Agile elements in the design of buildings and structures

Abstract

The main problem associated with designing buildings and structures is the poor flexibility of such projects. Designing is a long-term process that takes place long before the actual construction begins. Depending on project complexity, it can last from a few to several months, during which it is frequently changed and updated. A design project usually follows a top-down pattern where subsequent steps succeed each other. Given all this, it seems justified to say that designing buildings and structures is a process marked by little flexibility, meaning that any response to changes is long, complicated, or sometimes unfeasible. And so the following question arises: how to improve the process of designing buildings and structures so that the very project more easily adapts to changes arising inside and outside the organization? The solution may be the implementation of selected parts of agile project management methodologies.The aim of the paper is to select elements from agile methodologies in order to streamline the work of a design project team. Section one deals with the analysis of different project management methodologies, focusing mainly on agile. This is followed by a description of project management in construction, with particular emphasis on the design process. Section three highlights the opportunities for implementing the elements of agile project management methodologies in construction by using an example of the mpiBIM student project that is held by Warsaw University of Technology. The research delivers ready-to-use forms that may be useful for a team that would like to implement agile work in building design projects.