| An interpretative view develops original theory about architectural design practices, based on naturalistic observations recorded during the construction phase in Hong Kong. The Siu Ho Wan project commences work in 1995 to build the new airport's passenger train depot, integrating architecture and permanent way (railroad) engineering.; Transformed coastal profiles provide land to relocate the international airport with cross-territory ground transportation links from the central city. The political ecology of massive landscape reconstruction reorganizes the geo-cultural image of the Territory, mirroring British colonial Hong Kong's impending transfer to Chinese sovereignty.; My fieldwork research develops theoretical understanding, from the inside, of how architectural design management works on site. The site meeting brings together diverse communities of practice within a soft-technology environment set by the building contract. Interpretation of micro-social interactions among designer managers at the site office translates into views of active social structuration, operating at transnational scale.; The critical nexus where conceptual design moves into production highlights issues in environmental design theory. The airport core projects participate in globalized production systems to manufacture prototyped architectural componentry for assembly in place at Siu Ho Wan, an isolated sea-reclamation site. Keeping pace with the builder's work under fast track project delivery, the design managers develop the detailed architectural plan through ‘emergent design’ processes. Externalities arise, shifting project boundaries or interfering with the physical work. Negotiations at site meetings socially construct an understanding of the project's societal, material and technical contexts of production, for incorporation into fabrication shop-drawings. The local knowledge discovered from situated learning on site allows the project team to implement the architectural plan in building the train depot from the ground up.; Analysis of design management events in site meetings illuminates the character of project management's knowledge management work as organizational learning. In the site meeting's social dynamics, multi-disciplinary design managers interactively construct expert knowledge to promote the transition from plan into built architecture. |
