A Systems Approach to Understanding Relational Construction History

The Construction industry is rapidly becoming more complex, utilizing conventional materials in different applications, stretching structures to their designable limits, and incorporating more parties than in the past. The current state of the construction system is difficult to understand and describe because of the lack of structured analysis and models. This thesis proposes the use of a flexible and scalable construction system model to establish a relational approach to construction history. The model used will be applied from Hatipkarasulu and Gill's "Ethical Identification and Building Trust for the Built Environment: A Systems Approach." The utility of this approach is illustrated by using a local archive of south Texas construction industry from the early 1900s. The focus of this effort is to explore the relationships between the elements of the system rather than the volume and cost of the projects in that era. As the relationships are examined, circumstances can expand and contract the system. When more information becomes available, the structure can be further applied and a narrative will arise about different periods of construction in different areas. This small sampling demonstrates Hatipkarasulu and Gill System is scalable on a Macro and Micro level.