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 BDA provides a graphical user interface that consists of two main elements: the Building Browser and the Decision Desktop. The Browser allows building designers to quickly navigate through the multitude of descriptive and performance parameters addressed by the analysis and visualization tools linked to the BDA. Through the Browser the user can edit the values of input parameters and select any number of input and/or output parameters for display in the Decision Desktop. The Desktop allows building designers to compare multiple design alternatives with respect to any number of parameters addressed by the tools linked to the BDA.
The BDA is implemented as a Windows-based application for personal computers. Its initial version is linked to a Schematic Graphic Editor (SGE), which allows designers to quickly and easily specify the geometric characteristics of building components and systems. For every object created in the SGE, the BDA supplies “smart” default values from a Prototypical Values Database (PVD) for all non-geometric parameters required as input to the analysis and visualization tools linked to the BDA. In addition to the SGE and the PVD, the initial version of the BDA is linked to a daylight analysis tool, an energy analysis tool, and a multimedia Case Studies Database (CSD). The next version of the BDA will be linked to additional tools, such as a photo-accurate rendering program and a cost analysis program. Future versions will address the whole building life-cycle and will be linked to construction, commissioning and building monitoring tools.
Another of the built examples at Trondheim University which will be presented, is a doctor's waitingroom. It is a case study of special interest because it often appears to be a neglected area. Let us start asking: What do we have in common when we are waiting to come in to a doctor? We are nervous and we feel sometimes miserable. Analysing the situation we understand the need for an interior that cares for our state of mind. The level of light is important in this situation. Light has to speak softly. Instead of the ordinary strong light in the middle of the ceiling, several spots are selected to lighten the small tables separating the seats. The separation is supposed to give a feeling of privacy. By the low row of reflected planes we experience an intimate and warming atmosphere in the room. A special place for children contributes to the total impression of calm. In this corner the inside of some shelves are lit by indirect light, an effect which puts emphasis on the small scale suitable for a child. And it also demonstrates the good results of variation. The light setting in this room shows how light is “caught” two different ways.
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.
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