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

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_id	2e3b
authors	Kvan, Thomas and Kvan, Erik
year	1997
title	Is Design Really Social
source	Creative Collaboration in Virtual Communities 1997, ed. A. Cicognani. VC'97. Sydney: Key Centre of Design Computing, Department of Architectural and Design Science, University of Sydney, 8 p.
summary	There are many who will readily agree with Mitchell’s assertion that “the most interesting new directions (for computer-aided design) are suggested by the growing convergence of computation and telecommunication. This allows us to treat designing not just as a technical process... but also as a social process.” [Mitchell 1995]. The assumption is that design was a social process until users of computer-aided design systems were distracted into treating it as a merely technical process. Most readers will assume that this convergence must and will lead to increased communication between design participants; that better social interaction leads to be better design. The unspoken assumption appears to be that putting the participants into an environment with maximal communication channels will result in design collaboration. The tools provided; therefore; must permit the best communication and the best social interaction. We think it essential to examine the foundations and assumptions on which software and environments are designed to support collaborative design communication. Of particular interest to us in this paper is the assumption about the “social” nature of design. Early research in computer-assisted design collaborations has jumped immediately into conclusions about communicative models which lead to high-bandwidth video connections as the preferred channel of collaboration. The unstated assumption is that computer-supported design environments are not adequate until they replicate in full the sensation of being physically present in the same space as the other participants (you are not there until you are really there). It is assumed that the real social process of design must include all the signals used to establish and facilitate face-to-face communication; including gestures; body language and all outputs of drawing (e.g. Tang [1991]). In our specification of systems for virtual design communities; are we about to fall into the same traps as drafting systems did?
keywords	CSCW; Virtual Community; Architectural Design; Computer-Aided Design
series	other
email
last changed	2002/11/15 18:29

_id	ab9c
authors	Kvan, Thomas and Kvan, Erik
year	1999
title	Is Design Really Social
source	International Journal of Virtual Reality, 4:1
summary	There are many who will readily agree with Mitchell's assertion that "the most interesting new directions (for computer-aided design) are suggested by the growing convergence of computation and telecommunication. This allows us to treat designing not just as a technical process... but also as a social process." [Mitchell 1995]. The assumption is that design was a social process until users of computer-aided design systems were distracted into treating it as a merely technical process. Most readers will assume that this convergence must and will lead to increased communication between design participants, that better social interaction leads to be better design. The unspoken assumption appears to be that putting the participants into an environment with maximal communication channels will result in design collaboration. The tools provided, therefore, must permit the best communication and the best social interaction. We see a danger here, a pattern being repeated which may lead us into less than useful activities. As with several (popular) architectural design or modelling systems already available, however, computer system implementations all too often are poor imitations manual systems. For example, few in the field will argue with the statement that the storage of data in layers in a computer-aided drafting system is an dispensable approach. Layers derive from manual overlay drafting technology [Stitt 1984] which was regarded as an advanced (manual) production concept at the time many software engineers were specifying CAD software designs. Early implementations of CAD systems (such as RUCAPS, GDS, Computervision) avoided such data organisation, the software engineers recognising that object-based structures are more flexible, permitting greater control of data editing and display. Layer-based systems, however, are easier to implement in software, more familiar to the user and hence easier to explain, initially easier to use but more limiting for an experienced and thoughtful user, leading in the end to a lesser quality in resultant drawings and significant problems in output control (see Richens [1990], pp. 31-40 for a detailed analysis of such features and constraints). Here then we see the design for architectural software faithfully but inappropriately following manual methods. So too is there a danger of assuming that the best social interaction is that done face-to-face, therefore all collaborative design communications environments must mimic face-to-face.
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2003/05/15 10:29

_id	ec17
authors	Shelden, D., Bharwani, S., Mitchell, W.J. and Williams, J.
year	1995
title	Requirements for Virtual Design Review
source	Architectural Research Quarterly 1(2), December
summary	Requirements for Virtual Design Review: Fundamental Argument: This article deals primarily with the actual physical components of a virtual design review, and the difficulties associated with their integration. It is a rather refreshing approach to the problem of the virtual studio, in that it provides an empirical model of how the virtual and the real interact. Needless to say, there were numerous difficulties. 1. The reviewers and the students had to adapt to a new system of design review. Thus, traditional protocols and procedures may or may not work when dealing with a project in the virtual realm. The jurors and the students did become more comfortable as the jury progressed, but it is safe to say that those who went first most likely had a difficult and rather unhelpful session. 2. The technology itself was limited in what it could accomplish. The rate of transmissions across the line often hindered the review. Those students who used analog display, such as drawings or sketches, were not able to present these items effectively to remote viewers. The article does state that the virtual design review drew heavily upon the model of tradition review for its procedures. Was this the correct way of conducting the jury? With the introduction of technology into the process, one would think that there would be a significant shift in the model. Though the traditional model may be useful as a point of departure, we must critically engage the unique qualities that technology brings to the review. I would argue that a new model would need to be developed, whether it is a radical departure, a hybrid, or a modest adjustment to the existing model. For a traditional review, all one might need are a few push pins, a table for model display, and a surface upon which to pin his or her drawings. For the digital review, one requires monitors, computers, special lighting, video cameras, electrical outlets and phone jacks, and whatever else might be required to conduct a successful jury. It is in fact more akin to a television production than a traditional jury. The sheer complexity that technology inserts into the process can seem almost overwhelming. Yet if we can narrow our focus, find the essentials, by critically engaging those areas that will be affected by its introduction, then we can begin to imagine a true digital review.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	2036
authors	Dzeng, R.J.
year	1995
title	Caseplan: A Case-based Planer and Scheduler for Construction Using Product Modeling
source	University of Michigan
summary	Construction planning and scheduling are important to contractors for estimating the cost and duration of a project they are to bid on and construct. Many projects specify incentive and disincentive clauses for completing projects early and late. The timely completion and success of a project rely on good planning and scheduling. Contractors who repeatedly build the same kind of facilities acquire experience in scheduling the needed construction work. When parts of a facility's design are copied from one project to the next, the previously developed schedules could possibly be reused to schedule future work. This dissertation presents a construction planner and scheduler, named CasePlan, that automates the planning and scheduling process through the use of experience encoded in cases. CasePlan enables a contractor to specify a facility design using a product model, describe the relationships between product components and parts of a schedule (e.g., activity subnetworks, construction crews), and store this information as a case. As a decision support tool, CasePlan enables the contractor to search for cases whose facility designs are similar to that of a new project. The similarity assessment is based on the relative importance values that the contractor assigns to the components and their attributes in the product model. As an automation tool, CasePlan creates the schedule of a new project by reusing parts of the schedules whose associated designs are most similar to that project's design. The result is a schedule in which construction alternatives are chosen from those used in previous cases based on the new project scheduling constraints. The contractor / system-user can interact with CasePlan during its operation or modify the resulting schedule to add detail needed for executing the schedule in the field. Two types of construction projects have been studied for the development of CasePlan. One is the Kit-of-Parts post offices, in which designs are made by reusing design modules defined as Parts. The other is the boiler erection for fossil-fueled power plants, in which the design process is standardized and component configurations are similar across designs. These projects were chosen because their schedules are similar within each project type, which suggested that practitioners had a high incentive and were likely to reuse schedules. CasePlan's similarity assessment for boiler erection projects was validated using a survey. CasePlan's schedules and usability was subjectively evaluated also by the interviewed professionals.
series	thesis:PhD
email
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	c0ef
authors	Kalay, Yehuda and Séquin, Carlo
year	1995
title	Designer-Client Collaboration in Architectural and Software Design
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.383
source	Computing in Design - Enabling, Capturing and Sharing Ideas [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-04-7] University of Washington (Seattle, Washington / USA) October 19-22, 1995, pp. 383-403
summary	An upper-level undergraduate architectural design studio and a graduate computer science CAD course were paired to study client-designer interactions. The dual nature of these courses led to two sets of products: building designs compatible with the specifications of the clients, and prototype CAD tool to assist architects in the conceptual design phases. First, the computer scientists acted as clients to the architects, who designed a building for the computer science department. Once the computer science students had become familiar, through observation, with the architectural design process, they began developing tools for the architects' use. In that reversed-role, the architects became the clients of the computer scientists. For both parties this interaction provided an opportunity to experience the social aspects of the design process, in particular, the designer-client relationships, which most often are absent in traditional educational settings. This paper describes the objectives of this integrated pair of courses, the methods and processes used, and some of the results.
keywords	Design, Design Process, Design Studio, Design Education, Architectural Design, CAD
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	4d18
authors	Turkle, S.
year	1995
title	Life on the Screen: identity in the age of the Internet
source	New York: Simon & Shuster
summary	Sherry Turkle is rapidly becoming the sociologist of the Internet, and that's beginning to seem like a good thing. While her first outing, The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit, made groundless assertions and seemed to be carried along more by her affection for certain theories than by a careful look at our current situation, Life on the Screen is a balanced and nuanced look at some of the ways that cyberculture helps us comment upon real life (what the cybercrowd sometimes calls RL). Instead of giving in to any one theory on construction of identity, Turkle looks at the way various netizens have used the Internet, and especially MUDs (Multi-User Dimensions), to learn more about the possibilities available in apprehending the world. One of the most interesting sections deals with gender, a topic prone to rash and partisan pronouncements. Taking as her motto William James's maxim "Philosophy is the art of imagining alternatives," Turkle shows how playing with gender in cyberspace can shape a person's real-life understanding of gender. Especially telling are the examples of the man who finds it easier to be assertive when playing a woman, because he believes male assertiveness is now frowned upon while female assertiveness is considered hip, and the woman who has the opposite response, believing that it is easier to be aggressive when she plays a male, because as a woman she would be considered "bitchy." Without taking sides, Turkle points out how both have expanded their emotional range. Other topics, such as artificial life, receive an equally calm and sage response, and the first-person accounts from many Internet users provide compelling reading and good source material for readers to draw their own conclusions.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_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	5986
authors	Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R. and Vlissides, J.
year	1995
title	Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software
source	Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
summary	The book is an introduction to the idea of design patterns in software engineering, and a catalog of twenty-three common patterns. The nice thing is, most experienced OOP designers will find out they've known about patterns all along. It's just that they've never considered them as such, or tried to centralize the idea behind a given pattern so that it will be easily reusable.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	06e1
authors	Keul, Alexander
year	1996
title	LOST IN SPACE? ARCHITECTURAL PSYCHOLOGY - PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
source	Full-Scale Modeling in the Age of Virtual Reality [6th EFA-Conference Proceedings]
summary	A methodological review by Kaminski (1995) summed up five perspectives in environmental psychology - patterns of spatial distribution, everyday “jigsaw puzzles”, functional everyday action systems, sociocultural change and evolution of competence. Architectural psychology (named so at the Strathclyde conference 1969; Canter, 1973) as psychology of built environments is one leg of environmental psychology, the second one being psychology of environmental protection. Architectural psychology has come of age and passed its 25th birthday. Thus, a triangulation of its position, especially in Central Europe, seems interesting and necessary. A recent survey mainly on university projects in German-speaking countries (Kruse & Trimpin, 1995) found a marked decrease of studies in psychology of built environments. 1994, 25% of all projects were reported in this category, which in 1975 had made up 40% (Kruse, 1975). Guenther, in an unpublished survey of BDP (association of professional German psychologists) members, encountered only a handful active in architectural psychology - mostly part-time, not full-time. 1996, Austria has two full-time university specialists. The discrepancy between the general interest displayed by planners and a still low institutionalization is noticeable. How is the research situation? Using several standard research data banks, the author collected articles and book(chapter)s on architectural psychology in German- and English-language countries from 1990 to 1996. Studies on main architecture-psychology interface problems such as user needs, housing quality evaluations, participatory planning and spatial simulation / virtual reality did not outline an “old, settled” discipline, but rather the sketchy, random surface of a field “always starting anew”. E.g., discussions at the 1995 EAEA-Conference showed that several architectural simulation studies since 1973 caused no major impact on planner's opinions (Keul&Martens, 1996). “Re-inventions of the wheel” are caused by a lack of meetings (except this one!) and of interdisciplinary infrastructure in German-language countries (contrary to Sweden or the United States). Social pressures building up on architecture nowadays by inter-European competition, budget cuts and citizen activities for informed consent in most urban projects are a new challenge for planners to cooperate efficiently with social scientists. At Salzburg, the author currently manages the Corporate Design-process for the Chamber of Architecture, Division for Upper Austria and Salzburg. A “working group for architectural psychology” (Keul-Martens-Maderthaner) has been active since 1994.
keywords	Model Simulation, Real Environments
series	EAEA
type	normal paper
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/efa/
last changed	2005/09/09 10:43

_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	c28b
authors	Rostanski, Krzysztof and Bugno, Agnieszka
year	1995
title	Greenery Designing in CAD Programs
source	CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 15-23
summary	In this article we want to present our experiences with greenery designing and possibilities of presentation such designs using CAD programs. Architectural design is more than only building - we always try to show how it is connected with surrounding. Greenery is one of the most important element of space, it creates environment, CAD programs gives us a lot of possibilities for presentations of architectural designs, but they are very limited in as to showing greenery. The very useful thing in computer aided landscaping is the plant specifier and the simulator of plants growth, You can estimate number of trees used for design and shades of tree crowns and quickly correct the plan to avoid effect of shading the windows or other places. CAD programs of the international range are not very adequate to plants selection, because the plants in database are not suitable for polish climate. For example, LANDCADD"s Plant Specifier contain information about more than 1000 plants of different climate zones from all over the world (trees, shrubs and flowers.), but in Poland we use commonly about 1500 of only trees and shrubs, the number of flowers is even bigger, so this specifier seems to be completely inadequate to our country. As to visual presentations of plants in design they are to simple to express the diversity of plant species and their shapes. There are no possibilities for common computers to process such great number of data to create natural outlook of designed trees.
series	plCAD
last changed	2000/01/24 10:08

_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	1886
authors	Rychter, Zenon
year	1995
title	Matematical Architectural Syntesis
source	CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 283-297
summary	Extremes converge. Life blossoms on the boundary. All creative thinking, architectural or mathematical, is essentially the some. Today legions of dull computers take over the role of renaissance giants in integrating all ways of thinking. On the sensual level, computer art is often indistinguishable from computer simulations of physical processes, such as fractals representing chaos. On the logical level, all information boils down to the language of bits, sequences of O's and I's or X's and Y's if you like- there just has to be two of them, like Adam and Eve at the beginning of mankind. Creating means synthesizing, composing, constructing a whole from elements. But often the starting point, the finish, the middle stages and methods are fuzzy, vague, ill- defined-ore all yet to be discovered or conceived. It is like groping in a dark labyrinth, searched and created at the same time. There are many branches to discover and explore, many dead ends forcing retreat, no guarantee of a solution, and even no clear idea of what a solution might be. It is a trial- and-error, generate-and-test, back-and-forth, top-down and bottom-up, global and local, inductive and deductive, rigorous at times and fuzzy most of the time, ameba-like process or bunch of processes. In this, creative, perspective both architecture and mathematics become experimental sciences: as such they require laboratories. Computer systems (hardware plus software) supply today the necessary environment, ways and means. To the happy user of a general-purpose platform, straddling the architecture-mathematics boundary-with one leg on a general-purpose computer-aided design system, like AutoCAD, and the other leg on a general-purpose mathematical system, like Mathematica, the essential unity of creatively doing both architecture and mathematics is hard to overlook.
series	plCAD
last changed	2000/01/24 10:08

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

_id	7a20
id	7a20
authors	Carrara, G., Fioravanti, A.
year	2002
title	SHARED SPACE’ AND ‘PUBLIC SPACE’ DIALECTICS IN COLLABORATIVE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN.
source	Proceedings of Collaborative Decision-Support Systems Focus Symposium, 30th July, 2002; under the auspices of InterSymp-2002, 14° International Conference on Systems Research, Informatics and Cybernetics, 2002, Baden-Baden, pg. 27-44.
summary	The present paper describes on-going research on Collaborative Design. The proposed model, the resulting system and its implementation refer mainly to architectural and building design in the modes and forms in which it is carried on in advanced design firms. The model may actually be used effectively also in other environments. The research simultaneously pursues an integrated model of the: a) structure of the networked architectural design process (operators, activities, phases and resources); b) required knowledge (distributed and functional to the operators and the process phases). The article focuses on the first aspect of the model: the relationship that exists among the various ‘actors’ in the design process (according to the STEP-ISO definition, Wix, 1997) during the various stages of its development (McKinney and Fischer, 1998). In Collaborative Design support systems this aspect touches on a number of different problems: database structure, homogeneity of the knowledge bases, the creation of knowledge bases (Galle, 1995), the representation of the IT datum (Carrara et al., 1994; Pohl and Myers, 1994; Papamichael et al., 1996; Rosenmann and Gero, 1996; Eastman et al., 1997; Eastman, 1998; Kim, et al., 1997; Kavakli, 2001). Decision-making support and the relationship between ‘private’ design space (involving the decisions of the individual design team) and the ‘shared’ design space (involving the decisions of all the design teams, Zang and Norman, 1994) are the specific topic of the present article. Decisions taken in the ‘private design space’ of the design team or ‘actor’ are closely related to the type of support that can be provided by a Collaborative Design system: automatic checks performed by activating procedures and methods, reporting of 'local' conflicts, methods and knowledge for the resolution of ‘local’ conflicts, creation of new IT objects/ building components, who the objects must refer to (the ‘owner’), 'situated' aspects (Gero and Reffat, 2001) of the IT objects/building components. Decisions taken in the ‘shared design space’ involve aspects that are typical of networked design and that are partially present in the ‘private’ design space. Cross-checking, reporting of ‘global’ conflicts to all those concerned, even those who are unaware they are concerned, methods for their resolution, the modification of data structure and interface according to the actors interacting with it and the design phase, the definition of a 'dominus' for every IT object (i.e. the decision-maker, according to the design phase and the creation of the object). All this is made possible both by the model for representing the building (Carrara and Fioravanti, 2001), and by the type of IT representation of the individual building components, using the methods and techniques of Knowledge Engineering through a structured set of Knowledge Bases, Inference Engines and Databases. The aim is to develop suitable tools for supporting integrated Process/Product design activity by means of a effective and innovative representation of building entities (technical components, constraints, methods) in order to manage and resolve conflicts generated during the design activity.
keywords	Collaborative Design, Architectural Design, Distributed Knowledge Bases, ‘Situated’ Object, Process/Product Model, Private/Shared ‘Design Space’, Conflict Reduction.
series	other
type	symposium
email
last changed	2005/03/30 16:25

_id	6279
id	6279
authors	Carrara, G.; Fioravanti, A.
year	2002
title	Private Space' and ‘Shared Space’ Dialectics in Collaborative Architectural Design
source	InterSymp 2002 - 14th International Conference on Systems Research, Informatics and Cybernetics (July 29 - August 3, 2002), pp 28-44.
summary	The present paper describes on-going research on Collaborative Design. The proposed model, the resulting system and its implementation refer mainly to architectural and building design in the modes and forms in which it is carried on in advanced design firms. The model may actually be used effectively also in other environments. The research simultaneously pursues an integrated model of the: a) structure of the networked architectural design process (operators, activities, phases and resources); b) required knowledge (distributed and functional to the operators and the process phases). The article focuses on the first aspect of the model: the relationship that exists among the various ‘actors’ in the design process (according to the STEP-ISO definition, Wix, 1997) during the various stages of its development (McKinney and Fischer, 1998). In Collaborative Design support systems this aspect touches on a number of different problems: database structure, homogeneity of the knowledge bases, the creation of knowledge bases (Galle, 1995), the representation of the IT datum (Carrara et al., 1994; Pohl and Myers, 1994; Papamichael et al., 1996; Rosenmann and Gero, 1996; Eastman et al., 1997; Eastman, 1998; Kim, et al., 1997; Kavakli, 2001). Decision-making support and the relationship between ‘private’ design space (involving the decisions of the individual design team) and the ‘shared’ design space (involving the decisions of all the design teams, Zang and Norman, 1994) are the specific topic of the present article. Decisions taken in the ‘private design space’ of the design team or ‘actor’ are closely related to the type of support that can be provided by a Collaborative Design system: automatic checks performed by activating procedures and methods, reporting of 'local' conflicts, methods and knowledge for the resolution of ‘local’ conflicts, creation of new IT objects/ building components, who the objects must refer to (the ‘owner’), 'situated' aspects (Gero and Reffat, 2001) of the IT objects/building components. Decisions taken in the ‘shared design space’ involve aspects that are typical of networked design and that are partially present in the ‘private’ design space. Cross-checking, reporting of ‘global’ conflicts to all those concerned, even those who are unaware they are concerned, methods for their resolution, the modification of data structure and interface according to the actors interacting with it and the design phase, the definition of a 'dominus' for every IT object (i.e. the decision-maker, according to the design phase and the creation of the object). All this is made possible both by the model for representing the building (Carrara and Fioravanti, 2001), and by the type of IT representation of the individual building components, using the methods and techniques of Knowledge Engineering through a structured set of Knowledge Bases, Inference Engines and Databases. The aim is to develop suitable tools for supporting integrated Process/Product design activity by means of a effective and innovative representation of building entities (technical components, constraints, methods) in order to manage and resolve conflicts generated during the design activity.
keywords	Collaborative Design, Architectural Design, Distributed Knowledge Bases, ‘Situated’ Object, Process/Product Model, Private/Shared ‘Design Space’, Conflict Reduction.
series	other
type	symposium
email
last changed	2012/12/04 07:53

_id	679e
authors	Coyne, R.
year	1995
title	Designing Information Technology in the Postmodern Age
source	The MIT Press, Cambridge, Ma and London UK
summary	Designing Information Technology in the Postmodern Age puts the theoretical discussion of computer systems and information technology on a new footing. Shifting the discourse from its usual rationalistic framework, Richard Coyne shows how the conception, development, and application of computer systems is challenged and enhanced by postmodern philosophical thought. He places particular emphasis on the theory of metaphor, showing how it has more to offer than notions of method and models appropriated from science. Coyne examines the entire range of contemporary philosophical thinking -- including logical positivism, analytic philosophy, pragmatism, phenomenology, critical theory, hermeneutics, and deconstruction -- comparing them and showing how they differ in their consequences for design and development issues in electronic communications, computer representation, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and multimedia. He also probes the claims made of information technology, including its presumptions of control, its so-called radicality, even its ability to make virtual worlds, and shows that many of these claims are poorly founded. Among the writings Coyne visits are works by Heidegger, Adorno, Benjamin, Gadamer, Derrida, Habermas, Rorty, and Foucault. He relates their views to information technology designers and critics such as Herbert Simon, Alan Kay, Terry Winograd, Hubert Dreyfus, and Joseph Weizenbaum. In particular, Coyne draws extensively from the writing of Martin Heidegger, who has presented one of the most radical critiques of technology to date.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	93ca
authors	Sudweeks, F. and Rafaeli, S.
year	1995
title	How do you get a hundred strangers to agree: Computer mediated communication and collaboration
source	T. M. Harrison and T. D. Stephen (Eds.), Computer Networking and Scholarly Communication in the Twenty-First-Century University. New York: SUNY Press
summary	This chapter is an introspective account of the formation and implementation experiences of a large international group of researchers who are using computer-mediated communication to study computer-mediated communication. We describe the genesis and ongoing development of the study, focusing on issues of consensus formation as guidelines were sought on the ethical implications of the study, and the integrity and autonomy of scientific enquiry. We critically examine the notions of global village, social presence, conversation as a universal ideal, and interactivity in a computer-mediated collaborative environment.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

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

_id	3138
authors	Zarnowiecka, Jadwiga C.
year	1995
title	CAD – Space and Relational Databases
source	CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 221-225
summary	The unquestionable primacy of a principal - investor makes the creators strain themselves to present visions of their works in the most clear way. Though perspective drawings enable verification of the vision, but as a part of technical specification on the site they are, in general, needless. It is the investor, not prepared for perception of two-dimensional drawings, who enforces the designer to look for still more attractive forms of presentation of project propositions. The efforts of the creator are addressed to him - in order to be understood, to enchant him, to win the competition for the client. Until quite lately the most readable (but how expensive) form of visualization was the miniature modelling. In the case of vision which has been already put into shape, there is always somebody who can aid the creator in various forms of visualization. The one who can help in laborious drafting of perspective, or in preparation of a traditional miniature model, or in creation of a modern (i.e. computer) one.
series	plCAD
last changed	2000/01/24 10:08

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