Cumincad : CUMINCAD Papers : Search Results

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	536e
authors	Bouman, Ole
year	1997
title	RealSpace in QuickTimes: architecture and digitization
source	Rotterdam: Nai Publishers
summary	Time and space, drastically compressed by the computer, have become interchangeable. Time is compressed in that once everything has been reduced to 'bits' of information, it becomes simultaneously accessible. Space is compressed in that once everything has been reduced to 'bits' of information, it can be conveyed from A to B with the speed of light. As a result of digitization, everything is in the here and now. Before very long, the whole world will be on disk. Salvation is but a modem away. The digitization process is often seen in terms of (information) technology. That is to say, one hears a lot of talk about the digital media, about computer hardware, about the modem, mobile phone, dictaphone, remote control, buzzer, data glove and the cable or satellite links in between. Besides, our heads are spinning from the progress made in the field of software, in which multimedia applications, with their integration of text, image and sound, especially attract our attention. But digitization is not just a question of technology, it also involves a cultural reorganization. The question is not just what the cultural implications of digitization will be, but also why our culture should give rise to digitization in the first place. Culture is not simply a function of technology; the reverse is surely also true. Anyone who thinks about cultural implications, is interested in the effects of the computer. And indeed, those effects are overwhelming, providing enough material for endless speculation. The digital paradigm will entail a new image of humankind and a further dilution of the notion of social perfectibility; it will create new notions of time and space, a new concept of cause and effect and of hierarchy, a different sort of public sphere, a new view of matter, and so on. In the process it will indubitably alter our environment. Offices, shopping centres, dockyards, schools, hospitals, prisons, cultural institutions, even the private domain of the home: all the familiar design types will be up for review. Fascinated, we watch how the new wave accelerates the process of social change. The most popular sport nowadays is 'surfing' - because everyone is keen to display their grasp of dirty realism. But there is another way of looking at it: under what sort of circumstances is the process of digitization actually taking place? What conditions do we provide that enable technology to exert the influence it does? This is a perspective that leaves room for individual and collective responsibility. Technology is not some inevitable process sweeping history along in a dynamics of its own. Rather, it is the result of choices we ourselves make and these choices can be debated in a way that is rarely done at present: digitization thanks to or in spite of human culture, that is the question. In addition to the distinction between culture as the cause or the effect of digitization, there are a number of other distinctions that are accentuated by the computer. The best known and most widely reported is the generation gap. It is certainly stretching things a bit to write off everybody over the age of 35, as sometimes happens, but there is no getting around the fact that for a large group of people digitization simply does not exist. Anyone who has been in the bit business for a few years can't help noticing that mum and dad are living in a different place altogether. (But they, at least, still have a sense of place!) In addition to this, it is gradually becoming clear that the age-old distinction between market and individual interests are still relevant in the digital era. On the one hand, the advance of cybernetics is determined by the laws of the marketplace which this capital-intensive industry must satisfy. Increased efficiency, labour productivity and cost-effectiveness play a leading role. The consumer market is chiefly interested in what is 'marketable': info- and edutainment. On the other hand, an increasing number of people are not prepared to wait for what the market has to offer them. They set to work on their own, appropriate networks and software programs, create their own domains in cyberspace, domains that are free from the principle whereby the computer simply reproduces the old world, only faster and better. Here it is possible to create a different world, one that has never existed before. One, in which the Other finds a place. The computer works out a new paradigm for these creative spirits. In all these distinctions, architecture plays a key role. Owing to its many-sidedness, it excludes nothing and no one in advance. It is faced with the prospect of historic changes yet it has also created the preconditions for a digital culture. It is geared to the future, but has had plenty of experience with eternity. Owing to its status as the most expensive of arts, it is bound hand and foot to the laws of the marketplace. Yet it retains its capacity to provide scope for creativity and innovation, a margin of action that is free from standardization and regulation. The aim of RealSpace in QuickTimes is to show that the discipline of designing buildings, cities and landscapes is not only a exemplary illustration of the digital era but that it also provides scope for both collective and individual activity. It is not just architecture's charter that has been changed by the computer, but also its mandate. RealSpace in QuickTimes consists of an exhibition and an essay.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	6707
authors	Jakimowicz, A., Barrallo, J. and Guedes, E.M.
year	1997
title	Spatial Computer Abstraction: From Intuition to Genetic Algorithms
source	CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 917-926
summary	Many of the emblematic buildings constructed at present shows many formal and technological innovations that have not been satisfactorily resolved by the existing CAAD software. Frank 0. Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is a good example of architecture whose shapes and design are very advanced from the concepts and tools used by CAAD. The search for new creative resources, from the educational and professional point of view, must be a priority. This will be the only way to get that CAAD contributes essentially in the process of architectural innovation, instead of merely being a reproduction tool. From this viewpoint the computer exploration of the three dimensional form is presented in here. The concept of abstract art, that has been successfully applied to painting and sculpture in this century is used as a way to experiment, design and create architecture. This paper juxtaposes three approaches, three different ways of understanding the abstract character, with the purpose to create new objects and environments, which are exclusively characteristic for computer space. This juxtaposition shows how creative and innovative activities in the field of CAAD can be developed using different intellectual bases: intuition, mathematical formulas and genetic algorithms.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	1999/04/06 09:19

_id	e373
authors	Johnson, Robert E. and Clayton, Mark
year	1997
title	The Impact of Information Technology in Design and Construction: The Owner's Perspective
source	Design and Representation [ACADIA ‘97 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-06-3] Cincinatti, Ohio (USA) 3-5 October 1997, pp. 229-241
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1997.229
summary	This paper reports on findings of a November 1996 exploratory survey of architecture-engineering clients (Fortune 500 corporate facility managers). This research investigated how the practices of corporate facility managers are being influenced by rapid changes in information technology. The conceptual model that served as a guide for this research hypothesized that information technology acts as both an enabler (that is, information technology provides an effective mechanism for managers to implement desired changes) as well as a source of innovation (that is, new information technology innovations create new facility management opportunities). The underlying assumption of this research is that information technology is evolving from a tool that incrementally improves "back-office" productivity to an essential component of strategic positioning that may alter the basic economics, organizational structure and operational practices of facility management organizations and their interactions with service providers (architects, engineers and constructors). The paper concludes with a discussion of researchable issues.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	d60a
authors	Casti, J.C.
year	1997
title	Would be Worlds: How simulation is changing the frontiers of science
source	John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
summary	Five Golden Rules is caviar for the inquiring reader. Anyone who enjoyed solving math problems in high school will be able to follow the author's explanations, even if high school was a long time ago. There is joy here in watching the unfolding of these intricate and beautiful techniques. Casti's gift is to be able to let the nonmathematical reader share in his understanding of the beauty of a good theory.-Christian Science Monitor "[Five Golden Rules] ranges into exotic fields such as game theory (which played a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis) and topology (which explains how to turn a doughnut into a coffee cup, or vice versa). If you'd like to have fun while giving your brain a first-class workout, then check this book out."-San Francisco Examiner "Unlike many popularizations, [this book] is more than a tour d'horizon: it has the power to change the way you think. Merely knowing about the existence of some of these golden rules may spark new, interesting-maybe even revolutionary-ideas in your mind. And what more could you ask from a book?"-New Scientist "This book has meat! It is solid fare, food for thought . . . makes math less forbidding, and much more interesting."-Ben Bova, The Hartford Courant "This book turns math into beauty."-Colorado Daily "John Casti is one of the great science writers of the 1990s."-San Francisco Examiner In the ever-changing world of science, new instruments often lead to momentous discoveries that dramatically transform our understanding. Today, with the aid of a bold new instrument, scientists are embarking on a scientific revolution as profound as that inspired by Galileo's telescope. Out of the bits and bytes of computer memory, researchers are fashioning silicon surrogates of the real world-elaborate "artificial worlds"-that allow them to perform experiments that are too impractical, too costly, or, in some cases, too dangerous to do "in the flesh." From simulated tests of new drugs to models of the birth of planetary systems and galaxies to computerized petri dishes growing digital life forms, these laboratories of the future are the essential tools of a controversial new scientific method. This new method is founded not on direct observation and experiment but on the mapping of the universe from real space into cyberspace. There is a whole new science happening here-the science of simulation. The most exciting territory being mapped by artificial worlds is the exotic new frontier of "complex, adaptive systems." These systems involve living "agents" that continuously change their behavior in ways that make prediction and measurement by the old rules of science impossible-from environmental ecosystems to the system of a marketplace economy. Their exploration represents the horizon for discovery in the twenty-first century, and simulated worlds are charting the course. In Would-Be Worlds, acclaimed author John Casti takes readers on a fascinating excursion through a number of remarkable silicon microworlds and shows us how they are being used to formulate important new theories and to solve a host of practical problems. We visit Tierra, a "computerized terrarium" in which artificial life forms known as biomorphs grow and mutate, revealing new insights into natural selection and evolution. We play a game of Balance of Power, a simulation of the complex forces shaping geopolitics. And we take a drive through TRANSIMS, a model of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to discover the root causes of events like traffic jams and accidents. Along the way, Casti probes the answers to a host of profound questions these "would-be worlds" raise about the new science of simulation. If we can create worlds inside our computers at will, how real can we say they are? Will they unlock the most intractable secrets of our universe? Or will they reveal instead only the laws of an alternate reality? How "real" do these models need to be? And how real can they be? The answers to these questions are likely to change the face of scientific research forever.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	c5ff
authors	Hellgardt, Michael and Kundu, Sourav
year	1997
title	Spatium - A System for the Definition and Design of Shape Grammars
source	CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 83-96
summary	It is shown how Augmented Transition Networks (ATN) can be gradually programmed with shape grammar structures. This work is inspired by natural language parsing. Another major reference is the space-between or spatium assumption. An application is given with a simulation of Palladio villas. Then is shown that ATN frames can be encoded in a way that allows their use without specific knowledge of computer modeling. Connections between human and machine learning are touched on.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	1999/04/06 09:19

_id	8c7b
authors	Hellgardt, Michael, Klinkenbijl, Wouter and Kundu, Sourav
year	1997
title	Objective casualty - an experiment with recognition and emergence in design practice
source	AVOCAAD First International Conference [AVOCAAD Conference Proceedings / ISBN 90-76101-01-09] Brussels (Belgium) 10-12 April 1997, pp. 199-211
summary	Experimentation with an algorithm in practice is presented. Pattern recognition and emergence is controlled through user dialog in this experiment. The next step is to teach the machine to clone human perceptional performances involved with that. Some basic experi- mentation in this field, which is partially inspired by Hofstadters more recent work, is reported. The transcription of the algorithm applied in practice into an ATN (Augmented Transition Network) to be evaluated exhaustively or by means of directed search is presented. Finally problems of connections between the formalisms presented and commercial software are discussed.
series	AVOCAAD
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	498a
authors	Mahdavi, Ardeshir
year	1997
title	A Negentropic View of Computational Modeling
source	CAADRIA ‘97 [Proceedings of the Second Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 957-575-057-8] Taiwan 17-19 April 1997, pp. 107-121
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.1997.107
summary	I propose a systemic view of computational modeling in architecture that is inspired by concepts in human ecology, information theory and thermodynamics.
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:59

_id	75a8
authors	Achten, Henri H.
year	1997
title	Generic representations : an approach for modelling procedural and declarative knowledge of building types in architectural design
source	Eindhoven University of Technology
summary	The building type is a knowledge structure that is recognised as an important element in the architectural design process. For an architect, the type provides information about norms, layout, appearance, etc. of the kind of building that is being designed. Questions that seem unresolved about (computational) approaches to building types are the relationship between the many kinds of instances that are generally recognised as belonging to a particular building type, the way a type can deal with varying briefs (or with mixed use), and how a type can accommodate different sites. Approaches that aim to model building types as data structures of interrelated variables (so-called ‘prototypes’) face problems clarifying these questions. The research work at hand proposes to investigate the role of knowledge associated with building types in the design process.Knowledge of the building type must be represented during the design process. Therefore, it is necessary to find a representation which supports design decisions, supports the changes and transformations of the design during the design process, encompasses knowledge of the design task, and which relates to the way architects design. It is proposed in the research work that graphic representations can be used as a medium to encode knowledge of the building type. This is possible if they consistently encode the things they represent; if their knowledge content can be derived, and if they are versatile enough to support a design process of a building belonging to a type.A graphic representation consists of graphic entities such as vertices, lines, planes, shapes, symbols, etc. Establishing a graphic representation implies making design decisions with respect to these entities. Therefore it is necessary to identify the elements of the graphic representation that play a role in decision making. An approach based on the concept of ‘graphic units’ is developed. A graphic unit is a particular set of graphic entities that has some constant meaning. Examples are: zone, circulation scheme, axial system, and contour. Each graphic unit implies a particular kind of design decision (e.g. functional areas, system of circulation, spatial organisation, and layout of the building). By differentiating between appearance and meaning, it is possible to define the graphic unit relatively shape-independent.If a number of graphic representations have the same graphic units, they deal with the same kind of design decisions. Graphic representations that have such a specifically defined knowledge content are called ‘generic representations.’ An analysis of over 220 graphic representations in the literature on architecture results in 24 graphic units and 50 generic representations. For each generic representation the design decisions are identified. These decisions are informed by the nature of the design task at hand. If the design task is a building belonging to a building type, then knowledge of the building type is required. In a single generic representation knowledge of norms, rules, and principles associated with the building type are used. Therefore, a single generic representation encodes declarative knowledge of the building type. A sequence of generic representations encodes a series of design decisions which are informed by the design task. If the design task is a building type, then procedural knowledge of the building type is used.By means of the graphic unit and generic representation, it is possible to identify a number of relations that determine sequences of generic representations. These relations are: additional graphic units, themes of generic representations, and successive graphic units. Additional graphic units defines subsequent generic representations by adding a new graphic unit. Themes of generic representations defines groups of generic representations that deal with the same kind of design decisions. Successive graphic units defines preconditions for subsequent or previous generic representations. On the basis of themes it is possible to define six general sequences of generic representations. On the basis of additional and successive graphic units it is possible to define sequences of generic representations in themes. On the basis of these sequences, one particular sequence of 23 generic representations is defined.The particular sequence of generic representations structures the decision process of a building type. In order to test this assertion, the particular sequence is applied to the office building type. For each generic representation, it is possible to establish a graphic representation that follows the definition of the graphic units and to apply the required statements from the office building knowledge base. The application results in a sequence of graphic representations that particularises an office building design.Implementation of seven generic representations in a computer aided design system demonstrates the use of generic representations for design support. The set is large enough to provide additional weight to the conclusion that generic representations map declarative and procedural knowledge of the building type.
series	thesis:PhD
email
more	http://alexandria.tue.nl/extra2/9703788.pdf
last changed	2003/11/21 15:15

_id	e292
authors	Charitos, D. and Bridges, A.H.
year	1997
title	On Architectural Design of Virtual Environments
source	Design Studies, Vol.18, No. 2, 143-154
summary	This paper considers the domains of architectural design and film theory for the purpose of informing the design of virtual environments (VEs). It is suggested that these domains may form a background for the consideration of possible metaphors for the design of VEs. Firstly, the paper investigates the relation between architecture and virtual reality technology, through the nature of drawings and virtual environments as means of representing three-dimensional spaces. Then, differences between VEs and physical environments (PEs) are identified for the purpose of understanding the intrinsic nature of VEs, by comparing them to our familiar everyday spatial experience. This step is considered essential in helping us understand how we might be able to develop an architectural conception of designing spaces, in the context of VEs. The paper then presents two directions towards informing VE design by means of theoretical and practical architectural design knowledge. Finally, the use of film-related studies is considered as a means of enhancing our conception of time and movement in VEs.
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_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	a58d
authors	Cicognani, Anna
year	1997
title	On the linguistic nature of Cyberspace and Virtual Communities
source	CM Special Journal Issue. Edited by Dave Snowdon, Nottingham: Submitted
summary	This paper argues for a linguistic explanation of the nature of Virtual Communities. Virtual Communities develop and grow in electronic space, or 'cyberspace'. Authors such as Benedikt Meyrowitz and Mitchell have theorised about the nature of electronic space whilst Lefebvre, Popper, Hakim Bey (aka Lamborn Wilson) and Kuhn have theorised more generally about the nature of space. Extending this tradition and the works of these authors, this paper presents a language based perspective on the nature of electronic spaces. Behaviour in cyberspace is based on and regulated by hardware, software tools and interfaces. A definition of electronic space cannot be given beyond its linguistic characteristics, which underlie and sustain it. The author believes that the more users and developers understand the relationship between language and cyberspace, the more they will be able to use specific metaphors for dwelling and inhabiting it. In particular, MUDs/MOOs and the Web are interesting places for testing and observing social behaviours and dynamics.
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	6112
authors	Daru, Roel and Snijder, H.P.S.
year	1997
title	GACAAD or AVOCAAD? CAAD and Genetic Algorithms for an Evolutionary Design Paradigm
source	AVOCAAD First International Conference [AVOCAAD Conference Proceedings / ISBN 90-76101-01-09] Brussels (Belgium) 10-12 April 1997, pp. 145-161
summary	One of the dominant paradigms in architecture is about its creation: it is done by human designers supported by tools like sketching, drawing or modelling and evaluation tools. The Darwinistic paradigm demands a paradigmatic switch from drawing, modelling and evaluation to the breeding of forms with a much more integrated generation and selecting process embedded in the computer machinery. This means a paradigm switch from a designer as the performer of (sketch, draw or modelling) work to a machine driven creation and selection process of forms with the designer as the supervisor, fully entitled to steer the process in some preferred directions. The designer creates by establishing the evolutionary rules and making choices among the architectural creatures emerging in rapid fire modethrough the synthesis performed by the machine. Natural selection is a Metaphor: in fact the designer plays Nature (or God). The creatures allowed to flourish are not adequate according to laws of Nature, but to the judgement of the designer (or to the designing team).
series	AVOCAAD
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	20ff
id	20ff
authors	Derix, Christian
year	2004
title	Building a Synthetic Cognizer
source	Design Computation Cognition conference 2004, MIT
summary	Understanding ‘space’ as a structured and dynamic system can provide us with insight into the central concept in the architectural discourse that so far has proven to withstand theoretical framing (McLuhan 1964). The basis for this theoretical assumption is that space is not a void left by solid matter but instead an emergent quality of action and interaction between individuals and groups with a physical environment (Hillier 1996). In this way it can be described as a parallel distributed system, a self-organising entity. Extrapolating from Luhmann’s theory of social systems (Luhmann 1984), a spatial system is autonomous from its progenitors, people, but remains intangible to a human observer due to its abstract nature and therefore has to be analysed by computed entities, synthetic cognisers, with the capacity to perceive. This poster shows an attempt to use another complex system, a distributed connected algorithm based on Kohonen’s self-organising feature maps – SOM (Kohonen 1997), as a “perceptual aid” for creating geometric mappings of these spatial systems that will shed light on our understanding of space by not representing space through our usual mechanics but by constructing artificial spatial cognisers with abilities to make spatial representations of their own. This allows us to be shown novel representations that can help us to see new differences and similarities in spatial configurations.
keywords	architectural design, neural networks, cognition, representation
series	other
type	poster
email
more	http://www.springer.com/computer/ai/book/978-1-4020-2392-7
last changed	2012/09/17 21:13

_id	600e
authors	Gavin, Lesley
year	1999
title	Architecture of the Virtual Place
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 418-423
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.418
summary	The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London (UCL), set up the first MSc in Virtual Environments in the UK in 1995. The course aims to synthesise and build on research work undertaken in the arts, architecture, computing and biological sciences in exploring the realms of the creation of digital and virtual immersive spaces. The MSc is concerned primarily with equipping students from design backgrounds with the skills, techniques and theories necessary in the production of virtual environments. The course examines both virtual worlds as prototypes for real urban or built form and, over the last few years, has also developed an increasing interest in the the practice of architecture in purely virtual contexts. The MSc course is embedded in the UK government sponsored Virtual Reality Centre for the Built Environment which is hosted by the Bartlett School of Architecture. This centre involves the UCL departments of architecture, computer science and geography and includes industrial partners from a number of areas concerned with the built environment including architectural practice, surveying and estate management as well as some software companies and the telecoms industry. The first cohort of students graduated in 1997 and predominantly found work in companies working in the new market area of digital media. This paper aims to outline the nature of the course as it stands, examines the new and ever increasing market for designers within digital media and proposes possible future directions for the course.
keywords	Virtual Reality, Immersive Spaces, Digital Media, Education
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/ve/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	742e
authors	Hsieh, T.
year	1997
title	The economic implications of subcontracting practice on building prefabrication
source	Automation in Construction 6 (3) (1997) pp. 163-174
summary	Pressured by labor shortage, quality requirements and tight construction schedules, building constructors are seeking innovative technology to tackle these unfriendly conditions while achieving the targeted profit. For the past decades, technologies related to building prefabrication are being incorporated into conventional construction methods for producing more favorable results. When building prefabrication method is adopted, the organization of the construction team, particularly related to the subcontracting practice, is also subject to change. This paper examines the impact of such changes due to the adoption of building prefabrication technology. This paper first reviews the subcontracting practices in the construction industry. Then, a conceptual economic model of the contractor-subcontractor relationship is developed and is used to explore the economic implications of prefabrication to the subcontracting practice. In the section that follows, a summary discussion on the cost structure and risk sharing nature of building prefabrication is provided. The major conclusion in this research is that the general contractor can not maximize its benefit by conventional subcontracting practice, since the basic elements of the contractor-subcontractor relationship are changed. Based on the analysis and the case study in this paper, it is inferred that in order to achieve maximum benefits through prefabrication, vertically integrating or internalizing the prefabrication subcontractor into the general contractor's organization is preferable.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	acadia07_040
id	acadia07_040
authors	Hyde, Rory
year	2007
title	Punching Above Your Weight: Digital Design Methods and Organisational Change in Small Practice
source	Expanding Bodies: Art • Cities• Environment [Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture / ISBN 978-0-9780978-6-8] Halifax (Nova Scotia) 1-7 October 2007, 40-47
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2007.040
summary	Expanding bodies of knowledge imply expanding teams to manage this knowledge. Paradoxically, it can be shown that in situations of complexity—which increasingly characterise the production of architecture generally—the small practice or small team could be at an advantage. This is due to the increasingly digital nature of the work undertaken and artefacts produced by practices, enabling production processes to be augmented with digital toolsets and for tight project delivery networks to be forged with other collaborators and consultants (Frazer 2006). Furthermore, as Christensen argues, being small may also be desirable, as innovations are less likely to be developed by large, established companies (Christensen 1997). By working smarter, and managing the complexity of design and construction, not only can the small practice “punch above its weight” and compete with larger practices, this research suggests it is a more appropriate model for practice in the digital age. This paper demonstrates this through the implementation of emerging technologies and strategies including generative and parametric design, digital fabrication, and digital construction. These strategies have been employed on a number of built and un-built case-study projects in a unique collaboration between RMIT University’s SIAL lab and the award-winning design practice BKK Architects.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	8735
authors	James, Stephen
year	1999
title	An Allegorical Architecture: A Proposed Interpretive Center for the Bonneville Salt Flats
source	ACADIA Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 18-19
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1999.018
summary	Architecture is the physical expression of man's relationship to the landscape- an emblem of our heritage. Such a noble statement sounds silly into today's context, because civilized society has largely disassociated itself from raw nature. We have tamed the elements with our environmental controls and turned the deserts into pasture. I find much of the built environment distracting. Current architecture is trite, compared to geologic form and order. I visited the Bonneville Salt Flats- (Utah's anti-landscape) in the summer of 1997. The experience of arriving at the flats exceeded my expectations. I was overpowered by a sense of personal insignificance - a small spot floating on a sea of salt. The horizon seemed to swallow up the sky. Off in the distance I noticed a dark fleck. It looked as foreign as I felt on this pure white plane. I drove across the sticky salt toward it, only to discover an old rusty oil barrel half submerged in salt. In my mind, the barrel has a history. It tells the story of a man's attempt at achieving a goal, or maybe it represents a broken dream left to corrode in the alkali flats. The barrel remains planted in the salt as a relic for those who venture into the white wilderness. This experience left me to ponder whether or not architecture can serve the same purpose - telling the story of a place through its relationship to a landscape, and connection to events.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	cc87
authors	Johnson, Scott
year	1997
title	What's in a Representation, Why Do We Care, and What Does It Mean? Examining Evidence from Psychology
source	Design and Representation [ACADIA ‘97 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-06-3] Cincinatti, Ohio (USA) 3-5 October 1997, pp. 5-15
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1997.005
summary	This paper examines psychological evidence on the nature and role of representations in cognition. Both internal (mental) and external (physical or digital) representations are considered. It is discovered that both types of representation are deeply linked to thought processes. They are linked to learning, the ability to use existing knowledge, and problem solving strategies. The links between representations, thought processes, and behavior are so deep that even eye movements are partly governed by representations. Choice of representations can affect limited cognitive resources like attention and short-term memory by forcing a person to try to utilize poorly organized information or perform "translations" from one representation to another. The implications of this evidence are discussed. Based on these findings, a set of guidelines is presented, for digital representations which minimize drain of cognitive resources. These guidelines describe what sorts of characteristics and behaviors a representation should exhibit, and what sorts of information it should contain in order to accommodate and facilitate design. Current attempts to implement such representations are discussed.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	8504
authors	Junge, Richard. (Ed.)
year	1997
title	CAAD futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings]
source	7th International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design/ ISBN 0-7923-4726-9 / München / Germany, 4-6 August 1997, 931 p.
summary	Since the establishment of the CAAD futures Foundation in 1985 CAAD experts from all over the world meet every two years to present and at the same time document the state of art of research in Computer Aided Architectural Design. The history of CAAD futures started in the Netherlands at the Technical Universities of Eindhoven and Delft, where the CAAD futures Foundation came into being. Then CAAD futures crossed the oceans for the first time, the third CAAD futures in '89 was held at Harvard University. Next stations in the evolution where in '91 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the ETH Zürich. In '93 the conference was organized by Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh and in '95 by National University Singapore. CAAD futures '95 marked the world wide nature by organizing it for the first time in Asia. The seventh CAAD futures is the first being organized by a German University. For the as small as newly and only provisional established CAAD group at the Faculty for Architecture at Technical University München it is honor and challenge at the same time to be the organizer of CAAD futures '97.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	1999/04/06 09:19

_id	d5b3
authors	Knight, Michael and Brown, Andre
year	1999
title	Working in Virtual Environments through appropriate Physical Interfaces
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 431-436
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.431
summary	The work described here is aimed at contributing towards the debate and development relating to the construction of interfaces to explore buildings and their environs through virtual worlds. We describe a particular hardware and software configuration which is derived by the use of low cost games software to create the Virtual Environment. The Physical Interface responds to the work of other researchers, in this area, in particular Shaw (1994) and Vasquez de Velasco & Trigo (1997). Virtual Evironments might have the potential to be "a magical window into other worlds, from molecules to minds" (Rheingold, 1992), but what is the nature of that window? Currently it is often a translucent opening which gives a hazy and distorted (disembodied) view. And many versions of such openings are relatively expensive. We consider ways towards clearing the haze without too much expense, adapting techniques proposed by developers of low cost virtual reality systems (Hollands, 1995) for use in an architectural setting.
keywords	Virtual Environments, Games Software
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

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