CAD and the Computerization of Architectural Labor

There is little doubt that CAD software and hardware have drastically transformed architectural practice over the past 40 years. However, much scholarship on these transformations have historically tended to focus on the outputs of digitally-designed architecture. While this certainly illustrates the capabilities and power of these technologies, it sheds little light on how architectural practice as a form of labor was affected by CAD. How, for example, did established firms approach the implementation of this technology? How was CAD marketed to the world of architecture? And what new professional roles and office infrastructures did CAD require? These questions can be addressed with a closer examination of the techno-social issues that CAD engendered as it entered the profession. This article describes a selection of these issues and contextualizes them within the period of transition away from large mainframe CAD systems and towards desktop and personal CAD. During this timeframe, roughly between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, many US firms began “computerizing” their offices and investing in computing systems. This not only involved purchasing hardware and software, but also resulted in important reorganizations of labor within the office, which had a variety of effects such as the formalization of CAD managers, establishment of dedicated IT roles, and a shifting of priorities for both draftspersons and designers.