Multi-disciplinarity and Collaboration in Computational Design Teams Livanur Erbil Altintas 1 , Altug Kasali 2 , Fehmi Dogan 3 1,2,3 İzmir Institute of Technology 1 livanurerbil@gmail.com, 2 altugkasali@iyte.edu.tr, 3 fehmidogan@iyte.edu.tr This study reports cases involving computational practices in architectural design to understand how a distributed cognitive system supports multidisciplinary collaboration in design teams. In particular, we look into the role of coding languages in collaborative practices within interdisciplinary design teams. By providing an analysis on the distributed nature of the design process, this research aims to explain collaboration involving team participants with different skills in representation. Keywords: Collaboration, Distributed Cognition, Computation, Multidisciplinary. COLLABORATION IN DESIGN PRACTICE Design is a social phenomenon (Bucciarelli, 1988; Schön, 1991) with an emphasis on knowledge- production involving multiple actors in collaborative environments (Lyon, 2011); and it traditionally requires engagement of many experts from different disciplines (Cuff, 1992). Apart from non-designers, architects usually collaborate with other architects who have different levels of expertise in terms of approach, techniques, representational systems and design tools. Design has been recognized as an autonomous discipline (Christensen & Ball, 2019) with a certain level of diversity and multiplicity, however, some have argued that collaboration introduces problems related to issues concerning disciplinary boundaries (Cross & Cross, 1995; Cuff, 1992). Multi-disciplinary collaboration has always been an essential feature of architectural practice and with the introduction of computation and digital technologies it has become even more so. Recently, computational technologies had a significant impact on contemporary architectural design in which designers work together with a new generation of designers or non-designers who are equipped with coding and scripting skills. Following the evolving nature of collaboration in architectural practice, this research frames contemporary design work employing computational technologies at different levels as a distributed cognitive system (Hutchins, 1995), and focuses on the problem solving activities of teams involving individuals, artifacts, tools, representations, and other individuals. We especially have in mind Burry’s (2011) categorization of collaboration between coders and designers with different level of expertise in either or both fields. Burry (2011) states that collaboration is almost a must in computational design even if the designer in a team has programming knowledge. He states that designers “probably need assistance in code writing because of the time this can take, but this necessitates a degree of handing over” (p.31). Design is a cognitive process that involves problem solution through interaction, computation, generation, communication, synthesis, and manipulation of tasks in sophisticated contexts (Cross, 2006; Lyon, 2005, 2011). By conducting Volume 1 – Co-creating the Future – eCAADe 40 | 577