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 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 8378
authors Arlati, Ezio
year 1995
title Patriarch: A Hypermedia Environment for the Support of Architectural Design
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.187
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. 187-198
summary This paper reports on current research in the field of architectural design and knowledge- based systems, through the conception and implementation of two software tools operating as a part of an integrated hypermedia environment denominated PatriArch. Main concern of this set of tools operating in PatriArch is the support of design since the very beginning, in that phase of not yet correctly explored or interpretated constraints and of scarcely specified goals, in which an initial solution model - provisionally composed of fragments of supposed fitting ideas - for the design theme has to take place. The creative activity of the designer is assumed as an 'intentional planning activity' that represents the acquired level of knowledge of the network of connections defining the nature, function, shape in the space etc. of the increasingly integrated solution-model: the final design will be an evolution of this - and other competitive and concurrent - models. PatriArch is meant to be the environment containing and allowing the representation of this evolution through its ability of linking the fragments of designers' knowledge, supported by an integrated relational data base: Sysinfo. These works were conceived inside an educational software development program for architecture students.

series eCAADe
more http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_25.htm
last changed 2022/06/07 07:54

_id d7eb
authors Bharwani, Seraj
year 1996
title The MIT Design Studio of the Future: Virtual Design Review Video Program
source Proceedings of ACM CSCW'96 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work 1996 p.10
summary The MIT Design Studio of the Future is an interdisciplinary effort to focus on geographically distributed electronic design and work group collaboration issues. The physical elements of this virtual studio comprise networked computer and videoconferencing connections among electronic design studios at MIT in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Architecture and Planning, Mechanical Engineering, the Lab for Computer Science, and the Rapid Prototyping Lab, with WAN and other electronic connections to industry partners and sponsors to take advantage of non-local expertise and to introduce real design and construction and manufacturing problems into the equation. This prototype collaborative design network is known as StudioNet. The project is looking at aspects of the design process to determine how advanced technologies impact the process. The first experiment within the electronic studio setting was the "virtual design review", wherein jurors for the final design review were located in geographically distributed sites. The video captures the results of that project, as does a paper recently published in the journal Architectural Research Quarterly (Cambridge, UK; Vol. 1, No. 2; Dec. 1995).
series other
last changed 2002/07/07 16:01

_id a8b4
authors Bridges, A.H.
year 1997
title Implications of the Internet for the construction industry
source Automation in Construction 6 (1) (1997) pp. 45-49
summary This paper is an adaptation of a section of the Building IT 2005 multimedia CD-ROM (Building IT 2005, Construction IT Forum, Cambridge, 1995). The paper discusses the implications of network technology for the construction industry. Introductory material about the Internet (and links to interesting resources) is included in the publication cited and a much more extensive guide is available in A.H. Bridges, The Construction Net, E. & FN Spon, London 1996.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:22

_id 8991
authors Danahy, John and Hoinkes, Rodney
year 1995
title Polytrim: Collaborative Setting for Environmental Design
source Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 647-658
summary This paper begins with a review of the structuring values and questions the Centre for Landscape Research (CLR) is interested in answering with its testbed software system Polytrim (and its derivatives; CLRview, CLRpaint, CLRmosaic available via anonymous ftp over the internet). The mid section of the paper serves as a guide to Polytrim's structure and implementation issues. Some of the most enduring and significant principles learned from Polytrim's use over the last six years of use in research, teaching and professional practice are introduced. The paper will end with an overview of characteristics that we believe our next generation of software should achieve. The CLR's digital library on the World-Wide Web provides an extensive Set of illustrations and detailed descriptions of the ideas and figures presented in this paper. Endnotes provide specific internet addresses for those that wish to read, see or use the system.
keywords Dialogue, Interaction, Collaboration, Integration, Setting
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2003/05/16 20:58

_id 9a5c
authors Dave, B. and Schmitt, G.
year 1995
title Information systems for spatial data
source Automation in Construction 4 (1) (1995) pp. 17-28
summary This paper describes the development of a prototype information system aimed at supporting representation and manipulation of models of urban areas. As a first step, we used aerial imagery to produce accurate digital models of various features of urban areas. The models comprise natural features like terrain data, water and vegetation systems, and man-made features like transportation network, land parcels, and built-up volumes. These data are represented in three dimensions, and they can be further linked with nongraphic attributes stored in an external database schemata. In this paper, we describe the architecture of the prototype system with a particular emphasis on the database aspects, various multimedia data types supported in the system, and operations to query and retrieve the represented data.
keywords Spatial Systems; Multimedia Data; Integrated Environments
series journal paper
email
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 14:36

_id 27
authors De Gregorio, R., Carmena, S., Morelli, R.D., AvendaÒo, C. and Lioi, C.
year 1998
title La Construccion del Espacio del Poder. Museo de la Casa Rosada (The Construction of the Space of Power. Museum of the "Casa Rosada" (Argentinean Presidential House))
source II Seminario Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings / ISBN 978-97190-0-X] Mar del Plata (Argentina) 9-11 september 1998, pp. 212-217
summary The present work is part of the exposition "Francesco Tamburini, La ConstrucciÛn del Espacio del Poder I", exhibited in Rivadavia Cultural Center ( Rosario city), and in Casa Rosada Museum during 1997. The Exposition is based on an investigation program of the space that involves Casa Rosada, determining this space as the first piece of its collection. In 1995, when a group of argentines where visiting the picture gallery Pianetti (Jesi, Italy) there have been found some watercolours of Francesco Tamburini (1846-1890), planner of the main faÁades of the Government and author of many works. These watercolours have great value for architecture, and unknown by public, they have been the starting point of the Exposition. Among these argentines was Roberto De Gregorio architect, historian teacher of this school of architecture, and in charge of the historical investigation. C.I.A.D.'s specific work consists in converting in digital data Casa Rosada's faÁades. The two first stages, already completed, finished on the digital data conversion of facades, in front of Plaza de Mayo and Rivadavia street, with presidential access esplanade. Actually the work is centred on the two facades left and on the elaboration of an electronic model for the edition of a CD-ROM containing the information of the exposition.
series SIGRADI
email
last changed 2016/03/10 09:50

_id d6d8
authors Flemming, Ulrich and Woodbury, Robert
year 1995
title Software Environment to Support Early Phases in Building Design (SEED): Overview
source Journal of Architectural Engineering -- December 1995 -- Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 147-152
summary This paper describes the overall goals of SEED, the approach taken by its developers to achieve these goals, and the subprojects that comprise the entire project. SEED aims at providing computational support forthe early design phase in all aspects that can benefit from such support. It addresses specifically architectural programming, schematic layout design, and the generation of a fully three-dimensional configuration ofphysical building components like structure and enclosure. These tasks are handled by three individual modules, SEED-Pro, SEED-Layout, and SEED-Config. A standards processor is under development tosupport standards and code checking in any module, as is an object database to store and retrieve different design versions, alternatives, and past designs that can be reused and adapted in different contexts(case-based design). Usability issues, especially the interfaces to the modules, receive special attention. Subsequent papers elaborate on these efforts in greater detail. The present paper provides an overview of theentire project and introduces shared concepts presumed known in subsequent papers.
series journal paper
email
last changed 2003/05/15 21:45

_id ac5e
authors Hirschberg, Urs and Streilein, André
year 1995
title CAAD Meets Digital Photogrammetry: Modeling "Weak Forms" for Computer Measurement
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.299
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. 299-313
summary The integration of state-of-the-art photogrammetric methods with the capabilities of CAAD has great potential for a variety of architectural applications. This paper describes the current status of an ongoing research project which aims to develop an easy to use tool for the photogrammetric generation of accurate, reliable and well structured 3D CAAD models of architectural objects. The project adresses the whole range of issues that arise from the digital image acquisition to the data processing, the data integration between photogrammetry and CAAD and the architectural structuring of the geometric data. While also giving a brief overview of the project, the paper concentrates on one central aspect of the system: a method to model what we will define as "weak forms" as the basis for qualitatively controlled computer measurement.
keywords Digital Architectural Photogrammetry, Constraint-Based Modelling
series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_id a79b
authors Junge, Richard and Liebich, Thomas
year 1995
title New Generation CAD in an Integrated Design Environment: A Path towards Multi-Agent Collaboration
source Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 277-290
summary Product Modeling is considered to be an established concept not only for semantically based data exchange, but also for the specification of models, dealing with specific application requirements. The product model approach is regarded to be one step towards a new generation of Computer Aided Architectural Design, and to provide underlying means for enabling communication between different applications on a semantic level. After on overview about the background and the basis principles of product modeling, the authors discuss how product models can be used in commercial developments and in applied research projects.
keywords Product Modeling, STEP, Computer-Aided Design, Data Integration
series CAAD Futures
last changed 1999/08/03 17:16

_id d460
authors Khedro, Taha
year 1995
title AgentCAD for Cooperative Design
source Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 667-672
summary AgentCAD is a network infrastructure of distributed CAD applications that facilitates the concurrent an cooperative interaction of several designers working together, possibly over several physical locations, on a design project. It provides a set of services and protocols that support the communications of distributed design information captured by CAD drawings, multiple design views, and design changes. It coordinates access to a common and multiple design models as well as the activities of designers based on captured knowledge of designers' tasks, capabilities, and interests, which characterize their behaviors. The idea of AgentCAD represents a departure from the usual way in which CAD applications are used as single-user tools, applied to one view of specific design problems. In describing the AgentCAD environment, we discuss the organization of AgentCAD, its communication model, and the cooperative interaction protocols for designers in the context of a design scenario.
keywords Cooperative Design; Collaborative Design; Distributed Problem Solving; Communications; Coordination
series CAAD Futures
last changed 1999/08/03 17:16

_id cc90
authors Kolarevic, Branko
year 1998
title CAD@HKU
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.016
source ACADIA Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 16-17
summary Since 1993, we have experimented with Virtual Design Studios (VDS) as an on-going research project that investigates the combination of current computer-aided design (CAD), computer networks (Internet), and computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) techniques to bring together studentsat geographically distributed locations to work in a virtual atelier. In 1993 the theme of the first joint VDS project was in-fill housing for the traditional Chinese walled village of Kat Hing Wai in the New Territories north of Hong Kong, and our partners included MIT and Harvard in Boston (USA), UBC in Vancouver (Canada), and Washington University in St. Louis (USA). In 1994 we were joined by Cornell (USA) and Escola Tecnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona (Spain) to re-design Li Long housing in Shanghai, and 1995 added the Warsaw Institute of Technology (Poland) for the ACSA/Dupont competition to design a Center for Cultural and Religious Studies in Japan. The 1996 topic was an international competition to design a monument located in Hong Kong to commemorate the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Communication was via e-mail, the WorldWide Web with limited attempts at VRML, and network video. Several teaching and research experiments conducted through these projects have demonstrated the viability and potential of using electronic, telecommunications, and videoconferencing technologies in collaborative design processes. Results of these VDS have been presented at conferences worldwide, explained in journal papers and published in Virtual Design Studio, edited by J. Wojtowicz, published by HKU Press.
series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:51

_id cc8b
authors Koutamanis, Alexander
year 1995
title Background Information Systems
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.231
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. 231-242
summary Information systems increasingly appear as core elements of computer-aided architectural design environments. They provide the input and accommodate the output of automated and interactive procedures. The paper proposes the development of architectural information systems as an unobstrusive multimedia infrastructure in the background of specialized programs used for performing specific design t.asks. Background multimedia systems facilitate communication between specialized programs by means of their compound representations. These combine different types of information and provide an overview of the overall system and of the processes implemented in it.
series eCAADe
email
more http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_29.htm
last changed 2022/06/07 07:51

_id 990b
authors Pree, W.
year 1995
title Design Patterns for Object-Oriented Software Development
source ACM Press, Addison-Wesley
summary Provides an overview of state-of-the-art approaches in object-oriented technology as well as practical guidance for their use in software design. Covers forming class hierarchies and interaction relationships between objects, software architectures that allow for reuse of code and design, and documenting object-oriented design on an adequate abstraction level. Includes examples and a case study.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_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 0237
authors Wrona, Stefan
year 1995
title VDS Virtual Design Studio
source CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 227-232
summary The Department of Architecture Warsaw University of Technology was the first in Poland to take part in the third edition of the international student workshop -Virtual Design Studio. This year’s subject is a competition organized by ACSA 2A Center for Cultural and Religious Studies". The design is located on Miyajima Island in the Inland Sea of Japan near Hiroshima. VDS workshops are a proposal to create a new approach to architectural designing - working in joint groups, where the participants are separated by long distances. This idea wouldn't possible without an important tool - the InterNet. The information is sent mainly by E-mail through News Servers made by groups in each country. The News Server works as electronic pinup board where every student can locate his work. The multimedia tool -HyperDoc- permits students to easily and quickly look at other students' work. VDS'95 participants are divided into international groups of 5-7 people, They use almost every method of computer presentation: photorendering, animation, scanned freehand drawings and photos. The basic tool is CAD. Students also use traditional methods of representation like models, sketches, drawings. The Virtual Design Studio is an important experience. It shows a new concept of designing: Computer Mediated Design. The necessary contact between architect and client can be realized by the computer network. The problem of distance is eliminated. Conclusions from VDS activity will permit the creation in the future of a special net of design studios, where all discussions will be accomplished by computer. All over the world the network of Infoways will bring people together.
series plCAD
email
last changed 2003/05/17 10:01

_id e75d
authors Achten, H., Dijkstra, J., Oxman, R. and Bax, Th.
year 1995
title Knowledge-Based Systems Programming for Knowledge Intensive Teaching
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.139
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. 139-148
summary Typological design implies extensive knowledge of building types in order to design a building belonging to a building type. It facilitates the design process, which can be considered us a sequence of decisions. The paper gives an outline of a new approach in a course teaching typological knowledge through the medium of Knowledge-Based Systems programming. It demonstrates how Knowledge-Based Systems offer an appropriate structure for analysing the knowledge required to implement typological design. The class consists of third-year undergraduate students with no extensive previous programming experience. The implementation language is AutoLISP which operates in the AutoCAD environment. The building type used in the course is the office building. in order to become acquainted with both building type and programming in AutoLISP, information and instructions have been gathered and prestructured, including a worked out analysis and AutoLISP code. Office plans are generated through use of the Knowledge-Based System. They are encoded in the form of frames. At the end of the course the students will have learned the basics of Knowledge-Based Systems, have been introduced to programming these systems, have analysed and reflected upon the design process, and gained insight into a specific building type.
series eCAADe
email
more http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_18.htm
last changed 2022/06/07 07:54

_id 0c8e
authors Ager, Mark Thomas and Sinclair, Brian R.
year 1995
title StereoCAD: Three Dimensional Representation
source Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 343-355
summary Concepts of stereoscopic vision have been around for more than two thousand years. Despite this long history, its application to the field to architecture and design seems relatively unexplored. Synthesis of two technologies, the stereoscope and the computer, was the focus of the present study. The goal of the research was to determine if computer-generated stereoscopic pairs hold value for architectural design. Using readily available computer technology (Apple Macintosh) the research team modelled and rendered an existing project to verify the degree of correlation between the physical construct, the computer 3D model and resultant correlation between the physical construct, the computer 3D model and resultant rendered stereo-paired representation. The experiments performed in this study have shown that producing stereo-paired images that highly correlate to reality is possible using technology that is readily available in the marketplace. Both the technology required to produce (i.e., personal computer and modelling/rendering software) and view (i.e., modified stereoscope) the images is unimposing. Both devices can easily fit in a studio or a boardroom and together can be utilized effectively to permit designers, clients and end-users to experience proposed spaces and projects. Furthermore, these technologies are familiar (clients and end-users have already experienced them in other applications and settings) and assume a fraction of the cost of more dynamic, immersive virtual reality systems. Working from this base, limitations of the process as well as future applications of computer-generated stereoscopic images are identified.
keywords Stereovision, Representation, Computers, Architects, Design
series CAAD Futures
last changed 2003/11/21 15:15

_id 4bf6
authors Akin, O. and Lin, C.
year 1995
title Design Protocol data and novel design decisions
source Design Studies, 16 (#2, April), 211-236
summary This work is a part of The Delft Protocols Workshop which is an international gathering of experts on design research. The objective is to study the behaviours of designers using techniques of cognitive psychology in general and protocol analysis in particular. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between visual-graphic data processing and novel design ideas. Several analyses dealing with verbal-conceptual and visual-graphic data have been conducted; and the relationships between design activities and design decisions have been explored. The findings indicate that phases of the design process and the activities correlate with key design decisions.
series journal paper
email
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id 8a8a
authors Akin, Ö., Sen, R., Donia,M. and Zhang, Y.
year 1995
title SEED-Pro: Computer-Assisted Architectural Programming in SEED
source Journal of Architectural Engineering -- December 1995 -- Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 153-161
summary Computer-assisted architectural programming is in its infancy. What there is in terms of architectural programming theory often differs from practice. In the first half of this paper we define relevant terms, provide abrief review of the state of the art, and draw attention to the primacy of architectural programming in design. SEED-Pro is introduced as an intelligent assistant providing structure to the normally open-endedactivities of design. This includes the creation of an architectural program from scratch. In the second, more technical, part of the paper we emphasize three specific topics. The design problem specificationfunctionality is described. The generation and evaluation of the emerging architectural program is discussed. An approach to the decomposition of the architectural program into alternative hierarchies is provided.The paper concludes with a discussion of what is and remains to be accomplished.
series journal paper
email
last changed 2003/05/15 21:27

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