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	476d
authors	Gero, J. and Maher, M.
year	1988
title	Future Roles of Knowledge-based Systems in the Design Process
source	CAAD futures ‘87 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-42916-6] Eindhoven (The Netherlands), 20-22 May 1987, pp. 81-90
summary	This paper examines the future roles of knowledge-based systems in the design process. It commences with a brief review of computer-aided design and knowledge-based systems prior to examining the present and future roles of knowledge-based systems in design under the headings of: design analysis/formulation; design synthesis; and design evaluation. The paper concludes with a discussion on design integration, novel design, and detail design.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	c948
authors	Gero, John S. and Maher, Mary Lou
year	1987
title	A Future Role of Knowledge-based Systems in the Design Process
source	CAAD Futures'87 International Conference Computer Aided Architectural Design. May, 1987. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 81-90. includes bibliography
summary	This paper examines the future role of knowledge-based systems in the design process. It commences with a brief review of computer-aided design and knowledge-based systems prior to examining the present and future roles of knowledge- based systems in design under the headings of: Design Analysis (design formulation); Design Synthesis; Design Evaluation; and Detail Design. The paper concludes with a discussion on design integration and on novel design
keywords	design process, knowledge base, systems, CAD, synthesis, evaluation, analysis, detailing
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	diss_kuo
id	diss_kuo
authors	Kuo, C.J.
year	1999
title	Unsupervised Dynamic Concurrent Computer-Aided Design Assistant
source	Los Angeles: UCLA
summary	The increasing capability of computer-aided architectural design systems has strengthened the role that the computer plays in the workplace. Due to the complexity of developing new techniques and research, these systems are undertaken mostly by scientists and engineers without significant architectural input (Willey, 1991). The design concept of these systems may be based on a well-defined and well-understood process, which is not yet realized in architectural design (Galle, 1994). The output of such research may not be easily adapted into the design process. Most of the techniques assume a complete understanding of the design space (Gero and Maher, 1987) (Willey, 1991). The description or construction of the design space is always time and space consuming, and the result can never be complete due to the ever-changing nature of architectural design. This research intends to initiate a solution for the above problems. The proposed system is an unsupervised-dynamic-concurrent-computer-aided-design assistant. The “unsupervised” means the learning process is not supervised by the user because it is against the designer's nature to “think-aloud” in the design studio and it also increases the work load. It is dynamic because the size of the knowledge base is constantly changing. Concurrent means that there are multiple procedures active simultaneously. This research focuses on learning the operational knowledge from an individual designer and reapplying it in future designs. A computer system for this experiment is constructed. It is capable of The preliminary result shows a positive feedback from test subjects. The purpose of this research is to suggest a potent computational frame within which future developments may flourish.
series	thesis:PhD
last changed	2003/11/28 07:37

_id	4904
authors	Lapre, L. and Hudson, P.
year	1988
title	Talking about Design: Supporting the Design Process with Different Goals
source	CAAD futures ‘87 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-42916-6] Eindhoven (The Netherlands), 20-22 May 1987, pp. 127-136
summary	The architectural design process has more than one participant. Each participant has his own way of approaching the information embedded in a design. In the future the CAAD systems of these participants must be able to communicate and exchange information. For a communication of this kind there must be a common ground, a frame of reference, in which these different points of view can be expressed. This frame of reference or model must support participants accessing the same information with different objectives and for different purposes. We shall propose such a model based on research results obtained by the analysis of architectural knowledge and designs. The model incorporates certain aspects drawn from AI.
series	CAAD Futures
last changed	1999/04/03 17:58

_id	ecaade2023_138
id	ecaade2023_138
authors	Crolla, Kristof and Wong, Nichol
year	2023
title	Catenary Wooden Roof Structures: Precedent knowledge for future algorithmic design and construction optimisation
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2023.1.611
source	Dokonal, W, Hirschberg, U and Wurzer, G (eds.), Digital Design Reconsidered - Proceedings of the 41st Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe 2023) - Volume 1, Graz, 20-22 September 2023, pp. 611–620
summary	The timber industry is expanding, including construction wood product applications such as glue-laminated wood products (R. Sikkema et al., 2023). To boost further utilisation of engineered wood products in architecture, further development and optimisation of related tectonic systems is required. Integration of digital design technologies in this endeavour presents opportunities for a more performative and spatially diverse architecture production, even in construction contexts typified by limited means and/or resources. This paper reports on historic precedent case study research that informs an ongoing larger study focussing on novel algorithmic methods for the design and production of lightweight, large-span, catenary glulam roof structures. Given their structural operation in full tension, catenary-based roof structures substantially reduce material needs when compared with those relying on straight beams (Wong and Crolla, 2019). Yet, the manufacture of their non-standard geometries typically requires costly bespoke hardware setups, having resulted in recent projects trending away from the more spatially engaging geometric experiments of the second half of the 20th century. The study hypothesis that the evolutionary design optimisation of this tectonic system has the potential to re-open and expand its practically available design solution space. This paper covers the review of a range of built projects employing catenary glulam roof system, starting from seminal historic precedents like the Festival Hall for the Swiss National Exhibition EXPO 1964 (A. Lozeron, Swiss, 1964) and the Wilkhahn Pavilions (Frei Otto, Germany, 1987), to contemporary examples, including the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre (HCMA Architecture + Design, Canada, 2016). It analysis their structural concept, geometric and spatial complexity, fabrication and assembly protocols, applied construction detailing solutions, and more, with as aim to identify methods, tools, techniques, and construction details that can be taken forward in future research aimed at minimising construction complexity. Findings from this precedent study form the basis for the evolutionary-algorithmic design and construction method development that is part of the larger study. By expanding the tectonic system’s practically applicable architecture design solution space and facilitating architects’ access to a low-tech producible, spatially versatile, lightweight, eco-friendly, wooden roof structure typology, this study contributes to environmentally sustainable building.
keywords	Precedent Studies, Light-weight architecture, Timber shell, Catenary, Algorithmic Optimisation, Glue-laminated timber
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2023/12/10 10:49

_id	cd8d
authors	Herbert, Daniel M.
year	1987
title	Study Drawings in Architectural Design: Applications for CAD Systems
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1987.157
source	Integrating Computers into the Architectural Curriculum [ACADIA Conference Proceedings] Raleigh (North Carolina / USA) 1987, pp. 157-168
summary	To guide their future development, research and teaching in computer-aided design must look beyond the technical capabilities of computer systems to establish a theoretical foundation based on known processes in design. This paper suggests that such a theoretical foundation can be derived by analyzing architectural study drawings -- defined as the rough drawings that architects make in the exploratory stages of design -- to determine their epistemelogical properties. The analysis brings forward concepts from a number of disciplines related to the structure of human knowledge to identify five properties of study drawings. Based on these properties, the paper proposes strategies for application to the next generation of research and teaching in CAD systems.
series	ACADIA
last changed	2022/06/07 07:49

_id	ae4f
authors	Kalay, Yehuda E., Swerdloff, Lucien M. and Majkowski, Bruce R.
year	1987
title	Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research : Summary of Proposed Research Plan
source	March, 1987. [8] p. includes bibliography
summary	The potentials of recent advancements in computer-driven, information-rich technologies have begun to effect the disciplines of architecture, planning, and design. The roles of computer-aided design tools are, however, still not completely specified, and it is the responsibility of research institutes, and in particular schools of architecture and design, to explore, define, and develop the uses of computers in architecture, planning, and design. The CAD program at the School of Architecture and Planning is based on the premise that research and education are both essential and interdependent components which provide students with necessary technical skills, improve methods of teaching fundamental design knowledge, and foster the exploration and development of new technologies and methodologies for computers in design. The program has been implemented in what the authors have termed the 'Triad Methodology' of computer-aided architectural design: the teaching of CAD principles to students, the development of a strong research program, and the use of computer tools to enhance the school's general curriculum. The CAD Lab functions as a conduit for basic and advanced research intended to enhance architecture and planning through the use of computers. The faculty and graduate students have already demonstrated their interest and ability to undertake state of the art research in CAD. It is expected that these interests will continue and proliferate in the future. This paper briefly outlines the direction, scope, and required resources for computer related research at the School of Architecture and Planning in Buffalo
keywords	CAD, education, architecture, research
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	404e
authors	Oksala , T.
year	1988
title	Logical Models for Rule-based CAAD
source	CAAD futures ‘87 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-42916-6] Eindhoven (The Netherlands), 20-22 May 1987, pp. 107-116
summary	The aim of this paper is to present the basic results of a theoretic approach to represent architectural individual forms in CAD systems. From the point of view of design methodology and problem solving these descriptions might be conceived' as parts of possible environments satisfying the laws of some design theory in logical sense. This paper describes results in a series of logical studies towards rule and knowledge based systems for design automation. The effective use of programming languages and computers as design aids in architecture presupposes certain capabilities to articulate built environment logically. The use of graphic languages in the description of environmental items e.g. buildings might be theoretically mastered by formal production systems including linguistic, geometric, and spatio-material generation. The combination of the power of formal mechanisms and logical individual calculus offers suitable framework to generate arbitrary e.g. free spatial compositions as types or unique solutions. In this frame it is natural to represent in a coherent way very complex hierarchical parsing of buildings in explicit form as needed in computer implementations. In order to simulate real design work the individual configurations of possible built forms should be designed to satisfy known rules. In the preliminary stage partial solutions to design problems may be discussed in mathematical terms using frameworks like lattices, graphs, or group theoretical considerations of structural, functional, and visual organization of buildings. The capability to produce mathematically sophisticated geometric structures allows us to generalize the approach further. The theoretical design knowhow in architecture can be partly translated in to some logic and represented in a knowledge base. These rules are used as selection criteria for geometric design candidates in the sense of logical model theory and mathematical optimization. The economy of the system can be developed by using suitable conduct mechanisms familiar e.g. from logic programming. The semantics of logic offers a frame to consider computer assisted and formal generation in design. A number of semantic and pragmatic problems, however, remain to be solved. In any case conceptual analyses based on logic are applicable in order to rationally reconstruct architectural goals contributing to the quality of environmental design, which should be the main goal in the development of design systems in near future.
series	CAAD Futures
last changed	1999/04/03 17:58

_id	ef46
authors	Petrovic, I.
year	1991
title	Integrative Knowledge-Based Design Systems : A View
source	The Computer Integrated Future, CIB W78 Seminar September, 1991. Unnumbered : ill. includes bibliography.
summary	The paper describes a recent project whose objective was to redesign GIMSEX-PERT, an existing architectural knowledge- based design system developed in 1987. Its critical generative problems appeared to be the rigid structure and limited evaluation criteria. The project's outcome is DESTOOLS, based on the 'object-oriented-methodology' inspired by the traditional trial-and-error approach. It includes a set of interchangeable design methods that can be applied interactively by any desired sequence, producing or transforming a GIMS Building System object. Such 'moderately- loose' system structure offers flexibility in use, avoids pitfalls of knowledge-based design systems with rigid structure, and is applicable in design research, education and practice
keywords	knowledge base, design, architecture, methods, systems, education, practice, integration, evaluation
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	c95f
authors	Petrovic, Ivan and Svetel, Igor
year	1994
title	Conversation on Design Action: By Men or by Machines?
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1994.015
source	The Virtual Studio [Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design / ISBN 0-9523687-0-6] Glasgow (Scotland) 7-10 September 1994, pp. 15-23
summary	A design studio of the future shall be based on dislocated, distributed design services, and feature the ‘design by collaboration’ enabled by the computer transmitted information. However, in a collaborative design process, computer may take an additional role, i.e., as an “ultimately structured dynamic communication medium ... based on the notion of commitment and interpretation” (Winograd and Flores 1987). Various models of ‘intelligent’ design systems based on the ideas of ‘open, distributed, artificial intelligence systems’ have shown that the computer-based design agents which act on the object-to-be-designed model could be involved in a “conversation for action” (Winograd and Flores, Ibid.). The aim of the paper is to illustrate a computer-based design system that enables ‘a-kind-of’ conversations by the design agents before the design decisions were made. After the description of a design experiment and the conversation that went on between the design agents, the traits of the applied ‘design design system’ are discussed.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 08:00

_id	aa0b
authors	Fenves, Stephen J.
year	1987
title	Role of Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge-Base Expert System Methods in Civil Engineering
source	20, [21] p. Pittsburgh: Engineering Design Research Center, Carnegie Mellon University, December, 1987. includes bibliography
summary	Present use of computers in civil engineering is largely devoted to numeric, algorithmic calculations. This mode is not appropriate for the empirical, heuristic, ill-structured problems of civil engineering practice. The paper reviews recent work in artificial intelligence and expert systems addressing these latter issues, identifies the distinctive features of engineering knowledge based systems, the roles of such systems, and attempts to predict their evolution
keywords	AI, expert systems, knowledge base, design, methods, civil engineering
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	016a
authors	Balachandran, M. B. and Gero, John S.
year	1987
title	A Knowledge-based Approach to Mathematical Design Modeling and Optimization
source	engineering Optimization. 1987. vol. 12: pp. 91-115
summary	Optimization is a well understood process in design domains. Designers formulate their design problems as single criterion or multicriteria optimization problems and then select an appropriate optimization algorithm to search for the optimal values for the design variables. The formulation and algorithm selection procedures have been considered to be activities which relied on substantive human knowledge. This paper describes a computer system, OPTIMA, which formulates design optimization problems from a pseudo-English description into canonical algebraic expressions. It then recognizes the formulation and selects appropriate algorithm(s) for its solution. Finally, it runs the selected algorithm(s) and sends the results back to the original descriptions. Areas of expert knowledge involved in carrying out the above tasks are identified. Such knowledge is explicitly encoded in the system. The basic philosophy and key features of the system are described and are illustrated with examples
keywords	structures, algorithms, knowledge base, systems, optimization, engineering
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	e861
authors	Burnham, G.T.
year	1987
title	Microcomputer-Based Expert System for the Design of Operational Military Airfields
source	Department of Architectural Science, University of Sydney
summary	This thesis develops a number of prototypical expert systems on a microcomputer to assist the military designer or engineer with facets of military operational airfield design. An existing expert system shell BUILD written in PROLOG-1 was altered to provide a more permanent record of the results of the system execution. The individual knowledge base includes production rules which conform to the BUILD syntax requirements. A number of additional clauses related to the knowledge base are written in PROLOG-1. The expert system consists of some 200 rules and an additional 36 clauses. The rules contain knowledge on soil characteristics pertinent to airfields, factors involved in calculating lengths of runways and factors for determining the effort involved in construction. The knowledge for the expert systems was gathered from a combination of civilian and military literature sources, the author's own experience, and discussions with military and air force personnel currently engaged in the design, planning and construction of these facilities. Development of these prototypical expert systems demonstrates the feasibility of implementing expert systems on microcomputers in this domain. Furthermore, it demonstrates their possible application to military engineering design particularly where the design process relies on a large amount of tabulated data and heuristic knowledge. It is this type of knowledge that is often used by the military engineer to find a timely problem solution when provided with a range of options. [Unpublished. -- CADLINE has abstract only.]
keywords	Applications, Military Engineering, Expert Systems, Design, Planning
series	thesis:MSc
last changed	2002/12/14 19:15

_id	0748
authors	Coyne, R.D., Rosenman, M.A. and Radford, A.D. (et.al.)
year	1987
title	Innovation and Creativity in Knowledge-based CAD
source	Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1987. pp. 435-465
summary	The authors examine the creativity of knowledge-based design systems from a narrow information processing perspective. As a property of the design process innovation and creativity can be identified by observing both the quality of the product, and also the characteristics of the process itself. The key theme running through the discussion is the acquisition of knowledge as the key to understanding creativity. This involves not only the ability of a system to acquire knowledge, but also its ability to control its own processes and change its own structure. In order to discuss this view a model of design systems is put forward in which a distinction between interpretative and syntactic subsystems for innovation and creativity is made
keywords	design process, knowledge base, systems, creativity, knowledge acquisition, representation
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/05/17 10:13

_id	68cb
authors	Fenves, Stephen J. and Baker, Nelson C.
year	1987
title	Spatial and Functional Representation Language for Structural Design
source	21 p. : ill. Pittsburgh: Engineering Design Research Center, CMU, December, 1987. includes bibliography
summary	Knowledge-based systems for structural design developed to date have used simple geometric representations which have not provided adequate spatial reasoning. Shape grammars are suggested as a representation for a knowledge-based system capable of performing spatial and functional reasoning. The representation needs to serve all disciplines involved in the design process, where different semantics of each discipline are associated with the same spatial information about design objects. The representation is demonstrated in the building design environment, where possible structural systems can be generated dependent upon the building's spatial layout
keywords	representation, shape grammars, structures, design, problem solving, planning, civil engineering, architecture
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	671c
authors	Kalay, Yehuda E., Swerdloff, Lucien M. and Harfmann, Anton C.
year	1987
title	A Knowledge-Based Approach to Dynamic Computer-Aided Design Task Allocation
source	Expert Systems in Computer-Aided Design: Proceeding of the IFIP WG 5.2 Working Conference on Expert system in Computer-Aided Design --- edited by Gero, John S Sydney: North-Holland, 1987. pp. 203-224 : ill. includes bibliography.
summary	A model of the design process control that supports dynamic allocation of tasks between a designer and a computer is presented. The model is discussed theoretically, and is demonstrated through a Prolog implementation for the participatory design of single family houses. Its utility and universal applicability are established, as well as its relationship to other computational approaches to design automation
keywords	expert systems, design process, knowledge base, architecture, control, housing, applications
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	6683
authors	Rasdorf, William J. and Wang, TsoJen E.
year	1987
title	Spike : A Generic Design Standards Processing Expert System
source	Southampton, UK: Computational Mechanics Publications, pp. 241-257. Also published in : Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Engineering International Conference Proceedings (2nd. : 1987 : Boston, MA.)
summary	Standards, codes, and specifications play an important role in the design of buildings, bridges, and other engineering systems. A design configuration must be checked against all standards to ensure that it is acceptable. This process of design conformance checking using standards is often very tedious. The successful automation of conformance checking is one of the components of a comprehensive computer-aided design system. In that past, standards were interpreted and converted into application programs written in procedural programming languages such as FORTRAN. This approach is extremely inflexible and often error-prone. To support a fully automated computer-aided design system, standards must be incorporated into the design process in a more generic and flexible manner. This paper investigates the feasibility of alternatively casting standards in a form suitable for processing in a knowledge-based expert system environment. The emergence of expert systems from artificial intelligence research has provided a technology that readily lends itself to the automation of design standards. Knowledge-based expert systems have become a powerful tool in tackling domains like design where some of the problem-solving knowledge is diverse and ill-structured. Using an expert system tool, a standard can be represented and processed independent of a CAD application program. Two prototype standards processing systems utilizing the production system approach have been constructed and are presented herein. Although the obvious direct translation casting the provisions of a standard as rules in a production system has its advantages, a more generic and flexible representation scheme is proposed herein. The approach advocated in this paper is to represent standards as databases of facts which can be readily and generically processed by an expert system. The database representation is derived from a unified view of standards obtained by using the standards modeling tools proposed by previous researchers in this field during the past decade. Building on this existing technology resulted in a knowledge- based standards processing architecture which is generic, modular, and flexible. An implementation of this architecture is presented and described
keywords	standards, civil engineering, expert systems
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	66e5
authors	Rasdorf, William J. and Wang, TsoJen E.
year	1987
title	Generic Design Standards Processing in a Knowledge-based expert system Environment
source	Design Process, National Science Foundation Workshop Proceedings. 1987. pp. 267-291. CADLINE has abstract only
summary	Standards, codes, and specifications play an important role in the design of buildings, bridges, and other engineering systems. A design configuration must be checked against all standards to ensure that it is acceptable. This process of design conformance checking using standards is often very tedious. The successful automation of conformance checking is one of the components of a comprehensive computer-aided design system. In the past, standards were interpreted and converted into application program written in procedural programming languages such as FORTRAN. This approach is extremely inflexible and often error prone. To support a fully automated computer-aided design system, standards must be incorporated into the design process in a more generic and flexible manner. This paper investigates the feasibility of alternatively casting standards in a form suitable for processing in a knowledge-based expert system environment. The emergence of expert systems from artificial intelligence research has provided a technology that readily lends itself to the automation of design standards. Knowledge-based expert systems have become a powerful tool in tackling domains like design where some of the problem-solving knowledge is diverse and ill-structured. Using an expert system tool, a standard can be represented and processed independent of a CAD application program. Two prototype standards processing systems utilizing the production system approach have been constructed and are presented herein. Although the obvious direct translation casting the provisions of a standard as rules in a production system has its advantages, a more generic and flexible representation scheme is proposed herein. The approach advocated in this paper is to represent standards as databases of facts which can be readily and generically processed by an expert system. The database representation is derived from a unified view of standards obtained by using the standards modeling tools proposed by previous researchers in this field during the past decade. Building on this existing technology resulted in a knowledge- based standards processing architecture which is generic, modular, and flexible. An implementation of this architecture is presented and described
keywords	knowledge base, standards, expert systems, civil engineering
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	4910
authors	Rasdorf, William J. and Watson, Bruce R.
year	1987
title	A Knowledge-Based Approach to Engineering Information Retrieval and Management
source	London, UK: Chapman and Hall Ltd., 1987. pp. 267-295
summary	Building design, construction, operation, maintenance, and control are all processes that have achieved various levels of computer use. Although the degree of computerization varies significantly, one common aspect of the computing needs of each process is an abundance of data in the form of tables, standards, project definition information, catalogs, etc. In most cases this data is stored in files which are independently used for input to stand-alone single-process application programs, such as a structural analysis application. The utility of these independent files is therefore limited to a single application. As concepts of integration of engineering applications evolved, the use of databases and database management systems (DBMS) increased. A number of issues of significant concern emerged. First, there is a need to retrieve data from many independent, possibly widely distributed databases. Second, there is a need for a uniform means of doing so. Third, such databases routinely undergo dynamic change. Changes in a database schema commonly result from the evolution of a design, from changes in the design process itself, and from changes in other subsequent downstream processes. Such continuing changes must be reflected in the database schemas and they subsequently require that application programs be updated and that online users be educated on a continuing basis. This chapter describes a knowledge-based expert system that provides access to and integration of the many underlying databases needed to support the building design/construction process. The unique aspect of the expert system presented in this chapter is its capture of the knowledge that an experienced human user incorporates in his search for data in a database, i.e., it seeks to identify and use the generic knowledge needed to operate a DBMS to retrieve data. This knowledge is used by the interface to enable both the online users and the application programs to request data without knowing the data's location or precisely how to ask for it. Further, the interface makes use of mechanisms that allow the user to request data without knowing the exact name by which it is stored in the database. In doing so it formalizes the levels of complexity of that knowledge and points out the multidisciplinary applications of the research results
keywords	civil engineering, knowledge base, database, expert systems
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	ddss9846
id	ddss9846
authors	Rigatti, Decio
year	1998
title	Rubem Berta Housing Estate: Order and Structure, Designand Use
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Fourth Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning Maastricht, the Netherlands), ISBN 90-6814-081-7, July 26-29, 1998
summary	The main goal of this paper is to investigate, through some space configurational based tools, a quite common phenomenon found in many different locations in Brazil, concerning the process of urban changes individually introduced by dwellers of public housing estates. A significant number of housing estates, particularly those designed according to rationalist concepts, seem to be unable to support space related social requirements and are then widely transformed when compared to the original layouts. Beyond the quantitative features, the morphological changes that take place in those housing estates mean a fundamental new approach to understand how completely new urban structures can arisefrom the space produced by a comprehensive urban design, took as a starting point for the transformations made by the dwellers of those settlements. As a case study is analysed the Rubem Berta Housing Estate which was built in Porto Alegre/RS, Brazil, for 20,000 people in the late 70’s. Since the begining of its occupation in 1986 and the invasion that took place in 1987, the urban transformations there have never stopped. It’s possible to realize that the dwellers individually use some constant physical rules to define the new settlement which are very similar within the estate itself and, at the same time, very similar to those found in other transformed housing estates of this sort. The physical rules introduced change the features of the entire settlement in two different levels: a) locally, through the transformations introduced in order to solve individual needs; b) globally, the local rules of physical transformations produce a new overall structure for the whole urban complex. The knowledge of this process makes it possible to bring to the surface of architectural theory some generic configurational codes that can be used as a tool for designing public housing estates in Brazil.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

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