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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The problem resides in how realistic these Computer Generated Models (CGM) are. Moss & Banks (1958) considered realism “the capacity to reproduce as exactly as possible the object of study without actually using it”. He considers that realism depends on: 1)The number of elements that are reproduced; 2) The quality of those elements; 3) The similarity of replication and 4) Replication of the situation. CGM respond well to these considerations, they can be very realistic. But, are they capable of reproducing the same impressions on people as a real space?
Research has debated about the problems of the mode of representation and its influence on the judgement which is made. Wools (1970), Lau (1970) and Canter, Benyon & West (1973) have demonstrated that the perception of a space is influenced by the mode of presentation. CGM are two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional space. Canter (1973) considers the three-dimensionality of the stimuli as crucial for its perception. So, can a CGM afford as much as a three-dimensional model?
The “Laboratorio de Experimentacion Espacial” (LEE) has been concerned with the problem of reality of the models used by architects. We have studied the degree in which models can be used as reliable and representative of real situations analyzing the Ecological Validity of several of them, specially the Real-Scale Model (Abadi & Cavallin, 1994). This kind of model has been found to be ecologically valid to represent real space. This research has two objectives: 1) to study the Ecological Validity of a Computer Generated Model; and 2) compare it with the Ecological Validity of a Real Scale Model in representing a real space.
This paper outlines a proposal for an alternative method for teaching daylight and artificial lighting design for both architectural students and practitioners. It is based on photorealistic images as well as numbers, and employs the Lumen Micro 6.0 programme. This software package is a complete indoor lighting design and analysis programme which generates perspective renderings and animated walk-throughs of the space lighted naturally and artificially.
The paper also presents the findings of an empirical case study to validate Lumen Micro 6.0 by comparing simulated output with field monitoring of horizontal and vertical illuminance and luminance inside the highly acclaimed GSA building in Glasgow. The monitoring station was masterminded by the author and uses the Megatron lighting sensors, Luscar dataloggers and the Easylog analysis software. In addition photographs of a selected design studio inside the GSA building were contrasted with computer generated perspective images of the same space.
The possibilities of computer simulation also extend to issues inadequately covered by normative analysis and in particular to dynamic aspects of design such as human movement and circulation. The paper reports on a framework for addressing two related problems, (a) the simulation of fire escape from buildings and (b) the simulation of human movement on stairs. In both cases we propose that current evaluation techniques and the underlying design norms are too abstract to offer a measure of design success, as testified by the number of fatal accidents in fires and on stairs. In addition, fire escape and stair climbing are characterized by great variability with respect to both the form of the possible designs and the profiles of potential users. This suggests that testing prototypical forms by typical users and publishing the results as new, improved norms is not a realistic proposition for ensuring a global solution. Instead, we should test every design individually, within its own context. The development of an affordable, readily available system for the analysis and evaluation of aspects such as fire escape and stair safety can be based on the combination of the technologies of virtual reality and motion capture. Testing of a design by a number of test people in an immersion space provides not only intuitive evaluations by actual users but also quantitative data on the cognitive and proprioceptive behaviour of the test people. These data can be compiled into profiles of virtual humans for further testing of the same or related designs.
This paper reports on a SHEFC funded project jointly carried out by the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Paisley, the Mackintosh School of Architecture, and Lamp Software. The project aims to build a computer-assisted learning package on the response of structures to load. The software will be used as an interactive teaching tool for both architectural and engineering students.
The package has three levels: Beginners (Level 1), Intermediate (Level 2) and Advanced (Level 3). The first two levels have been completed after continuous feedback from both institutions. Level 1 is geared towards architectural and engineering students to help them understand structural behaviour of building components, such as deflection. Level 2 is a graphical editor that enables students to draw precisely the structure of their designs, investigate the deflection of structural members and identify areas of tension and compression. Level 3 is a design tool aimed at architectural and civil engineering students where they can design and analyse realistic structures by choosing structural members from a library, and specify materials and multiple loads.
Prior to its final release, the software package was appraised by students from both institutions. Analysis of results from questionnaires revealed that students expressed a great deal of 'satisfaction' with many of its teaching and learning attributes. The outcome of this project will promote and enhance students’ understanding of the response of structures to load; it will also help students grasp the impact of varying building materials and cross sectional properties on the structural form.
A Real Scale Model of the basic unit was built by the students of the course Spatial Design Ability dictated by the LEE. The model was first evaluated empty and then a furnishing solution was proposed, built and evaluated. These evaluations were done by another group of students of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning using the Psychological Impressions Measuring Test (IMIP) developed by Luis La Scalea (1991). This test was designed to measure people’s psychological impressions produced by a space, and consists of a semantic differential structured by eleven pairs of opposing adjectives set on a scale of seven levels. The results of this first evaluation were analysed used to modify the prototype which was evaluated again in order to produce a final layout.
The argument for conceptualizing and developing the design within a digital environment was that the operations implied by Origami and Transformers, can be carefully studied in this context. Both processes, or types of objects, are best understood in teens of change in time and space. Digital media offers the dynamic capabilities needed to study distortions, step transformations & movement.
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