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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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.
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.
The education of architects in the use of computers has lead me to try to find "the roots of education of architects" in general. A collegue of mine in a bookshelf of course litterature in Informatics found and put into my hands "Educating the reflective practitioner" by Donald Schön. It lead to an interesting process of personal reflection and discussion within our CAAD team.
We think by the way that the theme of the conference points to the heart of the message in Donald Schöns book and we are inviting him as a key note speaker at the Conference.
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.
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