Digital twinning of the built environment. An interdisciplinary topic for innovation in didactics

Abstract

The concept of a Digital Twin (DT) takes an increasingly important role in the construction industry and related research fields. It is a concept associated with Industry 4.0; however, the scientific literature does not provide a unique and clear definition of this concept. This paper aims to analyse the definitions of the digital twin to clarify this concept in the related fields of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC). Moreover, this work proposes and employs the concept of a Digital Twin as an objective for a project-based learning approach in a didactical setting. As an interdisciplinary approach, this work demonstrates the potential impact on the traditional didactical frameworks in the educational domain of construction and its value as an opportunity to introduce interdisciplinary expertise to all students in these fields. This work presents a use case applying the concept at the School of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geomatics of FHNW.