67 chAPTeR 4 Notes on Interpretation: Analysing Architecture from the Perspective of a Refective Practitioner Birgitte Louise Hansen Defnitions This paper is about the interpretation of architecture in architectural research. It is a disciplinary discussion taking as its departure point that “what architecture is” depends on the position of the interpreter. In other words, several inter- pretations are possible. The concept of the architect – and what an architect does – refects the ontological perspective. There is not “one architect” nor “an architecture.” Instead, architecture could be seen as a number of knowledge felds, each with its own roles, responsibilities, and architectural means for an architect to use. To illustrate this point of view, a “methodological think- ing tool” will be proposed through which architecture can be analysed and understood from multifarious perspectives. The approach has a performative quality, like walking through the same building several times but in another condition, thereby seeing diferent realities. It is not about defning an absolute truth or tools to design. It is about opening doors of perception for the purpose of demonstrating the complexity of the architectural discipline mapping out possible work felds and territories of thoughts for architects. The analytical strategy was developed within the framework and research of the dissertation “Architectural Thinking in Practice.”1 Written from a refective practitioner’s perspective, the aim was to bridge academia and practice. The interpretation of architecture exposed here is as such informed by experiential knowledge developed in practice. While there is a strong methodological side to the argument made, the search to defne an analytical framework for architects is not only abstract, phil- osophical, and didactic. It is derived from interactions with people in practice who made it clear that the territory of architects is challenged in today’s world. Through liberalisation, competition from neighbouring disciplines, and a