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 edf5
authors Arnold, J.A., Teicholz, P. and Kunz, J.
year 1999
title An approach for the interoperation of web-distributed applications with a design model
source Automation in Construction 8 (3) (1999) pp. 291-303
summary This paper defines the data and inference requirements for the integration of analysis applications with a product model described by a CAD/CAE application. Application input conditions often require sets of complex data that may be considered views of a product model database. We introduce a method that is compatible with the STEP and PLIB product description standards to define an intermediate model that selects, extracts, and validates views of information from a product model to serve as input for an engineering CAD/CAE application. The intermediate model framework was built and tested in a software prototype, the Internet Broker for Engineering Services (IBES). The first research case for IBES integrates applications that specify certain components, for example pumps and valves, with a CAD/CAE application. This paper therefore explores a sub-set of the general problem of integrating product data semantics between various engineering applications. The IBES integration method provides support for a general set of services that effectively assist interpretation and validate information from a product model for an engineering purpose. Such methods can enable application interoperation for the automation of typical engineering tasks, such as component specification and procurement.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:22

_id 2fc7
authors Forber, U. and Russell, P.
year 1999
title Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Virtual Design Studio Design Studio
source Proceedings of the 17th Annual EAAE Annual Conference, Plymouth UK
summary Drastic changes in technology and economics currently impact common working structures. Moreover, a fundamental move of western societies from industrial and service oriented societies to information oriented societies can be observed. Like others, the AEC industry is also exposed to the challenge of these fundamental changes, not only regarding an ever growing stock of information on building components and materials, but also because of new methods of collaboration to be applied by all participants. As a result, integrating domain specific knowledge into the design process and conversely, conveying design intentions to domain experts, is meaningful in a constantly growing scale. Utilising advanced technology, a twofold approach in research and education, undertaken at the Institut für Industrielle Bauproduktion (ifib), University of Karlsruhe, is the basis of efforts to create and develop integrating methods of collaboration into the design and planning process. In addition, the integration of AEC practitioners (investors, users, designers, engineers) in the education process provides both drastic changes in the fields of design and construction education of students and a promising approach for life long learning. The focus of this paper is to present the current state of work and to report on experiences gathered during several Virtual Design Studios (VDS) in which multi-disciplinary participants from various Universities and backgrounds were involved. Platforms for the activities are World Wide Web based applications as well as animations, VR, CAD and video conferencing.
series other
email
last changed 2003/04/23 15:50

_id 1121
authors Kalay, Yehuda E.
year 1999
title The Future of CAAD: From Computer-aided Design to Computer-aided Collaboration
source Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 0-7923-8536-5] Atlanta, 7-8 June 1999, pp. 14-30
summary The primary uses of computers in the construction industry have been shifting, over the past four decades, from the evaluation of proposed design solutions, to their graphical (and other) representation, and more recently to facilitating collaboration among the various professionals who are involved in the design process. The paper argues that what may appear to be shifts in emphasis actually represents convergence on a single, original goal: the use of computers to help designers assess the quality, desirability, and the implications of their creations. The paper shows how the formerly independent components can be joined into an integrated collaborative design environment, where they build upon and strengthen each other. Moreover, the paper argues that this convergence represents the future of CAAD research and development, providing the appropriate answer to the upcoming needs of the construction industry, whose products have become too complex and must abide by too many requirements for any one professional to handle all by himself. The paper argues that further improvements in the overall quality of the products, and the process of their design, will only accrue when the heretofore separate solutions are considered together, as integral parts of an overall solution. The paper describes the efforts that have been made by the CAD Research Group in Berkeley over the past six years in developing an integrated collaborative design environment that can facilitate multidisciplinary, a- synchronous design of buildings. The environment includes several semantically-rich, shared product representations, a network of distributed evaluators, and graphically enhanced collaboration and negotiation tools.
keywords Collaborative Design, Distributed Design Environment, Product Modeling, Performance Modeling, Process Modeling, Negotiation, Integration
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2006/11/07 07:22

_id 7cb1
authors Stuurstraat, N. and Tolman, F.
year 1999
title A product modeling approach to building knowledge integration
source Automation in Construction 8 (3) (1999) pp. 269-275
summary Knowledge informatics is still playing only a minor role in the design process of buildings and civil engineering efforts, particularly in the inception stage. The primary reason that most knowledge tools are not well integrated into the process is that most tend to be based on stand alone expert system technology. Improving the re-use of existing knowledge is required to increase industry performance. A solution could be a new generation of integrated knowledge systems. One problem that must be addressed is how to cope with the conflicting requirements of each particular subsystem when each is optimized for its own knowledge domain. No optimum solution exists that is able to simultaneously optimize each subsystem for a total solution. This paper discusses an approach to building knowledge integration that attempts to address these shortcomings through the use of combined product model and meta-knowledge approach.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:23

_id 60c6
authors Wittenoom, R.
year 1999
title Automating realization of integrated project models
source Automation in Construction 8 (3) (1999) pp. 249-267
summary Integration of project information has been addressed by a number of groups using a combination of product data exchange standards and centralized project models to integrate the diverse systems of different project groups. Less interest has been shown in the automation of model realization processes in such an environment. Development and use in the author's firm of an object model-based system for engineering project design and documentation has shown that considerable advantage is possible by extension of simple parametric techniques to generalized solutions, when combined with an object system optimized to support the functional aspects of realization. To automate realization processes in a collaborative environment, it is necessary to exchange sub-models that are essentially parametric, with realization processes only partially completed. We examine the requirements of and constraints on such exchange and propose a framework based on the standardization of interfaces and functional capabilities needed to support the automation of realization processes.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:23

_id cf2011_p109
id cf2011_p109
authors Abdelmohsen, Sherif; Lee Jinkook, Eastman Chuck
year 2011
title Automated Cost Analysis of Concept Design BIM Models
source Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures 2011 [Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures / ISBN 9782874561429] Liege (Belgium) 4-8 July 2011, pp. 403-418.
summary AUTOMATED COST ANALYSIS OF CONCEPT DESIGN BIM MODELS Interoperability: BIM models and cost models This paper introduces the automated cost analysis developed for the General Services Administration (GSA) and the analysis results of a case study involving a concept design courthouse BIM model. The purpose of this study is to investigate interoperability issues related to integrating design and analysis tools; specifically BIM models and cost models. Previous efforts to generate cost estimates from BIM models have focused on developing two necessary but disjoint processes: 1) extracting accurate quantity take off data from BIM models, and 2) manipulating cost analysis results to provide informative feedback. Some recent efforts involve developing detailed definitions, enhanced IFC-based formats and in-house standards for assemblies that encompass building models (e.g. US Corps of Engineers). Some commercial applications enhance the level of detail associated to BIM objects with assembly descriptions to produce lightweight BIM models that can be used by different applications for various purposes (e.g. Autodesk for design review, Navisworks for scheduling, Innovaya for visual estimating, etc.). This study suggests the integration of design and analysis tools by means of managing all building data in one shared repository accessible to multiple domains in the AEC industry (Eastman, 1999; Eastman et al., 2008; authors, 2010). Our approach aims at providing an integrated platform that incorporates a quantity take off extraction method from IFC models, a cost analysis model, and a comprehensive cost reporting scheme, using the Solibri Model Checker (SMC) development environment. Approach As part of the effort to improve the performance of federal buildings, GSA evaluates concept design alternatives based on their compliance with specific requirements, including cost analysis. Two basic challenges emerge in the process of automating cost analysis for BIM models: 1) At this early concept design stage, only minimal information is available to produce a reliable analysis, such as space names and areas, and building gross area, 2) design alternatives share a lot of programmatic requirements such as location, functional spaces and other data. It is thus crucial to integrate other factors that contribute to substantial cost differences such as perimeter, and exterior wall and roof areas. These are extracted from BIM models using IFC data and input through XML into the Parametric Cost Engineering System (PACES, 2010) software to generate cost analysis reports. PACES uses this limited dataset at a conceptual stage and RSMeans (2010) data to infer cost assemblies at different levels of detail. Functionalities Cost model import module The cost model import module has three main functionalities: generating the input dataset necessary for the cost model, performing a semantic mapping between building type specific names and name aggregation structures in PACES known as functional space areas (FSAs), and managing cost data external to the BIM model, such as location and construction duration. The module computes building data such as footprint, gross area, perimeter, external wall and roof area and building space areas. This data is generated through SMC in the form of an XML file and imported into PACES. Reporting module The reporting module uses the cost report generated by PACES to develop a comprehensive report in the form of an excel spreadsheet. This report consists of a systems-elemental estimate that shows the main systems of the building in terms of UniFormat categories, escalation, markups, overhead and conditions, a UniFormat Level III report, and a cost breakdown that provides a summary of material, equipment, labor and total costs. Building parameters are integrated in the report to provide insight on the variations among design alternatives.
keywords building information modeling, interoperability, cost analysis, IFC
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2012/02/11 19:21

_id 295d
authors Amor, R.W., Hosking, J.G. and Mugridge, W.B.
year 1999
title ICAtect-II: a framework for the integration of building design tools
source Automation in Construction 8 (3) (1999) pp. 277-289
summary The development of a system capable of integrating a range of building design tools poses many challenges. Our framework for integrating design tools provides a structured approach, allowing individual parts to be developed independently. In this paper, we describe the overall framework and suggest a method for modeling and implementing each portion of the framework. Furthermore, we illustrate how such a system can integrate several design tools and be realized as a functional design system.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:22

_id f154
authors Amor, Robert and Newnham, Leonard
year 1999
title CAD Interfaces to the ARROW Manufactured Product Server
source Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 0-7923-8536-5] Atlanta, 7-8 June 1999, pp. 1-11
summary The UK national project ARROW (Advanced Reusable Reliable Objects Warehouse) provides an Internet based framework through which it is possible to identify any of a range of manufactured products meeting specific design criteria. This open framework (based upon the IAI's IFCs) provides a mechanism for users to search for products from any participating manufacturer or supplier based both on specific attributes of a product or on any of the textual descriptions of the product. The service returns the closest matching products and allows the user to navigate to related information including manufacturer, suppliers, CAD details, VR displays, installation instructions, certificates, health and safety information, promotional information, costings, etc. ARROW also provides a toolkit to enable manufacturers and suppliers to more easily map and publish their information in the format utilised by the ARROW system. As part of the ARROW project we have examined the ability to interface from a design tool through to ARROW to automatically retrieve information required by the tool. This paper describes the API developed to allow CAD and simulation tools to communicate directly with ARROW and identify appropriate manufactured information. The demonstration system enables CAD systems to identify the closest matching manufactured product to a designed product and replacing the designed product with the details supplied by the manufacturer for the manufactured product as well as pulling through product attributes utilised by the design application. This paper provides a description of the ARROW framework and issues faced in providing information based upon standards as well as containing information not currently modelled in public standards. The paper looks at issues of enabling manufacturers and suppliers to move from their current world-view of product information to a more data-rich and user accessible information repository (even though this enables a uniform comparison across a range of manufacturer's products). Finally the paper comments on the likely way forward for ARROW like systems in providing quality information to end users.
keywords Computer-aided Design, Product Retrieval
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2006/11/07 07:22

_id 21c8
authors Bargiela, Beatriz and Bausset, Raúl Abad
year 1999
title Sistemas multimediales aplicados a la arquitectura y su conocimiento (Multimedia Systems Applied to Architecture and its Knowledge Base)
source III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 186-191
summary This text makes a careful description of a great part of the components of the vocabulary of architecture and their syntax. It's structured in two parts, one textual and the other graphic. Due to the acknowledged contribution of the author on the subject of description of vocabulary of the elements of architecture and the research and development works that are entered upon in the master in computer graphics in the informatic field, it was proposed the development of an interactive system that allowed by means of links to connect the different parts of text and their respective graphics. Having as a basis the idiomatic equivalent term in Spanish and English, carried out in another research work, it was considered the possibility to link the text in these two languages besides the original one, french. That's why we've decided to propose the navigation through numeric text and images. This navigation has been already inferred from the reading of the text as intended from the author's that was why our task has been the interpretation of this intention and its translation in an informatic system. The product presented in this work is limited to having designed a methodology and showing its performance with some terms and images, able to make evident the sketch of our idea. The work is made out of the description of the following phases: 1.) Design of its interface; 2.) Compilation and classification of images compilation and classification of text; 3.) Coordination of textual and graphic elements; 4.) Programming of events in the interactive system.
series SIGRADI
email
last changed 2016/03/10 09:47

_id f288
authors Bille, Pia
year 1999
title Integrating GIS and Electronic Networks In Urban Design and Planning
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.722
source Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 722-728
summary In 1998 I undertook an inquiry into the use of information technology in Urban Design and Planning in Danish municipalities and among planning consultants. The aim was to find out who was working with the IT and for what purposes it was used. In education there seems to be barriers to a full integration of the new media, and I wanted to find out if that was also the case in the practise of architects and planners. Surprisingly I discovered that there was a computer on almost every desk, - but there were big differences in the use of the technology. The investigation described here is based on interviews with planners in selected municipalities and with urban planning consultants, and the results have been summarised in a publication.
keywords Urban Planning, Electronic Collaboration, GIS, Data Bases
series eCAADe
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:54

_id 2690
authors Chiu, Mao-Lin
year 1999
title Design Navigation and Construction Simulation by Virtual Reality
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.1999.031
source CAADRIA '99 [Proceedings of The Fourth Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 7-5439-1233-3] Shanghai (China) 5-7 May 1999, pp. 31-41
summary This paper depicts the approach of constructing a virtual reality environment for simulating architectural design and construction operations. The virtual environment is established to demonstrate the spatial performance of design and constructability of construction operations. Particularly, the functions such as navigation of construction sites, simulation of construction operations, and evaluation of construction details will be critical to construction operations. The system shell is implemented by JAVA on the web and integrated with VRML for supporting the above functions. The study focuses on the needs for the system integration and interface design. Four modes of human computer interfaces are proposed, including the user, agent, monitor, and immersion modes. Finally, this paper provides demonstration of construction simulation in an office building project to highlight the above discussion. The operations of crane towers and curtain wall installation are also studied in the construction process. In conclusion, this paper demonstrates the potential uses and limitation of virtual reality in simulation of the built environment.
series CAADRIA
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:56

_id 4989
authors Clayton, M.J., Teicholz, P., Fischer, M. and Kunz, J.
year 1999
title Virtual components consisting of form, function and behavior
source Automation in Construction 8 (3) (1999) pp. 351-367
summary Software can produce a product model of a building as a consequence of the designers' actions in drawing and evaluating the design. The actions of the designer include interpreting, predicting and assessing the emerging design and describe the building in terms of forms, functions and behaviors. A software prototype has been implemented that incorporates this understanding of the design process in the field of building design. It employs object-oriented classes to represent forms, functions and behaviors. As a software user draws and interprets the design for multiple evaluation issues, the software creates a unique `virtual component' for each entity. During automated reasoning to evaluate the emerging design, virtual components collect and organize form, function and behavior instances to describe the parts of the building. In comparison to other product models, our approach, which we refer to as a `Virtual Product Model', better accommodates change, provides increased support for the design process and enriches the product representation by including function and behavior.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:22

_id 7082
authors Dawood, N.
year 1999
title A proposed system for integrating design and production in the precast building industry
source The Int. Journal of Construction IT 7(1), pp. 72-83
summary The UK construction industry is going through a major re-appraisal, with the objective of reducing construction costs by at least 30% by the end of the millennium. Precast and off-site construction are set to play a major role in improving construction productivity, reducing costs and improving working conditions. In a survey of current practices in the prefabrication industry, it was concluded that the industry is far behind other manufacturing-based industries in terms of the utilisation of IT in production planning and scheduling and other technical and managerial operations. It is suggested that a systematic, integrated, computer-aided, approach to presenting and processing information is needed. The objective of this paper is to introduce and discuss the specifications of an integrated intelligent computer-based information system for the precast concrete industry. The system should facilitate: the integration of design and manufacturing operations; automatic generation of production schedules directly from design data and factory attributes; and generation of erection schedules from site information, factory attributes and design data. It is hypothesised that the introduction of such a system would reduce the total cost of precasting by 10% and encourage clients to choose precast components more often.
series journal paper
last changed 2003/05/15 21:45

_id f51a
authors Del Pup, Claudio
year 1999
title Carbon Pencil, Brush and Mouse, Three Tools in the Learning Process of New University Art Designers
source III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 420-425
summary This article develops the introduction of computer technologies in the fine arts environment the use of these new tools, sharing the process of creation and interacting at the same level with older technics, breaks the myth of technology and tries to reach the right place according to current or modern advances. As an introduction, it explains the insertion in the current courses of study of the "computer languages area", its implementation, present situation and future stages. An important point we have developed is the teaching methodology, to solve the transition of those who, challenging their investigations in different areas, like fire arts, graphic arts, film or video, need the support of computers. The first steps consist in designing sample courses, which allow the measurement of results, the definition of concepts like extension, capacities, teaching hours and the most important, a methodology to share the enthusiasm of creation with the difficulties of learning a new technique it is necessary to discover limits, to avoid easy results as a creative tool one of the most important problems we have faced is the necessity of coordinating the process of creation with the individual time of a plastic artist, finding the right way that allows the integration of all the group, minimizing desertion and losing of motivation. Two years later, the first results in the field of digital image investigations and assistance in form design. Volume as a challenge and solutions supported in techniques of modeling in 3D (experiences of modeling a virtual volume from a revolution profile, its particular facts and the parallelism with potter's lathe the handling of image as the most important element, as an work of art itself, but also as a support in the transmission of knowledge (design of a CD as a tool for the department of embryology of medical school with the participation of people from the medical school, engineering school and school of fine arts). Time as a variable, movement, animation and its techniques, multimedia (design of short videos for the 150th anniversary of the Republic University). Conclusions, good hits, adjustments, new areas to include, problems to solve, the way of facing a constantly evolving technology.
series SIGRADI
email
last changed 2016/03/10 09:50

_id 54a6
authors Eastman, C. and Jeng, T.S.
year 1999
title A database supporting evolutionary product model development for design
source Automation in Construction 8 (3) (1999) pp. 305-323
summary This paper presents the facilities in the EDM-2 product modeling and database language that support model evolution. It reviews the need for model evolution as a system and/or language requirement to support product modeling. Four types of model evolution are considered: (1) translation between distinct models, (2) deriving views from a central model, (3) modification of an existing model, and (4) model evolution based on writable views associated with each application. While the facilities described support all for types of evolution, the last type is emphasized. The language based modeling capabilities described in EDM-2 include: (a) mapping facilities for defining derivations and views within a single model or between different models; (b) procedural language capabilities supporting model addition, deletion and modification; (c) support for object instance migration so as to partition the set of class instances into multiple classes; (d) support for managing practical deletion of portions of a model; (e) explicit specification and automatic management of integrity between a building model and various views. The rationale and language features, and in some cases, the implementation strategy for the features, are presented.
series journal paper
more http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed 2003/05/15 21:22

_id d79a
authors Ekholm, Anders and Fridqvist, Sverker
year 1999
title The BAS*CAAD Information System for Design principles, Implementation, and a Design Scenario
source Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 0-7923-8536-5] Atlanta, 7-8 June 1999, pp. 149-164
summary The objectives of the BAS-CAAD-project are to investigate into theories and methods for computer aided architectural design, with emphasis on requirements of early stages of the design process. Information systems can be characterised as static or dynamic concerning the definition of classes in the model schema, and concerning classification of model objects. The paper presents the BAS-CAAD system, a prototype software that implements the conceptually most important features of a dynamic information system for design. The BAS-CAAD information system is built on a generic ontological framework. The system allows a free combination of attributes, supporting the incremental way that knowledge is built up during design. It provides a generic library structure that allows definition of objects classes in different levels of generalisation that may originate from international standards or the individual designer. For example, in the construction context, it allows modelling of buildings and their parts, as well as user organisations and user activities. The function of the system is illustrated in two scenarios.
keywords CAD, Design, Dynamic Schema Evolution, Information Systems, Object Oriented Modelling, Product Modelling, Design Scenario
series CAAD Futures
email
last changed 2006/11/07 07:23

_id 993c
authors Fruchter, Renate
year 1999
title A/E/C Teamwork: A Collaborative Design and Learning Space
source Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering -- October 1999 -- Volume 13, Issue 4, pp. 261-269
summary This paper describes an ongoing effort focused on combined research and curriculum development for multidisciplinary, geographically distributed architecture/engineering/construction (A/E/C) teamwork. Itpresents a model for a distributed A/E/C learning environment and an Internet-based Web-mediated collaboration tool kit. The distributed learning environment includes six universities from Europe, Japan, andthe United States. The tool kit is aimed to assist team members and owners (1) capture and share knowledge and information related to a specific project; (2) navigate through the archived knowledge andinformation; and (3) evaluate and explain the product's performance. The A/E/C course offered at Stanford University acts as a testbed for cutting-edge information technologies and a forum to teach newgenerations of professionals how to team up with practitioners from other disciplines and take advantage of information technology to produce a better, faster, more economical product. The paper presents newassessment metrics to monitor students' cross-disciplinary learning experience and track programmatic changes. The paper concludes with challenges and quandaries regarding the impact of informationtechnologies on team performance and behavior.
series journal paper
last changed 2003/05/15 21:45

_id ca7b
authors Howes, Jaki
year 1999
title IT or not IT? An Examination of IT Use in an Experimental Multi-disciplinary Teamwork Situation
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.370
source Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 370-373
summary Leeds Metropolitan University is well placed to carry out research into multi-disciplinary team-working, as all the design and construction disciplines are housed in one faculty. Staff have set up an experimental project, TIME IT (Team-working in Multi-disciplinary Environments using IT) which examines ways of working in the design/construction process and how IT is used when there is no commercial pressure. Four groups of four students, one graduate diploma architect, and one final year student from each of Civil Engineering, Construction Management and Quantity Surveying have been working on feasibility studies for projects that are based on completed schemes or have been devised by collaborators in the Construction Industry. Students have been asked to produce a PowerPoint presentation, in up to five working days, of a design scheme, with costs, structural analysis and construction programme. The students are not assessed on the quality of the product, but on their own ability to monitor the process and use of IT. Despite this, aggressive competition evolved between the teams to produce the 'best' design. Five projects were run in the 1998/99 session. A dedicated IT suite has been provided; each group of students had exclusive use of a machine. They were not told how to approach the projects nor when to use the available technology, but were asked to keep the use of paper to a minimum and to keep all their work on the server, so that it could be monitored externally. Not so. They plotted the AO drawings of an existing building that had been provided on the server. They like paper - they can scribble on it, fold it, tear it and throw it at one another.
keywords IT, Multi-disciplinary, Teamwork
series eCAADe
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:50

_id avocaad_2001_22
id avocaad_2001_22
authors Jos van Leeuwen, Joran Jessurun
year 2001
title XML for Flexibility an Extensibility of Design Information Models
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 The VR-DIS research programme aims at the development of a Virtual Reality – Design Information System. This is a design and decision support system for collaborative design that provides a VR interface for the interaction with both the geometric representation of a design and the non-geometric information concerning the design throughout the design process. The major part of the research programme focuses on early stages of design. The programme is carried out by a large number of researchers from a variety of disciplines in the domain of construction and architecture, including architectural design, building physics, structural design, construction management, etc.Management of design information is at the core of this design and decision support system. Much effort in the development of the system has been and still is dedicated to the underlying theory for information management and its implementation in an Application Programming Interface (API) that the various modules of the system use. The theory is based on a so-called Feature-based modelling approach and is described in the PhD thesis by [first author, 1999] and in [first author et al., 2000a]. This information modelling approach provides three major capabilities: (1) it allows for extensibility of conceptual schemas, which is used to enable a designer to define new typologies to model with; (2) it supports sharing of conceptual schemas, called type-libraries; and (3) it provides a high level of flexibility that offers the designer the opportunity to easily reuse design information and to model information constructs that are not foreseen in any existing typologies. The latter aspect involves the capability to expand information entities in a model with relationships and properties that are not typologically defined but applicable to a particular design situation only; this helps the designer to represent the actual design concepts more accurately.The functional design of the information modelling system is based on a three-layered framework. In the bottom layer, the actual design data is stored in so-called Feature Instances. The middle layer defines the typologies of these instances in so-called Feature Types. The top layer is called the meta-layer because it provides the class definitions for both the Types layer and the Instances layer; both Feature Types and Feature Instances are objects of the classes defined in the top layer. This top layer ensures that types can be defined on the fly and that instances can be created from these types, as well as expanded with non-typological properties and relationships while still conforming to the information structures laid out in the meta-layer.The VR-DIS system consists of a growing number of modules for different kinds of functionality in relation with the design task. These modules access the design information through the API that implements the meta-layer of the framework. This API has previously been implemented using an Object-Oriented Database (OODB), but this implementation had a number of disadvantages. The dependency of the OODB, a commercial software library, was considered the most problematic. Not only are licenses of the OODB library rather expensive, also the fact that this library is not common technology that can easily be shared among a wide range of applications, including existing applications, reduces its suitability for a system with the aforementioned specifications. In addition, the OODB approach required a relatively large effort to implement the desired functionality. It lacked adequate support to generate unique identifications for worldwide information sources that were understandable for human interpretation. This strongly limited the capabilities of the system to share conceptual schemas.The approach that is currently being implemented for the core of the VR-DIS system is based on eXtensible Markup Language (XML). Rather than implementing the meta-layer of the framework into classes of Feature Types and Feature Instances, this level of meta-definitions is provided in a document type definition (DTD). The DTD is complemented with a set of rules that are implemented into a parser API, based on the Document Object Model (DOM). The advantages of the XML approach for the modelling framework are immediate. Type-libraries distributed through Internet are now supported through the mechanisms of namespaces and XLink. The implementation of the API is no longer dependent of a particular database system. This provides much more flexibility in the implementation of the various modules of the VR-DIS system. Being based on the (supposed to become) standard of XML the implementation is much more versatile in its future usage, specifically in a distributed, Internet-based environment.These immediate advantages of the XML approach opened the door to a wide range of applications that are and will be developed on top of the VR-DIS core. Examples of these are the VR-based 3D sketching module [VR-DIS ref., 2000]; the VR-based information-modelling tool that allows the management and manipulation of information models for design in a VR environment [VR-DIS ref., 2000]; and a design-knowledge capturing module that is now under development [first author et al., 2000a and 2000b]. The latter module aims to assist the designer in the recognition and utilisation of existing and new typologies in a design situation. The replacement of the OODB implementation of the API by the XML implementation enables these modules to use distributed Feature databases through Internet, without many changes to their own code, and without the loss of the flexibility and extensibility of conceptual schemas that are implemented as part of the API. Research in the near future will result in Internet-based applications that support designers in the utilisation of distributed libraries of product-information, design-knowledge, case-bases, etc.The paper roughly follows the outline of the abstract, starting with an introduction to the VR-DIS project, its objectives, and the developed theory of the Feature-modelling framework that forms the core of it. It briefly discusses the necessity of schema evolution, flexibility and extensibility of conceptual schemas, and how these capabilities have been addressed in the framework. The major part of the paper describes how the previously mentioned aspects of the framework are implemented in the XML-based approach, providing details on the so-called meta-layer, its definition in the DTD, and the parser rules that complement it. The impact of the XML approach on the functionality of the VR-DIS modules and the system as a whole is demonstrated by a discussion of these modules and scenarios of their usage for design tasks. The paper is concluded with an overview of future work on the sharing of Internet-based design information and design knowledge.
series AVOCAAD
email
last changed 2005/09/09 10:48

_id 0beb
authors Koch, Volker and Russell, Peter
year 2000
title VuuA.Org: The Virtual Upperrhine University of Architecture
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.023
source Promise and Reality: State of the Art versus State of Practice in Computing for the Design and Planning Process [18th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-6-5] Weimar (Germany) 22-24 June 2000, pp. 23-25
summary In 1998, architecture schools in the three nation region of the upper Rhine came together to undertake a joint design studio. With the support of the Center for Entrepeneurship in Colmar, France, the schools worked on the reuse of the Kuenzer Mill situated near Herbolzheim, Germany. The students met jointly three times during the semester and then worked on the project at their home universities usng conventional methods. This project was essential to generating closer ties between the participating students, tutors and institutions and as such, the results were quite positive. So much so, that the organisers decided to repeat the exercise one year later. However, it became clear that although the students had met three times in large groups, the real success of a co-operative design studio would require mechanisms which allow far more intimate interaction among the participants, be they students, teachers or outside experts. The experiences from the Netzentwurf at the Institut für Industrielle Bauproduktion (ifib) showed the potential in a web based studio and the addition of ifib to the three nation group led to the development of the VuuA platform. The first project served to illuminate the the differences in teaching concepts among the partner institutions and their teaching staff as well as problems related to the integration of students from three countries with two languages and four different faculties: landscape architecture, interior design, architecture and urban planning. The project for the Fall of 1999 was the reuse of Fort Kléber in Wolfisheim by Strasbourg, France. The students again met on site to kick off the Semester but were also instructed to continue their cooperation and criticism using the VuuA platform.
keywords Virtual Design Studio, CSCW, International Cooperation, Planning Platform
series eCAADe
email
more http://www.vuua.org
last changed 2022/06/07 07:51

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