Cumincad : CUMINCAD Papers : Search Results

CumInCAD is a Cumulative Index about publications in Computer Aided Architectural Design
supported by the sibling associations ACADIA, CAADRIA, eCAADe, SIGraDi, ASCAAD and CAAD futures

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_id	f586
authors	Gabriel, G. and Maher, M.L.
year	2000
title	Analysis of design communication with and without computer mediation
source	Proceedings of Co-designing 2000, pp. 329-337
summary	With recent developments in CAD and communication technologies, the way we visualise and communicate design representations is changing. A matter of great interest to architects, practitioners and researchers alike, is how computer technology might affect the way they think and work. The concern is not about the notion of 'support' alone, but about ensuring that computers do not disrupt the design process and collaborative activity already going on (Bannon and Schmidt, 1991). Designing new collaborative tools will then have to be guided by a better understanding of how collaborative work is accomplished and by understanding what resources the collaborators use and what hindrances they encounter in their work (Finholt et al., 1990). Designing, as a more abstract notion, is different than having a business meeting using video conferencing. In design it is more important to 'see' what is being discussed rather than 'watch' the other person(s) involved in the discussion. In other words the data being conveyed might be of more importance than the method with which it is communicated (See Kvan, 1994). Similarly, we believe that by using text instead of audio as a medium for verbal communication, verbal representations can then be recorded alongside graphical representations for later retrieval and use. In this paper we present the results of a study on collaborative design in three different environments: face-to-face (FTF), computer-mediated using video conferencing (CMCD-a), and computer-mediated using "talk by typing" (CMCD-b). The underlying aim is to establish a clearer notion of the collaborative needs of architects using computer-mediation. In turn this has the potential in assisting developers when designing new collaborative tools and in assisting designers when selecting an environment for a collaborative session.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	ddss9476
id	ddss9476
authors	Porada, Mikhael and Porada, Sabine
year	1994
title	"To See Ideas" or The Visualizing of Programmatic Data Reading Examples in Architecture and Town Planning
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	Whether images are still in the mind, metaphors, sketches or icons, they play a crucial role. They have always been the heuristic pivot around which the process of artefact design organizes itself, particularly in architecture and town-planning. "To see ideas" through computer ideograms is to experiment an interesting and new direction for "pictural approach" supported design. Cognitive psychology emphasizes the important part played by mental images in reasoning, imagination in the working of human intelligence and the construction of mental images as cognitive factors underlying reasoning. It also points out how close computerized objects and mental schemata are. "To reason over a situation is first to remember or build some mental models of this situation; second to make those models work or simulate them in order to observe what would happen in different circumstances and then verify whether they fit the experiment data; third to select the best model, a tool meant to sustain and amplify the elaboration of mental models, which is a spontaneous activity". We introduce our exploration of the direct transmission of mental models through computer ideograms. We study the "operative" and the "expressive" aspects, and this allows us to analyze how some aspects in a field of knowledge are represented by ideograms, schemata, icons, etc. Aid to imagination, reasoning and communication by means of a graphic language must be limited to some figurative relevant aspects of the domain considered; it should not aim at a realistic simulation. Therefore, the important role played by icons and the spatial schematic representation of knowledge is emphasized. Our hypothesis is that an architectural concept does not result from an inductive process, but rather is built to solve problems through the direct representation of ideas with ideograms. An experiment was conducted with a graphic language, a dynamic scenography and actor-objects. The language allows one to build and visualize models from the various domains of knowledge of the object. The dynamic scenography can explore and simulate kinetically those models by means of staging various narrations and visual scenarios. The actor-objects play various and complementary parts in order to make the image explicit and link it with the concept. We distinguish between two parallel levels of reality in computer ideographics: one concerns the model, it represents the visualization of a graphic model at a particular moment and according to a particular representation, the other concerns the ideogram.
series	DDSS
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	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	ddss9436
id	ddss9436
authors	Gross, Mark D.
year	1994
title	Indexing the Electronic Sketchbook: Diagrams as Keys to Visual Databases
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	The question is how to index a visual database. Consider a visual database -- collection of drawings, three-dimensional models, scanned photographs, video, and text -- as a kind of modernmultimedia architectural sketchbook. It can be shared among a wide group of users with different purposes, and who may think about the contents in rather different ways. The connections -- perhaps hypertext -- among the entries may be complex and the organization difficult to comprehend. How then, to index the collection? Certainly traditional techniques -- looking for a concert hail -- built of concrete and glass -- in the 1970's in Utrecht and the architect's name is H* -- will help. But suppose we do not know so precisely what we are looking for? Might we appeal to the language of diagram? Can we add to our schemes for search and retrieval a diagrammatic index? We propose to try this idea. The paper describes our "computer as cocktail napkin" system for recognizing and interpreting diagrams. It consists of a pen-based freehand sketching program that recognizes simple symbols the user has trained (such as lines, shapes, letters, etc.) and spatial arrangements of these symbols. A graphical search procedure finds occurrences of a drawn configuration of symbols in the pages of a sketchbook made using the program. By extending thepages of the sketchbook to include photos, drawings, and text in addition to diagrams, we can use this technique to find items whose diagrams match a drawn search configuration. The paper will demonstrate this prototype program and explore its use for indexing visualdatabases in architecture.
series	DDSS
email
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	ddss9489
id	ddss9489
authors	Spreckelmeyer, Kent F.
year	1994
title	The Symbolic Dimensions of Workplace Evaluations
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) techniques have been used during the past twenty years in a variety of workplace settings to measure specific occupant responses to the physical dimensions of the office environment. Typically, these measures have been used by environmental researchers and designers to improve instrumental aspects of the workplace, such as increased levels of occupant satisfaction with lighting, temperature, privacy, and office configuration. A growing body of evidence has begun to suggest that while instrumental approaches to workplace evaluation have produced improvements in specific office conditions, overall levels of worker satisfaction and perceptions of the general character of the office setting remain low. It has also been suggested that future pressures for reconfiguring the workplace -- increased use of individual communication technologies, working away from the office setting, rapid and continual changes in working patterns - will exacerbate these negative perceptions of workers. This paper will suggest ways in which POEs can be employed to identify and measure the less tangible aspects of office setting and how this information can be used to enhance the designers ability to address the cultural and social dimensions of the workplace. The central thesis of this paper is that POE theories and research methodologies must be focused on the symbolic dimensions of the workplace (i.e., office image, organizational culture, work purpose) in order to understand the ways in which the environment contributes to specific improvements in worker productivity, health, and satisfaction. Data will be presented from the author's recent POE studies of governmental offices and published supporting material found in Environment and Behaviour and The Journal of Architectu-ral and Planning Research. The author has conducted evaluation and programming studies for a number of private and governmental client groups in both office and health-care settings during the past fifteen years, and he will use evidence from this body of work as well as parallel studies of colleagues to support the thesis of the paper.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	ddss9427
id	ddss9427
authors	Engelen, Guy and White, Roger
year	1994
title	A Strategic Planning and Policy Decision Support Tool for Urban Regions
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	In this paper we present a Decision Support System developed to assist urban designers, planners and policy makers to explore and evaluate possible urban layouts and their growth patterns. Thecore of the system consists of a modelling shell allowing the user to specify cellular automata based models of urban and regional systems. These models capture the effect of local spatial processes in which the use, or desired use of each parcel or cell of land is determined partly by institutional and environmental factors, and partly by the activities present in its neighbourhood. Since each cell affects every other cell within its neighbourhood, a complex dynamic emerges. Unlike conventional cellular automata, the models are defined with a large neighbourhood --over a hundred cells-- a relatively large number of states --more than a dozen in some applications-- representing socio-economic and natural land-uses. The approach permits the straightforward integration of detailed physical, environmental, and institutional constraints, as well as including the effects of the transportation and communication infrastructure. These models thus permit a very detailed representation of evolving spatial systems. The current version of the system represents urban areas as consisting of up to 10.000 interacting zones, each roughly the size of an individual city block. These models are easy to build and apply, yet empirical tests show that they produce realistic simulations of urban land use dynamics. Consequently, they are well suited to form the heart of the DSS, which provides the user with a number of tools for exploration,analysis and evaluation of alternative futures of the system as they result from policy interventions that are imposed by means of what-if experiments and scenario analysis. For example, the DSS isable to identify areas in which pressure for change in land use restrictions may become critical under particular development strategies. In the DSS, the modelling shell is coupled to a simple,custom-built GIS. In the stand-alone application of the DSS, this stores the detailed geographical qualities of the area being modelled, and allows basic overlay manipulations. It also displays theresults of the model while the simulation proceeds. Alternatively, the GIS can serve as aninterface to more elaborate, commercial GIS systems.
series	DDSS
email
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	e1a1
authors	Rodriguez, G.
year	1996
title	REAL SCALE MODEL VS. COMPUTER GENERATED MODEL
source	Full-Scale Modeling in the Age of Virtual Reality [6th EFA-Conference Proceedings]
summary	Advances in electronic design and communication are already reshaping the way architecture is done. The development of more sophisticated and user-friendly Computer Aided Design (CAD) software and of cheaper and more powerful hardware is making computers more and more accessible to architects, planners and designers. These professionals are not only using them as a drafting tool but also as a instrument for visualization. Designers are "building" digital models of their designs and producing photo-like renderings of spaces that do not exist in the dimensional world. The problem resides in how realistic these Computer Generated Models (CGM) are. Moss & Banks (1958) considered realism “the capacity to reproduce as exactly as possible the object of study without actually using it”. He considers that realism depends on: 1)The number of elements that are reproduced; 2) The quality of those elements; 3) The similarity of replication and 4) Replication of the situation. CGM respond well to these considerations, they can be very realistic. But, are they capable of reproducing the same impressions on people as a real space? Research has debated about the problems of the mode of representation and its influence on the judgement which is made. Wools (1970), Lau (1970) and Canter, Benyon & West (1973) have demonstrated that the perception of a space is influenced by the mode of presentation. CGM are two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional space. Canter (1973) considers the three-dimensionality of the stimuli as crucial for its perception. So, can a CGM afford as much as a three-dimensional model? The “Laboratorio de Experimentacion Espacial” (LEE) has been concerned with the problem of reality of the models used by architects. We have studied the degree in which models can be used as reliable and representative of real situations analyzing the Ecological Validity of several of them, specially the Real-Scale Model (Abadi & Cavallin, 1994). This kind of model has been found to be ecologically valid to represent real space. This research has two objectives: 1) to study the Ecological Validity of a Computer Generated Model; and 2) compare it with the Ecological Validity of a Real Scale Model in representing a real space.
keywords	Model Simulation, Real Environments
series	other
type	normal paper
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/efa/
last changed	2004/05/04 14:42

_id	4f13
authors	Ronchi, Alfredo M.
year	1994
title	A Brief History of CAAD in Italy
source	The Virtual Studio [Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design / ISBN 0-9523687-0-6] Glasgow (Scotland) 7-10 September 1994, p. 227
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1994.x.f3n
summary	Twenty years of revolution, from the middle '70 to the middle '90. Many things have changed since the origins of computer graphics and computer aided design in architecture. We started teaching drafting on terminals which connected to mini computers, complex procedures or sets of graphics libraries working with keywords, vectors and storage screens. The next step was devoted to the discovery of workstations in the early '80's, where the user sat face on to the whole power of a multitasking system. At that time to use up to 16 time sharing processes running on the same work station seemed to have no practical use at all. Fortunately someone (ie Xerox PARC laboratories) at the same time started to develop the so-called GUI. Graphical user interface started a revolution in human/machine interface (ie Smalltalk). The desktop metaphor, the use of multiple windows and dialogues joined with icons and pop up menus let the user manage more applications and, even more important, created a standard in application/user interface (CUA). In the meantime focus had moved from hardware to software, systems being chosen from the software running. The true revolution we have seen starting from that base and involving an ever increasing number of users was the birth of PC based applications for CAAD. Generally speaking nowadays there are three main technologies concerning teaching: communication, multimedia and virtual reality. The first is the real base for future revolution. In the recent past we have started to learn how to manage information by computers. Now we can start to communicate and share information all over the world in real time. The new age opened by fax, followed by personal communication systems and networks is the entry point for a real revolution. We can work in the virtual office, meet in virtual space and cooperate in workgroups. ATM and ISDN based teleconferencing will provide a real working tool for many. The ever increasing number of e-mail addresses and network connections is carrying us towards the so called 'global village'. The future merger between personal digital assistant and personal communication will be fascinating. Multi & HyperMedia technology is, like a part of VR, a powerful way to share and transfer information in a structured form. We do not need to put things in a serial form removing links because we can transfer knowledge as is. Another interesting and fundamental aspect typical of VR applications is the capability to change cognitive processes from secondary (symbolic - reconstructive) to primary (perceptive - motory). In this way we can learn by direct experience, by experiment as opposed to reading books. All these things will affect not only ways of working but also ways of studying and teaching. Digital communications, multimedia and VR will help students, multimedia titles will provide different kinds of information directly at home using text, images, video clips and sounds. Obviously all those things will not substitute human relationship as a multimedia title does not compete against a book but it helps.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	ddss9492
id	ddss9492
authors	Tae, Won Jin
year	1994
title	A Visualization Model for External Shading Devices Performance at the Early Design Stage
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	Windows are used for the visual connection between indoors and outdoors, ventilation and daylight of our interiors and for the reduction of our heating energy through solar energy utilization. This solar energy, however, is often so intense that counter measures should be taken in order to maintain comfortable indoor conditions. Air conditioning is one counteraction. In order to reduce the cooling loads, it is highly recommended to use shading devices. When shading devices are applied in combination with the glass they can modify the thermal effect of windows to a very great extent. The most effective shading devices are exterior types such as overhang, fins and exterior venetian blind. The effectiveness of an external shading device depends on its geometry, sun path, and the orientation of the building. These factors are interrelated dynamically, it is extremely difficult to predict intuitively how the shadow is cast by the external shading device on the window. Due to the inherent complexity of calculation for shadow casting, building designers to fail often integrate them into energy-efficient building design. Since computer graphics can be a powerful visual communication tool, the above problem might be solved through a computerized graphical interface in the early design stage. The research described in this paper involves the development of a computer program which aims the following objectives: (1) to facilitate the description of a external shading device's geometry through an integrated graphic input model, (ii) to simulate the relationship of external shading devices and shadows based on sun path, the orientation of building, (iii) to visualize the shadow casting by shading devices, and (iv) to provide designers with possible solutions to create energy-efficient external shading device for a specific building.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	20ab
authors	Yakeley, Megan
year	2000
title	Digitally Mediated Design: Using Computer Programming to Develop a Personal Design Process
source	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture
summary	This thesis is based on the proposal that the current system of architectural design education confuses product and process. Students are assessed through, and therefore concentrate on, the former whilst the latter is left in many cases to chance. This thesis describes a new course taught by the author at MIT for the last three years whose aim is to teach the design process away from the complexities inherent in the studio system. This course draws a parallel between the design process and the Constructionist view of learning, and asserts that the design process is a constant learning activity. Therefore, learning about the design process necessarily involves learning the cognitive skills of this theoretical approach to education. These include concrete thinking and the creation of external artifacts to develop of ideas through iterative, experimental, incremental exploration. The course mimics the Constructionist model of using the computer programming environment LOGO to teach mathematics. It uses computer programming in a CAD environment, and specifically the development of a generative system, to teach the design process. The efficacy of such an approach to architectural design education has been studied using methodologies from educational research. The research design used an emergent qualitative model, employing Maykut and Morehouses interpretive descriptive approach (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994) and Glaser and Strausss Constant Comparative Method of data analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Six students joined the course in the Spring 1999 semester. The experience of these students, what and how they learned, and whether this understanding was transferred to other areas of their educational process, were studied. The findings demonstrated that computer programming in a particular pedagogical framework, can help transform the way in which students understand the process of designing. The following changes were observed in the students during the course of the year: Development of understanding of a personalized design process; move from using computer programming to solve quantifiable problems to using it to support qualitative design decisions; change in understanding of the paradigm for computers in the design process; awareness of the importance of intrapersonal and interpersonal communication skills; change in expectations of, their sense of control over, and appropriation of, the computer in the design process; evidence of transference of cognitive skills; change from a Behaviourist to a Constructionist model of learning Thesis Supervisor: William J. Mitchell Title: Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences, School of Architecture and Planning
series	thesis:PhD
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	ddss9430
id	ddss9430
authors	Gelder, Johan de and Lucardie, Larry
year	1994
title	What Conceptual Modelling Is and Isn´t
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	It is generally agreed that conceptual modelling is an important activity in the development of knowledge based systems. The availability of an adequate conceptual model is of vital interest notonly for the design and implementation of knowledge based systems, but also for their validation, modification, maintenance and enhancement. In order to be able to develop adequate conceptualmodels a theory about the nature of knowledge is required and, in line with this theory, a methodology to reconstruct the meaning of concepts. Additionally, techniques have to be selected which enable the modelling, representation, validation and simulation of reconstructed concepts. In the development of knowledge based systems often techniques are used which are not very wellsuited to the reconstruction and representation of the concepts of an application area. The selection of a technique is not motivated by an explicitly formulated theory, but by the representation formalisms applied within the software used for the implementation of knowledge based systems. This often leads to inadequate conceptual models and consequently poorly functional and hardly maintainable systems, mainly because the representation of concepts is adapted to the limitations of the applied representation formalism. In this paper we explain how the conceptual modelling activity isusually tackled in thedevelopment of knowledge based systems and what the related problems are.
series	DDSS
email
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	ddss9432
id	ddss9432
authors	Goldschmidt, G.
year	1994
title	Visual Reference for Design: Analogy, Transformation and the Act of Sketching
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	All designers know that it is impossible to infer a design solution from the givens of a task alone, no matter how complete and well presented they are. Therefore, designers seek to complementinformation they receive, and the material they bring into the task environment includes visual images. Images may be gathered from every imaginable source, from domain-specific images (in architecture they are usually classified and pertain to building type, location, period, technology, style or creator) through 'metaphoric' images (art, nature) to eclectic personal favourites. Inaddition, randomly encountered images may find their way into a database of references: a depository of potentially useful images. With the exception of factual information that fills in thetask givens, it is usually far from clear what purpose may be served by images in general, or to what use the specific images aligned for a particular task may be put. We propose that the singlemost significant 'on line' role of visual references during the process of designing is to suggest potential analogies to the entity that is being designed. The process of discovering and exploitingan analogy in design is complex; we shall explain it in terms of Gentner's structure mapping theory, which we adapt to visual structures. We further propose that the abstraction process thatmust take place for the successful identification and mapping from source (visual reference) onto target (designed entity) requires transformations of images, and such transformations are bestachieved through sketching. Sketching facilitates the two way process of movement from the pictorial to the diagrammatic and from the schematic to the figural. Such transformations musttake place to arrive at the match that allows conceptual transfer, mapping of structural relations and insight through analogy.
series	DDSS
email
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	caadria2004_k-1
id	caadria2004_k-1
authors	Kalay, Yehuda E.
year	2004
title	CONTEXTUALIZATION AND EMBODIMENT IN CYBERSPACE
source	CAADRIA 2004 [Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 89-7141-648-3] Seoul Korea 28-30 April 2004, pp. 5-14
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2004.005
summary	The introduction of VRML (Virtual Reality Markup Language) in 1994, and other similar web-enabled dynamic modeling software (such as SGI’s Open Inventor and WebSpace), have created a rush to develop on-line 3D virtual environments, with purposes ranging from art, to entertainment, to shopping, to culture and education. Some developers took their cues from the science fiction literature of Gibson (1984), Stephenson (1992), and others. Many were web-extensions to single-player video games. But most were created as a direct extension to our new-found ability to digitally model 3D spaces and to endow them with interactive control and pseudo-inhabitation. Surprisingly, this technologically-driven stampede paid little attention to the core principles of place-making and presence, derived from architecture and cognitive science, respectively: two principles that could and should inform the essence of the virtual place experience and help steer its development. Why are the principles of place-making and presence important for the development of virtual environments? Why not simply be content with our ability to create realistically-looking 3D worlds that we can visit remotely? What could we possibly learn about making these worlds better, had we understood the essence of place and presence? To answer these questions we cannot look at place-making (both physical and virtual) from a 3D space-making point of view alone, because places are not an end unto themselves. Rather, places must be considered a locus of contextualization and embodiment that ground human activities and give them meaning. In doing so, places acquire a meaning of their own, which facilitates, improves, and enriches many aspects of our lives. They provide us with a means to interpret the activities of others and to direct our own actions. Such meaning is comprised of the social and cultural conceptions and behaviors imprinted on the environment by the presence and activities of its inhabitants, who in turn, ‘read’ by them through their own corporeal embodiment of the same environment. This transactional relationship between the physical aspects of an environment, its social/cultural context, and our own embodiment of it, combine to create what is known as a sense of place: the psychological, physical, social, and cultural framework that helps us interpret the world around us, and directs our own behavior in it. In turn, it is our own (as well as others’) presence in that environment that gives it meaning, and shapes its social/cultural character. By understanding the essence of place-ness in general, and in cyberspace in particular, we can create virtual places that can better support Internet-based activities, and make them equal to, in some cases even better than their physical counterparts. One of the activities that stands to benefit most from understanding the concept of cyber-places is learning—an interpersonal activity that requires the co-presence of others (a teacher and/or fellow learners), who can point out the difference between what matters and what does not, and produce an emotional involvement that helps students learn. Thus, while many administrators and educators rush to develop webbased remote learning sites, to leverage the economic advantages of one-tomany learning modalities, these sites deprive learners of the contextualization and embodiment inherent in brick-and-mortar learning institutions, and which are needed to support the activity of learning. Can these qualities be achieved in virtual learning environments? If so, how? These are some of the questions this talk will try to answer by presenting a virtual place-making methodology and its experimental implementation, intended to create a sense of place through contextualization and embodiment in virtual learning environments.
series	CAADRIA
type	normal paper
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	ddss9449
id	ddss9449
authors	Kendall, Stephen
year	1994
title	Control of Parts: Identifying Patterns of Control in Production Chains
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	If we examine the stages of production of complex physical systems, we notice that parts change as they progress along a value chain. Parts are deformed, have parts removed, and are assembled and disassembled, in various sequences. In such processes, production operations (milling, cutting, aligning, attaching, and so on) are of particular interest, as are the sequences of production, since some operations and sequences have been found to be more efficient than others, lead to fewer mistakes and produce higher quality results. Research continues to be produced seeking to optimize production operations, sequences and product quality. The production operations we can observe in the making of artifacts are also of interest because they are by definition the result of action taken by certain agents. Parts are changed or controlled by human beings, employing their own hands or sophisticated machines. Today, we are used to making a distinction among agents involved in production: some agents specify what is to be made, and others make what is specified. One agent can do both, but specialization and division of labour has presented us with this distinction. This is now conventional, aside from whether it is "good" or not. The distinction is the basis for the interest in "concurrent design and production of products", the renewed focus on distribution and coordination of work in teams, and the related interest in understanding the dynamics of building systems in terms of the agents who control them. This paper focuses on the place certain kinds of agents take in complex production flows. Since production of parts is both a technical and a social enterprise, we will discover, when we look closely, complex webs of interactions which can be mapped, showing how agents relate to each other through the parts with which they are concerned. In examining the class of agents who control parts, we can see two patterns of control, termed DISPERSED PATTERNS and OVERLAPPING PATTERNS. These become palpable in a graphic diagramming tool, which is demonstrated in what follows. These diagrams also provide a means to consider the agents whose role is to specify what is to be made. The paper includes notes related studies in other fields.Finally, the paper suggests how this perspective can be useful, and several research topics based on it are sketched.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	ddss9496
id	ddss9496
authors	Veenendaal, Martin H.
year	1994
title	Optimalization of Visualization: Graphical Diagonalization andClustering of Combinatorial Data
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	The analysis of combinatorial data is common to many disciplines as diverse as ethology, mathematics, computer science, psychology, demography, and architecture. Combinatorial data concern single relations that exist between the element pairs within one single pool of elements. TRI is a computer program that enables users to manually order combinatorial OTdangular) data matrices. "Ordering" in this context means placing high cell entries, coded as large dots, close together in clusters and close to the matrix's diagonal. Ordering, however, constitutes a very complex task. In order to support the ordering process, a straightforward measure has been developed which weighs the "amount" of clustering and diagonalization. The measure's value can be projected onto the monitor and perhaps serve as a "success indicator". A first experiment assessing the usefulness of the measure revealed that it does not consistently reflect subjective judgements of perceptual "order'. People may discern salient (although task irrelevant) patterns and regularities in dot configurations, for which the measure's cold calculus is insensitive [1]. In ongoing "human factors" experiments, the capability of experimental subjects to see through such "would be" order will be tested. One group will be amply instructed as to what the measure measures and how, and a second group will receive extensive visual instruction, using example matrices. The results of these and other experiments will help us decide whether or not to implement the measure in 1'RI, and how we can otherwise improve TRI as a powerful design and decision support tool.
series	DDSS
email
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_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 ‚Äúgingerbread houses‚Äù, 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
email
last changed	2012/02/11 19:21

_id	ddss9416
id	ddss9416
authors	Campbell, Noel and O'Reilly, Thomas
year	1994
title	GIS: Science or Tool - The Built Environment Perspective
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	This paper attempts to locate GIS in the context of the built environment professions, rather than in the context of computer science, recognizing the integrated but limiting approach of viewingGIS from a strictly computer / spatial science perspective. The paper reviews the conflicts and tensions appearing in the GIS debate seeing them as reflecting the differences between the perceptions and interests of software developers and those of the professions. The "spatial science versus professional tool" dilemma is therefore critically assessed. Science is identified as the dominant paradigm within which GIS development has taken place. This encompasses the emphasis on GIS as spatial science; the interest in particular forms of spatial analysis; a narrow approach to the idea of information; the debate about the appropriate emphasis on the location for GIS in undergraduate education. The interests and activities of the professions cannot be encompassed within the pre-existing science paradigm. The paper identifies the interest the professions have had in broad geographical issues (as distinct from narrow spatial issues). It recognizes the different conventions and procedures used in recording and using geographical information, not all of them objective or scientific. It views the computer, not as a "scientific engine", but as a modern medium for representing and analyzing information. This includes storage and analysis, both internally (algorithmic manipulation) and outside (qualitative manipulation, beyond formal -"computer"- logic). This approach suggests a framework for research of a nature more sympathetic to the needs of the built environment professions in particular and an agenda which would include an examination of: (i) the conventions and procedures used in the professions to collect, store and process information and how these translate to computer technology; (ii) the types of software used and the way procedures may be accommodated by combining and integrating packages; (iii) the dynamism of GIS development (terms such as "dedicated", "mainframe", "PC-based", "distributed", "pseudo-", etc. are identified as indicativeof the need for professions-based approaches to GIS development); (iv) a critique of "information" (modelling of information flows within the professions, may yield valuable insights into the (modelling of information flows within the professions , may yield valuable insights into the similarity of requirements for a variety of "workplace scenarios").
series	DDSS
email
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	avocaad_2001_02
id	avocaad_2001_02
authors	Cheng-Yuan Lin, Yu-Tung Liu
year	2001
title	A digital Procedure of Building Construction: A practical project
source	AVOCAAD - ADDED VALUE OF COMPUTER AIDED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Nys Koenraad, Provoost Tom, Verbeke Johan, Verleye Johan (Eds.), (2001) Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunst - Departement Architectuur Sint-Lucas, Campus Brussel, ISBN 80-76101-05-1
summary	In earlier times in which computers have not yet been developed well, there has been some researches regarding representation using conventional media (Gombrich, 1960; Arnheim, 1970). For ancient architects, the design process was described abstractly by text (Hewitt, 1985; Cable, 1983); the process evolved from unselfconscious to conscious ways (Alexander, 1964). Till the appearance of 2D drawings, these drawings could only express abstract visual thinking and visually conceptualized vocabulary (Goldschmidt, 1999). Then with the massive use of physical models in the Renaissance, the form and space of architecture was given better precision (Millon, 1994). Researches continued their attempts to identify the nature of different design tools (Eastman and Fereshe, 1994). Simon (1981) figured out that human increasingly relies on other specialists, computational agents, and materials referred to augment their cognitive abilities. This discourse was verified by recent research on conception of design and the expression using digital technologies (McCullough, 1996; Perez-Gomez and Pelletier, 1997). While other design tools did not change as much as representation (Panofsky, 1991; Koch, 1997), the involvement of computers in conventional architecture design arouses a new design thinking of digital architecture (Liu, 1996; Krawczyk, 1997; Murray, 1997; Wertheim, 1999). The notion of the link between ideas and media is emphasized throughout various fields, such as architectural education (Radford, 2000), Internet, and restoration of historical architecture (Potier et al., 2000). Information technology is also an important tool for civil engineering projects (Choi and Ibbs, 1989). Compared with conventional design media, computers avoid some errors in the process (Zaera, 1997). However, most of the application of computers to construction is restricted to simulations in building process (Halpin, 1990). It is worth studying how to employ computer technology meaningfully to bring significant changes to concept stage during the process of building construction (Madazo, 2000; Dave, 2000) and communication (Haymaker, 2000).In architectural design, concept design was achieved through drawings and models (Mitchell, 1997), while the working drawings and even shop drawings were brewed and communicated through drawings only. However, the most effective method of shaping building elements is to build models by computer (Madrazo, 1999). With the trend of 3D visualization (Johnson and Clayton, 1998) and the difference of designing between the physical environment and virtual environment (Maher et al. 2000), we intend to study the possibilities of using digital models, in addition to drawings, as a critical media in the conceptual stage of building construction process in the near future (just as the critical role that physical models played in early design process in the Renaissance). This research is combined with two practical building projects, following the progress of construction by using digital models and animations to simulate the structural layouts of the projects. We also tried to solve the complicated and even conflicting problems in the detail and piping design process through an easily accessible and precise interface. An attempt was made to delineate the hierarchy of the elements in a single structural and constructional system, and the corresponding relations among the systems. Since building construction is often complicated and even conflicting, precision needed to complete the projects can not be based merely on 2D drawings with some imagination. The purpose of this paper is to describe all the related elements according to precision and correctness, to discuss every possibility of different thinking in design of electric-mechanical engineering, to receive feedback from the construction projects in the real world, and to compare the digital models with conventional drawings.Through the application of this research, the subtle relations between the conventional drawings and digital models can be used in the area of building construction. Moreover, a theoretical model and standard process is proposed by using conventional drawings, digital models and physical buildings. By introducing the intervention of digital media in design process of working drawings and shop drawings, there is an opportune chance to use the digital media as a prominent design tool. This study extends the use of digital model and animation from design process to construction process. However, the entire construction process involves various details and exceptions, which are not discussed in this paper. These limitations should be explored in future studies.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	4f23
authors	Dieberger, Andreas
year	1994
title	Navigation in Spatial Information Environments: User Interface Design Issues for Hypertext and VR Systems Posters
source	Proceedings of the ECHT'94 European Conference on Hypermedia Technologies 1994
summary	The Information City project (presented in a poster at Hypertext 93) uses the spatial user interface metaphor of a city to organize and navigate large collections of hypertextual information. As we are used to navigate real life cities the city metaphor -- enriched with magic features -- should help to navigate information structures. A first implementation of the Information City was started in a MUD system. MUDs are networked multi-user text-adventure games which usually make use of a house / city metaphor. MUDs are conceptually similar to hypertext systems and navigational findings in those systems are therefore relevant also to hypertext. While implementing the first parts of the city research into navigation in MUDs was found necessary. This poster presents some results of this navigational study and describes how knowledge in the domains of architecture and city-planning can be used to design an easy to navigate virtual city. Highlights of the results concern magic features and collaboration. Magic features extend the spatial metaphor beyond typical properties of space. An example is the hypertext link which allows tunneling through the spatial structure. Other results concern the richness of spaces (or space-descriptions) and communication between users. It seems the chief benefit of the spatial metaphor of the city is in communication about spatial relationships of information. The findings probably are valuable in designing any information system using spatial metaphors. They are especially useful for hypertext systems realized in some virtual environment -- be it a MUD or an immerse virtual reality system.
series	other
last changed	2002/07/07 16:01

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