Although Live Projects – a form of architectural learning largely situated outside the academy and involving constructed outcomes, teamwork and client engagement - are becoming increasingly popular, they have a long history under a variety of different synonyms. This chapter will be the first attempt to consolidate the historical evidence from two different contexts in which Live Projects have evolved almost in parallel – the UK and the US. Whilst the term Live Projects is relatively new, and more frequently described as Design Build in the USA, there are examples of teaching from both geographic proximities dating back almost 100 years that illustrate a commitment to a shared set of value aspirations for an alternative education that would ultimately engender alternative forms of practice. In exploring parallel exemplar, it is possible to identify how the key characteristics of Live Projects were an attempt to create a more pedagogically as well as practically speculative space.
This chapter will subsequently consider whether Live Projects provide by their very existence a critical checklist of missing professional learning from Design Studio, such as client engagement and teamwork. Furthermore, it will examine whether the validating criterion provided by the UK’s RIBA and the US’ NAAB and NCARB necessarily imposes limitations on Live Projects or whether they provide an tacit mandate for their wider adoption across architectural education.