A Complex View From the Design Process

Building Information Modeling (BIM) includes tools, processes and technologies based on the digital documentation of a building, its efficiency, its planning, its construction and later on, its operation. Bim enables to access a wealth of information that would remain hidden in traditional processes, by generating a model in which it is reproduced as a future reality, which contains all the information regarding the project and the processes. However, composing a model from such information, following the traditional methods, leads to incompatibilities or undesired simplifications. Such incompatibilities are a result of the lack of a systemic view in the project and in its development process. Traditional science (positivist paradigm), is based on the assumptions of simplicity, stability and objectivity. In contrast the new paradigm of science (the paradigm of complexity), recognizes and accepts the complexity, instability and subjectivity in science. This study aims at identifying the interconnection between the theoretical paradigm of complexity and the design process, specifically the one that uses BIM. Therefore, we start from the hypothesis that the design process is complex and it must be modeled as such. This paper has a theoretical approach, based on bibliographic research of the topics in the epistemology of science and the design process. This is identified as major existing incompatibilities between the theoretical underpinnings of positivism and the design process. It extends the existing theoretical basis of the management construction and the design process. Future work will be able to model the design process, based on the assumptions of the paradigm in complexity.