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To date, architects very often operate as soloists. Soloists with a knowledge of construction paradigms, patterns, technologies, methods, etc. But as the construction space keeps expanding, the required knowledge is increasing: technology stacks and tiers are added, construction techniques evolve, the line between off-the-shelve and bespoke development is fading and reusable services are becoming commodities and their number growing rapidly. As a result the architect (and engineering) population will specialise more and more. As architect you will most likely be tempted to take a step back from the actual construction to keep your solution space sufficiently large. This will enable you to design solutions by mixing and matching technologies from different tiers, stacks, etc. (mashup architecture). This of course comes at a price; there's the inevitable risk that your knowledge about the construction at hand is insufficient. You might overlook details crucial for the overall quality of the system. In construction, the devil is in the detail. Who would like a system based on technologies that almost fit (like a watch with cogwheels that almost fit)?
By nature most architects will specialise in some area of engineering. An area they for instance grew up with or an area they believe to be key in their designs (construction style as personal touch). To make the best design however, architects will have to unite forces and work together with either architects specialised in other engineering areas or with (senior) engineers. A whole new discipline is emerging: collaborative architecting (for the digital world). And to gaze a bit more in the crystal ball; this might be the stepping stone to open collaborative architecting (or crowdsourced architecture). This concept is already in the experimental stage in some other design disciplines, see for instance: open architecture network or swarmsketch.
The content presented in this editorial reflects the personal opinion of the author. Copyright notice: This publication is based on the principle of open content Erik Vermeulen is director of Stichting Digital Architecture and member of the Via Nova Architectura editorial board. He is executive business consultant at Atos Consulting. 
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