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. While much scholarship has covered the capabilities and power of these technologies, little has been discussed regarding 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? 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. It chronicles episodes between the early 1980s and 1990s when many US firms began “computerizing” their offices and investing in computing systems. Of key importance are the reorganizations of labor within offices and the shifting of priorities for both draftspersons and designers.