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	a96f
id	a96f
authors	Clayton, M., Johnson, R., Song, Y and Al-Qawasmi, J.
year	1998
title	Delivering Facility Documentation using Intranet Technology
source	Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make a Difference? [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-07-1] Québec City (Canada) October 22-25, 1998, pp. 240-253
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.240
summary	Intranet technologies present new opportunities for delivering facility documentation for use in facility management. After the design stage, building documentation is reused to support construction and then facility operation. However, a common perception is that construction documents and as-built drawings are less than optimal for reuse to support operations. We have conducted a study of facility management processes and the information content of facility documentation in the context of information technologies that are emerging into the marketplace. The study provides guidance for facility managers who are implementing and fielding new information technology systems. A better understanding of information needs during operations may also help designers to better structure their own documents for reuse. An analysis of documents that are used throughout the life cycle of facilities has led us to a characterization of operations documents that are distinct from design drawings, record drawings or as-built drawings. From an analysis of facility management processes, we have identified different roles for facility documentation in those processes. Facility documentation may be used as a resource, as input, or as output. Furthermore, from interviews of facility management personnel, we identified facility information that was rated high in importance and low in satisfaction that might be targeted when implementing a facility information system. We prepared software demonstrations that show how the information may be extracted from drawings, entered into databases and then retrieved via Web and CAD interfaces. We suggest that operations documents consist of a variety of information types and require several kinds of information tools, including databases, CAD drawings and hypertext. Intranet technologies, databases and CAD software can be integrated to achieve facility management systems that address shortcomings in current facility management operations. In particular, intranet technologies provide improved accessibility to information for facility management customers and occasional users of the systems. Our study has produced recommendations based upon utility and ease-of-implementation for delivery of information from the design team to the owner, and among personnel during operation of the facility.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	8b38
authors	Do, Ellen Yi-Luen and Gross, Mark D.
year	1998
title	The Sundance Lab- "Design Systems of the Future"
source	ACADIA Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 8-10
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.008
summary	The last thirty years have seen the development of powerful new tools for architects and planners: CAD, 3D modeling, digital imaging, geographic information systems, and real time animated walkthroughs. That’s just the beginning. Based on our experience with CAD tools, analysis of design practice, and an understanding of computer hardware and software, we’re out to invent the next generation of tools. We think architects should be shakers and makers, not just consumers, of computer aided design. We started the Sundance Lab (for Computing in Design and Planning) in 1993 with a few people and machines. We’ve grown to more than a dozen people (mostly undergraduate students) and a diverse interdisciplinary array of projects. We’ve worked with architects and planners, anthropologists, civil engineers, geographers, computer scientists, and electrical engineers. Our work is about the built environment: its physical form and various information involved in making and inhabiting places. We cover a wide range of topics – from design information management to virtual space, from sketch recognition to design rationale capture, to communication between designer and computer. All start from the position that design is a knowledge based and information rich activity. Explicit representations of design information (knowledge, rationale, and rules) enables us to engage in more intelligent dialogues about design. The following describes some of our projects under various rubrics.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	e72f
authors	Dorta, Tomás and LaLande, Philippe
year	1998
title	The Impact of Virtual Reality on the Design Process
source	Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make a Difference? [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-07-1] Québec City (Canada) October 22-25, 1998, pp. 138-163
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.138
summary	Sketching, either hand or computer generated, along with other traditional visualization tools such as perspective drawing have difficulty in correctly representing three dimensional objects. Even physical models, in architecture, suffer in this regard because of inevitable scaling. The designer finds himself cut off from the reality of the object and is prone to misinterpretations of the object and its surrounding space and to resulting design errors. These are sometimes not perceived until too late, once the object has been constructed. Traditional tools use 2D media to represent 3D objects and only manage to introduce the third dimension in a limited manner (perspectives, not only tedious to construct, are static). This scenario affects the design process, particularly the cycle of proposal, verification and correction of design hypotheses as well as the cognitive aspects that condition the designer’s visualization of the designed object. In most cases, computer graphics mimic, through its interface, the traditional way of doing things. The architectural model is parametricized with little regard for visualization. No allowance is made for the change in the medium of graphic representation. Moreover, effort is not made to capitalize on the advantages of numerical calculation to propose new interfaces and new dimensions in object visualization. Virtual Reality (VR), seen not only as technology but as experience, brings the 3D object, abstractly viewed by traditional means, into clearer focus and provides us with these new dimensions. Errors due to abstracted representation are reduced since the interface is always three dimensional and the interactions intuitively made in real time thus allowing the designer to experience the presence of the designed object very quickly. At the École de design industriel of the Faculté d’aménagement, we have run tests using non-immersive VR–one passive (comprehension) and another active (design). This project, involving a group of 72 students during a period of six weeks (6h/week), aimed at analyzing the impact of VR as a visualization tool on the design process versus traditional tools. The results, described in this presentation, shed light on the effect of VR on the creative process as such, as well as on the quality of the results produced by that process.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	a114
authors	Faucher, Didier and Nivet, Marie-Laure
year	1998
title	Playing with Design Intent: Integration of Physical and Urban Constraints in CAD
source	Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make a Difference? [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-07-1] Québec City (Canada) October 22-25, 1998, pp. 118-137
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.118
summary	Our work deals with the exploration of a universe of forms that satisfy some design intents. That is, we substitute a “generate and test” approach for a declarative approach in which an object is created from its properties. In this paper we present an original method that takes into account design intents relative to sunlight, visibility and urban regulation. First of all we study how current CAD tools have considered these properties until now. Our conclusion is that the classical design / simulation / analysis process does not suit design practices, especially in the early stages. We think that an improved CAD system should offer the architect the option of manipulating abstract information such as design intents. We define an intent as a conceptual expression of constraints having an influence on the project. For instance, a visual intent will be stated with no reference to vision geometry: “ from this place, I want to see the front of the new building”. We show how to represent each of these constraints with a 3D volume associated to some characteristics. If some solutions exist, we are sure that they are included in these volumes. For physical phenomena we compute the volume geometry using the principles of inverse simulation. In the case of urban regulation we apply deduction rules. Design intents are solved by means of geometrical entities that represent openings or obstructions in the project. Computing constraint volumes is a way of guiding the architect in his exploration of solutions. Constraint volumes are new spaces that can restore the link between form and phenomenon in a CAD tool. Our approach offers the designer the possibility of manipulating design intents.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	5919
authors	Lentz, Uffe
year	1999
title	Integrated Design with Form and Topology Optimizing
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 116-121
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.116
summary	The topic of this paper is to describe the ability of 3D CAD systems to integrate designers and engineers into a simultaneous process developing a functional and aesthetic concept in a close and equal interdisciplinary process. We already have the Finite Element Method, FEM systems for analyzing the mechanical behavior of constructions. This technique is suitable for justifying design aspects in the final part of the design process. A new group of CAE systems under the generic term Topology optimizing has the potentials to handle aspects of conceptual design and aesthetic criteria. Such interactive design tools do not eliminate the designer, but the relationship between the designer and other professions and the professional consciousness of the designer will change. It is necessary to develop common ideas able to connect the scientific and the artistic fields. The common aesthetic values must be clarified and the corresponding formal ideas be developed. These tools could be called "Construction tools for the intelligent user" (Olhoff, 1998) because the use of optimizing is based on a profound knowledge of the techniques.
keywords	Form, Topology, Optimizing
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	2539
authors	Neuckermans, H., De Ridder, T. and Geebelen, B.
year	1998
title	Speech-Driven Computer-Aided Design - Innovation in Human-Computer Interaction
source	CAADRIA ‘98 [Proceedings of The Third Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 4-907662-009] Osaka (Japan) 22-24 April 1998, pp. 309-316
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.1998.309
summary	The use of computers in architectural design has shifted from what initially was a very numerical approach into a graphical way and thus into a designerly way of working. Through the extensive use of WIMPs CAAD packages today are more or less user-friendly. In the meantime the ever increasing functionality of those packages inflate the number of commands, actions, options and choices which have to be activated with the mouse in order to generate a structured drawing. As a result packages become rather cumbersome to handle. In this research we have explored a new medium, namely speech, to tell the machine what to do. With software for speech recognition and making use of a head-mounted microphone we have built a far more user-friendly way of handling a CAD package. Grids, snap, ortho, layers, settings and other commands that can be used in combination with mouse actions are activated and deactivated by voice command. We are convinced that this is a step further towards a more easy and natural way of using computers while designing and certainly a way for speeding up the modeling of real architecture. The experiment has been conducted for AutoCAD with the software for speech recognition by Lernout & Hauspie. This new way of working is not limited to architecture and the principle can be used right now for any other package, provided it has a programming interface.
keywords	Electronic Design Media, Human-Computer Interaction, Design
series	CAADRIA
email
more	http://www.caadria.org
last changed	2022/06/07 07:58

_id	ddss9856
id	ddss9856
authors	Suter, Georg and Mahdavi, Ardeshir
year	1998
title	Generation and communication of design information:a building performance simulation perspective
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Fourth Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning Maastricht, the Netherlands), ISBN 90-6814-081-7, July 26-29, 1998
summary	There is general agreement that the process of design and construction of buildings typically involves multiple players. This has been the impetus to develop concepts for computational environments that would supportcollaborative design. While there has been considerable progress with regard to hardware and electronic communication, the underlying representations of design ideas and artifacts have not kept pace with thisprogress. In this paper we deal with this problem not from a global conceptual perspective, but rather from the specific point of view of those designers who use design representation toward extraction and manipulation of specialized technical information. For example, engineers in various fields of building technology require a rich representation of building information in terms of geometry (with special focus on topology), materials, systems attributes, etc. We argue that the current building analysis tools do not operate on the basis of such rich informational representations. Instead the needed information is often assembled on an ad hoc basis from various non-integrated informational sources. We review three representations as they are implemented in commercial or research systems and explore their potential for communicating design information to computational building analysis tools. Based on this review, we describe desirable characteristics of more sophisticated building representations.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	fc80
authors	Ubbelohde, S. and Humann, C.
year	1998
title	Comparative Evaluation of Four Daylighting Software Programs
source	1998 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings Proceedings. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
summary	By the mid-1980's, a number of software packages were under development to predict daylighting performance in buildings, in particular illumination levels in daylighted spaces. An evaluation in 1988 by Ubbelohde et al. demonstrated that none of the software then available was capable of predicting the simplest of real daylighting designs. In the last ten years computer capabilities have evolved rapidly and we have four major packages widely available in the United States. This paper presents a comparative evaluation from the perspective of building and daylighting design practice. A contemporary building completed in 1993 was used as a base case for evaluation. We present the results from field measurements, software predictions and physical modeling as a basis for discussing the capabilities of the software packages in architectural design practice. We found the current software packages far more powerful and nuanced in their ability to predict daylight than previously. Some can accurately predict quantitative daylight performance under varying sky conditions and produce handsome and accurate visualizations of the space. The programs differ significantly, however, in their ease of use, modeling basis and the emphasis between quantitative predictions and visualization in the output.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	b9c2
authors	Bhavnani, S.K. and John, B.E.
year	1998
title	Delegation and Circumvention: Two Faces of Efficiency
source	Proceedings of CHI'98 (1998), 273-280
summary	Throughout history, inefficient methods to use devices have been replaced by more efficient ones. This shift typically occurs when users discover how to &legate work to the powers of a tool, and to circumvent its liiitations. Strategies of delegation and circumvention, therefore, appear to be the core of efficient use. To show how this approach can expiain the relationship between tools and strategies in complex computer systems, we describe five ways to perform a real-world drawing task with current as well as 5.rture tools. We then present five corresponding GOMS models that demonstrate the value of efficient strategies when compared to the observed behavior of a professional CAD user. We conclude by presenting a generalized framework to characterize efficient strategies and discuss its relevance to design and training.
keywords	Strategies; GOMS; Efficiency; Productivity
series	other
email
last changed	2003/11/21 15:16

_id	ddss9807
id	ddss9807
authors	Boelen, A.J. and Lugt, Hermen J. van der
year	1998
title	Communication of design parameters within groups
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Fourth Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning Maastricht, the Netherlands), ISBN 90-6814-081-7, July 26-29, 1998
summary	This paper discusses the facilitation of worldwide concurrent design within the domains involved in environmental planning, urban design and civil engineering. Typical projects in these domains require the collaboration of many experts. Each of these has his reference framework for the taskat hand and for the variables used. The amount of variables makes it impossible for each project participant to take account for all possible impacts of proposed or planned actions. The typical project demands for a concurrent design process that enables all participants to concentrate ontheir domain of expertise. On the other hand the design process should enable them to have insight in the problems, within the domains of other experts. The system should provide a generic environment with the ability to attach domain specific knowledge. By providing this support thesystem integrates knowledge specific to various expert domains.In the PortPlan project within the LWI organization a system is being developed that supports the integration of various reference frameworks involved in environmental planning. We no longer need to develop a common language for the users. The system contains a dynamic set of scalebound reference objects for the domains involved. The system facilitates the communication of object characteristics. It also supports the presentation of these objects, in legends for each participant involved.We achieve the communication between participants using a dynamic legend. We also enable all participants to become informed on the interests of other participants. We achieve the technical communication using the exchange of interventions. We do not exchange results. This leads to alow "network traffic load" and thus enables the system to operate within the current Internet infrastructure. In this paper we present the problem area of concurrent design in environmental planning. We present this describing the background of our project, describing the overall architecture of the system and presenting the first findings of user studies.
keywords	Concurrent Design, Interfaces, Legends
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/11/21 15:16

_id	bb72
authors	Bourdot, P., Krus, M., Gherbi, R.
year	1998
title	Cooperation Between Reactive 3D Objects and a Multimodal X Window Kernel for CAD
source	Bunt, H., Beun, R.J., Borghuis, T. (Eds.). Multimodal Human-Computer Communication : Systems, Techniques, and Experiments. Berlin : Springer
summary	From the early steps of sketching to final engineering, a frequent and very important activity in designing objects is to perform graphical and spatial simulations to solve the constraints on the objects which are being designed. But when we analyse work situations involving the use of CAD systems, it is today an acknowledged fact that these tools are not helpful to perform these types of simulations. While knowledge modeling based on form feature concepts already offers some possibilities for attaching behaviour to objects, the simulation activity requires in addition a `real time' and `intelligent' management of the interactions between the 3D virtual objects and the CAD user. Our general purpose is to study how future CAD systems could be improved to achieve the simulation steps of object design. In this context we present some issues concerning the cooperation between a model of reactive 3D objects and a multimodal X Window kernel. We have developed a prototype of a system where objects with reactive behaviour can be built, and with which the user can interact with a combination of graphical actions and vocal commands. This prototype is used to evaluate the feasability and the usefulness of the integration of such techniques in futur applications that would be used by object designers in a real working context. We describe the current state of this system and the planned improvements.
series	other
last changed	2003/11/21 15:16

_id	c0e0
authors	Campbell, Dace
year	1998
title	Architectural Construction Documents on the Web: VRML as a Case Study
source	Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make a Difference? [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-07-1] Québec City (Canada) October 22-25, 1998, pp. 266-275
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.266
summary	The Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) and the World Wide Web (WWW) offer new opportunities to communicate an architect’s design intent throughout the design process. We have investigated the use of VRML in the production and communication of construction documents, the final phase of architectural building design. A prototype, experimental Web site was set up and used to disseminate design data as VRML models and HTML text to the design client, contractor, and fabricators. In this paper, we discuss the way our construction documents were developed in VRML, the issues we faced implementing it, and critical feedback from the users of the Web space/site. We analyze the usefulness of VRML as a communication tool for the design and construction industries. Finally, we discuss technical, social, and legal issues the AEC industry faces as it shifts to embrace widespread use of a “paperless” Web-based communications infrastructure for design documentation.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	6a78
authors	Chastain, Thomas and Elliott, Ame
year	1998
title	Cultivating Design Competence: Online Support for the Beginning Design Studio
source	Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make a Difference? [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-07-1] Québec City (Canada) October 22-25, 1998, pp. 290-299
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.290
summary	A primary lesson of a beginning design studio is the development of a fundamental design competence. This entails acquiring skills of integration, projection, exploration, as well as critical thinking–forming the basis of thinking “like a designer.” Plaguing the beginning architectural design student as she develops this competence are three typical problems: a lagging visual intelligence, a linking of originality with creativity, and the belief that design is an act of an individual author instead of a collaborative activity. We believe that computation support for design learning has particular attributes for helping students overcome these problems. These attributes include its inherent qualities for visualization, for explicitness, and for sharing. This paper describes five interactive multi-media exercises exploiting these attributes which were developed to support a beginning design studio. The paper also reports how they have been integrated into the course curriculum.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_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	ga9921
id	ga9921
authors	Coates, P.S. and Hazarika, L.
year	1999
title	The use of genetic programming for applications in the field of spatial composition
source	International Conference on Generative Art
summary	Architectural design teaching using computers has been a preoccupation of CECA since 1991. All design tutors provide their students with a set of models and ways to form, and we have explored a set of approaches including cellular automata, genetic programming ,agent based modelling and shape grammars as additional tools with which to explore architectural ( and architectonic) ideas.This paper discusses the use of genetic programming (G.P.) for applications in the field of spatial composition. CECA has been developing the use of Genetic Programming for some time ( see references ) and has covered the evolution of L-Systems production rules( coates 1997, 1999b), and the evolution of generative grammars of form (Coates 1998 1999a). The G.P. was used to generate three-dimensional spatial forms from a set of geometrical structures .The approach uses genetic programming with a Genetic Library (G.Lib) .G.P. provides a way to genetically breed a computer program to solve a problem.G. Lib. enables genetic programming to define potentially useful subroutines dynamically during a run .* Exploring a shape grammar consisting of simple solid primitives and transformations. * Applying a simple fitness function to the solid breeding G.P.* Exploring a shape grammar of composite surface objects. * Developing grammarsfor existing buildings, and creating hybrids. * Exploring the shape grammar of abuilding within a G.P.We will report on new work using a range of different morphologies ( boolean operations, surface operations and grammars of style ) and describe the use of objective functions ( natural selection) and the "eyeball test" ( artificial selection) as ways of controlling and exploring the design spaces thus defined.
series	other
more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	05d5
authors	Corrao, R. and Fulantelli, G.
year	1998
title	Cognitive accessibility to information on the Web: insights from a system for teaching and learning Architecture through the Net
source	AA VV, Towards an Accesible Web, Proceedings of the IV ERCIM Workshop “User Interfaces for All”, Långholmen-Stockholm
summary	The question of accessibility to the Web takes on a special meaning in educational settings where access to information requires cognitive elaboration of the page contents. It is, therefore, a matter of "cognitive access" to the Web. The main efforts of the designers of Web Based Instruction (WBI) environments to encourage cognitive access are usually aimed at the organisation and presentation of Web documents and at specific cues which can improve the user's interaction, orientation and navigation through the pages. However, it is possible to improve this high-level access to the information by supporting study activities through specific "Working tools" which can be implemented in the Web environment. In this paper we report on the design solutions we have adopted to provide cognitive access to a WBI environment for university students studying Architecture and Town Planning. In particular, we introduce "Working tools" that can be used to support flexible and effective study activities. The adopted design solutions provide different classes of users (not only students) with different access facilities. Finally, it should be noted that the methodologies of the design of WBI systems should deal with this kind of high level access and support it through specific solutions at interface and implementation levels.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	8b9d
authors	Corrao, R. and Fulantelli, G.
year	1998
title	Cognitive Accessibility to Information on the Web: Insights from a System for Teaching and Learning Architecture through the Net ShortPapers: Design Methodology for Universal Access
source	Proceedings of the 4th ERCIM Workshop on "User Interfaces forAll" 1998 n.14 p.6 ERCIM
summary	The question of accessibility to the Web takes on a special meaning in educational settings where access to information requires cognitive elaboration of the page contents. It is, therefore, a matter of "cognitive access" to the Web. The main efforts of the designers of Web Based Instruction (WBI) environments to encourage cognitive access are usually aimed at the organisation and presentation of Web documents and at specific cues which can improve the user's interaction, orientation and navigation through the pages. However, it is possible to improve this high-level access to the information by supporting study activities through specific "Working tools" which can be implemented in the Web environment. In this paper we report on the design solutions we have adopted to provide cognitive access to a WBI environment for university students studying Architecture and Town Planning. In particular, we introduce "Working tools" that can be used to support flexible and effective study activities. The adopted design solutions provide different classes of users (not only students) with different access facilities. Finally, it should be noted that the methodologies of the design of WBI systems should deal with this kind of high level access and support it through specific solutions at interface and implementation levels.
series	other
last changed	2002/07/07 16:01

_id	40d7
authors	Dalyrmple, Michael and Gerzso, Michael
year	1998
title	Executable Drawings: The Computation of Digital Architecture
source	Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make a Difference? [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-07-1] Québec City (Canada) October 22-25, 1998, pp. 172-187
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.172
summary	Architectural designs are principally represented by drawings. Usually, each drawing corresponds to one design or aspects of one design. On the other hand, one executable drawing corresponds to a set of designs. These drawings are the same as conventional drawings except that they have computer code or programs embedded in them. A specific design is the result of the computer executing the code in a drawing for a particular set of parameter values. If the parameters are changed, a new design or design variation is produced. With executable drawings, a CAD system is also a program editor. A designer not only designs by drawing but also programming. It fuses two activities: the first, drawing, is basic in architectural practice; and the second, progamming, or specifying the relation of outputs from inputs, is basic in computer system development. A consequence of executable drawings is that architectural form is represented by graphical entities (lines or shapes) as well as computer code or programs. This type of architecture we call digital architecture. Two simple examples are presented: first, the design of a building in terms of an executable drawing of the architects, Sangallo the Younger and Michelangelo, and second, a description of an object oriented implementation of a preliminary prototype of an executable drawing system written in 1997 which computes a simple office layout.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	46bb
authors	Gerzso, J. Michael
year	1998
title	Speculations on a Machine-Understandable Language for Architecture
source	Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make a Difference? [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-07-1] Québec City (Canada) October 22-25, 1998, pp. 302-314
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.302
summary	One of the objectives of research in computer-aided design in architecture has been to make computer tools or instruments for architectural design, not just drafting. There has been work presented at ACADIA and other conferences related to artificial intelligence, data bases, shape grammars, among others. In all of these cases, existence of a computer language in one form or another is implied. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the progress in the development of intelligent design systems (IDS) is closely linked to the progress of the languages used to implement such systems. In order to make the argument, we will adopt an approach of first specifying the characteristics of an IDS in terms of a conceptual framework of computer languages in a CAD system in general, and what it means to develop a machine-understandable language for architectural CAD in particular. The framework is useful for classifying research projects and for structuring a research agenda in architectural CAD.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	ee96
authors	Johnson, Scott
year	1998
title	Making Models Architectural: Protean Representations to Fit Architects’ Minds
source	Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make a Difference? [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-07-1] Québec City (Canada) October 22-25, 1998, pp. 354-365
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1998.354
summary	A rich vocabulary has evolved for describing architecture. It serves not only as a means of communication, but also as an embodiment of concepts relating to form, space, structure, function, mood, and symbolism. We architects not only speak in terms of walls, rooms, roofs, arches, etc., we see in terms of them and think in terms of them, as well. Such concepts are integral to our ability to design. Typical CAD representations, however, are based on geometric/mathematical elements like points, lines, planes, and symbols. Even more experimental approaches like parametric shapes or procedural assemblies correspond poorly to architectural elements, and seldom lend themselves well to making conceptual changes that would allow exploration of design alternatives. Small wonder some architecture schools experience a division between computer and studio courses, or even between computer and studio faculty. Different ways of talking and thinking are involved. The concepts involved are often mutually exclusive. This paper discusses an attempt to address this conceptual mismatch, using what are termed “protean” (meaning “very changeable”) elements. These are high-level elements corresponding to architectural concepts like “wall,” or “dome.” They each have parameters appropriate for the particular type of element they represent, and produce the polyhedra necessary for graphics based on these parameters. A system is being implemented to allow models to be constructed using these elements. The protean elements form a loosely structured model, in which some elements hierarchically contain others, and some elements are essentially freestanding, being created and manipulated independently of other elements. Characteristics of protean element are discussed, including the underlying object-oriented structure, the relationship between elements and graphics, and functions associated with the objects. A scheme is explained whereby all parts of a design can be represented even when the design includes extremely unusual forms not conforming to predictable classes of elements. The necessary support framework is also discussed; general flow of the system and mechanisms for viewing the model and editing subcomponents are explained. The current status of the project, and intentions for future work are discussed. The project has been partially implemented, and the necessary framework to support the system is mostly complete.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

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