Renaissance to digital practice: modelling contextual influences.

Digitalisation has revolutionised architectural practice. The rapid advancement of technology in the 21st century has challenged the traditional art of practice: as artificial intelligence and software developments have replaced traditional approaches to architectural practice with formulaic constructs. Whilst some contend such advancements have brought efficiency, accuracy, competition, and ethical certainty, it is proposed that it has contributed to an erosion of the essence of function of practice. Understanding, from the history of the architectural practice, what has shaped this change and the external influences which are driving a new paradigm of practice, is necessary to envision the future of architectural practice. This paper undertakes a comprehensive literature review of architectural practice from the 16th-century Italian Renaissance to the present day. Whilst technology has always influenced practice, how these advancements have been determined, through shifts in cultural and colonial dynamics, is mapped and analysed using a phenomenological approach. Practitioner interviews are used to develop a conceptual model which is subject to an expert focus group of architectural historians. The study identified five key phenomena: (1) Cross-Cultural Influences and Colonial Exchange, (2) Economic Legacies, (3) Technological Modernisation, (4) Arts and Interdisciplinary Collaboration, and (5) Historical Preservation. This study contributes to the field by providing a theoretical framework for future studies on change in architectural practice and a contextual understanding of the evolution of the digital practice.