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	eabb
authors	Boeykens, St. Geebelen, B. and Neuckermans, H.
year	2002
title	Design phase transitions in object-oriented modeling of architecture
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2002.310
source	Connecting the Real and the Virtual - design e-ducation [20th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9541183-0-8] Warsaw (Poland) 18-20 September 2002, pp. 310-313
summary	The project IDEA+ aims to develop an “Integrated Design Environment for Architecture”. Its goal is providing a tool for the designer-architect that can be of assistance in the early-design phases. It should provide the possibility to perform tests (like heat or cost calculations) and simple simulations in the different (early) design phases, without the need for a fully detailed design or remodeling in a different application. The test for daylighting is already in development (Geebelen, to be published). The conceptual foundation for this design environment has been laid out in a scheme in which different design phases and scales are defined, together with appropriate tests at the different levels (Neuckermans, 1992). It is a translation of the “designerly” way of thinking of the architect (Cross, 1982). This conceptual model has been translated into a “Core Object Model” (Hendricx, 2000), which defines a structured object model to describe the necessary building model. These developments form the theoretical basis for the implementation of IDEA+ (both the data structure & prototype software), which is currently in progress. The research project addresses some issues, which are at the forefront of the architect’s interest while designing with CAAD. These are treated from the point of view of a practicing architect.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	1b31
authors	Stöckli, Tobi
year	1992
title	THE MEASURABLE AND THE UNMEASURABLE OR - FROM FORM TO DESIGN TO EXISTANCE
source	Proceedings of the 4rd European Full-Scale Modelling Conference / Lausanne (Switzerland) 9-12 September 1992, Part B, pp. 55-62
summary	This article discusses the architectural design process from two sides of the spectrum: the formal exercises of experts and the participatory process involving users. The "place" of the full-scale-modelling laboratory at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne is then assessed with respect to this spectrum. It may seem that activities in a full-scale laboratory are closer to the participation process than to formal exercises. However, activities of the full-scale laboratory in Lausanne may best be situated around the middle of the design process. It is clearly within the realm of the measurable (since each construction can easily be measured.) Yet, it does not quite correspond to the real building; it remains an abstraction, a model. And in this quality of abstraction lies the potential to give form to the unmeasurable. It is a tool which allows a transformation of the unmeasurable aspects of an idea into the unmeasurable of existence.
keywords	Full-scale Modeling, Model Simulation, Real Environments
series	other
type	normal paper
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/efa
last changed	2004/05/04 15:40

_id	a6d8
authors	Baletic, Bojan
year	1992
title	Information Codes of Mutant Forms
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.173
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 173-186
summary	If we assume that the statements from this quote are true, than we have to ask ourselves the question: "Should we teach architecture as we do?" This paper describes our experience in developing a knowledge base using a neural network system to serve as a "intelligent assistant" to students and other practicing architects in the conceptual phase of their work on housing design. Our approach concentrated on rising the awareness of the designer about the problem, not by building rules to guide him to a solution, but by questioning the categories and typologies by which he classifies and understands a problem. This we achieve through examples containing mutant forms, imperfect rules, gray zones between black and white, that carry the seeds of new solutions.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_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	cef3
authors	Bridges, Alan H.
year	1992
title	Computing and Problem Based Learning at Delft University of Technology Faculty of Architecture
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.289
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 289-294
summary	Delft University of Technology, founded in 1842, is the oldest and largest technical university in the Netherlands. It provides education for more than 13,000 students in fifteen main subject areas. The Faculty of Architecture, Housing, Urban Design and Planning is one of the largest faculties of the DUT with some 2000 students and over 500 staff members. The course of study takes four academic years: a first year (Propaedeuse) and a further three years (Doctoraal) leading to the "ingenieur" qualification. The basic course material is delivered in the first two years and is taken by all students. The third and fourth years consist of a smaller number of compulsory subjects in each of the department's specialist areas together with a wide range of option choices. The five main subject areas the students may choose from for their specialisation are Architecture, Building and Project Management, Building Technology, Urban Design and Planning, and Housing. The curriculum of the Faculty has been radically revised over the last two years and is now based on the concept of "Problem-Based Learning". The subject matter taught is divided thematically into specific issues that are taught in six week blocks. The vehicles for these blocks are specially selected and adapted case studies prepared by teams of staff members. These provide a focus for integrating specialist subjects around a studio based design theme. In the case of second year this studio is largely computer-based: many drawings are produced by computer and several specially written computer applications are used in association with the specialist inputs. This paper describes the "block structure" used in second year, giving examples of the special computer programs used, but also raises a number of broader educational issues. Introduction of the block system arose as a method of curriculum integration in response to difficulties emerging from the independent functioning of strong discipline areas in the traditional work groups. The need for a greater level of selfdirected learning was recognised as opposed to the "passive information model" of student learning in which the students are seen as empty vessels to be filled with knowledge - which they are then usually unable to apply in design related contexts in the studio. Furthermore, the value of electives had been questioned: whilst enabling some diversity of choice, they may also be seen as diverting attention and resources from the real problems of teaching architecture.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	b4c4
authors	Carrara, G., Fioravanti, A. and Novembri, G.
year	2000
title	A framework for an Architectural Collaborative Design
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.057
source	Promise and Reality: State of the Art versus State of Practice in Computing for the Design and Planning Process [18th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-6-5] Weimar (Germany) 22-24 June 2000, pp. 57-60
summary	The building industry involves a larger number of disciplines, operators and professionals than other industrial processes. Its peculiarity is that the products (building objects) have a number of parts (building elements) that does not differ much from the number of classes into which building objects can be conceptually subdivided. Another important characteristic is that the building industry produces unique products (de Vries and van Zutphen, 1992). This is not an isolated situation but indeed one that is spreading also in other industrial fields. For example, production niches have proved successful in the automotive and computer industries (Carrara, Fioravanti, & Novembri, 1989). Building design is a complex multi-disciplinary process, which demands a high degree of co-ordination and co-operation among separate teams, each having its own specific knowledge and its own set of specific design tools. Establishing an environment for design tool integration is a prerequisite for network-based distributed work. It was attempted to solve the problem of efficient, user-friendly, and fast information exchange among operators by treating it simply as an exchange of data. But the failure of IGES, CGM, PHIGS confirms that data have different meanings and importance in different contexts. The STandard for Exchange of Product data, ISO 10303 Part 106 BCCM, relating to AEC field (Wix, 1997), seems to be too complex to be applied to professional studios. Moreover its structure is too deep and the conceptual classifications based on it do not allow multi-inheritance (Ekholm, 1996). From now on we shall adopt the BCCM semantic that defines the actor as "a functional participant in building construction"; and we shall define designer as "every member of the class formed by designers" (architects, engineers, town-planners, construction managers, etc.).
keywords	Architectural Design Process, Collaborative Design, Knowledge Engineering, Dynamic Object Oriented Programming
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	2325
authors	Chilton, John C.
year	1992
title	Computer Aided Structural Design in Architectural Instruction
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.443
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 443-450
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
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.295
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 295-306
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	ddss9206
id	ddss9206
authors	Drach, A., Langenegger, M. and Heitz, S.
year	1993
title	Working with prototypes: from cad to flexible tools for integrated building design
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 formulation of design knowledge as concepts, goals and rules cannot be captured in fixed and valid statements. The dynamic modelling of concepts and goals is, on the contrary, part of the design process itself. Tools that effectively support architects in their design should therefore never use predefined mechanisms, but must be definable interactively according to design specifications. We propose the concept of prototypes as a cognitive model to represent and structure design knowledge. Prototypes incorporate an individual view of design in a synthetic and organizational model for a defined area of interest. They actively control and guide design processes in supporting the organizational concepts for solutions. The a+Tool implements these concepts on the basis of a modelling language. It provides a dynamic toolkit and user interface to support design as well as knowledge modelling.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	4129
authors	Fargas, Josep and Papazian, Pegor
year	1992
title	Metaphors in Design: An Experiment with a Frame, Two Lines and Two Rectangles
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1992.013
source	Mission - Method - Madness [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-01-2] 1992, pp. 13-22
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	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	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	ea96
authors	Hacfoort, Eek J. and Veldhuisen, Jan K.
year	1992
title	A Building Design and Evaluation System
source	New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992. pp. 195-211 : ill. table. includes bibliography
summary	Within the field of architectural design there is a growing awareness of imbalance among the professionalism, the experience, and the creativity of the designers' response to the up-to-date requirements of all parties interested in the design process. The building design and evaluating system COSMOS makes it possible for various participants to work within their own domain, so that separated but coordinated work can be done. This system is meant to organize the initial stage of the design process, where user-defined functions, geometry, type of construction, and building materials are decided. It offers a tool to design a building to calculate a number of effects and for managing the information necessary to evaluate the design decisions. The system is provided with data and sets of parameters for describing the conditions, along with their properties, of the main building functions of a selection of well-known building types. The architectural design is conceptualized as being a hierarchy of spatial units, ranking from building blocks down to specific rooms or spaces. The concept of zoning is used as a means of calculating and directly evaluating the structure of the design without working out the details. A distinction is made between internal and external calculations and evaluations during the initial design process. During design on screen, an estimation can be recorded of building costs, energy costs, acoustics, lighting, construction, and utility. Furthermore, the design can be exported to a design application program, in this case AutoCAD, to make and show drawings in more detail. Through the medium of a database, external calculation and evaluation of building costs, life-cycle costs, energy costs, interior climate, acoustics, lighting, construction, and utility are possible in much more advanced application programs
keywords	evaluation, applications, integration, architecture, design, construction, building, energy, cost, lighting, acoustics, performance
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	56de
authors	Handa, M., Hasegawa, Y., Matsuda, H., Tamaki, K., Kojima, S., Matsueda, K., Takakuwa, T. and Onoda, T.
year	1996
title	Development of interior finishing unit assembly system with robot: WASCOR IV research project report
source	Automation in Construction 5 (1) (1996) pp. 31-38
summary	The WASCOR (WASeda Construction Robot) research project was organized in 1982 by Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, aiming at automatizing building construction with a robot. This project is collaborated by nine general contractors and a construction machinery manufacturer. The WASCOR research project has been divided into four phases with the development of the study and called WASCOR I, II, III, and IV respectively. WASCOR I, II, and III finished during the time from 1982 to 1992 in a row with having 3-4 years for each phase, and WASCOR IV has been continued since 1993. WASCOR IV has been working on a automatized building interior finishing system. This system consists of following three parts. (1) Development of building system and construction method for automated interior finishing system. (2) Design of hardware system applied to automated interior finishing system. (3) Design of information management system in automated construction. As the research project has been developing, this paper describes the interim report of (1) Development of building system and construction method for automated interior finishing system, and (2) Design of hardware system applied to automated interior finishing system.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	6cfd
authors	Harfmann, Anton C. and Majkowski, Bruce R.
year	1992
title	Component-Based Spatial Reasoning
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1992.103
source	Mission - Method - Madness [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-01-2] 1992, pp. 103-111
summary	The design process and ordering of individual components through which architecture is realized relies on the use of abstract "models" to represent a proposed design. The emergence and use of these abstract "models" for building representation has a long history and tradition in the field of architecture. Models have been made and continue to be made for the patron, occasionally the public, and as a guide for the builders. Models have also been described as a means to reflect on the design and to allow the design to be in dialogue with the creator. The term "model" in the above paragraph has been used in various ways and in this context is defined as any representation through which design intent is expressed. This includes accurate/ rational or abstract drawings (2- dimensional and 3-dimensional), physical models (realistic and abstract) and computer models (solid, void and virtual reality). The various models that fall within the categories above have been derived from the need to "view" the proposed design in various ways in order to support intuitive reasoning about the proposal and for evaluation purposes. For example, a 2-dimensional drawing of a floor plan is well suited to support reasoning about spatial relationships and circulation patterns while scaled 3-dimensional models facilitate reasoning about overall form, volume, light, massing etc. However, the common denominator of all architectural design projects (if the intent is to construct them in actual scale, physical form) are the discrete building elements from which the design will be constructed. It is proposed that a single computational model representing individual components supports all of the above "models" and facilitates "viewing"' the design according to the frame of reference of the viewer. Furthermore, it is the position of the authors that all reasoning stems from this rudimentary level of modeling individual components. The concept of component representation has been derived from the fact that a "real" building (made from individual components such as nuts, bolts and bar joists) can be "viewed" differently according to the frame of reference of the viewer. Each individual has the ability to infer and abstract from the assemblies of components a variety of different "models" ranging from a visceral, experiential understanding to a very technical, physical understanding. The component concept has already proven to be a valuable tool for reasoning about assemblies, interferences between components, tracing of load path and numerous other component related applications. In order to validate the component-based modeling concept this effort will focus on the development of spatial understanding from the component-based model. The discussions will, therefore, center about the representation of individual components and the development of spatial models and spatial reasoning from the component model. In order to frame the argument that spatial modeling and reasoning can be derived from the component representation, a review of the component-based modeling concept will precede the discussions of spatial issues.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:49

_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

_id	ecaade2009_138
id	ecaade2009_138
authors	Kozikoglu, Nilüfer; Erdogan, Meral; Nircan, Ahmet Kutsi; Özsel Akipek, Fulya
year	2009
title	Collective Design Network: Systems Thinking (Event-Pattern-Structures) and System Dynamics Modelling as a Design Concept and Strategy
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2009.533
source	Computation: The New Realm of Architectural Design [27th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 978-0-9541183-8-9] Istanbul (Turkey) 16-19 September 2009, pp. 533-540
wos	WOS:000334282200064
summary	This paper will relay the initial phase of a collaborative work within partners from the design discipline, systems engineering, and software engineering which deals with the interrelations of “network idea”, “systems thinking”, “collective design”, and “computation”. Vensim– a system dynamics modelling tool developed by Ventana Systems, Inc. in 1992 – has been used in an experimental first year design studio to engage students in systems thinking in the architectural design environment. It has been observed that this tool enabled most students to develop a multi-layered, complex and more controlled design logic and to amplify the cognitive processes at the beginning of the design education. We conclude that in order to fully realize systems thinking in the design process, new ways of integrating parametric design environments and system dynamic modelling environments needs to be investigated.
keywords	Design network, system dynamics, dynamic pattern, collectivity, integration
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	c5d7
authors	Kuffer, Monika
year	2003
title	Monitoring the Dynamics of Informal Settlements in Dar Es Salaam by Remote Sensing: Exploring the Use of Spot, Ers and Small Format Aerial Photography
source	CORP 2003, Vienna University of Technology, 25.2.-28.2.2003 [Proceedings on CD-Rom]
summary	Dar es Salaam is exemplary for cities in the developing world facing an enormous population growth. In the last decades, unplanned settlements have tremendously expanded, causing that around 70 percent of the urban dwellers are living now-a-days in these areas. Tools for monitoring such tremendous growth are relatively weak in developing countries, thus an effective satellite based monitoring system can provide a useful instrument for monitoring the dynamics of urban development. An investigation to asses the ability of extracting reliable information on the expansion and consolidation levels (density) of urban development of the city of Dar es Salaam from SPOT-HRV and ERS-SAR images is described. The use of SPOT and ERS should provide data that is complementary to data derived from the most recent aerial photography and from digital topographic maps. In a series of experiments various classification and fusion techniques are applied to the SPOT-HRV and ERS-SAR data to extract information on building density that is comparable to that obtained from the 1992 data. Ultimately, building density is estimated by linear and non-linear regression models on the basis of an one ha kernel and further aggregation is made to the level of informal settlements for a final analysis. In order to assess the reliability, use is made of several sample areas that are relatively stable over the study period, as well as, of data derived from small format aerial photography. The experiments show a high correlation between the density data derived from the satellite images and the test areas.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/03/11 20:39

_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	677b
authors	Mohsini, R.A.
year	1992
title	On Measuring Project Performance : Some Problems of Aggregation
source	New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992. pp. 239-249 : tables. includes bibliography
summary	Performance evaluation of buildings--by means of postconstruction evaluation--has traditionally focused on the performance measurement of building subsystems. This approach, based on the horizontal view of the building process, suffers from two important shortcomings. First, its underlying assumption that a completed building's performance can be arrived at simply by aggregating the individual performances of its parts is not valid. Like most complex systems, a completed building is much more than the sum of its parts. Second, the focus of traditional appraisal on subsystems, with its feedback information on individual products and services, actively encourages suboptimization of tasks. It is a condition that is contrary to the requirements imposed by the multiorganizational nature of the building team, and the resulting interdependence of tasks, where useful feedback information is that which relates to the project as a whole. To overcome these shortcomings of the traditional building appraisal model, an alternative model based on the vertical view of the building process is proposed
keywords	construction, management, building, multicriteria, evaluation, performance
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

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