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Essay from management paper during Architectural studies. Managing the creative sector for future integrity of applications of art and design to useful objects.
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Lee Finnerty Page; 1
Intro 3
Management Practices 3
John Howkins: Creative shift 5
Food for (Creative) Thought: Howkins and CIIC 6
Creative Industries Innovation Centre 7
Design Management 8
Hugo&Marie 9
Architect firm’s Management 9
Summary 11
Bibliography 12
Books 12
Journals 12
Electronic 13
Images 13
Lee Finnerty Page; 2
Intro
Architecture firms have become increasingly complicated with the professionalism of
health and safety, and the increased number of specialisationʼs involved in realising a
building (Kolko 2010). However management consultancies and researches like John
Howkins express the belief in a shifting of the creative sector on a global scale, towards a
“creative economy”. This will change the way firms manage individuals. Individual choice
and judgment will become more valued, and pivotal in integrating the construction and
design process back to the needs of the client (Platt & Spier 2009). As creativity and
symbolic values become coveted, the individualʼs own creative input is respected, and
thinking becomes a proper job.
Yet if this global shift is being fostered by Management consultancies1 as a step in
evolving the creative sector, what are their aims? Increased worker productivity? Industry
profit? How is this affecting management down the line? i.e. From the CIIC to the
individual and to the firms. One of the examples called upon to illustrate how this particular
zeitgeist in the creative community is cross disciplinary in all sectors of creative economy
is the design management consultancy led by artists Hugo Mario and Jennifer Sims. The
architecture firm “Make Architecture” is another whose success story revolves around the
management principles in this essay.
Management Practices
This creative industries shift affects management of architects studio and the designers
atelier. The management principles of these firms need to be more individual orientated,
as recent success stories by Make architecture firm and Hugo&Marie Design management
consultancy have indicated.
The repetitive economy, of one off innovative design, has pushed consumers too far. The
choices they have been granted are too few2, “Consumers are striking back themselves,
Lee Finnerty Page; 3
1liketheCIIC
2DuringtheIndustrialagewhere“Onesize8itsall”.
not only in the form of the D.I.Y., fair labour, and green movements, but also by simply
withdrawing, out of sheer economic necessity, from the relentless rhythms of getting and
spending that dictate our modern lives” (Almquist & Lupton 2010, p.3).
In the past Architectʼs studio, the imagination was used to overcome certain problems of
how to create what the client wants. Now however, “Having the technologies to realise
most anything we wish to do, the question is no longer ʻhow can this be madeʼ but ʻwhat
do we want to doʼ” (Brown, et al, 2010, p.3). In the creative sector Bruce Brown (2010)
suggest we have a potential crisis of “Imagination Poverty” because of this.
Architects must remain cognizant of synthesis when they plan out a design process, this is
especially relevant in todays studio environments. In which, according to Kolko (2010),
designers attempt to “organize, manipulate, and prune gathered data into a cohesive
structure […]Design is always about synthesis - synthesis of market needs, technology
trends, and business needs” (p.15). The market needs have not always been on par with
user needs, but they have to suit the users needs for architecture and design to become a
more user orientated process.
Elizbieta Kazmierczak (2003), among other researches, argue that without the user,
design cannot exist. This is what John Howkins says, in Creative Ecologies, has
happened. Mass production does not address the individual, therefore a move to a
creative economy will appeal to the user as individual design can be tailored to suit the
consumer/client 3 (Howkins 2009). We Love Inc is a studio recently started in 2008 that
operates from around the world 4. Their main goal is to integrate the user into their
processes because they see design as collaborative. More creative firms are finding this
managerial idea the best road to success.
Lee Finnerty Page; 4
2TworeportsintheUK:“Constructingtheteam”1994,(LathamReport)and“Rethinkingconstruction”1998,(TheEganreport)focussedontheneedtointegratetheconstructionprocessbacktothebene8itsoftheclients(Platt&Spier2009).
4Thisisbecauseeachofthethreemembersisinadifferentcountry.Themeaningistoaddressmoretheglobalisationandallowthemtobecomemoreinvolvedwithprojectsbybeingoutintheworld:“Wewanttobecomemoreintegratedintoourclientsbusinessprocesses.Weseedesign(inthebroadestsense)ascollaborative”(Pound2010,p.30)
John Howkins: Creative shift
John Howkins5 recently published his latest book: Creative Ecologies: Where Thinking is a
Proper Job, (2009). In his book John talks about the growing importance of creativity in
todays shifting economy. Symbolic value is being added to the service industry and in the
near future more individually attuned designs will become a reality as we enter a “Creative
Economy” (Howkins 2009). This will be quite a change for the management of Small to
Medium Enterprises (SMEʼs), and the Creative Industries Innovation Centre (CIIC) is
prepared to provide entrepreneurial mentoring to these SMEʼs in an attempt to foster
creativity in the Australian service industry (Fida 2010).
The crux of Creative Ecologies is Howkins insistence of a global shift happening, a turn
away from the current model of society: “The way economics and business has
approached (economic choices) for the past fifty years has been to focus on
one-off innovation implemented in mass production with ever lower costs
and prices. Business has seen creativity and innovation as specialist
functions. I call this the repetitive economy. We are now seeing a shift to
the creative economy where, although basic goods and services have not
diminished in absolute terms, the bulk of growth comes from their added
symbolic value” (Howkins 2009, p.10).
Production from a design point of view becomes increasingly important as we move from
mass production to symbolic value and nostalgia.
Lee Finnerty Page; 5
6DeputyChairoftheBritishScreenAuthorityandMemberoftheUnitedNationsAdvisoryCommitteeoftheCreativeEconomy
According to Howkins (2009) there has been a move in some of the developed countries
away from a manufacture industry, towards a service industry6. “In Britain,
manufacturing declined precipitously and contributed only 14 per cent to
GDP by 2007” (p.15)7. Firms and management have revolved around this service
Industry because there is no shortage of: “[...] rich, discerning consumers seeking
cultural satisfaction, and multiple businesses aiming to supply it, often using
new technologies’. In most European cities, about 50 per cent of workers
work in so-called ‘knowledge industries’ and about 10 per cent in creative
industries” (Howkins 2009, p.16). This current model of users and clients prompted by
“Mainstream Design Research” is in pressing need of revision, already consumers are
withdrawing from the rhythms of spending and getting commercialised mass produced
goods (Almquist & Lupton 2010). The house is no longer a machine for living in, in the
service age clients expect a certain level of customization that has meaning to them.
Food for (Creative) Thought: Howkins and CIIC
“[...] only through cooperative effort will the creative sector be able to create
a culture where creative thinking is respected and valued” (Fida 2010, p.30)
John Howkins gives speeches and presentations as he travels to promote his ideas and
help foster the shift to a creative economy. In this endeavor he collaborates with the
Creative Industries Innovation Centre (CIIC) to help the Australian government cultivate
creativity in the creative industries. Some of the industries CIIC broadly defines as creative
are; publishing, visual arts, architecture, and design. A member of the CIIC Advisory board,
Shane Yeend who also spoke along side John Howkins was persuasive in the fact that the
best thing governments could do to encourage creativity was mentoring, and through
collaboration we can achieve those ends (Fida 2010). John spoke alongside Shane Yeend
Lee Finnerty Page; 6
6Germanyisoneofthelastdevelopedcountriestomaintainamanufactureparexcellence(Howkins2009).
7ThisserviceIndustryisdescribedbyHowkinsunderthetitle:“TheAmericanDreamMachine”,inCreativeEcologies,2009.
about “[...] the shift in global economies from a society based upon repetition and
manufacture to a society based upon novelty and experience” (Fida 2010, p.30). The CIIC
said “while innovation is global, economic development occurs within regions” (Fida 2010,
p.30). This regional business thinking complements well with Howkins global perspective.
Creative Industries Innovation Centre
The Creative Industries Innovation Centre8 offers entrepreneurial mentoring to SMEʼs in
the form of business reviews and funding support to implement the recommendations of
those reviews. “The CIIC also assist firms in the creative industries sector to make a larger
contribution to the Australian economy” (Fida 2010, p.30).
The CIIC places emphasis on business mentoring, stating it as the best thing to
realistically support Australiaʼs creative sector (Australian Government).
Yet in a creative industry ʻbusiness mentoringʼ can only go so far and beyond that is
ʻcreative mentoringʼ. Creative mentoring is where artist like Mario Hugo and Jennifer Marie
come in, who have set up consultancies to bring together different kinds of artist to create
larger projects9.
The CIIC helps small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) improve their productivity and
competitiveness by providing professional business advisory and development services.
The Centre also builds collaboration between researchers and businesses, and assists
creative businesses to access the latest technologies and market specific information
(Australian Government).
The Innovation department has done some networking of its own to help manage:
• A comprehensive Business Review.
• Industry intelligence, workshops and networking opportunities.
Lee Finnerty Page; 7
4TheCIICwaslaunchedinearly2009
5Largerprojectsallowformorepublicity,buttheyalsoworkindividuallydependingonclientsneeds(Hugo&Marie2008)
Through networking and collaboration across the many different industries in the creative
sector, efficiencies in specialisationʼs occur as people from broader lines of thinking come
together, like Architects, Designers and Artists (Kolko 2010).
The Centre helps SMEʼs across Australia by helping them to network with specialisationʼs
that can increase their ability to organise data into a cohesive structure through design
synthesis. CIIC has a network of Business Advisers located around the country working
one on one with firms (Australian Government).
Design Management
“I still think that there’s an inherent romance in things made by hand, in
things you can pick up, hold and smell” Mario Hugo (Webster 2010, p30).
At 27 years old Mario Hugo is already cited as an influence among a generation of
designers. He spreads his ideas of his love for the craft or handmade element in design
through his consultancy he co-set up. Along with Jennifer Marie Sims they manage artist
and designers who share their love and passion for the work they make (Webster 2010).
“Even in my drawings I tend to work on found paper; I scavenge the used bookstores for
paper and tear out the flysheets in the front and back of the books. For me itʼs a ritual,
working by hand. It feels very honest” (Webster 2010, p34).
Mario Hugo set up Hugo&Marie to represent other designers. Mario started this
management idea to help other designers who have a certain degree of craft - The
characteristics they look for in designers is someone who has “… a real kind of passion
and love in the work that they make” (Webster 2010, p.32). Hugo&Marie, Like the
architecture firm “Make”10, both respect the individual input of the people they support with
firms and consultancies, “There is a shift in the role of the individual characterised by an
increase in the occupations that value and require individual choice and judgment” (Fida
Lee Finnerty Page; 8
10Makeisa8irmthatisintheRIBAJournal2006forsurvivingrapidgrowthandbeinginapositiontocarefullyrecruitonlythosetheythinkwillimprovetheirentire8irm,theirsuccessisfrommanagingtheindividual(Young2006).
2010, p.30). This cross disciplinary goal is achieved through similar management
principles that apply to design consultancies, artist studios and architect firms.
Hugo&Marie
“Hugo&Marie is an imaginative consultancy specializing in artist
management. We have the pleasure of working amongst and curating
talented leaders in a number of creative disciplines. We call ourselves by
many names - artists and art directors, illustrators and designers - but we
each share the compulsion to speak in the wonderful, nuanced vocabulary of
visual media.” Mario Hugo - Introduction to Hugo&Marie Website
Many designers are making their own books, magazines, garments, crockery set, because
designers universally share a love of crafts, a lot of Designers also create their own plates
or ceramics. This individual approach means each designer adds a unique nicety anything
they create. The designers influencing this “Creative Economy” shift grew up in a
modernised and over commercial world. Hugo Mario recalls when growing up:
“ […]sitting there with plates with Transformers all over them, or GI Joe.
The world was such a particularly commercial monster” (Webster 2010, p.32).
Mario Hugoʼs Hugo&Marie is “[...]a small agency that represents talent” (Webster 2010), a
networking agency that manages artists, and brings similar ideas together to bring larger
projects to fruition11 (Webster 2010).
Architect firm’s Management
“[…] roles for all involved (are) changing, especially for the architect” (Platt &
Spier 2009, p.21).
Lee Finnerty Page; 9
7ThiskindofnetworkingrepresentsthesamethingthathappenedwithTheovanDoesburgasheattemptedtobringartisttogethertocreateanewmovement.ThemovementVanDoesburgaimedforhoweverwasawayfromcraftsandmoretowardsmovementsthatledtowhathasbeencalledthebyhowkinsastherepetitiveeconomy(Buxton2010).
Architectural practice has become considerably more complex in the last twenty years,
and so to has the management of the firms. When many new firms experience rapid
growth it constantly leads to even quicker decline. As architecture firms won competitions
for large projects there would usually be a rush to recruit staff to fill newly appointed
positions, yet those firms may not be adapt at managing so many people (Young 2006).
“Make”, an architecture firm that recently survived its rapid growth owes its success to the
management of individual staff members, having “an overview of staffs competencies and
skills so you can bring in what you lack” (Young 2006, p.30). This firm is an emerging
example of the shifting role of the individual, where the right networking, collaboration,
individualʼs and of course a management goal towards a creative economy, firms can
better contribute to the creative sector. These are the ends the CIIC hopes to achieve in
Australia, shaping firms, then regions to evolve the creative sector and increase industry
profit (Fida 2010).
“Many more professions are involved in realising a building, and the construction industry
has become professionalised in areas such as health and safety, management training
and continuing professional development” (Platt & Spier 2009, p.21). However in the UK
there is an unanimous feeling that there is a skills shortage in the building industry and a
decline in the quality of trades. “The industry has become litigious and more
international” (Platt & Spier 2009, p.21).
Reports like the Latham and the Egan12 report, intended to reintegrate the user into the
design process, do not raise the question “How do we create better buildings and spaces,
in short, better architecture” (Platt & Spier 2009, p.22). Rather, the concern is client
satisfaction or industry profit (Platt & Spier 2009). Industry profit is more the aim for the
CIIC as they help these firms manage their workers for the coming global shift. Part of the
reviews they do is to help the firms realise individual input and creativity for a world where
increased symbolic value means increased industry profit (Fida 2010).
Industry profit is the main objective for the creative sector, and management around it will
not alter, it is a business. In a creative economy though, increased client satisfaction
Lee Finnerty Page; 1012SeeFootnoteNº2forinfoaboutthesereports
means increased industry profit. Consumers are withdrawing from our repetitive industry
(Almquist & Lupton 2010), and to draw them back in management must address a
synthesis of all factors of design (Kolko, 2010), the market needs have changed, therefore
the design process is in dire need of revision.
Summary
The architectʼs firm has changed a lot due to economic shifts, and as changes in the past
have affected the service they provide, from the Agrarian age of crafts and handmade to
the industrial revolution and with it the shift to mass production. Now as Howkinsʼ
prediction begins to take shape in the creative sector, managerial principles will shift back
to the individual, where creative thinking becomes a proper job.
Management consultancies like the Creative Innovation Industries Centre have already
begun fostering this change by helping firms manage their workers according to the
principles Howkins stated as the foundations of a new creative sector. Although this
change as far as they see is aimed at industry profit, as is always the case in a service
based industry.
Architect and design studios like Make Architecture and Hugo&Marie become more
individually orientated and can work more on a strengths vs weaknesses management
style which is beneficial for designers and architects alike. More firms are concentrating on
what each individual can add to a task based on client needs and to avoid an
overcrowding of ideas.
This movement is still itself in a design stage but with networking and collaboration, like
what we have seen in the past, the design process can become a truly beneficial tool in
individual customization, and this new ecology can become fully implemented into society.
Fin
Lee Finnerty Page; 11
Bibliography
Books
Chappell,D.,Willis,J.D.2000,TheArchitectinPractice,BlackwellScience,Malden,MA.
Howkins,J.2009,CreativeEcologies:Wherethinkingisaproperjob,UQPublishing,Melbourne.
Lupton,S.2001,ArchitectsHandbookofPracticeManagement,RibaPublications,London.
Journals
Almquist,J,LuptonJ.2010,‘AffordingMeaning:Design‐OrientatedResearchfromtheHumanitiesandSocialSciences’,DesignIssues,vol.1,no,26,pp.3‐14.
Buxton,P.2010,‘Shapingthe20thCentury’,RibaJournal,p.20.
Brown,B.,BuchananR.,DoordanD.,MargolinV.,2010,‘Introduction’,DesignIssues,vol.1,no.26,pp.3‐4.
Fida,J.2010,‘Foodfor(Creative)Thought’,Fida2010:Interior/Architecture/Design/Objects/People,vol.1,no.30,p.12.
Kazmierczak,E.2003,‘DesignasMeaningMaking:MakingThingstotheDesignofThinking’,DesignIssues,vol.1,no.19,pp.45‐59.
Kolko,J.2010,‘AbductivethinkingandSensemaking:ThedriversofDesignSynthesis’,DesignIssues,vol.1,no.26,pp.15‐28.
Platt,C.,Spier,S.2009,‘LightingtheBluePaper’,arq:ArchitecturalResearchQuarterly,vol.1,no.13,pp.21‐36.
Pound,S.2010,‘ShowingYoutheLove’Urbis,vol.1,no.55,pp.30‐31.
Webster,G.2010,‘DesignIcons:MarioHugo’,ComputerArts,vol.1,no.172,pp.30‐34.
Young,E.2006,‘TheBiggerPicture’,RIBAJournal,vol.1,no.8,pp.28‐32.
Lee Finnerty Page; 12
Electronic
AustralianGovernment:DepartmentofInnovationIndustryScienceandresearch,2009,CreativeIndustriesInnovationCentre,8April2010,http://www.enterpriseconnect.gov.au/Innovation/Pages/CreativeIndustriesInnovationCentre.aspx
Hugo,M,JenniferM,2008,HugoAndMarie,10April2010,http://www.hugoandmarie.com/
MakeArchitecture,14Aplril2010,http://www.makearch.com/
Images
TitleImageSourcedfromwww.MarioHugo.com.Hugo,M,2006,26April2010,http://www.mariohugo.com/#/?works=42
Lee Finnerty Page; 13