Can architectural design learn form software engineering?

Software engineering is the structured approach to the development of computer software. It centres upon the concepts of system theory, and as such, many of its concepts, philosophies and techniques can be applied to the development of systems outside the field of computer software. The main area covered by this paper is the use of process modelling techniques as an aide in architectural design. As buildings are systems, this paper discusses process modelling, a techniques used in computer system development, and how such a concept and technique can be adopted in architectural design as an aid in graphic simulation of the construction problem. The modelling techniques are detailed in an example describing how such models can be simply applied to simulate a particular building problem, and provide a greater understanding of particular aspects of an architectural problem and as a means of documenting design decisions.