From art to science : a bibliometric analysis of architectural scholarly production from 1980 to 2015
Article [Version publiée]
Résumé·s
According to recent literature on “architecture” as a discipline, practical knowledge relevant
to its process of making has decreased in importance in favor of a more academic approach.
Using data derived from Ulrich’s Periodical Directory and Clarivate Analytics’s Web of Science, this paper suggests providing empirical evidence supporting of such shift, as revealed
by an overview of the dissemination practices in architecture scholarly production between
1980 and 2015. Our results support that architecture is becoming increasingly academic, as
demonstrated by the growing proportion of articles and journals intended for scholars rather
than for professionals. We also show that architecture is increasingly global, with decreased
interest in local and/or national issues and the growing prevalence of English as a publication language. Finally, this academic focus is manifested in references cited by architectural
papers with the gradual substitution of professional and artistic oriented knowledge, for scientific approaches tied to engineering and technology.