Functional analysis enrichment - Input of the construction industry

Functional analysis, as its name suggests, is essentially a methodology implemented by a team seeking to solve a problem, less by directly providing a solution, than by specifying the terms of the problem in the form of functions to be fulfilled.

No one disputes the effectiveness of this approach. On the other hand, there are many who point to its limitations, insisting that it is intrinsically reductive of complexity.

It should already be noted that the very fact of intermediatizing the search for a solution, i.e. seeking to compensate for the lack of knowledge of the "questioners", is already mechanically a bias. But wouldn't it be utopian to believe that any situation can be directly resolved by the person who creates it? If you think about it, it would be the ultimate stage of individualism and the renunciation of community life.

Rather, the purpose of this article is to examine whether there is a middle way that would seek to improve the practice of functional analysis without denying its benefits, given its interests, which remain obvious.

To this end, the proposed approach is articulated in two stages. The starting point is to take as the subject of study the very object that is to result from a functional analysis, i.e. the artifact, the tangible solution created by the person who thought it up. It should be pointed out that this term refers not only to a physical product, but also to a service or an organization.

The first step is to situate the artifact. The aim is to clarify how it results from a balance between its beneficiary, its designer and the environment in which it is deployed. The question is to disentangle the weight of each, to distribute the role of each protagonist, and above all to specify the contribution made by all the stakeholders in this collective interaction.

The second is to determine, using the building as a point of application, the improvements to be made to functional analysis. This involves redefining what a function can be, and above all taking a closer look at the characterization of value criteria, i.e. the elements that describe function. This choice is not a restrictive one, since our living environment is in essence a purely collective construction, and is par excellence the archetypal artifact of an increasingly urban community.

The value of this approach lies in a generic taxonomy of value criteria that have not yet been reviewed from a sustainable development perspective. And this insight could put functional analysis back at the heart of the tools needed to implement genuine social responsibility for the various players in our economy.