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 ga0026
id ga0026
authors Ransen, Owen F.
year 2000
title Possible Futures in Computer Art Generation
source International Conference on Generative Art
summary Years of trying to create an "Image Idea Generator" program have convinced me that the perfect solution would be to have an artificial artistic person, a design slave. This paper describes how I came to that conclusion, realistic alternatives, and briefly, how it could possibly happen. 1. The history of Repligator and Gliftic 1.1 Repligator In 1996 I had the idea of creating an “image idea generator”. I wanted something which would create images out of nothing, but guided by the user. The biggest conceptual problem I had was “out of nothing”. What does that mean? So I put aside that problem and forced the user to give the program a starting image. This program eventually turned into Repligator, commercially described as an “easy to use graphical effects program”, but actually, to my mind, an Image Idea Generator. The first release came out in October 1997. In December 1998 I described Repligator V4 [1] and how I thought it could be developed away from simply being an effects program. In July 1999 Repligator V4 won the Shareware Industry Awards Foundation prize for "Best Graphics Program of 1999". Prize winners are never told why they won, but I am sure that it was because of two things: 1) Easy of use 2) Ease of experimentation "Ease of experimentation" means that Repligator does in fact come up with new graphics ideas. Once you have input your original image you can generate new versions of that image simply by pushing a single key. Repligator is currently at version 6, but, apart from adding many new effects and a few new features, is basically the same program as version 4. Following on from the ideas in [1] I started to develop Gliftic, which is closer to my original thoughts of an image idea generator which "starts from nothing". The Gliftic model of images was that they are composed of three components: 1. Layout or form, for example the outline of a mandala is a form. 2. Color scheme, for example colors selected from autumn leaves from an oak tree. 3. Interpretation, for example Van Gogh would paint a mandala with oak tree colors in a different way to Andy Warhol. There is a Van Gogh interpretation and an Andy Warhol interpretation. Further I wanted to be able to genetically breed images, for example crossing two layouts to produce a child layout. And the same with interpretations and color schemes. If I could achieve this then the program would be very powerful. 1.2 Getting to Gliftic Programming has an amazing way of crystalising ideas. If you want to put an idea into practice via a computer program you really have to understand the idea not only globally, but just as importantly, in detail. You have to make hard design decisions, there can be no vagueness, and so implementing what I had decribed above turned out to be a considerable challenge. I soon found out that the hardest thing to do would be the breeding of forms. What are the "genes" of a form? What are the genes of a circle, say, and how do they compare to the genes of the outline of the UK? I wanted the genotype representation (inside the computer program's data) to be directly linked to the phenotype representation (on the computer screen). This seemed to be the best way of making sure that bred-forms would bare some visual relationship to their parents. I also wanted symmetry to be preserved. For example if two symmetrical objects were bred then their children should be symmetrical. I decided to represent shapes as simply closed polygonal shapes, and the "genes" of these shapes were simply the list of points defining the polygon. Thus a circle would have to be represented by a regular polygon of, say, 100 sides. The outline of the UK could easily be represented as a list of points every 10 Kilometers along the coast line. Now for the important question: what do you get when you cross a circle with the outline of the UK? I tried various ways of combining the "genes" (i.e. coordinates) of the shapes, but none of them really ended up producing interesting shapes. And of the methods I used, many of them, applied over several "generations" simply resulted in amorphous blobs, with no distinct family characteristics. Or rather maybe I should say that no single method of breeding shapes gave decent results for all types of images. Figure 1 shows an example of breeding a mandala with 6 regular polygons: Figure 1 Mandala bred with array of regular polygons I did not try out all my ideas, and maybe in the future I will return to the problem, but it was clear to me that it is a non-trivial problem. And if the breeding of shapes is a non-trivial problem, then what about the breeding of interpretations? I abandoned the genetic (breeding) model of generating designs but retained the idea of the three components (form, color scheme, interpretation). 1.3 Gliftic today Gliftic Version 1.0 was released in May 2000. It allows the user to change a form, a color scheme and an interpretation. The user can experiment with combining different components together and can thus home in on an personally pleasing image. Just as in Repligator, pushing the F7 key make the program choose all the options. Unlike Repligator however the user can also easily experiment with the form (only) by pushing F4, the color scheme (only) by pushing F5 and the interpretation (only) by pushing F6. Figures 2, 3 and 4 show some example images created by Gliftic. Figure 2 Mandala interpreted with arabesques   Figure 3 Trellis interpreted with "graphic ivy"   Figure 4 Regular dots interpreted as "sparks" 1.4 Forms in Gliftic V1 Forms are simply collections of graphics primitives (points, lines, ellipses and polygons). The program generates these collections according to the user's instructions. Currently the forms are: Mandala, Regular Polygon, Random Dots, Random Sticks, Random Shapes, Grid Of Polygons, Trellis, Flying Leap, Sticks And Waves, Spoked Wheel, Biological Growth, Chequer Squares, Regular Dots, Single Line, Paisley, Random Circles, Chevrons. 1.5 Color Schemes in Gliftic V1 When combining a form with an interpretation (described later) the program needs to know what colors it can use. The range of colors is called a color scheme. Gliftic has three color scheme types: 1. Random colors: Colors for the various parts of the image are chosen purely at random. 2. Hue Saturation Value (HSV) colors: The user can choose the main hue (e.g. red or yellow), the saturation (purity) of the color scheme and the value (brightness/darkness) . The user also has to choose how much variation is allowed in the color scheme. A wide variation allows the various colors of the final image to depart a long way from the HSV settings. A smaller variation results in the final image using almost a single color. 3. Colors chosen from an image: The user can choose an image (for example a JPG file of a famous painting, or a digital photograph he took while on holiday in Greece) and Gliftic will select colors from that image. Only colors from the selected image will appear in the output image. 1.6 Interpretations in Gliftic V1 Interpretation in Gliftic is best decribed with a few examples. A pure geometric line could be interpreted as: 1) the branch of a tree 2) a long thin arabesque 3) a sequence of disks 4) a chain, 5) a row of diamonds. An pure geometric ellipse could be interpreted as 1) a lake, 2) a planet, 3) an eye. Gliftic V1 has the following interpretations: Standard, Circles, Flying Leap, Graphic Ivy, Diamond Bar, Sparkz, Ess Disk, Ribbons, George Haite, Arabesque, ZigZag. 1.7 Applications of Gliftic Currently Gliftic is mostly used for creating WEB graphics, often backgrounds as it has an option to enable "tiling" of the generated images. There is also a possibility that it will be used in the custom textile business sometime within the next year or two. The real application of Gliftic is that of generating new graphics ideas, and I suspect that, like Repligator, many users will only understand this later. 2. The future of Gliftic, 3 possibilties Completing Gliftic V1 gave me the experience to understand what problems and opportunities there will be in future development of the program. Here I divide my many ideas into three oversimplified possibilities, and the real result may be a mix of two or all three of them. 2.1 Continue the current development "linearly" Gliftic could grow simply by the addition of more forms and interpretations. In fact I am sure that initially it will grow like this. However this limits the possibilities to what is inside the program itself. These limits can be mitigated by allowing the user to add forms (as vector files). The user can already add color schemes (as images). The biggest problem with leaving the program in its current state is that there is no easy way to add interpretations. 2.2 Allow the artist to program Gliftic It would be interesting to add a language to Gliftic which allows the user to program his own form generators and interpreters. In this way Gliftic becomes a "platform" for the development of dynamic graphics styles by the artist. The advantage of not having to deal with the complexities of Windows programming could attract the more adventurous artists and designers. The choice of programming language of course needs to take into account the fact that the "programmer" is probably not be an expert computer scientist. I have seen how LISP (an not exactly easy artificial intelligence language) has become very popular among non programming users of AutoCAD. If, to complete a job which you do manually and repeatedly, you can write a LISP macro of only 5 lines, then you may be tempted to learn enough LISP to write those 5 lines. Imagine also the ability to publish (and/or sell) "style generators". An artist could develop a particular interpretation function, it creates images of a given character which others find appealing. The interpretation (which runs inside Gliftic as a routine) could be offered to interior designers (for example) to unify carpets, wallpaper, furniture coverings for single projects. As Adrian Ward [3] says on his WEB site: "Programming is no less an artform than painting is a technical process." Learning a computer language to create a single image is overkill and impractical. Learning a computer language to create your own artistic style which generates an infinite series of images in that style may well be attractive. 2.3 Add an artificial conciousness to Gliftic This is a wild science fiction idea which comes into my head regularly. Gliftic manages to surprise the users with the images it makes, but, currently, is limited by what gets programmed into it or by pure chance. How about adding a real artifical conciousness to the program? Creating an intelligent artificial designer? According to Igor Aleksander [1] conciousness is required for programs (computers) to really become usefully intelligent. Aleksander thinks that "the line has been drawn under the philosophical discussion of conciousness, and the way is open to sound scientific investigation". Without going into the details, and with great over-simplification, there are roughly two sorts of artificial intelligence: 1) Programmed intelligence, where, to all intents and purposes, the programmer is the "intelligence". The program may perform well (but often, in practice, doesn't) and any learning which is done is simply statistical and pre-programmed. There is no way that this type of program could become concious. 2) Neural network intelligence, where the programs are based roughly on a simple model of the brain, and the network learns how to do specific tasks. It is this sort of program which, according to Aleksander, could, in the future, become concious, and thus usefully intelligent. What could the advantages of an artificial artist be? 1) There would be no need for programming. Presumbably the human artist would dialog with the artificial artist, directing its development. 2) The artificial artist could be used as an apprentice, doing the "drudge" work of art, which needs intelligence, but is, anyway, monotonous for the human artist. 3) The human artist imagines "concepts", the artificial artist makes them concrete. 4) An concious artificial artist may come up with ideas of its own. Is this science fiction? Arthur C. Clarke's 1st Law: "If a famous scientist says that something can be done, then he is in all probability correct. If a famous scientist says that something cannot be done, then he is in all probability wrong". Arthur C Clarke's 2nd Law: "Only by trying to go beyond the current limits can you find out what the real limits are." One of Bertrand Russell's 10 commandments: "Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric" 3. References 1. "From Ramon Llull to Image Idea Generation". Ransen, Owen. Proceedings of the 1998 Milan First International Conference on Generative Art. 2. "How To Build A Mind" Aleksander, Igor. Wiedenfeld and Nicolson, 1999 3. "How I Drew One of My Pictures: or, The Authorship of Generative Art" by Adrian Ward and Geof Cox. Proceedings of the 1999 Milan 2nd International Conference on Generative Art.
series other
email
more http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed 2003/08/07 17:25

_id 2319
authors Schreibmayer, Peter
year 1996
title FULL-SCALE OR THE TRUTH IN “TRUE-SCALE”
source Full-Scale Modeling in the Age of Virtual Reality [6th EFA-Conference Proceedings]
summary Before architecture is put into reality it is simulated, either by means of drafts, or plans, models, or videos etc. .All these simulations represent anticipations of a later reality, instructions for action, sometimes they are no more than forecasts. Whether they hold true is up to the built object to prove. Only the full-scale throws light on spatial impact, the quality of design, the environmental compatibility, the value in use and finally, on the constructional accuracy regarding any decisions followed through with. The focus of working at the Department for Experimental Building Construction of the Graz University of technology is aimed at getting the students acquainted with these possibilities during their studies. Planning as well as building is carried out right on the spot and thus the process starting with the mere idea right down to the architectural reality, as well as the feedback, however in reverse, can be witnessed and perceived.
keywords Model Simulation, Real Environments
series other
type normal paper
email
more http://info.tuwien.ac.at/efa/
last changed 2004/05/04 14:44

_id ascaad2004_paper11
id ascaad2004_paper11
authors Abdelfattah, Hesham Khairy and Ali A. Raouf
year 2004
title No More Fear or Doubt: Electronic Architecture in Architectural Education
source eDesign in Architecture: ASCAAD's First International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design, 7-9 December 2004, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia
summary Operating electronic and Internet worked tools for Architectural education is an important, and merely a prerequisite step toward creating powerful tele-collabortion and tele-research in our Architectural studios. The design studio, as physical place and pedagogical method, is the core of architectural education. The Carnegie Endowment report on architectural education, published in 1996, identified a comparably central role for studios in schools today. Advances in CAD and visualization, combined with technologies to communicate images, data, and “live” action, now enable virtual dimensions of studio experience. Students no longer need to gather at the same time and place to tackle the same design problem. Critics can comment over the network or by e-mail, and distinguished jurors can make virtual visits without being in the same room as the pin-up—if there is a pin-up (or a room). Virtual design studios (VDS) have the potential to support collaboration over competition, diversify student experiences, and redistribute the intellectual resources of architectural education across geographic and socioeconomic divisions. The challenge is to predict whether VDS will isolate students from a sense of place and materiality, or if it will provide future architects the tools to reconcile communication environments and physical space.
series ASCAAD
email
last changed 2007/04/08 19:47

_id d5c8
authors Angelo, C.V., Bueno, A.P., Ludvig, C., Reis, A.F. and Trezub, D.
year 1999
title Image and Shape: Two Distinct Approaches
source III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 410-415
summary This paper is the result of two researches done at the district of Campeche, Florianópolis, by the Grupo PET/ARQ/UFSC/CAPES. Different aspects and conceptual approaches were used to study the spatial attributes of this district located in the Southern part of Santa Catarina Island. The readings and analysis of two researches were based on graphic pistures builded with the use of Corel 7.0 e AutoCadR14. The first research – "Urban Development in the Island of Santa Catarina: Public Space Study"- examined the urban structures of Campeche based on the Spatial Syntax Theory developed by Hillier and Hanson (1984) that relates form and social appropriation of public spaces. The second research – "Topoceptive Characterisation of Campeche: The Image of a Locality in Expansion in the Island of Santa Catarina" -, based on the methodology developed by Kohlsdorf (1996) and also on the visual analysis proposed by Lynch (1960), identified characteristics of this locality with the specific goal of selecting attributes that contributed to the ideas of the place its population held. The paper consists of an initial exercise of linking these two methods in order to test the complementarity of their analytical tools. Exemplifying the analytical procedures undertaken in the two approaches, the readings done - global (of the locality as a whole) and partial (from parts of the settlement) - are presented and compared.
series SIGRADI
email
last changed 2016/03/10 09:47

_id eb87
authors Bhavnani, S.K.
year 1996
title How Architects Draw with Computers: A Cognitive Analysis of Real-World CAD Interactions
source Carnegie Mellon University, School of Architecture and School of Computer Science
summary New media throughout history have passed through a period of transition during which users and technologists took many years to understand and exploit the medium's potential. CAD appears to be passing through a similar period of transition; despite huge investments by vendors and users, CAD productivity remains difficult to achieve. To investigate if history can provide any insights into this problem, this thesis begins with an examination of well-known examples from history. The analysis revealed that, over time, users had developed efficient strategies which were based on powers and limitations of tools; delegation strategies exploited powers provided by tools, and circumvention strategies attempted to overcome their limitations. These insights on efficient strategies were used to investigate the CAD productivity problem based on four research questions:

1. How do architects currently use CAD systems to produce drawings?

2. What are the effects of current CAD usage on product and performance?

3. What are the possible causes of current CAD usage?

4. What are the capabilities of the CAD medium and how can they be used efficiently?

The above four questions were addressed through the qualitative, quantitative, and cognitive analysis of data collected during an ethnographic study of architects working in their natural environment. The qualitative and quantitative analysis revealed that users missed many opportunities to use strategies that delegated iteration to the computer. The cognitive analysis revealed that missed opportunities to use such delegation strategies caused an increase in execution time, and an increase in errors many of which went undetected leading to the production of inaccurate drawings. These analyses pointed to plausible cognitive and contextual explanations for the inefficient use of CAD systems, and to a framework to identify and teach efficient CAD strategies. The above results were found to be neither unique to the CAD domain, nor to the office where the data were collected. The generality of these results motivated the identification of seven claims towards a general theory to explain and identify efficient strategies for a wide range of devices. This thesis contributes to the field of architecture by providing a detailed analysis of real-world CAD usage, and an approach to improve the performance of CAD users. The thesis also contributes to the field of human-computer interaction by demonstrating the generality of these results and by laying the framework for a general theory of efficient strategies which could be used to improve the performance of users of current and future computer applications.

series thesis:PhD
email
last changed 2003/04/15 13:36

_id b4c4
authors Carrara, G., Fioravanti, A. and Novembri, G.
year 2000
title A framework for an Architectural Collaborative Design
source Promise and Reality: State of the Art versus State of Practice in Computing for the Design and Planning Process [18th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-6-5] Weimar (Germany) 22-24 June 2000, pp. 57-60
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.057
summary The building industry involves a larger number of disciplines, operators and professionals than other industrial processes. Its peculiarity is that the products (building objects) have a number of parts (building elements) that does not differ much from the number of classes into which building objects can be conceptually subdivided. Another important characteristic is that the building industry produces unique products (de Vries and van Zutphen, 1992). This is not an isolated situation but indeed one that is spreading also in other industrial fields. For example, production niches have proved successful in the automotive and computer industries (Carrara, Fioravanti, & Novembri, 1989). Building design is a complex multi-disciplinary process, which demands a high degree of co-ordination and co-operation among separate teams, each having its own specific knowledge and its own set of specific design tools. Establishing an environment for design tool integration is a prerequisite for network-based distributed work. It was attempted to solve the problem of efficient, user-friendly, and fast information exchange among operators by treating it simply as an exchange of data. But the failure of IGES, CGM, PHIGS confirms that data have different meanings and importance in different contexts. The STandard for Exchange of Product data, ISO 10303 Part 106 BCCM, relating to AEC field (Wix, 1997), seems to be too complex to be applied to professional studios. Moreover its structure is too deep and the conceptual classifications based on it do not allow multi-inheritance (Ekholm, 1996). From now on we shall adopt the BCCM semantic that defines the actor as "a functional participant in building construction"; and we shall define designer as "every member of the class formed by designers" (architects, engineers, town-planners, construction managers, etc.).
keywords Architectural Design Process, Collaborative Design, Knowledge Engineering, Dynamic Object Oriented Programming
series eCAADe
email
more http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed 2022/06/07 07:55

_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 9e3d
authors Cheng, F.F., Patel, P. and Bancroft, S.
year 1996
title Development of an Integrated Facilities Information System Based on STEP - A Generic Product Data Model
source The Int. Journal of Construction IT 4(2), pp.1-13
summary A facility management system must be able to accommodate dynamic change and based on a set of generic tools. The next generation of facility management systems should be STEP conforming if they are to lay the foundation for fully integrated information management and data knowledge engineering that will be demanded in the near future in the new era of advanced site management. This paper describes an attempt to meet such a specification for an in-house system. The proposed system incorporates the latest technological advances in information management and processing. It pioneered an exchange architecture which presents a new class of system, in which the end-user has for the first time total flexibility and control of the data never before automated in this way.
series journal paper
last changed 2003/05/15 21:45

_id avocaad_2001_02
id avocaad_2001_02
authors Cheng-Yuan Lin, Yu-Tung Liu
year 2001
title A digital Procedure of Building Construction: A practical project
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 In earlier times in which computers have not yet been developed well, there has been some researches regarding representation using conventional media (Gombrich, 1960; Arnheim, 1970). For ancient architects, the design process was described abstractly by text (Hewitt, 1985; Cable, 1983); the process evolved from unselfconscious to conscious ways (Alexander, 1964). Till the appearance of 2D drawings, these drawings could only express abstract visual thinking and visually conceptualized vocabulary (Goldschmidt, 1999). Then with the massive use of physical models in the Renaissance, the form and space of architecture was given better precision (Millon, 1994). Researches continued their attempts to identify the nature of different design tools (Eastman and Fereshe, 1994). Simon (1981) figured out that human increasingly relies on other specialists, computational agents, and materials referred to augment their cognitive abilities. This discourse was verified by recent research on conception of design and the expression using digital technologies (McCullough, 1996; Perez-Gomez and Pelletier, 1997). While other design tools did not change as much as representation (Panofsky, 1991; Koch, 1997), the involvement of computers in conventional architecture design arouses a new design thinking of digital architecture (Liu, 1996; Krawczyk, 1997; Murray, 1997; Wertheim, 1999). The notion of the link between ideas and media is emphasized throughout various fields, such as architectural education (Radford, 2000), Internet, and restoration of historical architecture (Potier et al., 2000). Information technology is also an important tool for civil engineering projects (Choi and Ibbs, 1989). Compared with conventional design media, computers avoid some errors in the process (Zaera, 1997). However, most of the application of computers to construction is restricted to simulations in building process (Halpin, 1990). It is worth studying how to employ computer technology meaningfully to bring significant changes to concept stage during the process of building construction (Madazo, 2000; Dave, 2000) and communication (Haymaker, 2000).In architectural design, concept design was achieved through drawings and models (Mitchell, 1997), while the working drawings and even shop drawings were brewed and communicated through drawings only. However, the most effective method of shaping building elements is to build models by computer (Madrazo, 1999). With the trend of 3D visualization (Johnson and Clayton, 1998) and the difference of designing between the physical environment and virtual environment (Maher et al. 2000), we intend to study the possibilities of using digital models, in addition to drawings, as a critical media in the conceptual stage of building construction process in the near future (just as the critical role that physical models played in early design process in the Renaissance). This research is combined with two practical building projects, following the progress of construction by using digital models and animations to simulate the structural layouts of the projects. We also tried to solve the complicated and even conflicting problems in the detail and piping design process through an easily accessible and precise interface. An attempt was made to delineate the hierarchy of the elements in a single structural and constructional system, and the corresponding relations among the systems. Since building construction is often complicated and even conflicting, precision needed to complete the projects can not be based merely on 2D drawings with some imagination. The purpose of this paper is to describe all the related elements according to precision and correctness, to discuss every possibility of different thinking in design of electric-mechanical engineering, to receive feedback from the construction projects in the real world, and to compare the digital models with conventional drawings.Through the application of this research, the subtle relations between the conventional drawings and digital models can be used in the area of building construction. Moreover, a theoretical model and standard process is proposed by using conventional drawings, digital models and physical buildings. By introducing the intervention of digital media in design process of working drawings and shop drawings, there is an opportune chance to use the digital media as a prominent design tool. This study extends the use of digital model and animation from design process to construction process. However, the entire construction process involves various details and exceptions, which are not discussed in this paper. These limitations should be explored in future studies.
series AVOCAAD
email
last changed 2005/09/09 10:48

_id a573
authors Cicognani, Anna
year 1996
title Thinking Beyond
source Education for Practice [14th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-2-2] Lund (Sweden) 12-14 September 1996, pp. 87-98
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1996.087
summary If the new generation of architects is in need of tools, then we can consider ourselves lucky. On the market there are as many CAD systems as we would be able to learn and use in more than a Curriculum of a School of Architecture. On the other hand, being able to use the tools doesn't mean being able to produce good designs. It is often pointed out how much buildings designed by CAD systems look strangely similar. In the challenge of education, in Schools of Architecture, we need to help students to think beyond the tools themselves. This can be done with, for example, Virtual Design Studios and MUDs/MOOs, in which students can practise their architectural skills and adapt the tools to their design, instead of vice versa. This paper is a description of some attempts in educating how to think beyond tools in design tasks.

series eCAADe
email
more http://www.arch.su.edu.au/~anna
last changed 2022/06/07 07:56

_id acb9
authors Do, Ellen Yi-Luen
year 1996
title The Right Tool at the Right Time - Drawing as an Interface to Knowledge Based Design Aids
source Design Computation: Collaboration, Reasoning, Pedagogy [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-05-5] Tucson (Arizona / USA) October 31 - November 2, 1996, pp. 191-199
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1996.191
summary Designers use different symbols and diagrams in their drawings to explore alternatives and to communicate with each other. Therefore, a useful design environment should attempt to infer the designer's intentions from the drawing and, based on this inference, suggest appropriate computational tools for the task at hand. For example, a layout bubble diagram might activate design cases with similar configurations. Scribbles of view lines on a floor plan might bring up a spatial analysis tool. This research aims to develop an integrated digital sketching environment to support early design activities. The paper proposes RT, an intelligent sketch environment that provides the designers with the right tools at the right time.
series ACADIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:55

_id 011e
authors Engeli, M. and Kurmann, D.
year 1996
title Spatial objects and intelligent agents in a virtual environment
source Automation in Construction 5 (3) (1996) pp. 141-150
summary Many CAD software tools are available today for architectural design. They are useful for drafting, but tools that support design development in an early stage are still missing. In a conceptual phase of the design aspects other than precision and measurements become important. With today's knowledge and technological possibilities new ways of interaction, different data structures and intelligent support tools can be implemented. This article describes our research on new ways to support the design development in an early stage. The concept of modelling spaces, the virtual modelling tool and the integration of intelligent agents are described.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:22

_id f5ee
authors Erhorn, H., De Boer, J. and Dirksmueller, M.
year 1997
title ADELINE, an Integrated Approach to Lighting Simulation
source Proceedings of Right Light 4, 4th European Conference on Energy-Efficient Lighting, pp.99-103
summary The use of daylighting and artificial lighting simulation programs to calculate complex systems and models in the design practice often is impeded by the fact that the operation of these programs, especially the model input, is extremely complicated and time-consuming. Programs that are easier to use generally do not show the calculation capabilities required in practice. A second obstacle arises as the lighting calculations often do not allow any statements regarding the interactions with the energetic and thermal building performance. Both problems are mainly due to a lacking integration of the design tools of other building design practitioners as well as due to insufficient user interfaces. The program package ADELINE (Advanced Daylight and Electric Lighting Integrated New Environment) being available since May 1996 as completely revised version 2.0 presents a promising approach to solve these problems. This contribution describes the approaches and methods used within the international project IEA Task 21 for a further development of the ADELINE system. Aim of this work is a further improvement of user interfaces based on the inclusion of new dialogs and on a portation of the program system from MS-DOS to the Windows NT platform. Additional focus is laid on the use of recent developments in the field of information technology and experiences gained in other projects on integrated building design systems, like for example EU-COMBINE, in a pragmatical way. An integrated building design system with open standardized interfaces is to be achieved inter alia by using ISOSTEP formats, database technologies and a consequent, object-oriented design.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:50

_id 64ff
authors Fengb, C.-X., Kusiaka, A. and Huanga, C.-C.
year 1996
title Cost evaluation in design with form features
source Computer-Aided Design, Vol. 28 (12) (1996) pp. 879-885
summary Reducing the cost of a product at the design stage is more effective than at the manufacturing stage. In this paper, an attempt is presented to quantify the manufacturing cost in feature-based design. Machining form features are classified as simple and complex. The machining cost of a part depends not only on the type of form features, but also on the relationship among the features. This cost is calculated for four different cases: traditional machining, simultaneous machining, simultaneous set-up and changeover, and multiple machine tools. A manufacturing process is represented with a digraph. The feature-based evaluation of manufacturing cost is formulated as the shortest path problem, and a mathematical model as well as an algorithm are presented to determine the minimum cost design alternative.
keywords Feature-Based Design, Design for Machining, Manufacturing Cost Evaluation
series journal paper
last changed 2003/05/15 21:33

_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 5fc4
authors Fruchter, R.
year 1996
title Conceptual Collaborative Building Design Through Shared Graphics
source IEEE Expert special issue on Al in Civil Engineering, June vol. 33-41
summary The Interdisciplinary Communication Medium computer environment integrates a shared graphic modeling environment with network-based services to accommodate many perspectives in an architecture/engineering/construction team. Communication is critical for achieving better cooperation and coordination among professionals in a multidisciplinary building team. The complexity of large construction projects, the specialization of the project participants, and the different forms of synchronous and asynchronous collaborative work increase the need for intensive information sharing and exchange. Architecture/engineering/construction (A/E/C) professionals use computers to perform a specific discipline's tasks, but they still exchange design decisions and data using paper drawings and documents. Each project participant investigates and communicates alternative solutions through representational idioms that are private to that member's profession. Other project participants must then interpret, extract, and reenter the relevant information using the conventional idioms of their disciplines and in the format required by their tools. The resulting communication difficulties often affect the quality of the final building and the time required to achieve design consensus. This article describes a computer environment, the Interdisciplinary Communication Medium (ICM), that supports conceptual, collaborative building design. The objective is to help improve communication among professionals in a multidisciplinary team. Collaborative teamwork is an iterative process of reaching a shared understanding of the design and construction domains, the requirements, the building to be built, and the necessary commitments. The understanding emerges over time, as team members begin to grasp their own part of the project, and as they provide information that lets others progress. The fundamental concepts incorporated in ICM include A communication cycle for collaborative teamwork that comprises propose-interpret-critique-explain-change notifications. An open system-integration architecture. A shared graphic modeling environment for design exploration and communication. A Semantic Modeling Extension (SME), which introduces a structured way to capture design intent. A change-notification mechanism that documents notes on design changes linked to the graphic models, and routes change notifications. Thus, the process involves communication, negotiation, and team learning.
series journal paper
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id 3451
authors Harrison, Beverly L.
year 1996
title The Design and Evaluation of Transparent User Interfaces. From Theory to Practice
source University of Toronto, Toronto
summary The central research issue addressed by this dissertation is how we can design systems where information on user interface tools is overlaid on the work product being developed with these tools. The interface tools typically appear in the display foreground while the data or work space being manipulated typically appear in the perceptual background. This represents a trade-off in focused foreground attention versus focused background attention. By better supporting human attention we hope to improve the fluency of work, where fluency is reflected in a more seamless integration between task goals, user interface tool manipulations to achieve these goals, and feedback from the data or work space being manipulated. This research specifically focuses on the design and evaluation of transparent user interface 'layers' applied to graphical user interfaces. By allowing users to see through windows, menus, and tool palettes appearing in the perceptual foreground, an improved awareness of the underlying workspace and preservation of context are possible. However, transparent overlapping objects introduce visual interference which may degrade task performance, through reduced legibility. This dissertation explores a new interface technique (i.e., transparent layering) and, more importantly, undertakes a deeper investigation into the underlying issues that have implications for the design and use of this new technique. We have conducted a series of experiments, progressively more representative of the complex stimuli from real task domains. This enables us to systematically evaluate a variety of transparent user interfaces, while remaining confident of the applicability of the results to actual task contexts. We also describe prototypes and a case study evaluation of a working system using transparency based on our design parameters and experimental findings. Our findings indicate that similarity in both image color and in image content affect the levels of visual interference. Solid imagery in either the user interface tools (e.g., icons) or in the work space content (e.g., video, rendered models) are highly interference resistant and work well up to 75% transparent (i.e., 25% of foreground image and 75% of background content). Text and wire frame images (or line drawings) perform equally poorly but are highly usable up to 50% transparent, with no apparent performance penalty. Introducing contrasting outlining techniques improves the usability of transparent text menu interfaces up to 90% transparency. These results suggest that transparency is a usable and promising interface alternative. We suggest several methods of overcoming today's technical challenges in order to integrate transparency into existing applications.  
series thesis:PhD
email
last changed 2003/02/12 22:37

_id ddssar9615
id ddssar9615
authors Hill, S.M., Sinclair, B.S., Sandall, D., Butt, T.S., Sampson, N. and Blackie, N.
year 1996
title A Computer-Facilitated Approach for Development, Visualization and Testing of Functional Programming Information
source Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Third Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning - Part one: Architecture Proceedings (Spa, Belgium), August 18-21, 1996
summary Functional programming processes for complex architectural projects have traditionally been hampered by the static nature of available tools and technologies. Connection with user groups have likewise been disadvantaged through the employment of sender-oriented communications models that limit feedback and interaction. In addition, diminishing project budgets place increasing pressure on clients and consult-ants to develop more effective and efficient methods for the design and construction of buildings. This paper discusses a case-study involving the design of a highly complex medical laboratory wherein infoc mation technologies were used to facilitate the development, visualization and testing of functional pro-gramming information. The objectives for the project involved creating an environment where users and clients actively participate in consideration of programming directions and implications in a manner that would not only increase confidence that the program would meet user requirements now and in the future, but also would reduce redundant and or inefficient space within the overall building programme. In the approach used the distinction between programming and design is diminished to improve communication of desires and design responses. The findings of the study indicate that the computer-facilitated approach met the objectives of the project and that the methods developed hold promise for application across a broader range of project types.
series DDSS
last changed 2003/08/07 16:36

_id fb63
id fb63
authors Jabi, Wassim
year 1996
title An Outline of the Requirements for a Computer-Supported Collaborative Design System
source Open House International, vol 21, no 1, March 1996
summary Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) systems have adequately satisfied several needs so far. They have dramatically improved the accuracy and consistency of working drawings, enabled designers to visualize their design ideas in three-dimensions, allowed the analysis of designs through data exchange and integrated databases, and even allowed the designers to evaluate (and in some cases generate) designs based on comparisons to previous cases and/or the formalization of grammars. Yet, there is a consensus that CAAD systems have not yet achieved their full potential. First, most systems employ a single-user approach to solving architectural problems which fails to grapple with the fact that most design work is done through teamwork. Second, current systems still can not support early design stages which involve client briefing, data collection, building program formulation, and schematic design generation. This paper seeks to study remedies to both of the afore-mentioned limitations through focusing on the fundamental dialectic and collaborative nature of what is called designing: a concerned social activity that proceeds by creating architectural elements to address a set of requirements and their re-thinking as a result of architectural conjecture. To investigate this relationship, it is proposed to build a computer-supported collaborative design environment using the tools of conceptual modeling, object-oriented algorithms, and distributed agents. Based on findings regarding the role of artifacts in collaborative design and a literature survey, this paper concludes with an outline of the requirements for the above system.
series journal paper
type normal paper
email
last changed 2008/06/12 16:34

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