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

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Hits 1 to 20 of 390

_id a56e
authors Do, Ellen Yi-Luen
year 1995
title What's in a Diagram That a Computer Should Understand?
source Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 469-480
summary This paper reports on an experiment to test the feasibility of using a diagramming tool to access an architectural knowledge base. Our hypothesis is that designers only use a small set of conventional elements to make diagrams of architectural concepts. If this is true, then a scheme for retrieving information from computer knowledge bases using diagrams would work. Therefore we asked designers to make diagrams from texts, to interpret diagrams into texts, to pair diagrams and texts, and to comment on existing pairs from the case base. We found from the experiment that common features are shared between different designerís diagrams and texts.
keywords Architectural Diagrams, Graphic Interface, Knowledge Bases
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2004/10/04 07:49

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

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

_id 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 1bb0
authors Russell, S. and Norvig, P.
year 1995
title Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach
source Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
summary Humankind has given itself the scientific name homo sapiens--man the wise--because our mental capacities are so important to our everyday lives and our sense of self. The field of artificial intelligence, or AI, attempts to understand intelligent entities. Thus, one reason to study it is to learn more about ourselves. But unlike philosophy and psychology, which are also concerned with AI strives to build intelligent entities as well as understand them. Another reason to study AI is that these constructed intelligent entities are interesting and useful in their own right. AI has produced many significant and impressive products even at this early stage in its development. Although no one can predict the future in detail, it is clear that computers with human-level intelligence (or better) would have a huge impact on our everyday lives and on the future course of civilization. AI addresses one of the ultimate puzzles. How is it possible for a slow, tiny brain{brain}, whether biological or electronic, to perceive, understand, predict, and manipulate a world far larger and more complicated than itself? How do we go about making something with those properties? These are hard questions, but unlike the search for faster-than-light travel or an antigravity device, the researcher in AI has solid evidence that the quest is possible. All the researcher has to do is look in the mirror to see an example of an intelligent system. AI is one of the newest disciplines. It was formally initiated in 1956, when the name was coined, although at that point work had been under way for about five years. Along with modern genetics, it is regularly cited as the ``field I would most like to be in'' by scientists in other disciplines. A student in physics might reasonably feel that all the good ideas have already been taken by Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and the rest, and that it takes many years of study before one can contribute new ideas. AI, on the other hand, still has openings for a full-time Einstein. The study of intelligence is also one of the oldest disciplines. For over 2000 years, philosophers have tried to understand how seeing, learning, remembering, and reasoning could, or should, be done. The advent of usable computers in the early 1950s turned the learned but armchair speculation concerning these mental faculties into a real experimental and theoretical discipline. Many felt that the new ``Electronic Super-Brains'' had unlimited potential for intelligence. ``Faster Than Einstein'' was a typical headline. But as well as providing a vehicle for creating artificially intelligent entities, the computer provides a tool for testing theories of intelligence, and many theories failed to withstand the test--a case of ``out of the armchair, into the fire.'' AI has turned out to be more difficult than many at first imagined, and modern ideas are much richer, more subtle, and more interesting as a result. AI currently encompasses a huge variety of subfields, from general-purpose areas such as perception and logical reasoning, to specific tasks such as playing chess, proving mathematical theorems, writing poetry{poetry}, and diagnosing diseases. Often, scientists in other fields move gradually into artificial intelligence, where they find the tools and vocabulary to systematize and automate the intellectual tasks on which they have been working all their lives. Similarly, workers in AI can choose to apply their methods to any area of human intellectual endeavor. In this sense, it is truly a universal field.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id eff2
authors Sinclair, Brian
year 1995
title Architecture in the Environment: A Technology-Centered Model for Priomary, Secondary & Post-Secondary Educational Partnership
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.357
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. 357-370
summary Societal appreciation of architecture, the environment and the role of design & planning professionals should begin early in the educational stream. Working from this premise, a model was developed which relied on a combination of learning strategies: Cognitive, Psychomotor and Affective. The project’s primary goal was to build knowledge of architecture and the environment in K-12 children, with particular emphasis on primary levels. More specifically, the ARCH was selected thematically as a strong architectonic element through which to promote a better connection with and responsibility for the environment. The educational experience comprised three sequential forms: visual history of the ARCH, physical construction using foam blocks, and finally "construction” in the computer using a multi-media interactive three-dimensionally focused program. Pedagogically the sequencing provided explanation and context, built awareness through making, and finally reinforced the lessons of the previous steps while highlighting the potential of information technology. To deliver the curriculum an installation was built at a local museum, with primary grade children arriving on field trips. Architecture faculty and students designed the curriculum and installation, including the computer modules. Secondary school students were trained, with the intention that they would in turn educate primary school students at the installation. In disseminating knowledge downwards through the various educational levels, awareness was promoted concerning the architects role, architectural elements, and the broader built environment. Using the ARCH as the theme, realization of the inter-connectedness of the environment was advanced. Through linking and learning, participants came to better understand the value of their individual contributions and the critical need for collaboration.

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

_id 0459
authors Brown, G.Z., Kline, J. and Sekigitchi, T.
year 1995
title Infrared Professor - Design Phase
source Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 103-112
summary This paper describes diagnostic and advising modules that are being added to existing energy analysis software. The diagnostic module helps users understand whatís causing their building to have certain energy use characteristics by juxtaposing performance data with climate and building use data. The advisor is a rule-based expert system which tells the user what to do to improve the energy performance of their building design.
keywords Advisor, Architectural Design, Buildings, Energy, Expert System
series CAAD Futures
last changed 1999/08/03 17:16

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

_id c6b2
authors Fenves, S.J., Garrett, J.H., Kiliccote, H., Law, K.H. and Reed, K.A.
year 1995
title Computer representations of design standards and building codes: a U.S. perspective
source The Int. Journal of Construction IT3(1), pp.13-34
summary Standards representation and processing in the United States has had a long and interesting history of development. The work in the past has focused primarily on representing a standard, evaluating the intrinsic properties of that represented standard, and evaluating designs for conformance to that standard. To date, for a variety of reasons, standards writing organizations and computer-aided design software vendors have not adopted much of the results of this research. The failure of the approach so far in the U.S. can be traced to two distinct areas. One major cluster of causes is methodological: the initial concepts were not backed up by usable, persistent computer tools; and the initial application and model were not representative. The second cluster of causes of failure is professional, and has a lot to do with the dynamics of interaction of individuals and organizations. Future research must address the inadequacies of the current representations and create models that are able to represent all, or almost all, of the different types of provisions in any given standard; investigate and deliver a much richer set of processing functionality's, such as more support for use of design standards in earlier phases of design; support the treatment of multiple, heterogeneous standards available from distributed sources; and determine what type of support is needed to go from the textual versions of design standards to the formal models that can support sophisticated computation.
series journal paper
last changed 2003/05/15 21:45

_id ga0024
id ga0024
authors Ferrara, Paolo and Foglia, Gabriele
year 2000
title TEAnO or the computer assisted generation of manufactured aesthetic goods seen as a constrained flux of technological unconsciousness
source International Conference on Generative Art
summary TEAnO (Telematica, Elettronica, Analisi nell'Opificio) was born in Florence, in 1991, at the age of 8, being the direct consequence of years of attempts by a group of computer science professionals to use the digital computers technology to find a sustainable match among creation, generation (or re-creation) and recreation, the three basic keywords underlying the concept of “Littérature potentielle” deployed by Oulipo in France and Oplepo in Italy (see “La Littérature potentielle (Créations Re-créations Récréations) published in France by Gallimard in 1973). During the last decade, TEAnO has been involving in the generation of “artistic goods” in aesthetic domains such as literature, music, theatre and painting. In all those artefacts in the computer plays a twofold role: it is often a tool to generate the good (e.g. an editor to compose palindrome sonnets of to generate antonymic music) and, sometimes it is the medium that makes the fruition of the good possible (e.g. the generator of passages of definition literature). In that sense such artefacts can actually be considered as “manufactured” goods. A great part of such creation and re-creation work has been based upon a rather small number of generation constraints borrowed from Oulipo, deeply stressed by the use of the digital computer massive combinatory power: S+n, edge extraction, phonetic manipulation, re-writing of well known masterpieces, random generation of plots, etc. Regardless this apparently simple underlying generation mechanisms, the systematic use of computer based tools, as weel the analysis of the produced results, has been the way to highlight two findings which can significantly affect the practice of computer based generation of aesthetic goods: ? the deep structure of an aesthetic work persists even through the more “desctructive” manipulations, (such as the antonymic transformation of the melody and lyrics of a music work) and become evident as a sort of profound, earliest and distinctive constraint; ? the intensive flux of computer generated “raw” material seems to confirm and to bring to our attention the existence of what Walter Benjamin indicated as the different way in which the nature talk to a camera and to our eye, and Franco Vaccari called “technological unconsciousness”. Essential references R. Campagnoli, Y. Hersant, “Oulipo La letteratura potenziale (Creazioni Ri-creazioni Ricreazioni)”, 1985 R. Campagnoli “Oupiliana”, 1995 TEAnO, “Quaderno n. 2 Antologia di letteratura potenziale”, 1996 W. Benjiamin, “Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reprodizierbarkeit”, 1936 F. Vaccari, “Fotografia e inconscio tecnologico”, 1994
series other
more http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed 2003/08/07 17:25

_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 c7e9
authors Maver, T.W.
year 2002
title Predicting the Past, Remembering the Future
source SIGraDi 2002 - [Proceedings of the 6th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] Caracas (Venezuela) 27-29 november 2002, pp. 2-3
summary Charlas Magistrales 2There never has been such an exciting moment in time in the extraordinary 30 year history of our subject area, as NOW,when the philosophical theoretical and practical issues of virtuality are taking centre stage.The PastThere have, of course, been other defining moments during these exciting 30 years:• the first algorithms for generating building layouts (circa 1965).• the first use of Computer graphics for building appraisal (circa 1966).• the first integrated package for building performance appraisal (circa 1972).• the first computer generated perspective drawings (circa 1973).• the first robust drafting systems (circa 1975).• the first dynamic energy models (circa 1982).• the first photorealistic colour imaging (circa 1986).• the first animations (circa 1988)• the first multimedia systems (circa 1995), and• the first convincing demonstrations of virtual reality (circa 1996).Whereas the CAAD community has been hugely inventive in the development of ICT applications to building design, it hasbeen woefully remiss in its attempts to evaluate the contribution of those developments to the quality of the built environmentor to the efficiency of the design process. In the absence of any real evidence, one can only conjecture regarding the realbenefits which fall, it is suggested, under the following headings:• Verisimilitude: The extraordinary quality of still and animated images of the formal qualities of the interiors and exteriorsof individual buildings and of whole neighborhoods must surely give great comfort to practitioners and their clients thatwhat is intended, formally, is what will be delivered, i.e. WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get.• Sustainability: The power of «first-principle» models of the dynamic energetic behaviour of buildings in response tochanging diurnal and seasonal conditions has the potential to save millions of dollars and dramatically to reduce thedamaging environmental pollution created by badly designed and managed buildings.• Productivity: CAD is now a multi-billion dollar business which offers design decision support systems which operate,effectively, across continents, time-zones, professions and companies.• Communication: Multi-media technology - cheap to deliver but high in value - is changing the way in which we canexplain and understand the past and, envisage and anticipate the future; virtual past and virtual future!MacromyopiaThe late John Lansdown offered the view, in his wonderfully prophetic way, that ...”the future will be just like the past, onlymore so...”So what can we expect the extraordinary trajectory of our subject area to be?To have any chance of being accurate we have to have an understanding of the phenomenon of macromyopia: thephenomenon exhibitted by society of greatly exaggerating the immediate short-term impact of new technologies (particularlythe information technologies) but, more importantly, seriously underestimating their sustained long-term impacts - socially,economically and intellectually . Examples of flawed predictions regarding the the future application of information technologiesinclude:• The British Government in 1880 declined to support the idea of a national telephonic system, backed by the argumentthat there were sufficient small boys in the countryside to run with messages.• Alexander Bell was modest enough to say that: «I am not boasting or exaggerating but I believe, one day, there will bea telephone in every American city».• Tom Watson, in 1943 said: «I think there is a world market for about 5 computers».• In 1977, Ken Olssop of Digital said: «There is no reason for any individuals to have a computer in their home».The FutureJust as the ascent of woman/man-kind can be attributed to her/his capacity to discover amplifiers of the modest humancapability, so we shall discover how best to exploit our most important amplifier - that of the intellect. The more we know themore we can figure; the more we can figure the more we understand; the more we understand the more we can appraise;the more we can appraise the more we can decide; the more we can decide the more we can act; the more we can act themore we can shape; and the more we can shape, the better the chance that we can leave for future generations a trulysustainable built environment which is fit-for-purpose, cost-beneficial, environmentally friendly and culturally significactCentral to this aspiration will be our understanding of the relationship between real and virtual worlds and how to moveeffortlessly between them. We need to be able to design, from within the virtual world, environments which may be real ormay remain virtual or, perhaps, be part real and part virtual.What is certain is that the next 30 years will be every bit as exciting and challenging as the first 30 years.
series SIGRADI
email
last changed 2016/03/10 09:55

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

_id 8f0b
authors Bhavnani, S., Flemming, U., Forsythe, D.E., Garrett, J.H., and Shaw, D.S.
year 1995
title Understanding and Assisting CAD Users in the Real World
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.209
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. 209-227
summary In spite of the rapid increase in functionality and resources provided by CAD systems, productivity growth expected from their use has been difficult to achieve. Although many surveys describe this "productivity puzzle", few studies have been conducted on actual CAD users to understand its causes. In an effort to understand this issue, the first author visited a federal architectural office and observed CAD users in their natural setting using ethnographic techniques developed by cultural anthropologists. This paper describes preliminary results obtained from the study. The study revealed that users had leveled-off in their learning and experimentation and were using the CAD system in sub-optimal ways. The authors argue that this sub-optimal usage occurs because users have limited ways to learn better or different ways of executing tasks. The authors propose that CAD systems should provide active assistance, that is, intervene spontaneously with advice, assistance, and relevant information while the user interacts with the system. They conclude with some issues revealed by the study that should be considered when developing such active assistance.

series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:52

_id 4202
authors Brown, Michael E. and Gallimore, Jennie J.
year 1995
title Visualization of Three-Dimensional Structure During Computer-Aided Design
source International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 1995 v.7 n.1 pp. 37-56
summary The visual image presented to an engineer using a computer-aided design (CAD) system influences design activities such as decision making, problem solving, cognizance of complex relationships, and error correction. Because of the three-dimensional (3-D) nature of the object being created, an important attribute of the CAD visual interface concerns the various methods of presenting depth on the display's two-dimensional (2-D) surface. The objective of this research is to examine the effects of stereopsis on subjects' ability to (a) accurately transfer to, and retrieve from, long-term memory spatial information about 3-D objects; and (b) visualize spatial characteristics in a quick and direct manner. Subjects were instructed to memorize the shape of a 3-D object presented on a stereoscopic CRT during a study period. Following the study period, a series of static trial stimuli were shown. Each trial stimulus was rotated (relative to the original) about the vertical axis in one of six 36° increments between 0° and 180°. In each trial, the subject's task was to determine, as quickly and as accurately as possible, whether the trial object was the same shape as the memorized object or its mirrored image. One of the two cases was always true. To assess the relative merits associated with disparity and interposition, the two depth cues were manipulated in a within-subject manner during the study period and during the trials that followed. Subject response time and error rate were evaluated. Improved performance due to hidden surface is the most convincing experimental finding. Interposition is a powerful cue to object structure and should not be limited to late stages of design. The study also found a significant, albeit limited, effect of stereopsis. Under specific study object conditions, adding disparity to monocular trial objects significantly decreased response time. Response latency was also decreased by adding disparity information to stimuli in the study session.
series journal paper
last changed 2003/05/15 21:45

_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 695f
authors Galle, P.
year 1995
title Towards integrated, intelligent, and compliant computer modeling of buildings
source Automation in Construction 4 (3) (1995) pp. 189-211
summary This paper is a survey of current research into computer modeling of buildings. Just as much, however, it is a contribution to a debate on the future of this field of research (and as such expresses the author's opinions, rather than mere facts). It is suggested that more research should be conducted in a top-down "'problem-driven" (rather than in a bottom-up. "technology-driven") manner. As the goal of future research, ten desirable system properties are proposed and grouped together under three headings: integration. intelligence", and compliance. A critical survey of the current state-of-the-art of computer modeling of buildings is given, to assess how far we are from systems with such properties. On that background problems are discussed which are major obstacles to the proposed kind of systems (hence good starting points lot problem-driven research and some ways of approaching these problems are briefly evaluated.
keywords Computer Modeling of Buildings; Product Modeling: Computer Aided Building Design; Critical Survey; Goal-Setting Debate; Concurrency Control: Integrity Constraint Management; Representation; Complexity of Representations
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 14:47

_id 7e27
authors Kostogarova, Eugenia P.
year 1995
title Architectural Design and the Architect’s Dialogue with the Computer
source CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 299-302
summary At the present time, when the problem of professional skill perfection is especially important, the designing methods perfection in order to provide "objectivization" of the form building process becomes also more and more important. The designing process analysis shows that one should not fully rely on the designer's intuition either while forming such complex organism as architectural form. But the simple thought that the appearance of some new technique results in the appearance of some new technology is not yet fully recognized. The questions of ,studying" the new technique, its "introduction" into designing practice etc. are being discussed. All this reminds one of the wide campaign once carried on to "introduce" scientific labour organization without a previous stage of this scientific organisation development which was sure to result in the discredit of the whole trend.
series plCAD
last changed 2000/01/24 10:08

_id 640d
authors Koszewski, Krysztof
year 1995
title Communication of Ideas in Architecture Versus Computer Techniques
source CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 171-180
summary Computer as a tool in architects' work is an obvious thing for near all of us. Recent two - three years have shown that probably the most revolutionary feature of computers is their immense possibility of usage in today's communication techniques, the continuous flow of information. This fact makes us to think about computer techniques as an useful tool not only in designing, but also in extensive presenting of ideas - like communication between architects and all the others involved in the designing and building process. Presenting ideas requires prior process of gathering data and storing it in computers' memory. Incredible progress in ways of organizing information leads also to the idea of developing a sketch of a standard of the amount and structure of information gathered to make it an universal set of parameters describing the design - a multi - functional database. The first part (presenting ideas) is more to be used in Poland by now. Architects should appreciate benefits of an impressive presentation and they already started to. The universal database for use by everyone, or rather a file of the project, which presentation is a part of, is rather a theory by now. But exploring it’s potential and a real need to create one - is essential.
series plCAD
email
last changed 2003/05/17 10:01

_id 6fc9
authors Ponomareva, E., Litvinova A., and Kozakova, R.
year 1995
title Multimedia and Special Architectural Disciplines
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1995.169
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. 169-176
summary A person is a wonderful creature. His high organization helps him not only to see and to hear the world around him, but to feel and understand, to condole and pity. A person is a sacramental creature too. His complex organization helps him to see day as light and darkness, as delivery and death, as delight and grief. Every human reaction has biological, physiological and sensitive components. That is why environment is able to call up physical an emotional associations. A human being can "see" sound and "hear" colours. All history of human culture shows that the art can affect man in different ways: unconscious effects, spontaneous associations, general symbolic or specific conventional meanings. That is why architecture can not only protect (a safeguarded aspect), but give knowledge ( an informational aspect) and set up mood (an emotional aspect). And that is why we speak about ambiguity of sense and about multiartistic works. Such as Skriabin's symphony 'Prometheus'. Two scores - musical and colouristic - are connected in this masterpiece. Let us look through two architectural disciplines—from this point of view. The programmes of these disciplines are examples of such embedment. Any architectural discipline demands computer graphics. Any architectural discipline demands multimedia aided teaching, because multimedia in computer designing is a result of human being's complexity and ambivalence.
series eCAADe
more http://dpce.ing.unipa.it/Webshare/Wwwroot/ecaade95/Pag_22.htm
last changed 2022/06/07 08:00

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