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	a336
authors	Calvo, Charles M.
year	1993
title	SOME EPISTEMOLOGICAL CONCERNS REGARDING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACHES TO ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN - A RENEWED AGENDA
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1993.155
source	Education and Practice: The Critical Interface [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-02-0] Texas (Texas / USA) 1993, pp. 155-162
summary	It has been noted that designers - when confronted with computers - have, by and large, refused to accept the introduction of apparently new design methodologies, and it has been speculated that this is the result of a failure of those methodologies to address the cognitive processes which take place in the course of designing. This position is somewhat suspect in that such innovations as computer-aided drafting -which also fail to recognize these processes have been widely accepted. It is perhaps more likely that the lack of acceptance results from a perception on the part of designers that the new methodologies either do not reflect some or all of those concerns that designers consider fundamental to design, or that they actively interfere with the designer's ability to accomplish what he/she sees as the goals of design. Given that the application of artificial intelligence and related work to architecture is still in its infancy, all of this suggests the need for a reassessment of the role of computing in design in order to clarify and strengthen those roles deemed appropriate. Two approaches to the integration of artificial intelligence and knowledge-based systems into architectural design practice are currently dominant. One attempts to create systems which can on their own produce designs, the other provides intelligent support for those doing design. It was, in part, the recognition of limitations in the ability of traditional CAD systems and building modelers to reflect what designers actually do that led to explorations into the idea of intelligent assistants. Development of such assistants was aided by research into the act and process of design through protocol and other studies. Although some work is currently being done in the development of artificial intelligence and knowledge based applications in architecture, and work continues to be done on the study of design methodologies, the bulk of available information in each of these areas remains in the realm of design disciplines related to but outside of architecture and do not reflect the explicit role of architectural design in the embodiment and expression of culture. The relationship of intelligence to culture has resulted in some skepticism regarding the ultimate capacity of neural nets and symbolically programmed computers in general. Significant work has been done questioning the rational tradition in computer development for its failure to address phenomena which are not easily subject to scientific analysis. Further skepticism regarding the role of artificial intelligence and knowledge-based or expert systems in architectural design has been emerging recently. Such criticism tends to focus on two issues: the nature of drawing as an activity which involves both the generation and interpretation of graphic artifacts, and the nature of the human designer as an active agent in the design process.
series	ACADIA
type	normal paper
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	e92c
authors	Dave, Bharat
year	1993
title	A Computer-Assisted Diagramming System
source	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich
summary	This research investigates characteristics and generation of graphic diagrams used in support of analysis, presentation and synthesis of information in various domains. The research is aimed at the development of a software system which can be used to specify, generate and manipulate diagrams similar to the way they are represented and operated upon in traditional media.Diagrams are graphic representations of symbolic propositions that allow tentative reasoning and inferencing, and enable a person to focus on selected aspects of a situation that are deemed of interest. The economy and directness of expression found in diagrams seem to be the prime reasons why they are so ubiquitous in many domains. Despite these advantages, studies into supporting diagrammatic representations using computers are rather sparse. This research is an attempt at developing a comprehensive framework of thought in this direction.In the context of design disciplines like architecture, this research forms a part of the continuum of studies in computer aided design techniques and tools. While a large number of tools and techniques in CAD have emerged so far, usage of such tools, due to their underlying representations, expects and demands commitment of too many details too early in the design process. This research is aimed at characterizing and developing a computer based diagramming system to support tentative reasoning using diagrams, and thus hopes to extend the scope of CAD environments in design.The thesis first articulates motivations for this topic in detail. Next, a discussion on the role played by diagrams as conceptual tools in various domains is presented. It is followed by a detailed look at characteristics and components of diagrams viewed as a graphic communication system. Next, a comprehensive set of requirements for an ideal software environment for diagramming tasks is developed. A prototype system called CDT was implemented and is used to demonstrate ideas developed in this research. The study concludes with some observations on contributions of this research effort and possible future extensions.
series	thesis:PhD
email
last changed	2003/05/10 05:43

_id	63a9
authors	Hellgardt, Michael
year	1993
title	Architectural Theory and Design Grammars
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.i6u
source	[eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
summary	The idea of artificial brains and artificial intelligence (AI) has been subject to criticism. The objection of J. Searle, for instance, which has been published in 1984 and which was partially directly addressed to one of the centres of AI, the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, is mainly based on two points: (1) interactions between physiological and mental functions, and (2) the intentionality and context-relatedness of meaning. - With an emphasis on architectural design, this paper is about the second point, because the problem of meaning is a neuralgic point in the discussion of "artificial intelligence in design" (AID). Technical parameters are incompatible with mechanisms of meaning in any field of artistic, cultural or non-technical expression. This point, that is the relation between acts of meaning and acts of technical problem-solving and, connectedly, the relation between technological and architectural design, has been widely ignored in the discussion on AID. The development seems to be dominated by the tacit assumption that architecture can be articulated and generated purely in technical and formal terms of information processing beyond the field of architecture itself. Design and shape grammars have become a well established field in the discussion of AID, also with respect to architecture. But questions of architectural history and theory are touched on only incidentally and not sufficiently in this discussion. The problem is not, in other words, simply to include more or less unrelated cases of architecture, or architectural concepts -even if these are famous ones, such as Laugier's original hut for instance but to establish structural relations between arguments of architectural theory and arguments of AID.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	48ee
authors	Paoluzzi, A., Pascucci, V. and Vicentino, M.
year	1993
title	PLASM Functional Approach to Design: Representation of Geometry
source	CAAD Futures ‘93 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-89922-7] (Pittsburgh / USA), 1993, pp. 127-141
summary	PLASM (the Programming Language for Solid Modeling) is a solid-modeling-oriented design language strongly inspired by the functional language FL. In a PLASM environment, every geometrical object is generated by evaluating a suitable language expression which produces a polyhedral solid model. The language adopts a dimension-independent approach to geometry representation and algorithms. The generated objects are always geometrically consistent since the validity of geometry is guaranteed at a syntactical level. In fact (a) each well-formed expression is obtained by proper composition of well-formed subexpressions; (b) the evaluation of a well-formed (and polyhedrally typed) expression produces a valid solid model. In this paper, the representation scheme used in the language is given and some language scripts are shown and discussed.
keywords	Computer-Aided Architectural Design, Variational Geometry, Design Language, Geometric Design, Geometric Modeling, Functional Programming, Complexes, Polyhedra, Convex Cells
series	CAAD Futures
last changed	1999/04/07 12:03

_id	8ce2
authors	Szalapaj, Peter J.
year	1993
title	Contextual Hypermedia in the Design Studio
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.i7f
source	[eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
summary	The focus of this paper is on the development and use of hypermedia applications for the presentation of design studio projects, based upon the author's own recent experience of teaching CAD at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. The contention of this paper is that this activity cannot be reduced to routine Hypercard stack development. Instead, the development of applications in this area need to give support to the expression of the design-theoretical issues that are central to the presentation of any design studio project, by exploiting the many issues of concern that are emerging from the field of human- computer interaction (HCI) The hypermedia application i.e. in this case design-theoretical views of a design project, will inevitably influence the specification of a user-interface, and hence the presentation and appearance of the design project. This paper will investigate the extent to which the interface can be separated out from the application and the converse issue namely, whether non-contextual hypermedia environments restrict design applications.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	7969
authors	Zarnowiecka, Jadwiga C.
year	1993
title	Multimedia - A Chance for Regional Architecture
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.p6l
source	[eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
summary	The consciousness of identity, safety and identification of the individual in a social group, a nation or a place in which this person exists, can come into being and develop only if the continuing of tradition is secured. This continuing is in fact the person's indispensable and first need. It manifests itself especially through the cultural and spatial tradition of the person's own habitation, or more precisely - in the regional, native artistic expression of architecture.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	411e
authors	Asanowicz, Aleksander
year	1993
title	Designing is Information and Emotion
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.n0i
source	[eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
summary	It could be stated that designing is a procedure of working out the problems. The point of that procedure is to transform the input data (information about what is demanded) into the system documentation (thing) accomplishing the task. While designing we would like to reach our goal in a certain (reliable) way.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	e9f1
authors	Alaimo, G., Pellitteri, G. and Scianna, A.
year	1993
title	A Tool for Typological Analysis
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.q0g
source	[eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
summary	Any design problem is faced drawing from the architect's knowledge both case knowledge and general knowledge. One type of the latter is abstracted from a multiplicity of cases of which the common features are recognised in such a way as to single out a prototype representing in the best way a class of architectural objects. If applied to a set of residential buildings and to the flats in them the analysis is typological and it is one of the fundamental ways of acquiring general knowledge to be used to face design problems. The tool we present is aimed at such a type of analysis and is based on the idea that it possible to acquire qualitative knowledge through the statistical analysis of measurable characteristics of the examined architectural objects. It has been tested by applying it to the typological analysis of a set of flats of illegal buildings in Sicily. The procedure is organised in two main phases. The first one consists in a series of elaborations performed during the reading of architectural organism; the second one consists in a series of statistical analyses on the results (characteristic variables) of the first.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	855d
authors	Alavalkama, I., Aura, S. and Palmqvist H. (Eds.)
year	1993
title	Endoscopy as a Tool in Architecture
source	Proceedings of the 1st European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 951-722-069-3 / Tampere (Finland), 25-28 August 1993, 196 p.
summary	The European Architectural Endoscopy Association was established in connection with the Association’s first international conference on August 25-28, 1993, which was hosted by the Department of Architecture at the Tampere University of Technology. The purpose of the EAEA is to promote experimentation, research, communication, exchange of experiences, collaboration, user participation and teaching in the field of endoscopy and environmental simulation. The first EAEA conference was attended by 25 people from 15 different universities. Working under the general heading of “Endoscopy as a Tool in Architecture”, the conference had three specific themes for the first three days: Review of Existing Laboratories; Theories, Methods and Applications; and the Future of Endoscopy. In this volume we have compiled all the papers that were presented at the conference. The texts have been printed in the form we received them, without any attempt to edit them for consistency in style, adding hopefully to a sense of authenticity. Unfortunately, the impressive videos we saw at the conference on the possibilities of endoscopy and environmental simulation as a tool in architecture, cannot be documented here.
keywords	Architectural Endoscopy
series	EAEA
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/eaea/
last changed	2005/09/09 10:43

_id	20c1
authors	Alavalkama, Ilkka
year	1993
title	Technical Aspects of the Urban Simulator in Tampere University of Technology
source	Endoscopy as a Tool in Architecture [Proceedings of the 1st European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 951-722-069-3] Tampere (Finland), 25-28 August 1993, pp. 35-46
summary	The colour video recording Urban Simulator in TUT was built very early compared with the development of video systems. A contract for planning the simulator electronics, mechanics and camera systems was made in january 1978 with two TUT students: Jani Granholm (computer science and engineering) and Ilkka Alavalkama (machine design and automation). Ease of control and maintenance were asked by side of ”human movement inside coloured small-scale architectural models”. From the beginning, all components of the system were carefully tested and chosen from various alternatives. Financial resources were quite limited, which lead to a long building process and to self-planned and produced mechanical and electronical elements. Some optical systems were constructed by using elements from various manufacturers.
keywords	Architectural Endoscopy
series	EAEA
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/eaea/
last changed	2005/09/09 10:43

_id	d6a3
authors	Alkhoven, Patricia
year	1993
title	The Changing Image of the City
source	University of Utrecht
summary	The image and structure of a town are constantly subject to a dynamic process of change and continuity. Visual material, such as photographs, historical maps, town plans, drawings and prints, show us the impact of these changes on the image of a town. The main point of departure of this study stems from the question of how this process of change and continuity is visually detectable in a town or city. The fact that the ideas about the appearance of a city (gradually) change, can be read from the often subtle changes in the townscape. Though in many cases we have a general knowledge of the choices made in urban management, the most difficult problem is to detect the underlying decisions. This raises the question to what extent these changes and also the continuities are the result of deliberate choices in urban management and to what extent they are autonomous developments in the townscape resistant to interventions. Using different kinds of visual information as a basis, computer visualization techniques are used in the present study to examine some cartographic maps and to reconstruct the urban development in the twentieth century of the town of Heusden three-dimensionally in significant phases. The resulting visualization provides us with a tool for a better understanding of the dynamics of urban transformation processes, typologies and morphological changes and continuities.
keywords	3D City Modeling
series	thesis:PhD
email
more	http://www.library.uu.nl/digiarchief/dip/diss/01754573/hfdheus.htm
last changed	2003/05/15 21:36

_id	3653
authors	Alshawi, M. and Budeiri, M.J.
year	1993
title	An Integrated approach for 3D simulation of construction sequence
source	The Int. Journal of Construction IT 1(2), pp. 35-46
summary	In order to eliminate design-related problems and to ease planning difficulties, a new integrated approach is required to manage and present design and construction information. This paper examines the feasibility of integrating design and construction scheduling information produced by 'industry standard' software. It describes the structure of a prototype which has been developed to generate a 3D simulation model for the construction sequence by integrating a CAD package with a project planning software. This study aims at establishing an integrated approach to communicate construction planning graphically to users (designers or construction managers) prior to construction in order to enhance the efficiency of the design/construction process.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/05/15 21:45

_id	a927
authors	Amirante, Isabella and Bosco, Antonio
year	1995
title	Hypertext Between Research and Teaching: An Experience in a Didactic Building Technology Laboratory
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.003
source	Multimedia and Architectural Disciplines [Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe / ISBN 0-9523687-1-4] Palermo (Italy) 16-18 November 1995, pp. 3-12
summary	IPER (hypertext for the knowledge of building patrimony) is the result of a research developed with C.N.R. (National Research Institute). The aim of IPER is to provide the knowledge, the description and the management of one or more historical buildings for public or private institutions. IPER allowed us to improve our methodology of building analysis, covering various disciplinary fields, in two different systems. (1.) the first one, synthetic and suitable for a group of historical buildings, (2.) the second one, complex and particularly made for monumental buildings. // This experience is related to the new regulation of teaching architecture in Italy made in 1993. The main novelty is the introduction of the laboratories with the contemporary presence of two or three teachers of different disciplines, working together with the students on the same project with different approaches. This opportunity allowed us to introduce the "knowledge engineer" as a teacher in the laboratory of building technology. IPER is given to the students with the aim of experimenting and solving the theoretical and practical difficulties that students of different years may encounter in the knowledge and representation of buildings and in the organisation of all the data from the case study.
series	eCAADe
more	http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_1.htm
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	0ab2
authors	Amor, R., Hosking, J., Groves, L. and Donn, M.
year	1993
title	Design Tool Integration: Model Flexibility for the Building Profession
source	Proceedings of Building Systems Automation - Integration, University of Wisconsin-Madison
summary	The development of ICAtect, as discussed in the Building Systems Automation and Integration Symposium of 1991, provides a way of integrating simulation tools through a common building model. However, ICAtect is only a small step towards the ultimate goal of total integration and automation of the building design process. In this paper we investigate the next steps on the path toward integration. We examine how models structured to capture the physical attributes of the building, as required by simulation tools, can be used to converse with knowledge-based systems. We consider the types of mappings that occur in the often different views of a building held by these two classes of design tools. This leads us to examine the need for multiple views of a common building model. We then extend our analysis from the views required by simulation and knowledge-based systems, to those required by different segments of the building profession (e.g. architects, engineers, developers, etc.) to converse with such an integrated system. This indicates a need to provide a flexible method of accessing data in the common building model to facilitate use by different building professionals with varying specialities and levels of expertise.
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	86dc
authors	Aouad, G., and Price, A.D.F.
year	1993
title	An integrated system to aid the planning of concrete structures: introducing the system
source	The Int. Journal of Construction IT1(2), pp.1-14
summary	This paper reports on the development at Loughborough University of a CAD-based integrated model to aid the planning of in-situ concrete structures. The system development started after a review of the planning models currently available and after a detailed questionnaire survey undertaken amongst the top UK and US contractors on the current status of planning techniques and information technology. The main aim of this system is to automate the planning process of in-situ concrete structures using data generated by CAD systems. So far, the integration of a CAD system (AutoCAD 10) and a computerized scheduling system (Artemis 2000) has been achieved on a typical IBM-PC. This enables the generation of network plans using AutoCAD which are then automatically transferred to the Artemis system for time and cost analyses.Traditionally, construction planners are faced with many conventional drawings and documents which are used to re-extract information relevant to their planning processes. Such an approach can be very inefficient as it involves data double-handling and is often error prone. In addition, current computerized construction planning applications are little more than the automation of manual formulations of plans. For example, data are fed into the planning system and computations are performed using either CPM (Critical Path Method) or PERT (Programme Evaluation and Review Technique). However, data relating to the planning process such as activity lists, resources requirements and durations are not automatically generated within the system. It would thus seem logical to devise a CAD-based integrated planning model which accepts data in its electronic format and involves some integration of the traditional planning approach. This paper introduces the proposed CAD-based integrated planning model and describes its different components. In addition, it discusses the system functional specifications and summarizes the main benefits and limitations of such a model.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/05/15 21:45

_id	ae19
authors	Armstrong, Richard
year	1993
title	On The Technical Features Of The Endoscope - OES Modelscope as a Case in Point
source	Endoscopy as a Tool in Architecture [Proceedings of the 1st European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 951-722-069-3] Tampere (Finland), 25-28 August 1993, pp. 153-156
summary	The Olympus Optical Company of Japan was formed in 1919, with the introduction of the first generation single lens reflects camera, and soon after with the first microscope. Since that time, the organisation has developed and is now split into three main divisions: manufacturing and supplying cameras, microscopes and endoscopes. Other smaller specialist divisions exist suppling such products as dictaphones. Perhaps, rather surprisingly, the endoscope division is the largest part of the organisation. Through a world-wide organisation of four main business centers, Olympus Industrial, the name given to the industrial endoscope division, provides service and support to its customers. Each of the main business centers operates through agents and distributors. There are many different industries which gain the benefits of saved time and money provided by using endoscopes. To meet the needs of so many varied industries, there is a need to have a wide range of equipment. This includes light sources, to provide illumination, rigid borescopes, flexible fiberscopes, if views around corners are needed, and the new technology videoscopes. These instruments use the latest CCD technology with a small chip situated in the distal end of the scope, instead of fiberoptic image bundles used in fiberscopes.
keywords	Architectural Endoscopy
series	EAEA
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/eaea/
last changed	2005/09/09 10:43

_id	2ff9
id	2ff9
authors	Ataman, Osman
year	1993
title	Knowledge-based Stair Design
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1993.163
source	Education and Practice: The Critical Interface [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-02-0] Texas (Texas / USA) 1993, pp. 163-171
summary	The application of computer--based technique to support architectural design has often concentrated on matters of representation. Typically, this means computer-aided drafting, and less frequently, computer-aided modeling and visualization. The promise of new computer-based tools to support the process of design has thus far failed to produce any significant tool that has had a widespread impact on the architectural profession. Most developments remain in university based research labs where they are used as teaching instruments in CAD courses or less often in design studios. While there are many reasons for this lack of dissemination, including a reluctance on the part of the architectural profession itself, the primary obstacles deal with difficulties in explicating design knowledge, representing this knowledge in a manner that can be used for design, and providing an intuitive and effective user interface, allowing the designer to easily use the tool for its intended purpose. This study describes a system that has been developed to address a number of these issues. Based on research findings from the field of Artificial Intelligence which expounds on the need for multiple techniques to represent any complex area of knowledge, we have selected a particular approach that focuses on multiple techniques for design representation. We review this approach in depth by considering its many facets necessary when implementing a knowledge-based system. We then partially test the viability of this approach through a small case study, implementing a knowledge-based system for designing stairs. While this effort only deals with a small part of the total design process, it does explore a number of significant issues facing the development of computer-based design assistants, and suggests several techniques for addressing these concerns.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	4c30
authors	Aura, Seppo
year	1993
title	Episode as a Unit of Analysis of Movement
source	Endoscopy as a Tool in Architecture [Proceedings of the 1st European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 951-722-069-3] Tampere (Finland), 25-28 August 1993, pp. 53-66
summary	Everybody who has read his Gordon Cullen or his Edmund H. Bacon knows that movement has long been recognized as a factor in environmental planning in many ways. For example, in the traditional Japanese promenade garden the importance of movement has always been appreciated. The promenader gains an intense experience of the succession, variation and rhythm of the surrounding scene. The spaces and paths lead him from one stage to another. The spatial structure of the Japanese promenade garden, as well as of traditional Japanese architecture in general, is joined most intensively to time and motion. The environment is in relation to the flow of change in many sense, both concretely and existentially. Taking an example of western urban environment. Here perhaps the most marked sequential spaces are to be found in small medieval, mediterranean towns. Thanks to their organic growth, narrow and winding streets and the emphasis on public squares, most of them provide exciting experiences if the observer is only interested in seeing the townscape from the point of view of movement. There are also examples of this kind of environment in Finland. In old wooden towns like Porvoo and Rauma one can still find varied and rhythmic streetscapes and networks of streets and squares, together with a human scale and an almost timeless atmosphere. One could say that such an opportunity to experience spaces sequentially, or as serial visions, is an important dimension for us, especially as pedestrians. And as Gordon Cullen has shown there is in any urban environment much scope to heighten this experience. For example, by creating a sense of ’entering in’ some place, ’leaving for’, ’moving towards’, ’turning into’, ’walking through’ some place or ’following on’ the flow of spaces. Or, as Edmund H. Bacon has said, the departure point of good town planning should be that the successive towns spaces give rise to a flow of harmonic experiences: present experiences merge with earlier ones and become a step towards a future. Or, again in the words of Donald Appleyard, Kevin Lynch and John R. Myer: “The experience of a city is basically of a moving view, and this is the view we must understand if we wish to reform the look of our cities”.
keywords	Architectural Endoscopy
series	EAEA
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/eaea/
last changed	2005/09/09 10:43

_id	50ce
authors	Baker, R.
year	1993
title	Designing the Future: The Computer Transformation of Reality
source	Thames and Hudson, Hong Kong
summary	A coffee table book on computer applications? Well, yes, because it does deal largely with matters of graphic design in architecture, fashion and textiles, painting, and photography; but it also has items which might be of interest in its sections on digital publication, typography, and electronic communication in general. It also seeks to discuss the way in which these applications may force us to change the way we think. Robin Baker writes in an unfortunately stiff and abstract manner about the impact computer programmes have had on the world of art and design, but the graphic images and extended picture captions help to keep the reader awake - even though the main text sometimes disappears for two or three double page spreads on end. There are also smatterings of pretentious art-world-speak about 'solving certain spatial problems' (in the design of curtain fabrics or teapots) and the introduction (inevitable?) of new jargon: 'shape grammar'(a list of so-called shape 'rules'), 'repurposing' (putting somebody else's work to new use) and 'genetic algorithms' (sculptural designs based on re-processed organic shapes - most of which look like stomach tumours). In his favour, Baker very generously credits students and commercial designers who have produced the effects he describes and illustrates so well. For writers, he sketches in the possibilities of Hypertext and Hypermedia and points to the future of Hyper publishing which he (and Rupert Murdoch)believes will be with us before the end of the century. He seems to have a good oversight of what is possible and practicable - though one wonders how up-to-date the view is when his book may have begun its life anything up to three years ago. He usefully points out that much new technology exists in or drags along with it the forms of earlier periods - so that in an age of electronic communication we still have printed books as a dominant cultural form. Maybe this is as it should be - but Baker makes a persuasive case for the claim that All This is Going to Change.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	cf2011_p170
id	cf2011_p170
authors	Barros, Mário; Duarte José, Chaparro Bruno
year	2011
title	Thonet Chairs Design Grammar: a Step Towards the Mass Customization of Furniture
source	Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures 2011 [Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures / ISBN 9782874561429] Liege (Belgium) 4-8 July 2011, pp. 181-200.
summary	The paper presents the first phase of research currently under development that is focused on encoding Thonet design style into a generative design system using a shape grammar. The ultimate goal of the work is the design and production of customizable chairs using computer assisted tools, establishing a feasible practical model of the paradigm of mass customization (Davis, 1987). The current research step encompasses the following three steps: (1) codification of the rules describing Thonet design style into a shape grammar; (2) implementing the grammar into a computer tool as parametric design; and (3) rapid prototyping of customized chair designs within the style. Future phases will address the transformation of the Thonet’s grammar to create a new style and the production of real chair designs in this style using computer aided manufacturing. Beginning in the 1830’s, Austrian furniture designer Michael Thonet began experimenting with forming steam beech, in order to produce lighter furniture using fewer components, when compared with the standards of the time. Using the same construction principles and standardized elements, Thonet produced different chairs designs with a strong formal resemblance, creating his own design language. The kit assembly principle, the reduced number of elements, industrial efficiency, and the modular approach to furniture design as a system of interchangeable elements that may be used to assemble different objects enable him to become a pioneer of mass production (Noblet, 1993). The most paradigmatic example of the described vision of furniture design is the chair No. 14 produced in 1858, composed of six structural elements. Due to its simplicity, lightness, ability to be stored in flat and cubic packaging for individual of collective transportation, respectively, No. 14 became one of the most sold chairs worldwide, and it is still in production nowadays. Iconic examples of mass production are formally studied to provide insights to mass customization studies. The study of the shape grammar for the generation of Thonet chairs aimed to ensure rules that would make possible the reproduction of the selected corpus, as well as allow for the generation of new chairs within the developed grammar. Due to the wide variety of Thonet chairs, six chairs were randomly chosen to infer the grammar and then this was fine tuned by checking whether it could account for the generation of other designs not in the original corpus. Shape grammars (Stiny and Gips, 1972) have been used with sucesss both in the analysis as in the synthesis of designs at different scales, from product design to building and urban design. In particular, the use of shape grammars has been efficient in the characterization of objects’ styles and in the generation of new designs within the analyzed style, and it makes design rules amenable to computers implementation (Duarte, 2005). The literature includes one other example of a grammar for chair design by Knight (1980). In the second step of the current research phase, the outlined shape grammar was implemented into a computer program, to assist the designer in conceiving and producing customized chairs using a digital design process. This implementation was developed in Catia by converting the grammar into an equivalent parametric design model. In the third phase, physical models of existing and new chair designs were produced using rapid prototyping. The paper describes the grammar, its computer implementation as a parametric model, and the rapid prototyping of physical models. The generative potential of the proposed digital process is discussed in the context of enabling the mass customization of furniture. The role of the furniture designer in the new paradigm and ideas for further work also are discussed.
keywords	Thonet; furniture design; chair; digital design process; parametric design; shape grammar
series	CAAD Futures
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last changed	2012/02/11 19:21

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