didn't plan for that, and we ended up having to make up for that. We did, however, meet three times a week sometimes through virtual meetings with the architect, contractor and modular manufacturer." Proximity to the factory is key, she said.

Trade contractors, however, dont see availability in the same light. Only about 23% considered it a problem, but that could be because trades are not as involved in sourcing suppliers, according to the report.

How players select modular construction services is another eye-opener.Design firms and GCs most highly value expertise, the report found, but design firms are far more influenced by owners on their modular supplier decisions than GCs.

Joe Beeton / Construction Dive, data courtesy of Dodge Data & Analytics

Price, however, is not a highly influential factor for selection of a modular construction supplier, for any groups using full-volume modular builds,the authors found, noting that it will likely be more of a factor as more and more suppliers enter the market.

But that's different from what respondents had to say about the supply of prefabricated components and services. "This contrasts with prefabrication, where it ranked second overall on this same list of six factors and was cited as the primary influencer by 20% of GCs/CMs," the report noted. "This may reflect the different maturity levels between these two markets, where because there are more suppliers available for prefabrication, price can be more readily used for competitive evaluation."

Yet a different take is that some builds involve a combination of both full-module rooms and single- or multi-trade prefabricated assemblies, or combine those offsite elements with traditional methods, otherwise known as hybrid builds. Robert, concurring with another common perception, espoused the value of hybrid models.

And its in hybrid or prefab work where many subs shine. While they are involved in full-volume modularization jobs as well, they often are the most heavily invested when it comes to any other jobs that require at least partial panelization or prefab components.

The study notes that trades can often make the decision to prefabricate their part of the work without significantly impacting or involving other trades." Subs seemed both the most well-versed in prefabrication when looking back at the past three years and also the most enthusiastic about the next three.

Subcontractors often have to put their workers necks on the line, so modulars purported safety benefits hold a lot of water for subs. Safety scores far higher with trade contractors because of its direct impact on their workforce, the report said.

Stay tuned to this monthly column as it takes a deeper, nuanced and sometimes more critical look at the modular movement, and feel free to email meyour thoughts, concerns and ideas on topics to cover in this series.

The Modular Monitor series is brought to you by The Modular Building Institute (MBI), the voice of commercial modular construction.

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MBI has no influence over Construction Dive's coverage within this column or other articles, and its content does not reflect the views or opinions of MBI or its employees.

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Modular Monitor: How GCs, trades and architects view offsite construction, by the numbers - Construction Dive