Design Transactions

Abstract

in conversation with Anja Jonkhans BIOGRAPHIESDesign Transactions asks what the future of building culture will be. It asks how new, shared computational platforms are changing our disciplines, examining how the digitisation of tools affects the way architecture is conceived designed and made. Questions arise as we enter a new era of advanced modelling, informed by new concepts of Big Data computing, cloud-based collaboration and steered robotic fabrication: What might collaboration look like in the future? How can knowledge across the design change be interfaced and fed back for a more informed and materially-sensitive practice? What is the future for automation in architecture?Today, computational design is ubiquitous in building practice; the tools of design, analysis, specification and manufacture are now primarily digital. While tools vary in sophistication and programmability, they share a common digital foundation. This makes them fundamentally open to interfacing, which, in turn, has led to the conception of a digital chain via which information is communicated, connected and extended across industry partnerships. This highly interdisciplinary vision has framed building practice for the last 15 years .Yet, despite this, the building industry remains unable to reap the benefits of technological progress. Practice remains fractured, and issues of ownership, disciplinebased silo-thinking and legal proprietary boundaries continue to obstruct meaningful sharing and innovation. This paralysis has significant consequences, including the inability to effect the urgently-needed restructuring of building culture, which has contributed to a profound loss of productivity. The construction industry is, famously, one of the least efficient industries, having hit a plateau in production growth over the last 20 years. Where construction-related spending accounts for 13%