Modelling multiple views of design objects in a collaborative CAD environment

Collaboration between designers in different disciplines is an increasingly important aspect in complex design situations, as exemplified in the AEC domain. CAD systems are essential for handling this complexity but current CAD modelling technology is directed towards the production of a single product model. In the AEC environment, many disciplines are involved, each with its own concept of the design object. Each such concept must be accommodated in any representation. This paper presents the ideas behind the representation of multiple concepts from an underlying description of a design such that the interand intra-discipline views of that design can be formed dynamically. These ideas are based upon an assumption that different concepts of an object are based on different functional contexts. Functional subsystems are introduced as an adjunct to design prototypes. An example shows how these functional subsystems are related to the design elements and how they allow for the formation of the various concepts. Thus the representation of the functional properties of design objects is the underlying basis for the formation of different concepts.