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	ddss9219
id	ddss9219
authors	Bourdakis, V. and Fellows, R.F.
year	1993
title	A model appraising the performance of structural systems used in sports hall and swimming pool buildings in greece
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture (Proceedings of a conference held in Mierlo, the Netherlands in July 1992), ISBN 0-7923-2444-7
summary	The selection of the best performing structural system (among steel, timber laminated, concrete, fabric tents) for medium span (30-50m) sports halls and swimming pools in Greece formed the impetus for this research. Decision-making concerning selection of the structural system is difficult in this sector of construction, as was explained in the "Long Span Structures" conference (November 1990, Athens. Greece). From the literature it has been found that most building appraisals end up at the level of data analysis and draw conclusions on the individual aspects they investigate. These approaches usually focus on a fraction of the problem, examining it very deeply and theoretically. Their drawback is loss of comprehensiveness and ability to draw conclusions on an overall level and consequently being applicable to the existing conditions. Research on an inclusive level is sparse. In this particular research project, an inclusive appraisal approach was adopted, leading to the identification of three main variables: resources, human-user-satisfaction, and technical. Consequently, this led to a combination of purely quantitative and qualitative data. Case studies were conducted on existing buildings in order to assess the actual performance of the various alternative structural systems. This paper presents the procedure followed for the identification of the research variables and the focus on the development of the model of quantification. The latter is of vital importance if the problem of incompatibility of data is to be solved, overall relation of findings is to be achieved and holistic conclusions are to be drawn.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/11/21 15:16

_id	ddss9209
id	ddss9209
authors	De Gelder, J.T. and Lucardie, G.L.
year	1993
title	Knowledge and data modelling in cad/cam applications
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture (Proceedings of a conference held in Mierlo, the Netherlands in July 1992), ISBN 0-7923-2444-7
summary	Modelling knowledge and data in CAD/CAM applications is complex because different goals and contexts have to be taken into account. This complexity makes particular demands upon representation formalisms. Today many modelling tools are based on record structures. By analyzing the requirements for a product model of a portal structure in steel, this paper shows that in many situations record structures are not well suited as a representation formalism for storing knowledge and data in CAD/CAM applications. This is illustrated by performing a knowledge-level analysis of the knowledge and data generated in the design and manufacturing process of a portal structure in steel.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	181b
authors	Liou, Shuenn-Ren
year	1992
title	A computer-based framework for analyzing and deriving the morphological structure of architectural designs
source	University of Michigan
summary	An approach to the acquisition and utilization of knowledge about the morphological structure of notable orthogonal building plans and other two-dimensional compositions is formulated and tested. This approach consists of two levels of abstraction within which the analysis and comparison of existing designs and the derivation of new designs can be undertaken systematically and efficiently. Specifically, the morphological structure of orthogonal building plans and other two-dimensional compositions is conceived as a language defined by shape grammar and architectural grammar corresponding to the geometric and spatial structures of the compositions. Lines constitute the shape grammar and walls and columns the architectural grammar. A computer program named ANADER is designed and implemented using the C++ object-oriented language to describe feasible compositions. It is argued that the gap between morphological analysis and synthesis is bridged partially because the proposed framework facilitates systematic comparisons of the morphological structures of two-dimensional orthogonal compositions and provides insight into the form-making process used to derive them. As an analytical system, the framework contributes to the generation of new and the assessment of existing morphological knowledge. Specifically, it is demonstrated that it is feasible to specify an existing architectural design by a set of universal rule schemata and the sequence of their application. As a generative system, the framework allows many of the tasks involved in the derivation of two-dimensional orthogonal compositions to be carried out. As well, it promotes the use of analytical results. In conclusion, it is argued that the proposed computer-based framework will provide the research and the educator with increasing opportunities for addressing persistent architectural questions in new ways. Of particular interest to this author are questions concerning the decision-making activities involved in form- and space-making as well as the description, classification, and derivation of architecutural form and space. It is suggested that, at least in reference to the cases examined, but probably also in reference to many other morphological classes, these and other related questions can be addressed systematically, efficiently, and fruitfully by using the proposed framework.
series	thesis:PhD
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	ddss9208
id	ddss9208
authors	Lucardie, G.L.
year	1993
title	A functional approach to realizing decision support systems in technical regulation management for design and construction
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture (Proceedings of a conference held in Mierlo, the Netherlands in July 1992), ISBN 0-7923-2444-7
summary	Technical building standards defining the quality of buildings, building products, building materials and building processes aim to provide acceptable levels of safety, health, usefulness and energy consumption. However, the logical consistency between these goals and the set of regulations produced to achieve them is often hard to identify. Not only the large quantities of highly complex and frequently changing building regulations to be met, but also the variety of user demands and the steadily increasing technical information on (new) materials, products and buildings have produced a very complex set of knowledge and data that should be taken into account when handling technical building regulations. Integrating knowledge technology and database technology is an important step towards managing the complexity of technical regulations. Generally, two strategies can be followed to integrate knowledge and database technology. The main emphasis of the first strategy is on transferring data structures and processing techniques from one field of research to another. The second approach is concerned exclusively with the semantic structure of what is contained in the data-based or knowledge-based system. The aim of this paper is to show that the second or knowledge-level approach, in particular the theory of functional classifications, is more fundamental and more fruitful. It permits a goal-directed rationalized strategy towards analysis, use and application of regulations. Therefore, it enables the reconstruction of (deep) models of regulations, objects and of users accounting for the flexibility and dynamics that are responsible for the complexity of technical regulations. Finally, at the systems level, the theory supports an effective development of a new class of rational Decision Support Systems (DSS), which should reduce the complexity of technical regulations and restore the logical consistency between the goals of technical regulations and the technical regulations themselves.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	60e7
authors	Bailey, Rohan
year	2000
title	The Intelligent Sketch: Developing a Conceptual Model for a Digital Design Assistant
source	Eternity, Infinity and Virtuality in Architecture [Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture / 1-880250-09-8] Washington D.C. 19-22 October 2000, pp. 137-145
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2000.137
summary	The computer is a relatively new tool in the practice of Architecture. Since its introduction, there has been a desire amongst designers to use this new tool quite early in the design process. However, contrary to this desire, most Architects today use pen and paper in the very early stages of design to sketch. Architects solve problems by thinking visually. One of the most important tools that the Architect has at his disposal in the design process is the hand sketch. This iterative way of testing ideas and informing the design process with images fundamentally directs and aids the architect’s decision making. It has been said (Schön and Wiggins 1992) that sketching is about the reflective conversation designers have with images and ideas conveyed by the act of drawing. It is highly dependent on feedback. This “conversation” is an area worthy of investigation. Understanding this “conversation” is significant to understanding how we might apply the computer to enhance the designer’s ability to capture, manipulate and reflect on ideas during conceptual design. This paper discusses sketching and its relation to design thinking. It explores the conversations that designers engage in with the media they use. This is done through the explanation of a protocol analysis method. Protocol analysis used in the field of psychology, has been used extensively by Eastman et al (starting in the early 70s) as a method to elicit information about design thinking. In the pilot experiment described in this paper, two persons are used. One plays the role of the “hand” while the other is the “mind”- the two elements that are involved in the design “conversation”. This variation on classical protocol analysis sets out to discover how “intelligent” the hand should be to enhance design by reflection. The paper describes the procedures entailed in the pilot experiment and the resulting data. The paper then concludes by discussing future intentions for research and the far reaching possibilities for use of the computer in architectural studio teaching (as teaching aids) as well as a digital design assistant in conceptual design.
keywords	CAAD, Sketching, Protocol Analysis, Design Thinking, Design Education
series	ACADIA
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	065b
authors	Beitia, S.S., Zulueta, A. and Barrallo, J.
year	1995
title	The Virtual Cathedral - An Essay about CAAD, History and Structure
source	Multimedia and Architectural Disciplines [Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe / ISBN 0-9523687-1-4] Palermo (Italy) 16-18 November 1995, pp. 355-360
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.355
summary	The Old Cathedral of Santa Maria in Vitoria is the most representative building of the Gothic style in the Basque Country. Built during the XIV century, it has been closed to the cult in 1994 because of the high risk of collapse that presents its structure. This closure was originated by the structural analysis that was entrusted to the University of the Basque Country in 1992. The topographic works developed in the Cathedral to elaborate the planimetry of the temple revealed that many structural elements of great importance like arches, buttresses and flying buttresses were removed, modified or added along the history of Santa Maria. The first structural analysis made in the church suggested that the huge deformations showed in the resistant elements, specially the piers, were originated by interventions made in the past. A deep historical investigation allowed us to know how the Cathedral was built and the changes executed until our days. With this information, we started the elaboration of a virtual model of the Cathedral of Santa Maria. This model was introduced into a Finite Elements Method system to study the deformations suffered in the church during its construction in the XIV century, and the intervention made later in the XV, XVI and XX centuries. The efficiency of the virtual model simulating the geometry of the Cathedral along history allowed us to detect the cause of the structural damage, that was finally found in many unfortunate interventions along time.
series	eCAADe
more	http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_43.htm
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	b2f9
id	b2f9
authors	Bhzad Sidawi and Neveen Hamza
year	2012
title	INTELLIGENT KNOWLEDGE-BASED REPOSITORY TO SUPPORT INFORMED DESIGN DECISION MAKING
source	ITCON journal
summary	Research highlights that architectural design is a social phenomenon that is underpinned by critical analysis of design precedents and the social interaction between designers including negotiation, collaboration and communication. CAAD systems are continuously developing as essential design tools in formulating and developing ideas. Researchers such as (Rosenman, Gero and Oxman 1992) have suggested suggest that knowledge based systems can be integrated with CAAD systems to provide design knowledge that would enable recalling design precedents that maybe linked to the design constraints. Currently CAAD systems are user centric being focused on architects rather than the end product. The systems provide limited assistance in the production of innovative design. Furthermore, the attention of the designers of knowledge based systems is providing a repository rather than a system that is capable to initiate innovation. Most of the CAAD systems have web communication tools that enable designers to communicate their design ideas with colleagues and partners in business. However, none of these systems have the capability to capture useful knowledge from the design negotiations. Students of the third to fifth year at College of Architecture, University of Dammam were surveyed and interviewed to find out how far design tools, communications and resources would impact the production of innovative design projects. The survey results show that knowledge extracted from design negotiations would impact the innovative design outcome. It highlights also that present design precedents are not very helpful and design negotiations between students, tutors and other students are not documented thus fully incorporated into the design scheme. The paper argues that the future CAAD systems should be capable to recognize innovative design precedents, and incorporate knowledge that is resulted from design negotiations. This would help students to gain a critical mass of knowledge that would underpin informed design decisions.
series	journal paper
type	normal paper
email
more	http://www.itcon.org/cgi-bin/works/Show?2012_20
last changed	2012/09/19 13:41

_id	2325
authors	Chilton, John C.
year	1992
title	Computer Aided Structural Design in Architectural Instruction
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 443-450
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.443
summary	In schools of architecture there is a tendency to associate the use of computers solely with the production of graphic images as part of the architectural design process. However, if the architecture is to work as a building it is also essential that technical aspects of the design are adequately investigated. One of the problem areas for most architectural students is structural design and they are often reluctant to use hand calculations to determine sizes of structural elements within their projects. In recent years, much of the drudgery of hand calculation has been removed from the engineer by the use of computers, and this has, hopefully, allowed a more thorough investigation of conceptual ideas and alternatives. The same benefit is now becoming available to architectural students. This is in the form of structural analysis and design programs that can be used, even by those having a limited knowledge of structural engineering, to assess the stability of designs and obtain approximate sizes for individual structural elements. The paper discusses how the use of such programs is taught, within the School of Architecture at Nottingham. Examples will be given of how they can assist students in the architectural design process. In particular, the application of GLULAM, a program for estimating sizes of laminated timber elements and SAND, a structural analysis and design package, will be described.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	c434
authors	Colajanni, B., Pellitteri, G. and Scianna, A.
year	1992
title	Two Approaches to Teaching Computers in Architecture: The Experience in the Faculty of Engineering in Palermo, Italy
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 295-306
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.295
summary	Teaching the use of computers in architecture poses the same kind of problems as teaching mathematics. To both there are two possible approaches. The first presents the discipline as a tool of which the merely instrumental aspect is emphasized. Teaching is limited to show the results obtainable by existing programs and how to get them. The second approach, on the contrary emphasizes the autonomous nature of the discipline, mathematics as much as computing, on the basis of the convincement that the maximum of instrumental usefulness can be obtained through the knowledge at the highest degree of generality and, then, of abstraction. The first approach changes little in the mind of the student. He simply learns that is possible, and then worthy doing, a certain amount of operations, mainly checks of performances (and not only the control of the aspect, now easy with one of the many existing CAD) or searches of technical informations in some database. The second approach gives the student the consciousness of the manageability of abstract structures of relationships. He acquires then the idea of creating by himself particular structures of relationships and managing them. This can modify the very idea of the design procedure giving the student the consciousness that he can intervene directly in every segment of the design procedure, reshaping it to some extent in a way better suited to the particular problem he is dealing with. Of course this second approach implies learning not only a language but also the capability of coming to terms with languages. And again it is a cultural acquisition that can be very useful when referred to the languages of architecture. Furthermore the capability of simulating on the computer also a small segment of the design process gives the student a better understanding both of the particular problem he is dealing with and of the very nature of design. As for the first effect, it happens whenever a translation is done from a language to another one. One is obliged to get to the core of the matter in order to overcome the difficulties rising from the different bias of the two languages. The second effect comes from the necessity of placing the studied segment in the general flow of the design process. The organisation in a linear sequence of action to be accomplished recursively in an order always varying in any design occasion is an extremely useful exercise to understand the signification and the techniques of formalisation of design problems.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	6ea4
authors	Eastman, C.M.
year	1992
title	A Data Model Analysis of Modularity and Extensibility in Building Databases
source	Building and Environment, Vol 27, No: 2, pp. 135-148
summary	This paper uses data modeling techniques to define how database schemas for an intelligent integrated architectural CAD system can be made extensible. It reviews the product data modeling language EDM, then applies it to define a part of an architectural data model. Extensions are then investigated, regarding how users could integrate various design-specific packages into a uniquely configured system. Both, extension by substituting one technology for another and by adding a new evaluation application, are considered. Data modeling allows specification of a CAD database and identification of the kind of modularization that will work and what problems may arise.''
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	4857
authors	Escola Tecnica Superior D'arquitectura de Barcelona (Ed.)
year	1992
title	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect?
source	eCAADe Conference Proceedings / Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, 551 p.
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992
summary	The involvement of computer graphic systems in the transmission of knowledge in the areas of urban planning and architectural design will bring a significant change to the didactic programs and methods of those schools which have decided to adopt these new instruments. Workshops of urban planning and architectural design will have to modify their structures, and teaching teams will have to revise their current programs. Some european schools and faculties of architecture have taken steps in this direction. Others are willing to join them. This process is only delayed by the scarcity of material resources, and by the slowness with which a sufficient number of teachers are adopting these methods. ECAADE has set out to analyze the state of this issue during its next conference, and it will be discussed from various points of view. From this confrontation of ideas will come, surely, the guidelines for progress in the years to come. The different sessions will be grouped together following these four themes: (A.) Multimedia and Course Work / State of the art of the synthesis of graphical and textual information favored by new available multimedia computer programs. Their repercussions on academic programs. (B.) The New Design Studio / Physical characteristics, data concentration and accessibility of a computerized studio can be better approached in a computerized workshop. (C.) How to manage the new education system / Problems and possibilities raised, from the practical and organizational points of view, of architectural education by the introduction of computers in the classrooms. (D.) CAAI. Formal versus informal structure / How will the traditional teaching structure be affected by the incidence of these new systems in which the access to knowledge and information can be obtained in a random way and guided by personal and subjective criteria.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:49

_id	4129
authors	Fargas, Josep and Papazian, Pegor
year	1992
title	Metaphors in Design: An Experiment with a Frame, Two Lines and Two Rectangles
source	Mission - Method - Madness [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-01-2] 1992, pp. 13-22
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1992.013
summary	The research we will discuss below originated from an attempt to examine the capacity of designers to evaluate an artifact, and to study the feasibility of replicating a designer's moves intended to make an artifact more expressive of a given quality. We will present the results of an interactive computer experiment, first developed at the MIT Design Research Seminar, which is meant to capture the subject’s actions in a simple design task as a series of successive "moves"'. We will propose that designers use metaphors in their interaction with design artifacts and we will argue that the concept of metaphors can lead to a powerful theory of design activity. Finally, we will show how such a theory can drive the project of building a design system. When trying to understand how designers work, it is tempting to examine design products in order to come up with the principles or norms behind them. The problem with such an approach is that it may lead to a purely syntactical analysis of design artifacts, failing to capture the knowledge of the designer in an explicit way, and ignoring the interaction between the designer and the evolving design. We will present a theory about design activity based on the observation that knowledge is brought into play during a design task by a process of interpretation of the design document. By treating an evolving design in terms of the meanings and rules proper to a given way of seeing, a designer can reduce the complexity of a task by focusing on certain of its aspects, and can manipulate abstract elements in a meaningful way.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	e51d
authors	Fazio, P., Bedard, C. and Gowri, K.
year	1992
title	Constraints for Generating Building Envelope Design Alternatives
source	New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992. pp. 145-155 : charts. includes bibliography
summary	The building envelope design process involves selecting materials and constructional types for envelope components. Many different materials need to be combined together for wall and roof assemblies to meet the various performance requirements such as thermal efficiency, cost, acoustic and fire resistances. The number of performance attributes to be considered in the design process is large. Lack of information, time limitations and the large number of feasible design alternatives generally force the designer to rely on past experience and practical judgement to make rapid design decisions. Current work at the Centre for Buildings Studies focuses on the development of knowledge-based synthesis and evaluation techniques for reducing the problems of information handling and decision making in building envelope design. The generation of design alternatives is viewed as a search process that identifies feasible combinations of building envelope components satisfying a set of performance requirements, material compatibility, practicality of design, etc. This paper discusses knowledge acquisition and representation issues involved in the definition of constraints to guide the generation of feasible combinations of envelope components
keywords	envelope, knowledge base, knowledge acquisition, representation, performance, design, structures, architecture, evaluation
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 14:41

_id	83f7
authors	Fenves, Stephen J., Flemming, Ulrich and Hendrickson, Craig (et al)
year	1992
title	Performance Evaluation in an Integrated Software Environment for Building Design and Construction Planning
source	New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992. pp. 159-169 : ill. includes bibliography
summary	In this paper the authors describe the role of performance evaluation in the Integrated Software Environment for Building Design and Construction Planning (IBDE), which is a testbed for examining integration issues in the same domain. Various processes in IBDE deal with the spatial configuration, structural design, and construction planning of high-rise office buildings. Performance evaluations occur within these processes based on different representation schemes and control mechanisms for the handling of performance knowledge. Within this multiprocess environment, opportunities also exist for performance evaluation across disciplines through design critics
keywords	evaluation, performance, integration, systems, building, design, construction, architecture, planning, structures, representation, control
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	68c8
authors	Flemming, U., Coyne, R. and Fenves, S. (et al.)
year	1994
title	SEED: A Software Environment to Support the Early Phases in Building Design
source	Proceeding of IKM '94, Weimar, Germany, pp. 5-10
summary	The SEED project intends to develop a software environment that supports the early phases in building design (Flemming et al., 1993). The goal is to provide support, in principle, for the preliminary design of buildings in all aspects that can gain from computer support. This includes using the computer not only for analysis and evaluation, but also more actively for the generation of designs, or more accurately, for the rapid generation of design representations. A major motivation for the development of SEED is to bring the results of two multi-generational research efforts focusing on `generative' design systems closer to practice: 1. LOOS/ABLOOS, a generative system for the synthesis of layouts of rectangles (Flemming et al., 1988; Flemming, 1989; Coyne and Flemming, 1990; Coyne, 1991); 2. GENESIS, a rule-based system that supports the generation of assemblies of 3-dimensional solids (Heisserman, 1991; Heisserman and Woodbury, 1993). The rapid generation of design representations can take advantage of special opportunities when it deals with a recurring building type, that is, a building type dealt with frequently by the users of the system. Design firms - from housing manufacturers to government agencies - accumulate considerable experience with recurring building types. But current CAD systems capture this experience and support its reuse only marginally. SEED intends to provide systematic support for the storing and retrieval of past solutions and their adaptation to similar problem situations. This motivation aligns aspects of SEED closely with current work in Artificial Intelligence that focuses on case-based design (see, for example, Kolodner, 1991; Domeshek and Kolodner, 1992; Hua et al., 1992).
series	other
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	ddss9214
id	ddss9214
authors	Friedman, A.
year	1993
title	A decision-making process for choice of a flexible internal partition option in multi-unit housing using decision theory techniques
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture (Proceedings of a conference held in Mierlo, the Netherlands in July 1992), ISBN 0-7923-2444-7
summary	Recent demographic changes have increased the heterogeneity of user groups in the North American housing market. Smaller households (e.g. elderly, single parent) have non-traditional spatial requirements that cannot be accommodated within the conventional house layout. This has created renewed interest in Demountable/Flexible internal partition systems. However, the process by which designers decide which project or user groups are most suited for the use of these systems is quite often complex, non-linear, uncertain and dynamic, since the decisions involve natural processes and human values that are apparently random. The anonymity of users when mass housing projects are conceptualized, and the uncertainty as to the alternative to be selected by the user, given his/her constantly changing needs, are some contributing factors to this effect. Decision Theory techniques, not commonly used by architects, can facilitate the decision-making process through a systematic evaluation of alternatives by means of quantitative methods in order to reduce uncertainty in probabilistic events or in cases when data is insufficient. The author used Decision Theory in the selection of flexible partition systems. The study involved a multi-unit, privately initiated housing project in Montreal, Canada, where real site conditions and costs were used. In this paper, the author outlines the fundamentals of Decision Theory and demonstrates the use of Expected Monetary Value and Weighted Objective Analysis methods and their outcomes in the design of a Montreal housing project. The study showed that Decision Theory can be used as an effective tool in housing design once the designer knows how to collect basic data.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	7ce5
authors	Gal, Shahaf
year	1992
title	Computers and Design Activities: Their Mediating Role in Engineering Education
source	Sociomedia, ed. Edward Barret. MIT Press
summary	Sociomedia: With all the new words used to describe electronic communication (multimedia, hypertext, cyberspace, etc.), do we need another one? Edward Barrett thinks we do; hence, he coins the term "sociomedia." It is meant to displace a computing economy in which technicity is hypostasized over sociality. Sociomedia, a compilation of twenty-five articles on the theory, design and practice of educational multimedia and hypermedia, attempts to re-value the communicational face of computing. Value, of course, is "ultimately a social construct." As such, it has everything to do with knowledge, power, education and technology. The projects discussed in this book represent the leading edge of electronic knowledge production in academia (not to mention major funding) and are determining the future of educational media. For these reasons, Sociomedia warrants close inspection. Barrett's introduction sets the tone. For him, designing computer media involves hardwiring a mechanism for the social construction of knowledge (1). He links computing to a process of social and communicative interactivity for constructing and desseminating knowledge. Through a mechanistic mapping of the university as hypercontext (a huge network that includes classrooms as well as services and offices), Barrett models intellectual work in such a way as to avoid "limiting definitions of human nature or human development." Education, then, can remain "where it should be--in the human domain (public and private) of sharing ideas and information through the medium of language." By leaving education in a virtual realm (where we can continue to disagree about its meaning and execution), it remains viral, mutating and contaminating in an intellectually healthy way. He concludes that his mechanistic model, by means of its reductionist approach, preserves value (7). This "value" is the social construction of knowledge. While I support the social orientation of Barrett's argument, discussions of value are related to power. I am not referring to the traditional teacher-student power structure that is supposedly dismantled through cooperative and constructivist learning strategies. The power to be reckoned with in the educational arena is foundational, that which (pre)determines value and the circulation of knowledge. "Since each of you reading this paragraph has a different perspective on the meaning of 'education' or 'learning,' and on the processes involved in 'getting an education,' think of the hybris in trying to capture education in a programmable function, in a displayable object, in a 'teaching machine'" (7). Actually, we must think about that hybris because it is, precisely, what informs teaching machines. Moreover, the basic epistemological premises that give rise to such productions are too often assumed. In the case of instructional design, the episteme of cognitive sciences are often taken for granted. It is ironic that many of the "postmodernists" who support electronic hypertextuality seem to have missed Jacques Derrida's and Michel Foucault's "deconstructions" of the epistemology underpinning cognitive sciences (if not of epistemology itself). Perhaps it is the glitz of the technology that blinds some users (qua developers) to the belief systems operating beneath the surface. Barrett is not guilty of reactionary thinking or politics; he is, in fact, quite in line with much American deconstructive and postmodern thinking. The problem arises in that he leaves open the definitions of "education," "learning" and "getting an education." One cannot engage in the production of new knowledge without orienting its design, production and dissemination, and without negotiating with others' orientations, especially where largescale funding is involved. Notions of human nature and development are structural, even infrastructural, whatever the medium of the teaching machine. Although he addresses some dynamics of power, money and politics when he talks about the recession and its effects on the conference, they are readily visible dynamics of power (3-4). Where does the critical factor of value determination, of power, of who gets what and why, get mapped onto a mechanistic model of learning institutions? Perhaps a mapping of contributors' institutions, of the funding sources for the projects showcased and for participation in the conference, and of the disciplines receiving funding for these sorts of projects would help visualize the configurations of power operative in the rising field of educational multimedia. Questions of power and money notwithstanding, Barrett's introduction sets the social and textual thematics for the collection of essays. His stress on interactivity, on communal knowledge production, on the society of texts, and on media producers and users is carried foward through the other essays, two of which I will discuss. Section I of the book, "Perspectives...," highlights the foundations, uses and possible consequences of multimedia and hypertextuality. The second essay in this section, "Is There a Class in This Text?," plays on the robust exchange surrounding Stanley Fish's book, Is There a Text in This Class?, which presents an attack on authority in reading. The author, John Slatin, has introduced electronic hypertextuality and interaction into his courses. His article maps the transformations in "the content and nature of work, and the workplace itself"-- which, in this case, is not industry but an English poetry class (25). Slatin discovered an increase of productive and cooperative learning in his electronically- mediated classroom. For him, creating knowledge in the electronic classroom involves interaction between students, instructors and course materials through the medium of interactive written discourse. These interactions lead to a new and persistent understanding of the course materials and of the participants' relation to the materials and to one another. The work of the course is to build relationships that, in my view, constitute not only the meaning of individual poems, but poetry itself. The class carries out its work in the continual and usually interactive production of text (31). While I applaud his strategies which dismantle traditional hierarchical structures in academia, the evidence does not convince me that the students know enough to ask important questions or to form a self-directing, learning community. Stanley Fish has not relinquished professing, though he, too, espouses the indeterminancy of the sign. By the fourth week of his course, Slatin's input is, by his own reckoning, reduced to 4% (39). In the transcript of the "controversial" Week 6 exchange on Gertrude Stein--the most disliked poet they were discussing at the time (40)--we see the blind leading the blind. One student parodies Stein for three lines and sums up his input with "I like it." Another, finds Stein's poetry "almost completey [sic] lacking in emotion or any artistic merit" (emphasis added). On what grounds has this student become an arbiter of "artistic merit"? Another student, after admitting being "lost" during the Wallace Steven discussion, talks of having more "respect for Stevens' work than Stein's" and adds that Stein's poetry lacks "conceptual significance[, s]omething which people of varied opinion can intelligently discuss without feeling like total dimwits...." This student has progressed from admitted incomprehension of Stevens' work to imposing her (groundless) respect for his work over Stein's. Then, she exposes her real dislike for Stein's poetry: that she (the student) missed the "conceptual significance" and hence cannot, being a person "of varied opinion," intelligently discuss it "without feeling like [a] total dimwit." Slatin's comment is frightening: "...by this point in the semester students have come to feel increasingly free to challenge the instructor" (41). The students that I have cited are neither thinking critically nor are their preconceptions challenged by student-governed interaction. Thanks to the class format, one student feels self-righteous in her ignorance, and empowered to censure. I believe strongly in student empowerment in the classroom, but only once students have accrued enough knowledge to make informed judgments. Admittedly, Slatin's essay presents only partial data (there are six hundred pages of course transcripts!); still, I wonder how much valuable knowledge and metaknowledge was gained by the students. I also question the extent to which authority and professorial dictature were addressed in this course format. The power structures that make it possible for a college to require such a course, and the choice of texts and pedagogy, were not "on the table." The traditional professorial position may have been displaced, but what took its place?--the authority of consensus with its unidentifiable strong arm, and the faceless reign of software design? Despite Slatin's claim that the students learned about the learning process, there is no evidence (in the article) that the students considered where their attitudes came from, how consensus operates in the construction of knowledge, how power is established and what relationship they have to bureaucratic insitutions. How do we, as teaching professionals, negotiate a balance between an enlightened despotism in education and student-created knowledge? Slatin, and other authors in this book, bring this fundamental question to the fore. There is no definitive answer because the factors involved are ultimately social, and hence, always shifting and reconfiguring. Slatin ends his article with the caveat that computerization can bring about greater estrangement between students, faculty and administration through greater regimentation and control. Of course, it can also "distribute authority and power more widely" (50). Power or authority without a specific face, however, is not necessarily good or just. Shahaf Gal's "Computers and Design Activities: Their Mediating Role in Engineering Education" is found in the second half of the volume, and does not allow for a theory/praxis dichotomy. Gal recounts a brief history of engineering education up to the introduction of Growltiger (GT), a computer-assisted learning aid for design. He demonstrates GT's potential to impact the learning of engineering design by tracking its use by four students in a bridge-building contest. What his text demonstrates clearly is that computers are "inscribing and imaging devices" that add another viewpoint to an on-going dialogue between student, teacher, earlier coursework, and other teaching/learning tools. The less proficient students made a serious error by relying too heavily on the technology, or treating it as a "blueprint provider." They "interacted with GT in a way that trusted the data to represent reality. They did not see their interaction with GT as a negotiation between two knowledge systems" (495). Students who were more thoroughly informed in engineering discourses knew to use the technology as one voice among others--they knew enough not simply to accept the input of the computer as authoritative. The less-advanced students learned a valuable lesson from the competition itself: the fact that their designs were not able to hold up under pressure (literally) brought the fact of their insufficient knowledge crashing down on them (and their bridges). They also had, post factum, several other designs to study, especially the winning one. Although competition and comparison are not good pedagogical strategies for everyone (in this case the competitors had volunteered), at some point what we think we know has to be challenged within the society of discourses to which it belongs. Students need critique in order to learn to push their learning into auto-critique. This is what is lacking in Slatin's discussion and in the writings of other avatars of constructivist, collaborative and computer-mediated pedagogies. Obviously there are differences between instrumental types of knowledge acquisition and discoursive knowledge accumulation. Indeed, I do not promote the teaching of reading, thinking and writing as "skills" per se (then again, Gal's teaching of design is quite discursive, if not dialogic). Nevertheless, the "soft" sciences might benefit from "bridge-building" competitions or the re-institution of some forms of agonia. Not everything agonistic is inhuman agony--the joy of confronting or creating a sound argument supported by defensible evidence, for example. Students need to know that soundbites are not sound arguments despite predictions that electronic writing will be aphoristic rather than periodic. Just because writing and learning can be conceived of hypertextually does not mean that rigor goes the way of the dinosaur. Rigor and hypertextuality are not mutually incompatible. Nor is rigorous thinking and hard intellectual work unpleasurable, although American anti-intellectualism, especially in the mass media, would make it so. At a time when the spurious dogmatics of a Rush Limbaugh and Holocaust revisionist historians circulate "aphoristically" in cyberspace, and at a time when knowledge is becoming increasingly textualized, the role of critical thinking in education will ultimately determine the value(s) of socially constructed knowledge. This volume affords the reader an opportunity to reconsider knowledge, power, and new communications technologies with respect to social dynamics and power relationships.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	eda3
authors	Goldschmidt, Gabriela
year	1992
title	Criteria for Design Evaluation : A Process-Oriented Paradigm
source	New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992. pp. 67-79. includes bibliography
summary	Architectural research of the last two or three decades has been largely devoted to design methodology. Systematic evaluations of design products and prescription of their desired qualities led to specifications for better designs and possible routines to achieve them. Computers have facilitated this task. The human designer, however, has largely resisted the use of innovative methods. In this paper the author claims that the reason for that lies in insufficient regard for innate cognitive aptitudes which are activated in the process of designing. A view of these aptitudes, based on patterns of links among design moves, is presented. It is proposed that process research is mandatory for further advancements in design research utility
keywords	cognition, design process, research, protocol analysis, architecture
series	CADline
last changed	1999/02/12 15:08

_id	ab4d
authors	Huang, Tao-Kuang, Degelman, Larry O., and Larsen, Terry R.
year	1992
title	A Visualization Model for Computerized Energy Evaluation During the Conceptual Design Stage (ENERGRAPH)
source	Mission - Method - Madness [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-01-2] 1992, pp. 195-206
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1992.195
summary	Energy performance is a crucial step toward responsible design. Currently there are many tools that can be applied to reach this goal with reasonable accuracy. Often times, however, major flaws are not discovered until the final stage of design when it is too late to change. Not only are existing simulation models complicated to apply at the conceptual design stage, but energy principles and their applications are also abstract and hard to visualize. Because of the lack of suitable tools to visualize energy analysis output, energy conservation concepts fail to be integrated into the building design. For these reasons, designers tend not to apply energy conservation concepts at the early design stage. However, since computer graphics is a new phase of visual communication in design process, the above problems might be solved properly through a computerized graphical interface in the conceptual design stage. The research described in this paper is the result of exploring the concept of using computer graphics to support energy efficient building designs. It focuses on the visualization of building energy through a highly interactive graphical interface in the early design stage.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	56e9
authors	Huang, Tao-Kuang
year	1992
title	A Graphical Feedback Model for Computerized Energy Analysis during the Conceptual Design Stage
source	Texas A&M University
summary	During the last two decades, considerable effort has been placed on the development of building design analysis tools. Architects and designers have begun to take advantage of computers to generate and examine design alternatives. However, because it has been difficult to adapt computer technologies to the visual orientation of the building designer, the majority of computer applications have been limited to numerical analysis and office automation tasks. Only recently, because of advances in hardware and software techniques, computers have entered into a new phase in the development of architectural design. haveters are now able to interactively display graphics solutions to architectural related problems, which is fundamental to the design process. The majority of research programs in energy efficient design have sharpened people's understanding of energy principles and their application of those principles. Energy conservation concepts, however, have not been widely used. A major problem in the implementation of these principles is that energy principles their applications are abstract, hard to visualize and separated from the architectural design process. Furthermore, one aspect of energy analysis may contain thousands of pieces of numerical information which often leads to confusion on the part of designers. If these difficulties can be overcome, it would bring a great benefit to the advancement of energy conservation concepts. This research explores the concept of an integrated computer graphics program to support energy efficient design. It focuses on (1) the integration of energy efficiently and architectural design, and (2) the visualization of building energy use through graphical interfaces during the conceptual design stage. It involves (1) the discussion of frameworks of computer-aided architectural design and computer-aided energy efficient building design, and (2) the development of an integrated computer prototype program with a graphical interface that helps the designer create building layouts, analyze building energy interactively and receive visual feedbacks dynamically. The goal is to apply computer graphics as an aid to visualize the effects of energy related decisions and therefore permit the designer to visualize and understand energy conservation concepts in the conceptual phase of architectural design.
series	thesis:PhD
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

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