Working together in a knot: The simultaneity and pulsation of collaboration in an early phase of building design

Construction projects are complex, and many open questions arise in the early phases of projects. Turning these questions into realistic requirements is a critical task that demands a good deal of specific information, multiple types of expertise and collaboration between designers. Knotworking is a new way to work as a group for a short period of time to accomplish a critical task in a BIM-based building process. This study focuses on the experimentation with knotworking in an early stage of a building project. A characteristic of knotworking is that continuity is connected to the object of the work at hand, not to the stability of the team. An object of activity is considered as a basic motive and purpose of human activity. The object of the design activity is here a school-community centre in central Finland. According to activity theory, an idea or a concept needs to be experimented with to become a new practice. Over a two-day session, two interdisciplinary teams of participants created alternative design solutions and evaluated them. The teams included an architect, a cost calculator, a structural engineer, a HVAC designer, a coordinator, a visualizer and a developer, and an energy specialist. The data consist of video-recordings and observations of these sessions. During the knotworking session, the participants were able to receive feedback from other design disciplines and stakeholders. Knotworking made the simultaneous exchange of information and sharing of expertise possible. Quick changes between working individually, in pairs, in small groups or in the whole group characterize the pulsating quality of working in a knot. With enabling technology and a new kind of pulsating collaboration, knotworking supports 1) creating concrete design solutions in a short period of time, 2) increasing designersÕ knowledge of the implications of their decisions on the work of their colleagues and the quality of design, and 3) easing shifts from coordinative talk to collaborative design and back.