ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines architectural research applied to academia and professional practice by contextualising ongoing research conversations and describes the influences of the neoliberal framing of research practice. Architecture is not only about what a building looks like but also about what a building does in intellectual, perceptual, and social space”. Architecture acquired a professional status during the building expansion that accompanied the first industrial era, and marked its modernisation during the mid-eighteenth century through to the late twentieth century. With economic growth came an increased demand for architects, and formal education and training became necessary to standardise the growth of the construction industry. By the 1980s, the newly found freedom of the profession faced a new challenge with the rise of neoliberalism, where changes in the political, economic and social milieu jeopardised fundamental aspects of architectural practice. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
