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

PDF papers
References

Hits 1 to 20 of 240

Reformat results as: short short into frame detailed detailed into frame

_id	aba4
authors	Lischinski, D. Tampieri, F. and Greenberg, D.P.
year	1992
title	Discontinuity Meshing for Accurate Radiosity
source	IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, November 1992, pp.25-38
summary	We discuss the problem of accurately computing the illumination of a diffuse polyhedral environment due to an area light source. We show how umbra and penumbra boundaries and other illumination details correspond to discontinuities in the radiance function and its derivatives. The shape, location, and order of these discontinuities is determined by the geometry of the light sources and obstacles in the environment. We describe an object-space algorithm that accurately reproduces the radiance across a surface by constructing a discontinuity mesh that explicitly represents various discontinuities in the radiance function as boundaries between mesh elements. A piecewise quadratic interpolant is used to approximate the radiance function, preserving the discontinuities associated with the edges in the mesh. This algorithm can be used in the framework of a progressive refinement radiosity system to solve the diffuse global illumination problem. Results produced by the new method are compared with ones obtained using a standard radiosity system.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

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

_id	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	578d
authors	Helpenstein, H. (Ed.)
year	1993
title	CAD geometry data exchange using STEP
source	Berlin: Springer-Verlag
summary	With increasing demand for data exchange in computer integrated manufacturing, a neutral connection between dissimilar systems is needed. After a few national and European attempts, a worldwide standardization of product data has been developed. Standard ISO 10303 (STEP - STandard for Exchange of Product data) produced in its first version those parts that are relevant for CAD geometrical data. A European consortium of 14 CAD vendors and users was supported by the ESPRIT programme to influence the emerging standard and implement early applications for it. Over the years 1989-1992, project CADEX (CAD geometry data EXchange) worked out application protocols as a contribution to STEP; developed a software toolkit that reads, writes, and manipulates STEP data; and, based on this toolkit, implemented data exchange processors for ten different CAD and FEA systems. This book reports the work done in project CADEX and describes all its results in detail.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	32eb
authors	Henry, Daniel
year	1992
title	Spatial Perception in Virtual Environments : Evaluating an Architectural Application
source	University of Washington
summary	Over the last several years, professionals from many different fields have come to the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (H.I.T.L) to discover and learn about virtual environments. In general, they are impressed by their experiences and express the tremendous potential the tool has in their respective fields. But the potentials are always projected far in the future, and the tool remains just a concept. This is justifiable because the quality of the visual experience is so much less than what people are used to seeing; high definition television, breathtaking special cinematographic effects and photorealistic computer renderings. Instead, the models in virtual environments are very simple looking; they are made of small spaces, filled with simple or abstract looking objects of little color distinctions as seen through displays of noticeably low resolution and at an update rate which leaves much to be desired. Clearly, for most applications, the requirements of precision have not been met yet with virtual interfaces as they exist today. However, there are a few domains where the relatively low level of the technology could be perfectly appropriate. In general, these are applications which require that the information be presented in symbolic or representational form. Having studied architecture, I knew that there are moments during the early part of the design process when conceptual decisions are made which require precisely the simple and representative nature available in existing virtual environments. This was a marvelous discovery for me because I had found a viable use for virtual environments which could be immediately beneficial to architecture, my shared area of interest. It would be further beneficial to architecture in that the virtual interface equipment I would be evaluating at the H.I.T.L. happens to be relatively less expensive and more practical than other configurations such as the "Walkthrough" at the University of North Carolina. The set-up at the H.I.T.L. could be easily introduced into architectural firms because it takes up very little physical room (150 square feet) and it does not require expensive and space taking hardware devices (such as the treadmill device for simulating walking). Now that the potential for using virtual environments in this architectural application is clear, it becomes important to verify that this tool succeeds in accurately representing space as intended. The purpose of this study is to verify that the perception of spaces is the same, in both simulated and real environment. It is hoped that the findings of this study will guide and accelerate the process by which the technology makes its way into the field of architecture.
keywords	Space Perception; Space (Architecture); Computer Simulation
series	thesis:MSc
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

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

_id	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	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	a5cc
authors	Sabater, Txatxo and Gassull, Albert
year	1992
title	From Notion to Motion
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 543-551
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.543
summary	Going from notion to motion is a way, or a working system. It means the illustration in motion of critical written topics. It's also an indirect channel to normalize the use of CAD and other kind of software and periferials in a School of Architecture held only by a user technology. We deal with texts and the choice of these is absolutely determinant. First of all because of the volition of using those which time has allowed to clearly decant and now are seen together with the answers or continuities that they have generated. That is to say, we do not write on the subjects we talk about, we illustrate, in motion, the arguments that authors have already written about them. We refer to notion in the sense that we always set off from a seminal argument. But also because we collect, if necessary, its revisions or extensions. This is to say we try to track the notion helping ourselves with the motion.
series	eCAADe
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	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	6270
authors	Atac, Ibrahim
year	1992
title	CAAD Education and Post-Graduate Opportunities (At Mimar Sinan University)
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 273-278
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.273
summary	This paper addresses new design teaching strategies at an important and traditional university in Istanbul, founded as the Academy of Fine Arts 110 years ago. It will include a short review of design education before the Academy changed into a university, and a description of the present situation with regard to computers. Nearly two years ago, CAAD education was introduced as an elective subject. The students show great interest in CAD; most Turkish architects now work with computers and CAAD graphics, although automated architecture has not yet become firmly established. The aim of the CAD studio is also to establish an institute which will allow university staff to develop their own programs and to pursue scientific research in this field. On the basis of rising requests from researchers and students, rapid and healthy developments should be made to keep up with new technologies. As the improvement of the specialized involvement with CAD is the future target, MSU is attempting to broaden its horizon by including design methodologies of the last decades.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_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	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	11b6
authors	Kalmychkov, Vitaly A. and Smolyaninov, Alexander V.
year	1992
title	Design of Object-Oriented Data Visualization System
source	East-West International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Proceedings of the EWHCI'92 1992 pp. 463-470
summary	The report is devoted to the data visualization system design and implementation, which provides the means for design of the image of the user's numeric information on the personal computer. The problems of design, architecture and operation of data visualization system which provides to user convenient means for constructing the numeric information image of required type is considered. Image constructing is executed by means of required sizes fields placing and filling of them by necessary content (coordinates system, graphs, inscriptions). User's interface with instrument system is object-oriented: after object (field or its content) choice user can manipulate of it, executing only those operations, that are determined for it as object of appointed function. Ergonomical and comfortable constructing is ensured by careful coordinated system of possible actions on each of image constructing stage and supported by icons menu and textual menu.
series	other
last changed	2002/07/07 16:01

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

For more results click below: