Purpose

　The purpose of this research is to construct new tools, both practical and theoretical, to support remote collaboration. Existing tools are focused in the exchange of information; however, the collaboration of designers includes as well the debate of ideas. The target of this research is to build the instruments towards the necessary synthesis between the exchange of information and the debate of ideas.

Research Organization and Research Interests

　This dissertation is structured in three parts:

　1) The Theoretical Framework explains the characteristics of the design process, and the way design ideas are constructed and discussed.

　2) The Field Studies explore the state of the art in Internet tools for remote collaboration, identifying areas for research and development.

　3) Finally, System Design and Evaluation presents the new computational instruments constructed and tested to support the remote collaboration of designers.

Theoretical Framework

　The theoretical framework presents the advances in the fields of Management of Projects, Design Methodology and Activity Theory, and also Dynamic System Theory as a metaphoric resource.

　The systematic approach to the design process provided by the Management of Projects regulates the design activity without constraining innovation in design or construction. Management of Projects suggests the setting of a series of reviews with the all the stakeholders where the design objectives and future steps are discussed and agreed. It is important to notice that this system does not intervene at all in the creative design periods between reviews, liberating the participants from the necessity of adopting any structured approach. Considering the structure of remote collaboration, real time communication tools support the exchanges during reviews, while non-real time (asynchronic) tools support the whole process.

　Those periods between reviews are studied from the point of view of Design Methodology. Here, three approaches to the method of architectural design are presented regarding their objective of stimulating innovation.

　Christopher Alexander (Alexander and Poyner 1966) and Rodolfo Livingston (Livingston 1999) develop different views of the design, but converge in the idea that there is not one perfect solution for a design, but many. Instead of demonstrating one infallible path to the true design, they center in how to produce alternatives.

　In another view focused in collaboration, Dana Buntrock (Buntrock 2001) explains how Japanese make construction a collaborative process sustained by tacit knowledge and tacit organization: Teams do not rely on clearly specified roles, but in a more lax organization where the overlapping of responsibilities reinforces the idea of shared design objectives.

　The specific characteristics of Design are better understood when identifying that process as an activity, following the approach of Activity Theory. When several designers collaborate, the communication between them plays an important role. It is a tool used by the subjects that perform the design activity towards a shared objective. Communication is not a complement for the activity: it is a structural part of it.

　Another point is that the shared object of the design, the target, is not a static element: it evolves through time. When designers agree that an object is reached, it usually becomes a tool towards the next step, a new tool for a new object or objective. This is clearly understood for example when the Outline Design (the object of the first stage of the activity) is finished and architects face the Detail Design. In this case that Outline becomes a reference tool for the new object.

　That implied instability of the Design Activity allows us to metaphorically assimilate it to a dynamic system. In this study, we will not try to apply the conclusions and the predictive character of the mathematical Theory of Dynamic Systems. However, this assumption does not prevent us from having a creative approach: I will propose a model of architectural design activity based in a metaphoric understanding of Dynamic System concepts. The system must be understood under the following terms:

-　What are the elements of the system?

-　Is it a fluid or a discrete system?

-　How is the time evolution of the system?

-　Are there any concepts like sensitivity to initial conditions, instable trajectories or bifurcations that may be recognized?

Field Studies

　For understanding how the collaboration of designers works nowadays, five workshops were conducted: 3+1plateaus, Arrecife, Paperegg and 2RIOS as professional design activities, and ViReTi, an academic exercise of distant teaching. For the sake of clarity, in this dissertation only the last two professional activities and the academic exercise will be presented in detail. Paperegg was carried out using a Project Specific Web Page, 2RIOS was e-mail based, and ViReTi was a distant teaching project where real-time tools were used.

　10 points can be summarized from the outcome of the field studies:

　1) A specific system is needed to foster remote collaboration.

　2) Instead of reinventing existing tools we should focus on the deficient ones.

　3) It must have a clear browser for the information.

　4) The connection has to be fast.

　5) Provide minutes and on line discussions.

　6) E-mail did not encourage collaboration.

　7) It is useful a web based repository for design data and communication.

　8) In the first stages of design, images were the main support for concepts.

　9) Images need to be complemented with immediate comments on the subject (speaking images)

　10) Focus in non real time tools, in order to complement and improve the present-day schema.

System Development

　The main feature to support collaboration in architecture is to know who is doing what, and when. Remote collaboration has to be supported by understanding teammates actions, by having immediate access to the information, and also by the discussion of ideas.

　The developed system is an asynchronic communication device. Specifically speaking, it is an Internet accessible relational database where you can navigate through a three-dimensional environment. It was developed in three stages: 3DCDVisual as pre-alpha version, and MultiDCD+Visual as alpha and the current beta versions.

　The software is an interface for a relational database accessible through Internet. The application was entirely built in Java programming language (Java Development Kits 1.4 and 1.5 and also the 3 dimensional plug in Java3D 1.3). The software is a standalone application, but it supports the possibility of being embedded in a Web page (html file) as an Applet.

　The relational database used for this research was an Oracle9iDatabase, programmed using SQL language inside the Java code, with the use of the Thin driver for the Java - Oracle communication. Oracle Database manages the Internet traffic through the Oracle Net utility, as part of the package of the database management system.

　The main purpose of the software is to serve as the main communication device during the design process. It acts as a centralized warehouse for the files and images produced, and at the same time it manages in a flexible fashion the flow of information.

　The information and its changes during time are arranged in a three-dimensional environment. The location of files is a semi automatic process, where the user has a great degree of flexibility. For this reason, the system is able to support diverse approaches to the design, without imposing any constrains for the development.

　The information produced during the design activity is displayed following a sorting method based in a genetic algorithm. The purpose of the arrangement is not to search for the data by names or key words, but to be able to look immediately into the images. This is inspired in the way students hold their drawings in the walls during studio review sessions, and in the way professional practices were arranged in the past, where the main architect used to walk by the drawing tables looking directly into the working process without mediation.

　The project is presented with images (speaking images) and users (spheres as speaking entities as well). This is, as entities able to show comments and messages when picked. They are arranged in the project universe showing the history of the process, conforming a 3D model of the design activity.

　The navigation system allows users to approach to the design process from multiple perspectives. 3 main scales can be recognized:

　Whole project level: In a panoramic of the whole project, the main trend of the design process with the number of users, ideas and the discussion of them can be recognized.

　Local area interaction: A closer look into idea lines or groups of 4 or 5 ArchiPacks show the evolution of a proposed idea in the short range.

　Image level: The closest approach to an image. At this range, is possible to navigate each file by clicking the colored covers of discussion and also commented areas inside the image, retrieving all the information available in an ArchiPack.

　MultiDCD+Visual is the final name of the tested version of the system. It contains all the features introduced in the previous release, but includes several radical improvements that projected the possibilities of use of this system beyond expected requirements. The formal complete name changed to Multi-dimensional Communication Debate Visualizer.

　The new configuration allows the introduction of new dimensions to the project, besides the 3 default ones (Ideas, Level Of Detail and Timestamp). A new dimension can be created at any time during the project. The multiplicity of dimensions ensures the possibilities of the system to foster the design process over all the stages of the project, until its finalization.

System Evaluation

　For the evaluation of the system, a design exercise was proposed in two different environments. First in a professional workshop and then in a distant teaching activity.

　Cyber-Contemplation pavilion was the selected theme to foster imaginative projects. For the first proposal, the same professional team of 2RIOS was gathered again for a professional design activity. The second workshop was conducted as a continuation of the ViReTi project, a distant teaching activity.

　The general evaluation of the performance of the system was very positive. The system supported the collaboration of designers as a professional activity, and also as a teaching activity. The proposed tool supported the activity under an easy-to-understand, friendly three-dimensional environment that fostered the exchange of ideas and information through the World Wide Web.

　Filter utilities and the aspects related to speed connection can be pointed as features for redevelopment or redesign, depending on the final object of the system. In a similar direction, the possibility of implementing real-time contacts may be targeted in future developments.

Conclusions

　From those results it is possible to conclude that this investigation, based in a constructive research for system design, provided an innovative instrument in the field of architectural design. This instrument supports remote design through Internet, managing and facilitating the design activity, and capable of supporting it in all scales and stages of design. Based in the accountability of the process at a glance, the system interface provides a good understanding of the designers' interest or preoccupations, fostering the communication between participants. At the same time, it alleviates the searching of information, through a sorting algorithm that results in an easy to understand interface.

　Regarding future research, the 3D model of the design activity that the software produces could be analyzed. From there, the laws that rule the architectural design could be inferred. Those rules would be the basis for a solid structure that will reinforce the management of projects and the teaching / learning activity in the architecture field.

　Following a similar line, another course for future research is the construction of a network of design. This network should be organized as a distant teaching project based in the use of the MultiDCD+Visual among several universities. By these means, professors can be able of leading studio-type courses abroad without being obliged to travel continuously. And conversely, students can experience new didactics in their home universities.

　This dissertation pretended to construct new tools, both practical and theoretical, for the developing of design methodologies in general, and for remote collaboration of designers in particular. More than a final treatise on the subject, it must be considered as a stepping-stone.

　本論文は、インターネットにより世界中が瞬時に接続される時代に適応した設計の協働作業(リモート・コラボレーション)の在り方に関する研究である。建築の設計作業を事例にしているが、提示された手法は必ずしも建築に限定したものではなく、広くデザイン活動一般に適用可能なものである。従来の協働作業は、参画する事務所やデザイナーの間に序列があり、情報のフローが一方通行になっていたが、参画者が真に対等な立場で協働作業を行なうためには、設計の当初からコンセプトの共有やアイデアの交換がリアルタイムに行われることが望ましい。これまでは大量のデータや図像情報を高速に転送することが難しく、双方向の情報交換には困難を伴ったが、インターネットの発達により、世界規模の情報のネットワーク化が可能になっている。このウエッブを設計のツールとして活用するためには、アイデアや図象データのやりとりをデータベースとして保存し、誰がどのようなデータを何時改変したかという履歴をわかりやすく表示することが重要である。本論文は、こうした設計環境を整備しつつ、使いやすく、かつ、実務的に有用な協働設計作業用のツールについて研究したものである。

　全体は3部構成になっている。

　第1部のフレームワークは、リモート・コラボレーションの現状認識と新しいツールの開発に向けての理論的な枠組みについての検討である。

　第1章は研究を始めた動機で、第2章は研究がどのようなプロセスで進められたかについての説明である。研究は3つの段階を踏まえて進められた。

　(1)インターネットを利用したリモート・コラボレーションの機能を理解する。

　(2)その改善案を提示し、実現するために必要な手法を考案する。

　(3)新しいツールの性能を検証するためにフィールドワークを行なう。

　以上のプロセスにおいて、設計のワークショップが4回、学生に対する遠隔講義が1回、国際間で開催されている。本論ではその中から、ふたつのワークショップとひとつの遠隔講義を取り上げ、第2部でその内容について詳述している。

　第3章は、建築の設計行為における協働作業に対する分析で、デザインとコミュニケーションは一体のものとして扱うべきであるとしている。また、研究のバックグランドとなるプロジェクトマネジメントのフレームと、設計方法論、アクティビティ理論、ダイナミック・システムに関する理論的なアプローチについて言及している。

　第2部のフィールドスタディは、これまでに行ってきたワークショップと遠隔講義の内容についての説明である。

　第4章の『ペーパーエッグ』は、シカゴで行われたフォード・カルメ環境センターの国際コンペの応募案の作成の際に行われたリモート・コラボレーションの記録である。ここでは、日本とアメリカのチームがプロジェクト用に特化したウエッブページを使用してコミュニケーションを行なった。その後の検討から、ウエッブを用いたリモート・コラボレーションの可能性は確認されたが、同時に、アクセススピードの遅さや、サイトデザインや使用勝手等に問題があることが指摘されている。

　第5章の『ドス・リオス』は日本とスペインに在住するデザイナーのリモート・コラボレーションで、スペインのサラゴサで2008年に開催される万博のコンペ案である。ここでは、普通のe-mailを利用した協働作業が行われたが、その結果として、e-mailでのコミュニケーションは可能であるが、それを補うリアルタイムのツールの必要性や、図象データの重要性が確認されている。

　第6章の『ViReTi』は日本とウルグアイの学生を対象とした遠隔講義で、リアルタイムに行うために、インターネットを用いたチャットやビデオ会議として行なわれた。その結果、リアルタイムのコミュニケーションの可能性を試すことができたが、e-mailのような離散的なツールとチャットやビデオ会議のような連続的なツールの双方の特長を活かしたコミュニケーション・ツールが望ましいことがわかった。

　第3部はリモート・コラボレーションのためのシステム開発の手順についての説明である。

　第7章では、これまでのフィールドスタディの結果をふまえ、必要とされる機能をまとめている。システム開発はバージョンアップを繰り返しながら推進されたが、その各段階での問題点とその解決策について解説している。開発したソフトウェアはJava言語で書かれている。使用したリレーショナル・データベースはOracle9iDatabaseで、Javaの内部ではSQL言語を用いている。

　第8章は作成したシステムの性能に関する検証で、2種類のテストが行われている。ひとつは先の『ドス・リオス』のメンバーに機械の専門家を加えたチームによるにサイバー瞑想パビリオンの設計で、いまひとつは『ViReTi』で行った遠隔講義の続きである。両者の結果はおおむね良好で、建築のデザインの協働作業を、多次元の評価軸のもとに簡便に行なえることが実証されたが、同時に接続のスピードとフィルタ特性に難点があることが指摘された。

　第9章は研究の総括である。これまでの研究において明らかになった事項をまとめているが、建築の協働において重要なのは、〈誰が〉、〈何を〉、〈何時〉改変したかという履歴で、これらのデータに時系列上で自在にアクセスできることが肝要である。システムの動作と適応性を検証するためのテストの結果から全体を評価すると、デザインのあらゆる局面において機能的に良好で、また、参加者間のコミュニケーションもスムーズに行なわれていて、多次元のリアルタイムのデザインツールとして実用可能なレベルにあると結論づけている。

　以上要するに、本論文は、インターネットを用いたコミュニケーション環境に合致した新たなデザイン支援環境についての実証的な研究であるが、その成果を、実際のデザインツールとして開発することにより、遠隔地とのリモート・コラボレーションの可能性を拡大している。これは、建築計画、建築設計の分野において有力なツールを提供したと評価できる。このソフトは、MultiDCD+Visual(Multi-dimensional Communication Debate Visualizer)と名付けられたが、単に建築の分野のみ成らず、図象を扱うあらゆるデザイン活動、教育活動に適用可能で、かつ、きわめて容易に習得でき、その意義は極めて大きいと判断される。

　よって、本論文は博士(工学)の学位請求論文として合格と認められる。