van der Kuil, P A v d (2023) Investorenarchitektur. The planning, organisation and control of architectural quality in commercial real estate. PhD thesis, Technische Universitaet Berlin, Germany.
Abstract
Ever since the definition of private property rights, the use of that property and the buildings that were built upon provided vehicles for return on capital invested. This ongoing process has led to a growing discrepancy between buildings as cultural, social, and aesthetic artefacts and the building as a financial objective of real estate investment. In German-speaking countries, this phenomenon is often scolded with the vague and unprecise term Investorenarchitektur. This dissertation aims to understand what problems the term expresses and argues how a management strategy for architectural quality in commercial real estate would have to look like to avoid those problems. For this dissertation, architectural quality is understood as a complex interacting system of aesthetic, cultural, social, technical, and economic dimensions. To formulate a management strategy for architectural quality in commercial real estate, theories in the field of business administration, strategic quality management, general economic organizational theory as well as management of complex systems have been studied to formulate a theoretical framework for a management strategy. To this end, the method of theoretical sampling within the methodology of Grounded Theory was applied. Secondly, 79 articles in German architectural and real estate press using the term Investorenarchitektur, as well as an additional 31 international articles that cover the problematic relationship between architecture and real estate have been subjected to phenomenological analysis. The research resulted in the adaptation of three quality definitions that are to be applied in various stages of the management strategy of architectural quality in commercial real estate. In the value-based definition of architecture, the value of property rights that results out of the dynamics of real estate space markets, asset markets, capital markets and local and national economies frames the price of architecture at acceptable costs. As such, it defines the economic dimension of architectural quality. The manufacturing-based definition is the second definition that applies to architectural quality and defines the technical dimension of architectural quality. Finally, to integrate the tangible economic and technical dimensions of architectural quality into a complex holistic sum that is more than the sum of its parts, the transcendent definition of architectural quality needs to be defined. In this definition, the cultural, social, and aesthetic dimensions of architectural quality are united and combined with the economic and technical dimensions. The study of management approaches for complex systems led to the adaptation of a Dynamic Safety Model in which a complex system operates between the boundary of unacceptable performance, unacceptable workload, and economic failure. Adapted into the management strategy for architectural quality in commercial real estate, thevalue-based definition of architectural quality defines the boundary of economic failure, the manufacturing-based definition defines the boundary of unacceptable workload and finally the transcendent definition defines the boundary of unacceptable performance. The phenomenological analysis of the term Investorenarchitektur and the general debate on the relationship between architecture and real estate resulted in 158 problem statements that were allocated to 8 themes. The themes of aesthetics, missing aspiration, idiosyncrasy, and quality collateral refer to the product of architectural quality, whereas the themes of agency, competency, planning process and theory crisisrefer to the process of architectural quality. The product-related themes all relate to the neglect or avoidance of integrating the aesthetic, cultural and social dimensions into a quality strategy for commercial real estate, whereas the process-related themes uncover problems in the relationship between commercial real estate clients and design agents. The main issue in both product and process-related problems is that a mutual understanding of a defi ition of architectural quality seems to be missing. The dissertation concludes with the formulation of a management strategy for architectural quality in the form of a Planning, Organisation and Control cycle. This cycle is projected on a 5-phase management model for commercial real estate development. This model includes an architectural mission statement in the planning phase in which the value-based definition and manufacturing-based definition of architectural quality are framed by the transcendent definition of architectural quality. To subsequently organise the process of architectural quality and align the interests of clients and multiple design agents, a profit-based fee structure must replace a cost-based fee structure. Finally, the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) techniques shall enable the control of architectural quality in both its product as well as process dimensions.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Wellner, K; Pasel, R and Kurzrock, B-M |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building information modelling; business administration; failure; grounded theory; investment; manufacturing; markets; organizational theory; quality management; real estate; safety |
| Index terms: | business administration, quality management, dissertation, markets, dimension, sampling, national economy, real estate, dynamics, adaptation, commercial real estate, complex system, aesthetic, grounded theory, management strategy, building information modelling, planning process, agent, agency, artefact, property rights, methodology, real estate investment, workload, profit, strategy, private property, organizational theory, architectural quality |
| Subjects: | real estate economics, health monitoring assessment and metrics, data collection methods, business, project controls, sociology, systems engineering, information systems, management, economic analysis, research dissemination and communication, user focus, practitioner, quality assurance, factor and component analysis, theoretical framing, research methods |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Time Control, Human Resources, Design Practice, Digital Applications, Urban Studies, Procurement, Engineering Principles, Health and Safety, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here