Abstract
Actors coordinate their cooperative efforts by acting on the evidence of work previously accomplished. Based on a field study this article introduces the concept of stigmergy to the analysis of coordinative practices in the building process. It distinguishes between practices of stigmergy, articulation work and awareness practices. Stigmergy is understood as coordination achieved by acting directly on the evidence of work previously accomplished by others. The article provides descriptions of stigmergy in the building process i.e. in design as well as construction work. It seeks to (1) introduce the concept of stigmergy to CSCW, (2) to delimit this concept in regard to other concepts of coordination such as articulation work and awareness and (3) to provide descriptions of practices of stigmergy in the building process and, in this capacity, to help explain how complex large-scale cooperative work is coordinated.
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Notes
Building services include e.g. electricity, ventilation, sanitation, heating and cooling and etc.
Grassé developed the concept of stigmergy during his study of termites. However, it has since been used and applied to other groups of social insects (e.g. Wilson 1975), not least in the study of ants (e.g. Hölldobler and Wilson 1994). Over the last decade or so the concept of stigmergy has been introduced to the field of telecommunication especially in connection with the development of algorithms for network traffic, these algorithms are sometimes termed ‘ant algorithms’ (e.g. White and Pagurek 1998), and to the field of robotics (e.g. Dorigo et al. 2000).
This must be a discussion for the field of entomology, rather than the field of CSCW, and consequently we shall refrain from forming an opinion on the subject.
Please keep in mind that although we are now highlighting practices of stigmergy, articulation work in e.g. meetings, emails and phone calls is just as important for the coordination of the building process.
In the last 30 years or so, computers have become a prominent tool in the design process, and we speak of Computer Aided Design (CAD) in the context of architectural work and construction. Architects, engineers and other specialists create, share and exchange CAD files in order to be able to coordinate their cooperative efforts in regard to designing a building. The files are shared by the use of a repository on a server that is accessed with a web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. Here the latest versions of the CAD files pertaining to the design of the building are stored and accessed by all the members of the work ensemble. The sharing of CAD files is a crucial resource for coordination of the design process, as we shall see below.
As mentioned above, stigmergy (and possibly awareness) are heed concepts.
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Acknowledgements
I am indebted to PLH Arkitekter A/S and to BPLUS Arkitekter & Designere for letting me take up so much of their time. In addition, I am grateful to the staff of PHIL & Søn A/S and MT Højgaard A/S. Moreover, Kjeld Schmidt’s opinions and careful reading of the text are greatly appreciated - needless to say, the responsibility for any errors is mine alone. Furthermore, the comments and opinions of Kristian Kreiner are also greatly appreciated. Also, thanks to Morten Visby for proof reading. Lastly, the comments of the anonymous reviewers that helped improve this paper are greatly appreciated.
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Christensen, L.R. Practices of Stigmergy in the Building Process. Comput Supported Coop Work 23, 1–19 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-012-9181-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-012-9181-3