Experiences with a Course on Collaborative Design on Distance

In conceptual design of architectural artefacts, designers from different disciplines work together. Multi-disciplinary collaboration is required when buildings and their construction have a complex nature. If this collaboration is not effective and efficient, it will lead to the construction of buildings that clients did not want, that cost too much and that take too long to construct. Collaboration in design can take place in a physical space, but also in a distributed, or virtual environment. Virtual design teams use a range of ICT tools to support both synchronous and asynchronous communication. While these tools are designed to facilitate collaboration, the collaboration process still requires planning and organisation, which is an activity that students and professionals need to learn. In current practice there is a need for designers and design managers who have the competences to collaborate in design and to organise distributed collaboration processes.