On the question of leadership: the postwar Department of Education and Research at the AIA

Abstract

In 1946 the American Institute of Architects established a Department of Education and Research (E&R), under architect Walter A. Taylor. The name given the new department signaled the importance of research for architecture, and the AIA’s intended leadership role in promoting research-based architectural practice. E&R developed research policies under an advisory board and in 1959 convened a conference on research for architecture, funded by the National Science Foundation. Butthe AIA never assumed full leadership in research for architecture: The scope of the project was beyond the means of either academia or the profession, and postwar research policies remained decentralized. Although E&R played a role in directing applied research, academic institutions provedmore able to assume leadership of basic research. This history illustrates the complexity of leadership in a field that bridges academia and professional practice, as well as the importance of multiple leadership roles.