Conclusion:

The use of the World Wide Web as a means of collaboration is increasingly becoming popular and more available as architect's discover the conveniences and advantages that it brings especially in this changing world that has created limits, for the usual and more traditional physical meetings between an architect and his client. "Obviously, the design process is accelerated if professionals can exchange documents more quickly or work on the same documents at the same time. The process speeds up in good ways and bad ways," says David A. Mintz, President of David A. Mintz Inc., a New York City - based lighting consultant. "In the old days, when someone asked where we were on a project, we could buy time on grounds that the project documents were at the printer. Now, when we finish, they want it instantaneously." Mintz continues by saying that keeping track of everything can be the biggest chore of all. And the network itself allows project work to be spread across the country or across the world. This increases competitive pressures and adds incentive to computerize in the first place.

Information from article written by Stephen S. Ross in the Architectural Record September 1997 p.131.

One of the advantages of using the web is that data and information can be exchanged between individuals, clients and their consultants over long distances and even across the globe at a relatively cheap rate. Even though the costs of operating a network (Intranet and Extranet) could be seen as expensive, its significance to the costs of actually sending the same information and drawings to clients on the other part of the country (or globe), through the mail or other traditional means, amounts to a cheaper means of data exchange. In any case, a client can communicate with his architect from a different part of the globe just as much as he would do when communicating as if he were standing next to him. This is made possible by the video conferencing technology available on the World Wide Web.

Design visualization is the role the World Wide Web is supposed to play as a collaborative tool. Richard Dallam, Project Principle (and Subcontractor) of NBBJ a large Seattle architecture firm, believes that concentrating technology on the construction-documents phase could bring about the greatest benefits in quality along with more savings on cost and time. The client can also work simultaneously with the subcontractor as well as the architect, which can result in fewer problems and tends to limit rather than jeopardize the architect's liability. (from article written by B. J. Novitski in the Architectural Record November 1997 p.139-140). Further more, since the World Wide Web is a source of a vast array of information, then the architect and client and any other parties involved in the design process can obtain data that would otherwise be useful in their design process. The World Wide Web is thus enhanced as a collaborative tool.

Traditional design processes cannot always be transferred wholesale into new media. Computer technology makes it easier to accumulate vast amounts of information so new methods for managing and retrieving it must be invented. And this poses as one of the problems that the World Wide Web creates as a collaborative tool. In addition, technologies that support collaboration between designers who live in different hemispheres and/or who do not know one another can sometimes emphasize cross-cultural misunderstandings that would not be an issue in traditional business. Again, a client on the other side of the network might not have the advanced technology to view what his architect would want him to see, or he simply might not have the necessary hardware for Internet collaboration. Even though web collaboration can be a useful tool, it poses a limitation because the client too has to invest in the necessary tools and accessories for him to view his architect's work. And probably, he might never use these devices again which would discourage a client in taking the risk of investing in digital technology. Presently,the World Wide Web could thus be seen as not being a very viable tool for the small scale clients. Today, it is more or less for the big businesses and/or clients who have lots of money to invest, since using the World Wide Web as a collaborative tool requires large initial capital investment. This should however not be taken to mean that it does not pay off because as before mentioned, it is cheaper in the long run to maintain Extranets.

In my opinion, collaboration via the Internet poses a great potential in enhancing the architect/client relationship. Even though it still has problems as already mentioned, digital technology is continually changing and being modified so that this potential of collaborating on the World Wide Web is also increasing. Many clients and businesses are discovering this new phenomenon and adapting it into their working environments. As David Mintz said in an article written by Stephen S. Ross (Architectural Record September 1997 p.137)... "Working by computer is something we have to do. If we do not do it , we would not be in business. Clients demand that we work by wire . Clients need it."

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