Disruptive Technology in Architecture

©2004 Jonathan Cohen and Associates - all rights reserved1

Architectural Practice and the Internet

Jonathan Cohen, [email protected]

Arch 132 – Professor KalayUC Berkeley12/2/04

©2004 Jonathan Cohen - all rights reserved


Jonathan Cohen, FAIA

www.jcarchitects.comwww.communication-design.net


Outline

Why the Internet is important to architects and their clients

How architects use the Internet now How they might use it in the future Trends: the single building model,

standards for data exchange, virtual organizations


Why the Internet is important to architects:

Communication is vital in our fragmented industry

Coordination and collaboration are the keys to effective project delivery

Graphic communication is especially important for describing spatial and visual ideas

Vital links between scattered bits of information


Web skills are core business skills

Web sites are the new “documents” Designers can build on expertise they

already possess :– Visualize information spatially– Create information structures– Integration and synthesis


Three-dimensional isometric diagram of a complex Web site structure. (Courtesy Dynamic Diagrams)


The Power of Networks

New ways of connecting people and information

Synchronous and asynchronous communication

Constraints of time and place are diminished


The evolution of information technology

DISTRIBUTED WEB SYSTEMS• Peer-to-peer networks• Empowerment of

employees & customers• Connecting the team -

partners & suppliers• Networked organizations• 1,000s—unlimited users

ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS• Client-server networks• Centralized

organizations• 100s—1,000s of users

MAINFRAME SYSTEMS•Limited access to

information•10s—100s of users

1960—1980s:Back office functions

Late 1980s—1990s:Internal functions

Late 1990s:External functions


New kinds of organizations

Decentralization – ability to support geographically distributed work teams

Intranets make enterprise-wide knowledge widely accessible

Extranets connect the information supply chain - producers, partners, customers

Transparency of the design process is increased Opportunity - project information architects


The Internet in Practice

Marketing Research Approvals and permitting Presentation/collaboration Training and professional education Programming/user participation Participatory planning and design Project management

http://www.co.boulder.co.us/lu/

http://www.moma.org/expansion/finalists/tschumi.html

http://www.redvector.com/web_store/

http://www.cbpp.org.uk/servlet/cbpp_search?Keywords=&Sector=BSBP&Theme_Code=&Involvement=All&Theme_ID=None&Type=Document&Description=Case+Study&Media=All&Search_Title=Case+Studies&Step1=%2Fcbpp%2Fbsbpp%2Fcase_studies.jsp&Name1=BSBPP+Case+Studies&P

http://www2.rudi.net/ppo/rea/oxpens/roxpen0.html

http://pps.org/downtownnyc

http://eos1.dcrt.nih.gov/building50/final_toc.html



Marketing Research Approvals and permitting Presentation/collaboration Training and professional education Programming/user participation Participatory planning and design Project management

http://www.cuh2a.com/flash/index.html

http://www.cyburbia.org/

http://www.co.boulder.co.us/lu/

http://www.moma.org/expansion/finalists/tschumi.html



Marketing Research Approvals and permitting Presentation/collaboration Training and professional education Programming Participatory planning and design Project management

http://www.fosterandpartners.com/

http://www.cisti.nrc.ca/irc/irccontents.html

http://www.ci.lenexa.ks.us/cityhall/planning/compplan/homepage.htm

http://www.moma.org/expansion/overview.html

http://www.aibc.bc.ca/arch-index.html


Three-tier Web computing

Thin client (browser)

Middle tier

Back end

HTML

Web server

ODBC database(Oracle, Sybase, SAP, FileMaker)

Application server


Strategic Implicationsfor the Building Industry

New relationships between service providers and clients

New ways of organizing work New modes of project delivery


The building industry

Highly fragmented Each project is a one-time collaboration of many

organizations – owner, designer, builder, subcontractor, material supplier.

Small firms serving local and regional markets. Little investment in R&D: less than 0.5 % of annual

revenue, compared to 3.7 % in manufacturing.


islands of automation

DesignCAD

VisualizationAnalysis

ConstructionScheduling

CostingStaging

OperationsFacilities

ManagementReal Estate


Construction Industry Productivity LagsProductivity Index (1990-2001)

(Constant $ of contracts / workhours of hourly workers)sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dept. of Commerce

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

110.00%

120.00%

130.00%

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Year

Labo

r Pr

oduc

tivity

Inde

x

Construction Productivity Index (1990 = 100%) Non-Farm Productivity Index (1990 = 100%)

Construction Industry

All Non-Farm Industries(includes construction)


Islands of automation

Information technology has made communication worse, not better.

Tools automate tasks but ignore process. Information remains trapped in “knowledge

domains,” behind barriers of specialist jargon, symbols and means of representation.

Document formats are based on historical paper equivalents.

Information exchange at the lowest common denominator—paper.


Design/Construction Process:

DESIGNEROWNER CONTRACTOR USER

Feas

ibility

Prog

ramming

Desig

n Pha

seAp

prov

alsPr

oduc

tion P

hase

Perm

itsBid

ding

Cons

tructi

onOc

cupa

ncy

Reno

vatio

nDe

molitio

n


3 enablers for process change

The shared building model supporting lifecycle project management

Data exchange with open standards New project delivery methods based on

shared risk and reward


single building model

The project model is a Web-shared database of information that grows as the project moves through design, construction and operations and throughout the building life cycle

Model all building attributes: – Geometry– Materials– Costs– Schedule– Energy use

Simulate construction and all building systems


single building model


4D modeling


LeasingOperations

Construction phasingScenario planning

Code checkingEgress analysisSecurity analysisDaylighting analysis

ProgrammingFeasibilityFinancing



The single building model supporting lifecycle project management

Data exchange with open standards New project delivery methods


What is interoperability?

…the dynamic exchange of information among all applications and platforms serving the entire building community throughout the life-cycle of facilities, using open, non-proprietary standards.


August 2004 NIST Report:“Cost of Inadequate Interoperability”

$15.8 billion per year! 1-2% of the industry’s revenue Distribution of cost:

– Owners/operators: $10.6 billion– Architects/engineers: $1.2 billion– General contractors: $1.8 billion– Fabricators and suppliers: $2.2 billion

Current business activities:– Manual reentry of data– Duplication of functions– Continued reliance on paper


XML - the new Web language

“Extensible” language replaces HTML with self-defining, industry-specific, data declarations.

Products, services, regulations, are all described in XML and shared between applications and across disciplines.

Internet searches are much more efficient, allowing “intelligent agents” to assemble information automatically and broker transactions.

Enables e-commerce in design and construction. Web sites replace construction documents.

XML versus HTML<html><head><title>AndreaPalladio</title></head><body bgcolor=#ffffff><center>Andrea Palladio was an Italian architect of the 16th Century.He designed many buildings that still influence architecture today</center></body>

</html>

<XML><architect><nationality>Italian</nationality><period>16th Century</period><influence>major</influence></architect></XML>


Open standards for data exchange

HTML(presentation)

XML(data)

The Internet(platform)

Java(processing)

XML describes data, not formatting<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE PARENT [<!ELEMENT PARENT (CHILD*)*><!ELEMENT CHILD (MARK?,NAME+)><!ELEMENT MARK EMPTY><!ELEMENT NAME (LASTNAME+,FIRSTNAME+)*><!ELEMENT LASTNAME (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT FIRSTNAME (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST MARK NUMBER ID #REQUIRED LISTED CDATA #FIXED "yes" TYPE (natural|adopted) "natural"><!ENTITY STATEMENT "This is well-formed XML">]><PARENT>&STATEMENT; <CHILD> <NAME> <LASTNAME>child</LASTNAME> <FIRSTNAME>second</FIRSTNAME> </NAME></CHILD></PARENT>

Styled for Web page

Styled in synthesized speech for cell phone

Styled for Palm device

Page for architect

Page for contractor

Page for owner



The single building model supporting lifecycle project management

Data exchange with open standards New project delivery methods


alternative futures for project delivery

O

A B

O

A B

O

ABFO

O

H

M ES

traditional design/build enterprise virtual company

A BO

AB


networked organizations

DESIGNER

CONTRACTOR

MATERIAL SUPPLIER

USER

OWNER

PROJECT INFORMATIONARCHITECT


networked information enablesnew kinds of organizations

Project-wide knowledge widely shared and accessible

Information from one project informs the next Support for geographically distributed work teams Process is transparent to owner, designers,

builders, suppliers, end users Centralized project information is the hub of a

networked digital building enterprise


Attributes of traditional versus virtual organizations:

Traditional - “Fordism” Virtual

Scale Mass Production Hierarchy Command and Control Large companies, vertically

integrated

Flexibility Customized Production Informal Network Cooperation, trust Small but connected

companies focused on core competencies


Virtual organizations:

Existing models:– Hollywood film production– Prato textile industry– Nike, Nokia, and “radical outsourcing”– Linux and the open source movement– The Internet itself


the MACE alliance

ARUP

LLEWELLYN DAVIES

TROUP BYWATERS & ANDERS

OWNERMACE

JOHN DOYLE CONSTRUCTION LTD.

SPEC

IALT

Y CO

NTRA

CTOR

S AN

D M

ATER

IAL

SUPP

LIER

S

a collaborative virtual organization


the opportunity:

The one who controls the project information will be at the center of the digital building process

The information architect is:– keeper of knowledge and rules– leader and coordinator– standards bearer– quality insurer– community builder

Disruptive Technology in Architecture

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