Half the group in progress

The first of three workshop days that will introduce digital design strategies and parametric thinking to Associates of White & Partners was facilitated in March in the Stockholm office. 25 participants from six different White offices took part, and will through the spring try out a number of digital tools while developing small design proposals within teams. The projects will explore parametric design thinking, analytical techniques and fabrication. The workshop is organized by Dsearch in collaboration with White R&D Building technology (Kunskapsbygget Byggteknik), with financial support from the ARQ Research Foundation.

Michael Speaks at White Arkitekter. Photo: Thomas Zaar

We were very happy to have Michael Speaks as a guest at White Arkitekter, in a lunch conversation organized by Dsearch in collaboration with White R&D. The theme was research and design in practice, and Speaks made the interesting statement that universities start to behave like companies, and large companies start to look at knowledge in a similar way as universities. He suggested that there is an urgent need to re-educate experienced architects, and that this can be accomplished by a more innovative mode of practice in addition to classical training. As a concluding remark, he stated that the only remaining value of vanguard architects is the vanguards of practice, the architects that reform the mode of practice itself.

Gradually shifting pattern developed in Grasshopper

Koggens gränd is one of Sweden´s first large scale, owner occupied apartment buildings, developed by White arkitekter through in-house management. At a very late stage, Dsearch was asked to develop a pattern to be applied on pre-cast concrete elements at the ground level of the building. The parametric principle allowed for a gradually shifting pattern, that would provide unique formal qualities by each individual entrance. Due to construction restraints the proposal was never completed, but the concept is presented in a comprehensive way in the doctoral thesis, where the particular prinicples for specialist / non-specialist collaboration devised in the project are explained.

Raimo Joss from Dsearch presenting at the network meeting

The first internal event organized by Dsearch in November 2010 was a collaboration with the White R&D Building Technology network. Facilitated in the Stockholm office, this event presented the initial aganda of the Dsearch development team, as well as provided a background to the current state of digital design strategies in practice. Special guests included Pablo Miranda and Åsmund Gamlesater from Aedas R&D, and Gustav Fagerström from UN Studio.

Since August 2010 I am the director of Dsearch, a recently established environment for digital design and development within White Arkitekter AB. The aim is to continuously develop methodology and design tools in order to ensure that White retains a high international standard in regards to project design and implementation. This is achieved through the formulation of strategies, independent method development and direct support in projects. The internal Dsearch network allows the competences present within White to converge in order to generate new knowledge within the field of digital design, and disseminate it throughout the organisation. The external network of Dsearch is part of an international community with a high degree of knowledge sharing within the realm of contemporary digital methodology, which will affect our design processes and the architecture we create in the future.

With ten offices in Sweden and Denmark White is one of the largest firms in Scandinavia. The strong focus on research & development with project integration is a major reason why I took on this challenge. We are currently operating primarily internally, but we are also setting up an external network for future collaboration and exchanges of ideas. If you are interested in what we are up to, please contact me at jonas.runberger[at]white.se.