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

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Hits 1 to 20 of 394

_id b914
authors Asanowicz, Aleksander and Asanowicz, Katarzyna
year 1995
title Designing, CAD and CAD
source CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 181-192
summary The general aim of our discussion is to analyze what has been changed in design process according to introducing the computers technology. For the better understanding of the design process evolution, we should precisely define start point - the traditional design process.Let's treat it as an iteration game between a designer and user. If we assume that the designing base is a reductive strategy, we can define six stages of it: 1.) To define a need; 2.) To formulate a task; 3.) To synthesize a design proposals; 4.) To analyze and optimize; 5.) To make a presentation. // The last stage - the presentation of designing proposals is the main factor of using computers in design process and creating definition of CAD as Computer Aided Drafting. According to this interpretation CAD has included four groups of activities: A.) Geometrical modelling; B.) Analysis; C.) Revision and estimation of design proposals; D.) Technical drawing preparing. // Unfortunately it has no connections with another meaning of CAD - Computer Aided Design because concerns every stage of design process except of creation of architectural form. On the other hand, computer enables us to improve the design process by permanent perception of designing forms and dynamic control over the transforming structure. Nowadays thanks to full-function sketching workstation and software like Fractal Design Painter a computer can be useful from the moment when the first line is drawing. It is possible, that the new generation of CAD software - CAD with Personality which connects computer models with picture transformation will enable CAD to be Computer Aided Design.
series plCAD
email
last changed 2000/01/24 10:08

_id 2068
authors Frazer, John
year 1995
title AN EVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE
source London: Architectural Association
summary In "An Evolutionary Architecture", John Frazer presents an overview of his work for the past 30 years. Attempting to develop a theoretical basis for architecture using analogies with nature's processes of evolution and morphogenesis. Frazer's vision of the future of architecture is to construct organic buildings. Thermodynamically open systems which are more environmentally aware and sustainable physically, sociologically and economically. The range of topics which Frazer discusses is a good illustration of the breadth and depth of the evolutionary design problem. Environmental Modelling One of the first topics dealt with is the importance of environmental modelling within the design process. Frazer shows how environmental modelling is often misused or misinterpreted by architects with particular reference to solar modelling. From the discussion given it would seem that simplifications of the environmental models is the prime culprit resulting in misinterpretation and misuse. The simplifications are understandable given the amount of information needed for accurate modelling. By simplifying the model of the environmental conditions the architect is able to make informed judgments within reasonable amounts of time and effort. Unfortunately the simplications result in errors which compound and cause the resulting structures to fall short of their anticipated performance. Frazer obviously believes that the computer can be a great aid in the harnessing of environmental modelling data, providing that the same simplifying assumptions are not made and that better models and interfaces are possible. Physical Modelling Physical modelling has played an important role in Frazer's research. Leading to the construction of several novel machine readable interactive models, ranging from lego-like building blocks to beermat cellular automata and wall partitioning systems. Ultimately this line of research has led to the Universal Constructor and the Universal Interactor. The Universal Constructor The Universal Constructor features on the cover of the book. It consists of a base plug-board, called the "landscape", on top of which "smart" blocks, or cells, can be stacked vertically. The cells are individually identified and can communicate with neighbours above and below. Cells communicate with users through a bank of LEDs displaying the current state of the cell. The whole structure is machine readable and so can be interpreted by a computer. The computer can interpret the states of the cells as either colour or geometrical transformations allowing a wide range of possible interpretations. The user interacts with the computer display through direct manipulation of the cells. The computer can communicate and even direct the actions of the user through feedback with the cells to display various states. The direct manipulation of the cells encourages experimentation by the user and demonstrates basic concepts of the system. The Universal Interactor The Universal Interactor is a whole series of experimental projects investigating novel input and output devices. All of the devices speak a common binary language and so can communicate through a mediating central hub. The result is that input, from say a body-suit, can be used to drive the out of a sound system or vice versa. The Universal Interactor opens up many possibilities for expression when using a CAD system that may at first seem very strange.However, some of these feedback systems may prove superior in the hands of skilled technicians than more standard devices. Imagine how a musician might be able to devise structures by playing melodies which express the character. Of course the interpretation of input in this form poses a difficult problem which will take a great deal of research to achieve. The Universal Interactor has been used to provide environmental feedback to affect the development of evolving genetic codes. The feedback given by the Universal Interactor has been used to guide selection of individuals from a population. Adaptive Computing Frazer completes his introduction to the range of tools used in his research by giving a brief tour of adaptive computing techniques. Covering topics including cellular automata, genetic algorithms, classifier systems and artificial evolution. Cellular Automata As previously mentioned Frazer has done some work using cellular automata in both physical and simulated environments. Frazer discusses how surprisingly complex behaviour can result from the simple local rules executed by cellular automata. Cellular automata are also capable of computation, in fact able to perform any computation possible by a finite state machine. Note that this does not mean that cellular automata are capable of any general computation as this would require the construction of a Turing machine which is beyond the capabilities of a finite state machine. Genetic Algorithms Genetic algorithms were first presented by Holland and since have become a important tool for many researchers in various areas.Originally developed for problem-solving and optimization problems with clearly stated criteria and goals. Frazer fails to mention one of the most important differences between genetic algorithms and other adaptive problem-solving techniques, ie. neural networks. Genetic algorithms have the advantage that criteria can be clearly stated and controlled within the fitness function. The learning by example which neural networks rely upon does not afford this level of control over what is to be learned. Classifier Systems Holland went on to develop genetic algorithms into classifier systems. Classifier systems are more focussed upon the problem of learning appropriate responses to stimuli, than searching for solutions to problems. Classifier systems receive information from the environment and respond according to rules, or classifiers. Successful classifiers are rewarded, creating a reinforcement learning environment. Obviously, the mapping between classifier systems and the cybernetic view of organisms sensing, processing and responding to environmental stimuli is strong. It would seem that a central process similar to a classifier system would be appropriate at the core of an organic building. Learning appropriate responses to environmental conditions over time. Artificial Evolution Artificial evolution traces it's roots back to the Biomorph program which was described by Dawkins in his book "The Blind Watchmaker". Essentially, artificial evolution requires that a user supplements the standard fitness function in genetic algorithms to guide evolution. The user may provide selection pressures which are unquantifiable in a stated problem and thus provide a means for dealing ill-defined criteria. Frazer notes that solving problems with ill-defined criteria using artificial evolution seriously limits the scope of problems that can be tackled. The reliance upon user interaction in artificial evolution reduces the practical size of populations and the duration of evolutionary runs. Coding Schemes Frazer goes on to discuss the encoding of architectural designs and their subsequent evolution. Introducing two major systems, the Reptile system and the Universal State Space Modeller. Blueprint vs. Recipe Frazer points out the inadequacies of using standard "blueprint" design techniques in developing organic structures. Using a "recipe" to describe the process of constructing a building is presented as an alternative. Recipes for construction are discussed with reference to the analogous process description given by DNA to construct an organism. The Reptile System The Reptile System is an ingenious construction set capable of producing a wide range of structures using just two simple components. Frazer saw the advantages of this system for rule-based and evolutionary systems in the compactness of structure descriptions. Compactness was essential for the early computational work when computer memory and storage space was scarce. However, compact representations such as those described form very rugged fitness landscapes which are not well suited to evolutionary search techniques. Structures are created from an initial "seed" or minimal construction, for example a compact spherical structure. The seed is then manipulated using a series of processes or transformations, for example stretching, shearing or bending. The structure would grow according to the transformations applied to it. Obviously, the transformations could be a predetermined sequence of actions which would always yield the same final structure given the same initial seed. Alternatively, the series of transformations applied could be environmentally sensitive resulting in forms which were also sensitive to their location. The idea of taking a geometrical form as a seed and transforming it using a series of processes to create complex structures is similar in many ways to the early work of Latham creating large morphological charts. Latham went on to develop his ideas into the "Mutator" system which he used to create organic artworks. Generalising the Reptile System Frazer has proposed a generalised version of the Reptile System to tackle more realistic building problems. Generating the seed or minimal configuration from design requirements automatically. From this starting point (or set of starting points) solutions could be evolved using artificial evolution. Quantifiable and specific aspects of the design brief define the formal criteria which are used as a standard fitness function. Non-quantifiable criteria, including aesthetic judgments, are evaluated by the user. The proposed system would be able to learn successful strategies for satisfying both formal and user criteria. In doing so the system would become a personalised tool of the designer. A personal assistant which would be able to anticipate aesthetic judgements and other criteria by employing previously successful strategies. Ultimately, this is a similar concept to Negroponte's "Architecture Machine" which he proposed would be computer system so personalised so as to be almost unusable by other people. The Universal State Space Modeller The Universal State Space Modeller is the basis of Frazer's current work. It is a system which can be used to model any structure, hence the universal claim in it's title. The datastructure underlying the modeller is a state space of scaleless logical points, called motes. Motes are arranged in a close-packing sphere arrangement, which makes each one equidistant from it's twelve neighbours. Any point can be broken down into a self-similar tetrahedral structure of logical points. Giving the state space a fractal nature which allows modelling at many different levels at once. Each mote can be thought of as analogous to a cell in a biological organism. Every mote carries a copy of the architectural genetic code in the same way that each cell within a organism carries a copy of it's DNA. The genetic code of a mote is stored as a sequence of binary "morons" which are grouped together into spatial configurations which are interpreted as the state of the mote. The developmental process begins with a seed. The seed develops through cellular duplication according to the rules of the genetic code. In the beginning the seed develops mainly in response to the internal genetic code, but as the development progresses the environment plays a greater role. Cells communicate by passing messages to their immediate twelve neighbours. However, it can send messages directed at remote cells, without knowledge of it's spatial relationship. During the development cells take on specialised functions, including environmental sensors or producers of raw materials. The resulting system is process driven, without presupposing the existence of a construction set to use. The datastructure can be interpreted in many ways to derive various phenotypes. The resulting structure is a by-product of the cellular activity during development and in response to the environment. As such the resulting structures have much in common with living organisms which are also the emergent result or by-product of local cellular activity. Primordial Architectural Soups To conclude, Frazer presents some of the most recent work done, evolving fundamental structures using limited raw materials, an initial seed and massive feedback. Frazer proposes to go further and do away with the need for initial seed and start with a primordial soup of basic architectural concepts. The research is attempting to evolve the starting conditions and evolutionary processes without any preconditions. Is there enough time to evolve a complex system from the basic building blocks which Frazer proposes? The computational complexity of the task being embarked upon is not discussed. There is an implicit assumption that the "superb tactics" of natural selection are enough to cut through the complexity of the task. However, Kauffman has shown how self-organisation plays a major role in the early development of replicating systems which we may call alive. Natural selection requires a solid basis upon which it can act. Is the primordial soup which Frazer proposes of the correct constitution to support self-organisation? Kauffman suggests that one of the most important attributes of a primordial soup to be capable of self-organisation is the need for a complex network of catalysts and the controlling mechanisms to stop the reactions from going supracritical. Can such a network be provided of primitive architectural concepts? What does it mean to have a catalyst in this domain? Conclusion Frazer shows some interesting work both in the areas of evolutionary design and self-organising systems. It is obvious from his work that he sympathizes with the opinions put forward by Kauffman that the order found in living organisms comes from both external evolutionary pressure and internal self-organisation. His final remarks underly this by paraphrasing the words of Kauffman, that life is always to found on the edge of chaos. By the "edge of chaos" Kauffman is referring to the area within the ordered regime of a system close to the "phase transition" to chaotic behaviour. Unfortunately, Frazer does not demonstrate that the systems he has presented have the necessary qualities to derive useful order at the edge of chaos. He does not demonstrate, as Kauffman does repeatedly, that there exists a "phase transition" between ordered and chaotic regimes of his systems. He also does not make any studies of the relationship of useful forms generated by his work to phase transition regions of his systems should they exist. If we are to find an organic architecture, in more than name alone, it is surely to reside close to the phase transition of the construction system of which is it built. Only there, if we are to believe Kauffman, are we to find useful order together with environmentally sensitive and thermodynamically open systems which can approach the utility of living organisms.
series other
type normal paper
last changed 2004/05/22 14:12

_id ddssar0206
id ddssar0206
authors Bax, M.F.Th. and Trum, H.M.G.J.
year 2002
title Faculties of Architecture
source Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Sixth Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning - Part one: Architecture Proceedings Avegoor, the Netherlands), 2002
summary In order to be inscribed in the European Architect’s register the study program leading to the diploma ‘Architect’ has to meet the criteria of the EC Architect’s Directive (1985). The criteria are enumerated in 11 principles of Article 3 of the Directive. The Advisory Committee, established by the European Council got the task to examine such diplomas in the case some doubts are raised by other Member States. To carry out this task a matrix was designed, as an independent interpreting framework that mediates between the principles of Article 3 and the actual study program of a faculty. Such a tool was needed because of inconsistencies in the list of principles, differences between linguistic versions ofthe Directive, and quantification problems with time, devoted to the principles in the study programs. The core of the matrix, its headings, is a categorisation of the principles on a higher level of abstractionin the form of a taxonomy of domains and corresponding concepts. Filling in the matrix means that each study element of the study programs is analysed according to their content in terms of domains; thesummation of study time devoted to the various domains results in a so-called ‘profile of a faculty’. Judgement of that profile takes place by committee of peers. The domains of the taxonomy are intrinsically the same as the concepts and categories, needed for the description of an architectural design object: the faculties of architecture. This correspondence relates the taxonomy to the field of design theory and philosophy. The taxonomy is an application of Domain theory. This theory,developed by the authors since 1977, takes as a view that the architectural object only can be described fully as an integration of all types of domains. The theory supports the idea of a participatory andinterdisciplinary approach to design, which proved to be awarding both from a scientific and a social point of view. All types of domains have in common that they are measured in three dimensions: form, function and process, connecting the material aspects of the object with its social and proceduralaspects. In the taxonomy the function dimension is emphasised. It will be argued in the paper that the taxonomy is a categorisation following the pragmatistic philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce. It will bedemonstrated as well that the taxonomy is easy to handle by giving examples of its application in various countries in the last 5 years. The taxonomy proved to be an adequate tool for judgement ofstudy programs and their subsequent improvement, as constituted by the faculties of a Faculty of Architecture. The matrix is described as the result of theoretical reflection and practical application of a matrix, already in use since 1995. The major improvement of the matrix is its direct connection with Peirce’s universal categories and the self-explanatory character of its structure. The connection with Peirce’s categories gave the matrix a more universal character, which enables application in other fieldswhere the term ‘architecture’ is used as a metaphor for artefacts.
series DDSS
last changed 2003/11/21 15:16

_id ecaade2022_398
id ecaade2022_398
authors Dzurilla, Dalibor and Achten, Henri
year 2022
title What’s Happening to Architectural Sketching? - Interviewing architects about transformation from traditional to digital architectural sketching as a communicational tool with clients
source Pak, B, Wurzer, G and Stouffs, R (eds.), Co-creating the Future: Inclusion in and through Design - Proceedings of the 40th Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe 2022) - Volume 1, Ghent, 13-16 September 2022, pp. 389–398
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2022.1.389
summary The paper discusses 23 interviewed architects in practice about the role of traditional and digital sketching (human-computer interaction) in communication with the client. They were selected from 1995 to 2018 (the interval of graduation) from three different countries: the Czech Republic (CR), Slovakia (SR), Netherland (NR). To realize three blending areas that impact the approach to sketching: (I) Traditional hand and physical model studies (1995-2003). (II)Transition form - designing by hand and PC (2004–2017). (III) Mainly digital and remote forms of designing (2018–now). Interviews helped transform 31 “parameters of tools use” from the previous theoretical framework narrowed down into six main areas: (1) Implementation; (2)Affordability; (3)Timesaving; (4) Drawing support; (5) Representativeness; (6) Transportability. Paper discusses findings from interviewees: (A) Implementation issues are above time and price. (B) Strongly different understanding of what digital sketching is. From drawing in Google Slides by mouse to sketching in Metaverse. (C) Substantial reduction of traditional sketching (down to a total of 3% of the time) at the expense of growing responsibilities. (D) 80% of respondents do not recommend sketching in front of the client. Also, other interesting findings are further described in the discussion.
keywords Architectural Sketch, Digital Sketch, Effective Visual Communication
series eCAADe
email
last changed 2024/04/22 07:10

_id db00
authors Espina, Jane J.B.
year 2002
title Base de datos de la arquitectura moderna de la ciudad de Maracaibo 1920-1990 [Database of the Modern Architecture of the City of Maracaibo 1920-1990]
source SIGraDi 2002 - [Proceedings of the 6th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] Caracas (Venezuela) 27-29 november 2002, pp. 133-139
summary Bases de datos, Sistemas y Redes 134The purpose of this report is to present the achievements obtained in the use of the technologies of information andcommunication in the architecture, by means of the construction of a database to register the information on the modernarchitecture of the city of Maracaibo from 1920 until 1990, in reference to the constructions located in 5 of Julio, Sectorand to the most outstanding planners for its work, by means of the representation of the same ones in digital format.The objective of this investigation it was to elaborate a database for the registration of the information on the modernarchitecture in the period 1920-1990 of Maracaibo, by means of the design of an automated tool to organize the it datesrelated with the buildings, parcels and planners of the city. The investigation was carried out considering three methodologicalmoments: a) Gathering and classification of the information of the buildings and planners of the modern architectureto elaborate the databases, b) Design of the databases for the organization of the information and c) Design ofthe consultations, information, reports and the beginning menu. For the prosecution of the data files were generated inprograms attended by such computer as: AutoCAD R14 and 2000, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and MicrosoftAccess 2000, CorelDRAW V9.0 and Corel PHOTOPAINT V9.0.The investigation is related with the work developed in the class of Graphic Calculation II, belonging to the Departmentof Communication of the School of Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture and Design of The University of the Zulia(FADLUZ), carried out from the year 1999, using part of the obtained information of the works of the students generatedby means of the CAD systems for the representation in three dimensions of constructions with historical relevance in themodern architecture of Maracaibo, which are classified in the work of The Other City, generating different types ofisometric views, perspectives, representations photorealistics, plants and facades, among others.In what concerns to the thematic of this investigation, previous antecedents are ignored in our environment, and beingthe first time that incorporates the digital graph applied to the work carried out by the architects of “The Other City, thegenesis of the oil city of Maracaibo” carried out in the year 1994; of there the value of this research the field of thearchitecture and computer science. To point out that databases exist in the architecture field fits and of the design, alsoweb sites with information has more than enough architects and architecture works (Montagu, 1999).In The University of the Zulia, specifically in the Faculty of Architecture and Design, they have been carried out twoworks related with the thematic one of database, specifically in the years 1995 and 1996, in the first one a system wasdesigned to visualize, to classify and to analyze from the architectural point of view some historical buildings of Maracaiboand in the second an automated system of documental information was generated on the goods properties built insidethe urban area of Maracaibo. In the world environment it stands out the first database developed in Argentina, it is the database of the Modern andContemporary Architecture “Datarq 2000” elaborated by the Prof. Arturo Montagú of the University of Buenos Aires. The general objective of this work it was the use of new technologies for the prosecution in Architecture and Design (MONTAGU, Ob.cit). In the database, he intends to incorporate a complementary methodology and alternative of use of the informationthat habitually is used in the teaching of the architecture. When concluding this investigation, it was achieved: 1) analysis of projects of modern architecture, of which some form part of the historical patrimony of Maracaibo; 2) organized registrations of type text: historical, formal, space and technical data, and graph: you plant, facades, perspectives, pictures, among other, of the Moments of the Architecture of the Modernity in the city, general data and more excellent characteristics of the constructions, and general data of the Planners with their more important works, besides information on the parcels where the constructions are located, 3)construction in digital format and development of representations photorealistics of architecture projects already built. It is excellent to highlight the importance in the use of the Technologies of Information and Communication in this investigation, since it will allow to incorporate to the means digital part of the information of the modern architecturalconstructions that characterized the city of Maracaibo at the end of the XX century, and that in the last decades they have suffered changes, some of them have disappeared, destroying leaves of the modern historical patrimony of the city; therefore, the necessity arises of to register and to systematize in digital format the graphic information of those constructions. Also, to demonstrate the importance of the use of the computer and of the computer science in the representation and compression of the buildings of the modern architecture, to inclination texts, images, mapping, models in 3D and information organized in databases, and the relevance of the work from the pedagogic point of view,since it will be able to be used in the dictation of computer science classes and history in the teaching of the University studies of third level, allowing the learning with the use in new ways of transmission of the knowledge starting from the visual information on the part of the students in the elaboration of models in three dimensions or electronic scalemodels, also of the modern architecture and in a future to serve as support material for virtual recoveries of some buildings that at the present time they don’t exist or they are almost destroyed. In synthesis, the investigation will allow to know and to register the architecture of Maracaibo in this last decade, which arises under the parameters of the modernity and that through its organization and visualization in digital format, it will allow to the students, professors and interested in knowing it in a quicker and more efficient way, constituting a contribution to theteaching in the history area and calculation. Also, it can be of a lot of utility for the development of future investigation projects related with the thematic one and restoration of buildings of the modernity in Maracaibo.
keywords database, digital format, modern architecture, model, mapping
series SIGRADI
email
last changed 2016/03/10 09:51

_id f4d7
authors Madrazo, L.
year 1995
title The Concept of Type in Architecture: An Inquiry into the Nature of Architectural Form
source Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich
summary The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the meaning of the concept of Type in the field of architectural theory. Even though the use of the term type by architectural theorists is a relatively recent phenomenon, which can be traced back to Quatremère de Quincy in the early nineteenth century, the idea of Type, as opposed to the explicit use of this term by theorists, has pervaded much of architectural theory ever since Vitruvius. In fact, many theorists have been concerned with issues which convey a notion of Type, like the origins of architectural form, the systematization of architectural knowledge and the understanding of the process of creativity. A basic premise of this work is that to understand the true significance of the idea of Type in architecture, it is necessary to overcome certain traditional views that have associated Type with the work of specific authors at a given time like, for example, Quatremère de Quincy and Semper in the nineteenth century, or Rossi in the twentieth. Only a comprehensive study of the most relevant ideas formulated in the field of architectural theory -beginning with Vitruvius and finishing with contemporary design methodologists- can reveal the essential meaning, or meanings, of Type. This work attempts to provide such a comprehensive study. To derive the fundamental meanings of the concept of Type from the body of the architectural tradition, it has been necessary to proceed, simultaneously, along two different lines: one diachronic, the other synchronic. From a diachronic point of view, the aim has been to trace the evolution of the theories of Type from one author to another, for example from Laugier to Quatremère de Quincy. From a synchronic point of view, the goal has been to disclose the common ideas that lie behind theories formulated at different times, for instance, between Vitruvius' theory of the origins of architectural form and the artistic theory developed after the advent of Gestalt psychology. In recent times, the term type has been used by architectural writers as synonymous with typology. Unfortunately, establishing this identity between type and typology has served to undermine some of the essential meanings conveyed by Type. In the overall context of the architectural tradition, the idea of Type has much deeper implications than those that are confined to the classification and study of building forms. Type embraces transcendental issues of aesthetic, epistemological and metaphysical character; issues that have to do with the most generic problem of Form. Certainly, the essential meaning of Type is intimately related with the more transcendental problem of Form. To explore the relation between the idea of Type and the historical evolution of architectural form, has also been the purpose of this research. As this work attempts to show, the variety of meanings that Type has adopted through history are inseparably connected to the evolution undergone by architectural form. For that reason, this work, although primarily a study of the concept of Type, it is, at the same time, an investigation on the nature of architectural form.
series thesis:PhD
email
last changed 2003/05/10 05:42

_id 2caa
authors Marinelli, Anna Maria and Graziano, Laura
year 1995
title Urban Analysis and Hypermedia
source Multimedia and Architectural Disciplines [Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe / ISBN 0-9523687-1-4] Palermo (Italy) 16-18 November 1995, pp. 149-154
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.149
summary The structure of major European cities was formed in recent years more by stratification of different patterns, as it seems, than by urban planning. Moreover traditional analytical tools - such as cartography, which defines and symbolizes static data and their spatial connections - are not able to decode any more the image of cities. Modern city means not only static form, as public space is not a simple function. city includes movement, temporary objects, changing perceptions, fluxes. Therefore hypertexts could he a chance of building up and propagate a real knowledge about modern city. an effective action to reach qualification and management of urban spaces through citizens direct involvement in the city construction. A hypertext on the Rome quarter "Esquilino" has been carried out as an open structure, to probe the new representation method trough the construction of the real "image" of the quarter, gathering different information as historical, geographic and socioeconomical data, urban projects, citizens proposals.
series eCAADe
more http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_19.htm
last changed 2022/06/07 07:59

_id 7670
authors Sawicki, Bogumil
year 1995
title Ray Tracing – New Chances, Possibilities and Limitations in AutoCAD
source CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 121-136
summary Realistic image synthesis is nowadays widely used in engineering applications. Some of these applications, such as architectural, interior, lighting and industrial design demand accurate visualization of non-existent scenes as they would look to us, when built in reality. This can only be archived by using physically based models of light interaction with surfaces, and simulating propagation of light through an environment. Ray tracing is one of the most powerful techniques used in computer graphics, which can produce such very realistic images. Ray tracing algorithm follows the paths of light rays backwards from observer into the scene. It is very time consuming process and as such one could not be developed until proper computers appeared, In recent years the technological improvements in computer industry brought more powerful machines with bigger storage capacities and better graphic devices. Owing to increasing these hardware capabilities successful implementation of ray tracing in different CAD software became possible also on PC machines. Ray tracing in AutoCAD r.12 - the most popular CAD package in the world - is the best of that example. AccuRender and AutoVision are an AutoCAD Development System (ADS) applications that use ray tracing to create photorealistic images from 3D AutoCAD models. These ,internal"' applications let users generate synthetic images of threedimensional models and scenes entirely within AutoCAD space and show effects directly on main AutoCAD screen. Ray tracing algorithm accurately calculates and displays shadows, transparency, diffusion, reflection, and refraction from surface qualities of user-defined materials. The accurate modelling of light lets produce sophisticated effects and high-quality images, which these ray tracers always generates at 24-bit pixel depth,"providing 16,7 million colours. That results can be quite impressive for some architects and are almost acceptable for others but that coloured virtual world, which is presented by ray tracing in AutoCAD space in such convincing way, is still not exactly the same as the real world. Main limitations of realism are due to the nature of ray tracing method Classical ray tracing technique takes into account the effects of light reflection from neighbouring surfaces but, leaves out of account the ambient and global illumination arising out of complex interreflections in an environment. So models generated by ray tracing belong to an "ideal" world where real materials and environment can't find their right place. We complain about that fact and say that ray tracing shows us "too specular world", but (...) (...) there is anything better on the horizon? It should be concluded, that typical abilities of today's graphics software and hardware are far from exploited. As was observed in literature there have been various works carried along with the explicit intention of overcoming all these ray tracing limitations, These researches seem to be very promising and let us hope that their results will be seen in CAD applications soon. As it happens with modelling, perhaps the answer will come from a variety of techniques that can be combined together with ray tracing depending on the case we are dealing with. Therefore from the point of view of an architects that try to keep alive some interest on the nature of materials and their interaction with form, "ray tracing" seems to be right path of research and development that we can still a long way follow, From the point of view of the school, a critical assimilation of "ray tracing" processes is required and one that might help to determinate exactly their distortions and to indicate the correct way of its development and right place in CAAD education. I trust that ray tracing will become standard not only in AutoCAD but in all architectural space modelling CAD applications and will be established as a powerful and real tool for experimental researches in architectural design process. Will be the technological progress so significant in the nearest future as it is anticipated?
series plCAD
last changed 2000/01/24 10:08

_id 2005_787
id 2005_787
authors Veikos, Cathrine
year 2005
title The Post-Medium Condition
source Digital Design: The Quest for New Paradigms [23nd eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9541183-3-2] Lisbon (Portugal) 21-24 September 2005, pp. 787-794
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2005.787
summary Theorists in art, architecture and visual media have described the digital world as a world of mediumlessness and proclaimed that the medium of a work, once the ontological determinant for the classification of the arts, is rendered meaningless by recent technological and cultural developments (Krauss, 2000; Negroponte, 1995; Manovich, 2001). Although indebted to specific media-based techniques and their attendant ideologies, software removes the material reality of techniques to an immaterial condition where the effects of material operations are reproduced abstractly. This paper asserts that a productive approach for digital design can be found in the acknowledgement that the importance of the digital format is not that it de-materializes media, but that it allows for the maximum intermingling of media. A re-conceptualization of media follows from this, defined now as, a set of conventions derived from the material conditions of a given technical support, conventions out of which to develop a form of expressiveness that can be both projective and mnemonic (Krauss, 2000). The paper will focus on the identification of these conventions towards the development of new forms of expressiveness in architecture. Further demonstration of the intermingling of materially-based conventions is carried out in the paper through a comparative analysis of contemporary works of art and architecture, taking installation art as a particular example. A new design approach based on the maximum intermingling of media takes account of integrative strategies towards the digital and the material and sees them as inextricably linked. In the digital “medium” different sets of conventions derived from different material conditions transfer their informational assets producing fully formed, material-digital ingenuity.
keywords Expanded Architecture, Art Practice, Material, Information, ParametricTechniques, Evolutionary Logics
series eCAADe
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:58

_id 6b82
authors Week, David
year 1995
title The Database Revisited: Beyond the Container Metaphor
source Computing in Design - Enabling, Capturing and Sharing Ideas [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-04-7] University of Washington (Seattle, Washington / USA) October 19-22, 1995, pp. 53-70
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.053
summary The growth of international networks, and of international trade in general, has increased the opportunities for architects to work together over distance. In our practice at Pacific Architecture, we’ve been using first modems, and now the Internet, to connect co-workers at sites in Australia, Oregon, Scotland, and Papua New Guinea. Design collaboration has been primarily through the e-mail exchange of text and drawings. We’ve also assessed other CMC tools. Products like Timbuktu and video-conferencing software allow for real-time collaboration, based on the metaphor of two (or more) people together at a table, able to see and hear each other, and to work together on the same document. Groupware make intragroup communication the basis for building a workgroup’s knowledgebase. On recent projects, we’ve begun using database software as the basis for collaborative design communication. We’ve taken as a model for data structure Christopher Alexander’s ‘pattern language’ schema. Conversations about the design take the form of a collaborative construction of the language. Inputs into the database are constrained by the ‘pattern’ format. The CAD drawings run in parallel, as an ‘expression’ or ‘instance’ of the language. So far, CAD and database do not have an integrated interface. This paper describes our experience in these projects. It also outlines a set of design criteria for an integrated CAD/database environment economically and incrementally achievable within the constraints of currently available software. Formulating such criteria requires the reconceptualisation of notions of ‘database’. This paper looks at these notions through philosophical and linguistic work on metaphor. In conclusion, the paper analyses the way in which we can use a reframed notion of database to create a useful collaborative communication environment, centred on the architectural drawing.

series ACADIA
last changed 2022/06/07 07:58

_id cf2011_p024
id cf2011_p024
authors Tidafi, Temy; Charbonneau Nathalie, Khalili-Araghi Salman
year 2011
title Backtracking Decisions within a Design Process: a Way of Enhancing the Designer's Thought Process and Creativity
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. 573-587.
summary This paper proposes a way computer sciences could contribute to stimulate the designer’s reflexive thought. We explore the possibility of making use of backtracking devices in order to formalize the designer’s thought process. Design, as a process of creating an object, cannot be represented by means of a linear timeline. Accordingly, the backtracking processes we are discussing here are not based on a linear model but rather on a non-linear structure. Beyond the notion of undoing and redoing commands within CAD packages, the backtracking process is seen as a way to explore and record several alternate options. The branches of the non-linear model can be seen as pathways made of sequential decisions. The designer creates and explores these pathways while making tentative moves towards an architectural solution. Within the design process, backtracking enables the designer to establish and act on a network of interrelated decisions. This notion is fundamental. It is quite obvious that information, in order to be meaningful, must occupy a specific place within an informational network. A data, separated from its context, is devoid of interest. By the same token, a decision takes on significance solely in combination with other decisions. In this paper, we examine what kinds of decisions are involved within a design process, how they are connected, and what could be the best ways to formalize the relationships. Our goal is to experiment ways that could enable the designer and his/her collaborators to get a clearer mental picture of the network of decisions aforementioned. The non-linear model can be seen as a graph structure. The user moves wherever he/she wants through the branches of the structure to establish the network of decisions or to get reacquainted with a previous design process. As a matter of fact, it can act in both ways: to reassess or to confirm a decision. On the one hand, the designer can go back to previous states, reconsider past choices, and eventually modify them. On the other hand, he/she can move forward and revisit a given sequence of decisions, so as to recapture the essence of a previous design process. It goes without saying that knowledge regarding the design process is constructed by the designer from his/her own experiences. Since the designer’s perception evolves as time goes by, the network of decisions constitutes a model that is continuously questioned and restructured. The designer does not elaborate solely an architectural object, but also an evolving model formalizing the way he/she achieved his/her aim. As Le Moigne (1995) pointed out, the model itself produces knowledge; afterwards, the designer can examine it so as to get a clearer mental picture of his/her own cognitive processes. Furthermore, it can be used by his/her collaborators in order to understand which thread of ideas led the designer to a given visual result, and eventually resume or reorient the design process. In addition to reflecting on the ideological implications inherent to this questioning, we take into account the feasibility of such a research project. From a more technical point of view, in this paper we will describe how we plane to take up the challenge of elaborating a digital environment enabling backtracking processes within graph structures. Furthermore, we will explain how we plane to test the first trial version of the new environment with potential users so as to observe how they respond to it. These experiments will be conducted in order to verify to what extend the methods we are proposing are able to i) enhance the designer’s creativity and ii) increase our understanding of designer’s thought process.
keywords backtracking, design process, digital environments, problem space, network of decisions, graph structure.
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2012/02/11 19:21

_id 4688
authors Woodbury, Robert and Chang, Teng-Wen
year 1995
title Building Enclosures using SEED-Config
source Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 49-54
summary We describe enclosure design for SEED-Config using an example from "Architectural Details for Insulated Buildings" (Brand 90). We develop enclosures for insulated buildings in terms of the functional units that specify them, the technologies that implement them and the design units that describe them. Brand gives details in eight series (A-H); in each series he describes a specific detailing system. We base our exposition on series A to E: these share the property of the wall fitting partially under the roof and floor slabs. In series F and G the wall stands clear of the slabs and this would require a different approach to detailing from a very high level. Series H is a compendium of special cases that we do not discuss here at all. We conclude with a discussion of what our enclosure design example implies for the representation and computational engine of SEED-Config. We chose insulated enclosures as our example for a specific reason: Brandís treatment of them is proximate to the fundamental approach we take in SEED. Brand wrote in clear, rule-like terms that progress from the abstract to the specific. He explicitly links each part of every detail to the function it fulfills.
keywords Generative Systems, Building Enclosures, CAD, SEED, Representation, Search
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id 6cb2
authors Af Klercker, Jonas
year 1995
title Architects Early Sketching on Computer Using Multimedia
source Multimedia and Architectural Disciplines [Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe / ISBN 0-9523687-1-4] Palermo (Italy) 16-18 November 1995, pp. 247-256
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.247
summary This paper presents a development work which aims at practical applications of ideas built on experiences in practise and education and the theoretical development in the BAS.CAAD project. The important difference between BAS.CAAD and CAD programs of today is the possibility to handle user organisation, building design and site in the same program. This means that design today has to be done in at least 3 separate programs with different ways of defining objects. It is then a computer technical problem to mix and study the relations between objects of separate origin. In a recent project our method to overcome this difficulty in CAAD computing was using a Multimedia program making visual simulations to analyse consequences of form etc. As the process went on and forms where more concrete it was possible to make simulations worth showing and discussing to involve colleagues, clients and users.

series eCAADe
email
more http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_51.htm
last changed 2022/06/07 07:54

_id c642
authors Andersen, T. and Carlsen, N.V.
year 1995
title Software design of maintainable knowledge-based systems for building design
source Automation in Construction 4 (2) (1995) pp. 101-110
summary Identifying and establishing a basic structure for knowledge representation is one of the keys to successful design of knowledge-based computer systems. In Building Design and Construction, this initial knowledge structure can be achieved by utilizing a query driven approach to software engineering. As (user) queries reflect the user's demand for in/output, it is natural to link the overall user dialogue with key elements in the knowledge base direct connections between user screen and objects in the knowledge base support prototyping and testing the application during development. However, the price for pursuing this approach in its pure form can be high, as needs for later maintenance and augmentation of the system can be very hard to fulfill. To overcome these problems, a strict user interlace, software separation strategy must be. introduced at early stages of software design. and implemented as a global control module as independent of the knowledge processing as possible.
keywords Knowledge-based; Query driven: Software design; User interlace: Separation; Maintainable systems
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/06/02 09:35

_id c6bb
authors Bottelli, Valeria and Fogh, Christian
year 1995
title Galathea: A Case-Based Planning Tool for Knowledge Navigation in the Architectural Design Process
source Multimedia and Architectural Disciplines [Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe / ISBN 0-9523687-1-4] Palermo (Italy) 16-18 November 1995, pp. 427-436
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.427
summary We report on an on-going Ph.D. research aimed at the analysis of the nature of process knowledge in architectural design and the development of a conceptual model for a case-based navigation tool for its support. We describe architectural design from a process viewpoint and assume it as a form of intentional planning, leading from an initial state configuration toward a desired situation, by means of an incremental specification of goals, constraints and involved variables. We consider the very essence of design and of the specific professional skill characterising designers as the continual recursive transformation of the initial solution model, in order to map the desired state onto the enacted one and the capability to govern a number of continually changing variables in this direction. On the basis of this general concept of the design process, we describe the model of Galathea, a case-based planning tool, aimed at progressively representing the enlarging space of acquired knowledge, and at supporting the designer´s central role in the management of the design process.
series eCAADe
more http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_50.htm
last changed 2022/06/07 07:54

_id ff05
authors Butelski, Kazimierz
year 1995
title A Brief Note on Virtual Space
source CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 83-92
summary In its efforts to represent space, and then create architecture on the basis of this representation, humanity has taken three major steps. STEP 1. Representation of space in the form of a drawing or model; representations compared to the mental vision and then redrawn or remodelled, until the vision takes the shape of a finished building. This technology of design" followed different conventions, depending on the epoch. In the Middle Ages the method of approximation by triangles was introduced. The Renaissance used Projection, Elevation and Cross-Section. In order to construct a building, a flat, abstract representation is used, supplemented by a model showing spatial relations and a verbal description, impossible to convey graphically. STEP 2. Methods as in Step 1, but, beginning in the 1970s, with the use of computers, which allows also for the gradual integration of these methods in one program. Theoretically speaking, all necessary data can be now recorded, visualized, animated, etc., on a PC class computer. The design-aid software is based on the method of creating a 3D model of the whole building, and then generating the rest (projections, cross-sections) from it. STEP 3. The above step have - brought us to near- perfection in photorealistic representation of space, which remains, however only a 2D abstraction from 3D space. The next step, which is now taking place before (and in?) our very eyes, is to use systems which bring us directly into 3D space.
series plCAD
last changed 2000/01/24 10:08

_id 30ec
authors Coates, Paul and Hall, Miles Robin
year 1995
title The Use of CAAD to Generate Urban Form
source Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 599-616
summary The paper describes a computer modelling process suitable for the generation of townscape elements using a statistical simulation based on aesthetic theory in mathematics. This approach is also used to analyse existing urban settings and thereby allow comparison with the generated output of the model indicating close agreement between the model and attractive historical townscape. This agreement depends closely upon the size of the unit chosen for measurement of the existing townscape thereby determining how the output from the model should be scaled for construction. An independent low-level designing ability appears inherent in the model and there is a discussion as to how this might be further developed.
keywords Emergent Form, Generative Model, Power Laws, Townscape, Vernacular Style
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id 80df
authors Cook, Alan R.
year 1995
title Stereopsis in the Design and Presentation of Architectural Works
source Computing in Design - Enabling, Capturing and Sharing Ideas [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-04-7] University of Washington (Seattle, Washington / USA) October 19-22, 1995, pp. 113-137
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.113
summary This article presumes the primacy of spatial cognition in evaluating architectural designs and begins by describing key concepts involved in the perception of spatial form, focussing on parallax and stereoscopy. The ultimate emphasis is directed at presenting techniques which employ computers with modest hardware specifications and a basic three-dimensional modeling software application to produce sophisticated imaging tools. It is argued that these techniques are comparable to high end computer graphic products in their potentials for carrying information and in some ways are superior in their speed of generation and economies of dissemination. A camera analogy is considered in relation to controlling image variables. The ability to imply a temporal dimension is explored. An abbreviated summary of pertinent binocular techniques for viewing stereograms precedes a rationalization and initiation for using the cross-convergence technique. Ways to generate and view stereograms and other multiscopic views using 3-D computer models are described. Illustrations from sample projects show various levels of stereogram rendering including the theoretically 4-D wireframe stereogram. The translated perspective array autostereogram is presented as an economical and easily reproducible alternative to holography as well as being a substitute for stop action animation.

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

_id 4aae
authors Day, Alan K. and Radford, Antony D.
year 1995
title Imaging Change: The Computer City Model as a Laboratory for Urban Design Research
source Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 495-506
summary The use of an extensive and detailed computer model of the city of Bath, UK, as a laboratory for urban design research is discussed. Bath is a small predominantly Georgian historic city that has been designated a World Heritage Site. Examples are drawn from four kinds of work: the representation of Bathís historic growth (including unbuilt plans), the prediction of the urban design impact of individual development proposals, the study and development of explicit and implicit urban design Çrulesë for the form of existing and new development, and the impact on city form and appearance of policy proposals for urban sustainability.
keywords 3D City Modeling, Urban Modelling, Planning, Public Consultation
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id 4538
authors Dobson, A., Dokonal, W. and Kosco, I.
year 1995
title World Wide Web Presentation of Collaborative Student Design Work
source Multimedia and Architectural Disciplines [Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe / ISBN 0-9523687-1-4] Palermo (Italy) 16-18 November 1995, pp. 105-110
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.105
summary Inspired by presentations made at the last eCAADe conference of collaborative work by students at a number of schools of architecture who were using the Internet as a form of virtual studio, a network for a collaborative design project was set up between the schools of architecture in Bratislava, Graz and Luton. This paper takes the form of a multi-media presentation of the results of this collaborative project, carried out on-line via the World Wide Web site at the University of Technology in Graz. In addition to presenting the design solutions produced during the project, the paper analyses the technical difficulties encountered with file transfers, assesses the participants' experience of using the Internet as a medium for collaboration, evaluates the educational validity of the project and outlines proposals for the future development of collaborative activities by the group.
series eCAADe
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:55

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