Computer aided concurrent design

Recent advances in science and technology have had a tremendous impact in design activity. The architectural design environment has been changing with the increasing demand for a rapid knowledge transfer between all the participants in the design process. The use of these technologies will lead to the development of a new design-working environment, a concurrent design process approach, where a shared understanding enhances creativity and collaboration. Computer-aided design systems help designers to fully define the shape of their design-ideas. The use of rapid prototyping techniques will enable the transformation of a geometry created during surface modelling or solid modelling into a physical three-dimensional model. Even models with complex internal geometries and small features can be easily produced. These technologies will allow not only a better management of time and costs through the design phase, but also an actual improvement in the quality of the design product. A questionnaire survey was used to investigate how these rapid prototyping technologies combined with internet facilities are applied by design practice, and how effectively they are to enhance concurrence in design. The findings suggest that design practitioners attitudes towards concurrence in design were positive but that any goodwill was impeded by a lack of knowledge in relation to the issue of rapid prototyping.