The digital transition is changing the way architectural firms are making design. The BIM technology, which tends to become mandatory for legal and competitive reasons is both convincing because of its parametric and global modeling sides and frightening because of changes caused by the arrival of new digital tools. Indeed, our basic postulate is that the emergence of new digital tools must necessarily be followed by the emergence of new practices and new project management in design stage. This research focuses on innovative project management methods and collaborative practices allowing to facilitate the integration of new digital tools in order to create innovative practices and methods adapted to computer-assisted and collaborative architectural design. We take inspiration from agile methods and practices born in the software engineering world in the 1990s. Agile methods are innovative project management methods that focus mainly on a better reactivity. We have thus identified that a better reactivity is corroborated to a better collaboration around the understanding and repartition of design tasks. Thus, we focus in particular in this paper on elicitation of architectural intentions and refinement of design tasks in collaborative groups of students working on a BIM project. For this purpose, we have set up a collaborative matrix that students fill up by explaining together their architectural wills and intentions for this project exercise. Naturally follows a defining "tasks to be done" process, which we will detail in this paper. Keywords: BIM Á Agile methods Á Agile practices Á Collaboration Á Architectural design Á Project management Á Collaborative and digital uses Á Collaborative and digital practices
This paper describes a scientific experiment carried out in the context of the AEC in France. This research is part of the digital transition in architecture, with a particular interest in BIM technology and how to integrate it into architectural design through social sciences. Indeed, the arrival of BIM technology raises both technical and human questions. The design work is changed, the amount of work is moved upstream, but above all we see new tools, new uses, and new practices without any project management method emerging. In other fields such as industry, software engineering and HMI design, we have seen the emergence of methods that focus more on the team and the user than on the process. We find Lean, continuous improvement, or agility, a family of methods that interests us here. Our research hypothesis is that inserting agile practices alongside current business practices will integrate and exploit BIM technology and other digital innovations. To do this, we identified what the problems were with BIM technology, and selected several agile practices highlighting communication, group cohesion and customer needs identification to address them. Thus, we carry out experiments in which we test, analyze and adapt these agile practices to architectural design. This paper then describes a pedagogical experiment conducted with Master 2 students at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture of Nancy in France. In a workshop, the students had to carry out a BIM project, while they used the agile practices that we had adapted: the design matrix, the micro poker, and the standup meeting. In addition to these three practices, we took the opportunity to try agile overseeing using what we call a stand-up meeting. The objective is to validate the synergy of these practices while ensuring that they respond to our communication, group cohesion and customer needs integration issues. This experiment takes place over one week and will serve as a basis for us to prepare experiments in a professional context.
This paper is part of our research on the digital transition in architecture, and more particularly on the integration of BIM (Building Information Management) technology. Indeed, in the field of AEC in France, this transition is still ongoing and remains difficult for architects. BIM technology changes the way people work and communicate, and remains only a tool without a method behind it. His arrival then raises technical but also human questions. Our research then turns to the social sciences and project management sciences to see if the creation or adaptation of project management methods can facilitate this integration. In other fields such as industry, software engineering, or HMI design, we have seen the emergence of agile methods that focus more on design teams, and therefore communication, than on the process itself. After experimenting with several agile practices, we identified the need for a design team to be mentored by someone in the role of facilitator or coach. This article describes how we can transfer to students an agile practice called BIM-agile Coach that we experimented during a weeklong workshop.
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