Good Communications in architectural practice and management Essay

Good Communications in architectural practice and management - Essay Example So what is an architect Dispensing with the usual academic recourse to etymology, an architect is simply "someone qualified to design buildings and supervise their construction." (Collins, 1991). Adding dryness and formality to this raw definition, we can further say that: "An architect produces detailed workings and drawings so that buildings are designed effectively, manages the building project according to tight specifications, negotiates and coordinates with other professionals involved in the project, prepares planning applications, ensures that damages to the landscape and environment are limited, and appraises and consents listed buildings and conservation areas according to the needs of the client" (Hobsons, 2006). To put it simply, an architect is a planner, draughtsman, technical designer, a building supervisor, contracts negotiator, bureaucrat, manager, environmentalist, and conservationist all in one. But even then, considering the number of roles that an architect needs to fulfil to high standards, there is one trait that runs through all these and that determines whether the architect will forever be dabbling in mediocrity and penury or living decently and in comfort whilst being good, or be a successful virtuoso with pen, manual or digital, designing buildings at the cutting edge of genius. That singular trait is the ability to communicate. Yes, a good to great architect must be a good communicator, for the simple reason that architecture is a form of communication, and how the architect handles this important component of the job determines to a large extent how successful the practice would be. Why do we say that architecture is communication And what do we communicate Our answers to these questions lead us to the creative answers to our first two questions. What is Communication Architecture as Communication Communication is the process of transmitting information from an individual or group to another (McCloskey, 1993). Ants do it; even the birds and the bees do it. Any creature with information finds the need to communicate it to another, and this is how things get moving in our world. The whole animal kingdom (let's not go into genetics, please) depends on communication for their existence, growth, and survival; great civilizations have come and gone because of it. So important is communications to life that a successful architectural career depends on it. The architectural profession lives and thrives on communication, because architecture in itself is an expression of ideas, a manner of transmitting information, using a combination of technical and artistic languages, a mode where the message and the medium blend into one material structure that often lives long after clients, architects, and builders have gone. An architect is not merely a designer of buildings but an interpreter of dreams, a professional artist who in a design captures visions both simple and complex. Architects are masters of technology, and by their work they transform our imaginations, making them visible for the whole world to see, admire, live in, and use. Like messages trapped in the mind that goad listeners to action, architecture traps minds and allow

CCTV Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

CCTV - Research Paper Example es will be analyzed, such as whether hidden CCTV cameras reduce security breaches based on people’s perception, the specific perceptions these people have with regards to the importance of CCTV to security, reactions of these people when in establishments that have CCTV cameras, their level of confidence regarding their security in these places, and how their attitudes have changed since the introduction of CCTV. This research report will seek to show that CCTV systems increase productivity in terms of controlling security breaches, as well as providing psychological benefits to civilians by allowing them to feel secure in places with CCTV. While CCTV systems are not physical barriers that limit access to some places or make it more difficult to commit a crime, it is a highly situational crime prevention tool (Guagnin 89). In the right situations, most people believe that they have some capacity to reduce security breaches. Although the CCTV is multi-functional, its primary utility is to arouse in the potential offender a perceptual mechanism. The perception of the offender can be changed so that if he/she commits a crime, he believes that he will be traced down. In other words, there is evidence that the majority of civilians believe that CCTV can increase the potential offender’s perceived capture risk. Assuming that the offender is behaving in a rational manner, this may de-motivate them. However, most people believe that in order for CCTV to reduce security breaches, the offender needs to be aware that there is a camera in the vicinity and that the offender needs to believe that the presence of the cameras a re enough of a risk to negate any rewards for the crime they intend to carry out (Guagnin 90). Most people interviewed did not believe that hidden cameras were any deterrent to the offenders to reduce security breaches. In fact, evidence is suggestive of the fact that, even with the installation of cameras, there is no guarantee that people will be