Architecture and the Internet: Issues and Opportunities
Offfered June 18-20, 2001

The Internet is profoundly affecting every profession and every sector of the economy. For design professionals, it offers a powerful, interactive way to communicate with clients, collaborators and the public. This course is intended for design firm principals and senior managers seeking an overview of the issues they need to understand—and the skills they need to acquire—to prepare their firms for practice in the networked economy.

The course explores both theory and practical application, using lectures, panel discussions and hands-on work in the computer lab. Participants will learn how the Internet is used for project management, research, participatory design, and new business development. Topics covered include: the origins of the internet, Web site planning, design and implementation, use of graphics, CAD, GIS, and multimedia, managing project workflow with intranets and extranets, and the broad implications of the Internet for the building industry. Through case studies, guest speakers, and group exercises, this course shows design professionals how to expand their services with new communication tools and gives them the background needed to implement an Internet strategy for their firms.

Students should have basic personal computer skills on the Macintosh or Windows platforms. A session in the computer lab will introduce Web authoring with Macromedia Dreamweaver and Adobe Photoshop.

Instructor bios:

Jonathan Cohen, M. Arch, FAIA is the principal of Jonathan Cohen and Associates, Berkeley, California. The firm’s housing and mixed-use projects have won national recognition from the AIA and the Urban Land Institute. Since 1996, his seminar, “Expanding Your Practice with the Internet,” has introduced thousands of fellow design professionals to the potential of the Internet and the skills of Web-based communication. He is the author of Communication and Design with the Internet: a Guide for Architects, Planners and Building Professionals.

Jill Rothenberg, Assoc. AIA, is chief technology officer and principal with ADD, Inc of Cambridge and San Francisco. Ms. Rothenberg received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alfred University in New York and has completed the interior design program at The Boston Architectural Center. Ms. Rothenberg is the incoming Vice-Chair of the Technology in Architectural Practice committee of the AIA.

Guest speakers:

Michael J. Shiffer, Ph.D. is Director of the Urban Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He currently investigates how information technologies can better inform deliberation, decision making and public debate with a specific focus on spatial information. He teaches courses in analytic methods, emerging technologies for planning and decision support, and urban public transportation.

Jerry Laiserin, FAIA, Woodbury, NY, is an architect and strategic technology advisor to leading AEC firms and their technology providers. Jerry is a national board member of the AIA.

Katie Cacace is manager of the BuildingEnvelopes.org project with the Harvard GSD Center for Design Informatics.

Course Outline

Monday morning

Introductions

Lecture/demonstration: The Internet in practice:

Communicating with clients, partners, approvals agencies and the public
Managing workflow with intranets and extranets
The Internet as a participatory medium
Monday afternoon

Lecture/demonstration: How the Internet works

Creating and managing Web sites
Using graphics, CAD, GIS and multimedia
Networked design organizations and the project information manager
E-Commerce in the building industry

Software demo:

DreamWeaver
Photoshop
ImageReady
QuickTime VR Authoring

Guest speaker: Michael J. Shiffer Director
Urban Visualization Laboratory
University of Illinois, Chicago

Tuesday morning

Guest speaker: Jill Rothenberg
ADD Inc.
Cambridge, MA

Panel discussion: A real-world project extranet: reports from the owner, architect and contractor

Tuesday afternoon

Computer Lab session: Hands-on practice with Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop and ImageReady.

Wednesday morning

Guest speaker: Katie Cacace
Harvard Center for Design Informatics
BuildingEnvelopes.org Manager

Individual exercise: How will the Internet affect my firm/organization?
(see the final exercise sheet)

Wednesday afternoon

Guest speaker: Jerry Laiserin, FAIA

Group discussion and
wrap-up: Impact of the communication revolution on the AEC industry

Suggested reading:

Castells, Manuel, The Rise of the Network Society, Blackwell Publishers, 1996
Cohen, Jonathan, Communication and Design with the Internet: a guide for architects, planners and building professionals, WW Norton and Co, 2000
Hafner, Katie, and Matthew Lyon, Where Wizards Stay Up Late : The Origins of the Internet, Touchstone Books, 1998
Lynch, Patrick J., and Sarah Horton, Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites, Yale University Press, 1999
Sanders, Ken, The Digital Architect, John Wiley and Sons, 1996.
Shapiro, Carl and Hal R. Varian, Information Rules, A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, Harvard Business School Press, 1999

Web site for the book

Back to our Home Page