Impact of cost constraints on aesthetic ranking following Target Value Design exercises
Date
2011-07-13Metadata
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PURPOSE: Target Value Design (TVD) is a project delivery subset that shares
methodologies with Target Costing and Value Engineering, but is performed within
the context of lean construction. TVD has been shown to generate first cost savings of
approximately 20% on case study projects. A concern voiced by some architects,
however, is that TVD may produce aesthetically inferior designs. Addressing this
concern, we explore whether there is a relationship between cost and aesthetics.
METHODOLOGY: Eighteen postgraduate- level university students were asked to
design a functional wine stand using a restricted pallet of materials—Styrofoam cups
and plates and 8 1/2” x 11” sheets of paper within one hour—(a) without cost
constraints and (b) with cost constraints. The resulting wine stands were photographed
and then graphically rendered to remove confounding variables, permitting
comparisons between them. Over one hundred twenty subjects were surveyed and
asked to rank the stands according to their preferences. Ratings were then correlated
with costs using Spearman’s Rank-Order coefficient.
FINDINGS: We found there was a very mild negative correlation (rs=-0.214)
between final cost of the individual stands and their aesthetic rankings. The result
suggests that popular aesthetic preference, as measured in wine stand design, is very
slightly correlated with higher cost, and that other factors (not investigated) have a
greater influence on aesthetic rankings.
IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest that TVD does not necessarily compromise
the popular aesthetic quality of a simple product design, such as a wine stand, and
similarly, may not substantially compromise the final aesthetic of building design.
Department
Construction ScienceCollections
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