The Logic of Practices of Stigmergy:: Representational Artifacts in Architectural Design

In their cooperative design practices, architects form series of interwoven representational artifacts. On the basis of a field study of architectural design, this article presents an analysis of these practices and shows how they are partly coordinated directly through the material field of work. This is described as ‘practices of stigmergy’. Furthermore, the article considers the practical logic and the economy of second order effort in such practices. In doing so, it outlines an approach to the investigation and conception of such practices of stigmergy.