ABSTRACT
Since the early 2000s, increasing numbers of students at UK schools of architecture have been participating in live projects within the community (often referred to as designbuild projects in the USA). A live project comprises the negotiation of a brief, timescale, budget and product between an educational organisation and an external collaborator for their mutual benefit. In a live project, working practices tend towards the participatory, with academic research, individual expertise and local knowledge informing each other. This connects universities more closely to the communities with which they work, both locally and abroad. Live projects are often interdisciplinary, drawing upon specialist knowledge that is available within a university. Analysis of the Live Projects Network case studies shows that there is a lot of live project activity happening in locations neglected by conventional commercial development, such as declining cities and rural areas with scarce economic resources.
