Serendipitous Explorations in Distributed Work in Parametric Design

Abstract

This study reports a case involving computational practices in architectural design to understand designers’ explorations using parametric modeling tools in collaborative work environment. The objective is to understand how parametric modeling tools enable serendipitous design solutions in a distributed cognitive system. Following an ethnographic approach, we have investigated the nature of the interactions among team members as they produce and propagate a series of design representations. We have focused on how architectural design teams manage design development processes and how teams manage serendipity as the system creates multiple alternatives in an explorative setting. The episodes presented in this paper support the argument that parametric modeling practices facilitate serendipitous discoveries at various steps by offering multiple alternatives among which designers identify solutions in an opportunistic manner.

Keywords Engineering Design, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Psychology