ABSTRACT
The editors invited a global perspective on “Architecture Beyond Criticism” based on 30 years of evaluating nearly 200 buildings in Australasia and Europe. In this chapter post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is redefi ned in the context of current practice. As buildings are primarily built to live or work in, building stakeholders’ perspectives on productivity and well-being are an essential component of POE. In documenting stakeholder experiences and views the importance of objectivity in prompting perspectives and neutrality in their documentation is outlined. Experiences of critics are compared with those documented in POEs; architectural critics writing for journals, spontaneous public criticism and architect critics within three POEs. Specifi cally, the chapter considers the architecture profession’s interest in stakeholders’ needs and their opportunities for stakeholders to contribute to architecture that has largely been beyond criticism. Finally, the trend, globally, towards increased involvement of private corporations in public facilities is considered and discussed in light of the changing opportunities for POE. This chapter concludes that architectural critics’ experience of buildings can be complementary to that of other stakeholders and is therefore a valuable contribution to POE.
