Evolving legacy: an exploratory path into uncovering and sustaining a practice's accumulated knowledge

What kind of professional knowledge helps sustain an architectural practice over time? What are the decisions and key moments that make projects happen? This research explores what constitutes critical knowledge within a practice and how this body of knowledge can be passed down when contemplating succession in creative leadership.

In 2019, Shlomo Aronson Architects celebrated fifty years of existence. A great deal of professional knowledge has been accumulated by the firm over time, which is fully known and understood by the lead designers only. As part of this research, the office acts as a case study to provide answers about the inner workings of managing projects and people, mentoring staff, and designing and growing creatively. Evidence is presented based on reflections on the practice’s design archive, the lead designers’ creative backstory, outside influences on the practice, and through informal conversations with past staff members and colleagues, all of which provide a historic perspective of the tacit and explicit knowledge held within the practice. This research offers a framework of how to consider succession by putting forward a wide range of professional knowledge and skillsets deemed pivotal when leading a practice and discussing methods of transferring this knowledge to others.