This issue of Perkins&Will Research Journal is a celebratory 20th issue, which marks the publication’s 10 year anniversary—a significant milestone for the firm and the design profession.
As one of the first peer-reviewed research journals coming from the architecture and design industry, the publication has made a significant impact on our profession over the last decade. It has established a mechanism for documenting and sharing high-quality, peer-reviewed research from practice associated with the built environment, and has initiated a culture of research transparency within the design profession.
Through this journal, we have established a method for collecting, reviewing, and reporting results of rigorous research studies, aiming to find solutions to challenges that are affecting the entire design profession. And, through publicly sharing the results, we have opened up a new era for practice-based design research and initiated a culture of innovation in our profession, where transparency plays a key role.
Over the last decade, we have published 95 articles, written by 136 authors, and peer reviewed by 180 research experts from academic institutions, research organizations, public agencies, and private entities.
Beyond research results being implemented on specific design projects and to support decision-making within the firm, the studies and their results have found uses within other contexts as well over the past decade. For example, the wider design community benefits from this publication, and research results are also used by other firms. Professional organizations have used the journal to improve the knowledge base, and provide relevant, peer-reviewed research to all stakeholders involved in creating the built environment. Researchers have used the results to extend the studies and in their own research, and the articles published in this journal are often cited in other journals. The academic institutions are using this journal in their curriculum, and results are used to educate the next generation of designers, architects, planners, and researchers. Most importantly, this journal has created a precedent for high quality, rigorous research coming from the design profession, which we feel should be shared to influence and shape the future of the built environment.
This issue of Perkins&Will Research Journal includes five articles that focus on different research topics, such as the occupant well-being within work environments, a literature review focusing on shadow box design and ventilating strategies, defining future mobility principles that support livable city goals, ongoing academic and professional collaboration focusing on performance-based design, and a parametric analysis framework aimed at making multidisciplinary design explorations more methodical.
Creating new knowledge through research and development can bring immense value to any organization for which innovation is important. But, sharing the results creates a value for the entire industry and society. Building an industry-wide culture of innovation piece by piece, and fully infusing innovation into the design profession can help us address any challenges that the future might bring. With this journal, we have shared results of numerous research studies during the last decade, and will continue to help build an industry-wide culture of research and innovation in the future.
Ajla Aksamija, PhD, LEED AP BD+C, CDT and Kalpana Kuttaiah, Associate AIA, LEED AP BD+C
“The two classic sites of architectural research—academies and practices—interact in many ways, but rarely coincide as seamlessly as they have in the Research Journal produced by Perkins&Will. By adopting the academic convention of peer-review with the immediately practical selection of research topics, they have created a productive space for the discipline of architecture to evolve.” William W. Braham, PhD, FAIA, Director, Center for Environmental Building + Design University of Pennsylvania
“Architects are by nature problem solvers and innovators, and the Perkins&Will Research Journal helps to advance research in the profession by collecting results from this process and sharing them freely with the design community. This journal demonstrates that it is possible to integrate research in a design practice while peer review ensures that objective, high-quality and relevant research is published. Congratulations on the ten-year anniversary and wishing many more years to come!” Pablo La Roche, PhD, LEED AP BD+C Associate Vice President, CallisonRTKL and Professor, Cal Poly Ponoma
“The Perkins&Will Research Journal is a unique high-quality publication that offers the state-of-the-art in integration of design, technology and research. It provides information that is hard to find, but essential for any designer!” Abbas Aminmansour, PhD, Associate Professor, Illinois School of Architecture University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“I am an avid follower of the Perkins&Will Research Journal and I often recommend it to our students. The articles are well edited and relevant to the issues that matter to architects, clients, and communities: building performance, worker productivity, environmental resilience, human health, occupant well being, etc. The accessibility of this online and downloadable journal democratizes knowledge and makes it available to practitioners as well as members of the general public, who may not have access to a library. I see it as a model for how to share information among the design professions. Congratulations on your 10th year anniversary issue!” Thomas Fisher, Professor, Director of the Minnesota Design Center University of Minnesota
“The Perkins&Will Research Journal has remained for the 10 years of its existence, on the vanguard of research inquiry, and excellence, that is both practice-oriented and boundary pushing. With knowledge production of the highest order, this deeply cogent journal is a seminal resource for evidence-based and building science situated practitioners and researchers. Serving as an incredibly rich human, material, and systems-oriented resource for those looking to inculcate deep research into high level built environment investigations, we celebrate their 10th year anniversary and look forward to many more issues.” Diana S. Nicholas, NCIDQ, AIA, NCARB, LEED GA Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Design & Urbanism, Drexel University
“Since the inaugural issue, and for the past decade, the Perkins&Will Research Journal has been an indispensable resource in my knowledge portfolio. Both as reviewer and consumer of its unparalleled richness of research-driven articles, each volume offers diverse and relevant content, unique to our industry. Its value and wide accessibility serve both as a highly credible reference and catalyst for further innovation. Congratulations on 10 successful years and thank you, for continuing to push boundaries and thought-provoke!” Hilda Espinal, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, CDT, MCSE Chief Technology Officer, CannonDesign
“Perkins&Will Research Journal has ceaselessly contributed over the decade to the dissemination of some of the most innovative research projects applicable to a wide range of design challenges, helping create a more sustainable and better performing built environment.” Kyoung Sun Moon, PhD, AIA, Associate Professor, Yale University School of Architecture
“Perkins&Will’s bi-annual Research Journal is a progressive document that shares their current insight, research and ongoing studies with the design and construction community at large. This selfless sharing fosters a collective intelligence that drives the entire industry forward.” Edward M. Peck, FAIA, LEED AP, Principal, BatesForum