Abstract:
Effective collaboration requires access to timely and relevant information, but this is
difficult given the complexity of the architectural design process and the segmentation of
the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Effective collaboration is further
complicated by the quantity and density of the digital information generated within a
project, and the irregular adoption of technology by different team members. Consolidating
project information within Building Information Models has improved its management, but
the technology’s complexity limits who can contribute to it. This is a problem, because
team members are capable of collaborating more effectively when they can record and
reflect upon a comprehensive record of the project’s design process.
The aim of research was to identify how information technology can assist architectural
project teams to collaborate by more inclusively and comprehensively recording and
reflecting upon the design process.
To address this problem, this research proposes that the industry adopt Hyperlinked
Practice, which is the creation of a distributed cloud of interconnected information
describing an architectural project’s events, activities and digital artefacts. A set of
fundamental principles were identified that would be used to guide the design and
deployment of digital collaboration tools capable of facilitating Hyperlinked Practice. To
ensure a flexible and inclusive environment, the principles were derived from concepts
proven within the World Wide Web.
To validate these principles, their collaboration influence, potential, and industry
applicability was tested within a software prototype utilised in a university architecture
course and two thought experiments. The results from testing the software prototype
suggest that the principles are capable of influencing collaboration in a manner that
promotes the recording of the design process, and reflection upon it. The thought
experiments demonstrated that the principles provided an excellent framework for
evaluating a digital collaboration tool’s ability to facilitate Hyperlinked Practice.
Based on these results, the research concluded the identified principles of Hyperlinked
Practice were capable of facilitating a collaboration environment that would allow the
design process to be comprehensively recorded and reflected upon.
