Cumincad : CUMINCAD Papers : Search Results

CumInCAD is a Cumulative Index about publications in Computer Aided Architectural Design
supported by the sibling associations ACADIA, CAADRIA, eCAADe, SIGraDi, ASCAAD and CAAD futures

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_id	7f71
authors	De Landa, Manuel
year	1998
title	Meshworks, Hierarchies and Interfaces
source	Virtual Dimension Ed. Beckmann, J., Princeton Architectural Press, NewYork
summary	The world of interface design is today undergoing dramatic changes which in their impact promise to rival those brought about by the use of the point-and-click graphical interfaces popularized by the Macintosh in the early 1980's. The new concepts and metaphors which are aiming to replace the familiar desk-top metaphor all revolve around the notion of semi-autonomous, semi-intelligent software agents. To be sure, different researchers and commercial companies have divergent conceptions of what these agents should be capable of, and how they should interact with computer users. But whether one aims to give these software creatures the ability to learn about the users habits, as in the non-commercial research performed at MIT autonomous agents group, or to endow them with the ability to perform transactions in the users name, as in the commercial products pioneered by General Magic, the basic thrust seems to be in the direction of giving software programs more autonomy in their decision-making capabilities.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	cf2011_p127
id	cf2011_p127
authors	Benros, Deborah; Granadeiro Vasco, Duarte Jose, Knight Terry
year	2011
title	Integrated Design and Building System for the Provision of Customized Housing: the Case of Post-Earthquake Haiti
source	Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures 2011 [Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures / ISBN 9782874561429] Liege (Belgium) 4-8 July 2011, pp. 247-264.
summary	The paper proposes integrated design and building systems for the provision of sustainable customized housing. It advances previous work by applying a methodology to generate these systems from vernacular precedents. The methodology is based on the use of shape grammars to derive and encode a contemporary system from the precedents. The combined set of rules can be applied to generate housing solutions tailored to specific user and site contexts. The provision of housing to shelter the population affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake illustrates the application of the methodology. A computer implementation is currently under development in C# using the BIM platform provided by Revit. The world experiences a sharp increase in population and a strong urbanization process. These phenomena call for the development of effective means to solve the resulting housing deficit. The response of the informal sector to the problem, which relies mainly on handcrafted processes, has resulted in an increase of urban slums in many of the big cities, which lack sanitary and spatial conditions. The formal sector has produced monotonous environments based on the idea of mass production that one size fits all, which fails to meet individual and cultural needs. We propose an alternative approach in which mass customization is used to produce planed environments that possess qualities found in historical settlements. Mass customization, a new paradigm emerging due to the technological developments of the last decades, combines the economy of scale of mass production and the aesthetics and functional qualities of customization. Mass customization of housing is defined as the provision of houses that respond to the context in which they are built. The conceptual model for the mass customization of housing used departs from the idea of a housing type, which is the combined result of three systems (Habraken, 1988) -- spatial, building system, and stylistic -- and it includes a design system, a production system, and a computer system (Duarte, 2001). In previous work, this conceptual model was tested by developing a computer system for existing design and building systems (Benr__s and Duarte, 2009). The current work advances it by developing new and original design, building, and computer systems for a particular context. The urgent need to build fast in the aftermath of catastrophes quite often overrides any cultural concerns. As a result, the shelters provided in such circumstances are indistinct and impersonal. However, taking individual and cultural aspects into account might lead to a better identification of the population with their new environment, thereby minimizing the rupture caused in their lives. As the methodology to develop new housing systems is based on the idea of architectural precedents, choosing existing vernacular housing as a precedent permits the incorporation of cultural aspects and facilitates an identification of people with the new housing. In the Haiti case study, we chose as a precedent a housetype called ‚Äúgingerbread houses‚Äù, which includes a wide range of houses from wealthy to very humble ones. Although the proposed design system was inspired by these houses, it was decided to adopt a contemporary take. The methodology to devise the new type was based on two ideas: precedents and transformations in design. In architecture, the use of precedents provides designers with typical solutions for particular problems and it constitutes a departing point for a new design. In our case, the precedent is an existing housetype. It has been shown (Duarte, 2001) that a particular housetype can be encoded by a shape grammar (Stiny, 1980) forming a design system. Studies in shape grammars have shown that the evolution of one style into another can be described as the transformation of one shape grammar into another (Knight, 1994). The used methodology departs takes off from these ideas and it comprises the following steps (Duarte, 2008): (1) Selection of precedents, (2) Derivation of an archetype; (3) Listing of rules; (4) Derivation of designs; (5) Cataloguing of solutions; (6) Derivation of tailored solution.
keywords	Mass customization, Housing, Building system, Sustainable construction, Life cycle energy consumption, Shape grammar
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2012/02/11 19:21

_id	ddss2004_ra-33
id	ddss2004_ra-33
authors	Diappi, L., P. Bolchim, and M. Buscema
year	2004
title	Improved Understanding of Urban Sprawl Using Neural Networks
source	Van Leeuwen, J.P. and H.J.P. Timmermans (eds.) Recent Advances in Design & Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN: 14020-2408-8, p. 33-49
summary	It is widely accepted that the spatial pattern of settlements is a crucial factor affecting quality of life and environmental sustainability, but few recent studies have attempted to examine the phenomenon of sprawl by modelling the process rather than adopting a descriptive approach. The issue was partly addressed by models of land use and transportation which were mainly developed in the UK and US in the 1970s and 1980s, but the major advances were made in the area of modelling transportation, while very little was achieved in the area of spatial and temporal land use. Models of land use and transportation are well-established tools, based on explicit, exogenouslyformulated rules within a theoretical framework. The new approaches of artificial intelligence, and in particular, systems involving parallel processing, (Neural Networks, Cellular Automata and Multi-Agent Systems) defined by the expression “Neurocomputing”, allow problems to be approached in the reverse, bottom-up, direction by discovering rules, relationships and scenarios from a database. In this article we examine the hypothesis that territorial micro-transformations occur according to a local logic, i.e. according to use, accessibility, the presence of services and conditions of centrality, periphericity or isolation of each territorial “cell” relative to its surroundings. The prediction capabilities of different architectures of supervised Neural networks are implemented to the south Metropolitan area of Milan at two different temporal thresholds and discussed. Starting from data on land use in 1980 and 1994 and by subdividing the area into square cells on an orthogonal grid, the model produces a spatial and functional map of urbanisation in 2008. An implementation of the SOM (Self Organizing Map) processing to the Data Base allows the typologies of transformation to be identified, i.e. the classes of area which are transformed in the same way and which give rise to territorial morphologies; this is an interesting by-product of the approach.
keywords	Neural Networks, Self-Organizing Maps, Land-Use Dynamics, Supervised Networks
series	DDSS
last changed	2004/07/03 22:13

_id	acadia07_164
id	acadia07_164
authors	Diniz, Nancy; Turner, Alasdair
year	2007
title	Towards a Living Architecture
source	Expanding Bodies: Art • Cities• Environment [Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture / ISBN 978-0-9780978-6-8] Halifax (Nova Scotia) 1-7 October 2007, 164-173
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2007.164
summary	Interaction is the latest currency in architecture, as responsive components are now reacting to the inhabitant of the space. These components are designed and installed by the architect with a view to the phenomenology of space, where the experience of the environment is previewed and pre-constructed before it is translated into the conception of the space. However, this traditional approach to new technology leaves no scope for the architecture to be alive in and of itself, and thus the installed piece quickly becomes just that—an installation: isolated and uncontained by its environment. In this paper, we argue that a way to approach a responsive architecture is to design for a piece that is truly living, and in order to propose a living architecture first we need to understand what the architecture of a living system is. This paper suggests a conceptual framework based on the theory of Autopoiesis in order to create a “self-producing” system through an experiment entitled, “The Life of a Wall” (Maturana and Varela 1980). The wall has a responsive membrane controlled by a genetic algorithm that reconfigures its behaviour and learns to adapt itself continually to the evolutionary properties of the environment, thus becoming a situated, living piece.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	76ce
authors	Grimson, W.
year	1985
title	Computational Experiments with a Feature Based Stereo Algorithm
source	IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Machine Intell., Vol. PAMI-7, No. 1
summary	Computational models of the human stereo system' can provide insight into general information processing constraints that apply to any stereo system, either artificial or biological. In 1977, Marr and Poggio proposed one such computational model, that was characterized as matching certain feature points in difference-of-Gaussian filtered images, and using the information obtained by matching coarser resolution representations to restrict the search'space for matching finer resolution representations. An implementation of the algorithm and'its testing on a range of images was reported in 1980. Since then a number of psychophysical experiments have suggested possible refinements to the model and modifications to the algorithm. As well, recent computational experiments applying the algorithm to a variety of natural images, especially aerial photographs, have led to a number of modifications. In this article, we present a version of the Marr-Poggio-Gfimson algorithm that embodies these modifications and illustrate its performance on a series of natural images.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	cdc2008_243
id	cdc2008_243
authors	Loukissas, Yanni
year	2008
title	Keepers of the Geometry: Architects in a Culture of Simulation
source	First International Conference on Critical Digital: What Matters(s)? - 18-19 April 2008, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge (USA), pp. 243-244
summary	“Why do we have to change? We’ve been building buildings for years without CATIA?” Roger Norfleet, a practicing architect in his thirties poses this question to Tim Quix, a generation older and an expert in CATIA, a computer-aided design tool developed by Dassault Systemes in the early 1980’s for use by aerospace engineers. It is 2005 and CATIA has just come into use at Paul Morris Associates, the thirty-person architecture firm where Norfleet works; he is struggling with what it will mean for him, for his firm, for his profession. Computer-aided design is about creativity, but also about jurisdiction, about who controls the design process. In Architecture: The Story of Practice, Architectural theorist Dana Cuff writes that each generation of architects is educated to understand what constitutes a creative act and who in the system of their profession is empowered to use it and at what time. Creativity is socially constructed and Norfleet is coming of age as an architect in a time of technological but also social transition. He must come to terms with the increasingly complex computeraided design tools that have changed both creativity and the rules by which it can operate. In today’s practices, architects use computer-aided design software to produce threedimensional geometric models. Sometimes they use off-the-shelf commercial software like CATIA, sometimes they customize this software through plug-ins and macros, sometimes they work with software that they have themselves programmed. And yet, conforming to Larson’s ideas that they claim the higher ground by identifying with art and not with science, contemporary architects do not often use the term “simulation.” Rather, they have held onto traditional terms such as “modeling” to describe the buzz of new activity with digital technology. But whether or not they use the term, simulation is creating new architectural identities and transforming relationships among a range of design collaborators: masters and apprentices, students and teachers, technical experts and virtuoso programmers. These days, constructing an identity as an architect requires that one define oneself in relation to simulation. Case studies, primarily from two architectural firms, illustrate the transformation of traditional relationships, in particular that of master and apprentice, and the emergence of new roles, including a new professional identity, “keeper of the geometry,” defined by the fusion of person and machine. Like any profession, architecture may be seen as a system in flux. However, with their new roles and relationships, architects are learning that the fight for professional jurisdiction is increasingly for jurisdiction over simulation. Computer-aided design is changing professional patterns of production in architecture, the very way in which professionals compete with each other by making new claims to knowledge. Even today, employees at Paul Morris squabble about the role that simulation software should play in the office. Among other things, they fight about the role it should play in promotion and firm hierarchy. They bicker about the selection of new simulation software, knowing that choosing software implies greater power for those who are expert in it. Architects and their collaborators are in a continual struggle to define the creative roles that can bring them professional acceptance and greater control over design. New technologies for computer-aided design do not change this reality, they become players in it.
email
last changed	2009/01/07 08:05

_id	244d
authors	Monedero, J., Casaus, A. and Coll, J.
year	1992
title	From Barcelona. Chronicle and Provisional Evaluation of a New Course on Architectural Solid Modelling by Computerized Means
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 351-362
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.351
summary	The first step made at the ETSAB in the computer field goes back to 1965, when professors Margarit and Buxade acquired an IBM computer, an electromechanical machine which used perforated cards and which was used to produce an innovative method of structural calculation. This method was incorporated in the academic courses and, at that time, this repeated question "should students learn programming?" was readily answered: the exercises required some knowledge of Fortran and every student needed this knowledge to do the exercises. This method, well known in Europe at that time, also provided a service for professional practice and marked the beginning of what is now the CC (Centro de Calculo) of our school. In 1980 the School bought a PDP1134, a computer which had 256 Kb of RAM, two disks of 5 Mb and one of lO Mb, and a multiplexor of 8 lines. Some time later the general politics of the UPC changed their course and this was related to the purchase of a VAX which is still the base of the CC and carries most of the administrative burden of the school. 1985 has probably been the first year in which we can talk of a general policy of the school directed towards computers. A report has been made that year, which includes an inquest adressed to the six Departments of the School (Graphic Expression, Projects, Structures, Construction, Composition and Urbanism) and that contains interesting data. According to the report, there were four departments which used computers in their current courses, while the two others (Projects and Composition) did not use them at all. The main user was the Department of Structures while the incidence of the remaining three was rather sporadic. The kind of problems detected in this report are very typical: lack of resources for hardware and software and for maintenance of the few computers that the school had at that moment; a demand (posed by the students) greatly exceeding the supply (computers and teachers). The main problem appeared to be the lack of computer graphic devices and proper software.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:58

_id	48db
authors	Proctor, George
year	2001
title	CADD Curriculum - The Issue of Visual Acuity
source	Architectural Information Management [19th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-8-1] Helsinki (Finland) 29-31 August 2001, pp. 192-200
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2001.192
summary	Design educators attempt to train the eyes and minds of students to see and comprehend the world around them with the intention of preparing those students to become good designers, critical thinkers and ultimately responsible architects. Over the last eight years we have been developing the digital media curriculum of our architecture program with these fundamental values. We have built digital media use and instruction on the foundation of our program which has historically been based in physical model making. Digital modeling has gradually replaced the capacity of physical models as an analytical and thinking tool, and as a communication and presentation device. The first year of our program provides a foundation and introduction to 2d and 3d design and composition, the second year explores larger buildings and history, the third year explores building systems and structure through design studies of public buildings, fourth year explores urbanism, theory and technology through topic studios and, during the fifth year students complete a capstone project. Digital media and CADD have and are being synchronized with the existing NAAB accredited regimen while also allowing for alternative career options for students. Given our location in the Los Angeles region, many students with a strong background in digital media have gone on to jobs in video game design and the movie industry. Clearly there is much a student of architecture must learn to attain a level of professional competency. A capacity to think visually is one of those skills and is arguably a skill that distinguishes members of the visual arts (including Architecture) from other disciplines. From a web search of information posted by the American Academy of Opthamology, Visual Acuity is defined as an ability to discriminate fine details when looking at something and is often measured with the Snellen Eye Chart (the 20/20 eye test). In the context of this paper visual acuity refers to a subject’s capacity to discriminate useful abstractions in a visual field for the purposes of Visual Thinking- problem solving through seeing (Arnheim, 1969, Laseau 1980, Hoffman 1998). The growing use of digital media and the expanding ability to assemble design ideas and images through point-and-click methods makes the cultivation and development of visual skills all the more important to today’s crop of young architects. The advent of digital media also brings into question the traditional, static 2d methods used to build visual skills in a design education instead of promoting active 3d methods for teaching, learning and developing visual skills. Interactive digital movies provide an excellent platform for promoting visual acuity, and correlating the innate mechanisms of visual perception with the abstractions and notational systems used in professional discourse. In the context of this paper, pedagogy for building visual acuity is being considered with regard to perception of the real world, for example the visual survey of an environment, a site or a street scene and how that visual survey works in conjunction with practice.
keywords	Curriculum, Seeing, Abstracting, Notation
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 08:00

_id	acadia19_392
id	acadia19_392
authors	Steinfeld, Kyle
year	2019
title	GAN Loci
source	ACADIA 19:UBIQUITY AND AUTONOMY [Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) ISBN 978-0-578-59179-7] (The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, Austin, Texas 21-26 October, 2019) pp. 392-403
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2019.392
summary	This project applies techniques in machine learning, specifically generative adversarial networks (or GANs), to produce synthetic images intended to capture the predominant visual properties of urban places. We propose that imaging cities in this manner represents the first computational approach to documenting the Genius Loci of a city (Norberg-Schulz, 1980), which is understood to include those forms, textures, colors, and qualities of light that exemplify a particular urban location and that set it apart from similar places. Presented here are methods for the collection of urban image data, for the necessary processing and formatting of this data, and for the training of two known computational statistical models (StyleGAN (Karras et al., 2018) and Pix2Pix (Isola et al., 2016)) that identify visual patterns distinct to a given site and that reproduce these patterns to generate new images. These methods have been applied to image nine distinct urban contexts across six cities in the US and Europe, the results of which are presented here. While the product of this work is not a tool for the design of cities or building forms, but rather a method for the synthetic imaging of existing places, we nevertheless seek to situate the work in terms of computer-assisted design (CAD). In this regard, the project is demonstrative of a new approach to CAD tools. In contrast with existing tools that seek to capture the explicit intention of their user (Aish, Glynn, Sheil 2017), in applying computational statistical methods to the production of images that speak to the implicit qualities that constitute a place, this project demonstrates the unique advantages offered by such methods in capturing and expressing the tacit.
series	ACADIA
type	normal paper
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	fc80
authors	Ubbelohde, S. and Humann, C.
year	1998
title	Comparative Evaluation of Four Daylighting Software Programs
source	1998 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings Proceedings. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
summary	By the mid-1980's, a number of software packages were under development to predict daylighting performance in buildings, in particular illumination levels in daylighted spaces. An evaluation in 1988 by Ubbelohde et al. demonstrated that none of the software then available was capable of predicting the simplest of real daylighting designs. In the last ten years computer capabilities have evolved rapidly and we have four major packages widely available in the United States. This paper presents a comparative evaluation from the perspective of building and daylighting design practice. A contemporary building completed in 1993 was used as a base case for evaluation. We present the results from field measurements, software predictions and physical modeling as a basis for discussing the capabilities of the software packages in architectural design practice. We found the current software packages far more powerful and nuanced in their ability to predict daylight than previously. Some can accurately predict quantitative daylight performance under varying sky conditions and produce handsome and accurate visualizations of the space. The programs differ significantly, however, in their ease of use, modeling basis and the emphasis between quantitative predictions and visualization in the output.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	b04c
authors	Goerger, S., Darken, R., Boyd, M., Gagnon, T., Liles, S., Sullivan, J. and Lawson, J.
year	1996
title	Spatial Knowledge Acquisition from Maps and Virtual Environments in Complex Architectural Space
source	Proc. 16 th Applied Behavioral Sciences Symposium, 22-23 April, U.S. Airforce Academy, Colorado Springs, CO., 1996, 6-10
summary	It has often been suggested that due to its inherent spatial nature, a virtual environment (VE) might be a powerful tool for spatial knowledge acquisition of a real environment, as opposed to the use of maps or some other two-dimensional, symbolic medium. While interesting from a psychological point of view, a study of the use of a VE in lieu of a map seems nonsensical from a practical point of view. Why would the use of a VE preclude the use of a map? The more interesting investigation would be of the value added of the VE when used with a map. If the VE could be shown to substantially improve navigation performance, then there might be a case for its use as a training tool. If not, then we have to assume that maps continue to be the best spatial knowledge acquisition tool available. An experiment was conducted at the Naval Postgraduate School to determine if the use of an interactive, three-dimensional virtual environment would enhance spatial knowledge acquisition of a complex architectural space when used in conjunction with floor plan diagrams. There has been significant interest in this research area of late. Witmer, Bailey, and Knerr (1995) showed that a VE was useful in acquiring route knowledge of a complex building. Route knowledge is defined as the procedural knowledge required to successfully traverse paths between distant locations (Golledge, 1991). Configurational (or survey) knowledge is the highest level of spatial knowledge and represents a map-like internal encoding of the environment (Thorndyke, 1980). The Witmer study could not confirm if configurational knowledge was being acquired. Also, no comparison was made to a map-only condition, which we felt is the most obvious alternative. Comparisons were made only to a real world condition and a symbolic condition where the route is presented verbally.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	f773
id	f773
authors	Johnson, Brian R.
year	1990
title	Inside Out
source	From Research to Practice [ACADIA Conference Proceedings] Big Sky (Montana - USA) 4-6 October 1990, pp. 219-231
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1990.219
summary	An effort to generate discussion, this paper suggests that between 1980 and 1990 a significant and undesirable change has occurred in academic architectural CAD. We have moved from being developers of ideas and technology on the inside of the development loop to being consumers of products developed in the commercial market place, outside the loop. Certain negative consequences are discussed. Finally, some suggestions are made for turning ourselves "right side out" again.
series	ACADIA
type	normal paper
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	0565
authors	Oxman, Robert and Oxman, Rivka
year	1990
title	The Computability of Architectural Knowledge
source	The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [CAAD Futures ‘89 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-262-13254-0] Cambridge (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, pp. 171-185
summary	In an important contribution to the theoretical foundation of design computing, Mitchell noted "an increasingly urgent need to establish a demonstrably sound, comprehensive, rigorously formalized theoretical foundation upon which to base practical software development efforts" (Mitchell, 1986). In this paper we propose such a theoretical framework. A basic assumption of this work is that the advancement of design computing is dependent upon the emergence of a rigorous formulation of knowledge in design. We present a model of knowledge in architectural design which suggests a promising conceptual basis for dealing with knowledge in computer-aided design systems. We require models which can represent the formal knowledge and manipulative operations of the designer in all of their complexity-that is formal models rather than just geometric models. Shape Grammars (Stiny,1980) represent an example of such models, and constitute a relatively high level of design knowledge as compared to, for example, use of symmetry operations to generate simple formal configurations. Building upon an understanding of the classes of design knowledge as the conceptual basis for formal modeling systems may contribute a new realization of the potential of the medium for design. This will require a comprehensive approach to the definition of architectural and design knowledge. We consider here the implications of a well-defined body of architectural and design knowledge for design education and the potential mutual interaction-in a knowledge-rich environment-of design learning and CAAD learning. The computational factors connected with the representation of design knowledge and its integration in design systems are among the key problems of CAAD. Mitchell's model of knowledge in design incorporates formal knowledge in a comprehensive, multi-level, hierarchical structure in which types of knowledge are correlated with computational concepts. In the main focus of this paper we present a structured, multi-level model of design knowledge which we discuss with respect to current architectural theoretical considerations. Finally, we analyze the computational and educational relevance of such models.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	0830
authors	Ball, A. A.
year	1980
title	How to Make the Bicubic Patch Work Using Reparametrisation
source	1980 ? 11 p. includes bibliography
summary	This paper comprises a series of examples in numerical surface definition, loosely strung together, to show the practical limitations of the bicubic patch and how they can be overcome by reparametrisation. The concept of reparametrisation is more general than that used in computer- aided geometric design insofar as the reparametrisation is modeled in addition to the basic parametric equation
keywords	CAD, computational geometry, curved surfaces, parametrization
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	cf2011_p170
id	cf2011_p170
authors	Barros, Mário; Duarte José, Chaparro Bruno
year	2011
title	Thonet Chairs Design Grammar: a Step Towards the Mass Customization of Furniture
source	Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures 2011 [Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures / ISBN 9782874561429] Liege (Belgium) 4-8 July 2011, pp. 181-200.
summary	The paper presents the first phase of research currently under development that is focused on encoding Thonet design style into a generative design system using a shape grammar. The ultimate goal of the work is the design and production of customizable chairs using computer assisted tools, establishing a feasible practical model of the paradigm of mass customization (Davis, 1987). The current research step encompasses the following three steps: (1) codification of the rules describing Thonet design style into a shape grammar; (2) implementing the grammar into a computer tool as parametric design; and (3) rapid prototyping of customized chair designs within the style. Future phases will address the transformation of the Thonet’s grammar to create a new style and the production of real chair designs in this style using computer aided manufacturing. Beginning in the 1830’s, Austrian furniture designer Michael Thonet began experimenting with forming steam beech, in order to produce lighter furniture using fewer components, when compared with the standards of the time. Using the same construction principles and standardized elements, Thonet produced different chairs designs with a strong formal resemblance, creating his own design language. The kit assembly principle, the reduced number of elements, industrial efficiency, and the modular approach to furniture design as a system of interchangeable elements that may be used to assemble different objects enable him to become a pioneer of mass production (Noblet, 1993). The most paradigmatic example of the described vision of furniture design is the chair No. 14 produced in 1858, composed of six structural elements. Due to its simplicity, lightness, ability to be stored in flat and cubic packaging for individual of collective transportation, respectively, No. 14 became one of the most sold chairs worldwide, and it is still in production nowadays. Iconic examples of mass production are formally studied to provide insights to mass customization studies. The study of the shape grammar for the generation of Thonet chairs aimed to ensure rules that would make possible the reproduction of the selected corpus, as well as allow for the generation of new chairs within the developed grammar. Due to the wide variety of Thonet chairs, six chairs were randomly chosen to infer the grammar and then this was fine tuned by checking whether it could account for the generation of other designs not in the original corpus. Shape grammars (Stiny and Gips, 1972) have been used with sucesss both in the analysis as in the synthesis of designs at different scales, from product design to building and urban design. In particular, the use of shape grammars has been efficient in the characterization of objects’ styles and in the generation of new designs within the analyzed style, and it makes design rules amenable to computers implementation (Duarte, 2005). The literature includes one other example of a grammar for chair design by Knight (1980). In the second step of the current research phase, the outlined shape grammar was implemented into a computer program, to assist the designer in conceiving and producing customized chairs using a digital design process. This implementation was developed in Catia by converting the grammar into an equivalent parametric design model. In the third phase, physical models of existing and new chair designs were produced using rapid prototyping. The paper describes the grammar, its computer implementation as a parametric model, and the rapid prototyping of physical models. The generative potential of the proposed digital process is discussed in the context of enabling the mass customization of furniture. The role of the furniture designer in the new paradigm and ideas for further work also are discussed.
keywords	Thonet; furniture design; chair; digital design process; parametric design; shape grammar
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2012/02/11 19:21

_id	e825
authors	Baybars, Ilker and Eastman, Charles M.
year	1980
title	Enumerating Architectural Arrangements by Generating Their Underlying Graphs
source	Environment and Planning B. 1980. vol. 7: pp. 289- 310 : ill. includes bibliography. -- See also 'Enumerating Architectural Arrangements: Comment on a Recent Paper by Baybars and Eastman' by C.F. Earl
summary	One mathematical correspondence to the partitioning of the plane is a Weighted Plane Graph (WPG). This paper first focuses on the systematic generation of WPGs, in a fashion similar to crystal growth. During this process, the WPGs are represented by adjacency matrices. The authors, thus, present a method for embedding the WPG in the plane, given its adjacency matrix. These graphs can, then, be mapped into floor plans. The common practice here is the use of the `geometric dual' of a WPG. The authors propose, instead, the use of the `Pseudogeometric dual' of a WPG directly to translate (part of) a design brief into alternative spatial layouts. Also discussed is the ability to create courtyards and/or circulation spaces given a specific WPG, without increasing the size of the problem
keywords	enumeration, architecture, floor plans, graphs, design process, automation, algorithms, space allocation, CAD
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/05/17 10:15

_id	8593
authors	Braid, I.C.
year	1980
title	Superficial Blends in Geometric Modelling
source	12 p. : ill. February, 1980. Document No. 105. includes bibliography
summary	In engineering practice, many blended surfaces are both indicated and manufactured by rounding off a sharp edge. The authors term them `superficial' blends in contrast to `designed' blends for which existing surface techniques are appropriate. The provision of superficial blends in a geometric modeling system is explained, and a method is given for drawing objects containing blended edges
keywords	geometric modeling, CAD, representation, solids
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	0189
authors	Brodlie, K.W. (editor)
year	1980
title	Mathematical Methods in Computer Graphics and Design
source	xi, 147 p. : ill. New York: Academic Press, 1980. includes subject index
summary	Based on the proceeding of the conference on mathematical methods in computer graphics and design, organized by the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications and held at the university of Leicester on september 28th, 1978
keywords	algorithms, geometric modeling, techniques, computer graphics, mathematics
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	cff2
authors	Callen, John N.
year	1980
title	Man-Machine Interfaces and their Constraints within Interactive CAD
source	June, 1980. 18, [16] p. includes bibliography
summary	As CAD systems becomes more widely accepted in the design environment, the interaction between the designer and the system as supported by interfaces should be analyzed to insure the most natural means of communication. The purpose of this paper is to present various inherent constraints in users, CAD software/hardware and in the design process so that designers of CAD systems could more clearly recognize these constraints and produce a more suitable interface design
keywords	CAD, user interface, design, constraints
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	a587
authors	Cohen, Elaine, Lyche, Tom and Riesenfeld, Richard F.
year	1980
title	Discrete B-Splines and Subdivision Techniques in Computer-Aided Geometric Design and Computer Graphics
source	computer Graphics and Image Processing. October, 1980. vol. 14: pp. 87- 111 : ill. includes bibliography
summary	The relevant theory of discrete B-splines with associated new algorithms is extended to provide a framework for understanding and implementing general subdivision schemes for nonuniform B-splines. The new derived polygon corresponding to an arbitrary refinement of the knot vector for an existing B-spline curve, including multiplicities, is shown to be formed by successive evaluations of the discrete B-spline defined by the original vertices, the original knot vector, and the refined knot vector. Existing subdivision algorithms can be seen as proper special cases. General subdivision has widespread applications in computer-aided geometric design, computer graphics, and numerical analysis. The new algorithms resulting from the new theory lead to a unification of the display model, the analysis model, and other needed models into a single geometric model from which other necessary models are easily derived. New sample algorithms for interference calculation, contouring, surface rendering, and other important calculations are presented
keywords	computational geometry, theory, algorithms, computer graphics, B-splines, curved surfaces
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

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