Aspects of Virtual Master Builder

Abstract

The current processes of planning, design, construction management, and facility management are driven by the collection and communication of large quantities of knowledge, data, and intent, much of which are lost due to organizational fragmentation as well as to incompatible and inefficient information exchange media. There is a general lack of models for such intimate integration of all the relevant processes. The purpose of this paper is to present one such global model, patterned on the medieval master builder. The model proposes an open architecture and media for the representation, classification, capture, and real‐time retrieval of data, information, and knowledge in their various digital and graphic forms, to allow multiple participants to interactively access data from their perspectives. The key aspects of the virtual master builder (VMB) are described in terms of its information architecture, communication languages, software architecture, process and system components, and shareable knowledge components. The significant economic, organizational, and technological barriers to the implementation of the model are identified. The realization of the model will lead to more effective integration of all parties in the building life cycle, thus leading toward a modern day, electronic equivalent of the master builder.