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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Hits 1 to 20 of 46

_id ce1b
authors Kvan, Th., Lee, A. and Ho, L.
year 2000
title Anthony Ng Architects Limited: Building Towards a Paperless Future
source Case Study and Teaching Notes number 99/65, 10 pages, distributed by HKU Centre for Asian Business Cases, Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP) and The European Case Clearing House (ECCH), June 2000
summary In early 1997; Mr. Anthony Ng; managing director of Anthony Ng Architects Ltd.; was keenly looking forward to a high-tech; paperless new office; which would free his designers from paperwork and greatly improve internal and external communication – a vision that he had had for a couple of years. In 1996; he brought on board a friend and expert in Internet technology to help him realise his vision. In July 1997; his company was to move into its new office in Wan Chai. Their plan was to have in place an Intranet and a web-based document management system when they moved into the new office. But he had to be mindful of resulting changes in communication patterns; culture and expectations. Resistance from within his company was also threatening to ruin the grand plan. Several senior executives were fiercely opposed to the proposal and refused to read a document off a computer screen. But Ng knew it was an important initiative to move his practice forward. Once the decision was made there would be no chance to reconsider; given the workload demands of the new HK$12 billion project. And this decision would mark a watershed in the company’s evolution. This case study examines the challenges and implications of employing IT to support an architectural office.
keywords IT In Practice; Professional Practice; Archives
series other
email
last changed 2002/11/15 18:29

_id 8758
authors Miyagawa, T.
year 1997
title Construction manageability planning - A system for manageability analysis in construction planning
source Automation in Construction 6 (3) (1997) pp. 175-191
summary Engineers now routinely use planning tools to prepare and document master plans for construction. However, the tools do not evaluate how easy or difficult the plans will be to perform, i.e., their manageability. Furthermore, engineers can not carefully evaluate plan manageability because of time and resource limitations during the pre-construction designing and planning stages. Thus, construction managers often encounter unanticipated problems during the construction and start up period. Such problems might be avoided by changes in the design, building methods or construction plans. The Construction Manageability Planning System (CMy Planner) builds a master plan and schedule that explicitly represents the manageability of planned construction methods, schedules and resource utilization. The system simulates project execution and identifies potential risk factors in the plan and schedules, then predicts construction manageability in order to help project managers. This paper also discusses the results of predicting some aspects of a test case construction project. Low management influences in a given time span appears to cause later how manageability. Furthermore, the number of problems decreases after periods of high management influence. We infer that the project status at any time depends on a balance between the severity of the problems and the influence of management. Research suggests that computer tools can give early insight into management risks associated with a given master plan. Future project managers can use extensions of these computer tools to identify design, construction methods and planning assumptions that may lead to manageability problems.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:22

_id 0f97
authors Kvan, Th., West, R. and Vera, A.
year 1997
title Choosing Tools for a Virtual Community
source Creative Collaboration in Virtual Communities 1997, ed. A. Cicognani. VC'97. Sydney: Key Centre of Design Computing, Department of Architectural and Design Science, University of Sydney, 20 p.
summary This paper reports on the results of experiments carried out to identify the effects of computer-mediated communication between participants involved in a design problem. When setting up a virtual design community, choices must be made between a variety of tools, choices dictated by budget, bandwidth, ability, availability. How do you choose between the tools, which is useful and how will each affect the outcome of the design exchanges you plan? Cognitive modelling methodologies such as GOMS have been used by interface designers to capture the mechanisms of action and interaction involved in routine expert behavior. Using this technique, which breaks down an individual's behaviors into Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection rules, it is possible to evaluate the impact of different aspects of an interface in task-specific ways. In the present study, the GOMS methodology was used to characterize the interactive behavior of knowledgeable participants as they worked on a design task under different communication-support conditions.

Pairs of participants were set a design problem and asked to solve it in face-to-face settings. The same problem was then tackled by participants in settings using two different modes of computer-supported communication: email and an electronic whiteboard. Protocols were collected and analyzed in terms of the constraints of each tool relative to the task and to each other. The GOMS methodology was used as a way to represent the collaborative design process in a way that yields information on both the productivity and performance of participants in each of the three experimental conditions. It also yielded information on the component elements of the design process, the basic cognitive building-blocks of design, thereby suggesting fundamentally new tools that might be created for interaction in virtual environments.

A further goal of the study was to explore the nature of task differences in relation to alternative platforms for communication. It was hypothesized that design processes involving significant negotiation would be less aided by computer support than straight forward design problems. The latter involve cooperative knowledge application by both participants and are therefore facilitated by information-rich forms of computer support. The former, on the other hand, requires conflict resolution and is inhibited by non face-to-face interaction. The results of this study point to the fact that the success of collaboration in virtual space is not just dependent on the nature of the tools but also on the specific nature of the collaborative task.

keywords Cognitive Models, Task-analysis, GOMS
series other
email
last changed 2003/05/15 20:50

_id ecfd
authors Breen, Jack
year 1997
title Virtual Horizons
source AVOCAAD First International Conference [AVOCAAD Conference Proceedings / ISBN 90-76101-01-09] Brussels (Belgium) 10-12 April 1997, pp. 109-124
summary This essay explores directions for Computer Aided Architectural Design. It focuses on the state of the 'art' in the Netherlands - a country which is renowned for a high density of planning, both in its cultivated landscapes and in its urban environments - and investigates in which ways computer aided techniques may be broadening the horizons of Dutch design practitioners and builders. An attempt is made to characterise recent developments within the architectural design community, with respect to the influence of (digital) design media on - stylistic - architectural developments and on the building methods of the nineties.
series AVOCAAD
last changed 2005/09/09 10:48

_id b4c4
authors Carrara, G., Fioravanti, A. and Novembri, G.
year 2000
title A framework for an Architectural Collaborative Design
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.057
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
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 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 b656
authors Chase, S.C.
year 1997
title Logic based design modeling with shape algebras
source Automation in Construction 6 (4) (1997) pp. 311-322
summary A new method of describing designs by combining the paradigms of shape algebras and predicate logic representations is presented. Representing shapes and spatial relations in logic provides a natural, intuitive method of developing complete computer systems for reasoning about designs. The advantages of shape algebra formalisms over more traditional representations of geometric objects are discussed. The method employed involves the definition of a large set of high level design relations from a small set of simple structures and spatial relations. Examples in architecture and geographic information systems are illustrated.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:22

_id 47fc
authors Costanzo, E., De Vecchi, A., Di Miceli, C. and Giacchino, V.
year 1997
title A Software for Automatically Verifying Compatibility in Complicated Building Assemblies
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1997.x.q4q
source Challenges of the Future [15th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-3-0] Vienna (Austria) 17-20 September 1997
summary The research we are carrying on is intended to develop a tool aiding to design building mechanical assembly systems, which are often characterised by high complexity levels. In fact, when designing complicated building assemblies by making use of common graphical representations, it might be impossible for the operator to choose the proper shape and installation sequence of components so that they do not interfere during the assembly, and to check, in the meantime, the most favorable setting up modalities according to execution problems. Our software, running within CAD, by starting from the definition of the node features, will allow the operator to automatically get three types of representation that can simulate the assembly according to the assigned installation sequence: - instant images of the phases for setting up each component into the node; - 3D views showing the position of each component disassembled from the node and indicating the movements required for connection; - the components moving while the node is being constructed. All the representations can be updated step by step each time modifications to the node are made. Through this digital iterative design process - that takes advantage of various simultaneous and realistic prefigurations - the shape and function compatibility between the elements during the assembling can be verified. Furthermore, the software can quickly check whether any change and integration to the node is efficacious, rising the approximation levels in the design phase. At the moment we have developed the part of the tool that simulates the assembly by moving the components into the nodes according to the installation sequence.
series eCAADe
more http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ecaade/proc/costanzo/costanzo.htm
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_id 2a5e
authors Does, J. van der and Giró, H.
year 1997
title Design communication and image processing
source Architectural and Urban Simulation Techniques in Research and Education [Proceedings of the 3rd European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 90-407-1669-2]
summary In the proceedings of the first EAEA conference, 1993, I mentioned our first study focused on refining endoscopic video images of a detailed architectural model and drawings. The study was based on work with 900 subjects, of which 200 were professional architects. It has led to a number of technical improvements. In the second study we compared computer-aided design techniques with two techniques from the first study, endoscopic video recordings and coloured and black and white elevations and perspective drawings. Four different groups of 50 subjects took part in this research. We found that computer images are invariably judged to be of moderate value, while drawings yielded consistently high scores. Endoscopic video recordings of the scale model received high scores as far as emotional response is concerned, and moderate scores when the participants were questioned on the actual content of the recordings.
keywords Architectural Endoscopy, Endoscopy, Simulation, Visualisation, Visualization, Real Environments
series EAEA
email
more http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/media/eaea/eaea97.html
last changed 2005/09/09 10:43

_id 137d
authors Jencks, Charles and Kropf, Karl
year 1997
title Theories And Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture
source Academy Editions, Chichester, UK
summary This book presents over 120 of the key arguments of today's major architectural philosophers and gurus. These show that the Modern architecture of the early part of this century has mutated into three main traditions: a critical and ecological Post-Modernism; a High-Tech and sculptural Late Modernism, and deconstructive, subversive New Modernism. Here are the seminal texts of James Stirling, Robert Venturi, Colin Rowe, Christopher Alexander, Frank Gehry, Reyner Banham, Bernard Tschumi, Rem Koolhaas and many others who have changed the discourse of architecture. Here also are the anti-Modern texts of the traditionalists - Leon Krier, Demetri Porphyrios, Quinlan Terry, Prince Charles and others. Many of these texts are concise, edited versions of influential books. Highly informative and richly illustrated with over forty drawings and photographs.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:14

_id e835
authors Kaga, A. and Sasada, T. (et al).
year 1997
title City information Visualizer Using 3-D model and Computer Graphics
source Proceedings of the 20th Symposium on Computer Technology of Information, Systems and Applications (AIJ), pp. 205-210
summary 3-D models and computer graphics with its visual characteristics enables easier understanding of various information. Up until now 3-D models and computer graphics has not been used for the analysis of city information due to its high cost and the need for special techniques. Currently, we have discovered new technology in hyper medium based on network technology and lower costs. This paper focuses on the construction of an interactive and visual 3-D city information system, aiming at the 'idea processor' for research and analysis of city planning and market research. We have discovered the requirements necessary for the City Information Visualizer system. Using this technology we will construct the prototype system of the 3-D City Information Visualizer. This system is based on the personal computer and the Client/Server system. The system is then applied to practical city analysis. This paper presents the prototype system and its evaluation in a real project.
series other
last changed 2003/04/23 15:50

_id b18f
authors Kodaki, K., Nakano, M. and Maeda, S.
year 1997
title Development of the automatic system for pneumatic caisson
source Automation in Construction 6 (3) (1997) pp. 241-255
summary The pneumatic caisson method (NPC) is applicable in any type of ground and permits the ground being excavated to be observed directly, hence it provides a reliable foundation. However, since the working chamber is put under high pressure, high temperature, and high humidity, this method requires robust, experienced workers. However, the aging of skilled workers and the shortage of younger workers have become a social problem in recent years. This is especially serious in foundation work using the pneumatic caisson method which involves hard work under high pressure. In view of the above situation, the Ministry of Construction conducted a joint research with several private companies on technology for automatically removing excavated materials in the pneumatic caisson method as part of its comprehensive technical development project and has come up with a new pneumatic caisson method.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:22

_id 2e3b
authors Kvan, Thomas and Kvan, Erik
year 1997
title Is Design Really Social
source Creative Collaboration in Virtual Communities 1997, ed. A. Cicognani. VC'97. Sydney: Key Centre of Design Computing, Department of Architectural and Design Science, University of Sydney, 8 p.
summary There are many who will readily agree with Mitchell’s assertion that “the most interesting new directions (for computer-aided design) are suggested by the growing convergence of computation and telecommunication. This allows us to treat designing not just as a technical process... but also as a social process.” [Mitchell 1995]. The assumption is that design was a social process until users of computer-aided design systems were distracted into treating it as a merely technical process. Most readers will assume that this convergence must and will lead to increased communication between design participants; that better social interaction leads to be better design. The unspoken assumption appears to be that putting the participants into an environment with maximal communication channels will result in design collaboration. The tools provided; therefore; must permit the best communication and the best social interaction. We think it essential to examine the foundations and assumptions on which software and environments are designed to support collaborative design communication. Of particular interest to us in this paper is the assumption about the “social” nature of design. Early research in computer-assisted design collaborations has jumped immediately into conclusions about communicative models which lead to high-bandwidth video connections as the preferred channel of collaboration. The unstated assumption is that computer-supported design environments are not adequate until they replicate in full the sensation of being physically present in the same space as the other participants (you are not there until you are really there). It is assumed that the real social process of design must include all the signals used to establish and facilitate face-to-face communication; including gestures; body language and all outputs of drawing (e.g. Tang [1991]). In our specification of systems for virtual design communities; are we about to fall into the same traps as drafting systems did?
keywords CSCW; Virtual Community; Architectural Design; Computer-Aided Design
series other
email
last changed 2002/11/15 18:29

_id ab84
authors Li, Thomas S.P. and Will, Barry F.
year 1997
title A Computer-Aided Evaluation Tool for the Visual Aspects in Architectural Design for High-Density and High- Rise Buildings
source CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 345-356
summary The field of view, the nature of the objects being seen, the distances between the objects and the viewer, daylighting and sunshine are some major factors affecting perceived reactions when viewing through a window. View is one major factor that leads to the satisfaction and comfort of the users inside the building enclosure. While computer technologies are being widely used in the field of architecture, designers still have to use their own intelligence, experience and preferences in judging their designs with respect to the quality of view. This paper introduces an alternative approach to the analysis of views by the use of computers. The prototype of this system and its underlying principles were first introduced in the C A A D R I A 1997 conference. This paper describes the further development of this system where emphasis has been placed on the high- rise and high-density environments. Architects may find themselves facing considerable limitations for improving their designs regarding views out of the building under these environmental conditions. This research permits an interactive real-time response to altering views as the forms and planes of the building are manipulated.
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2001/05/27 18:39

_id 8c02
authors Martens, B.
year 1997
title High-end developments within the framework of dynamic-endoscopic viewing of models.
source Architectural and Urban Simulation Techniques in Research and Education [Proceedings of the 3rd European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 90-407-1669-2]
summary As far back as the seventies the first experiences with endoscopic viewing of models were made in the field of architecture and urban construction by introducing an endoscope into the model of the planned architectural and urban space. The monitor shows an approximation of real view of the new portion of building or city, resp. The endoscopic picture provides the viewer with the usual height of viewing and roughly the perspective of a pedestrian, whereas very often planning models of houses and city quarters are evaluated predominantly by means of the bird's eye view. Meanwhile, mechanical installations of relatively limited means have been installed at several university sites making for a simulation of spatial experience by means of endoscopic rides through a construction model such as from the view of a car driver. This paper presents a sketch for a research proposal which is aimed at anticipating high-end-developments based on the experience acquired so far using low-cost-simulations.
keywords Architectural Endoscopy, Endoscopy, Simulation, Visualisation, Visualization, Real Environments
series EAEA
email
more http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/media/eaea/eaea97.html
last changed 2005/09/09 10:43

_id 897a
authors Maver, Tom
year 1997
title A Number is Worth a Thousand Pictures
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1997.x.a5q
source Challenges of the Future [15th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-3-0] Vienna (Austria) 17-20 September 1997
summary The CAAD community is lucky indeed to be involved in a field of teaching and learning which is evolving so fast, which contributes so much to the theory and practice of that most complex and interesting human activity - design, and which clearly excites such a high level of interest and commitment from our students.

There is much upon which the CAAD community can congratulate itself; each year the proceedings of E C A A D E, A C A D I A, C A A D Futures and now C A A D R I A expose an increasingly rich diversity of applications of the information technologies to architectural education. The purpose of this paper, however, is to highlight the relative paucity of applications which lie at the very centre of design education - i.e. the "cause and effect" of how design decisions impact upon the quality of the building.

keywords Function, Performance, Integrated Appraisal, Design Decision Support
series eCAADe
email
more http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ecaade/proc/maver/maver.htm
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_id 2064
authors Murakami, Y., Morozumi, M., Iino, K., Homma, R. and Iki, K.
year 1997
title On the Development and the Use of Group Work CAD for Windows-PCS
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.1997.179
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. 179-186
summary With the development of high-band width communication technology, designers’ interests seem to shift gradually from a single-user, single-domain system to a network based group-work design system. So long as one regards that the design activity develops only in a concurrent, but asynchronous fashions, it is possible to say that file transfers through computer networks have already opened up the possibility of a hands-on collaborative design process in which all participants do not have to gather in the same place. However few CAD systems support group design work that develops in a concurrent synchronous fashion. This paper discusses a basic model of group work CAD systems that the authors have developed for windows PCs linked with LAN. Reviewing procedure of system operation, the authors conclude that the system could stimulate and accelerate a process of group wok design.
series CAADRIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:59

_id 0de7
authors Müller, Christian
year 1997
title An Advanced Groupware Approach for an Integrated Planning Process in Building Construction
source CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 475-480
summary Increasing complexity of today's buildings requires a high level of integration in the planning process. Common planning strategies, where individual project partners cooperate mainly to exchange results, are not suitable to jointly develop project goals and objectives. Integrated planning, a more holistic approach to deal with complex problems, is based on a high degree of communication among team members and leads to a goal oriented cooperation. This paper focuses on the application of an advanced groupware approach suitable to support efficiently an integrated design process in construction. First an appropriate planning process model will be presented, which differs from common product model approaches and takes into account the great importance of team- and goal orientation in integrated planning. Then the idea of an open CSCW platform is proposed, which basic structure and containing elements are based on the defined planning model. Appropriate cooperative planning scenarios can then be ad-hoc modeled and configured dynamically on this CSCW platform according to the requirements of the specific project. For the participants of the planning process, the resulting groupware approach represents an integrated computer based working environment. This environment allows a kind of immersion into the project. Finally a prototypical implementation of this approach will be shortly discussed.
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 1999/04/06 09:19

_id diss_ruhl
id diss_ruhl
authors Ruhl, Volker R.
year 1997
title Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing of Complex Shaped Concrete Formwork
source Doctor of Design Thesis, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
summary The research presented in this thesis challenges the appropriateness of existing, conventional forming practices in the building construction industry--both in situ or in prefabrication--for building concrete "freeforms," as they are characterized by impracticality and limitations in achieved geometric/formal quality. The author's theory proposes the application of alternative, non-traditional construction methods derived from the integration of information technology, in the form of Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Engineering (CAE) and Manufacturing (CAM), into the concrete tooling and placing process. This concept relies on a descriptive shape model of a physically non-existent building element which serves as a central database containing all the geometric data necessary to completely and accurately inform design development activities as well as the construction process. For this purpose, the thesis orients itself on existing, functioning models in manufacturing engineering and explores the broad spectrum of computer-aided manufacturing techniques applied in this industry. A two-phase, combined method study is applied to support the theory. Part I introduces the phenomenon of "complexity" in the architectural field, defines the goal of the thesis research and gives examples of complex shape. It also presents the two analyzed technologies: concrete tooling and automation technology. For both, it establishes terminology, classifications, gives insight into the state-of-the-art, and describes limitations. For concrete tooling it develops a set of quality criteria. Part II develops a theory in the form of a series of proposed "non-traditional" forming processes and concepts that are derived through a synthesis of state-of-the-art automation with current concrete forming and placing techniques, and describes them in varying depth, in both text and graphics, on the basis of their geometric versatility and their appropriateness for the proposed task. Emphasis is given to the newly emerging and most promising Solid Freeform Fabrication processes, and within this area, to laser-curing technology. The feasibility of using computer-aided formwork design, and computer-aided formwork fabrication in today's standard building practices is evaluated for this particular technology on the basis of case-studies. Performance in the categories of process, material, product, lead time and economy is analyzed over the complete tooling cycle and is compared to the performance of existing, conventional forming systems for steel, wood, plywood veneer and glassfiber reinforced plastic; value s added to the construction process and/or to the formwork product through information technology are pointed out and become part of the evaluation. For this purpose, an analytical framework was developed for testing the performance of various Solid Freeform Fabrication processes as well as the "sensitivity," or the impact of various influencing processes and/or product parameters on lead time and economy. This tool allows us to make various suggestions for optimization as well as to formulate recommendations and guidelines for the implementation of this technology. The primary objective of this research is to offer architects and engineers unprecedented independence from planar, orthogonal building geometry, in the realization of design ideas and/or design requirements for concrete structures and/or their components. The interplay between process-oriented design and innovative implementation technology may ultimately lead to an architecture conceived on a different level of complexity, with an extended form-vocabulary and of high quality.
series thesis:PhD
last changed 2005/09/09 12:58

_id b654
authors Sacks, R. and Warszawski, A.
year 1997
title A project model for an automated building system: design and planning phases
source Automation in Construction 7 (1) (1997) pp. 21-34
summary The purpose of an automated building system (ABS) is to automatically generate maximum information and the related documents for the preliminary design, detailed design and construction planning of a building project. The ABS under development, described in this paper, includes features such as: representation of project information by a tri-hierarchical project model, step-by-step progress through predefined design and construction planning stages, use of knowledge-based modules, linkage to various data bases, and implementation of intelligent parametric `templates' of building layouts and work assemblies. The main benefits of the system are the high quality of generated information, and the considerable saving of human input needed for this purpose. The project model for the system is described in the paper and various knowledge modules are defined with respect to their input and output. Interface screens and drawings from a prototypical testing of the system are also presented.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:23

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