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 347

_id a8c0
authors VoB, A.
year 1994
title Case-based Reasoning in Building Design: Problems of Case Elicitation and Retrieval
source The Int. Journal of Construction IT 2(4), pp. 49-62
summary This article deals with a set of problems that arose in the course of the FABEL project in order to build a system assisting in the design of complex buildings: Task analysis indicated a case-based approach with the subtasks of retrieval, assessment and adaptation of layouts. The idea of first choosing a retrieval method which would then guide the further knowledge elicitation process did not work, because there was no single suitable method. We investigated retrieval methods based on keywords, on vectors, bitmaps, gestalten and on topological structures. As it turned out, each method imposes a particular interpretation on a layout and serves different retrieval purposes. Using multiple methods required an open software architecture providing case management facilities for the various methods. Last not least, the extraction of relevant cases from integrated building models is not trivial at all. Both automatic routines of standard cases and manual extraction of special cases should be available.
series journal paper
last changed 2003/05/15 21:45

_id 6b44
id 6b44
authors Zimring, Craig and Ataman, Osman
year 1994
title Incorporating Guidelines Into a Case-Based Architectural Design Tool
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1994.087
source Reconnecting [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-03-9] Washington University (Saint Louis / USA) 1994, pp. 87-101
summary This paper discusses an ongoing project called Archie, a collaboration between cognitive scientists and researchers in artificial intelligence and architecture, aimed at creating computer-based aids for conceptual design. Archie is a "case-based design aid" (CBDA): a tool that provides designers flexible access to evaluated examples of past experience that they can use in their own designs. Archie is a "clever" hypermedia database aimed at aiding conceptual design in architecture. It contains about 200 problems, responses, stories, and building descriptions derived from evaluations of six libraries and two courthouses. In this paper we provide a brief history and description of Archie and discuss some issues that have come into focus through developing and initially evaluating the system: how specific architectural case information can be organized; how users can be provided more general information about issues and building types; and how information can be indexed. In each of these we briefly discuss the current state of the system and propose some potential future directions.
series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:57

_id e751
id e751
authors Clayton, M.J., Kunz, J.C., Fischer, M.A. and Teicholz, P.
year 1994
title First Drawings, Then Semantics
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1994.013
source Reconnecting [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-03-9] Washington University (Saint Louis / USA) 1994, pp. 13-26
summary The Semantic Modeling Extension (SME) prototype implements a unique approach to integrated architectural CAD that places the drawing act first in the design process. After drawing a design idea using a computer graphic system, the designer interprets the design, providing semantic content to the graphic entities. An interpretation expresses the meaning of the design with respect to a particular issue, such as structural sufficiency, energy consumption, or requirements for egress, and provides reasoning to evaluate the design addressing that issue. A design may have many interpretations to express the multiple issues that are relevant in a design project. The designer may add or delete interpretations of the design as issues change during the course of the project. Underlying the SME prototype are the concepts of form, function and behavior. In the prototype, evaluation of a design is done by deriving behavior from the graphically represented forms and relating the behavior to stated functions or requirements. The concepts of interpretations and form, function and behavior together establish a virtual product model for design. In contrast to component based approaches to product modeling that tightly bind form representations to their behavior and function, a virtual product model allows the designer to manipulate the relations among these three descriptors of a design, and thus manipulate the semantics of the design entities. By distinguishing between the act of proposing a design by drawing the conceived form and the act of assigning meaning to the form, the virtual product model approach supports both graphic thinking for design synthesis and symbolic reasoning for design evaluation. This paper presents a scenario of the use of the SME prototype in building design; provides an analysis of the design process and computational support described in the scenario; contrasts a virtual product model approach with a component-oriented product model approach; describes the software implementation of SME; and presents implications and conclusions regarding design process and technical integration.
series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:56

_id 3e74
authors Dasgupta, S.
year 1994
title Creativity in Invention and Design
source Cambridge University Press
summary In this book, creativity in technology is discussed using a computational approach. Examining an important historical episode in computer technology as a case study, namely, the invention of microprogramming by Maurice Wilkes in 1951, the author presents a plausible explanation of the process by which Wilkes may have arrived at his invention. Based on this case study, the author has also proposed some very general hypotheses concerning creativity that appear to corroborate the findings of some psychologists and historians and then suggests that creative thinking is not significantly different in nature from everyday thinking and reasoning.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id af8b
authors Dave, B., Schmitt, G., Faltings, B. and Smith, I.
year 1994
title Case-based design in Architecture
source J.S. Gero and F. Sudweeks (eds.), the proceedings of Artificial Intelligence in Design '94, pp.145-162
summary Computational support in the domain of building design is hampered by the need to control generation and search processes both of which are elusive due to the lack of strong domain theories. Case based reasoning paradigm may be useful to overcome some of these difficulties. A case based design system is presented here that enables case adaptation and case combination of design cases to generate new design solutions more efficiently. Some issues in our approach that are different from other projects with similar aims are also discussed.
series other
email
last changed 2003/04/23 15:50

_id ddss9471
id ddss9471
authors Oxman, Robert
year 1994
title The Reflective Eye: Visual Reasoning in the Sketch
source Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary Despite recent advances in our understanding of design thinking, we still lack a comprehensive theoretical approach to cognitive processes in design and particularly to visual reasoning. Of scientific interest in its own right, understanding non-verbal reasoning is also relevant to a wide range of subjects in the area of visual data resources for designers. This paper presents research into visual reasoning through the study of cognitive acts and processes associated with design drawing. Employing case studies in the design sketch, a vocabulary is defined for describing phenomena of visual reasoning in design as they are revealed in the sketch. Classes of reasoning processes are proposed as strings of graphic acts of state transformation. A theoretical schema is developed which relates the individual act of visual reasoning manifested in the sketch, of sketch sequences, with larger global cognitive phenomena such as analogical or associative reasoning in design. Based upon this schema, a symbol system for these acts and processes is proposed as a coding technique in the observation, analysis and recording of non-verbal processes in design.
series DDSS
email
last changed 2003/08/07 16:36

_id ddss9507
id ddss9507
authors Zimring, C., Do, E., Domeshek, E. and Kolodner, J.
year 1994
title Using Post-Occupancy Evaluation To AID Reflection in ConceptualDesign: Creating a Case-Based Design Aid For Architecture
source Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary The design of large complex "real-world" objects such as buildings requires that the intentions of many potentially competing stakeholders be understood and reconciled. The process of conceptual design itself can be understood as a set of discourses among design team participants and between the designer and the design that gradually reveal these intentions and their relationships to design moves. Our goal is to aid this discourse by creating a Case-based Design Aid (CBDA) that provides design team participants access to specific evaluated cases of experience with previous buildings. This represents a merger of two sets of theories and methodologies: case-based reasoning (CBR) in artificial intelligence; and, post-occupancy evaluation (POE) in architectural research. In developing our CBDA, we have focused on several problems in architectural design: understanding the interactions between intentions, and making links between various modes of understanding and communication, and particularly between verbal description and visual representation. This has led to a particular way of parsing experience, and to several modes of entering and browsing the system. For instance, each case is accessible as a specific building, such as the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice, that can be explored much as an architect might browse a magazine article about the building, looking at a brief text description of the building, photos, and plans. However, each plan is annotated with "problematic situations" that are actually hypertext links into the discursive part of the program. By clicking on the button, the users reaches a "story" screen that lists the intentions of various stakeholders relevant to the problematic situation, a fuller text description of the general problematic situation with a diagram, text and diagram for a specific problematic situation as it operates in a specific building, several general design responses showing how one might respond to the problematic situations, and specific design responses from specific buildings. In addition, the user can browse the system by listing his or her interests and moving directly to stories about a given space type such as "courtroom" or issue such as "way finding." In addition, the designer can access brief synopses of key issues in a building type, for a space type, or for an issue. We are currently implementing the system on the Macintosh using Common Lisp and are focusing on libraries and courthouses as initial building types. Initial feedback from designers has been encouraging. We believe that this approach provides a useful alternative to design guidelines, that often tend to be too prescriptive, and the entirely inductive approach of many designers that may miss critical intentions.
series DDSS
email
last changed 2003/08/07 16:36

_id dc0f
authors Stefik, M.
year 1994
title Knowledge Systems
source Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco. p. 295
summary Digital systems cannot act reliably and intelligently in ignorance. They need to know how to act intelligently. Computer systems that use knowledge are called knowledge-based systems, or simply, knowledge systems. Knowledge systems first came to the public's attention in the 1980s as a successful application of artificial intelligence. Since then their use has spread widely throughout industry, finance and science. But what are the principles behind knowledge systems? What are they useful for? How are they built? What are their limitations? How can they connect with human activities for creating and using knowledge? Addressing these questions is the purpose of this book. The art of building knowledge systems is inherently multidisciplinary, incorporating computer science theory, programming practice and psychology. The content of this book incorporates these varied fields covering topics ranging from the design of search algorithms and representations to techniques for acquiring the task specific knowledge required for developing successful systems. It discusses common representations for time, space, uncertainty, and vagueness. It also explains the knowledge-level organizations for the three most widespread knowledge-intensive tasks: classification, configuration, and diagnosis. In a university setting, this book is intended for use at the advanced undergraduate levels and beginning graduate levels. For students outside of computer science, this book provides an introduction that prepares them for using and creating knowledge systems in their own areas of specialization. For computer science students, this book provides a deeper treatment of knowledge systems than is possible in a general introduction to artificial intelligence.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id ddss9408
id ddss9408
authors Bax, Thijs and Trum, Henk
year 1994
title A Taxonomy of Architecture: Core of a Theory of Design
source Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary The authors developed a taxonomy of concepts in architectural design. It was accepted by the Advisory Committee for education in the field of architecture, a committee advising the European Commission and Member States, as a reference for their task to harmonize architectural education in Europe. The taxonomy is based on Domain theory, a theory developed by the authors, based on General Systems Theory and the notion of structure according to French Structuralism, takes a participatory viewpoint for the integration of knowledge and interests by parties in the architectural design process. The paper discusses recent developments of the taxonomy, firstly as a result of a confrontation with similar endeavours to structure the field of architectural design, secondly as a result of applications of education and architectural design practice, and thirdly as a result of theapplication of some views derived from the philosophical work from Charles Benjamin Peirce. Developments concern the structural form of the taxonomy comprising basic concepts and levelbound scale concepts, and the specification of the content of the fields which these concepts represent. The confrontation with similar endeavours concerns mainly the work of an ARCUK workingparty, chaired by Tom Marcus, based on the European Directive from 1985. The application concerns experiences with a taxonomy-based enquiry in order to represent the profile of educational programmes of schools and faculties of architecture in Europe in qualitative and quantitative terms. This enquiry was carried out in order to achieve a basis for comparison and judgement, and a basis for future guidelines including quantitative aspects. Views of Peirce, more specifically his views on triarchy as a way of ordering and structuring processes of thinking,provide keys for a re-definition of concepts as building stones of the taxonomy in terms of the form-function-process-triad, which strengthens the coherence of the taxonomy, allowing for a more regular representation in the form of a hierarchical ordered matrix.
series DDSS
last changed 2003/08/07 16:36

_id ga0024
id ga0024
authors Ferrara, Paolo and Foglia, Gabriele
year 2000
title TEAnO or the computer assisted generation of manufactured aesthetic goods seen as a constrained flux of technological unconsciousness
source International Conference on Generative Art
summary TEAnO (Telematica, Elettronica, Analisi nell'Opificio) was born in Florence, in 1991, at the age of 8, being the direct consequence of years of attempts by a group of computer science professionals to use the digital computers technology to find a sustainable match among creation, generation (or re-creation) and recreation, the three basic keywords underlying the concept of “Littérature potentielle” deployed by Oulipo in France and Oplepo in Italy (see “La Littérature potentielle (Créations Re-créations Récréations) published in France by Gallimard in 1973). During the last decade, TEAnO has been involving in the generation of “artistic goods” in aesthetic domains such as literature, music, theatre and painting. In all those artefacts in the computer plays a twofold role: it is often a tool to generate the good (e.g. an editor to compose palindrome sonnets of to generate antonymic music) and, sometimes it is the medium that makes the fruition of the good possible (e.g. the generator of passages of definition literature). In that sense such artefacts can actually be considered as “manufactured” goods. A great part of such creation and re-creation work has been based upon a rather small number of generation constraints borrowed from Oulipo, deeply stressed by the use of the digital computer massive combinatory power: S+n, edge extraction, phonetic manipulation, re-writing of well known masterpieces, random generation of plots, etc. Regardless this apparently simple underlying generation mechanisms, the systematic use of computer based tools, as weel the analysis of the produced results, has been the way to highlight two findings which can significantly affect the practice of computer based generation of aesthetic goods: ? the deep structure of an aesthetic work persists even through the more “desctructive” manipulations, (such as the antonymic transformation of the melody and lyrics of a music work) and become evident as a sort of profound, earliest and distinctive constraint; ? the intensive flux of computer generated “raw” material seems to confirm and to bring to our attention the existence of what Walter Benjamin indicated as the different way in which the nature talk to a camera and to our eye, and Franco Vaccari called “technological unconsciousness”. Essential references R. Campagnoli, Y. Hersant, “Oulipo La letteratura potenziale (Creazioni Ri-creazioni Ricreazioni)”, 1985 R. Campagnoli “Oupiliana”, 1995 TEAnO, “Quaderno n. 2 Antologia di letteratura potenziale”, 1996 W. Benjiamin, “Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reprodizierbarkeit”, 1936 F. Vaccari, “Fotografia e inconscio tecnologico”, 1994
series other
more http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed 2003/08/07 17:25

_id ddss9429
id ddss9429
authors Geerling, Heinrich
year 1994
title A Proposal for a Framework for Business Re-engineering in Design and Realization of Artificial Environments
source Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary According to the Top-Down design process', this paper gives a generic and qualitative description of a Concurrent Engineering Environment, that should support the problem solving procedure in town planning and architecture in a modern quality oriented society. A system that is based on the principal of democracy might guarantee the preservation of quality in the projection and realization of artificial environments. This environment can be seen as a part of the today often discussed "digital democracy", which practically is based on a infrastructure of computers, interfaces, software systems, a network, databases and a data presentation, that is able to comprise the expectations of professionals involved in the architecture and town planning process. The paper will discuss what the role of the designer and coordinator of this computer environment looks like,in order to design, plan, build and coordinate activities for the realization of this Concurrent Environment and how several software engineers work concurrently to develop tools that guarantee a modular integration. The backbone of this environment is the definition and use of standards for data exchange. Basically those standards are derived from two domains: artifacts will be described in a product model data, while natural resources are described in spatial data. Town planning has to integrate both models. It will be discussed briefly how far the data modelling language EXPRESS of part 11 of the ISO 10303 (Express Language Reference Manual) might be useful to model GIS related problems. An example will describe how a scenario of activities, from registration of real world data to recognition of requirements of society, the definition of development plans through design(competition), lawfulness checking and construction until demolition should look like.
series DDSS
email
last changed 2003/08/07 16:36

_id ddss9447
id ddss9447
authors Jabi, Wassim
year 1994
title An Outline of the Requirements for a Computer Supported Collaborative Design System
source Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) systems have adequately satisfied several needs so far. They have dramatically improved the accuracy and consistency of working drawings, enabled designers to visualize their design ideas in three-dimensions, allowed the analysis of designs through data exchange and integrated databases, and even allowed the designers to evaluate (and in some cases generate) designs based on comparisons to previous cases and/or the formalization of specific rules and grammars. Yet, there is a general consensus that CAAD systems have not yet achieved their full potential. First, most systems employ a single-user approach to solving architectural problems which fails to grapple with the fact that most design work is done through teamwork. Second, current systems still cannot support early design stages which involve client briefing, data collection, building program formulation, and schematic design generation. Thus, if CAAD is to ultimately benefit the design process, it must (1) emulate and support the design team approach to architectural problem solving and (2) be deployed in the earliest possible stages of the design process. This paper seeks to study remedies to both of the afore-mentioned limitations through focusing on the interaction between a set of requirements (the building program) and the architectural solution that satisfies them (the schematic design). The core of this interaction forms the fundamental dialectic and collaborative nature of what is called designing: a concerned social activity that proceeds by creating architectural elements to address a set of requirements and their re-thinking as a result of architectural conjecture. To investigate this relationship, it is proposed to build a computer-supported collaborative design environment using the tools of conceptual modelling (based on the NIAM notation), object-oriented algorithms, and distributed agents. Based on a literature survey and earlier findings on the role of artifacts in collaborative design, this paper outlines the requirements for the above system and reports on initial experiments. Thus, it constitutes the first stage of a research project that will lead to a full implementation of a distributed collaborative computer environment addressing the above issues.
series DDSS
type normal paper
email
last changed 2008/06/12 16:32

_id 22f0
authors Takeda, H. and Nishida, T.
year 1994
title Integration of aspects in design Processes
source Gero J.S. and Sudweeks F. (eds) - Artificial Intelligence in Design 94, Kluwer Academic Publishers
summary In this paper, we discuss dynamic integration of multiple aspects, i.e., integration accomplished according to progress of design. It is not prepared in advance, but created in design processes. Firstly, we introduce our model of design processes that is based on a logical framework. Secondly, we define aspects in the logical framework. An aspect is represented as a tuple of theory and vocabulary in the logical framework. In particular knowledge in analytical aspects is represented as virtual logical theory. Thirdly, we propose integration of aspects by abduction that is another approach than integration of models. Abduction defined with multiple aspects integrates aspects by superposition of hypothesis which is identification of instantiated entities in hypothesis. It also examines connectivity of hypotheses by explanatory coherence. Since superposition of hypotheses and theories used in abduction tell us how aspects are integrated in design, they can contribute to re-organize aspec...
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id de3b
authors Welch, W. and Witkin, A.
year 1994
title Free-Form Shape Design Using Triangulated Surfaces
source Computer Graphics, no. 28, pp. 247-256
summary We present an approach to modeling with truly mutable yet completely controllable free-form surfaces of arbitrary topology. Surfaces may be pinned down at points and along curves, cut up and smoothly welded back together, and faired and reshaped in the large. This style of control is formulated as a constrained shape optimization, with minimization of squared principal curvatures yielding graceful shapes that are free of the parameterization worries accompanying many patch-based approaches. Triangulated point sets are used to approximate these smooth variational surfaces, bridging the gap between patch-based and particle-based representations. Automatic refinement, mesh smoothing, and re-triangulation maintain a good computational mesh as the surface shape evolves, and give sample points and surface features much of the freedom to slide around in the surface that oriented particles enjoy. The resulting surface triangulations are constructed and maintained in real time.
series journal paper
last changed 2003/04/23 15:50

_id 26b4
authors Harfman, Anton and Frazer, Michael J. (Eds.)
year 1994
title Reconnecting [Conference Proceedings]
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1994
source ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-03-9 / Washington University (Saint Louis / USA) 1994, 232 p.
summary This book captures and binds disparate streams of information in a single volume and attempts to reconnect us to the experience of architecture through holding a book in our hands. Just as architecture uses the connections among the dissimilar as the sites for design intervention and invention, the content of this book attempts to connect the objective processes that are characteristic of computers with the subjective processes that are characteristic of creativity. The chosen format juxtaposes technical work in the first half with pedagogical explorations in the second half. By recognizing their differences and separating them from each other, the process of reconnecting can occur. Within both the technical and pedagogical sections, a continuous stream of information connects the papers across the bottom of the page. Against the technical papers, we have placed the keynote paper by Professor Paul Laseau. Against the pedagogical papers, we have placed a drawing done by Trent Tesch that is a visual interpretation of cyberspace based on the novel, Neuromancer, by William Gibson. While turning these pages, consider the accidents that take place through the juxtaposition of streams of thought sharing a single page.
series ACADIA
email
more http://www.acadia.org
last changed 2022/06/07 07:49

_id c95f
authors Petrovic, Ivan and Svetel, Igor
year 1994
title Conversation on Design Action: By Men or by Machines?
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1994.015
source The Virtual Studio [Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design / ISBN 0-9523687-0-6] Glasgow (Scotland) 7-10 September 1994, pp. 15-23
summary A design studio of the future shall be based on dislocated, distributed design services, and feature the ‘design by collaboration’ enabled by the computer transmitted information. However, in a collaborative design process, computer may take an additional role, i.e., as an “ultimately structured dynamic communication medium ... based on the notion of commitment and interpretation” (Winograd and Flores 1987). Various models of ‘intelligent’ design systems based on the ideas of ‘open, distributed, artificial intelligence systems’ have shown that the computer-based design agents which act on the object-to-be-designed model could be involved in a “conversation for action” (Winograd and Flores, Ibid.). The aim of the paper is to illustrate a computer-based design system that enables ‘a-kind-of’ conversations by the design agents before the design decisions were made. After the description of a design experiment and the conversation that went on between the design agents, the traits of the applied ‘design design system’ are discussed.

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

_id c6a8
authors Powell, J.A.
year 1994
title Informing multimedia: a sensitive interface to data for construction design professionals
source Design Studies 1994 pp. 285-316
summary 'Design Dialogues: one' was the first in an occasional series of discussion meetings on design theory sponsored by the Design Research Society. The objective of the meeting was to explore the reasons for the apparent lack of progress in design research over the last decade and in particular whether the search for an atemporal, acultural, domain independent theory of design is a reasonable or realistic goal. The meeting was held on the 17th of May at the Department of Computer Science, University College London and attracted more than 40 participants from a wide variety of disciplines including the arts, architecture, computer science, engineering and business studies.In an attempt to continue the debate in the wider design research community, we have produced the following summary of the presentations and discussion period together with some concluding remarks. While we have made every effort ensure that summaries of the speakers presentations and the discussion are accurate, readers should be aware that they are based on notes taken during the meeting itself and consequently reflect a particular interpretation of the proceedings. However, for those who wish to follow up the ideas presented by the speakers in more detail, we have included a short list of references to relevant work at the end of this meeting summary.
series journal paper
last changed 2003/04/23 15:50

_id aca9
authors Saund, E. and Moran, T.P.
year 1994
title A Perceptually- Supported Sketch Editor
source Proc. UIST 94, Marina del Rey, CA 175-184
summary The human visual system makes a great deal more of images than the elemental marks on a surface. In the course of viewing, creating, or editing a picture, we actively construct a host of visual structures and relationships as components of sensible interpretations. This paper shows how some of these computational processes can be incorporated into peneptuallysupported image editing tools, enabling machines to better engage users at the level of their own percepts. We focus on the domain of freehand sketch editors, such as an electronic whiteboard application for a pen-based computer. By using computer vision techniques to perform covert recognition of visual structure as it emerges during the course of a drawingkditing session, a perceptually supported image editor gives users access to visual objects as they are perceived by the human visual system. We present a flexible image interpretation architecture based on token grouping in a multiscale blackboard data structure. This organization supports multiple perceptual interpretations of line drawing data, domain-specific knowledge bases for interpretable visual structures, and gesture-based selection of visual objects. A system implementing these ideas, called Per-Sketch, begins to explore a new space of WYPIWYG (What Your Perceive Is What You Get) image editing tools.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:50

_id sigradi2008_049
id sigradi2008_049
authors Benamy, Turkienicz ; Beck Mateus, Mayer Rosirene
year 2008
title Computing And Manipulation In Design - A Pedagogical Experience Using Symmetry
source SIGraDi 2008 - [Proceedings of the 12th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] La Habana - Cuba 1-5 December 2008
summary The concept of symmetry has been usually restricted to bilateral symmetry, though in an extended sense it refers to any isometric transformation that maintains a certain shape invariant. Groups of operations such as translation, rotation, reflection and combinations of these originate patterns classified by modern mathematics as point groups, friezes and wallpapers (March and Steadman, 1974). This extended notion represents a tool for the recognition and reproduction of patterns, a primal aspect of the perception, comprehension and description of everything that we see. Another aspect of this process is the perception of shapes, primary and emergent. Primary shapes are the ones explicitly represented and emergent shapes are the ones implicit in the others (Gero and Yan, 1994). Some groups of shapes known as Semantic Shapes are especially meaningful in architecture, expressing visual features so as symmetry, rhythm, movement and balance. The extended understanding of the concept of symmetry might improve the development of cognitive abilities concerning the creation, recognition and meaning of forms and shapes, aspects of visual reasoning involved in the design process. This paper discusses the development of a pedagogical experience concerned with the application of the concept of symmetry in the creative generation of forms using computational tools and manipulation. The experience has been carried out since 1995 with 3rd year architectural design students. For the exploration of compositions based on symmetry operations with computational support we followed a method developed by Celani (2003) comprising the automatic generation and update of symmetry patterns using AutoCAD. The exercises with computational support were combined with other different exercises in each semester. The first approach combined the creation of two-dimensional patterns to their application and to their modeling into three-dimensions. The second approach combined the work with computational support with work with physical models and mirrors and the analysis of the created patterns. And the third approach combined the computational tasks with work with two-dimensional physical shapes and mirrors. The student’s work was analyzed under aspects such as Discretion/ Continuity –the creation of isolated groups of shapes or continuous overlapped patterns; Generation of Meta-Shapes –the emergence of new shapes from the geometrical relation between the generative shape and the structure of the symmetrical arrangement; Modes of Representation –the visual aspects of the generative shape such as color and shading; Visual Reasoning –the derivation of 3D compositions from 2D patterns by their progressive analysis and recognition; Conscious Interaction –the simultaneous creation and analysis of symmetry compositions, whether with computational support or with physical shapes and mirrors. The combined work with computational support and with physical models and mirrors enhanced the students understanding on the extended concept of symmetry. The conscious creation and analysis of the patterns also stimulated the student’s understanding over the different semantic possibilities involved in the exploration of forms and shapes in two or three dimensions. The method allowed the development of both syntactic and semantic aspects of visual reasoning, enhancing the students’ visual repertoire. This constitutes an important strategy in the building of the cognitive abilities used in the architectural design process.
keywords Symmetry, Cognition, Computing, Visual reasoning, Design teaching
series SIGRADI
email
last changed 2016/03/10 09:47

_id cf2011_p127
id cf2011_p127
authors Benros, Deborah; Granadeiro Vasco, Duarte Jose, Knight Terry
year 2011
title Integrated Design and Building System for the Provision of Customized Housing: the Case of Post-Earthquake Haiti
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. 247-264.
summary The paper proposes integrated design and building systems for the provision of sustainable customized housing. It advances previous work by applying a methodology to generate these systems from vernacular precedents. The methodology is based on the use of shape grammars to derive and encode a contemporary system from the precedents. The combined set of rules can be applied to generate housing solutions tailored to specific user and site contexts. The provision of housing to shelter the population affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake illustrates the application of the methodology. A computer implementation is currently under development in C# using the BIM platform provided by Revit. The world experiences a sharp increase in population and a strong urbanization process. These phenomena call for the development of effective means to solve the resulting housing deficit. The response of the informal sector to the problem, which relies mainly on handcrafted processes, has resulted in an increase of urban slums in many of the big cities, which lack sanitary and spatial conditions. The formal sector has produced monotonous environments based on the idea of mass production that one size fits all, which fails to meet individual and cultural needs. We propose an alternative approach in which mass customization is used to produce planed environments that possess qualities found in historical settlements. Mass customization, a new paradigm emerging due to the technological developments of the last decades, combines the economy of scale of mass production and the aesthetics and functional qualities of customization. Mass customization of housing is defined as the provision of houses that respond to the context in which they are built. The conceptual model for the mass customization of housing used departs from the idea of a housing type, which is the combined result of three systems (Habraken, 1988) -- spatial, building system, and stylistic -- and it includes a design system, a production system, and a computer system (Duarte, 2001). In previous work, this conceptual model was tested by developing a computer system for existing design and building systems (Benr__s and Duarte, 2009). The current work advances it by developing new and original design, building, and computer systems for a particular context. The urgent need to build fast in the aftermath of catastrophes quite often overrides any cultural concerns. As a result, the shelters provided in such circumstances are indistinct and impersonal. However, taking individual and cultural aspects into account might lead to a better identification of the population with their new environment, thereby minimizing the rupture caused in their lives. As the methodology to develop new housing systems is based on the idea of architectural precedents, choosing existing vernacular housing as a precedent permits the incorporation of cultural aspects and facilitates an identification of people with the new housing. In the Haiti case study, we chose as a precedent a housetype called “gingerbread houses”, which includes a wide range of houses from wealthy to very humble ones. Although the proposed design system was inspired by these houses, it was decided to adopt a contemporary take. The methodology to devise the new type was based on two ideas: precedents and transformations in design. In architecture, the use of precedents provides designers with typical solutions for particular problems and it constitutes a departing point for a new design. In our case, the precedent is an existing housetype. It has been shown (Duarte, 2001) that a particular housetype can be encoded by a shape grammar (Stiny, 1980) forming a design system. Studies in shape grammars have shown that the evolution of one style into another can be described as the transformation of one shape grammar into another (Knight, 1994). The used methodology departs takes off from these ideas and it comprises the following steps (Duarte, 2008): (1) Selection of precedents, (2) Derivation of an archetype; (3) Listing of rules; (4) Derivation of designs; (5) Cataloguing of solutions; (6) Derivation of tailored solution.
keywords Mass customization, Housing, Building system, Sustainable construction, Life cycle energy consumption, Shape grammar
series CAAD Futures
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last changed 2012/02/11 19:21

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