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What Happened to Collaborative Design?
... Nevertheless, the studies that promote the adoption of BIM technologies for improved design collaboration have been criticised for not being practically relevant (e.g. Achten & Beetz 2009). ...
... Empirical research has shown that there are problems in practice with fulfilling the promoted capabilities of use of BIM technologies (e.g. , and some researchers argue for critical and practically relevant conceptualisations of BIM technologies in design in construction (e.g. . Moreover, both 'collaboration' (Bedwell et al. 2012) and 'collaborative design' are disputed concepts, and there is no agreement in the literature about what constitutes 'collaborative design' (Kvan 2000;Achten & Beetz 2009;Wang & Oygur 2010). ...
... Despite the significant amount of literature that can be considered to fall under the 'collaborative design' theme, it is a disputed concept and there is no widely agreed definition or theory about what it is (Kvan 2000;Achten & Beetz 2009;Wang & Oygur 2010). This has negative implications on the development of ICT, which claims to support design collaboration, because the conceptual lens used to look at the nature and process of design is primarily influential on the support technology that would be deemed appropriate (Kvan 1999). ...
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is believed to enable significant efficiency improvements in interdisciplinary design in construction. This is mainly based on the rhetoric of BIM dominated by promoting its capabilities for data transactions. However, literature shows that there are problems in applying BIM technologies in practice, because their use causes unanticipated shifts in the focus and organisation of design projects. Furthermore, changes wrought by applied BIM technologies transcend the boundaries of the organisation of individual projects, and displace the previous ethos of 'professionalism' in design in construction. Consequently, there is unresolved confusion and evaluation about BIM technologies in terms of the nature and extent of the change they create. The present research aims to develop a better-informed understanding of BIM-driven change in design in construction through an empirical study of 'organising' and 'order' in BIM-enabled interdisciplinary design projects.
Using a practice-based methodology, this research focused on the interdisciplinary interactions during three projects. A practice-based methodology sees 'organising' and 'order' as continuously accomplished through the ongoing activities that are performed in practices. Therefore, the research scrutinised the interdisciplinary activities and processes which look mundane but enable 'organising', and 'order' in the studied projects. Three explanatory organisational concepts are developed through the analyses of the empirical data: 'organisational premises', 'purposeful artefact', and 'technological premises'. These concepts provide three different explanations about how 'organising' interdisciplinary design in BIM-enabled projects is accomplished through the ongoing interdisciplinary activities performed in practices. Thus, they produce a rich understanding of the complex organisational phenomena. Interdisciplinary design development is then seen as a 'continuous process of (re-)establishing a shared sense of purposefulness' among the members of a design team, which largely depends on previous shared experiences. This continuous requirement for mutual dependency does not align well with the operational characteristics of BIM technologies, which are fundamentally planned and rigid. Therefore, practitioners experience divergent views of 'organising' (i.e. and 'work') in BIM-enabled projects. The 'ordering' induced by BIM technologies appears in the interface of these different views of 'organising' (and 'work'), as it is here that practices unfold, and become directed towards one or other view. In such cases, the extent to which information modelling and design development can be prioritised is determined by the level of reliance on technology, and the level of authority of those individuals who are in control of the BIM technologies.
The practice-based understandings of 'organising' and 'order' that emerge from the analyses are used herein to refine the notions of 'design', 'design collaboration', 'use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in construction design', and 'ICT-driven change in construction design'. Thus, the practice-based methodology reveals that some of the main arguments upon which the promotional rhetoric of BIM is founded are incomplete or flawed. Through its methodological and theoretical contributions, the present research evaluated BIM-driven change in design in construction, and created an agenda for further critical and practically-relevant studies into interdisciplinary design in construction. This shows the need for further research which should re-establish the use and development of BIM by aligning it with the realities of actual practice. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
... This study will be focused on investigating the setbacks to effective design collaboration by exploring design representations in modelling through the computer tools used for information exchange. According to Achten and Beetz (2009), this implies research into all the formal approaches to making collaborative design models. ...
... The hidden nature of these error generating points creates difficulties for the designer at the receiving end of a design workflow to make useful corrections to the degraded model. Fig. 3 Overview of research spheres in collaborative design (Achten and Beetz, 2009) Export Import (Solihin et al. 2015) 1.2 DEFINITION OF TERMS ...
The implementation of BIM (Building Information Modelling) as a standard process for effective collaborative practice in the AEC-FM (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facilities Management) industries has increased the efficiency of information organization and sharing amongst industry
stakeholders. However, challenges involving software interoperability in BIM have generated interest in current research endeavours. These challenges are a result of differences in file formats from the commercial design tools used by different industry stakeholders.
The Industry Foundation Classes(IFC) were created to act as a central translator in the management of BIM models. It is a platform-agnostic open file format that is not controlled by a single software vendor or group of vendors. The IFC data model, however, is limited in its ability to preserve building data significance and meaning during an exchange process.
The purpose of this study is to examine information exchange using BIM tools with the IFC standard, identifying the changes to building information as it is shared among professionals.
A series of exchanges using IFC-certified BIM tools and architectural building components were done to assess the ability of the IFC to accurately preserve information during file transfer. Overall, the results are presented to show that limitations with IFC file transfer have greater significance beyond mere technicalities. A guide for how collaboration can be improved as an outcome of this study was presented in conclusion.
... This paves the way to a more flexible building entity that could be checked by requirements belonging to different contexts and/or actors. An important goal was to implement an effective collaboration in design (Kvan 2000;Achten 2009), and make the Collaborative design effective thanks to the explicit constraints/explanations made by different actors, etc. At the dawn of the new millennium advanced research proposed the 'polysemantic' design entity that could have multiple 'parents' at the same time (Bourreau 2020). That is, it could take on different meanings depending on the context and domain of the actor using it (please refer to " Figure 1"), or it could have multifunctional uses (Fioravanti et al., 2011;Werbrouck 2022). ...
... Achten and Beetz conducted a comprehensive review of over 300 studies, on technology-driven and collaborative design. The major problem that was highlighted is the applicability of these studies or the ignoring of the demands from practice (Achten & Beetz, 2009). On the basis of this argument, we aimed to develop an easy-to-use and affordable strategy to solve the urgent demands during the pandemic. ...
... Collaborative design paradigm studies (Kvan 2000, Achten and Beetz 2009, Fioravanti et al. 2011 turned out that to be effective the design process should have had been overcome among many problems: inconsistent data and incoherent semantic entities. The former has been faced by means of a "BIM (tool) layer", the latter by means of an Ontology representation -OWL). ...
... Amongst various technological, cultural and operational foci of BIM, collaboration is one of the most recognised characteristics of BIM, and therefore it became our main focus in developing BIM curricula for the architecture discipline. The rationales of such a focus is also supported by the on-going interest of collaborative work in the field (Kvan, 2000;Achten and Beetz, 2009) and its enabling tools, while in practice failures and losses were observed and often because of inadequate collaboration and communication. The interest by scientists was much driven by the new possibilities that internet provided for distributed work. ...
... In previous work, developments in collaborative design were classified under seven major categories. More specifically, they were subdivided in nineteen sub-categories (Achten and Beetz, 2009). This categorization was based on a literature review encompassing 324 papers from the 1983-2008 period. ...
... Network learning has a broader perspective of knowledge construction between what is considered as public knowledge, research, and best practice, i.e., knowledge of practitioners and the knowledge created by collaborative work and research [36]. Additionally, Web 2.0 technologies promoted openness and shift from the technology itself to the collaborative character of the design practices [37]. All of These challenges the implicit structure of design studio and opens up diverse opportunities such as creating direct links between learners and their professional community, addressing shortcomings in conventional studio guidance and tutor mediation, allowing informal peer-topeer exchanges. ...
This paper reports an exploratory case study on applying a blended learning environment in a studio course that introduces students to the challenges of designing spatial structures at the master studies of architectural engineering. In response to current technological advancements, changing generation, and demands of architectural practice, a model that blends conventional learning methods with online features was used to expand the design studio’s activities and foster communication, collaboration, and connectivity. Furthermore, this approach promoted the implementation of the studio curriculum that interactively combines analytical and systematic procedures with explorative design exercises, seminars, workshops, literature studies, and organized reflection, computer program demonstrations, physical model studies, generative design explorations, fabrication of small-scale prototypes, and design presentation. The effects of redesigned studio layout were evaluated based on data collected from the learning management system and the surveys conducted at the beginning and the end of the course. Obtained information and produced design artifacts demonstrate that blended studio assisted students in developing in-depth content knowledge, critical thinking, creativity, and skills by working in a stimulative, interactive and inclusive environment that better meets a new generation of design students’ needs.
Keywords: architectural engineering education; e-learning, blended learning; computer-supported collaborative work; studio design curriculum
... In previous work, developments in collaborative design were classified under seven major categories. More specifically, they were subdivided in nineteen sub-categories (Achten and Beetz, 2009). This categorization was based on a literature review encompassing 324 papers from the 1983-2008 period. ...
The issue of collaborative design has been elaborated extensively within the framework of previous CAAD–conferences. Today, an appreciation for traditional attitudes and methods can be observed, but interestingly, a mixture of approaches is also noticeable (computational techniques used in low–tech fabrication environments, for example). This allows for a round–table survey of the current state–of–the–art focused on experiences related to distant learning in the architectural curriculum. To make VDS viable, not only are technological solutions necessary, but so are social (among people) and professional (ways of behavior) ones. In this round–table we aim to identify critical factors of success (or failure).
This article explores the intersection of digital architecture, collaborative creativity, and community engagement through our conceptual framework of Collaborative Objects. By enabling a shift from user-generated content to community-generated content in architecture, this new approach promotes democratic design processes. Practical illustrations are provided through a series of public case studies—H = N Co-Doodle, H = N BLOCK, and Meta Block Linz—highlighting the versatility of the Collaborative Objects framework embedded within expanded software applications. These studies address the formal and informal consequences, opportunities, and challenges of transforming static design elements into dynamic, community driven narratives. While recognizing the challenges inherent in this paradigm shift, the article concludes by emphasizing the compelling potential for more shared, inclusive, and community-oriented design processes in the architectural field.
This paper aims to evaluate British architecture students’ peer learning experiences in informal situations, that is, outside formal timetables. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the study made a comparison between those students’ learning experiences within physical and virtual environments, to find out if there are changes, difficulties and novelties when those students were introduced to unfamiliar learning contexts. Using the theoretical lens of the community of practice, the author conducted interviews and questionnaires to collect students’ learning experiences and stories when they were engaged in those two environments, respectively. It was found that the physical design studio environment and mutual engagements within it are essential to those students’ individual learning. Therefore, even if those students learned within the virtual environment, they still tried their best to simulate a design studio atmosphere to learn as the form of a community. Another obvious issue is that students normally lack peer-to-peer support, such as architectural knowledge, IT skills and mental health, when they are engaged in virtual environments. Comparatively, those supports are easily obtained via peer learning within physical environments, especially design studios. Based on the finding, future work should determine what architectural knowledge, skills, values and attitudes students developed from the community of practice.
Digital realities, such as virtual (VR) or augmented reality (AR), can complement traditional methods of learningarchitectural design. The possibilities of mixing the real and the virtual environment, made possible by AR, wouldpromote the appropriation of the relationships between architecture and its surroundings. VR would make itpossible to confront the architectural student with different situations. The thesis aims to contribute possible usesof interactive virtual environments on which new educational methods of teaching architecture can emerge. Thetransformations in teaching methods related to Digital Technologies completely escape the teaching ofarchitecture, which remains firmly rooted in tradition. The research method that we developed consisted ofcarrying out surveys among architectural students. Furthermore, we have developed digital applications and testedthem in design studios. Finally, we have synthesized these experiences to identify the possibilities and limits ofdigital realities and virtual immersive environments used in the teaching of architecture.
Designing large scale real estate projects often requires collaboration between consultants and agencies that are located in different geographical areas. The added constraint of geographical distance to a design approach that already involves multiple participants makes design collaboration a particularly challenging task. This study hypothesizes that design collaboration could benefit from harnessing web technologies. Organizational Risk Analyzer (ORA) software was used to identify the key factors of a collaboration network in a design project located in Kolkata, India. The web enabled internet forum system used was compared with the more traditional system of collaboration using mail. The collaborative network factors like connectedness, density, diffusion, centralization degree, and the node level factors like closeness centrality, eigenvector, betweenness and Burt constraint indicate that internet forums provide a more efficient tool of collaboration than traditional mail network systems. A simulation shows that the forum network operated even in an adverse condition, for example, when the project manager, a key member of the collaboration team, was unavailable.
The opportunities provided by the introduction of IT tools into the building process have not brought yet substantial changes in building design process, which is still anchored to traditional process paradigm. That is, design phases are rigidly subdivided in “boxes”, that contain the knowledge required to related phases, while others are reciprocally separated by semantic barriers. Moreover, differently from other industrial sectors where the quality is verified by means of prototypes to be tested and improved, in construction sector the quality cannot be assured as those methodologies, because each building is, de facto, the prototype of itself. It is needed to define a new design paradigm, based on advanced methodologies and digital simulation tools, capable to predict in advance design and construction behaviors. To reach this objective, an IT simulative system based on concurrent Hybrid Actor is presented. The outcome of this approach is an optimized design process.
This article proposes a deep dive into the definitions and distinctive features of collaborative design to encourage a more precise use of the expression among design researchers and practitioners. Using a scoping review process, the article uses 75 peer-reviewed publications to find answers that identify and categorize its most fundamental features. Detailed keyword searches led to the emergence of more than 40 distinctive features. We use the activity theory framework to support the analysis of such a large amount of information. After presenting in detail the main features of collaborative design, the discussion presents three contradictions that may have hindered our collective interpretation of that team dynamic, and isolated research results from impacting authentic work practices.
In the field of design education there is a growing consensus among institutions and instructors about the pivotal role of e-learning and digital design in the future of architectural pedagogy. Departing from this observation, this study focuses on the potentialities that exist in joining multimedia, digital tools and the web together, to propose alternative educational models for design related disciplines. In order to explore and highlight relevant issues, the creation of a new Master’s Degree for Designers is utilized as a case study. The description of this program, fully delivered online and created in a virtual environment will serve as the basis for further experimentation and reflection regarding the topic of design pedagogy in the Information Age. Furthermore, it is attempted to outline the challenges faced and lessons drawn from teaching design in a format that departs completely from the traditional – physical – relation and collaboration between tutor and student.
Designing large scale real estate projects often requires collaboration between consultants and agencies that are located in different geographical areas. The added constraint of geographical distance to a design approach that already involves multiple participants makes design collaboration a particularly challenging task. This study hypothesizes that design collaboration could benefit from harnessing web technologies. Organizational Risk Analyzer (ORA) software was used to identify the key factors of a collaboration network in a design project located in Kolkata, India. The web enabled internet forum system used was compared with the more traditional system of collaboration using mail. The collaborative network factors like connectedness, density, diffusion, centralization degree, and the node level factors like closeness centrality, eigenvector, betweenness and Burt constraint indicate that internet forums provide a more efficient tool of collaboration than traditional mail network systems. A simulation shows that the forum network operated even in an adverse condition, for example, when the project manager, a key member of the collaboration team, was unavailable.
This article reports on our current explorations on systemizable tasks of architectural design and parametric
design supported by rule-based generation methods of spatial configuration alternatives to assist user-design
processes of progressive development low-cost dwellings. This exploration is part of an ongoing major
research towards an integrated planning support system for low-income housing; we called Esther, which is
focused on the development of a network-based set of tools to support logistics of self-designed /-built
dwellings life-cycle. Esther addresses the systemized collaborative work between dwellers and specialists
during the whole development cycle of dwellings.
which is an aspect of design that can benefit significantly from formalisation of design knowledge. On the other hand, working with formalised design knowledge should not impede the creativity in design by restricting the design process and limiting the freedom of manipulating design information. The research project reported in this article provides an approach to design modelling that manifests a high level of flexibility and extendibility of the formalised design knowledge. The design process is supported in this approach by tools that help identify the design rationale through type recognition and by Internet-based services that allow designers to share design models and design knowledge in a well-structured manner.
The escalating complexity of contemporary design projects has been the main reason behind the urgent demand for an innovative management approach to designing. The actual complexity of a design project results from the technical difficulty, the social difficulty, and the uniqueness of design. The technical difficulty is the logical consequence of the combination between different functions, forms, structures, procurement and financial strategies in large-scale projects. The social difficulty is inevitable because of the involvement of a large number of stakeholders and participants with competing and incommensurable objectives. The uniqueness of design is reflected in the nature of design problem, design process, and design practitioner. Most design problems are ill defined, interconnecting many factors, and always in dynamic tension with the solutions. The design process is iterative whereby the analysis is often done through synthesis. The design practitioners possess a unique competence to reconstruct the problems and reframing the solutions simultaneously. They work in knowledge intensive organizations that cannot be managed only by laying down rules and procedures, which Mintzberg calls as operational adhocracy.
This paper presents a theoretical research and intends to provoke academic discussions that bring a constructive impact to enhance design management study. Although the author is trained as an architect, this paper invites all readers to think about a new relationship between design and management which is believed to be relevant to all areas of design. The selected examples from architecture are intended to clarify the more general line of thinking.
During the past dozen years, researchers at the University of Arizona have built six generations of group support systems software, conducted over 150 research studies, and facilitated over 4,000 projects. This article reports on lessons learned through that experience. It begins by presenting a theoretical foundation for the Groupware Grid, a tool for designing and evaluating GSS. It then reports lessons from nine key domains: (1)GSS in organizations; (2) cross-cultural and multicultural issues; (3) designing GSS software; (4) collaborative writing; (5) electronic polling; (6) GSS facilities and room design; (7) leadership and facilitation; (8) GSS in the classroom; and (9) business process reengineering.
There is a distance between the idea in the imagination of a design and its
representation, communication and realisation. Architects use a variety of tools
to bridge this gap. Each tool places different demands on the designer and each,
through inherent characteristics and affordances, introduces reinterpretations of
the design idea, thus imposing a divergence between the idea and the expression
of the idea.
Design is an activity that is greatly complex, influenced by numerous factors.
The process may follow rules or established proceedings and traditions.
Alternatively, the designer may choose to explore freely with no need to
conventions. In all instances, the medium in which the exploration takes place
conventions. In all instances, the medium in which the exploration takes place
will affect the act of designing to some degree. Tools are chosen, in part, to
facilitate the chosen design process.
Most researches on Virtual Environments (VE) have focused on their use as
presentation or simulation environments. There has been inadequate research in
the use of VE for designing. It has been suggested that this tool can empower
designers to express, explore and convey their imagination more easily. For these
reasons the very different nature of VE may allow architects to create designs
that make use of the properties of VE that other tools do not offer in that way. As
yet, barely any basic research has examined the use of VE to support the acts of
designing.
This thesis examines the implications of architectural design within VE.
Perception and comprehension of spatial volumes within VE is examined by the
comparison of representations using conventional architectural design method. A
series of experiments was conducted to investigate the relative effectiveness of
both immersive and non-immersive VE by looking at the creation, interpretation
and communication of architectural design. The findings suggest why form
comprehension and finding may be enhanced within VE activity. The thesis
draws conclusions by comparing the results with conventional methods of two dimensional
depictions as they appear on paper or three-dimensional
representations such as physical models.
Large design projects, such as those in the AEC domain, involve collaboration between designers from many different design disciplines in varying locations. Existing tools for developing and documenting designs of buildings and other artifacts tend to focus on supporting a single user from a single discipline. This paper introduces DesignWorld, a prototype system for enabling collaboration between designers from different disciplines who may be in different physical locations. DesignWorld consists of a 3D virtual world augmented with a number of web-based communication and design tools. DesignWorld uses agent technology to maintain different views of a single design in order to support multidisciplinary collaboration and address issues such as multiple representations of objects, versioning, ownership and relationships between objects from different disciplines.
this paper is to present an environment which has been specifically designed for multiple ways to represent and manipulate information. Several representations, when coupled with appropriate visualization techniques, lead to opportunities for increasing understanding of AEC project characteristics. More specifically, when a numerical constraint solver (SpaceSolver) is integrated within a document-centric collaboration environment (ICC), synergies between information exchange and solution space exploration contribute very positively to the quality of projects. In particular, the ICC environment provides a framework for representing and visualizing information structures that are created during collaboration. Conceptually, an information architecture and visualization techniques to support the virtual AEC enterprise are emphasized. A plug-in architecture allows for the addition of processspecific functionality. The constraint solver SpaceSolver presents a complementary collaborative approach, with strict semantics to support decision making and conflict management. The use of solution spaces during collaborative negotiation avoids premature decisions in the design process, allows detection of conflicting project requirements at early stages of the project, and increases the designers' understanding of hidden relations between design parameters. Together, the ICC environment supports the management of an information space that, when linked to a constraint satisfaction problem, can explain important restrictions and decisions for an effective negotiation. The combination of a flexible framework with more rigid modules, such as constraint solvers, provides a useful compromise and, thus, comprehensive support for a range of AEC projects. Two recently completed construction pr...
Comparison of design knowledge generated and consumed during a product design process is very useful. Basically, design knowledge can be classified into four categories: artifact functions, artifact behaviors, artifact structures, and the causalities among structures, behaviors and functions. This paper proposes an object-oriented knowledge model to represent design knowledge associated with these categories. Comparison of design knowledge thus turns out to be the comparison of design classes with constraints. We identify the semantic relationships among design classes with constraints. The methods to determine these relationships are hereby developed. In particular, the comparison of constraints and the semantic relationships on approximate basis are investigated in this paper.
Collaborative activities are an important application of computer technology now that telecommunications infrastructure has been established to support it. There are many students in schools of architecture who are undertaking collaborative projects using the Internet and many practices who work together exchanging files and interacting on shared digital models. Software vendors are developing tools to support such collaboration. But what are we doing? What is the nature of collaboration and what are the implications for tools that support this work?
In this paper, we analyze the process of VRML 2.0 (Virtual Reality Modeling Language, Version 2.0) specification design for the deeper understanding of Internet-based collaboration. The VRML design process has the characteristics of being open to the public, geographically distributed, long-term, large-scale, and diverse. First, we examine the overall features of the design process by analyzing the VRML mailing list archive statistically. Secondly, we extract prototyping vocabulary (operational patterns) from the document change log. Thirdly, we analyze the process of proposing and agreeing with the PROTO node in detail. The results of analysis provide us with a guidance for facilitating innovation in the Internet-based collaboration.
This paper reviews a cross-section of methodological studies undertaken in architecture since the Second World War. Despite a variety of orientations, technically, conceptually and philosophically, most studies reflect an understanding of people and objects as discrete entities interacting in an passive and unilateral manner. This dominant dualist understanding is concluded to be the essential cause of the ‘implementation gap' between architectural research and practice. For the gap to close, the development and institution of a critical framework is needed which encourages researchers to acknowledge explicitly the ontological and epistomological issues associated with architectural practice, education and research. Underlying this recommendation is a dialectic appreciation of person-world interaction; one which accepts as a holistic theme for inquiry, the experiential and interpretative quality of human thinking, feeling and action.
Ontologies are an emerging paradigm to support declarativity, interoperability, and intelligent services in many areas, such as Agent-based Computation, Distributed Information Systems, and Expert Systems. Inspired by the definition of ‘ontology’, we discuss three dimensions of information that have fundamental impact on the usefulness of ontologies for information management: formality, stability, and sharing scope of information. We briefly sketch some techniques, which are suited to find a balance (in terms of cost-benefit ratio) in each of these dimensions when building and using ontology-based information systems. We characterize roles of ontology-related actors with respect to goals, knowledge, competencies, rights, and obligations. These roles allow to form ontology societies where specific mechanisms and processes can be installed to stabilize a steady state in the three dimensions discussed. The practical use of our approach is shown in the scenario of a distributed Organizational Memory architecture.
The ability of agents to learn is of growing importance in multi-agent systems. It is considered essential to improve the quality of peer to peer negotiation in these systems. This paper reviews various aspects of agent learning, and presents the particular learning approach—Bayesian learning—adopted in the MASCOT system (multi-agent system for construction claims negotiation). The core objective of the MASCOT system is to facilitate construction claims negotiation among different project participants. Agent learning is an integral part of the negotiation mechanism. The paper demonstrates that the ability to learn greatly enhances agents' negotiation power, and speeds up the rate of convergence between agents. In this case, learning is essential for the success of peer to peer agent negotiation systems.
Collaboration between designers in different disciplines is an increasingly important aspect in complex design situations, as exemplified in the aec domain. cad systems are essential for handling this complexity but current cad modelling technology is directed towards the production of a single product model. In the aec environment, many disciplines are involved, each with its own concept of the design object. Each such concept must be accommodated in any representation. This paper presents the ideas behind the representation of multiple concepts from an underlying description of a design such that the inter- and intra-discipline views of that design can be formed dynamically. These ideas are based on different functional contexts. Functional subsystems are introduced as an adjunct to design prototypes. An example shows how these functional subsystems are related to the design elements and how they allow for the formation of the various concepts. Thus the representation of the functional properties of design objects is the underlying basis for the formation of different concepts.
Virtual Design Studio students and teachers of architecture in Canada, Japan and United Arab Emirates worked on the central area of University of Baghdad and examined its main square by proposing designs ideas and projects while sharing dynamic web portal. The narrative aspect of the digital media redefines the nature of design practice by making the creative process more democratic and transparent. Communicating design progress across temporal and geographic borders we can publish it instantly and make design accessible at different stages of its development for the benefit of distant collaborators, as well as general public. Baghdad remains site of traumatic conflict. Approaching aftermath of this war, creates unique opportunity to challenge the role of students of design. Among issues raised by this studio were: While apart - we will share and design for the betterment of the future condition of man people. We will consider not only possible futures, but also importance of the tradition while constructing our proposals in hope for both peace and democracy. However, the ongoing Globalization patterns are subject to the growing reassessment by many. What is the role of the central square in the campus of University of Baghdad in the XXI century? How can architecture and new media contribute to the peace making under such a circumstance as Iraq is facing at present? These were fundamental questions that the students needed to deal with. This paper presents the dynamic collaborative environment as well as diverse Digital Democracy Wall projects formulated in this distributed situation.
As a result of reviewing existing research in the field of public participation, an on-line collaborative design system can be broken down into the following four sub-systems : the planning objectives system, the discussion system,the proposals system and the design game system. Using these systems, participants can exchange their ideas and concepts, experience the present situation and give their opinions on an interactive web site. Furthermore, in the design game system, the participants can design their park plan according to their preferences and save their design to a server database. Other participants can then access the database to review another participant?s design for purposes of comparing and getting consensus. In order to evaluate our demonstration system, we carried out anexperiment using the design game in Yamanoue community where a park project was scheduled by the local government of the area. Through the participation of the residents and university students, we were able to analyze the design process of the park design workshop in an Internet environment. In particular we were able to examine the exchanging of participates? ideas, the process they all used in creating VRML worlds of their park design and the effectiveness of VRML for plan presentation.
The Internet and its multimedia component, the World Wide Web (WWW), are the essential technological foundations, and the tools to construct cyberspace on these foundations are beginning to be created. Two of those tools are the network programming language, Java, and the 3D graphics standard for the Internet, the Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) which has the ability to support programmable behavior. This paper documents at experiment with the use of networks with Java-VRML connectivity, applying it to a collaborative system which will make it possible for multiple users to navigate and dynamically update an architectural VR environment.
The ADS Project - Advanced Design Support for the Construction Design Process - builds on the technological results of the previous COMMIT Project to exploit and demonstrate the benefits of a CAD based Design Decision Support System. COMMIT provides a system for storing knowledge about knowledge within the design process. It records design decisions, the actors who take them and the roles they play when doing so. ADS links COMMIT to an existing object-oriented CAD system, MicroStation/J from Bentley Systems. The project focuses on tackling the problem of managing design information without intruding too much on the design process itself. It provides the possibility to effectively link design decisions back to requirements, to gather rationale information for later stages of the building lifecycle, and to gather knowledge of rationale for later projects. The system enables members of the project team, including clients and constructors, to browse and search the recorded project history of decision making both during and after design development. ADS aims to facilitate change towards a more collaborative process in construction design, to improve the effectiveness of decision-making throughout the construction project and to provide clients with the facility to relate design outcomes to design briefs across the whole building life cycle. In this paper we will describe the field trials of the ADS prototype carried out over a three-month period at the Building Design Partnership (BDP) Manchester office. The objective of these trials is to assess the extent, to which the approach underlying ADS enhances the design process, and to gather and document the views and experiences of practitioners. The ADS prototype was previously tested with historical data of real project (Peng, Cerulli et al. 2000). To gather more valuable knowledge about how a Decision Support System like ADS can be used in practice, the testing and evaluation will be extended to a real project, while it is still ongoing. The live case study will look at some phases of the design of a mixed residential and retail development in Leeds, UK, recording project information while it is created. The users? feedback on the system usability will inform the continuous redevelopment process that will run in parallel to the live case study. The ADS and COMMIT Projects were both funded by EPSRC.
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