Polyphonic narratives for built environment research

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to construct a series of narratives by assessing a selection of the key literature generated by Open House International (OHI) over a period of 15 years. The paper also presents a brief review of the latest developments of the journal while introducing concise observations on the articles published in this edition – Volume 45, Issues 1 and 2. Design/methodology/approach Through a classification procedure of selected special issues published by OHI since 2006, 10 issues were identified based on the currency of the issues they generated. Following the review of the editorials, the key content of more than 100 articles within these special issues, the content of this edition and relevant seminal literature, the analysis engages, through critical reflection, with various themes that echo the polyphonic nature of built environment research. Findings The analysis conveys the plurality and diversity in built environment research where generic types of narratives are established to include three categories, namely, leitmotif, contextual/conceptual and open-ended narratives. Each of which includes sub-narrative classifications. The leitmotif narrative includes design studio pedagogy, sustainable environments for tourism, responsive learning environments, affordable housing environments, diversity in urban environments and urbanism in globalised environments. The contextual/conceptual narrative encompasses architecture and urbanism in the global south and the tripartite urban performance and transformation. The open-ended narrative embraces thematic reflections on the contributions of this edition of OHI. Originality/value Constructing polyphonic narratives in built environment research based on contemporary knowledge is original in the sense of capturing the crux of the themes within these narratives and articulating this in a pithy form. The elocution of the narratives stimulates a sustained quest for re-thinking concepts, notions and issues of concerns while invigorating research prospects and setting the future direction of OHI.

Editorial

“…All authors of these issues are nonwestern. There were nine articles on urban issues (Wiedman and Wang, 2020; Zohou et al , 2020; El-Kholei, 2020a; İnce et al , 2020; Ferah, 2020; El-Kholei, 2020b; Ammar et al , 2020; Lingyan and Ming, 2020); two articles on academic research in architecture (Salama and Hurol, 2020; Hurol, 2020), three articles on memory/place/tectonic affects (Tang et al , 2020; Ghelichkhani, 2020; Aksel and Imamoglu, 2020), two articles on the issues of plurality and polyphonic approaches (Salama and Hurol, 2020; El-Ashmouni and Salama, 2020); one article on decolonialism and cosmopolitanism (El-Ashmouni and Salama, 2020); one article on parametric design (Tünger and Taşlı Pektaş, 2020); two articles on photovoltaic facilities (Krstic-Furundzic et al , 2020; Ibrahim, 2020); one article on transformation and social change (Al-Betawi et al , 2020); two articles on sustainability and cittaslow (İnce et al , 2020; Babatunde, 2020); two articles on architectural education (Rauf, 2020; Pasha, 2020); one article on conservation of built-heritage (Thirumaran et al , 2020); one article on traditional villages (Huang and Yuanyuan, 2020); one article on post-war reconstruction (Kudumovic, 2020) and one article on post-pandemic environment (Ghada and Gharib, 2020). Some articles combined double keywords.…”

Stakeholder perceptions of drivers for, and barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria

“…Shen et al (2016), amongst others, investigated sustainability performance in PPP projects in China. Based on the foregoing, Salama and Hurol (2020) asserted that awareness and training programs are needed in the field of sustainable development because it would enable the development of positive attitudes, by all parties involved, towards the environment. However, in Nigeria, there is a paucity of studies that have investigated the drivers that promote sustainability in Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects.…”