Ict Revisited - from Information & Communication to Integrating Curricula ?

The paper presents a longitudinal study on the iterative implementation and testing of a support tool for precedent-based design. DYNAMO—Dynamic Architectural Memory On-line—was originally conceived as an interactive workhouse to stimulate and support student and professional architects in learning from previous design experience as encapsulated by concrete design projects. Five years after its baptism of fire, the paper looks back on how DYNAMO’s role has gradually evolved from an information and communication platform to an instrument for improving curriculum integration through a process of cumulative knowledge development. After briefly recalling the underlying ideas of DYNAMO and their stepwise implementation as an operational platform, a series of case studies documents how the platform has been brought into action in different contexts—within, across and beyond architecture schools. Besides valuable feedback on DYNAMO’s prototype, these case studies have generated more general insights regarding design and design tool support, which largely transcend the platform as such.