Many software systems eventually undergo changes to their basic architectural structure. As systems age, they often require redesign in order to accommodate new requirements, support new technologies, or respond to changing market conditions. At present, however, software architects lack tools to assist them in developing plans for carrying out such evolution. In previous research, we have deve...

Design decisions software architects make directly impact system quality. Real-world systems involve a large number of such decisions, and each decision is typically influenced by others and involves trade-offs in system properties. This paper poses the problem of making complex, interacting design decision relatively early in the project’s lifecycle and outlines a search-based and simulationba...

In this paper we present SAABNet (Software Architecture Assessment Belief network), an approach to automating the process of performing software architecture assessment. We have found that SAABNet is especially useful early in the development process when measurable assets are scarce. In this stage of development software architects have little more than their own experience to rely on. SAABNet...

ACADIA 2007 Differences in the preferred modes of representation of architects and their clients create challenges to their collaboration in the design process. Traditional twodimensional drawings such as plans, sections and elevations form the backbone of architectural representation, anchoring text labels to record relevant non-graphical information. Nominally geometric “slices” through the p...

Purpose: The purpose of the research is to answer two questions: Which factors do individual clients consider when selecting an architect for the first time? How does the importance attached to these factors vary with the procurement method? Design approach: These questions are answered in a questionnaire survey of commissioned architects for recent clients of architects who have residential pr...

This paper addresses the design of a collaborative virtual work environment for (landscape) architects. More specifically, it uses ethnographic studies of work practice for exploring the metaphor of Manufaktur as a space populated by workplaces, tools, materials, people, exchanges with the outside world, and links between these different elements. We conceive of the Manufaktur as a space, which...