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International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures

CAAD Futures 2015: Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures. The Next City - New Technologies and the Future of the Built Environment pp 195–212Cite as

The Future of the Architect’s Employment

To Which Extent Can Architectural Design Be Computerised?

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Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 527))

Abstract

This paper was motivated by Frey and Osborne’s [1] work about the probability of different occupations being computerised in the near future, titled “The Future of Employment”. In their study, the architect’s profession had a very low probability of being automated, which does not do justice to the past fifty years of research in the field of architectural design automation. After reviewing some concepts in economics and labor, and identifying three categories of tasks in regards to automation, we propose a new estimate, by looking independently at 30 architectural tasks. We also took into account the reported advances in the automation of these tasks through scientific research. We conclude that there is presently a change in skill requirements for architects, suggesting that we have to rethink architectural education, so architects will not need to compete against the computer in the near future.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank CNPq, the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, and the Sao Paulo State Research Foundation, FAPESP (process number 2012/10498-3) for supporting the present research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

    Gabriela Celani, Maycon Sedrez, Daniel Lenz & Alessandra Macedo

Authors
  1. Gabriela Celani
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  2. Maycon Sedrez
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  3. Daniel Lenz
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  4. Alessandra Macedo
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Correspondence to Gabriela Celani .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Gabriela Celani

  2. University of São Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

    David Moreno Sperling

  3. University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Juarez Moara Santos Franco

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Celani, G., Sedrez, M., Lenz, D., Macedo, A. (2015). The Future of the Architect’s Employment. In: Celani, G., Sperling, D., Franco, J. (eds) Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures. The Next City - New Technologies and the Future of the Built Environment. CAAD Futures 2015. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 527. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47386-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47386-3_11

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-47385-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-47386-3

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