Abstract
Since its evolution in 1962, the Internet has provided new services for people and enriched their life and knowledge. Earlier research has shown that the architectural profession in the UK has lagged behind other businesses in adopting and using new technologies and is only slowly absorbing the new innovations brought by the Internet. This lag coincides with a slip in the architect's lead role in the design team. The research conducted at Cardiff University aims to examine how architectural practices are interacting with the Internet and to investigate any problems they are having in its use. Architectural practices in the UK were surveyed and the results confirm that practices are under-using the Internet. Architects are experiencing difficulties in using the Internet which the study has related to a number of potential causes. The paper discusses one aspect of this research, which is the use of the Internet in project design and management. The paper explains some reasons for the rare use of the Internet in design tasks and why practitioners are not certain about the potential benefit of the Internet. It makes recommendations for factors that should be targeted in order to extract more benefits from the Internet and to fully utilize it for project design and management.
Citation
Fedeski, M., and Sidawi, B. (2002) The use of the Internet by architectural practices in the UK, in Durling, D. and Shackleton, J. (eds.), Common Ground - DRS International Conference 2002, 5-7 September, London, United Kingdom. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2002/researchpapers/24
The use of the Internet by architectural practices in the UK
Since its evolution in 1962, the Internet has provided new services for people and enriched their life and knowledge. Earlier research has shown that the architectural profession in the UK has lagged behind other businesses in adopting and using new technologies and is only slowly absorbing the new innovations brought by the Internet. This lag coincides with a slip in the architect's lead role in the design team. The research conducted at Cardiff University aims to examine how architectural practices are interacting with the Internet and to investigate any problems they are having in its use. Architectural practices in the UK were surveyed and the results confirm that practices are under-using the Internet. Architects are experiencing difficulties in using the Internet which the study has related to a number of potential causes. The paper discusses one aspect of this research, which is the use of the Internet in project design and management. The paper explains some reasons for the rare use of the Internet in design tasks and why practitioners are not certain about the potential benefit of the Internet. It makes recommendations for factors that should be targeted in order to extract more benefits from the Internet and to fully utilize it for project design and management.