Relationship between architects and civil engineers

VIA University College

Relationship between architects and civil engineers

Senzier Maxime

11/21/2011

Senzier Relationship between architects and civil engineers

Maxime 11/21/2011

1

TITLE SHEET

REPORT TITLE: Relationship between architects and civil

engineers

SUPER VISOR: Erling Buus Olsen

AUTHOR: Senzier Maxime

DATE/SIGNATURE: 11/21/2011

STUDYNUMMER: 163812

NUMBER OF COPIES OF REPORT: 1

NUMBER OF PAGES (à 2400 characters): 8

GENERAL INFORMATION: All rights reserved - no part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission from the author. NOTE: This thesis has been prepared as part of the training for construction manager - all responsibility for advice, instruction or conclusion disclaimed.

Senzier Relationship between architects and civil engineers

Maxime 11/21/2011

2

List of contents:

Introduction ................................................................................ 3

1.From their origins to their functions today ........................ 4

1.1.Together in the past .......................................................... 4

1.2.Beginnings of modern architects and civil engineers ........ 5

1.3.An indecisive boundary today ........................................... 5

1.4.Two different approaches .................................................. 6

2.The duo architect-civil engineer in a same project ........... 7

2.1.How they work together as a team .................................... 7

2.2.Improve the quality of this common work .......................... 7

2.3.The conflict architect-civil engineer ................................... 8

2.4.Architect, civil engineer : one person ? ............................. 9

Conclusion ................................................................................ 10

List of references ..................................................................... 11

Enclosure .................................................................................. 12

Senzier Relationship between architects and civil engineers

Maxime 11/21/2011

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Introduction

This is a report for a 4th semester assignment in the Constructing Architecture education. I will investigate the relationship between the architect and the civil engineer: their origins, their actions, their common interests, their disagreements. I chose this subject because in France, I did one year in architecture before heading to civil engineering I study for two years now and in both domains, I hear future architects denigrate civil engineers and future civil engineers denigrate architects. It seems that this problem of misunderstanding is still present after studies in all countries, but much more pronounced in France due to its historical past.

Thanks to this report, I hope to find out if what we learn about relationships in our studies reflects the reality. I also hope to better understand the association and the communication between the architect and the civil engineer, who are most of the time two main actors of an architectural achievement, to really know what to expect in my future profession. For this, I will try to answer the following questions: what is exactly the relationship between an architect and a civil engineer in a common project? Why are there two professions that are similar in many ways? How do they work together and what are the origins of their disagreements?

I decided to focus on this problem and not treat all relationships between the different actors on a building site to be sure to identify a recurring issue that I will have to face in my future profession. So I will base my analysis on the history at the time of the establishment of architects and engineers, as well as their own definition as empirical data. As my report concerns the communication, I will also use the testimony of various architects and engineers, who have kindly answered some questions, to support my thinking. These testimonies serve me first as quantitative data, before sorting them and draw the main ideas to make qualitative data that will support my argumentation. It will therefore be established as follows: In the first part, I will explain why today there are architects and civil engineers and their differences and in a second part, how they intervene together on a project, what are their sources of conflict and how to fix it, to finally conclude by answering my problem statement.

Senzier Relationship between architects and civil engineers

Maxime 11/21/2011

4

1. From their origins to their functions today.

1.1. Together in the past. During Antiquity The term “architect” has its origins as much in Greek antiquity as in Roman antiquity. The social status of the architect was not well recognized (for instance, the sculptor was placed well above the architect) so he often practiced other professions such as doctor or minister. His work was very modest; his involvement in the design was limited: he only thought the general part of the building, its influence in the ground and its general structure, in agreement with the contracting authority. He acted primarily as a site manager: he coordinated the work of teams participating in the construction and supervised the progress of work, but he also had to think about lifting machinery, etc. The architect of the classical period, in contrast to the modern architect, did not use drawings yet, except some preliminary schemes. In Greek and Roman architecture

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