Architecture AND Engineering

In the June 2008 editorial for the CBDI Journal, David Sprott talks about learning from other architectural disciplines - from the open plan building style and organic architecture principles pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright to the incredibly innovative design of the Sydney Opera House.

David's editorial focuses on architectural style and patterns, but we can also learn lessons about process, and about the relationship between architecture and engineering. The Sydney Opera House is an amazing building, but its development was costly and troubled, and the relationship between the architect (Jørn Utzon, who had worked for Frank Lloyd Wright) and the engineering firm (Ove Arup) was a difficult one.

With SOA, we are not just interested in producing innovative structures (loosely coupled enterprise, layered service architecture, and so on) but producing these structures in an agile and cost-effective way. Architecture is not a stand-alone activity, but must be integrated into the engineering process. That's why we call the CBDI process Service Architecture AND Engineering.