Architecture and new Media. On the implications of digital technologies for the design and building practice during the 1990s

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Nathalie Bredella
• Subject Area: Theatre and Media Studies
• Term: from 2012 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 221391226

The analysis of the first project phase shows how the interaction between digital tools, theoretical work and design processes changed the understanding of architectural design and building techniques during the 1990s. The subsequent project proposal is conceived as an investigation in software industry that took up insights from architecture, and functioned as an important interface between the academic and practice-oriented design approaches. I will examine the interplay between architects and software designers in order to depict the different forms of knowledge that influenced software development. Further I will focus on the various procedures that were developed in the use of digital tools. The study aims at showing the impact of architecture on software development during the 1990s, and explores the effect of Building Information Modeling (BIM) systems on the architectural practice. Finally, the question is posed, whether the methods of BIM, which were originally developed for management purposes, can function as a design tool.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants