22-05-2020
Architecture, the pandemic and the future of design: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
Ulrik Jantzen,
Sheela Søgaard, CEO and Partner, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group.
1. How did your firm handle the lockdown?
2. What new forms of work are you experimenting with and how about the results?
“At its core, our business remains unchanged. We remain focused on producing and delivering for our clients on time and to a high quality. In terms of how we work, much has changed in that everything is now run remotely with a high reliance on digital competence and remote conferencing. With current tech-focused clients like Google, Terminus and others, we have already been integrating a lot of their digital tools for remote working and conferencing over the past years so our staff is very adept at this and as such we have maintained our productivity. From a medium- and long-term business perspective we are spending more time understanding clients’ outlook and their concerns and trying to adapt to these as well as looking for opportunities to take this inflection point we find ourselves in to think of new ways our profession can take a leadership position in shaping the values that will give form to our future.”
3. How do you think this experience will affect the future management of an architectural practice?
“We are learning a new way of working. One that perhaps will reduce our need for frequent travel. One that will teach us to be efficient remotely. We are learning new styles of management that depend on the ability to disperse assignments efficiently across team members and rely on their deliverables without as much supervision or guidance as normal. We are approaching this situation as an opportunity for growth of our leadership and BIGsters alike.”
Bjarke Ingels portrait by Ulrik Jantzen