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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	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	avocaad_2001_20
id	avocaad_2001_20
authors	Shen-Kai Tang
year	2001
title	Toward a procedure of computer simulation in the restoration of historical architecture
source	AVOCAAD - ADDED VALUE OF COMPUTER AIDED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Nys Koenraad, Provoost Tom, Verbeke Johan, Verleye Johan (Eds.), (2001) Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunst - Departement Architectuur Sint-Lucas, Campus Brussel, ISBN 80-76101-05-1
summary	In the field of architectural design, “visualization¨ generally refers to some media, communicating and representing the idea of designers, such as ordinary drafts, maps, perspectives, photos and physical models, etc. (Rahman, 1992; Susan, 2000). The main reason why we adopt visualization is that it enables us to understand clearly and to control complicated procedures (Gombrich, 1990). Secondly, the way we get design knowledge is more from the published visualized images and less from personal experiences (Evans, 1989). Thus the importance of the representation of visualization is manifested.Due to the developments of computer technology in recent years, various computer aided design system are invented and used in a great amount, such as image processing, computer graphic, computer modeling/rendering, animation, multimedia, virtual reality and collaboration, etc. (Lawson, 1995; Liu, 1996). The conventional media are greatly replaced by computer media, and the visualization is further brought into the computerized stage. The procedure of visual impact analysis and assessment (VIAA), addressed by Rahman (1992), is renewed and amended for the intervention of computer (Liu, 2000). Based on the procedures above, a great amount of applied researches are proceeded. Therefore it is evident that the computer visualization is helpful to the discussion and evaluation during the design process (Hall, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998; Liu, 1997; Sasada, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1998). In addition to the process of architectural design, the computer visualization is also applied to the subject of construction, which is repeatedly amended and corrected by the images of computer simulation (Liu, 2000). Potier (2000) probes into the contextual research and restoration of historical architecture by the technology of computer simulation before the practical restoration is constructed. In this way he established a communicative mode among archeologists, architects via computer media.In the research of restoration and preservation of historical architecture in Taiwan, many scholars have been devoted into the studies of historical contextual criticism (Shi, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995; Fu, 1995, 1997; Chiu, 2000). Clues that accompany the historical contextual criticism (such as oral information, writings, photographs, pictures, etc.) help to explore the construction and the procedure of restoration (Hung, 1995), and serve as an aid to the studies of the usage and durability of the materials in the restoration of historical architecture (Dasser, 1990; Wang, 1998). Many clues are lost, because historical architecture is often age-old (Hung, 1995). Under the circumstance, restoration of historical architecture can only be proceeded by restricted pictures, written data and oral information (Shi, 1989). Therefore, computer simulation is employed by scholars to simulate the condition of historical architecture with restricted information after restoration (Potier, 2000). Yet this is only the early stage of computer-aid restoration. The focus of the paper aims at exploring that whether visual simulation of computer can help to investigate the practice of restoration and the estimation and evaluation after restoration.By exploring the restoration of historical architecture (taking the Gigi Train Station destroyed by the earthquake in last September as the operating example), this study aims to establish a complete work on computer visualization, including the concept of restoration, the practice of restoration, and the estimation and evaluation of restoration.This research is to simulate the process of restoration by computer simulation based on visualized media (restricted pictures, restricted written data and restricted oral information) and the specialized experience of historical architects (Potier, 2000). During the process of practicing, communicates with craftsmen repeatedly with some simulated alternatives, and makes the result as the foundation of evaluating and adjusting the simulating process and outcome. In this way we address a suitable and complete process of computer visualization for historical architecture.The significance of this paper is that we are able to control every detail more exactly, and then prevent possible problems during the process of restoration of historical architecture.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	eabb
authors	Boeykens, St. Geebelen, B. and Neuckermans, H.
year	2002
title	Design phase transitions in object-oriented modeling of architecture
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
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2002.310
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	4857
authors	Escola Tecnica Superior D'arquitectura de Barcelona (Ed.)
year	1992
title	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect?
source	eCAADe Conference Proceedings / Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, 551 p.
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992
summary	The involvement of computer graphic systems in the transmission of knowledge in the areas of urban planning and architectural design will bring a significant change to the didactic programs and methods of those schools which have decided to adopt these new instruments. Workshops of urban planning and architectural design will have to modify their structures, and teaching teams will have to revise their current programs. Some european schools and faculties of architecture have taken steps in this direction. Others are willing to join them. This process is only delayed by the scarcity of material resources, and by the slowness with which a sufficient number of teachers are adopting these methods. ECAADE has set out to analyze the state of this issue during its next conference, and it will be discussed from various points of view. From this confrontation of ideas will come, surely, the guidelines for progress in the years to come. The different sessions will be grouped together following these four themes: (A.) Multimedia and Course Work / State of the art of the synthesis of graphical and textual information favored by new available multimedia computer programs. Their repercussions on academic programs. (B.) The New Design Studio / Physical characteristics, data concentration and accessibility of a computerized studio can be better approached in a computerized workshop. (C.) How to manage the new education system / Problems and possibilities raised, from the practical and organizational points of view, of architectural education by the introduction of computers in the classrooms. (D.) CAAI. Formal versus informal structure / How will the traditional teaching structure be affected by the incidence of these new systems in which the access to knowledge and information can be obtained in a random way and guided by personal and subjective criteria.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:49

_id	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	6d34
authors	Kensek, Karen and Noble, Doug (Eds.)
year	1992
title	Mission - Method - Madness [Conference Proceedings]
source	ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-01-2 ) 1992, 232 p.
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1992
summary	The papers represent a wide variety of exploration into the uses of computers in architecture. We have tried to impose order onto the collection by organizing them into six sessions: Metaphor, Mission, Method, Modeling for Visualization, Modeling, and Generative Systems. As with any ordering system for such a diverse selection, some session papers are strongly related while others are loosely grouped. Madness, an additional session not in the proceedings, will include short presentations of work in progress. Regarding the individual papers, it is particularly exciting to see research being conducted that is founded on previous work done by others. It is also interesting to note that half of the papers have been submitted by teams of authors. Whether this represents "computer supported cooperative work" remains to be seen. Certainly the work in this book represents an interesting and wide variety of explorations into computer supported design in architecture.
series	ACADIA
email
more	http://www.acadia.org
last changed	2022/06/07 07:49

_id	caadria2014_071
id	caadria2014_071
authors	Li, Lezhi; Renyuan Hu, Meng Yao, Guangwei Huang and Ziyu Tong
year	2014
title	Sculpting the Space: A Circulation Based Approach to Generative Design in a Multi-Agent System
source	Rethinking Comprehensive Design: Speculative Counterculture, Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA 2014) / Kyoto 14-16 May 2014, pp. 565–574
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2014.565
summary	This paper discusses an MAS (multiagent system) based approach to generating architectural spaces that afford better modes of human movement. To achieve this, a pedestrian simulation is carried out to record the data with regard to human spatial experience during the walking process. Unlike common practices of performance oriented generation where final results are achieved through cycles of simulation and comparison, what we propose here is to let human’s movement exert direct influence on space. We made this possible by asking "humans" to project simulation data on architectural surroundings, and thus cause the layout to change for the purpose of affording what we designate as good spatial experiences. A generation experiment of an exhibition space is implemented to explore this approach, in which tentative rules of such spatial manipulation are proposed and tested through space syntax analyse. As the results suggested, by looking at spatial layouts through a lens of human behaviour, this projection-and-generation method provides some insight into space qualities that other methods could not have offered.
keywords	Performance oriented generative design; projection; multi-agent system; pedestrian simulation; space syntax
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:59

_id	831d
authors	Seebohm, Thomas
year	1992
title	Discoursing on Urban History Through Structured Typologies
source	Mission - Method - Madness [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-01-2] 1992, pp. 157-175
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1992.157
summary	How can urban history be studied with the aid of three-dimensional computer modeling? One way is to model known cities at various times in history, using historical records as sources of data. While such studies greatly enhance the understanding of the form and structure of specific cities at specific points in time, it is questionable whether such studies actually provide a true understanding of history. It can be argued that they do not because such studies only show a record of one of many possible courses of action at various moments in time. To gain a true understanding of urban history one has to place oneself back in historical time to consider all of the possible courses of action which were open in the light of the then current situation of the city, to act upon a possible course of action and to view the consequences in the physical form of the city. Only such an understanding of urban history can transcend the memory of the actual and hence the behavior of the possible. Moreover, only such an understanding can overcome the limitations of historical relativism, which contends that historical fact is of value only in historical context, with the realization, due to Benedetto Croce and echoed by Rudolf Bultmann, that the horizon of "'deeper understanding" lies in "'the actuality of decision"' (Seebohm and van Pelt 1990). One cannot conduct such studies on real cities except, perhaps, as a point of departure at some specific point in time to provide an initial layout for a city knowing that future forms derived by the studies will diverge from that recorded in history. An entirely imaginary city is therefore chosen. Although the components of this city at the level of individual buildings are taken from known cities in history, this choice does not preclude alternative forms of the city. To some degree, building types are invariants and, as argued in the Appendix, so are the urban typologies into which they may be grouped. In this imaginary city students of urban history play the role of citizens or groups of citizens. As they defend their interests and make concessions, while interacting with each other in their respective roles, they determine the nature of the city as it evolves through the major periods of Western urban history in the form of threedimensional computer models. My colleague R.J. van Pelt and I presented this approach to the study of urban history previously at ACADIA (Seebohm and van Pelt 1990). Yet we did not pay sufficient attention to the manner in which such urban models should be structured and how the efforts of the participants should be coordinated. In the following sections I therefore review what the requirements are for three-dimensional modeling to support studies in urban history as outlined both from the viewpoint of file structure of the models and other viewpoints which have bearing on this structure. Three alternative software schemes of progressively increasing complexity are then discussed with regard to their ability to satisfy these requirements. This comparative study of software alternatives and their corresponding file structures justifies the present choice of structure in relation to the simpler and better known generic alternatives which do not have the necessary flexibility for structuring the urban model. Such flexibility means, of course, that in the first instance the modeling software is more timeconsuming to learn than a simple point and click package in accord with the now established axiom that ease of learning software tools is inversely related to the functional power of the tools. (Smith 1987).
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	25b7
authors	Smeltzer, G., Roelen, W. and Maver, T.W.
year	1992
title	Design Modelling and Design Presentation From a Computer-Generated Image Towards a Multi-user Design System
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 137-144
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.137
summary	CAD systems regularly offer new techniques for the presentation of design proposals like computer-generated (stereo-) images, animations, holography and virtual reality. These techniques are mainly used for the presentation of a final design or for the presentation of buildings that have already been constructed. As in the course of time the quality of the CAD systems and their users have improved enormously, it is also possible to use these systems for the evaluation of several temporary design proposals during the design process. Since 'beautiful pictures' and 'wonderful animations' have already shown their great value when presenting a design, it is sometimes as if CAD systems are considered suitable for this propose only. Even new techniques like virtual reality systems seem to be valued only through the 'tinted glasses' of the presentation capabilities. Hardly any attention is paid to the possibilities that these new techniques offer as an instrument to support modelling and evaluation during the design process. This article will outline the results of research and development in the field of virtual reality. Virtual reality systems are based on the combination of a number of already existing presentation techniques like photo-realistic images, stereo images and real time animations. The added value of this type of CAD system is determined by the use of a new type of user interface. In effect this interface consists of sensors that register how its user moves and looks around. Through this, and by using a so- called 'eye phone' (comparable to stereo headphones for sound) the user, with some imaginative powers, thinks he is standing in the environment that he modelled, or in front of his building design. After this we will first sketch the outlines of some presentation techniques, that can also be found in a virtual reality system. Special attention will be paid to some specific characteristics of these techniques themselves. Next, a more detailed description will be given of virtual reality systems, focusing on the system that is being developed at Calibre itself.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	cbed
authors	Yakubu, G.S.
year	1994
title	Maximising the Benefits of CAD Systems in Architectural Education
source	The Virtual Studio [Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design / ISBN 0-9523687-0-6] Glasgow (Scotland) 7-10 September 1994, p. 228
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1994.x.u8n
summary	The positive impact of Computer Aided Design (CAD) in professional architectural practice has been in focus in recent times but relatively little has been written on its significance in the education of the contemporary architect. It is common knowledge that the profession of architecture is currently undergoing enormous strains as it battles to keep abreast of trends and developments in a period of series of rapid advancement in science, technology and management (RIBA, 1992). Whilst attempts are being made to redress the shortcomings of the profession in the above context, the requirements for architectural education are yet to forge a coherent strategy for the implementation of CAD/IT in the curriculum of schools of architecture. In almost every other field, including engineering, medicine and the humanities, computing application to problem-solving and decision-making is seen as a way forward as we move into 21st century. Architectural education must integrate CAD/IT into the teaching of core modules that give the architect distinctive competence: studio design. That is one of the best ways of doing justice to the education of the architect of today and the future. Some approaches to the teaching of CAD in schools of architecture have been touched upon in the recent past. Building upon this background as well as an understanding of the nature of design teaching/learning, this paper examines ways of maximising the benefits of CAD systems in architectural education and of bringing computer aided designing into the studio not only to enhance design thinking and creativity but also to support interactive processes. In order to maximise or optimise any function, one approach is to use the hard systems methodology which utilises analytic, analogic and iconic models to show the effect of those factors which are significant for the purposes being considered. The other approach is to use the soft systems methodology in which the analysis encompasses the concept of a human activity system as a means of improving a situation. The use of soft systems methodology is considered more appropriate for dealing with the problem of design which is characterised by a flux of interacting events and ideas that unroll through time. The paper concludes that the main impediment to maximising the benefits of CAD systems in architectural education is not only the inappropriate definition of the objectives for the implementation of CAD education but also that the control subsystems are usually ill-structured and relatively poorly defined. Schools must attempt to define a coherent and consistent policy on the use of CAD systems as an integral part of studio design and evolve an in-house strategic and operational controls that enable the set objectives to be met. Furthermore, it is necessary to support the high level of productivity from CAD systems with a more efficient management system, especially in dealing with communication, data sharing via relational database, co-ordination and integration. Finally, the use of soft systems methodology is recommended as the way forward to optimising CAD systems in design education as it would provide continuous improvements while maintaining their productive value.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	avocaad_2001_09
id	avocaad_2001_09
authors	Yu-Tung Liu, Yung-Ching Yeh, Sheng-Cheng Shih
year	2001
title	Digital Architecture in CAD studio and Internet-based competition
source	AVOCAAD - ADDED VALUE OF COMPUTER AIDED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Nys Koenraad, Provoost Tom, Verbeke Johan, Verleye Johan (Eds.), (2001) Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunst - Departement Architectuur Sint-Lucas, Campus Brussel, ISBN 80-76101-05-1
summary	Architectural design has been changing because of the vast and creative use of computer in different ways. From the viewpoint of designing itself, computer has been used as drawing tools in the latter phase of design (Mitchell 1977; Coyne et al. 1990), presentation and simulation tools in the middle phase (Liu and Bai 2000), and even critical media which triggers creative thinking in the very early phase (Maher et al. 2000; Liu 1999; Won 1999). All the various roles that computer can play have been adopted in a number of professional design corporations and so-called computer-aided design (CAD) studio in schools worldwide (Kvan 1997, 2000; Cheng 1998). The processes and outcomes of design have been continuously developing to capture the movement of the computer age. However, from the viewpoint of social-cultural theories of architecture, the evolvement of design cannot be achieved solely by designers or design processes. Any new idea of design can be accepted socially, culturally and historically only under one condition: The design outcomes could be reviewed and appreciated by critics in the field at the time of its production (Csikszentmihalyi 1986, 1988; Schon and Wiggins 1992; Liu 2000). In other words, aspects of design production (by designers in different design processes) are as critical as those of design appreciation (by critics in different review processes) in the observation of the future trends of architecture.Nevertheless, in the field of architectural design with computer and Internet, that is, so-called computer-aided design computer-mediated design, or internet-based design, most existing studies pay more attentions to producing design in design processes as mentioned above. Relatively few studies focus on how critics act and how they interact with designers in the review processes. Therefore, this study intends to investigate some evolving phenomena of the interaction between design production and appreciation in the environment of computer and Internet.This paper takes a CAD studio and an Internet-based competition as examples. The CAD studio includes 7 master's students and 2 critics, all from the same countries. The Internet-based competition, held in year 2000, includes 206 designers from 43 counties and 26 critics from 11 countries. 3 students and the 2 critics in the CAD studio are the competition participating designers and critics respectively. The methodological steps are as follows: 1. A qualitative analysis: observation and interview of the 3 participants and 2 reviewers who join both the CAD studio and the competition. The 4 analytical criteria are the kinds of presenting media, the kinds of supportive media (such as verbal and gesture/facial data), stages of the review processes, and interaction between the designer and critics. The behavioral data are acquired by recording the design presentation and dialogue within 3 months. 2. A quantitative analysis: statistical analysis of the detailed reviewing data in the CAD studio and the competition. The four 4 analytical factors are the reviewing time, the number of reviewing of the same project, the comparison between different projects, and grades/comments. 3. Both the qualitative and quantitative data are cross analyzed and discussed, based on the theories of design thinking, design production/appreciation, and the appreciative system (Goodman 1978, 1984).The result of this study indicates that the interaction between design production and appreciation during the review processes could differ significantly. The review processes could be either linear or cyclic due to the influences from the kinds of media, the environmental discrepancies between studio and Internet, as well as cognitive thinking/memory capacity. The design production and appreciation seem to be more linear in CAD studio whereas more cyclic in the Internet environment. This distinction coincides with the complementary observations of designing as a linear process (Jones 1970; Simon 1981) or a cyclic movement (Schon and Wiggins 1992). Some phenomena during the two processes are also illustrated in detail in this paper.This study is merely a starting point of the research in design production and appreciation in the computer and network age. The future direction of investigation is to establish a theoretical model for the interaction between design production and appreciation based on current findings. The model is expected to conduct using revised protocol analysis and interviews. The other future research is to explore how design computing creativity emerge from the process of producing and appreciating.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	ecaadesigradi2019_449
id	ecaadesigradi2019_449
authors	Becerra Santacruz, Axel
year	2019
title	The Architecture of ScarCity Game - The craft and the digital as an alternative design process
source	Sousa, JP, Xavier, JP and Castro Henriques, G (eds.), Architecture in the Age of the 4th Industrial Revolution - Proceedings of the 37th eCAADe and 23rd SIGraDi Conference - Volume 3, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal, 11-13 September 2019, pp. 45-52
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2019.3.045
summary	The Architecture of ScarCity Game is a board game used as a pedagogical tool that challenges architecture students by involving them in a series of experimental design sessions to understand the design process of scarcity and the actual relation between the craft and the digital. This means "pragmatic delivery processes and material constraints, where the exchange between the artisan of handmade, representing local skills and technology of the digitally conceived is explored" (Huang 2013). The game focuses on understanding the different variables of the crafted design process of traditional communities under conditions of scarcity (Michel and Bevan 1992). This requires first analyzing the spatial environmental model of interaction, available human and natural resources, and the dynamic relationship of these variables in a digital era. In the first stage (Pre-Agency), the game set the concept of the craft by limiting students design exploration from a minimum possible perspective developing locally available resources and techniques. The key elements of the design process of traditional knowledge communities have to be identified (Preez 1984). In other words, this stage is driven by limited resources + chance + contingency. In the second stage (Post-Agency) students taking the architects´ role within this communities, have to speculate and explore the interface between the craft (local knowledge and low technological tools), and the digital represented by computation data, new technologies available and construction. This means the introduction of strategy + opportunity + chance as part of the design process. In this sense, the game has a life beyond its mechanics. This other life challenges the participants to exploit the possibilities of breaking the actual boundaries of design. The result is a tool to challenge conventional methods of teaching and leaning controlling a prescribed design process. It confronts the rules that professionals in this field take for granted. The game simulates a 'fake' reality by exploring in different ways with surveyed information. As a result, participants do not have anything 'real' to lose. Instead, they have all the freedom to innovate and be creative.
keywords	Global south, scarcity, low tech, digital-craft, design process and innovation by challenge.
series	eCAADeSIGraDi
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	ce98
authors	Anderson, Lee
year	1992
title	Virtual Graffiti Three-Dimensional Paint Tools for Conceptual Modeling in Upfront
source	Mission - Method - Madness [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-01-2] 1992, pp. 127-133
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1992.127
summary	This chapter describes several limitations present in current 3-D programs used for conceptual design and then introduces a new threedimensional paint tool, as implemented in a beta version of Alias Upfront, that attempts to deal with some of those limitations.
series	ACADIA
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	cef3
authors	Bridges, Alan H.
year	1992
title	Computing and Problem Based Learning at Delft University of Technology Faculty of Architecture
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 289-294
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.289
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	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	e412
authors	Fargas, Josep and Papazian, Pegor
year	1992
title	Modeling Regulations and Intentions for Urban Development: The Role of Computer Simulation in the Urban Design Studio
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 201-212
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.201
summary	In this paper we present a strategy for modeling urban development in order to study the role of urban regulations and policies in the transformation of cities. We also suggest a methodology for using computer models as experimental tools in the urban design studio in order to make explicit the factors involved in shaping cities, and for the automatic visualization of projected development. The structure of the proposed model is based on different modules which represent, on the one hand, the rules regulating the physical growth of a city and, on the other hand, heuristics corresponding to different interests such as Real Estate Developers, City Hall Planners, Advocacy and Community Groups, and so on. Here we present a case study dealing with the Boston Redevelopment Authority zoning code for the Midtown Cultural District of Boston. We introduce a computer program which develops the district, adopting a particular point of view regarding urban regulation. We then generalize the notion of this type of computer modeling and simulation, and draw some conclusions about its possible uses in the teaching and practice of design.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

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

_id	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	7e68
authors	Holland, J.
year	1992
title	Genetic Algorithms
source	Scientific America, July 1992
summary	Living organisms are consummate problem solvers. They exhibit a versatility that puts the best computer programs to shame. This observation is especially galling for computer scientists, who may spend months or years of intellectual effort on an algorithm, whereas organisms come by their abilities through the apparently undirected mechanism of evolution and natural selection. Pragmatic researchers see evolution's remarkable power as something to be emulated rather than envied. Natural selection eliminates one of the greatest hurdles in software design: specifying in advance all the features of a problem and the actions a program should take to deal with them. By harnessing the mechanisms of evolution, researchers may be able to "breed" programs that solve problems even when no person can fully understand their structure. Indeed, these so-called genetic algorithms have already demonstrated the ability to made breakthroughs in the design of such complex systems as jet engines. Genetic algorithms make it possible to explore a far greater range of potential solutions to a problem than do conventional programs. Furthermore, as researchers probe the natural selection of programs under controlled an well-understood conditions, the practical results they achieve may yield some insight into the details of how life and intelligence evolve in the natural world.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	abce
authors	Ishii, Hiroshi and Kobayashi, Minoru
year	1992
title	ClearBoard: A Seamless Medium for Shared Drawing and Conversation with Eye Contact Systems for Media-Supported Collaboration
source	Proceedings of ACM CHI'92 Conference on HumanFactors in Computing Systems 1992 pp. 525-532
summary	This paper introduces a novel shared drawing medium called ClearBoard. It realizes (1) a seamless shared drawing space and (2) eye contact to support realtime and remote collaboration by two users. We devised the key metaphor: "talking through and drawing on a transparent glass window" to design ClearBoard. A prototype of ClearBoard is implemented based on the "Drafter-Mirror" architecture. This paper first reviews previous work on shared drawing support to clarify the design goals. We then examine three metaphors that fulfill these goals. The design requirements and the two possible system architectures of ClearBoard are described. Finally, some findings gained through the experimental use of the prototype, including the feature of "gaze awareness", are discussed.
series	other
last changed	2002/07/07 16:01

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