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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	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	6651
id	6651
authors	Chen, N., Kvan, T., Wojtowicz, J., Van Bakergem, D., Casaus, T., Davidson, J., Fargas, J., Hubbell, K., Mitchell, W., Nagakura, T. and Papazian, P.
year	1994
title	PLACE, TIME AND THE VIRTUAL DESIGN STUDIO
source	Reconnecting [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-03-9] Washington University (Saint Louis / USA) 1994, pp. 115-132
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1994.115
summary	A design problem shared over the Internet raises issues of how digital media and group dynamics affect networked design collaborations. This paper describes how to conduct a long-distance studio and compares asynchronous and synchronous collaborative techniques. Digital methods are discussed in relationship to both the creative process and design communication. In schematic stages, less precise tools used asynchronously allow free exploration and creative misreadings, while in later stages, more direct real-time exchanges bring a project to resolution. For the final review, synchronous video-conferencing with interactive graphics allow comparison of cross-cultural differences. Used effectively, these tools can electronically create a compelling sense of place. Ways to foster a strong virtual community are discussed in an agenda for future virtual design.
series	ACADIA
type	normal paper
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	sigradi2005_463
id	sigradi2005_463
authors	Costa Cabral, Cláudia Piantá
year	2005
title	Computer City, 1994
source	SIGraDi 2005 - [Proceedings of the 9th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] Lima - Peru 21-24 november 2005, vol. 1, pp. 463-467
summary	This paper is about an emblematic design of the sixties, Dennis Crompton’s Computer City, published in 1964 by Archigram Magazine. Besides other enterprises of its time, Archigram promoted a critical view over institutionalised post-war modernism for not being able to recognize the emergence of new social realities, identified with the new technologies of automation and information, the restructuring of capitalist fordism and the shift from a predominantly industrial culture to an electronic culture. This paper sustains that more than a direct translation of unquestionable technical necessities; it was a conscious attempt of producing a sort of representation of technology. Crompton’s design clearly demonstrates the actual change in the character of technology, when it is no longer primarily identified with artefacts and objects, as the machine, and seems to be progressively identified with abstract and ubiquitous systems and processes of control, as automation and information systems. [Full paper in Portuguese]
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:49

_id	ddss2004_ra-33
id	ddss2004_ra-33
authors	Diappi, L., P. Bolchim, and M. Buscema
year	2004
title	Improved Understanding of Urban Sprawl Using Neural Networks
source	Van Leeuwen, J.P. and H.J.P. Timmermans (eds.) Recent Advances in Design & Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN: 14020-2408-8, p. 33-49
summary	It is widely accepted that the spatial pattern of settlements is a crucial factor affecting quality of life and environmental sustainability, but few recent studies have attempted to examine the phenomenon of sprawl by modelling the process rather than adopting a descriptive approach. The issue was partly addressed by models of land use and transportation which were mainly developed in the UK and US in the 1970s and 1980s, but the major advances were made in the area of modelling transportation, while very little was achieved in the area of spatial and temporal land use. Models of land use and transportation are well-established tools, based on explicit, exogenouslyformulated rules within a theoretical framework. The new approaches of artificial intelligence, and in particular, systems involving parallel processing, (Neural Networks, Cellular Automata and Multi-Agent Systems) defined by the expression “Neurocomputing”, allow problems to be approached in the reverse, bottom-up, direction by discovering rules, relationships and scenarios from a database. In this article we examine the hypothesis that territorial micro-transformations occur according to a local logic, i.e. according to use, accessibility, the presence of services and conditions of centrality, periphericity or isolation of each territorial “cell” relative to its surroundings. The prediction capabilities of different architectures of supervised Neural networks are implemented to the south Metropolitan area of Milan at two different temporal thresholds and discussed. Starting from data on land use in 1980 and 1994 and by subdividing the area into square cells on an orthogonal grid, the model produces a spatial and functional map of urbanisation in 2008. An implementation of the SOM (Self Organizing Map) processing to the Data Base allows the typologies of transformation to be identified, i.e. the classes of area which are transformed in the same way and which give rise to territorial morphologies; this is an interesting by-product of the approach.
keywords	Neural Networks, Self-Organizing Maps, Land-Use Dynamics, Supervised Networks
series	DDSS
last changed	2004/07/03 22:13

_id	e2c3
authors	Edmonds A.E., Candy L., Jones R. and Soufi B.
year	1994
title	Support for Collaborative Design: Agents and Emergence
source	Communications of the ACM, (July 1994)
summary	Collaborative Design is a complex group activity involving participants with heterogenous skills. Any useful support system must take that heterogenety into account. This article demonstrates that group support agents are viable for design tasks. It explores the problem of supporting emergence, a significant feature of the sreative design process.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_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	sigradi2006_e028c
id	sigradi2006_e028c
authors	Griffith, Kenfield; Sass, Larry and Michaud, Dennis
year	2006
title	A strategy for complex-curved building design:Design structure with Bi-lateral contouring as integrally connected ribs
source	SIGraDi 2006 - [Proceedings of the 10th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] Santiago de Chile - Chile 21-23 November 2006, pp. 465-469
summary	Shapes in designs created by architects such as Gehry Partners (Shelden, 2002), Foster and Partners, and Kohn Peterson and Fox rely on computational processes for rationalizing complex geometry for building construction. Rationalization is the reduction of a complete geometric shape into discrete components. Unfortunately, for many architects the rationalization is limited reducing solid models to surfaces or data on spread sheets for contractors to follow. Rationalized models produced by the firms listed above do not offer strategies for construction or digital fabrication. For the physical production of CAD description an alternative to the rationalized description is needed. This paper examines the coupling of digital rationalization and digital fabrication with physical mockups (Rich, 1989). Our aim is to explore complex relationships found in early and mid stage design phases when digital fabrication is used to produce design outcomes. Results of our investigation will aid architects and engineers in addressing the complications found in the translation of design models embedded with precision to constructible geometries. We present an algorithmically based approach to design rationalization that supports physical production as well as surface production of desktop models. Our approach is an alternative to conventional rapid prototyping that builds objects by assembly of laterally sliced contours from a solid model. We explored an improved product description for rapid manufacture as bilateral contouring for structure and panelling for strength (Kolarevic, 2003). Infrastructure typically found within aerospace, automotive, and shipbuilding industries, bilateral contouring is an organized matrix of horizontal and vertical interlocking ribs evenly distributed along a surface. These structures are monocoque and semi-monocoque assemblies composed of structural ribs and skinning attached by rivets and adhesives. Alternative, bi-lateral contouring discussed is an interlocking matrix of plywood strips having integral joinery for assembly. Unlike traditional methods of building representations through malleable materials for creating tangible objects (Friedman, 2002), this approach constructs with the implication for building life-size solutions. Three algorithms are presented as examples of rationalized design production with physical results. The first algorithm [Figure 1] deconstructs an initial 2D curved form into ribbed slices to be assembled through integral connections constructed as part of the rib solution. The second algorithm [Figure 2] deconstructs curved forms of greater complexity. The algorithm walks along the surface extracting surface information along horizontal and vertical axes saving surface information resulting in a ribbed structure of slight double curvature. The final algorithm [Figure 3] is expressed as plug-in software for Rhino that deconstructs a design to components for assembly as rib structures. The plug-in also translates geometries to a flatten position for 2D fabrication. The software demonstrates the full scope of the research exploration. Studies published by Dodgson argued that innovation technology (IvT) (Dodgson, Gann, Salter, 2004) helped in solving projects like the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, and the Millennium Bridge in London. Similarly, the method discussed in this paper will aid in solving physical production problems with complex building forms. References Bentley, P.J. (Ed.). Evolutionary Design by Computers. Morgan Kaufman Publishers Inc. San Francisco, CA, 1-73 Celani, G, (2004) “From simple to complex: using AutoCAD to build generative design systems” in: L. Caldas and J. Duarte (org.) Implementations issues in generative design systems. First Intl. Conference on Design Computing and Cognition, July 2004 Dodgson M, Gann D.M., Salter A, (2004), “Impact of Innovation Technology on Engineering Problem Solving: Lessons from High Profile Public Projects,” Industrial Dynamics, Innovation and Development, 2004 Dristas, (2004) “Design Operators.” Thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 2004 Friedman, M, (2002), Gehry Talks: Architecture + Practice, Universe Publishing, New York, NY, 2002 Kolarevic, B, (2003), Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing, Spon Press, London, UK, 2003 Opas J, Bochnick H, Tuomi J, (1994), “Manufacturability Analysis as a Part of CAD/CAM Integration”, Intelligent Systems in Design and Manufacturing, 261-292 Rudolph S, Alber R, (2002), “An Evolutionary Approach to the Inverse Problem in Rule-Based Design Representations”, Artificial Intelligence in Design ’02, 329-350 Rich M, (1989), Digital Mockup, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reston, VA, 1989 Schön, D., The Reflective Practitioner: How Professional Think in Action. Basic Books. 1983 Shelden, D, (2003), “Digital Surface Representation and the Constructability of Gehry’s Architecture.” Diss. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 2003 Smithers T, Conkie A, Doheny J, Logan B, Millington K, (1989), “Design as Intelligent Behaviour: An AI in Design Thesis Programme”, Artificial Intelligence in Design, 293-334 Smithers T, (2002), “Synthesis in Designing”, Artificial Intelligence in Design ’02, 3-24 Stiny, G, (1977), “Ice-ray: a note on the generation of Chinese lattice designs” Environmental and Planning B, volume 4, pp. 89-98
keywords	Digital fabrication; bilateral contouring; integral connection; complex-curve
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:52

_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	c4ae
id	c4ae
authors	Knapp, Robert W. and McCall, Raymond
year	1996
title	PHIDIAS II - In Support of Collaborative Design
source	Design Computation: Collaboration, Reasoning, Pedagogy [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-05-5] Tucson (Arizona / USA) October 31 - November 2, 1996, pp. 147-154
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1996.147
summary	The World Wide Web in combination with Java and Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) create great opportunities for collaboration by distributed design teams. To take advantage of these opportunities, we have begun to create a version of the PHIDIAS hyperCAD system (McCall, Bennett and Johnson 1994) that will support communication and collaboration among designers over the Word Wide Web. PHIDIAS is an intelligent, hypermedia-based system for computer-aided design. Our strategy is to divide PHIDIAS into two parts: 1) a client-side user interface and 2) a server-side hyperCAD database engine. The client-side interface is being implemented using Java and VRML. Implementing the PHIDIAS front-end with Java enables program code distribution via the World Wide Web. VRML provides PHIDIAS with client-side computation and display of 3D graphics.
series	ACADIA
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	da35
authors	Liu, Y.T.
year	1994
title	Some Phenomena of seeing shapes in design
source	Design Studies, v 16, n 3, pp. 367-385
summary	This paper is a look at some of the pyschological results that suggest how shape emergence manifest itself in the human mind. The first interesting result goes back to top down expectation guiding recognition. Some experimental suggest that it is easier (quicker) to recognize shapes which we have some alternate mental familiarity. (I.E. verbal, structural descriptions). So if we can easily say a shape then we can easily discern it as an emergent shape. The paper then goes on to discuss the definition of emergent subshapes and gives various authors definitions of what makes up and emergent shape. One interesting classification is the difference between explicit and implicit emergent shapes made by Mitchell. This difference amounts to a fine line between imagination and emergence. The results of an experiment between experienced and in-experienced designers is discussed. The results suggest that experienced designers are able to find more emergent shape than non experienced designers. From these results and from the opinions of others, the author goes on to specify 3 phenomena related to emergent recognition. The first is as above that it is easier to see shapes with which we are familiar. Second from this, the harder shapes are found after the initial period. Third, from the first two, time is required to find more subshapes. The author then searches for an explanation of this phenomena. He suggests that the underlying cause is related to an experience person having a lower threshold of what it is to be a member of a shape. When seeing an L shape the experienced design is likely to consider it also a square, because his requirement for the set of features which must be present for some object to be a considered a square is a smaller set than the inexperienced. While the author suggests that this is a phenomena it is actually an hypothesis. An alternate hypothesis may be that top down inhibitions effect the bottom up performance of the inexperienced design more because of different representation.
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	ddss9463
id	ddss9463
authors	Lucardie, Larry
year	1994
title	A Functional Framework For Conceptual Modelling
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	A conceptual model is not only indispensable for the design and implementation of knowledge based systems, but also for their validation, modification, maintenance and enhancement. Experience indicates, however, that in many cases reality is not well reflected in a full-fledged conceptual model. What is systematically lacking in the prevailing conceptualization methods is a well-developed theory of knowledge that underlies conceptualization methods: a theory that precedes the process of forming meaningful classifications and that precedes the specification of a conceptual model. To date, conceptualization methods are based on the probabilistic assumption that, in essence, all conditions necessary for creating a classification, are provided initially and can easily be revealed by utilizing mathematical measures of similarity. Another frequently occurring prototypical assumption is that for creating a classification, necessary conditions are sufficient. Furthermore, it is assumed that the categories of conditions are a priori fixed and unconditional. That conceptualizing takes place without any explicit background knowledge about goals of classifications and without contextual influences and that categorizations have an unconditional status are not viewed as problems. In contrast to these approaches, the functional view states that relevant descriptive attributes are not necessarily a priori given but should be acquired through knowledge about goals of classifications and about contexts. It is also asserted that an explicit concern for necessary conditions will not suffice for capturing the dynamics of reality. Furthermore, the functional view puts forward that a goal- and context-oriented strategy leads to the reconstruction of new attributes and categorizations with a dynamic status. The aim of this paper is to discuss the theoretic and practical merits of the functional view compared to the probabilistic and prototype approaches. Conceptual models developed in the Computer Integrated Manufacturing-Project will serve as illustrations for the main ideas.
series	DDSS
email
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	8fb2
id	8fb2
authors	McCall, Raymond, Bennett, Patrick and Johnson, Erik
year	1994
title	An Overview of the PHIDIAS II HyperCAD System
source	Reconnecting [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-03-9] Washington University (Saint Louis / USA) 1994, pp. 63-74
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1994.063
summary	The PHIDIAS II HyperCAD system combines the functionality of CAD graphics, hypermedia, database management and knowledge-based computation in a single, highly integrated design environment. The CAD functionality includes both 3-D and 2-D vector graphics. The hypermedia includes support for text, raster images, video and sound. The database management enables persistent storage and interlinking of large collections of text, images, video, sound and vector graphics, i.e., thousands of vector graphic objects and drawings in a single database. Retrieval is provided both through use of "associative indexing" based on hyperlinks and through use of an advanced query language. The knowledge- based computation includes both inference and knowledgebased critiquing. A highly unusual feature of PHIDIAS II is that it implements all of its functions using only hypermedia mechanisms. Complex vector graphic drawings and objects are represented as composite hypermedia nodes. Inference and critiquing are implemented through use of what are known as virtual structures [Halasz 1988], including virtual links and virtual nodes. These nodes and links are dynamic (computed) rather than static (constant). They are defined as expressions in the same language used for queries and are computed at display time. The implementation of different kinds of functions using a common set of mechanisms makes it easy to use them in combination, thus further augmenting the system's functionality. PHIDIAS supports design by informing architects as they develop a solution's form. The idea is thus not to make the design process faster or cheaper but rather to improve the quality of the things designed. We believe that architects can create better buildings for their users if they have better information. This includes information about buildings of given types, user populations, historical and modern precedents, local site and climate conditions, the urban and natural context and its historical development, as well as local, state and federal regulations.
series	ACADIA
last changed	2022/06/07 07:59

_id	9aa3
authors	Michalewicz, Z.
year	1994
title	Genetic Algorithms + Data Structures = Evolution Programs
source	Springer-Verlag, Berlin
summary	Genetic algorithms are founded upon the principle of evolution, i.e., survival of the fittest. Hence evolution programming techniques, based on genetic algorithms, are applicable to many hard optimization problems, such as optimization of functions with linear and nonlinear constraints, the traveling salesman problem, and problems of scheduling, partitioning, and control. The importance of these techniques is still growing, since evolution programs are parallel in nature, and parallelism is one of the most promising directions in computer science. The book is self-contained and the only prerequisite is basic undergraduate mathematics. This third edition has been substantially revised and extended by three new chapters and by additional appendices containing working material to cover recent developments and a change in the perception of evolutionary computation.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	ddss9472
id	ddss9472
authors	Park, Mungo
year	1994
title	Text, Model, Image, the Inconsistent Cycle of Reflective Design in Architectural Speculation
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	The paper will examine the sites of imaginal or creative 'events' set within the discourse of architecture and landscape design. It will discuss the cognitive and reflective actions implicit in creating or opening up the spaces of thinking in design. Notions of 'linearity' and 'intuition' in the emergence of discursive design work will be tested with reference to the textual work of Barthes, Foucault and Baudrillard, and to the imaginal work of Lebbeus Woods, Piranesi and Daniel Liebeskind. The potential for relocating terms and collapsing conventional disciplinary boundaries to discover a creative field of discourse within architectural design will be discussed, together with the specific tactics and strategies which may be employed by the designer to achieve such a collision in the problematizing of a design project. Ideas of reality, simulation and materiality will be discussed in the context of the designer's external frames of reference (societal, ecological, political, aesthetic, cultural) and their possible relationship with the cognitive process in order to discover the terms under which an architectural discourse seeks validation.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/12/21 07:38

_id	ddss2004_d-49
id	ddss2004_d-49
authors	Polidori, M. and R. Krafta
year	2004
title	Environment – Urban Interface within Urban Growth
source	Van Leeuwen, J.P. and H.J.P. Timmermans (eds.) Developments in Design & Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning, Eindhoven: Eindhoven University of Technology, ISBN 90-6814-155-4, p. 49-62
summary	This work presents the synthesis of a model of urban growth dedicated to accomplish simulations of urban spatial dynamics, based on integrated urban and environmental factors and promoting simultaneity among external and internal growth. The city and surrounding environment are captured and modeled in computational ambient, by application of the centrality / potential model (Krafta, 1994 and 1999), with support of graph theory, cellular automata, GIS and geocomputation. The model assumes the city as a field of opportunities for obtaining income, mediated by the space, which is composed of urban and environmental attributes, that work as attractors or as resistances for the urban growth. The space configuration and the distribution of those attributes generate tensions that differentiate qualitatively and quantitatively the space, through the centrality measure (built with the support of graphs techniques), coming to provoke growth in places with larger potential of development (built with the help of techniques of CA – cellular automata). Growths above environmental thresholds are considered problems, generated and overcome in the same process of production of the urban space. Iterations of that process offer a dynamic behaviour to the model, allowing to observe the growth process along the time. The model presents several possibilities: a) urban - natural environment integration; b) internal and external growth integration; c) variety in the scale; d) GIS integration and geocomputation; e) user interface; f) calibration; g) theoretical possibilities; and h) practical possibilities.
keywords	Environment, Urban Growth, Urban Morphology, Simulation
series	DDSS
last changed	2004/07/03 22:13

_id	c804
authors	Richens, P.
year	1994
title	Does Knowledge really Help?
source	G. Carrara and Y.E. Kalay (Eds.), Knowledge-Based Computer-Aided Architectural Design, Elsevier
summary	The Martin Centre CADLAB has recently been established to investigate software techniques that could be of practical importance to architects within the next five years. In common with most CAD researchers, we are interested in the earlier, conceptual, stages of design, where commercial CAD systems have had little impact. Our approach is not Knowledge-Based, but rather focuses on using the computer as a medium for design and communication. This leads to a concentration on apparently superficial aspects such as visual appearance, the dynamics of interaction, immediate feedback, plasticity. We try to avoid building-in theoretical attitudes, and to reduce the semantic content of our systems to a low level on the basis that flexibility and intelligence are inversely related; and that flexibility is more important. The CADLAB became operational in January 1992. First year work in three areas – building models, experiencing architecture, and making drawings – is discussed.
series	other
more	http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/research/pubs/
last changed	2003/03/05 13:19

_id	daff
authors	Richens, P.
year	1994
title	CAD Research at the Martin Centre
source	Automation in Construction, No. 3
summary	The Martin Centre CADLAB has recently been established to investigate software techniques that could be of practical importance to architects within the next five years. In common with most CAD researchers, we are interested in the earlier, conceptual, stages of design, where commercial CAD systems have had little impact. Our approach is not Knowledge-Based, but rather focuses on using the computer as a medium for design and communication. This leads to a concentration on apparently superficial aspects such as visual appearance, the dynamics of interaction, immediate feedback, plasticity. We try to avoid building-in theoretical attitudes, and to reduce the semantic content of our systems to a low level on the basis that flexibility and intelligence are inversely related; and that flexibility is more important. The CADLAB became operational in January 1992. First year work in three areas – building models, experiencing architecture, and making drawings – is discussed.
series	journal
email
more	http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/research/pubs/pdfs/rich94a.pdf
last changed	2000/03/05 19:05

_id	ga0231
id	ga0231
authors	Sparacino, Flavia
year	2002
title	Narrative Spaces: bridging architecture and entertainment via interactive technology
source	International Conference on Generative Art
summary	Our society’s modalities of communication are rapidly changing. Large panel displays and screens are be ing installed in many public spaces, ranging from open plazas, to shopping malls, to private houses, to theater stages, classrooms, and museums. In parallel, wearable computers are transforming our technological landscape by reshaping the heavy, bulkydesktop computer into a lightweight, portable device that is accessible to people at any time. Computation and sensing are moving from computers and devices into the environment itself. The space around us is instrumented with sensors and displays, and it tends to reflect adiffused need to combine together the information space with our physical space. This combination of large public and miniature personal digital displays together with distributed computing and sensing intelligence offers unprecedented opportunities to merge the virtual and the real, the information landscape of the Internet with the urban landscape of the city, to transform digital animated media in storytellers, in public installations and through personal wearable technology. This paper describes technological platforms built at the MIT Media Lab, through 1994-2002, that contribute to defining new trends in architecture that mergevirtual and real spaces, and are reshaping the way we live and experience the museum, the house, the theater, and the modern city.
series	other
email
more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	bbba
authors	Stouffs, R.
year	1994
title	The Algebra of Shapes
source	Carnegie Mellon University, Departement of Architecture
summary	This thesis investigates a new representation scheme for geometric modeling, based on an algebraic model for shapes and formalized using a boundary representation. The algebraic model is mathematically uniform for shapes of all kinds and provides a natural and intuitive framework for mixed-dimensional shapes. The corresponding maximal element representation is essential to the concept of shape emergence. The representation scheme particularly supports computational design as a generative process of search or exploration. This thesis begins with a treatment of the algebraic and geometric properties of shapes and gives a formal and complete definition of the maximal element representation for n-dimensional shapes in a k-dimensional space (n ? k). Efficient algorithms are presented for the algebraic operations of sum, product, difference and symmetric difference on shapes of plane and volume segments. An exploration of related research in shape grammars, computational design and construction simulation, illustrates the potential of this representation scheme, while an agenda for future research depicts its present shortcomings.
series	thesis:PhD
email
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	ddss9498
id	ddss9498
authors	Vriens, Dirk and Hendriks, Paul
year	1994
title	Functionally Defining Systems: A Systems Theory Approach to Decision Support
source	Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994
summary	Research into decision making seems to suffer from two related weaknesses. The first is lack of attention for the dynamic nature of the decision process and environment. Research attempts to encompass dynamic features are sparse. The second weakness is the allegation that decision alternatives can be discerned on an a priori basis, thus facilitating the use of a choice rule to pick the 'optimal' or 'satisficing' alternative (this is the basic assumption of the prevailing rationalistic approach of decision modelling). However, the assumption of an a priori conception of alterna-tives is not realistic, since it ignores the fact that the exploration and elaboration of alternatives forms an integral part of the decision process. Although several attempts have been made to overcome these problems, a coherent theory seems to be lacking. This paper explores the possibilities of systems theory as an offset for new decision modelling. A system (in the cybernet-ic sense) is, roughly speaking, a collection of elements related in such a manner that emergent properties (i.e., properties that consist the level of the whole, not at the level of its parts) come about. There are many different approaches to systems theory and not all of these are equally useful for decision research. For our purposes, systems that have 'adaptive' properties are worthwhile because they may encompass dynamic features. Furthermore, the use of adaptive, dynamic systems leads to a solution for the problem of the 'disembodied' conception and choice of alternatives, since the choice options automatically follow from the defined system and may change because of its dynamic nature. The important question is how a system can be defined in order to capture the dynamic nature of decision making. In order to answer this question, the paper starts with a short overview of problems with traditional modelling in decision making and systems theory. Next, it will be argued that the crux of defining systems that capture dynamics is to define them 'functionally', i.e. regarding the goals that enter the decision process. An outline of a method to do this will be given. In the last part, the consequences for computerized decision support will be stated.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

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