Cumincad : CUMINCAD Papers : Search Results

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

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_id	avocaad_2001_16
id	avocaad_2001_16
authors	Yu-Ying Chang, Yu-Tung Liu, Chien-Hui Wong
year	2001
title	Some Phenomena of Spatial Characteristics of Cyberspace
source	AVOCAAD - ADDED VALUE OF COMPUTER AIDED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Nys Koenraad, Provoost Tom, Verbeke Johan, Verleye Johan (Eds.), (2001) Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunst - Departement Architectuur Sint-Lucas, Campus Brussel, ISBN 80-76101-05-1
summary	"Space," which has long been an important concept in architecture (Bloomer & Moore, 1977; Mitchell, 1995, 1999), has attracted interest of researchers from various academic disciplines in recent years (Agnew, 1993; Benko & Strohmayer, 1996; Chang, 1999; Foucault, 1982; Gould, 1998). Researchers from disciplines such as anthropology, geography, sociology, philosophy, and linguistics regard it as the basis of the discussion of various theories in social sciences and humanities (Chen, 1999). On the other hand, since the invention of Internet, Internet users have been experiencing a new and magic "world." According to the definitions in traditional architecture theories, "space" is generated whenever people define a finite void by some physical elements (Zevi, 1985). However, although Internet is a virtual, immense, invisible and intangible world, navigating in it, we can still sense the very presence of ourselves and others in a wonderland. This sense could be testified by our naming of Internet as Cyberspace -- an exotic kind of space. Therefore, as people nowadays rely more and more on the Internet in their daily life, and as more and more architectural scholars and designers begin to invest their efforts in the design of virtual places online (e.g., Maher, 1999; Li & Maher, 2000), we cannot help but ask whether there are indeed sensible spaces in Internet. And if yes, these spaces exist in terms of what forms and created by what ways?To join the current interdisciplinary discussion on the issue of space, and to obtain new definition as well as insightful understanding of "space", this study explores the spatial phenomena in Internet. We hope that our findings would ultimately be also useful for contemporary architectural designers and scholars in their designs in the real world.As a preliminary exploration, the main objective of this study is to discover the elements involved in the creation/construction of Internet spaces and to examine the relationship between human participants and Internet spaces. In addition, this study also attempts to investigate whether participants from different academic disciplines define or experience Internet spaces in different ways, and to find what spatial elements of Internet they emphasize the most.In order to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the spatial phenomena in Internet and to overcome the subjectivity of the members of the research team, the research design of this study was divided into two stages. At the first stage, we conducted literature review to study existing theories of space (which are based on observations and investigations of the physical world). At the second stage of this study, we recruited 8 Internet regular users to approach this topic from different point of views, and to see whether people with different academic training would define and experience Internet spaces differently.The results of this study reveal that the relationship between human participants and Internet spaces is different from that between human participants and physical spaces. In the physical world, physical elements of space must be established first; it then begins to be regarded as a place after interaction between/among human participants or interaction between human participants and the physical environment. In contrast, in Internet, a sense of place is first created through human interactions (or activities), Internet participants then begin to sense the existence of a space. Therefore, it seems that, among the many spatial elements of Internet we found, "interaction/reciprocity" Ñ either between/among human participants or between human participants and the computer interface Ð seems to be the most crucial element.In addition, another interesting result of this study is that verbal (linguistic) elements could provoke a sense of space in a degree higher than 2D visual representation and no less than 3D visual simulations. Nevertheless, verbal and 3D visual elements seem to work in different ways in terms of cognitive behaviors: Verbal elements provoke visual imagery and other sensory perceptions by "imagining" and then excite personal experiences of space; visual elements, on the other hand, provoke and excite visual experiences of space directly by "mapping".Finally, it was found that participants with different academic training did experience and define space differently. For example, when experiencing and analyzing Internet spaces, architecture designers, the creators of the physical world, emphasize the design of circulation and orientation, while participants with linguistics training focus more on subtle language usage. Visual designers tend to analyze the graphical elements of virtual spaces based on traditional painting theories; industrial designers, on the other hand, tend to treat these spaces as industrial products, emphasizing concept of user-center and the control of the computer interface.The findings of this study seem to add new information to our understanding of virtual space. It would be interesting for future studies to investigate how this information influences architectural designers in their real-world practices in this digital age. In addition, to obtain a fuller picture of Internet space, further research is needed to study the same issue by examining more Internet participants who have no formal linguistics and graphical training.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	4169
authors	Iodo, Irina A.
year	1995
title	The Search for the Logical Algorithm of the Town-planning Process
source	CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 275-282
summary	The creation of such models of material and spatial environment that can guarantee the most efficient passing of the virtual processes is considered to be one of the main goals for the town planning. But sometimes this goal is not achieved because of the far-fetched space organization accepted in the model, that does not always coincide with the real processes of vital activity. This report does not focus particularly on the damage which is caused by the realization of such defective models. But it is very important to find out the way for complete elimination of the reasons mentioned above. We should also take into account that means of cognition available at the moment are among the basic determiners, which define that "shear" of reality and also that comprehension level of objective laws governing this stage of social development. That is why our conception of the town-planning processes is in constant development and improvement: it gradually approximates to the truth, but, certainly, does not entirely perceive it.
series	plCAD
last changed	2000/01/24 10:08

_id	890b
authors	Jakimowicz, Adam
year	1995
title	Architecture not Aided – Architecture Transformed
source	CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 193-207
summary	Permeating of new technologies (computer aided design) into architectural design causes essential changes in its structure. It is the process, set of mutually interrelated different social, political, cultural occurrences, which happen in the present time. Everything what is new, brings either fear or unreliable expectations. The reflection is needed to name what we will have to deal with in architecture. Architecture is not a stable sphere, and as other disciplines is subject to processes of change, which result from the specificity of the time. We need to be aware of the consequences these processes could cause. I located them in six general fields: 1.) Transformation of the tool traditional tools - set of singular, autonomous, mono-functional devices, which together make the environment; computer - one tool consisting of non-autonomous internal and external units, multifunctional; itself it is the environment, system; 2.) Transformation of the medium. As the medium is the message (M.McLuhan), so the essence of media is transmission. Traditional transmission in architectural design is direct (transmission is equivalent to recording, notation), computer based transmission is indirect (transmission is not equivalent to recording); 3.) Transformation of perception, imagination and thinking. Perception - in the process of design directly relates to media Indirect transmission - causes also rupture in direct relation between record and perception (mainly in modelling); simulated object is a stage in the process. Imagination, thinking - influenced with perception, with data transmitted from the medium - can be seen as inspiration; 4.) Transformation of cooperation and communication. It is to be done by elimination of some of intermediate stages in the design process and use of multimedial communication systems (Internet); 5.) Transformation of methodology. Same as in 4 with the possibility of simultaneous shifting in the hierarchy of design stages - almost full reversal of the process possible (regardless of individual methodology) - if needed of course; 6. Transformation of architecture itself. This concerns very deeply point 3 - and it rooms that natural consequences of the changes in perception, imagination and thinking should result in the new understanding of architecture - not as electronic methaphone, but as a sphere relevant (?!) to the vision of the world, which, as we see, is dramatically changing. The basic issue to accept is that this vision of the world should be interpreted individually. Personally.
series	plCAD
email
last changed	2000/01/24 10:08

_id	c0ef
authors	Kalay, Yehuda and Séquin, Carlo
year	1995
title	Designer-Client Collaboration in Architectural and Software Design
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. 383-403
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.383
summary	An upper-level undergraduate architectural design studio and a graduate computer science CAD course were paired to study client-designer interactions. The dual nature of these courses led to two sets of products: building designs compatible with the specifications of the clients, and prototype CAD tool to assist architects in the conceptual design phases. First, the computer scientists acted as clients to the architects, who designed a building for the computer science department. Once the computer science students had become familiar, through observation, with the architectural design process, they began developing tools for the architects' use. In that reversed-role, the architects became the clients of the computer scientists. For both parties this interaction provided an opportunity to experience the social aspects of the design process, in particular, the designer-client relationships, which most often are absent in traditional educational settings. This paper describes the objectives of this integrated pair of courses, the methods and processes used, and some of the results.
keywords	Design, Design Process, Design Studio, Design Education, Architectural Design, CAD
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	1ffd
authors	Dave, Bharat
year	1995
title	Towards Distributed Computer-Aided Design Environments
source	Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 659-666
summary	Computing in architectural design has followed a number of different visions, hopes and research agendas. One of the dominant themes in design Computing seeks to support various activities of 'individual' designers acting within a 'personal' design realm. Parallel to this is another theme which seeks to blend computing aids into normal working environments of groups of designers. The recent interest in and resurgence of collaborative design tools are steps towards what we view as an emerging theme in design computing, namely distributed design environments. This paper describes experiments in collaborative design using computers, and their observations are used to suggest future directions for integrating computing and design in distributed environments.
keywords	Design Computing, Collaborative Work, Distributed Processing, Design Services, Design Products
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	acadia16_424
id	acadia16_424
authors	Twose, Simon; du Chatenier, Rosa
year	2016
title	Experimental Material Research - Digital Chocolate
source	ACADIA // 2016: POSTHUMAN FRONTIERS: Data, Designers, and Cognitive Machines [Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) ISBN 978-0-692-77095-5] Ann Arbor 27-29 October, 2016, pp. 424-431
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2016.424
summary	This research investigates the aesthetics of a shared agency between humans, computation and physical material. ‘Chocolate’ is manipulated in physical and virtual space simultaneously to extract aesthetic conditions that are a sum of human and non-human relations. This is an attempt to further the knowledge of designing, giving physical and digital materials force in determining their own aesthetics. The research springs from work in speculative aesthetics, particularly N. Katherine Hayles’s OOI (object-oriented inquiry) and Graham Harman’s OOO (object-oriented ontology) and explores how these ideas impact contemporary computational architectural design. To study this, a simple material has been chosen, chocolate, and used as a vehicle to investigate the dynamics of physical and digital materials and their shared/differing ‘resistances to human manipulation’ (Pickering 1995). Digital chocolate is ‘melted’ through virtual heat, and the results printed and cast in real chocolate, to be further manipulated in real space. The resistances and feedback of physical and digital chocolate to human ‘prodding’ (Hayles 2014) are analyzed in terms of a material’s qualities and tendencies in digital space versus those in physical space. Observations from this process are used to speculate on an aesthetics where humans, computation and physical material are mutually agential. This research is a pilot for a larger study taking on more complex conditions, such as building and cities, with a view to broadening how aesthetics is understood in architectural design. The contribution of this research to the field of architectural computation is thus in areas of aesthetic speculation and human/non-human architectural authorship.
keywords	object-oriented inquiry, speculative aesthetics, mutual agency, big data
series	ACADIA
type	paper
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:58

_id	41e5
authors	Abendroth, M., Decock, J. and Mestaoui, N.
year	2000
title	O_1:// the hypertextu(r)al matrix
source	SIGraDi’2000 - Construindo (n)o espacio digital (constructing the digital Space) [4th SIGRADI Conference Proceedings / ISBN 85-88027-02-X] Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 25-28 september 2000, pp. 75-76
summary	Founded in 1995 LAB[au], laboratory for architecture and urbanism, links theoretic research LAB[a+u] to concrete works of conception and realisations LA.BAU. LAB[au] elaborates a “hyperdesign” investigating the implications of new technologies of communication and computation in spatiotemporal and social processes and their forms of representation as architecture and urbanism. The transposition of the hypertext model to architectural and urban concepts question the mutation of the spatial and semantic construct of space. The definition of architecture as a code is based on “glocal” systems according to the processes of computation and communication.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:47

_id	c777
authors	Bach, Fr.-W., Rachkov, M., Seevers, J. and Hahn, M.
year	1995
title	High tractive power wall-climbing robot
source	Automation in Construction 4 (3) (1995) pp. 213-224
summary	There are a lot of tasks in building construction and maintenance which demand either the carriage of heavy technological equipment along vertical and sloping surfaces and/or provision for force technological operations on such surfaces For example, surface cleaning or grinding by automatic equipment, the mounting of expansion bolts and anchors by drilling or by driving in. Additionally surface inspection by heavy measuring devices and the painting of big construction areas are difficult and expensive to perform manually. It is therefore expedient to apply climbing robots to automate these tractive power operations. The climbing robot was developed for such purposes. The design of the robot with increased load capacity and improved gripper system was carefully considered. The robot has a video camera for orientation and for the monitoring of processes. A sensor-based computer control system is used. This paper contains a brief overview of the technical parameters and experimental characteristics of the robot's transport module, control system with video camera unit, and the different schemes of the robot's application.
keywords	Climbing robot; Two-staged gripper system Monitoring Sensor-based computer control system; Automatic Technological equipment
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/06/02 09:36

_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	caadria2007_659
id	caadria2007_659
authors	Chen, Zi-Ru
year	2007
title	The Combination of Design Media and Design Creativity _ Conventional and Digital Media
source	CAADRIA 2007 [Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia] Nanjing (China) 19-21 April 2007
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2007.x.w5x
summary	Creativity is always interested in many fields, in particular, creativity and design creativity have many interpretations (Boden, 1991; Gero and Maher, 1992, 1993; Kim, 1990; Sternberg, 1988; Weisberg, 1986). In early conceptual design process, designers used large number of sketches and drawings (Purcell and Gero, 1998). The sketch can inspire the designer to increase the creativity of the designer’s creations(Schenk, 1991; Goldschmidt, 1994; Suwa and Tversky, 1997). The freehand sketches by conventional media have been believed to play important roles in processes of the creative design thinking(Goldschmidt, 1991; Schon and Wiggins, 1992; Goel, 1995; Suwa et al., 2000; Verstijnen et al., 1998; Elsas van and Vergeest, 1998). Recently, there are many researches on inspiration of the design creativity by digital media(Liu, 2001; Sasada, 1999). The digital media have been used to apply the creative activities and that caused the occurrenssce of unexpected discovery in early design processes(Gero and Maher, 1993; Mitchell, 1993; Schmitt, 1994; Gero, 1996, 2000; Coyne and Subrahmanian, 1993; Boden, 1998; Huang, 2001; Chen, 2001; Manolya et al. 1998; Verstijinen et al., 1998; Lynn, 2001). In addition, there are many applications by combination of conventional and digital media in the sketches conceptual process. However, previous works only discussed that the individual media were related to the design creativity. The cognitive research about the application of conceptual sketches design by integrating both conventional and digital media simultaneously is absent.
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	a9ff
authors	Chiou, Shang Chia and Krishnamurti, Ramesh
year	1997
title	A Grammar of Taiwanese Temples
source	CAADRIA ‘97 [Proceedings of the Second Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 957-575-057-8] Taiwan 17-19 April 1997, pp. 297-311
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.1997.297
summary	Many different types of traditional Chinese buildings share quite similar architectural forms. This paper extends a shape grammar for Taiwanese vernacular dwellings (Chiou and Krishnamurti, 1995 a, b, c; 1996) to the traditional temple designs. Our grammar was derived from considerations of the traditional processes of design and construction of Taiwanese vernacular dwellings and from cultural influences. The processes for temple design and construction were similar; consequently, a temple grammar can be derived from this grammar. In this paper, we do so by augmenting the latter with additional rules that take into consideration specific changes to the spatial form that distinguish the traditional temples.
series	CAADRIA
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	8cdd
authors	Coyne, Richard
year	1995
title	Multimedia Metaphors in the Design Studio
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. 129-138
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.129
summary	In this paper I examine some of he ways that multimedia impacts upon the design studio. I show how multimedia affects design products and processes in so far as it is caught up in the metaphors we use in structuring design tasks. But this influence is far from deterministic. Metaphors entail various oppositions, the resolution of which sets the problems for the designer in the particular design situation. The article describes two cases of using multimedia in a design studio teaching situation. The first explores how multimedia brings to light the opposition between the design and the presentation of the design. I explore how students cope with the tensions that arise when using multimedia. The second case study looks at the conventional privileging of the visual over the other senses in architectural design. I describe a design studio in which we deliberately privileged the audile sense over the visual. This was established through the way we set the brief, hut also through the use of multimedia technology. Students used sound recorded from the site in conjunction with MIDI keyboard and sound processing technology to analyse and synthesise sound pertinent to the design of a pavilion at the Circular Quay area on the busy Sydney foreshore. We examine what difference this emphasis upon the audile made to the design process and to the design product, and how multimedia affects design.
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_17.htm
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	eb51
authors	Coyne, Richard
year	1996
title	CAAD, Curriculum and Controversy
source	Education for Practice [14th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-2-2] Lund (Sweden) 12-14 September 1996, pp. 121-130
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1996.121
summary	This paper brings some of the debate within educational theory to bear on CAAD teaching, outlining the contributions of conservatism, critical theory, radical hermeneutics and pragmatism. The paper concludes by recommending that CAAD teaching move away from conservative concepts of teaching, design and technology to integrate it into the studio. In a highly illuminating book on education theory, Shaun Gallagher (1991) outlines four current views on education that correspond to four major positions in contemporary social theory and philosophy. I will extend these categories to a consideration of attitudes to information technology, and the teaching of computing in architecture. These four positions are conservatism, critical theory, radical hermeneutics, and pragmatism. I will show how certain issues cluster around them, how each position provides the focus of various discursive practices, or intellectual conversations in contemporary thinking, and how information technology is caught up in those conversations. These four positions are not "cognitive styles," but vigorously argued domains of debate involving writers such as Gadamer, Habermas and Derrida about the theory of interpretation. The field of interpretation is known as hermeneutics, which is concerned less with epistemology and knowledge than with understanding. Interpretation theory applies to reading texts, interpreting the law, and appreciating art, but also to the application of any practical task, such as making art, drawing, defining and solving problems, and design (Coyne and Snodgrass, 1995). Hermeneutics provides a coherent focus for considering many contemporary issues and many domains of practice. I outline what these positions in education mean in terms of CAAD (computer-aided architectural design) in the curriculum.
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.caad.ac.uk/~richard
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	a84e
authors	De Grassi, Mario and Giretti, Alberto
year	1995
title	Applying Formal Methods to Multimedia Design Aid
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. 283-296
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.283
summary	In the last decade we assisted at an evolution of computer aided design systems from drafting, calculation and simulation utilities toward systems able to support the conceptual phase of the design process. Systems supporting conceptual design use knowledge about the design domain and assume a will defined model of the design activity. Their computational framework is usually built by means of a set of representational schemata which lack a formal semantics. This aspect causes a limitation on the applicability of their computational framework to different domains. In this paper we propose a formal knowledge representation language, that has been defined in order to represent the structural relationships of domain knowledge. On the basis of language structure we propose a number of inferences tailored to case-based conceptual design aiding. Finally we apply the representational framework to the implementation of a computational architecture for conceptual design aiding that integrates multimedia representation of design cases with symbolic information processing. The architecture combines a knowledge representation server and a multimedia server. The knowledge representation server processes both domain knowledge and design experiences according to the Case Based Reasoning paradigm. The multimedia server produces the required case representation.
series	eCAADe
more	http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_34.htm
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	0128
authors	Engeli, M., Kurmann, D. and Schmitt, G.
year	1995
title	A New Design Studio: Intelligent Objects and Personal Agents
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. 155-170
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.155
summary	As design processes and products are constantly increasing in complexity, new tools are being developed for the designer to cope with the growing demands. In this paper we describe our research towards a design environment, within which different aspects of design can be combined, elaborated and controlled. New hardware equipment will be combined with recent developments in graphics and artificial intelligence programming to develop appropriate computer based tools and find possible new design techniques. The core of the new design studio comprises intelligent objects in a virtual reality environment that exhibit different behaviours drawn from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial Life (AL) principles, a part already realised in a tool called 'Sculptor'. The tasks of the architect will focus on preferencing and initiating good tendencies in the development of the design. A first set of software agents, assistants that support the architect in viewing, experiencing and judging the design has also been conceptualised for this virtual design environment. The goal is to create an optimised environment for the designer, where the complexity of the design task can be reduced thanks to the support made available from the machine.
keywords	Architectural Design, Design Process, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Personal Agents
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_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	24fa
authors	Gero, J., Damski, J, and Jun, H.
year	1995
title	Emergence in CAAD Systems
source	Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 423-438
summary	Emergence is the process of making properties which were not explicitly represented in a computational system explicit. This paper presents two approaches to graphical emergence suitable or implementation in a CAAD system. It presents processes for shape emergence - the interpretation of shapes which were not intentionally placed there by the designer - and shape semantics emergence - the interpretation of patterns of shape into structures which were not intentionally there by the designer. Examples of both processes and their use are given.
keywords	Shape Emergence, Shape Semantics Emergence, Shape Representation
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	2d1a
authors	Gero, John S. and Jun, Han J.
year	1995
title	Visual semantic emergence to support creative design: A computational view
source	J.S. Gero, M. L. Maher and F. Sudweeks (eds), Preprints Computational Models of Creative Design , University of Sydney, pp. 87-117
summary	One computational model of creative designing involves the introduction of new variables or schemas into the designing process. This paper describes and elaborates an approach where an emergence process is used to emerge visual semantics features in a design as it proceeds. In particular visual symmetry, visual rhythm, visual movement and visual balance are emerged. The processes of emergence introduce new variables into the design process. Emergence becomes one of the computational processes capable of playing a role in creative designing.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/04/06 15:34

_id	acadia21_100
id	acadia21_100
authors	Ghandi, Mona; Ismail, Mohamed; Blaisdell, Marcus
year	2021
title	Parasympathy
source	ACADIA 2021: Realignments: Toward Critical Computation [Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference of the Association of Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) ISBN 979-8-986-08056-7]. Online and Global. 3-6 November 2021. edited by B. Bogosian, K. Dörfler, B. Farahi, J. Garcia del Castillo y López, J. Grant, V. Noel, S. Parascho, and J. Scott. 100-109.
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2021.100
summary	Parasympathy is an interactive spatial experience operating as an extension of visitors’ minds. By integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), wearable technologies, affective computing (Picard 1995; Picard 2003), and neuroscience, this project blurs the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres and empowers users’ brains to solicit positive changes from their spaces based on their real-time biophysical reactions and emotions. The objective is to deploy these technologies in support of the wellbeing of the community especially when related to social matters such as inclusion and social justice in our built environment. Consequently, this project places the users’ emotions at the very center of its space by performing real-time responses to the emotional state of the individuals within the space.
series	ACADIA
type	project
email
last changed	2023/10/22 12:06

_id	a8f0
authors	Goel, V.
year	1995
title	Sketches of thought
source	MA: MIT Press, Cambridge
summary	Much of the cognitive lies beyond articulate, discursive thought, beyond the reach of current computational notions. In Sketches of Thought, Vinod Goel argues that the cognitive computational conception of the world requires our thought processes to be precise, rigid, discrete, and unambiguous; yet there are dense, ambiguous, and amorphous symbol systems, like sketching, painting, and poetry, found in the arts and much of everyday discourse that have an important, nontrivial place in cognition. Goel maintains that while on occasion our thoughts do conform to the current computational theory of mind, they often are -- indeed must be - vague, fluid, ambiguous, and amorphous. He argues that if cognitive science takes the classical computational story seriously, it must deny or ignore these processes, or at least relegate them to the realm of the nonmental. As a cognitive scientist with a design background, Goel is in a unique position to challenge cognitive science on its own territory. He introduces design problem solving as a domain of cognition that illustrates these inarticulate, nondiscursive thought processes at work through the symbol system of sketching. He argues not that such thoughts must remain noncomputational but that our current notions of computation and representation are not rich enough to capture them. Along the way, Goel makes a number of significant and controversial interim points. He shows that there is a principled distinction between design and nondesign problems, that there are standard stages in the solution of design problems, that these stages correlate with the use of different types of external symbol systems; that these symbol systems are usefully individuated in Nelson Goodman's syntactic and semantic terms, and that different cognitive processes are facilitated by different types of symbol systems.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

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