IABSE Conference – Creativity and Collaboration
April 19-20 2017, Bath, United Kingdom
Collaborative design in a multidisciplinary architectural design
approach
Luca Sgambi
Faculty of Architecture, Architectural Engineering and Urban Planning, Université catholique de
Louvain, Belgium
Contact: [Link]@[Link]
Abstract
The architectural profession is multidisciplinary. Only few weeks in an architecture studio is
enough to be convinced of it. From the identification of a need, to the construction of a building,
the architect seeks the cooperation of a lot of experts from various disciplines, from the jurist to
the mason via the engineer, to conceive and make build. It is not so much the multidisciplinary
character of the profession of architect that is to challenge, but the consideration by the architect
of the constraints/potentialities generated by this multidisciplinarity in the early phases of design
process, and the conditions of possibility integration. In this paper the subject of teaching the
Conceptual Design in the School of Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano and Université
catholique de Louvain is dealt with.
Keywords: Design Strategy, Education, Multidisciplinarity.
1 Introduction 2 Design Strategies
The design is a highly non-linear creative and The Top-Down approach is a classic approach,
strongly multidisciplinary activity [1]. Some of the examined in detail and applied by many authors
disciplines which intervene in the design of a [3]. From the didactic point of view, it is the
building are: architectural composition, structural approach used in many multidisciplinary design
engineering, architectural technology and energy studios. In these courses, although there are
engineering. Depending on the strategy of different disciplines, the organization of the
designing, one or more disciplines can have laboratories is determined so that the technical
priority over others. Let us call the way in which disciplines intervene only in the moment in which
various disciplines are examined in detail, within the architectural design has reached an elevated
the design activity, “design path” and we will give, degree of completeness.
in this section, a possible abstract visualization.
Since technical requests are often different form
In defining the space of the design, Arielli [2] the architectural ones, the introduction of
introduces three levels of abstraction which can engineering themes (structural and energy) can
be identified with three Cartesian axes in a three- leads great changes into the original architectural
dimensional space: completeness, concreteness, idea. The result is often the failure of the design
and variants. idea and the need to pass to a variant of the
design (see Figure 1).
1
IABSE Conference – Creativity and Collaboration
April 19-20 2017, Bath, United Kingdom
structural design, it will choose a simple and clear
structure around which to develop the building. It
should be noted that also this way of proceeding
validates the idea of a serial design, where the
single discipline intervenes only when the task of
the previous ones is exhausted. A design
modification, carried out within a discipline, leads,
as in the top-down design, to non-linear cycles in
the design path.
In the abstract design space the Bottom-Up
approach is substantially the opposite of the Top-
Down approach (Figure 1), in which at first
technical problems are solved (concreteness) and
then the architectural composition of the design is
created (completeness).
Nowadays, architectural and engineering design
are creative and multidisciplinary activities. In
modern architecture, buildings are often designed
to the limit of the design knowledge of the various
disciplines which intervene during the design
phase. This often makes serial approaches
inadequate to the realization of a good design.
The multidisciplinary aspect of the design must
enter into the brainstorming stage so that
different designers can discuss different design
solutions (collaborative design) in a phase in which
completeness and concreteness of the design are
still not at an advanced level. The most effective
proposals must be examined in detail and put in
competition with one another until the definitive
design solution is reached (Figure 1).
3 References
[1] Blockley D. (1980). The Nature of Structural
Design and Safety, Ellis Horwood,
Chichester, UK.
Figure 1. Representation of Top-Down, Botton-Up [2] Arielli E. (2003). (In Italian). Pensiero e
and Collaborative design strategies. Progettazione. Milano: Bruno Mondadori.
[3] Chen, X., Gao, S., Yang, Y. and Zhang S.
An approach with a completely opposed
(2012). “Multi-level assembly model for top-
philosophy is the Bottom-Up. Even this one is an
down design of mechanical products”,
approach examined in-depth by many authors [4].
Computer-Aided Design, 44, 1033-1048.
From the didactic point of view it is the approach
used in the traditional design studios with [4] Meller, R.D., Kirkizoglu, Z. and Chen, W.
monothematic theme (interior design studio, (2010). “A new optimization model to
structural design studio, etc.). A structural design support a bottom-up approach to facility
studio, not having at its inside the skills to develop design”, Computers & Operations Research,
a valid architectural design and having to focus on 37(1), 42-49.