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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Hits 1 to 20 of 257

_id 0051
authors Wastell, D.G. and White, P.
year 1993
title Using Process Technology to Support Cooperative work: Prospects and Design Issues
source CSCW in Practice: An Introduction and Case Studies. pp. 105-126. Edited by Dan Diaper and Colston Sanger, London: Springer-Veriag
summary CSCW is a diverse and eclectic field. The theme which unifies CSCW is the question of group coordination, how it is achieved as a social phenomenon and how it may be actively assisted by computer-based support. The nature of these social processes are variously discussed in many of this book's other chapters. The issue of what is "true" CSCW and what is not is a contentious academic issue. Support for non-routine "professional" work such as collaborative writing would be widely accepted as a paradigm of CSCW (see, in particular, Sharples, Chapter 4; Gilbert, chapter 5; and Diaper, Chapter 6). Electronic mail, however, does not count for some as CSCW, because it is "not really tuned (or tunable) to the needs of the work group" (Greif, 1988). Technologies which support routine work would appear to fall into a particularly controversial category. Traditional office automation systems come under this heading.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id 412e
authors Gross, M.D., Do, E. and McCall, R.J.
year 1997
title Collaboration and Coordination in Architectural Design: approaches to computer mediated team work
source TeamCAD 97, 17-23
summary In 1993 and 1994, instructors and students of architecture at several universities around the world* collaborated briefly on two "virtual design studio" projects. Using off-the-shelf technology of the time-email, CU-See-Me internet video, international conference calls, and exchange of CAD drawings, images, and Quicktime animations-this ambitious project explored the possibility of bringing together diverse members of an international design team together to collaborate on a short term (two week) project. Central to the "Virtual Design Studio" was a 'digital pinup board', an area where participating designers could post and view drawings and textual comments; video links and email exchange provided the media for direct communication media about designs. A report on the project [21] makes clear that the process was not without technical difficulties: a significant amount of communication concerned scheduling and coordinating file formats; disappointingly little was devoted to discussions of design issues. Although it's clear that many of the minor technical problems that inevitably plague a forward-looking effort like the Virtual Design Studio will be solved in the near term, the project also reveals the need for research on software and design practices to make computer mediated design collaboration realize its attractive promise.
series journal paper
email
last changed 2003/04/23 15:50

_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 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 4ee4
authors Rutherford, James H.
year 1993
title Knodes: Knowledge-Based Design Decision Support
source CAAD Futures ‘93 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-444-89922-7] (Pittsburgh / USA), 1993, pp. 357-374
summary This paper describes the work in progress to develop a knowledge-based design support (KNODES) environment. The KNODES environment is intended to improve a designer's decision making potential, and to assist designers in a broad range of disciplines by making design knowledge and information more accessible. The framework exists as a multi-layered knowledge-based system reflecting both generic and domain specific aspects of the design activity and is designed to: enable the rapid dissemination of new design information, thus responding to shifts in design standards; take advantage of existing empirical design tools in unstructured areas of the design process; accommodate changes in user expectations and technological innovations at both the system and domain levels thus ensuring long term continuity and support,- offer multiple view points of the same design data by means of interchangeable interpreters. A prototype building design framework configured using the KNODES development tools is used to illustrate some of the salient features of the framework. Finally the paper will conclude with some insights into how such a design framework may be used as a knowledge acquisition tool in order to derive and formalise models of the design process.
keywords Computer-Aided Design, Design Frameworks, Multi-Level Knowledge-based Systems, Blackboard Architecture
series CAAD Futures
last changed 1999/04/07 12:03

_id a5c8
authors Smulevich, Gerard
year 1993
title CAD in the Design Studio: The Discovery of Inhabitation
source Education and Practice: The Critical Interface [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-02-0] Texas (Texas / USA) 1993, pp. 39-53
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1993.039
summary The impact of CAD on the design process itself has to date been negligible. The vast majority of architects using information technology in the design of buildings have been either job-trained, viewing CAD as an optimization tool, or educated in academic programs where CAD is treated as a specialized subject, isolated from the core design studios and allowing for the perpetuation of manufacturing/ systems based ideologies which have changed very little over the last century. The tragedy is that this is happening while the design studios themselves explore vastly more complex and contemporary issues highlighted by the works of architecture's avantgard. The result is a constant, perverse repetition of arcane, industrial-age processes spilling over into information-age environments, constituting a misuse of the electronic medium; one that could offer the possibility of restating conceptual spatial exploration by its own definition and enabling students and by extension the profession to envision and test the design of the built environment from its most essential aspect, that of inhabitation. There is a synthetic chunk of universe at our fingertips where we can explore space not as an abstraction but as a phenomenological experience, allowing us to exercise our freedom to move and possibly regain our condition of Modernity.

series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:56

_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
source Education and Practice: The Critical Interface [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-02-0] Texas (Texas / USA) 1993, pp. 155-162
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1993.155
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 caadria2007_675
id caadria2007_675
authors Huang, Joseph Chuen-Huei
year 2007
title Decision Support System for Modular Houses
source CAADRIA 2007 [Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia] Nanjing (China) 19-21 April 2007
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2007.x.x9q
summary Presently, only a small percentage of people in the world typically hire an architect to design and build a home which is tailored to their preference. Besides the architect’s fee, clients also need to wait an interminable time for design and construction. Factory-made prefabricated housing systems tried to solve this problem previously. However, most pioneers failed to address the issues of variability and individual needs (Kieran & Timberlake, 2004). Plants closed because they produced more than the market demand, and prefabricated housing provided less flexibility than the traditional stick-built housing. The advanced digital technology makes it possible to communicate design ideas and concepts to others more effectively. The project delivery process leads itself to customization, embodying principles of lean production (Pine, 1993), flexible computer-integrated design interaction with clients, and reduced cycle times; all effecting rapid response between consumers and producers.
series CAADRIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_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 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
email
last changed 2012/02/11 19:21

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

_id cc90
authors Kolarevic, Branko
year 1998
title CAD@HKU
source ACADIA Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 16-17
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.016
summary Since 1993, we have experimented with Virtual Design Studios (VDS) as an on-going research project that investigates the combination of current computer-aided design (CAD), computer networks (Internet), and computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) techniques to bring together studentsat geographically distributed locations to work in a virtual atelier. In 1993 the theme of the first joint VDS project was in-fill housing for the traditional Chinese walled village of Kat Hing Wai in the New Territories north of Hong Kong, and our partners included MIT and Harvard in Boston (USA), UBC in Vancouver (Canada), and Washington University in St. Louis (USA). In 1994 we were joined by Cornell (USA) and Escola Tecnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona (Spain) to re-design Li Long housing in Shanghai, and 1995 added the Warsaw Institute of Technology (Poland) for the ACSA/Dupont competition to design a Center for Cultural and Religious Studies in Japan. The 1996 topic was an international competition to design a monument located in Hong Kong to commemorate the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Communication was via e-mail, the WorldWide Web with limited attempts at VRML, and network video. Several teaching and research experiments conducted through these projects have demonstrated the viability and potential of using electronic, telecommunications, and videoconferencing technologies in collaborative design processes. Results of these VDS have been presented at conferences worldwide, explained in journal papers and published in Virtual Design Studio, edited by J. Wojtowicz, published by HKU Press.
series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:51

_id ddssup9613
id ddssup9613
authors Kulkarni, R.G., Stought, R.R. and Haynes, K.E.
year 1996
title Traffic Flow Landscapes
source Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Third Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning - Part two: Urban Planning Proceedings (Spa, Belgium), August 18-21, 1996
summary Major metropolitan areas and constituent independent jurisdictions face the problem of providing efficient transportation for their residents and in-and out commuters. A typical trip taker spends considerable time on the road to reach the workplace and other destinations. Though it may seem counter-intuitive, adding more links to existing road networks and/or increasing traffic capacity by adding lanes does not necessarily decrease travel times (eg. Braess' paradox). But it is certain that a dense redundant network of roads would provide a trip taker with alternate routes when traffic incidents occur. These types of questions raise the question of, how to evaluate the flow characteristics of the entire road network of a jurisdiction and its larger region in keeping the traffic moving? Further, how may the impact of adding more links/ lanes or the blocking of existing links! lanes be best measured? To answer these and related questions, we propose a methodology to evaluate a fitness criteria for road networks based on Kauffman's biological NK model (1993). We specify a transportation road traffic flow landscape analogous to the fitness landscape of the NK model. Using the transportation road traffic flow landscape we derive a road fitness index that can be used to evaluate either the entire road network's traffic flows or subparts of such network's traffic flows. We explore the possibility of investigating traffic flow landscapes to search for optimal routes to clear traffic. Finally we describe an approach for applying the theoretical framework developed in the paper to the traffic conditions on the road network of the city of Fairfax, Virginia.
keywords Fitness Landscapes, NK Model, Genotype, Gene, Self-Organization, ITS Technology
series DDSS
last changed 2003/08/07 16:36

_id 66e3
authors McCullough, Malcolm
year 1993
title Interactive Urban Models
source Education and Practice: The Critical Interface [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-02-0] Texas (Texas / USA) 1993, pp. 57-68
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1993.057
summary Visual computing to support urban design will involve a synthesis of geometric modeling, geographic information systems (GIS), and interactive multimedia. Increasingly, CAD is a suitable point of departure for such work. Using such media, this study explores newly practical steps toward a body of media arts expressly for the design, analysis, and communication of urban form.
series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:58

_id c4da
authors Rüdiger, Bjarne
year 1993
title The Masonry House as a Digital Model
source [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.a8k
summary "The Masonry House" is an experimental building designed in connection with the building exhibition "Byggeri for Milliarder" ("Building for Billions") in Copenhagen. The house is intended as a collection of examples and did only exist during the week the exhibition was. "The Masonry House" contains examples of both old technology and attempts to show entirely new constructions and new ways of using masonry. The house is constructed as a combination of prefabricated elements, wall ribs, decks and walls, and of parts built on location, cupolas, stairs, etc. The building process with element assembling and construction had to be done in six days and demanded a precise Organization and coordination with use from shift work. The very house had been in process for quite a long time, but in connection with the carrying out and preparation of information materials the Datacentre at the School of Architecture was involved in the project. After having produced a spatial model of the house completed, the wish for describing the construction process arose; to produce a "spatial time schedule" for the use of workmen and to describe the process in an animation film for the spectators at the exhibition.

series eCAADe
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_id 2ff9
id 2ff9
authors Ataman, Osman
year 1993
title Knowledge-based Stair Design
source Education and Practice: The Critical Interface [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-02-0] Texas (Texas / USA) 1993, pp. 163-171
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1993.163
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 c207
authors Branzell, Arne
year 1993
title The Studio CTH-A and the Searching Picture
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. 129-140
summary What happens during an architect’s search for the best solution? How does he (or she) begin, which tools are chosen, what happens when he comes to a standstill? The activities – sketching, discussions with other people, making models, taking walks to think, visits to the library, etc? What is an ordinary procedure and what is more specific? Do the tools have an impact on the final solution chosen? What happens during periods of no activity? Are they important? In which fields of activities are signs of the searching process to be found? In other words — what is the process of creative thinking for architects? Mikael Hedin and myself at Design Methods, Chalmers University of Technology, have started research into architects’ problem-solving. We have finished a pilot study on a very experienced architect working traditionally, without Cad (”The Bo Cederlöf Case”). We have started preliminary discussions with our second ”Case”, an architect in another situation, who has been working for many years with Cad equipment (Gert Wingårdh). For our next case, we will study a third situation – two or more architects who share the responsibility for the solution and where the searching is a consequence of a dialogue between equal partners. At present, we are preparing a report on theories in and methods for Searching and Creativity. I will give you some results of our work up till now, in the form of ten hypotheses on the searching process. Finally, I would like to present those fields of activity where we have so far found signs of searching. Our approach, in comparison with earlier investigations into searching (the most respected being Arnheim’s study on Picasso’s completion of the Guernica) is to collect and observe signs of searching during the process, not afterwards. We are, to use a metaphor, following in the footsteps of the hunter, recording the path he chooses, what marks he makes, what tools, implements and equipment he uses. For practising architects: a better understanding of what is going on and encouragement to try new ways of searching, for architectural students: better preparation and training for problem solving. It all began while we compared the different objects in our collection of sketches at the Chalmers STUDIO for Visualisation and Communication. (For some years, we have been gathering sketches by Alvar Aalto, Jorn Utzon, Ralph Erskine, Erik and Tore Ahlsén, Lewerenz, Nyrén, Lindroos, Wingårdh and others in a permanent exhibition). We observed similarities in these sketches which allowed us to frame ten hypotheses about the searching process.

keywords Architectural Endoscopy
series EAEA
email
more http://info.tuwien.ac.at/eaea/
last changed 2005/09/09 10:43

_id ca14
authors Gavin, Lesley
year 1993
title Generative Modelling and Electronic Lego
source [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.q8a
summary This paper shows work exemplifying the further extent of computer capabilities in the field of design. The work stems from a belief that for computers to be used effectively within the architectural profession their utility must stretch far beyond the process of description of geometric data, but be incorporated in the fundamental roots of design: that of conceptual design. Computers can be used to access the knowledge we have and then formulate this knowledge into a working language of design. Computers can be used to generate space and form in accordance with any relationship the designer may choose to set. This allows them to be used from the very conception of design. It is only by working from the very beginning, the very basis of the design of a building that we can fully develop the integration of computers in the construction industry. The work undertaken sets out primarily to explore one of the ways computers could be used in the field of architectural design. In recognition that an important byproduct of any design search is the enhanced understanding of the problem itself, the work was directed towards a particular project. This allowed each stage of thought to be to be considered as it arose and subsequently incorporated into the design model. The work does not attempt to automise the design process but simply tries to explore some of the opportunities offered by computers and see if they can be easily incorporated into the design process offering design solutions that may not otherwise have been considered. The exploration resulted in a simple design process model that incorporates the more accessible and useful aspects of computer technology.
keywords Generative Modelling, Rule Based Form, Random Factors, Shape Grammars
series eCAADe
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_id cd30
authors Koutamanis, Alexander
year 1993
title On the Correlation of Design and Computational Techniques in Architectural Education
source [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Eindhoven (The Netherlands) 11-13 November 1993
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1993.x.g6i
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

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