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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Hits 1 to 8 of 8

_id e91f
authors Mitchell, W.J., Liggett, R.S. and Tan, M.
year 1990
title Top-Down Knowledge-Based Design
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. 137-148
summary Traditional computer drafting systems and three- dimensional geometric modeling systems work in bottom-up fashion. They provide a range of graphic primitives, such as vectors, arcs, and splines, together with operators for inserting, deleting, combining, and transforming instances of these. Thus they are conceptually very similar to word processors, with the difference that they operate on two- dimensional or three-dimensional patterns of graphic primitives rather than one-dimensional strings of characters. This sort of system is effective for input and editing of drawings or models that represent existing designs, but provides little more help than a pencil when you want to construct from scratch a drawing of some complex object such as a human figure, an automobile, or a classical column: you must depend on your own knowledge of what the pieces are and how to shape them and put them together. If you already know how to draw something then a computer drafting system will help you to do so efficiently, but if you do not know how to begin, or how to develop and refine the drawing, then the efficiency that you gain is of little practical consequence. And accelerated performance, flashier color graphics, or futuristic three-dimensional modes of interaction will not help with this problem at all. By contrast, experienced expert graphic artists and designers usually work in top-down fashion-beginning with a very schematic sketch of the whole object, then refining this, in step-by-step fashion, till the requisite level of precision and completeness is reached. For example, a figure drawing might begin as a "stick figure" schema showing lengths and angles of limbs, then be developed to show the general blocking of masses, and finally be resolved down to the finest details of contour and surface. Similarly, an architectural drawing might begin as a parti showing just a skeleton of construction lines, then be developed into a single-line floor plan, then a plan showing accurate wall thicknesses and openings, and finally a fully developed and detailed drawing.
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id 3824
authors Mitchell, William J.
year 1989
title A New Agenda for Computer-Aided Architectural Design
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1989.027
source New Ideas and Directions for the 1990’s [ACADIA Conference Proceedings] Gainsville (Florida - USA) 27-29 October 1989, pp. 27-43
summary The essential theoretical foundations for today's practical computer-aided design systems were laid more than two decades ago. They have served us well, but they are now sorely in need of revision. This paper suggests some directions that this revision might take. In particular, I focus on the roles of ambiguity and discontinuity in shape interpretation, instability in rules for carrying out shape computations, and nonmonotonicity in critical reasoning. I suggest that the challenge before us is to build a new generation of CAD systems that respond in sophisticated ways to these issues.
series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:58

_id cdd3
authors Mitchell, William J.
year 1990
title A New Agenda For Computer-Aided Design
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. 1-16
summary Design is the computation of shape information that is needed to guide fabrication or construction of an artifact. This information normally specifies artifact topology (connections of vertices, edges, surfaces, and closed volumes), dimensions, angles, and tolerances on dimensions and angles. There may also be associations of symbols with subshapes to specify material and other such properties. The process of design takes different forms in different contexts, but the most usual computational operations are transformations (unary operations) and combinations (binary operations) of shapes in a two-dimensional drawing or a three-dimensional geometric model. An initial vocabulary of shapes, together with a repertoire of shape transformation and combination operators., establishes the shape algebra within which the computation takes place. The computation terminates successfully when it can be shown that certain predicates are satisfied by a shape produced by recursively applying the transformation and combination operators to the initial vocabulary. These predicates are usually stated in symbolic (verbal or numerical) form. Thus determination of whether a predicate is satisfied usually involves producing a numerical or verbal interpretation of a drawing, then deriving inferences from this interpretation by applying rules or formulae.
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id 435a
authors Mitchell, William J.
year 1990
title Afterword: The Design Studio of The Future
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. 479-494
summary Things began to change in the mid-1940s, though architects hardly noticed. Scientists and engineers started to speculate that the new electronic technologies which had emerged in the wartime years would profoundly change the character of intellectual work. Vannevar Bush (1945) imagined a device called the Memex, which would function as a personal information server. By the 1950s computers were becoming a commercial reality, and in 1956 Fortune magazine published a remarkably prescient depiction of a machine that we can now recognize as a computer-aided design workstation complete with graphic input devices and a multi-window display showing different views of a three-dimensional object. These wonderful machines were never built, much less put to any practical use, but they established a powerful idea.
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id 8bf3
authors McCullough, M., Mitchell, W.J. and Purcell, P. (Eds.)
year 1990
title The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [Conference Proceedings]
source International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design 1989/ ISBN 0-262-13254-0] (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, 505 p.
summary Design is the computation of shape information that is needed to guide fabrication or construction of artifacts. But it is not so straightforward as, say, the computation of numerical information required to balance a checkbook. This is partly because algebras of shapes are not as well understood and precisely formalized as algebras of numbers, partly because the rules for carrying out shape computations tend to be fluid and ill defined and partly because the predicates that must be satisfied to achieve successful termination are often complex and difficult to specify. For centuries architects have carried out shape computations by hand, using informal procedures and the simplest of tools. Over the last two decades though, they have made increasing use of more formal procedures executed by computers. It is still too early to be sure of the gains and losses that follow from this development, but there is no doubt that it raises some challenging questions of architectural theory and some perplexing issues for those concerned with the future of architectural education. This book frames those issues and provides a diversity of perspectives on them. Its contents were initially presented at the CAAD Futures 89 Conference-an international gathering of researchers and teachers in the field of computer-aided architectural design which was jointly sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the MIT Department of Architecture and held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 1989. There are four major sections: Theoretical Foundations, Knowledge-Based Design Tools, Information Delivery Systems, and Case Studies: Electronic Media in the Design Studio. In a representative collection of current views, over thirty extensively illustrated papers discuss the experiences of universities in the USA, Europe, Japan, Israel, Canada, and Australia, articulate present theoretical and practical concerns, provide criticism of media and methods, and suggest directions for the future. Architectural educators and architects concerned with the effect of computer technology on the design process will find here an indispensable reference and a rich source of ideas. This book was itself prepared in an electronic design studio. Composition and typography, most image collection and placement, and such editing as was practical within this publishing format, were all performed digitally using Macintosh computers at the Harvard Graduate School of Design during a period of a few weeks in 1989.
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_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 avocaad_2001_02
id avocaad_2001_02
authors Cheng-Yuan Lin, Yu-Tung Liu
year 2001
title A digital Procedure of Building Construction: A practical project
source AVOCAAD - ADDED VALUE OF COMPUTER AIDED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Nys Koenraad, Provoost Tom, Verbeke Johan, Verleye Johan (Eds.), (2001) Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunst - Departement Architectuur Sint-Lucas, Campus Brussel, ISBN 80-76101-05-1
summary In earlier times in which computers have not yet been developed well, there has been some researches regarding representation using conventional media (Gombrich, 1960; Arnheim, 1970). For ancient architects, the design process was described abstractly by text (Hewitt, 1985; Cable, 1983); the process evolved from unselfconscious to conscious ways (Alexander, 1964). Till the appearance of 2D drawings, these drawings could only express abstract visual thinking and visually conceptualized vocabulary (Goldschmidt, 1999). Then with the massive use of physical models in the Renaissance, the form and space of architecture was given better precision (Millon, 1994). Researches continued their attempts to identify the nature of different design tools (Eastman and Fereshe, 1994). Simon (1981) figured out that human increasingly relies on other specialists, computational agents, and materials referred to augment their cognitive abilities. This discourse was verified by recent research on conception of design and the expression using digital technologies (McCullough, 1996; Perez-Gomez and Pelletier, 1997). While other design tools did not change as much as representation (Panofsky, 1991; Koch, 1997), the involvement of computers in conventional architecture design arouses a new design thinking of digital architecture (Liu, 1996; Krawczyk, 1997; Murray, 1997; Wertheim, 1999). The notion of the link between ideas and media is emphasized throughout various fields, such as architectural education (Radford, 2000), Internet, and restoration of historical architecture (Potier et al., 2000). Information technology is also an important tool for civil engineering projects (Choi and Ibbs, 1989). Compared with conventional design media, computers avoid some errors in the process (Zaera, 1997). However, most of the application of computers to construction is restricted to simulations in building process (Halpin, 1990). It is worth studying how to employ computer technology meaningfully to bring significant changes to concept stage during the process of building construction (Madazo, 2000; Dave, 2000) and communication (Haymaker, 2000).In architectural design, concept design was achieved through drawings and models (Mitchell, 1997), while the working drawings and even shop drawings were brewed and communicated through drawings only. However, the most effective method of shaping building elements is to build models by computer (Madrazo, 1999). With the trend of 3D visualization (Johnson and Clayton, 1998) and the difference of designing between the physical environment and virtual environment (Maher et al. 2000), we intend to study the possibilities of using digital models, in addition to drawings, as a critical media in the conceptual stage of building construction process in the near future (just as the critical role that physical models played in early design process in the Renaissance). This research is combined with two practical building projects, following the progress of construction by using digital models and animations to simulate the structural layouts of the projects. We also tried to solve the complicated and even conflicting problems in the detail and piping design process through an easily accessible and precise interface. An attempt was made to delineate the hierarchy of the elements in a single structural and constructional system, and the corresponding relations among the systems. Since building construction is often complicated and even conflicting, precision needed to complete the projects can not be based merely on 2D drawings with some imagination. The purpose of this paper is to describe all the related elements according to precision and correctness, to discuss every possibility of different thinking in design of electric-mechanical engineering, to receive feedback from the construction projects in the real world, and to compare the digital models with conventional drawings.Through the application of this research, the subtle relations between the conventional drawings and digital models can be used in the area of building construction. Moreover, a theoretical model and standard process is proposed by using conventional drawings, digital models and physical buildings. By introducing the intervention of digital media in design process of working drawings and shop drawings, there is an opportune chance to use the digital media as a prominent design tool. This study extends the use of digital model and animation from design process to construction process. However, the entire construction process involves various details and exceptions, which are not discussed in this paper. These limitations should be explored in future studies.
series AVOCAAD
email
last changed 2005/09/09 10:48

_id ebb2
authors Proctor, George
year 2000
title Reflections on the VDS, Pedagogy, Methods
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2000.015.2
source ACADIA Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 15-16
summary After having conducted a Digital Media based design studio at Cal Poly for six years, we have developed a body of experience I feel is worth sharing. When the idea of conducting a studio with the exclusive use of digital tools was implemented at our college, it was still somewhat novel, and only 2 short years after the first VDS- Virtual Design Studio (UBC, UHK et.al.-1993). When we began, most of what we explored required a suspension of disbelief on the part of both the students and faculty reviewers of studio work. In a few short years the notions we examined have become ubiquitous in academic architectural discourse and are expanding into common use in practice. (For background, the digital media component of our curriculum owes much to my time at Harvard GSD [MAUD 1989-91] and the texts of: McCullough/Mitchell 1990, 1994; McCullough 1998; Mitchell 1990,1992,1996; Tufte 1990; Turkel 1995; and Wojtowicz 1993; and others.)
series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 08:00

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