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 8f1f
authors Oxman, Rivka and Oxman, Robert
year 1993
title Precedents: Memory Structure in Design Case Libraries
source CAAD Futures ‘93 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-89922-7] (Pittsburgh / USA), 1993, pp. 273-287
summary The paper presents an approach to a memory structure of design ideas in a library of design precedents. A model of case memory for design is developed. The model is composed of distinct chunks of knowledge called design stories. A formalism for the design story is proposed which represents the linkage between design issue, concept and form in stories. Stories are structured in memory according to a semantic network. The lexicon of the semantic network acts as a memory index. The memory structure and indexing system are demonstrated to enhance search and to support crosscontextual browsing and exploration in the precedent library. The approach is demonstrated in a pilot design aid system in the task domain of early conceptual design in architecture.
keywords Knowledge-Based Systems, Case-Based Reasoning, Case-Based Design Aids Systems, Precedents, Electronic Libraries, Memory Organization, Indexing, Storage, Retrieval, Hypermedia Systems, Content Analysis
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id e3d3
authors Gudna , François and Zreik, Khaldoun
year 1993
title Analogy, Exploration and Generalization: Three Activities for Knowledge-Based Architectural Design Systems
source CAAD Futures ‘93 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-89922-7] (Pittsburgh / USA), 1993, pp. 255-272
summary We propose in this article a system architecture based on reasoning through analogy with past cases or situations. Starting with a project and a sketch provided by the user, the system locates analogous situations in the past and uses these to improve a problem's description. A sufficiently improved description will in turn activate a constraint-satisfaction mechanism. Previous situations are stored in a memory bank of objects that match the description of past problems to the generic descriptions of past solutions. Three mechanisms can be distinguished within the system: an analogy mechanism collects hypotheses about the variables and constraints to be satisfied in past situations, an exploratory mechanism searches through the solution space, a generalizing mechanism looks at experiences and memorizes only what is needed to collect hypotheses.
keywords Knowledge-Based System, Case-Based Reasoning, Constraints Satisfaction, Explanation-Based Learning, Object-Oriented Representation
series CAAD Futures
last changed 1999/04/07 12:03

_id bdc1
authors Kolodner, J.
year 1993
title Case-Based Reasoning
source San Mateo, CA:Morgan Kaufmann
summary Case-based reasoning systems store information about situations in their memory. As new problems arise, similar situations are searched to help solve them. The author places special emphasis on applying case-based reasoning to complex real-world problem- solving tasks such as medical diagnosis, design, conflict resolution, and planning. The approach combines cognitive science and engineering, and is based on analysis of both expert and common- sense tasks. Guidelines for building case-based expert systems are provided. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or. Book Description
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id 37b2
authors Johansson, P.
year 2000
title Case-Based Structural Design - using weakly structured product and process information
source Chalmers University of Technology, Division of Steel and Timber Structures, Publ. S 00:7, Göteborg
summary Empirical knowledge plays a significant role in the human reasoning process. Previous experiences help in understanding new situations and in finding solutions to new problems. Experience is used when performing different tasks, both those of routine character and those that require specific skill. This is also the case for structural designers. Over 50% of the work done by the designer on a day-to-day basis is routine design that consists of modifying past designs (Moore 1993). That is, most of the design problems that the designer solves have been solved before, in many cases over and over again. In recent years, researchers have started to study if cases (information about specific problem-solving experiences) could be used as a representation of experiential knowledge. Making use of past experience in the form of cases is commonly known as Case-Based Reasoning (CBR). A requirement for Case-Based Design (Case-Based Reasoning applied in design) to be successful is that the design information is computerized. One information type used in structural design that is starting to become computerized is the one in design calculation documents. Such information is weakly structured (which holds for much of the information representing experience) and it contains both product and process information. In this thesis it is shown how the weak structure of this information can be used to subdivide it into components, which in turn makes it possible to apply the object-oriented abstraction principles also to this kind of information. It is also shown how the detailed design process can be represented and how this representation can facilitate automatic acquisition, retrieval of relevant old design information, and adaptation of this information. Two prototypes BridgeBase and ARCADE have been developed, where the principles described above are applied. Using ARCADE, the more general of these two prototypes, it is presented how information in computerized design calculation documents, gathered from real projects, can serve as containers and carriers for both project information and experience. The experience from the two prototypes shows that Case-Based Design can be usable as a tool for structural engineers.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id cd30
authors Koutamanis, Alexander
year 1993
title On the Correlation of Design and Computational Techniques in Architectural Education
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.g6i
source [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
summary Many studies employ analyses of human intelligence as justification or guideline for the development of machine intelligence. The main benefit brought on by such studies has been the improvement of our understanding of both human and machine intelligence. In teaching architecture with computers the same approach can make explicit design techniques architects use by means of equivalent or similar computational techniques. Explicitation of design techniques leads to a better understanding of architects' activities, as well as to which computer tools can offer automated support to these activities. In the curriculum of the Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology, relations and correspondences between computational and design techniques form a major underlying theme in computer-aided design courses. The purposes of this theme are (i) comprehension of the computational structure of a computer design tool, and (ii) explanation of how such computational structures relate to architectural design. (correspondences between the computational principles of computer programs and design techniques are instrumental in defining the scope of each computer tool in architectural design while improving the students' understanding of architectural design as a cognitive process and thus promoting automation as a natural extension of established conventional practices. The paper outlines the correlation of computational and design techniques in the case of electronic spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are introduced through a thorough presentation of the various kinds and aspects of constraint propagation, their underlying computational principle. Numerical constraint propagation is explained by means of spreadsheet applications for simple numerical calculations. Symbolic constraint propagation is presented in the framework of machine perception. Both forms are then linked to architectural design through parametric design and the recognition of spaces in floor plans. Exercises linked to spreadsheets and constraint propagation include the parametric calculation of stairs and making parametric variations of a building on the basis of floor area calculations.

series eCAADe
email
more http://caad.bk.tudelft.nl/koutamanis/
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_id 22bc
authors Randle, Jay
year 1993
title Light and Form: A Case Study
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1993.021
source Education and Practice: The Critical Interface [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-02-0] Texas (Texas / USA) 1993, pp. 21-38
summary The first great consideration in design is that the human world is irreducibly phenomenal; we are immersed in the overwhelming richness and sensuousness of the physical environment. And the first great task of design education is to put the student of design into a disciplined awareness of that phenomenal world, by development of categories of discrimination. The introductory experiences bring the student into vivid contact with compelling phenomena. The associated exercises structure and differentiate perception of nuance within these.

There is little doubt that texture, surface, extension, value, and color are in one sense basic categories of physical phenomena, constituting in essence a fundamental stratum of experience and the sensible world. Modern psychology and epistemology, however, cohere in saying that this stratum is not the sense world of everyday, the primary datum of the functioning societal member. Neither is the abstract world of the physicist's concepts an everyday world. What is given in our day-to-day life is neither very abstract, nor very concrete, but a sort of functionally-bound middle world of norms and stereotypes.

It takes the disciplined seeing characteristic of foundational training in the arts to drive this bourgeois view of physical reality back to elemental sense data. Just as it requires the supremely abstract language of mathematics and the rarified "experience" of modern scientific experimentation to drive that same view offcenter in the direction of abstraction. The first exercises of a program of design education begin to perform the former role.

series ACADIA
last changed 2022/06/07 08:00

_id e4c3
authors Saggio, Antonino
year 1993
title Hypertext, Solid Modeling, and Hierarchical Structures in Formal Architectural Analysis
source CAAD Futures ‘93 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-89922-7] (Pittsburgh / USA), 1993, pp. 289-309
summary The paper presents computer reconstructions of unbuilt projects relevant to the history of Italian rationalism together with the potential and limits of three CAAD environments. While an evaluation is provided for each one, a more detailed attention is devoted to hierarchical structures because of their capability to capture knowledge, to support further investigations, and to provide new insights into architecture. A model built in this environment allows simultaneously (1) the analysis and reconstruction even of a complex project at the size of a personal computer; (2) the simulation and test of different material, crucial in the case of restoration or in the case of incomplete and uncertain original project data; (3) the critical analysis (but also the co-presence of the different project alternatives of design phases) through the reading at the various level of the hierarchy; and (4) free investigation on the structure of data that can support new critical hypothesis and insights that were not anticipated at the moment of project creation.
keywords Hypertext, Solid Modeling, Hierarchical Structures, Giuseppe Terragni, Italian Modern Architecture
series CAAD Futures
last changed 1999/04/07 12:03

_id 53da
authors Carlson, Christopher
year 1993
title Grammatical programming : an algebraic approach to the description of design spaces
source Carnegie Mellon University
summary The intuitiveness of spatial grammars makes them an attractive method of describing spaces of design. But grammars suffer from several inadequacies that limit their usefulness in design practice: (1) they cannot describe spaces of parametric, constrained designs, (2) they provide no control mechanisms for sequencing sets of rules, (3) they provide no 'subroutines' for dealing with complexity, and (4) they do not accommodate transformation mechanisms other than the rewrite rule. All of these inadequacies my [sic] be remedied by embedding grammars in a larger framework of nondeterministic functional programming, a paradigm we call 'grammatical programming.' In grammatical programs, rewrite rules are obtained from arbitrary nondeterministic functions by means of a 'rewrite closure' operator. Both rules and the designs they operate upon may be parametric and have attached constraints, permitting grammatical programs to describe spaces of parametric, constrained designs. Rewrite rules, and more generally, nondeterministic functions, are combined into compound functions by means of the operators of a control algebra, which provides functional composition, union, iteration, and a type of negation called 'failure.' The resulting modularity permits design space descriptions to be constructed, tested, and debugged piecewise, and to draw upon libraries of standard, debugged grammatical components. We begin this dissertation with an informal introduction to grammatical programming. We then give a formal, implementation-independent semantics of grammatical programs similar to the semantics of stratified logic programs. We discuss the implementation of a prototype compiler/interpreter and present case studies of the use of the prototype in describing spaces of rectangular dissections and a style of early Gothic traceries. We conclude with a discussion of lessons learned from the case studies and an agenda of further research necessary to make grammatical programming a useful tool in design practice.
series thesis:PhD
last changed 2003/02/12 22:37

_id 8db9
authors Liu, Yu-Tung
year 1993
title A Connectionist Approach to Shape Recognition and Transformation
source CAAD Futures ‘93 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-89922-7] (Pittsburgh / USA), 1993, pp. 19-36
summary In human design processes, many drawings of shapes remain incomplete or are executed inaccurately. Cognitively, a designer is able to discern these anomalous shapes, whereas current CAAD systems fail to recognize them properly so that CAAD systems are unable to match left-hand-side conditions of shape rules. More unfortunately, as a result, current CAAD systems fail to retrieve right-hand-side actions. In this paper, multi-layered neural networks are constructed to solve the recognition and transformation of ill-processed shapes in the light of recent advances of connectionism in cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence.
keywords Shape Recognition, Shape Transformation, Connectionist Models, PDP Models, Content-Addressable Memory, Neural Networks
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id a944
authors Maher, M.L., Gero, J.S. and Saad, M.
year 1993
title Synchronous Support and Emergence in Collaborative CAAD
source CAAD Futures ‘93 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-89922-7] (Pittsburgh / USA), 1993, pp. 455-470
summary Design is rarely an activity that is commenced and completed by an individual The more common design environment is one in which teams of designers work together towards a final solution. In this paper we consider issues involved in the development of computer-based design environments in which teams of design professionals can collaborate, focusing on the need for visual and underlying representations which can support multiple interpretations. We consider the environment as providing a shared workspace which facilitates both communication and progression of design ideas, concepts, and drawings. In the environment presented here, the shared workspace has two foci: the workspace that designers see and interact with, and the workspace that provides an underlying computer-based representation for persistent memory. The emphasis is on providing representations that support emergence that occurs during collaboration.
keywords Collaborative Design, Team Design, Multi-User Synchronous CAAD, Shared Representation, Shared Workspace, Emergence
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id 98bd
authors Pea, R.
year 1993
title Practices of Distributed Intelligence and Designs for Education
source Distributed Cognitions, edited by G. Salomon. New York, NY: CambridgeUniversity Press
summary v Knowledge is commonly socially constructed, through collaborative efforts... v Intelligence may also be distributed for use in designed artifacts as diverse as physical tools, representations such as diagrams, and computer-user interfaces to complex tasks. v Leont'ev 1978 for activity theory that argues forcibly for the centrality of people-in-action, activity systems, as units of analysis for deepening our understanding of thinking. v Intelligence is distributed: the resources that shape and enable activity are distributed across people, environments, and situations. v Intelligence is accomplished rather than possessed. v Affordance refers to the perceived and actual properties of a thing, primarily those functional properties that determine how the thing could possibly be used. v Norman 1988 on design and psychology - the psychology of everyday things" v We deploy effort-saving strategies in recognition of their cognitive economy and diminished opportunity for error. v The affordances of artifacts may be more or less difficult to convey to novice users of these artifacts in the activities to which they contribute distributed intelligence. v Starts with Norman's seven stages of action Ø Forming a goal; an intention § Task desire - clear goal and intention - an action and a means § Mapping desire - unable to map goal back to action § Circumstantial desire - no specific goal or intention - opportunistic approach to potential new goal § Habitual desire - familiar course of action - rapidly cycle all seven stages of action v Differentiates inscriptional systems from representational or symbol systems because inscriptional systems are completely external, while representational or symbol systems have been used in cognitive science as mental constructs. v The situated properties of everyday cognition are highly inventive in exploiting features of the physical and social situation as resources for performing a task, thereby avoiding the need for mental symbol manipulations unless they are required by that task. v Explicit recognition of the intelligence represented and representable in design, specifically in designed artifacts that play important roles in human activities. v Once intelligence is designed into the affordances properties of artifacts, it both guides and constrains the likely contributions of that artifact to distributed intelligence in activity. v Culturally valued designs for distributed intelligence will change over time, especially as new technology becomes associated with a task domain. v If we treat distributed intelligence in action as the scientific unit of analysis for research and theory on learning and reasoning... Ø What is distributed? Ø What constraints govern the dynamics of such distributions in different time scales? Ø Through what reconfigurations of distributed intelligence might the performance of an activity system improve over time? v Intelligence is manifest in activity and distributed in nature. v Intelligent activities ...in the real world... are often collaborative, depend on resources beyond an individual's long-term memory, and require the use of information-handling tools... v Wartofsky 1979 - the artifact is to cultural evolution what the gene is to biological evolution - the vehicle of information across generations. v Systems of activity - involving persons, environment, tools - become the locus of developmental investigation. v Disagrees with Salomon et al.'s entity-oriented approach - a language of containers holding things. v Human cognition aspires to efficiency in distributing intelligence - across individuals, environment, external symbolic representations, tools, and artifacts - as a means of coping with the complexity of activities we often cal "mental." "
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id 7d26
authors Pearson, D.G., Alexander, C. and Webster, Robin
year 2001
title Working Memory and Expertise Differences in Design.
source J. S. Gero, B. Tversky and T. Purcell (eds), 2001, Visual and Spatial Reasoning in Design, II - Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, Australia
summary The Creative Synthesis task devised by Finke and Slayton(1988) has been widely used as an experimental measure of mentalsynthesis, but previous studies have often failed to demonstrate anysignificant benefits of external support on participants’ performance.This paper discusses a study that examined novice and expert drawers’performance of synthesis using a modified stimuli set that was designedto increase the load on visuo-spatial working memory. The resultsshowed a significant increase in Transformational Complexity(Anderson & Hesltrup, 1993) of patterns produced by the expert groupwhile using sketching. It is argued that experts are more effective atusing sketching interactively to increase complexity, while novices relymore on using it as a simple memory aid.
series other
email
more http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/kcdc/conferences/vr01/
last changed 2003/05/02 11:14

_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 0c88
authors Bedell, John R. and Kohler, Niklaus
year 1993
title A Hierarchical Model for Building Applications
source CAAD Futures ‘93 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-89922-7] (Pittsburgh / USA), 1993, pp. 423-435
summary Advanced computer-aided architectural applications must model buildings as multi-level compositions supporting distinct points of view. Hierarchies of encapsulated, autonomous elements can be derived from ISO-STEP's General AEC Reference Model and configured for various applications. For analysis of life-cycle costs, we define a Pyramid of evaluable production steps leading to the final building; for optimization of renovation task schedules, a topological model of access paths and traffic flow. These separate viewpoints can be embedded in a single unifying structure permitting the communication and propagation of changes among its specialized aspects.
keywords Design Model, Decision Support System, Object-Oriented Data Model, Building Product Model, STEP-GARM
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/11/21 15:16

_id ddss9209
id ddss9209
authors De Gelder, J.T. and Lucardie, G.L.
year 1993
title Knowledge and data modelling in cad/cam applications
source Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture (Proceedings of a conference held in Mierlo, the Netherlands in July 1992), ISBN 0-7923-2444-7
summary Modelling knowledge and data in CAD/CAM applications is complex because different goals and contexts have to be taken into account. This complexity makes particular demands upon representation formalisms. Today many modelling tools are based on record structures. By analyzing the requirements for a product model of a portal structure in steel, this paper shows that in many situations record structures are not well suited as a representation formalism for storing knowledge and data in CAD/CAM applications. This is illustrated by performing a knowledge-level analysis of the knowledge and data generated in the design and manufacturing process of a portal structure in steel.
series DDSS
last changed 2003/08/07 16:36

_id ddss9206
id ddss9206
authors Drach, A., Langenegger, M. and Heitz, S.
year 1993
title Working with prototypes: from cad to flexible tools for integrated building design
source Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture (Proceedings of a conference held in Mierlo, the Netherlands in July 1992), ISBN 0-7923-2444-7
summary The formulation of design knowledge as concepts, goals and rules cannot be captured in fixed and valid statements. The dynamic modelling of concepts and goals is, on the contrary, part of the design process itself. Tools that effectively support architects in their design should therefore never use predefined mechanisms, but must be definable interactively according to design specifications. We propose the concept of prototypes as a cognitive model to represent and structure design knowledge. Prototypes incorporate an individual view of design in a synthetic and organizational model for a defined area of interest. They actively control and guide design processes in supporting the organizational concepts for solutions. The a+Tool implements these concepts on the basis of a modelling language. It provides a dynamic toolkit and user interface to support design as well as knowledge modelling.
series DDSS
last changed 2003/08/07 16:36

_id 4203
authors Fraser, Michael
year 1993
title Boundary Representation in Practice
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1993.173
source Education and Practice: The Critical Interface [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-02-0] Texas (Texas / USA) 1993, pp. 173-185
summary There is an essential contradiction between the making of buildings or built environments in a threedimensional modeler and the graphic control of this process. Three-dimensional modeling is a constructive activity, in which solids are assembled as they would be in an actual structure; it benefits the designer. Presentation and documentation, on the other hand, are prescriptive activities that direct some of the construction and all the visualization and criticism of the proposal; they benefit the user and builder.

A building while being designed can be visualized and criticized from its solid model, and the model can take a variety of forms depending on its part): computer-based, drawn in orthographic or perspective projection, constructed of cardboard or wood, or described narratively by means of text, programmatic data, performance model or animation. However, practicing architecture is the process of recording and communicating the decision making process and the contractual obligations that result. In actual practice, in contrast to the designer directed ideal, more participants are brought in sooner at the beginning of a project and with more publicity, which in turn means keeping more, not fewer, records. As the profession evolves, records of the string of design decisions will become more automated, more carefully structured and more retrievable. More buildings will be "tracked" and exposed to review in this way because public environmental sensitivity will improve. The communication between a single designer and his own thoughts will become less and less important.

series ACADIA
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_id f485
authors Kolarevic, Branko Radomir
year 1993
title Geometric Relations as a Framework For Design Conceptualization
source Harvard University, Graduate School of Design
summary This study introduces geometric relations as a framework for design conceptualiza-tion-its key premise is that nothing is more fundamental in design than formation and discovery of relationships. The study attempts to establish a formal model for the development of a dynamic computer based graphic environment for design conceptualization that can recognize, record and maintain geometric design relations, merge "depictive" and "propositional", explicit and implicit in design, and provide a qualitatively different way to explore shape, dimension, and geometric organization. The study presents an approach to this task of formalization, and explores some of the fundamental issues pertinent to the subject, such as computability and applicability to the task of designing. Specifically, the study explores a relational description of shapes based on the concept of regulating or construction lines as an explicit formulation of a strategy to form generation and creative discovery, and proposes a lexicon of geometric relations to serve as a basis for composition. It hypothesizes that the construction lines can become much more useful and interesting when they are used not just as a rigid skeleton, but to regulate the behavior of a drawing and to maintain its essential structure as its parts are manipulated. As a consequence, designers could structure the behavior of the object being designed under future transformations; drawings could become seman-tically charged and could be manipulated in a semantically sophisticated fashion. The first chapter places the issue in the broader context by arguing that designers form implicit relational models of their designs. This contention is supported by introducing some of the relevant literature on mental imagery. Second chapter introduces design relations and in particular geometric relations, as a focal point of this study. A dynamic computer -based graphic context for design conceptualization is presented and evalu-ated in the next two chapters and conclusions are drawn. In the third chapter, the model's computability is demonstrated and evaluated through ReDRAW, a limited implementation of a relations based graphic system. In the fourth chapter, the model's applicability in design conceptualization is discussed and supported by examples.
series thesis:PhD
email
more http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/academic/asp/ddes/thesis_titles.html
last changed 2003/02/12 22:37

_id 675c
authors Koutamanis, A., Bridges, A.H. and Van Loon, P.P.
year 1993
title A New Framework for Teaching Computer-Aided Design at the Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.t4h
source [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
summary The paper describes the new organization of computer-aided design courses at the Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology. The main characteristics of the new organization are emphasis on both technical skills and methodical knowledge, and a wide spectrum of subjects and applications distributed in the thematic structure of the first and second years. As a representative of the new courses the paper outlines Schematic Design, the first computer course in the second year.
series eCAADe
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_id ddss9208
id ddss9208
authors Lucardie, G.L.
year 1993
title A functional approach to realizing decision support systems in technical regulation management for design and construction
source Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture (Proceedings of a conference held in Mierlo, the Netherlands in July 1992), ISBN 0-7923-2444-7
summary Technical building standards defining the quality of buildings, building products, building materials and building processes aim to provide acceptable levels of safety, health, usefulness and energy consumption. However, the logical consistency between these goals and the set of regulations produced to achieve them is often hard to identify. Not only the large quantities of highly complex and frequently changing building regulations to be met, but also the variety of user demands and the steadily increasing technical information on (new) materials, products and buildings have produced a very complex set of knowledge and data that should be taken into account when handling technical building regulations. Integrating knowledge technology and database technology is an important step towards managing the complexity of technical regulations. Generally, two strategies can be followed to integrate knowledge and database technology. The main emphasis of the first strategy is on transferring data structures and processing techniques from one field of research to another. The second approach is concerned exclusively with the semantic structure of what is contained in the data-based or knowledge-based system. The aim of this paper is to show that the second or knowledge-level approach, in particular the theory of functional classifications, is more fundamental and more fruitful. It permits a goal-directed rationalized strategy towards analysis, use and application of regulations. Therefore, it enables the reconstruction of (deep) models of regulations, objects and of users accounting for the flexibility and dynamics that are responsible for the complexity of technical regulations. Finally, at the systems level, the theory supports an effective development of a new class of rational Decision Support Systems (DSS), which should reduce the complexity of technical regulations and restore the logical consistency between the goals of technical regulations and the technical regulations themselves.
series DDSS
last changed 2003/08/07 16:36

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