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CumInCAD is a Cumulative Index about publications in Computer Aided Architectural Design
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_id	ga0026
id	ga0026
authors	Ransen, Owen F.
year	2000
title	Possible Futures in Computer Art Generation
source	International Conference on Generative Art
summary	Years of trying to create an "Image Idea Generator" program have convinced me that the perfect solution would be to have an artificial artistic person, a design slave. This paper describes how I came to that conclusion, realistic alternatives, and briefly, how it could possibly happen. 1. The history of Repligator and Gliftic 1.1 Repligator In 1996 I had the idea of creating an “image idea generator”. I wanted something which would create images out of nothing, but guided by the user. The biggest conceptual problem I had was “out of nothing”. What does that mean? So I put aside that problem and forced the user to give the program a starting image. This program eventually turned into Repligator, commercially described as an “easy to use graphical effects program”, but actually, to my mind, an Image Idea Generator. The first release came out in October 1997. In December 1998 I described Repligator V4 [1] and how I thought it could be developed away from simply being an effects program. In July 1999 Repligator V4 won the Shareware Industry Awards Foundation prize for "Best Graphics Program of 1999". Prize winners are never told why they won, but I am sure that it was because of two things: 1) Easy of use 2) Ease of experimentation "Ease of experimentation" means that Repligator does in fact come up with new graphics ideas. Once you have input your original image you can generate new versions of that image simply by pushing a single key. Repligator is currently at version 6, but, apart from adding many new effects and a few new features, is basically the same program as version 4. Following on from the ideas in [1] I started to develop Gliftic, which is closer to my original thoughts of an image idea generator which "starts from nothing". The Gliftic model of images was that they are composed of three components: 1. Layout or form, for example the outline of a mandala is a form. 2. Color scheme, for example colors selected from autumn leaves from an oak tree. 3. Interpretation, for example Van Gogh would paint a mandala with oak tree colors in a different way to Andy Warhol. There is a Van Gogh interpretation and an Andy Warhol interpretation. Further I wanted to be able to genetically breed images, for example crossing two layouts to produce a child layout. And the same with interpretations and color schemes. If I could achieve this then the program would be very powerful. 1.2 Getting to Gliftic Programming has an amazing way of crystalising ideas. If you want to put an idea into practice via a computer program you really have to understand the idea not only globally, but just as importantly, in detail. You have to make hard design decisions, there can be no vagueness, and so implementing what I had decribed above turned out to be a considerable challenge. I soon found out that the hardest thing to do would be the breeding of forms. What are the "genes" of a form? What are the genes of a circle, say, and how do they compare to the genes of the outline of the UK? I wanted the genotype representation (inside the computer program's data) to be directly linked to the phenotype representation (on the computer screen). This seemed to be the best way of making sure that bred-forms would bare some visual relationship to their parents. I also wanted symmetry to be preserved. For example if two symmetrical objects were bred then their children should be symmetrical. I decided to represent shapes as simply closed polygonal shapes, and the "genes" of these shapes were simply the list of points defining the polygon. Thus a circle would have to be represented by a regular polygon of, say, 100 sides. The outline of the UK could easily be represented as a list of points every 10 Kilometers along the coast line. Now for the important question: what do you get when you cross a circle with the outline of the UK? I tried various ways of combining the "genes" (i.e. coordinates) of the shapes, but none of them really ended up producing interesting shapes. And of the methods I used, many of them, applied over several "generations" simply resulted in amorphous blobs, with no distinct family characteristics. Or rather maybe I should say that no single method of breeding shapes gave decent results for all types of images. Figure 1 shows an example of breeding a mandala with 6 regular polygons: Figure 1 Mandala bred with array of regular polygons I did not try out all my ideas, and maybe in the future I will return to the problem, but it was clear to me that it is a non-trivial problem. And if the breeding of shapes is a non-trivial problem, then what about the breeding of interpretations? I abandoned the genetic (breeding) model of generating designs but retained the idea of the three components (form, color scheme, interpretation). 1.3 Gliftic today Gliftic Version 1.0 was released in May 2000. It allows the user to change a form, a color scheme and an interpretation. The user can experiment with combining different components together and can thus home in on an personally pleasing image. Just as in Repligator, pushing the F7 key make the program choose all the options. Unlike Repligator however the user can also easily experiment with the form (only) by pushing F4, the color scheme (only) by pushing F5 and the interpretation (only) by pushing F6. Figures 2, 3 and 4 show some example images created by Gliftic. Figure 2 Mandala interpreted with arabesques Figure 3 Trellis interpreted with "graphic ivy" Figure 4 Regular dots interpreted as "sparks" 1.4 Forms in Gliftic V1 Forms are simply collections of graphics primitives (points, lines, ellipses and polygons). The program generates these collections according to the user's instructions. Currently the forms are: Mandala, Regular Polygon, Random Dots, Random Sticks, Random Shapes, Grid Of Polygons, Trellis, Flying Leap, Sticks And Waves, Spoked Wheel, Biological Growth, Chequer Squares, Regular Dots, Single Line, Paisley, Random Circles, Chevrons. 1.5 Color Schemes in Gliftic V1 When combining a form with an interpretation (described later) the program needs to know what colors it can use. The range of colors is called a color scheme. Gliftic has three color scheme types: 1. Random colors: Colors for the various parts of the image are chosen purely at random. 2. Hue Saturation Value (HSV) colors: The user can choose the main hue (e.g. red or yellow), the saturation (purity) of the color scheme and the value (brightness/darkness) . The user also has to choose how much variation is allowed in the color scheme. A wide variation allows the various colors of the final image to depart a long way from the HSV settings. A smaller variation results in the final image using almost a single color. 3. Colors chosen from an image: The user can choose an image (for example a JPG file of a famous painting, or a digital photograph he took while on holiday in Greece) and Gliftic will select colors from that image. Only colors from the selected image will appear in the output image. 1.6 Interpretations in Gliftic V1 Interpretation in Gliftic is best decribed with a few examples. A pure geometric line could be interpreted as: 1) the branch of a tree 2) a long thin arabesque 3) a sequence of disks 4) a chain, 5) a row of diamonds. An pure geometric ellipse could be interpreted as 1) a lake, 2) a planet, 3) an eye. Gliftic V1 has the following interpretations: Standard, Circles, Flying Leap, Graphic Ivy, Diamond Bar, Sparkz, Ess Disk, Ribbons, George Haite, Arabesque, ZigZag. 1.7 Applications of Gliftic Currently Gliftic is mostly used for creating WEB graphics, often backgrounds as it has an option to enable "tiling" of the generated images. There is also a possibility that it will be used in the custom textile business sometime within the next year or two. The real application of Gliftic is that of generating new graphics ideas, and I suspect that, like Repligator, many users will only understand this later. 2. The future of Gliftic, 3 possibilties Completing Gliftic V1 gave me the experience to understand what problems and opportunities there will be in future development of the program. Here I divide my many ideas into three oversimplified possibilities, and the real result may be a mix of two or all three of them. 2.1 Continue the current development "linearly" Gliftic could grow simply by the addition of more forms and interpretations. In fact I am sure that initially it will grow like this. However this limits the possibilities to what is inside the program itself. These limits can be mitigated by allowing the user to add forms (as vector files). The user can already add color schemes (as images). The biggest problem with leaving the program in its current state is that there is no easy way to add interpretations. 2.2 Allow the artist to program Gliftic It would be interesting to add a language to Gliftic which allows the user to program his own form generators and interpreters. In this way Gliftic becomes a "platform" for the development of dynamic graphics styles by the artist. The advantage of not having to deal with the complexities of Windows programming could attract the more adventurous artists and designers. The choice of programming language of course needs to take into account the fact that the "programmer" is probably not be an expert computer scientist. I have seen how LISP (an not exactly easy artificial intelligence language) has become very popular among non programming users of AutoCAD. If, to complete a job which you do manually and repeatedly, you can write a LISP macro of only 5 lines, then you may be tempted to learn enough LISP to write those 5 lines. Imagine also the ability to publish (and/or sell) "style generators". An artist could develop a particular interpretation function, it creates images of a given character which others find appealing. The interpretation (which runs inside Gliftic as a routine) could be offered to interior designers (for example) to unify carpets, wallpaper, furniture coverings for single projects. As Adrian Ward [3] says on his WEB site: "Programming is no less an artform than painting is a technical process." Learning a computer language to create a single image is overkill and impractical. Learning a computer language to create your own artistic style which generates an infinite series of images in that style may well be attractive. 2.3 Add an artificial conciousness to Gliftic This is a wild science fiction idea which comes into my head regularly. Gliftic manages to surprise the users with the images it makes, but, currently, is limited by what gets programmed into it or by pure chance. How about adding a real artifical conciousness to the program? Creating an intelligent artificial designer? According to Igor Aleksander [1] conciousness is required for programs (computers) to really become usefully intelligent. Aleksander thinks that "the line has been drawn under the philosophical discussion of conciousness, and the way is open to sound scientific investigation". Without going into the details, and with great over-simplification, there are roughly two sorts of artificial intelligence: 1) Programmed intelligence, where, to all intents and purposes, the programmer is the "intelligence". The program may perform well (but often, in practice, doesn't) and any learning which is done is simply statistical and pre-programmed. There is no way that this type of program could become concious. 2) Neural network intelligence, where the programs are based roughly on a simple model of the brain, and the network learns how to do specific tasks. It is this sort of program which, according to Aleksander, could, in the future, become concious, and thus usefully intelligent. What could the advantages of an artificial artist be? 1) There would be no need for programming. Presumbably the human artist would dialog with the artificial artist, directing its development. 2) The artificial artist could be used as an apprentice, doing the "drudge" work of art, which needs intelligence, but is, anyway, monotonous for the human artist. 3) The human artist imagines "concepts", the artificial artist makes them concrete. 4) An concious artificial artist may come up with ideas of its own. Is this science fiction? Arthur C. Clarke's 1st Law: "If a famous scientist says that something can be done, then he is in all probability correct. If a famous scientist says that something cannot be done, then he is in all probability wrong". Arthur C Clarke's 2nd Law: "Only by trying to go beyond the current limits can you find out what the real limits are." One of Bertrand Russell's 10 commandments: "Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric" 3. References 1. "From Ramon Llull to Image Idea Generation". Ransen, Owen. Proceedings of the 1998 Milan First International Conference on Generative Art. 2. "How To Build A Mind" Aleksander, Igor. Wiedenfeld and Nicolson, 1999 3. "How I Drew One of My Pictures: or, The Authorship of Generative Art" by Adrian Ward and Geof Cox. Proceedings of the 1999 Milan 2nd International Conference on Generative Art.
series	other
email
more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	642a
authors	Stacey, Michael
year	1999
title	Digital Design and the Architecture of Brookes Stacey Randall
source	ACADIA Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 1-9
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1999.001.2
summary	I am an architect who has the experience of using computers. A user and not an expert in digital design, therefore what follows is a foot soldier's report from my practice over the past 10 to 11 years, including the role of computers in our approach to creating architecture. I began my working life tending IBM mainframes for the British Shoe Corporation. The two IBM mainframe computers were state of the art computer technology of the mid 1970's. There were two as one was used, and the other we needed for backup. The developments in computing in terms of size, increase in storage capacity and faster processing speed over the past 30 years, is a technological acceleration which is difficult to visualize. The IBM historian in the UK suggested "that if cars had developed in the same way they would be given away free with corn flakes". A frightening thought as our cities grind under the pressure of increased car ownership. British Shoe Corporation also had a reserve system some sixty miles away and a halon extinguishing system in case of fire - such was the capital and commercial value of the system. We carried out transitional computing for a number of European countries. The CAD was limited - pen potters drawing shoes, drawing them less well than an average A level or high school student! My interest was primarily in art and not computers; my aim to earn enough to tour Europe to see key work 'in the flesh' not just in reproduction.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	8fe9
authors	Terzidis, Kostas
year	1999
title	Experiments on Morphing Systems
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 149-151
summary	This paper presents recent experiments on 3D morphing of buildings. A genealogical tree is created out of cross-morphing buildings showing their children and grandchildren. The resulting children-buildings share characteristics of the formal properties of their parents. There are two methods used here to morph buildings: face-to-face mapping and object-to-object mapping. All morphed buildings are shown as real-time animation. A series of experiments will be presented. Some experiments investigate the implementation of architecture or art theories. For example, how would it look like to morph a Hedjuk building into a Le Corbusier building? How would the resulting child look like in a cubist world? Or how would a building look like as it is extrapolated beyond its target and instead of lines and points it is represented as letters and colors? The computer system that was developed by the author for this paper is called "zhapes" and is a Java-based 3D-experimentation system. It resides at the address http://www.cda.ucla.edu/caad/java/x/formProj2/formB.html where it can be downloaded for explorations.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 10:01

_id	37d1
authors	Corona Martíne, Alfonso and Vigo, Libertad
year	1999
title	Before the Digital Design Studio
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 247-252
summary	This paper contains some observations which derive from our work as Studio Professors . In the last years, studios are in a transition phase with the progressive introduction of computers in later stages of the design process. The initiative generally belongs to students rather than to studio masters, since the former are aware that a knowledge of CAD systems will make them able to get work in architects offices. It is the first few Studios that will guide the student in forming a conception of what is architecture . Therefore, we have observer more attentively the way in which he establishes his first competence as a designer. We believe it is useful to clarify design training before we can integrate computers into it. The ways we all learn to design and which we transmit in the Studio were obviously created a long time ago, when Architecture became a subject taught in Schools, no longer a craft to be acquired under a master. The conception of architecture that the student forms in his mind is largely dependent on a long tradition of Beaux-Arts training which survives (under different forms) in Modern Architecture. The methods he or she acquires will become the basis of his creative design process also in professional life. Computer programmes are designed to adapt into the stages of this design process simply as time saving tools. We are interested in finding out how they can become an active part in the creative process and how to control this integration in teaching. Therefore, our work deals mainly with the tradition of the Studio and the conditioning it produces. The next step will be to explore the possiblities and restrictions that will inevitably issue from the introduction of new media.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:49

_id	db00
authors	Espina, Jane J.B.
year	2002
title	Base de datos de la arquitectura moderna de la ciudad de Maracaibo 1920-1990 [Database of the Modern Architecture of the City of Maracaibo 1920-1990]
source	SIGraDi 2002 - [Proceedings of the 6th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] Caracas (Venezuela) 27-29 november 2002, pp. 133-139
summary	Bases de datos, Sistemas y Redes 134The purpose of this report is to present the achievements obtained in the use of the technologies of information andcommunication in the architecture, by means of the construction of a database to register the information on the modernarchitecture of the city of Maracaibo from 1920 until 1990, in reference to the constructions located in 5 of Julio, Sectorand to the most outstanding planners for its work, by means of the representation of the same ones in digital format.The objective of this investigation it was to elaborate a database for the registration of the information on the modernarchitecture in the period 1920-1990 of Maracaibo, by means of the design of an automated tool to organize the it datesrelated with the buildings, parcels and planners of the city. The investigation was carried out considering three methodologicalmoments: a) Gathering and classification of the information of the buildings and planners of the modern architectureto elaborate the databases, b) Design of the databases for the organization of the information and c) Design ofthe consultations, information, reports and the beginning menu. For the prosecution of the data files were generated inprograms attended by such computer as: AutoCAD R14 and 2000, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and MicrosoftAccess 2000, CorelDRAW V9.0 and Corel PHOTOPAINT V9.0.The investigation is related with the work developed in the class of Graphic Calculation II, belonging to the Departmentof Communication of the School of Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture and Design of The University of the Zulia(FADLUZ), carried out from the year 1999, using part of the obtained information of the works of the students generatedby means of the CAD systems for the representation in three dimensions of constructions with historical relevance in themodern architecture of Maracaibo, which are classified in the work of The Other City, generating different types ofisometric views, perspectives, representations photorealistics, plants and facades, among others.In what concerns to the thematic of this investigation, previous antecedents are ignored in our environment, and beingthe first time that incorporates the digital graph applied to the work carried out by the architects of “The Other City, thegenesis of the oil city of Maracaibo” carried out in the year 1994; of there the value of this research the field of thearchitecture and computer science. To point out that databases exist in the architecture field fits and of the design, alsoweb sites with information has more than enough architects and architecture works (Montagu, 1999).In The University of the Zulia, specifically in the Faculty of Architecture and Design, they have been carried out twoworks related with the thematic one of database, specifically in the years 1995 and 1996, in the first one a system wasdesigned to visualize, to classify and to analyze from the architectural point of view some historical buildings of Maracaiboand in the second an automated system of documental information was generated on the goods properties built insidethe urban area of Maracaibo. In the world environment it stands out the first database developed in Argentina, it is the database of the Modern andContemporary Architecture “Datarq 2000” elaborated by the Prof. Arturo Montagú of the University of Buenos Aires. The general objective of this work it was the use of new technologies for the prosecution in Architecture and Design (MONTAGU, Ob.cit). In the database, he intends to incorporate a complementary methodology and alternative of use of the informationthat habitually is used in the teaching of the architecture. When concluding this investigation, it was achieved: 1) analysis of projects of modern architecture, of which some form part of the historical patrimony of Maracaibo; 2) organized registrations of type text: historical, formal, space and technical data, and graph: you plant, facades, perspectives, pictures, among other, of the Moments of the Architecture of the Modernity in the city, general data and more excellent characteristics of the constructions, and general data of the Planners with their more important works, besides information on the parcels where the constructions are located, 3)construction in digital format and development of representations photorealistics of architecture projects already built. It is excellent to highlight the importance in the use of the Technologies of Information and Communication in this investigation, since it will allow to incorporate to the means digital part of the information of the modern architecturalconstructions that characterized the city of Maracaibo at the end of the XX century, and that in the last decades they have suffered changes, some of them have disappeared, destroying leaves of the modern historical patrimony of the city; therefore, the necessity arises of to register and to systematize in digital format the graphic information of those constructions. Also, to demonstrate the importance of the use of the computer and of the computer science in the representation and compression of the buildings of the modern architecture, to inclination texts, images, mapping, models in 3D and information organized in databases, and the relevance of the work from the pedagogic point of view,since it will be able to be used in the dictation of computer science classes and history in the teaching of the University studies of third level, allowing the learning with the use in new ways of transmission of the knowledge starting from the visual information on the part of the students in the elaboration of models in three dimensions or electronic scalemodels, also of the modern architecture and in a future to serve as support material for virtual recoveries of some buildings that at the present time they don’t exist or they are almost destroyed. In synthesis, the investigation will allow to know and to register the architecture of Maracaibo in this last decade, which arises under the parameters of the modernity and that through its organization and visualization in digital format, it will allow to the students, professors and interested in knowing it in a quicker and more efficient way, constituting a contribution to theteaching in the history area and calculation. Also, it can be of a lot of utility for the development of future investigation projects related with the thematic one and restoration of buildings of the modernity in Maracaibo.
keywords	database, digital format, modern architecture, model, mapping
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:51

_id	160c
authors	Selles, Pascual
year	1999
title	RGB Winds are Blowing in the Design Studio
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 286-291
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.286
summary	This paper presents the results of two design studio elective courses offered to students in their second and third semester of studies at the Design Studio Department, "Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, UPV." Classes are based on a methodology that directly relates the language of architectural form and space, to the language of the specific software being used. Our focus is not only to discover what may be represented, but most important what may not, and why. We aim to point out the differences between architecture as perceived and experienced by a human being, and its digital representation as a computer data structure. At the Digital Design Studio, students are faced with a sequence of two projects so as to learn the basics of architecture, while developing their skill to build a digital representation of it. The first exercise within this CAD sequence is reading and analyzing a built project: a study of precedent. With this exercise we aim at two goals: to decipher the keys or parameters of architectural design, from drawings and pictures, trying to recognize an "architectural language"; and to learn a particular syntax of digital modeling. The second exercise is a project of a single family house within a narrow rectangular site and with only one street elevation. With this project we focus on the strong impact of stairs on the organization of functions and circulation, the illumination and ventilation of spaces with double heights and patios, and study the power of the section to express clearly the organization of spaces.
keywords	Computer Aided Design, Studio, Education
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	ga9908
id	ga9908
authors	Senagala, Mahesh
year	1999
title	Artistic Process, Cybernetics of Self and the Epistemology of Digital Technology
source	International Conference on Generative Art
summary	From the viewpoint of Batesonian cybernetics, ‘conscious purpose’ and artistic process are distinct ends of a spectrum of the functioning of self. Artistic activities— by which I mean art, poetry, play, design, etc.— involve processes that are beneath the stratum of consciousness. By definition, consciousness is selective awareness and is linear in execution and limited in its capability to synthesize complex parameters. As Heidegger pointed out, technology is a special form of knowledge (episteme). A machine is a manifestation of such a knowledge. A machine is a result of conscious purpose and is normally task-driven to accomplish a specific purpose(s). The questions this paper raises are to do with the connections between conscious purpose, artistic process and digital technology. One of the central questions of the paper is "if artistic process requires an abandonment or relinquishment of conscious purpose at the time of the generation of the work of art, and if the artistic process is a result of vast number of ‘unconscious’ forces and impulses, then could we say that the computer would ever be able to ‘generate’ or ‘create’ a work of art?" In what capacity and what role would the computer be a part of the generative process of art? Would a computer be able to ‘generate’ and ‘know’ a work of art, which, according to Bateson, requires the abandonment of conscious purpose? The ultimate goal of the paper is to unearth and examine the potential of the computers to be a part of the generative process of what Bateson has called "total self as a cybernetic model". On another plane of discourse, Deleuze and Guattari have added a critical dimension to the discourse of cybernetics and models of human mind and the global computer networks. Their notion of ‘rhizome’ has its roots in Batesonian cybernetics and the cybernetic couplings between the ‘complex systems’ such as human mind, biological and computational systems. Deleuze and Guattari call such systems as human brain and the neural networks as rhizomatic. Given the fact that the computer is the first known cybernetic machine to lay claims to artificial intelligence, the aforementioned questions become even more significant. The paper will explore how, cybernetically, the computer could be ‘coupled’ with ‘self’ and the artistic process — the ultimate expression of human condition. These philosophical and artistic explorations will take place through a series of generative artistic projects (See the figure below for an example) that aim at understanding the couplings and ‘ecology’ of digital technology and the cybernetics of self.
series	other
email
more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	avocaad_2001_16
id	avocaad_2001_16
authors	Yu-Ying Chang, Yu-Tung Liu, Chien-Hui Wong
year	2001
title	Some Phenomena of Spatial Characteristics of Cyberspace
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	"Space," which has long been an important concept in architecture (Bloomer & Moore, 1977; Mitchell, 1995, 1999), has attracted interest of researchers from various academic disciplines in recent years (Agnew, 1993; Benko & Strohmayer, 1996; Chang, 1999; Foucault, 1982; Gould, 1998). Researchers from disciplines such as anthropology, geography, sociology, philosophy, and linguistics regard it as the basis of the discussion of various theories in social sciences and humanities (Chen, 1999). On the other hand, since the invention of Internet, Internet users have been experiencing a new and magic "world." According to the definitions in traditional architecture theories, "space" is generated whenever people define a finite void by some physical elements (Zevi, 1985). However, although Internet is a virtual, immense, invisible and intangible world, navigating in it, we can still sense the very presence of ourselves and others in a wonderland. This sense could be testified by our naming of Internet as Cyberspace -- an exotic kind of space. Therefore, as people nowadays rely more and more on the Internet in their daily life, and as more and more architectural scholars and designers begin to invest their efforts in the design of virtual places online (e.g., Maher, 1999; Li & Maher, 2000), we cannot help but ask whether there are indeed sensible spaces in Internet. And if yes, these spaces exist in terms of what forms and created by what ways?To join the current interdisciplinary discussion on the issue of space, and to obtain new definition as well as insightful understanding of "space", this study explores the spatial phenomena in Internet. We hope that our findings would ultimately be also useful for contemporary architectural designers and scholars in their designs in the real world.As a preliminary exploration, the main objective of this study is to discover the elements involved in the creation/construction of Internet spaces and to examine the relationship between human participants and Internet spaces. In addition, this study also attempts to investigate whether participants from different academic disciplines define or experience Internet spaces in different ways, and to find what spatial elements of Internet they emphasize the most.In order to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the spatial phenomena in Internet and to overcome the subjectivity of the members of the research team, the research design of this study was divided into two stages. At the first stage, we conducted literature review to study existing theories of space (which are based on observations and investigations of the physical world). At the second stage of this study, we recruited 8 Internet regular users to approach this topic from different point of views, and to see whether people with different academic training would define and experience Internet spaces differently.The results of this study reveal that the relationship between human participants and Internet spaces is different from that between human participants and physical spaces. In the physical world, physical elements of space must be established first; it then begins to be regarded as a place after interaction between/among human participants or interaction between human participants and the physical environment. In contrast, in Internet, a sense of place is first created through human interactions (or activities), Internet participants then begin to sense the existence of a space. Therefore, it seems that, among the many spatial elements of Internet we found, "interaction/reciprocity" Ñ either between/among human participants or between human participants and the computer interface Ð seems to be the most crucial element.In addition, another interesting result of this study is that verbal (linguistic) elements could provoke a sense of space in a degree higher than 2D visual representation and no less than 3D visual simulations. Nevertheless, verbal and 3D visual elements seem to work in different ways in terms of cognitive behaviors: Verbal elements provoke visual imagery and other sensory perceptions by "imagining" and then excite personal experiences of space; visual elements, on the other hand, provoke and excite visual experiences of space directly by "mapping".Finally, it was found that participants with different academic training did experience and define space differently. For example, when experiencing and analyzing Internet spaces, architecture designers, the creators of the physical world, emphasize the design of circulation and orientation, while participants with linguistics training focus more on subtle language usage. Visual designers tend to analyze the graphical elements of virtual spaces based on traditional painting theories; industrial designers, on the other hand, tend to treat these spaces as industrial products, emphasizing concept of user-center and the control of the computer interface.The findings of this study seem to add new information to our understanding of virtual space. It would be interesting for future studies to investigate how this information influences architectural designers in their real-world practices in this digital age. In addition, to obtain a fuller picture of Internet space, further research is needed to study the same issue by examining more Internet participants who have no formal linguistics and graphical training.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	9e26
authors	Do, Ellen Yi-Luen,
year	1999
title	The right tool at the right time : investigation of freehand drawing as an interface to knowledge based design tools
source	College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology
summary	Designers use different symbols and configurations in their drawings to explore alternatives and to communicate with each other. For example, when thinking about spatial arrangements, they draw bubble diagrams; when thinking about natural lighting, they draw a sun symbol and light rays. Given the connection between drawings and thinking, one should be able infer design intentions from a drawing and ultimately use such inferences to program a computer to understand our drawings. This dissertation reports findings from empirical studies on drawings and explores the possibility of using the computer to automatically infer designer's concerns from the drawings a designer makes. This dissertation consists of three parts: 1) a literature review of design studies, cognitive studies of drawing and computational sketch systems, and a set of pilot projects; 2) empirical studies of diagramming design intentions and a design drawing experiment; and 3) the implementation of a prototype system called Right-Tool-Right-Time. The main goal is to find out what is in design drawings that a computer program should be able to recognize and support. Experiments were conducted to study the relation between drawing conventions and the design tasks with which they are associated. It was found from the experiments that designers use certain symbols and configurations when thinking about certain design concerns. When thinking about allocating objects or spaces with a required dimensions, designers wrote down numbers beside the drawing to reason xviii about size and to calculate dimensions. When thinking about visual analysis, designers drew sight lines from a view point on a floor plan. Based on the recognition that it is possible to associate symbols and spatial arrangements in a drawing with a designer's intention, or task context, the second goal is to find out whether a computer can be programed to recognize these drawing conventions. Given an inferred intention and context, a program should be able to activate appropriate design tools automatically. For example, concerns about visual analysis can activate a visual simulation program, and number calculations can activate a calculator. The Right- Tool-Right-Time prototype program demonstrates how a freehand sketching system that infers intentions would support the automatic activation of different design tools based on a designers' drawing acts.
series	thesis:PhD
email
more	http://www.arch.gatech.edu/~ellen/thesis.html
last changed	2004/10/04 07:49

_id	9c96
authors	Szalapaj, Peter and Chang, David C.
year	1999
title	Computer Architectural Representation - Applying the VOIDs Framework to a Bridge Design Scheme
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 387-394
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.387
summary	A virtual environment presents sensory information and visual feedback to the user in order to give convincing illusion of an artificial world. In the architectural profession, the spatio-temporal metaphor in itself constitutes significant information retrieval, because we understand architecture by seeing it. This paper attempts to understand, and then to analyse the characteristics of representation of architectural models in virtual environments. We will examine the use and creativity of current computer generated architectural presentation in virtual environments. Our observations will be applied to the modelling of a bridge in Castlefield, Manchester, and evaluated by a group of students within the School of Architecture at Sheffield University. The conclusion of this paper will be the presentation of a conceptual structure for representing architectural models in virtual environments. This paper also explores the tension between the correspondence and constructivist views of representation. The correspondence view of representation relies on the idea that a representation corresponds to what is out there in the world. The constructivist view of representation advocates that any actual interpretation would depend on the context of their social and cultural backgrounds. However, the authors believe there should be a combination of these two views for architectural representation in virtual environments, and a framework developed by the authors - VOIDs will be presented.
keywords	Virtual Environment, Architectural Representation, VOIDs, Correspondence, Constructivist
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	4805
authors	Bentley, P.
year	1999
title	Evolutionary Design by Computers Morgan Kaufmann
source	San Francisco, CA
summary	Computers can only do what we tell them to do. They are our blind, unconscious digital slaves, bound to us by the unbreakable chains of our programs. These programs instruct computers what to do, when to do it, and how it should be done. But what happens when we loosen these chains? What happens when we tell a computer to use a process that we do not fully understand, in order to achieve something we do not fully understand? What happens when we tell a computer to evolve designs? As this book will show, what happens is that the computer gains almost human-like qualities of autonomy, innovative flair, and even creativity. These 'skills'which evolution so mysteriously endows upon our computers open up a whole new way of using computers in design. Today our former 'glorified typewriters' or 'overcomplicated drawing boards' can do everything from generating new ideas and concepts in design, to improving the performance of designs well beyond the abilities of even the most skilled human designer. Evolving designs on computers now enables us to employ computers in every stage of the design process. This is no longer computer aided design - this is becoming computer design. The pages of this book testify to the ability of today's evolutionary computer techniques in design. Flick through them and you will see designs of satellite booms, load cells, flywheels, computer networks, artistic images, sculptures, virtual creatures, house and hospital architectural plans, bridges, cranes, analogue circuits and even coffee tables. Out of all of the designs in the world, the collection you see in this book have a unique history: they were all evolved by computer, not designed by humans.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	c3c6
authors	Bonetti, Máximo
year	1999
title	Inventario Digital del Patrimonio Arquitectónico y Urbano Marplatense (Digital Inventory of the Architectural and Urban Patrimony of Mar del Plata)
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 458-461
summary	Assisting to the urgent necessity of documenting buildings, urban and rural spaces of our district and keeping in mind that, this patrimonial values represent a considerable proportion of the creative and constructive effort of the pioneers of this region and of our memory and identity, you urgent restitution the report of the examples that are still conserved. As well as the reconstruction, in the cases that it was necessary, of the missing patrimony that still stays in the collective memory. The construction of the digital inventory outlines, in a principle; to divide to the city in sectors of different urban-architectural importance the hills of. Santa Cecilia Stala Maris and Divino Rostro, those that still conserve numerous examples of architecture of the past, are an example of it. This documentation is carried out from the entity of culture of the municipality of the district of general Pueyrredón, in function of the activity developed in the area of patrimonial preservation. In what concerns to this work, previous antecedents don't exist in our means, being this the first time that is intruded in the land of the digital graph applied to the investigation and historical documentation.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:47

_id	1206
authors	Cabezas, M., Mariano, C., Mitolo, S. and Oliva, S.
year	1999
title	Transformaciones en el Proceso Enseñanza-Aprendizaje de la Geometría Descriptiva con la Apliacación de los Medios Digitales (Transformations in the Teaching/Learning Process of Descriptive Geometry with the Aplplication of Digital Media)
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 347-348
summary	The insert of the digital technologies in the atmosphere Áulico has left generalizing in a significant way. An example constitutes it the high percentage of students that they manifested general knowledge in the software handling in the introductory course of visual communication, as well as the voluntary presentation of practical works developed with digital means. The necessity of an answer to the requirements that arise of the students sinks to the certainty of a pedagogic compatibility among the matter to try and the teaching attended by the personal computer that would increase the Iconidad and the understanding of a topic of certain complexity like it is the geometry of the space. An educational program designed for the teaching of the Sistema Monge whose general characteristics were presented in the II Ibero-American Seminar of Digital Graph and that it will be applied as experience pilot in the course 2000, it will allow us to respond to the following queries: what place it will be given to the educational program in the formation process in connection with the other pedagogic means.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:47

_id	2c1d
authors	Castañé, D., Tessier, C., Álvarez, J. and Deho, C.
year	1999
title	Patterns for Volumetric Recognition - Guidelines for the Creation of 3D-Models
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 171-175
summary	This piece proposes new strategies and pedagogic methodologies applied to the recognition and study of the subjacent measurements of the architectural projects to be created. This proposal is the product of pedagogic experience, which stems from this instructional team of the department of tri-dimensional models of electronic models. This program constitutes an elective track for the architectural major at the college of architecture, design, and urbanism of the University of Buenos Aires and housed at the CAO center. One of the requirements that the students must complete, after doing research and analytical experimentation through the knowledge that they acquired through this course, is to practice the attained skills through exercises proposed by the department in this case, the student would be required to virtually rebuild a paradigmatic architectonic piece of several sample architects. Usually at this point, students experience some difficulties when they analyze the existing documents on the plants, views, picture, details, texts, etc., That they have obtained from magazines, books, and other sources. Afterwards, when they digitally begin to generate basic measurements of the architectural work to be modeled, they realize that there are great limitations in the comprehension of the tri-dimensional understanding of the work. This issue has brought us to investigate and develop proposals of volumetric understanding of patterns through examples of work already analyzed and digitalized tri-dimensionally in the department. Through a careful study of the existent documentation for that particular work, it is evaluated which would be the paths and basis to adopt through utilizing alternative technologies to arrive at a clear reconstruction of the projected architectural work, the study gets completed by implementing the proposal at the internet site http://www.datarq.fadu.uba.ar/catedra/dorcas
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:48

_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	b78f
authors	Clayton, M.J., Warden, Robert B., Parker, Th.W.
year	1999
title	Virtual Construction of Architecture Using 3D CAD and Simulation
source	Media and Design Process [ACADIA ‘99 / ISBN 1-880250-08-X] Salt Lake City 29-31 October 1999, pp. 316-324
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1999.316
summary	3D modeling and computer simulations provide new ways for architecture students to study the relationship between the design and construction of buildings. Digital media help to integrate and expand the content of courses in drafting, construction and design. This paper describes computer-based exercises that intensify the students’ experience of construction in several courses from sophomore to senior level. The courses integrate content from drafting and design communication, construction, CAD, and design. Several techniques are used to strengthen students’ awareness and ability in construction. These include: · Virtual design - build projects in which students construct 3D CAD models that include all elements that are used in construction. · Virtual office in which several students must collaborate under the supervision of a student acting as project architect to create a 3D CAD model and design development documents. · Virtual sub-contracting in which each student builds a trade specific 3D CAD model of a building and all of the trade specific models must be combined into a single model. · Construction simulations (4D CAD) in which students build 3D CAD models showing all components and then animate them to illustrate the assembly process. · Cost estimating using spreadsheets. These techniques are applied and reapplied at several points in the curriculum in both technical laboratory courses and design studios. This paper compares virtual construction methods to physical design – build projects and provides our pedagogical arguments for the use of digital media for understanding construction.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	2145
authors	Engeli, Maia and Mueller Andre
year	1999
title	Digital Environments for Learning and Collaboration Architecture, Communication, Creativity, Media and Design Process
source	Media and Design Process [ACADIA ‘99 / ISBN 1-880250-08-X] Salt Lake City 29-31 October 1999, pp. 40-52
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1999.040
summary	Digital networks are gaining importance as environments for learning and creative collaboration. Technical achievements, software enhancements, and a growing number of applicable principles make it possible to compile complex environments that satisfy many aspects necessary for creative collaboration. This paper focuses on three issues: the architecture of collaborative environments, communication in these environments and the processes inherent to creative collaboration. The information architecture of digital environments looks different from physical architecture, mainly because the material that it is made out of is information and not stone, wood or metal and the goal is to pro-vide appropriate paths and views to information. Nonetheless, many analogies can be drawn between information architecture and physical architecture, including the need for useability, aesthetics, and consistency. To communicate is important for creative collaboration. Digital networks request and enable new strategies for communicating. Regarding the collaborative creative process we have been able to detect principles and features that enhance this process, but there are still many unanswered questions. For example, the environment can enable and improve the frequency of surprise and coincidence, two factors that often play decisive roles in the creative processes but cannot be planned for in advance. Freedom and transparency within the environment are other important factors that foster creative collaboration. The following findings are based on numerous courses, which we have taught using networked environments and some associated, research projects that helped to verify their applicability for architectural practice.
series	ACADIA
type	normal paper
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	8313
authors	Harrop, Patrick H.
year	1999
title	Amor Infiniti/Horror Vacuii: Resolving Architecture Beyond the Planck Length ()
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 19-24
summary	If one were to presume that every major shift in the perception and representational modes of architecture has its mirror in what is made, then we should be able to divine and critique the implications of making architecture through information technologies. We are only now beginning to enter speculations of what can possibly be made as a direct result of these systems. Already, the representation of digital space is undergoing a fundamental transition: From the highly precise facsimile of traditional Euclidean geometry, that we currently use in most CAD and modelling software to the visual interpretation of dense data arrays, as is emerging in GIS (Global Information Systems). This shift from a Vectorial world to a bitmap world is perhaps the most challenging to our historical and perhaps necessary assumption that Euclidean geometry , such as proportion and projection, is at the heart of making architecture. Does this shift imply an ultimately fatal divorce from the Vitruvian tradition of architecture through geometry or is it re-directing the interaction between computers and architecture into perhaps a more appropriate and creative realm of opportunity? This paper hopes to address these questions in the forum of a theoretical and historical discussion focused on the representation of architecture and making. Some current experimental digital work by the author will accompany this presentation and paper.
series	SIGRADI
type	normal paper
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:53

_id	f9f7
authors	Mullins, Michael
year	1999
title	Forming, Planning, Imaging and Connecting
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 178-185
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.178
summary	This paper sets out to define aspects of the architectural design process, using historical precedent and architectural theory, and tests the relationship of those aspects to the application of computers in architectural design, particularly in an educational context. The design process sub-sets are defined as: Forming, Planning, Imaging and Connecting. Historical precedents are uncovered in Classical, Modern, Postmodern and Contemporary architecture. The defined categories of the design process are related to current usages of computers in architectural education towards elucidating the strengths and weaknesses of digital media in those areas. Indications of their concurrent usage in digital design will be demonstrated in analysis of design studio programs presented at recent ACADIA conferences. An example of a current design studio programme set at the School of Architecture University of Natal, South Africa in which the above described categories give an underlying structure to the introduction of 3D digital modelling to undergraduates through design process. The definition of this set of design activities may offer a useful method for other educators in assessing existing and future design programs where digital tools are used.
keywords	Design-Process, Digital-Media, Design-Programmes
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:59

_id	338a
authors	Noble, Douglas and Hsu, Jason
year	1999
title	Computer Aided Animation in Architecture: Analysis of Use and the Views of the Profession
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 109-114
summary	A traditional way to present three-dimensional representations of architectural design has been through the use of manually drawn perspective drawings. The perspective representation assists in the comprehension of the forms and spaces, but is difficult to manually generate. The computer revolution made perspectives much easier to generate and led to a dramatically increased use of three-dimensional representation as a presentation technique. We are just now seeing substantial uses of animation as a communication and presentation tool in architecture. This paper documents the results of two surveys of the architectural profession that sought to discover the current and near future intentions for the use of computer animation. Our belief is that current levels of computer animation use are low, but that many firms intend to start using animation both as a design and presentation tool. In early 1998 we conducted a survey of the uses of computer animation by architectural firms. We posited a set of 14 related hypotheses. This paper represents the tabulated results from 82 completed surveys out of 620 requests. While some level of confidence can be obtained from this sample size, we are publishing in the hope of encouraging continued response to the survey.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:56

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