Markets, professions and firms of the construction industry: The changing roles of architects in response to vertical integration

The roles and contributions of professions in the construction industry in markets globally differ from one another according to the socio-political, cultural and historical contexts they are situated in, reflecting the institutional nature of the markets themselves. The logics of market and profession compete to shape strategies and behaviours of firms and individuals. In this paper we present a comparative case study of six architecture firms in Shanghai, China, including one British firm, one Singapore firm and four Chinese firms. China has shifted from a state-commanded system to a market economy in the late 1970s, embarking on professionalising the architecture profession in the 1980s. This transition occurred concurrently with the emergence of a global market for these services and the vertical integration in the construction industry. With this background in mind, we analyse the diversified roles of architects in their collaboration with developers, planners, surveyors and builders and the competition between the profession and market logics nuanced by a bureaucratic state logic. The study sheds light on the role of professionals as actors and professional values in balancing the market values in the process of vertical integration in the construction industry. In a more general sense, we discussed the changing professional logic of architecture, its impact on the making and outcome of the built environment, and the value it can bring to an evolving structure of inter-professional collaboration in an integrating global industry. The paper ends with a brief discussion on the implications on professional education.