6.3 Suspended Ceiling Design Process - Bilkent University

in many building projects. This is due to the common misconception of
some designers that design, being a creative process, cannot be planned
effectively. Even when planning is done, it is performed in an intuitive
manner based on discipline specific programs, despite the fact that
effective design collaboration necessitates planning the flow of
interdisciplinary information. Relatively little research has been made on
the management of the design process compared to production
management in construction (Formoso et al., 1998).
Figure 1.1: A Generalized Schema of Building Design Process (Adapted
from Kalay et al., 1998)
Figure 1.1 shows a generalized schema of current building design
processes. As it can be observed in the figure, architects and design
engineers (structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers) constitute the
two foremost groups of building professionals. The main activity of
collaboration of architects and engineers in any project is evaluating and
processing information and then communicating this information between
various parties. Although there is an intense flow of information in building
process, there is a lack of research to better understand and manipulate
these flows (Eastman, 1999). Thus, in current practice, the decision-
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