Cumincad : CUMINCAD Papers : Search Results

CumInCAD is a Cumulative Index about publications in Computer Aided Architectural Design
supported by the sibling associations ACADIA, CAADRIA, eCAADe, SIGraDi, ASCAAD and CAAD futures

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_id	328d
authors	Bassanino, May Nahab and Brown, Andre
year	1999
title	Computer Generated Architectural Images: A Comparative Study
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 552-556
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.552
summary	This work is part of a long term research programme (Brown and Horton, 1992; Brown and Nahab, 1996; Bassanino, 1999) in which tests and studies have been carried out on various groups of people to investigate their reaction to, and interpretation of different forms of architectural representation. In the work described here a range of architectural schemes were presented using particular representational techniques and media. An experiment was then undertaken on two different groups; architects and lay people. They were presented with a number of schemes displayed using the various techniques and media. The responses are summarised and some comments are made on the effect of computers on perceiving architecture and on communicating architectural ideas arising from an analysis of the responses.
keywords	Subject, Image Type, Presentation Technique, Medium, SD Scales, Factors
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	avocaad_2001_17
id	avocaad_2001_17
authors	Ying-Hsiu Huang, Yu-Tung Liu, Cheng-Yuan Lin, Yi-Ting Cheng, Yu-Chen Chiu
year	2001
title	The comparison of animation, virtual reality, and scenario scripting in design process
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	Design media is a fundamental tool, which can incubate concrete ideas from ambiguous concepts. Evolved from freehand sketches, physical models to computerized drafting, modeling (Dave, 2000), animations (Woo, et al., 1999), and virtual reality (Chiu, 1999; Klercker, 1999; Emdanat, 1999), different media are used to communicate to designers or users with different conceptual levels¡@during the design process. Extensively employed in design process, physical models help designers in managing forms and spaces more precisely and more freely (Millon, 1994; Liu, 1996).Computerized drafting, models, animations, and VR have gradually replaced conventional media, freehand sketches and physical models. Diversely used in the design process, computerized media allow designers to handle more divergent levels of space than conventional media do. The rapid emergence of computers in design process has ushered in efforts to the visual impact of this media, particularly (Rahman, 1992). He also emphasized the use of computerized media: modeling and animations. Moreover, based on Rahman's study, Bai and Liu (1998) applied a new design media¡Xvirtual reality, to the design process. In doing so, they proposed an evaluation process to examine the visual impact of this new media in the design process. That same investigation pointed towards the facilitative role of the computerized media in enhancing topical comprehension, concept realization, and development of ideas.Computer technology fosters the growth of emerging media. A new computerized media, scenario scripting (Sasada, 2000; Jozen, 2000), markedly enhances computer animations and, in doing so, positively impacts design processes. For the three latest media, i.e., computerized animation, virtual reality, and scenario scripting, the following question arises: What role does visual impact play in different design phases of these media. Moreover, what is the origin of such an impact? Furthermore, what are the similarities and variances of computing techniques, principles of interaction, and practical applications among these computerized media?This study investigates the similarities and variances among computing techniques, interacting principles, and their applications in the above three media. Different computerized media in the design process are also adopted to explore related phenomenon by using these three media in two projects. First, a renewal planning project of the old district of Hsinchu City is inspected, in which animations and scenario scripting are used. Second, the renewal project is compared with a progressive design project for the Hsinchu Digital Museum, as designed by Peter Eisenman. Finally, similarity and variance among these computerized media are discussed.This study also examines the visual impact of these three computerized media in the design process. In computerized animation, although other designers can realize the spatial concept in design, users cannot fully comprehend the concept. On the other hand, other media such as virtual reality and scenario scripting enable users to more directly comprehend what the designer's presentation.Future studies should more closely examine how these three media impact the design process. This study not only provides further insight into the fundamental characteristics of the three computerized media discussed herein, but also enables designers to adopt different media in the design stages. Both designers and users can more fully understand design-related concepts.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	65aa
authors	Madrazo, Leandro
year	1992
title	From Sketches to Computer Images: A Strategy for the Application of Computers in Architectural Design
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 331-350
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.331
summary	The use of computer tools in architectural practice has been steadily increasing in recent years. Many architectural offices are already using computer tools, mostly for production tasks. Hardly any design is being done with the computer. With the new computer tools, architects are confronted with the challenge to use computers to express their design ideas right from conception. This paper describes a project made for a competition which recently took place in Spain. Sketches and computer models were the only tools used in designing this project. A variety of computer tools were used in different stages of this project: two dimensional drawing tools were used in the early stages, then a three-dimensional modeling program for the development of the design and for the production of final drawings, and a rendering program for final presentation images.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:59

_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	3ff5
authors	Abbo, I.A., La Scalea, L., Otero, E. and Castaneda, L.
year	1992
title	Full-Scale Simulations as Tool for Developing Spatial Design Ability
source	Proceedings of the 4rd European Full-Scale Modelling Conference / Lausanne (Switzerland) 9-12 September 1992, Part C, pp. 7-10
summary	Spatial Design Ability has been defined as the capability to anticipate effects (psychological impressions on potential observers or users) produced by mental manipulation of elements of architectural or urban spaces. This ability, of great importance in choosing the appropriate option during the design process, is not specifically developed in schools of architecture and is partially obtained as a by-product of drawing, designing or architectural criticism. We use our Laboratory as a tool to present spaces to people so that they can evaluate them. By means of a series of exercises, students confront their anticipations with the psychological impressions produced in other people. For this occasion, we present an experience in which students had to propose a space for an exhibition hag in which architectural projects (student thesis) were to be shown. Following the Spatial Design Ability Development Model which we have been using for several years, students first get acquainted with the use of evaluation instruments for psychological impressions as well as with research methodology. In this case, due to the short period available, we reduced research to investigate the effects produced by the manipulation of only 2 independents variables: students manipulated first the form of the roof, walls and interiors elements, secondly, color and texture of those elements. They evaluated spatial quality, character and the other psychological impressions that manipulations produced in people. They used three dimensional scale models 1/10 and 1/1.
keywords	Full-scale Modeling, Model Simulation, Real Environments
series	other
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/efa
last changed	2003/08/25 10:12

_id	cc68
authors	García, Agustín Pérez
year	1992
title	Learning Structural Design - Computers and Virtual Laboratories
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 525-534
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.525
summary	This paper shows how the spreading use of computers can improve the quality of education, specially in the field of architecture. An Innovative Teaching Project oriented to the discipline Structural Design of Buildings has been implemented at the School of Architecture of Valencia. The main objective of this project is the transformation of the computer room into a virtual laboratory for simulating the behaviour of structural typologies using mathematical models of them. An environment, specially oriented to Structural Design, has been integrated in a Computer Aided Design platform to teach how design the Structure of Buildings.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	1076
authors	Gero, John S. and Saunders, Robert
year	2000
title	Constructed Representations and Their Functions in Computational Models of Designing
source	CAADRIA 2000 [Proceedings of the Fifth Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 981-04-2491-4] Singapore 18-19 May 2000, pp. 215-224
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2000.215
summary	This paper re-examines the conclusions made by Schön and Wiggins in 1992 that computers were unable to reproduce processes crucial to designing. We propose that recent developments in artificial intelligence and design computing put us in a position where we can begin to computationally model designing as conceived by Schön and Wiggins. We present a computational model of designing using situated processes that construct representations. We show how constructed representations support computational processes that model the different kinds of seeing reported in designing. We also present recently developed computational processes that can identify unexpected consequences of design actions using adaptive novelty detection.
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	88ca
authors	Kane, Andy and Szalapaj, Peter
year	1992
title	Teaching Design By Analysis of Precedents
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 477-496
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.477
summary	Designers, using their intuitive understanding of the decomposition of particular design objects, whether in terms of structural, functional, or some other analytical framework, should be able to interact with computational environments such that the understanding they achieve in turn invokes changes or transformations to the spatial properties of design proposals. Decompositions and transformations of design precedents can be a very useful method of enabling design students to develop analytical strategies. The benefit of an analytical approach is that it can lead to a structured understanding of design precedents. This in turn allows students to develop their own insights and ideas which are central to the activity of designing. The creation of a 3-D library of user-defined models of precedents in a computational environment permits an under-exploited method of undertaking analysis, since by modelling design precedents through the construction of 3-D Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) models, and then analytically decomposing them in terms of relevant features, significant insights into the nature of designs can be achieved. Using CAAD systems in this way, therefore, runs counter to the more common approach of detailed modelling, rendering and animation; which produces realistic pictures that do not reflect the design thinking that went into their production. The significance of the analytical approach to design teaching is that it encourages students to represent design ideas, but not necessarily the final form of design objects. The analytical approach therefore, allows students to depict features and execute tasks that are meaningful with respect to design students' own knowledge of particular domains. Such computational interaction can also be useful in helping students explore the consequences of proposed actions in actual design contexts.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	caadria2024_365
id	caadria2024_365
authors	Lahtinen, Aaro, Gardner, Nicole, Ramos Jaime, Cristina and Yu, Kuai
year	2024
title	Visualising Sydney's Urban Green: A Web Interface for Monitoring Vegetation Coverage between 1992 and 2022 using Google Earth Engine
source	Nicole Gardner, Christiane M. Herr, Likai Wang, Hirano Toshiki, Sumbul Ahmad Khan (eds.), ACCELERATED DESIGN - Proceedings of the 29th CAADRIA Conference, Singapore, 20-26 April 2024, Volume 2, pp. 515–524
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2024.2.515
summary	With continued population growth and urban expansion, the severity of environmental concerns within cities is likely to increase without proper urban ecosystem monitoring and management. Despite this, limited efforts have been made to effectively communicate the ecological value of urban vegetation to Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) professionals concerned with mitigating these effects and improving urban liveability. In response, this research project proposes a novel framework for identifying and conveying historical changes to vegetation coverage within the Greater Sydney area between 1992 and 2022. The cloud-based geo-spatial analysis platform, Google Earth Engine (GEE), was used to construct an accurate land cover classification of Landsat imagery, allowing the magnitude, spatial configuration, and period of vegetation loss to be promptly identified. The outcomes of this analysis are represented through an intuitive web platform that facilitates a thorough understanding of the complex relationships between anthropogenic activities and vegetation coverage. A key finding indicated that recent developments in the Blacktown area had directly contributed to heightened land surface temperature, suggesting a reformed approach to urban planning is required to address climatic concerns appropriately. The developed web interface provides a unique method for AEC professionals to assess the effectiveness of past planning strategies, encouraging a multi-disciplinary approach to urban ecosystem management.
keywords	Urban Vegetation, Web Interface, Landsat Imagery, Land Cover Classification, Google Earth Engine
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2024/11/17 22:05

_id	63aa
authors	Pozo, José Manuel
year	1992
title	The Use of Graphic Data Bases in the Teaching of Geometry
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 133-136
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.133
summary	The paper doesn't intend to provide relevant innovations in the field of processing program designs or software technology. Although I respect other opinions, I feel that the uncontested aid which using computers to teach architecture means should preferably and primarily be oriented towards searching for ways to better transmit and explain what we have, up to now, been teaching through other means. However, the novelty and advantages of reccuring to this new instrument should not make us fall into the mistake of letting it be used as a substitute of teachers' and students' work. The computer is simply another instrument; of great potential efficacy, but nevertheless just an instrument.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 08:00

_id	daff
authors	Richens, P.
year	1994
title	CAD Research at the Martin Centre
source	Automation in Construction, No. 3
summary	The Martin Centre CADLAB has recently been established to investigate software techniques that could be of practical importance to architects within the next five years. In common with most CAD researchers, we are interested in the earlier, conceptual, stages of design, where commercial CAD systems have had little impact. Our approach is not Knowledge-Based, but rather focuses on using the computer as a medium for design and communication. This leads to a concentration on apparently superficial aspects such as visual appearance, the dynamics of interaction, immediate feedback, plasticity. We try to avoid building-in theoretical attitudes, and to reduce the semantic content of our systems to a low level on the basis that flexibility and intelligence are inversely related; and that flexibility is more important. The CADLAB became operational in January 1992. First year work in three areas – building models, experiencing architecture, and making drawings – is discussed.
series	journal
email
more	http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/research/pubs/pdfs/rich94a.pdf
last changed	2000/03/05 19:05

_id	c804
authors	Richens, P.
year	1994
title	Does Knowledge really Help?
source	G. Carrara and Y.E. Kalay (Eds.), Knowledge-Based Computer-Aided Architectural Design, Elsevier
summary	The Martin Centre CADLAB has recently been established to investigate software techniques that could be of practical importance to architects within the next five years. In common with most CAD researchers, we are interested in the earlier, conceptual, stages of design, where commercial CAD systems have had little impact. Our approach is not Knowledge-Based, but rather focuses on using the computer as a medium for design and communication. This leads to a concentration on apparently superficial aspects such as visual appearance, the dynamics of interaction, immediate feedback, plasticity. We try to avoid building-in theoretical attitudes, and to reduce the semantic content of our systems to a low level on the basis that flexibility and intelligence are inversely related; and that flexibility is more important. The CADLAB became operational in January 1992. First year work in three areas – building models, experiencing architecture, and making drawings – is discussed.
series	other
more	http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/research/pubs/
last changed	2003/03/05 13:19

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

_id	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	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	6f38
authors	Potts, James and Mills, Nigel
year	1992
title	Computers, Video and Architecture
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 377-378
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.377
summary	The prime objective of this study is the analysis and the understanding of the underlying architectural principles (ideas) behind the particular seminar work that they have been given. Although this study is limited to one building its real significance lies not only in what it tells us about it, but also what it reveals about architecture itself. By distilling and comparing these buildings and stripping away the circumstances of their creation, we are shown universal principles of their design. This universality invites comparison to other buildings far removed in time and place.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 08:00

_id	1963
authors	Tweed, Chris and Woolley, Tom
year	1992
title	USER PARTICIPATION IN DESIGN: TECHNIQUES FOR DIALOGUE
source	Proceedings of the 4rd European Full-Scale Modelling Conference / Lausanne (Switzerland) 9-12 September 1992, Part B, pp. 17-24
summary	Many projects in which users participate in the design process are merely examples of professionals communicating their ideas to their clients. Conventional computer systems can be powerful tools for helping designers to present design informations to lay audiences, but when combined with computer modelling and simulation, they create opportunities for users to construct their own sequences of images and thus explore designs from their own viewpoint. Building on extensive experience of traditional methods of user participation, this paper explores the use of narratives to create dialogues between users, designers and computers. The concept of "design stories" as a route to fully shared creativity is explained. The paper also argues that this approach is needed to bring into focus design issues that cannot be described or resolved by computer modelling alone.
keywords	Full-scale Modeling, Model Simulation, Real Environments
series	other
type	normal paper
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/efa
last changed	2004/05/04 15:41

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

_id	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

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