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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	cf5c
authors	Carpenter, B.
year	1992
title	The logic of typed feature structures with applications to unificationgrammars, logic programs and constraint resolution
source	Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science, Cambridge University Press
summary	This book develops the theory of typed feature structures, a new form of data structure that generalizes both the first-order terms of logic programs and feature-structures of unification-based grammars to include inheritance, typing, inequality, cycles and intensionality. It presents a synthesis of many existing ideas into a uniform framework, which serves as a logical foundation for grammars, logic programming and constraint-based reasoning systems. Throughout the text, a logical perspective is adopted that employs an attribute-value description language along with complete equational axiomatizations of the various systems of feature structures. Efficiency concerns are discussed and complexity and representability results are provided. The application of feature structures to phrase structure grammars is described and completeness results are shown for standard evaluation strategies. Definite clause logic programs are treated as a special case of phrase structure grammars. Constraint systems are introduced and an enumeration technique is given for solving arbitrary attribute-value logic constraints. This book with its innovative approach to data structures will be essential reading for researchers in computational linguistics, logic programming and knowledge representation. Its self-contained presentation makes it flexible enough to serve as both a research tool and a textbook.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

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

_id	a72b
authors	Madrazo, Leandro
year	1992
title	Design as Formal Language
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 319-330
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.319
summary	Geometry and language are disciplines with which architecture holds a strong relationship. They have highly structured natures, which make them well-suited for computer implementation. Architecture, on the other hand, lacks such an abstract and hierarchical system. This is one of the main obstacles to the integration of computers in architecture at this point. This paper presents the results of a pedagogic approach based on the association of language, geometry and computers. This association can be successfully used in the education of basic design principles that, although not directly related with architecture, are fundamental to the education of an architect.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:59

_id	b4c4
authors	Carrara, G., Fioravanti, A. and Novembri, G.
year	2000
title	A framework for an Architectural Collaborative Design
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
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.057
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	067f
authors	Gantt, Michelle and Nardi, Bonnie A.
year	1992
title	Gardeners and Gurus: Patterns of Cooperation among CAD Users Perspectives on the Design of CollaborativeSystems
source	Proceedings of ACM CHI'92 Conference on Human Factors in ComputingSystems 1992 pp. 107-117
summary	We studied CAD system users to find out how they use the sophisticated customization and extension facilities offered by many CAD products. We found that users of varying levels of expertise collaborate to customize their CAD environments and to create programmatic extensions to their applications. Within a group of users, there is at least one local expert who provides support for other users. We call this person a local developer. The local developer is a fellow domain expert, not a professional programmer, outside technical consultant or MIS staff member. We found that in some CAD environments the support role has been formalized so that local developers are given official recognition, and time and resources to pursue local developer activities. In general, this formalization of the local developer role appears successful. We discuss the implications of our findings for work practices and for software design.
keywords	Cooperative Work; End User Programming
series	other
last changed	2002/07/07 16:01

_id	3393
authors	Gesner, R. and Smith, J.
year	1992
title	Maximizing AutoLisp
source	NRP, Carmel, Indiana, USA
summary	This revision provides coverage of AutoLISP and assumes no previous programming knowledge. The text covers the spectrum from the very basics of programming to sophisticated developer tricks. Offering a range of tips for increasing productivity, the guide covers all AutoLISP functions, including both undocumented features and functions, as well as the latest Release 13 modifications.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	cc2f
authors	Jog, Bharati
year	1992
title	Evaluation of Designs for Energy Performance Using A Knowledge-Based System
source	New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992. pp. 293-304 : ill. includes a bibliography
summary	Principles of knowledge-based (or expert) systems have been applied in different knowledge-rich domains such as geology, medicine, and very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI). There have been some efforts to develop expert systems for evaluation and prediction of architectural designs in this decade. This paper presents a prototype system, Energy Expert, which quickly computes the approximate yearly energy performance of a building design, analyzes the energy performance, and gives advice on possible ways of improving the design. These modifications are intended to make the building more energy efficient and help cut down on heating and cooling costs. The system is designed for the schematic design phase of an architectural project. Also discussed briefly is the reasoning behind developing such a system for the schematic design rather than the final design phase
keywords	expert systems, energy, evaluation, performance, knowledge base, architecture, reasoning, programming, prediction
series	CADline
last changed	1999/02/12 15:08

_id	1992
authors	Russell, Peter
year	2002
title	Using Higher Level Programming in Interdisciplinary teams as a means of training for Concurrent Engineering
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. 14-19
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2002.014
summary	The paper explains a didactical method for training students that has been run three times to date. The premise of the course is to combine students from different faculties into interdisciplinary teams. These teams then have a complex problem to resolve within an extremely short time span. In light of recent works from Joy and Kurzweil, the theme Robotics was chosen as an exercise that is timely, interesting and related, but not central to the studies of the various faculties. In groups of 3 to 5, students from faculties of architecture, computer science and mechanical engineering are entrusted to design, build and program a robot which must successfully execute a prescribed set of actions in a competitive atmosphere. The entire course lasts ten days and culminates with the competitive evaluation. The robots must navigate a labyrinth, communicate with on another and be able to cover longer distances with some speed. In order to simplify the resources available to the students, the Lego Mindstorms Robotic syshed backgrounds instaed of synthetic ones. The combination of digitally produced (scanned) sperical images together with the use of HDR open a wide range of new implementation in the field of architecture, especially in combining synthetic elements in existing buildings, e.g. new interior elements in an existing historical museum).ural presentations in the medium of computer animation. These new forms of expression of design thoughts and ideas go beyond mere model making, and move more towards scenemaking and storytelling. The latter represents new methods of expression within computational environments for architects and designers.its boundaries. The project was conducted using the pedagogical framework of the netzentwurf.de; a relatively well established Internet based communication platform. This means that the studio was organised in the „traditional“ structure consisting of an initial 3 day workshop, a face to face midterm review, and a collective final review, held 3,5 months later in the Museum of Communication in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In teams of 3 (with each student from a different university and a tutor located at a fourth) the students worked over the Internet to produce collaborative design solutions. The groups ended up with designs that spanned a range of solutions between real and virtual architecture. Examples of the student’s work (which is all available online) as well as their working methods are described. It must be said that the energy invested in the studio by the organisers of the virtual campus (as well as the students who took part) was considerably higher than in normal design studios and the paper seeks to look critically at the effort in relation to the outcomes achieved. The range and depth of the student’s work was surprising to many in the project, especially considering the initial hurdles (both social and technological) that had to overcome. The self-referential nature of the theme, the method and the working environment encouraged the students to take a more philosg and programming a winning robot. These differences became apparent early in the sessions and each group had to find ways to communicate their ideas and to collectively develop them by building on the strengths of each team member.
series	eCAADe
type	normal paper
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	fd02
authors	Tsou, Jin-Yeu
year	1992
title	Using conceptual modelling and an object-oriented environment to support building cost control during early design
source	College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan
summary	This research investigated formal information modelling techniques and the object-oriented knowledge representation on the domain of building cost control during early design stages. The findings contribute to an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of applying formal modelling techniques to the analysis of architectural problems and the representation of domain knowledge in an object-oriented environment. In this study, information modelling techniques were reviewed, formal information analysis was performed, a conceptual model based on the cost control problem domain was created, a computational model based on the object-oriented approach was developed, a mechanism to support information broadcasting for representing interrelationships was implemented, and an object-oriented cost analysis system for early design (OBCIS) was demonstrated. The conceptual model, based on the elemental proposition analysis of NIAM, supports a formal approach for analyzing the problem domain; the analysis results are represented by high-level graphical notations, based on the AEC Building System Model, to visually display the information framework of the domain. The conceptual model provides an intermediate step between the system designer's view of the domain and the internal representation of the implementation platform. The object-oriented representation provides extensive data modelling abilities to help system designers intuitively represent the semantics of the problem domain. The object-oriented representation also supports more structured and integrated modules than conventional programming approaches. Although there are many advantages to applying this technique to represent the semantics of cost control knowledge, there are several issues which need to be considered: no single satisfactory classification method can be directly applied; object-oriented systems are difficult to learn; and designing reusable classes is difficult. The dependency graph and information broadcasting implemented in this research is an attempt to represent the interrelationships between domain objects. The mechanism allows users to explicitly define the interrelationships, based on semantic requirements, among domain objects. In the conventional approach, these relationships are directly interpreted by system designers and intertwined into the programming code. There are several issues which need to be studied further: indirect dependency relationship, conflict resolution, and request-update looping based on least-commitment approach.
series	thesis:PhD
email
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_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	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	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	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	acadia03_036
id	acadia03_036
authors	Gerzso, J. Michael
year	2003
title	On the Limitations of Shape Grammars: Comments on Aaron Fleisher’s Article “Grammatical Architecture?”
source	Connecting >> Crossroads of Digital Discourse [Proceedings of the 2003 Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design In Architecture / ISBN 1-880250-12-8] Indianapolis (Indiana) 24-27 October 2003, pp. 279-287
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2003.279
summary	Shape grammars were introduced by Gips and Stiny in 1972. Since then, there have been many articles and books written by them and their associates. In 1992, Aaron Fleisher, a professor at the School of Planning, MIT, wrote a critique of their work in an article titled “Grammatical Architecture?” published in the journal Environment and Planning B. According to him, Gips, Stiny and later Mitchell, propose a hypothesis that states that shape grammars are presumed to represent knowledge of architectural form, that grammars are “formable,” and that there is a visual correspondence to verbal grammar. The strong version of “the hypothesis requires that an architectural form be equivalent to a grammar.” Fleisher considers these hypotheses unsustainable, and argues his case by analyzing the differences between language, and architecture, and by dealing with the concepts of lexicons, syntax and semantics. He concludes by stating that architectural design is negotiated in two modalities: the verbal and the visual, and that equivalences are not at issue; they do not exist. If there is such thing as a language for design, it would provide the means to maintain a discussion of the consequences in one mode, of the state and conditions of the other. Fleisher’s observations serve as the basis of this paper, a tribute to him, and also an opportunity to present an outline to an alternate approach or hypothesis to shape grammars, which is “nonlinguistic” but “generative,” in the sense that it uses production rules. A basic aspect of this hypothesis is that the only similarity between syntactic rules in language and some rules in architecture is that they are recursive.
series	ACADIA
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	7bf4
authors	Hornyanszky-Dalholm, Elisabeth and Rydberg-Mitchell, Birgitta
year	1992
title	COMMUNICATING WITH LAYPEOPLE
source	Proceedings of the 4rd European Full-Scale Modelling Conference / Lausanne (Switzerland) 9-12 September 1992, Part B, pp. 25-32
summary	The purpose of the architect's tools is, as generally stated, to help the architects themselves to develop and visualize their spatial ideas and intentions. But the tools can also be used to communicate with other groups of professionals and with laypeople. This paper deals with the question how the choice of tools can effect the communication between laypeople and architects. It also stresses the need of combining different media in order to create the best conditions for user's participation. If the users will be able to influence the planning of an environment they must understand the "language" of the medium and have the ability to use it themselves. Models on diverse scales, and first of all the scale 1:1, fulfil these demands better than drawings. There are distinct limitations of the full-scale model, when it comes to give the users a comprehension of the entire mock-up, and thus models on smaller scales are required. Limitations of both full-scale and small scale models concerning visualizing the exterior and the building's interaction with the environment could possibly be worked out with the help of computer technique.
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 15:39

_id	caadria2004_k-1
id	caadria2004_k-1
authors	Kalay, Yehuda E.
year	2004
title	CONTEXTUALIZATION AND EMBODIMENT IN CYBERSPACE
source	CAADRIA 2004 [Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 89-7141-648-3] Seoul Korea 28-30 April 2004, pp. 5-14
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2004.005
summary	The introduction of VRML (Virtual Reality Markup Language) in 1994, and other similar web-enabled dynamic modeling software (such as SGI’s Open Inventor and WebSpace), have created a rush to develop on-line 3D virtual environments, with purposes ranging from art, to entertainment, to shopping, to culture and education. Some developers took their cues from the science fiction literature of Gibson (1984), Stephenson (1992), and others. Many were web-extensions to single-player video games. But most were created as a direct extension to our new-found ability to digitally model 3D spaces and to endow them with interactive control and pseudo-inhabitation. Surprisingly, this technologically-driven stampede paid little attention to the core principles of place-making and presence, derived from architecture and cognitive science, respectively: two principles that could and should inform the essence of the virtual place experience and help steer its development. Why are the principles of place-making and presence important for the development of virtual environments? Why not simply be content with our ability to create realistically-looking 3D worlds that we can visit remotely? What could we possibly learn about making these worlds better, had we understood the essence of place and presence? To answer these questions we cannot look at place-making (both physical and virtual) from a 3D space-making point of view alone, because places are not an end unto themselves. Rather, places must be considered a locus of contextualization and embodiment that ground human activities and give them meaning. In doing so, places acquire a meaning of their own, which facilitates, improves, and enriches many aspects of our lives. They provide us with a means to interpret the activities of others and to direct our own actions. Such meaning is comprised of the social and cultural conceptions and behaviors imprinted on the environment by the presence and activities of its inhabitants, who in turn, ‘read’ by them through their own corporeal embodiment of the same environment. This transactional relationship between the physical aspects of an environment, its social/cultural context, and our own embodiment of it, combine to create what is known as a sense of place: the psychological, physical, social, and cultural framework that helps us interpret the world around us, and directs our own behavior in it. In turn, it is our own (as well as others’) presence in that environment that gives it meaning, and shapes its social/cultural character. By understanding the essence of place-ness in general, and in cyberspace in particular, we can create virtual places that can better support Internet-based activities, and make them equal to, in some cases even better than their physical counterparts. One of the activities that stands to benefit most from understanding the concept of cyber-places is learning—an interpersonal activity that requires the co-presence of others (a teacher and/or fellow learners), who can point out the difference between what matters and what does not, and produce an emotional involvement that helps students learn. Thus, while many administrators and educators rush to develop webbased remote learning sites, to leverage the economic advantages of one-tomany learning modalities, these sites deprive learners of the contextualization and embodiment inherent in brick-and-mortar learning institutions, and which are needed to support the activity of learning. Can these qualities be achieved in virtual learning environments? If so, how? These are some of the questions this talk will try to answer by presenting a virtual place-making methodology and its experimental implementation, intended to create a sense of place through contextualization and embodiment in virtual learning environments.
series	CAADRIA
type	normal paper
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_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	5a7c
authors	Schneiderman, B.
year	1992
title	Designing the User Interface. Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction
source	Reading, Mass. etc, Addison-Wesley
summary	Ben Shneiderman again provides a complete, current, and authoritative introduction to user-interface design. Students will learn practical techniques and guidelines needed to develop good systems designs - systems with interfaces the typical user can understand, predict, and control. This third edition features new chapters on the World Wide Web, information visualization, and computer-supported cooperative work. It contains expanded and earlier coverage of development methodologies, evaluation techniques, and user-interface building tools. The author provides provocative discussion of speech input/output, natural-language interaction, anthropomorphic design, virtual environments, and intelligent (software) agents.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	2b7a
authors	Ferguson, H., Rockwood, A. and Cox, J.
year	1992
title	Topological Design of Sculptured Surfaces
source	Computer Graphics, no. 26, pp.149-156
summary	Topology is primal geometry. Our design philosophy embodies this principle. We report on a new surface &sign perspective based on a "marked" polygon for each object. The marked polygon captures the topology of the object surface. We construct multiply periodic mappings from polygon to sculptured surface. The mappings arise naturally from the topology and other design considerations. Hence we give a single domain global parameteriration for surfaces with handles. Examples demonstrate the design of sculptured objects and their ntanufimture.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_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

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