Cumincad : CUMINCAD Papers : Search Results

CumInCAD is a Cumulative Index about publications in Computer Aided Architectural Design
supported by the sibling associations ACADIA, CAADRIA, eCAADe, SIGraDi, ASCAAD and CAAD futures

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_id	b4c4
authors	Carrara, G., Fioravanti, A. and Novembri, G.
year	2000
title	A framework for an Architectural Collaborative Design
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.057
source	Promise and Reality: State of the Art versus State of Practice in Computing for the Design and Planning Process [18th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-6-5] Weimar (Germany) 22-24 June 2000, pp. 57-60
summary	The building industry involves a larger number of disciplines, operators and professionals than other industrial processes. Its peculiarity is that the products (building objects) have a number of parts (building elements) that does not differ much from the number of classes into which building objects can be conceptually subdivided. Another important characteristic is that the building industry produces unique products (de Vries and van Zutphen, 1992). This is not an isolated situation but indeed one that is spreading also in other industrial fields. For example, production niches have proved successful in the automotive and computer industries (Carrara, Fioravanti, & Novembri, 1989). Building design is a complex multi-disciplinary process, which demands a high degree of co-ordination and co-operation among separate teams, each having its own specific knowledge and its own set of specific design tools. Establishing an environment for design tool integration is a prerequisite for network-based distributed work. It was attempted to solve the problem of efficient, user-friendly, and fast information exchange among operators by treating it simply as an exchange of data. But the failure of IGES, CGM, PHIGS confirms that data have different meanings and importance in different contexts. The STandard for Exchange of Product data, ISO 10303 Part 106 BCCM, relating to AEC field (Wix, 1997), seems to be too complex to be applied to professional studios. Moreover its structure is too deep and the conceptual classifications based on it do not allow multi-inheritance (Ekholm, 1996). From now on we shall adopt the BCCM semantic that defines the actor as "a functional participant in building construction"; and we shall define designer as "every member of the class formed by designers" (architects, engineers, town-planners, construction managers, etc.).
keywords	Architectural Design Process, Collaborative Design, Knowledge Engineering, Dynamic Object Oriented Programming
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	449f
authors	Aish, Robert
year	2000
title	Collaborative Design using Long Transactions and "Change Merge"
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.107
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. 107-111
summary	If our goal is implement collaborative engineering across temporal, spatial and discipline dimensions, then it is suggested that we first have to address the necessary pre-requisites, which include both the deployment of "enterprise computing" and an understanding of the computing concepts on which such enterprise systems are based. This paper will consider the following computing concepts and the related concepts in the world of design computing, and discuss how these concepts have been realised in Bentley SystemsÕ ProjectBank collaborative engineering data repository: Computing Concept Related Design Concept Normalisation Model v. Report (or Drawing) Transaction Consistency of Design Long Transaction Parallelisation of Design Change Merge Coordination (synchronisation) Revisions Coordination (synchronisation) While we are most probably familiar with the applications of existing datadase concepts (such as Normalisation and Transaction Management) to the design process, the intent of this paper to focus
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	a136
authors	Blaise, J.Y., Dudek, I. and Drap, P.
year	1998
title	Java collaborative interface for architectural simulations A case study on wooden ceilings of Krakow
source	International Conference On Conservation - Krakow 2000, 23-24 November 1998, Krakow, Poland
summary	Concern for the architectural and urban preservation problems has been considerably increasing in the past decades, and with it the necessity to investigate the consequences and opportunities opened for the conservation discipline by the development of computer-based systems. Architectural interventions on historical edifices or in preserved urban fabric face conservationists and architects with specific problems related to the handling and exchange of a variety of historical documents and representations. The recent development of information technologies offers opportunities to favour a better access to such data, as well as means to represent architectural hypothesis or design. Developing applications for the Internet also introduces a greater capacity to exchange experiences or ideas and to invest on low-cost collaborative working platforms. In the field of the architectural heritage, our research addresses two problems: historical data and documentation of the edifice, methods of representation (knowledge modelling and visualisation) of the edifice. This research is connected with the ARKIW POLONIUM co-operation program that links the MAP-GAMSAU CNRS laboratory (Marseilles, France) and the Institute HAiKZ of Kraków's Faculty of Architecture. The ARKIW programme deals with questions related to the use of information technologies in the recording, protection and studying of the architectural heritage. Case studies are chosen in order to experience and validate a technical platform dedicated to the formalisation and exchange of knowledge related to the architectural heritage (architectural data management, representation and simulation tools, survey methods, ...). A special focus is put on the evolution of the urban fabric and on the simulation of reconstructional hypothesis. Our contribution will introduce current ARKIW internet applications and experiences: The ARPENTEUR architectural survey experiment on Wie¿a Ratuszowa (a photogrammetrical survey based on an architectural model). A Gothic and Renaissance reconstruction of the Ratusz Krakowski using a commercial modelisation and animation software (MAYA). The SOL on line documentation interface for Kraków's Rynek G_ówny. Internet analytical approach in the presentation of morphological informations about Kraków's Kramy Bogate Rynku Krakowskiego. Object-Orientation approach in the modelling of the architectural corpus. The VALIDEUR and HUBLOT Virtual Reality modellers for the simulation and representation of reconstructional hypothesis and corpus analysis.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	2ccf
authors	Brown, A., Gavin, L., Berridge, Ph., Achten, H. and Knight, M.
year	2000
title	Virtual eCAADe Galleries and Meeting Places
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.157
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. 157-163
summary	This paper describes the first steps taken to establish a virtual gallery as a device to enable the display and sharing of information, both within the eCAADe organisation and for other interested or related parties. Initially an important role of the gallery would be to display student work from all of the member states of eCAADe. With this feature established we might then want to move on to providing additional elements within the world which could allow exchange of views; discussion; points of contact; and the provision of educational and research information relating to CAAD. The paper will describe the potential of the different kinds of gallery that might be appropriate. The worlds reviewed will deal with sites which offer a collaborative environment represented in a three dimensional form. We will comment on some specific relevant examples, and review their appropriateness against a set of relevant criteria. The proposals that we make will be open to review and comment by eCAADe members before a fully working site is constructed.
keywords	eCAADe, Virtual Meeting Places, Internet
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	8802
authors	Burry, Mark, Dawson, Tony and Woodbury, Robert
year	1999
title	Learning about Architecture with the Computer, and Learning about the Computer in Architecture
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.374
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 374-382
summary	Most students commencing their university studies in architecture must confront and master two new modes of thought. The first, widely known as reflection-in-action, is a continuous cycle of self-criticism and creation that produces both learning and improved work. The second, which we call here design making, is a process which considers building construction as an integral part of architectural designing. Beginning students in Australia tend to do neither very well; their largely analytic secondary education leaves the majority ill-prepared for these new forms of learning and working. Computers have both complicated and offered opportunities to improve this situation. An increasing number of entering students have significant computing skill, yet university architecture programs do little in developing such skill into sound and extensible knowledge. Computing offers new ways to engage both reflection-in-action and design making. The collaboration between two Schools in Australia described in detail here pools computer-based learning resources to provide a wider scope for the education in each institution, which we capture in the phrase: Learn to use computers in architecture (not use computers to learn architecture). The two shared learning resources are Form Making Games (Adelaide University), aimed at reflection-in-action and The Construction Primer (Deakin University and Victoria University of Wellington), aimed at design making. Through contributing to and customising the resources themselves, students learn how designing and computing relate. This paper outlines the collaborative project in detail and locates the initiative at a time when the computer seems to have become less self-consciously assimilated within the wider architectural program.
keywords	Reflection-In-Action, Design Making, Customising Computers
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	3e51
authors	Cerulli, C., Peng, C. and Lawson, B.
year	2001
title	Capturing Histories of Design Processes for Collaborative Building Design Development. Field Trial of the ADS Prototype
source	Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 0-7923-7023-6] Eindhoven, 8-11 July 2001, pp. 427-437
summary	The ADS Project - Advanced Design Support for the Construction Design Process - builds on the technological results of the previous COMMIT Project to exploit and demonstrate the benefits of a CAD based Design Decision Support System. COMMIT provides a system for storing knowledge about knowledge within the design process. It records design decisions, the actors who take them and the roles they play when doing so. ADS links COMMIT to an existing object-oriented CAD system, MicroStation/J from Bentley Systems. The project focuses on tackling the problem of managing design information without intruding too much on the design process itself. It provides the possibility to effectively link design decisions back to requirements, to gather rationale information for later stages of the building lifecycle, and to gather knowledge of rationale for later projects. The system enables members of the project team, including clients and constructors, to browse and search the recorded project history of decision making both during and after design development. ADS aims to facilitate change towards a more collaborative process in construction design, to improve the effectiveness of decision-making throughout the construction project and to provide clients with the facility to relate design outcomes to design briefs across the whole building life cycle. In this paper we will describe the field trials of the ADS prototype carried out over a three-month period at the Building Design Partnership (BDP) Manchester office. The objective of these trials is to assess the extent, to which the approach underlying ADS enhances the design process, and to gather and document the views and experiences of practitioners. The ADS prototype was previously tested with historical data of real project (Peng, Cerulli et al. 2000). To gather more valuable knowledge about how a Decision Support System like ADS can be used in practice, the testing and evaluation will be extended to a real project, while it is still ongoing. The live case study will look at some phases of the design of a mixed residential and retail development in Leeds, UK, recording project information while it is created. The users’ feedback on the system usability will inform the continuous redevelopment process that will run in parallel to the live case study. The ADS and COMMIT Projects were both funded by EPSRC.
keywords	Design Rationale, Design Support Systems, Usability Evaluation
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2006/11/07 07:22

_id	0898
authors	Chastain, Thomas and Elliott, Ame
year	2000
title	Cultivating design competence: online support for beginning design studio
source	Automation in Construction 9 (1) (2000) pp. 83-91
summary	A primary lesson of a beginning design studio is the development of a fundamental design competence. This entails acquiring skills of integration, projection, exploration, as well as critical thinking––forming the basis of thinking "like a designer". Plaguing the beginning architectural design student as she develops this competence are three typical problems: a lagging visual intelligence, a linking of originality with creativity, and the belief that design is an act of an individual author instead of a collaborative activity.We believe that computation support for design learning has particular attributes for helping students overcome these problems. These attributes include its inherent qualities for visualization, for explicitness, and for sharing. This paper describes five interactive multi-media exercises exploiting these attributes which were developed to support a beginning design studio. The paper also reports how they have been integrated into the course curriculum.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	ga0007
id	ga0007
authors	Coates, Paul and Miranda, Pablo
year	2000
title	Swarm modelling. The use of Swarm Intelligence to generate architectural form
source	International Conference on Generative Art
summary	.neither the human purposes nor the architect's method are fully known in advance. Consequently, if this interpretation of the architectural problem situation is accepted, any problem-solving technique that relies on explicit problem definition, on distinct goal orientation, on data collection, or even on non-adaptive algorithms will distort the design process and the human purposes involved.' Stanford Anderson, "Problem-Solving and Problem-Worrying". The works concentrates in the use of the computer as a perceptive device, a sort of virtual hand or "sense", capable of prompting an environment. From a set of data that conforms the environment (in this case the geometrical representation of the form of the site) this perceptive device is capable of differentiating and generating distinct patterns in its behavior, patterns that an observer has to interpret as meaningful information. As Nicholas Negroponte explains referring to the project GROPE in his Architecture Machine: 'In contrast to describing criteria and asking the machine to generate physical form, this exercise focuses on generating criteria from physical form.' 'The onlooking human or architecture machine observes what is "interesting" by observing GROPE's behavior rather than by receiving the testimony that this or that is "interesting".' The swarm as a learning device. In this case the work implements a Swarm as a perceptive device. Swarms constitute a paradigm of parallel systems: a multitude of simple individuals aggregate in colonies or groups, giving rise to collaborative behaviors. The individual sensors can't learn, but the swarm as a system can evolve in to more stable states. These states generate distinct patterns, a result of the inner mechanics of the swarm and of the particularities of the environment. The dynamics of the system allows it to learn and adapt to the environment; information is stored in the speed of the sensors (the more collisions, the slower) that acts as a memory. The speed increases in the absence of collisions and so providing the system with the ability to forget, indispensable for differentiation of information and emergence of patterns. The swarm is both a perceptive and a spatial phenomenon. For being able to Interact with an environment an observer requires some sort of embodiment. In the case of the swarm, its algorithms for moving, collision detection, and swarm mechanics conform its perceptive body. The way this body interacts with its environment in the process of learning and differentiation of spatial patterns constitutes also a spatial phenomenon. The enactive space of the Swarm. Enaction, a concept developed by Maturana and Varela for the description of perception in biological terms, is the understanding of perception as the result of the structural coupling of an environment and an observer. Enaction does not address cognition in the currently conventional sense as an internal manipulation of extrinsic 'information' or 'signals', but as the relation between environment and observer and the blurring of their identities. Thus, the space generated by the swarm is an enactive space, a space without explicit description, and an invention of the swarm-environment structural coupling. If we consider a gestalt as 'Some property -such as roundness- common to a set of sense data and appreciated by organisms or artefacts' (Gordon Pask), the swarm is also able to differentiate space 'gestalts' or spaces of some characteristics, such as 'narrowness', or 'fluidness' etc. Implicit surfaces and the wrapping algorithm. One of the many ways of describing this space is through the use of implicit surfaces. An implicit surface may be imagined as an infinitesimally thin band of some measurable quantity such as color, density, temperature, pressure, etc. Thus, an implicit surface consists of those points in three-space that satisfy some particular requirement. This allows as to wrap the regions of space where a difference of quantity has been produced, enclosing the spaces in which some particular events in the history of the Swarm have occurred. The wrapping method allows complex topologies, such as manifoldness in one continuous surface. It is possible to transform the information generated by the swarm in to a landscape that is the result of the particular reading of the site by the swarm. Working in real time. Because of the complex nature of the machine, the only possible way to evaluate the resulting behavior is in real time. For this purpose specific applications had to be developed, using OpenGL for the Windows programming environment. The package consisted on translators from DXF format to a specific format used by these applications and viceversa, the Swarm "engine", a simulated parallel environment, and the Wrapping programs, to generate the implicit surfaces. Different versions of each had been produced, in different stages of development of the work.
series	other
email
more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	d0aa
authors	Colajanni, Benedetto, Concialdi, Salvatore and Pellitteri, Giuseppe
year	1999
title	CoCoMa: a Collaborative Constraint Management System for the Collaborative Design
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.364
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 364-369
summary	Collaborative Design is a topic of particular current interest. Existing software allows a multiplicity of designers to work on the same project. What the software really allows is accessing to a part of the information of the project and changing it. Sometimes there is a hierarchical distribution of the power of change: some participants can be permitted to operate only on some limited layers of the object representation. In this case the changes they propose are to be accepted by a general manager of the design process. What is lacking in this kind of software is the explicit management on the reciprocal constraints posed by different participants. In this paper, an elementary Collaborative Design System is presented whose main concern is just the management of constraints. Each participant designs the part of the project of his/her concern instantiating objects comprised of geometric description, alphanumeric variables and constraints on both. Constraints can be of two types: absolute or defined by a range of allowed values of the constrained variable. A participant intervening later can accept the constraint, choosing a value in the permitted range, or decide to violate it. In this case the proposed violation is signalled to whom posed it.
keywords	Collaborative Design, Design Process, Management System, Participant Designs, Constraints Violation
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	ddssar0007
id	ddssar0007
authors	Cooper, G., Rezqui, Y., Jackson, M., Lawson, B., Peng, C. and Cerulli, C.
year	2000
title	A CAD-based decision support system for the design stage of a construction project
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Fifth Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning - Part one: Architecture Proceedings (Nijkerk, the Netherlands)
summary	Decisions made during the design process are multi-dimensional, combining together factors which range from the highly subjective to the perfectly objective. These decisions are made by many, often non co-located, actors belonging to different disciplines. Moreover, there is a high risk for misunderstandings, inappropriate changes, and decisions, which are not notified to all interested parties. The ADS project (Advanced Decision Support for Construction Design) builds on the results of the earlier COMMIT project to provide an information management system, which addresses these problems. It defines mechanisms to handle the proactive management of information to support decision-making in collaborative projects. Different aspects of the COMMIT system have already been widely published, and the team is now applying the results in the context of construction design. These are referenced in the present paper, which gives an overview of the results of the COMMIT project and discusses some of the issue involved in applying them to the design process in conjunction with an advanced CAD tool.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	38f3
authors	Craig and Zimring
year	2000
title	Supporting collaborative design groups as design communities
source	Design Studies, Vol. 21, no. 2, March
summary	This paper explores computer support for unstructured collaboration. A web-based online environment used in conjunction with a graduate-level architectural studio was investigated, with special attention given to patterns of online behavior and the perceptions of those who used the environment. It was assumed that asynchronous collaborative environments like the one studied naturally alleviate certain problems like evaluation apprehension and production-blocking, but do not on their own motivate contributions to a group in an unstructured setting. It was hypothesized that open participation hinges on the development of a sense of community, which itself depends partially on environmental factors intrinsic to the support environment. The environment studied failed to promote open interaction and did not appear to sustain a strong sense of community. Environmental factors thought to have played a role include page structuring, page-naming conventions, and the spatial clustering of textbased exchanges.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	0cc1
authors	Dave, Bharat and Danahy, John
year	2000
title	Virtual study abroad and exchange studio
source	Automation in Construction 9 (1) (2000) pp. 57-71
summary	The digital design studio has an area of application where conventional media are incapable of being used; collaboration in learning, design and dialogue with people in places other than where one lives. This distinctive opportunity has lead the authors to explore a form of design brief and virtual design studio (VDS) format not well addressed in the literature. Instead of sharing the same design brief, students in this alternative format design a project in the other students' city and do not collaborate on the same design. Collaboration with other students takes the form of teaching each other about the city and culture served by the design. The authors discovered these studios produce a focus on site context that serves our pedagogical objectives – a blend of architectural, landscape architectural and urban design knowledge. Their students use a range of commercial CAD and computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) software common to that used in many VDS experiments reported on in the literature.However, this conventional use of technology is contrasted with a second distinctive characteristic of these studios, the use of custom software tools specifically designed to support synchronous and asynchronous three-dimensional model exchange and linked attribute knowledge. The paper analyzes some of the virtual design studio (VDS) work between the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the University of Toronto, and the University of Melbourne. The authors articulate a framework of VDS dimensions that structures their teaching and research.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	5477
authors	Donath, D., Kruijff, E., Regenbrecht, H., Hirschberg, U., Johnson, B., Kolarevic, B. and Wojtowicz, J.
year	1999
title	Virtual Design Studio 1998 - A Place2Wait
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.453
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 453-458
summary	This article reports on the recent, geographically and temporally distributed, intercollegiate Virtual Design Studio based on the 1998 implementation Phase(x) environment. Students participating in this workshop had to create a place to wait in the form of a folly. This design task was cut in five logical parts, called phases. Every phase had to be finished within a specific timeframe (one day), after which the results would be stored in a common data repository, an online MSQL database environment which holds besides the presentations, consisting of text, 3D models and rendered images, basic project information like the descriptions of the phases and design process visualization tools. This approach to collaborative work is better known as memetic engineering and has successfully been used in several educational programs and past Virtual Design Studios. During the workshop, students made use of a variety of tools, including modeling tools (specifically Sculptor), video-conferencing software and rendering programs. The project distinguishes itself from previous Virtual Design Studios in leaving the design task more open, thereby focusing on the design process itself. From this perspective, this paper represents both a continuation of existing reports about previous Virtual Design Studios and a specific extension by the offered focus. Specific attention will be given at how the different collaborating parties dealt with the data flow and modification, the crux within a successful effort to cooperate on a common design task.
keywords	Collaborative design, Design Process, New Media Usage, Global Networks
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	1185
authors	Faraj, I., Alshawi, M., Aouad, G., Child, T. and Underwood, J.
year	2000
title	An industry foundation classes Web-based collaborative construction computer environment: WISPER
source	Automation in Construction 10 (1) (2000) pp. 79-99
summary	Collaborative working in construction is becoming a reality as many activities are performed globally with actors based in various geographical locations. This paper discusses the development and implementation of a collaborative working environment for construction at the University of Salford which is known as Web-based IFC Shared Project EnviRonment (WISPER). The environment is based on a three tier architecture, where user interfaces, business logic and database are kept separate. A Web and Industry Foundation Classes-based (IFC-based) distributed computer integrated environment has been developed. This environment supports design (CAD), visualisation (VR and Drawing Web Format –– DWF), estimating, planning, specifications and supplier information. WISPER enables project information to be exchanged through a STEP Part 21 file and shared through the IFC database. Meanwhile, a set of Web pages allows for remote interaction, as well as access to and the distribution of applications. This provides great flexibility and portability, thereby enabling construction professionals to contribute as well as to perform and manage their own activities.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	ddssar0009
id	ddssar0009
authors	Findlay, Robert A. and Haugen, S. Lee
year	2000
title	From individual inquiry and attention to cohorts to a "collaborative critique": the use of student groups to support individual designers
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Fifth Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning - Part one: Architecture Proceedings (Nijkerk, the Netherlands)
summary	This study explores learning settings and strategies related to design collaboration and critical thinking. To this end, theories of education and of cognitive learning were assembled to describe learning design collaboration. Student perceptions of their learning experiences were then gathered in structured interviews and focus groups, and were analyzed qualitatively for concepts, tendencies, and trends. The study also concerns the effects of collaboration on individual learning. An emphasis of the investigation has been on the context in which a person's mind learns. The activity of learning has been enriched by being in a context in which students can participate in the social construction of knowledge, in this way enhancing the processes of developing knowledge, decision-making, and design. We discovered that a "collaborative critique" evolves during the course of activity of groups of students as they shift from the protective behavior of individual competition, through bargaining away ideas in compromise or subduing differences in consensus building, to critical ideation and the constructive behavior of the "collaborative critique".
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	f586
authors	Gabriel, G. and Maher, M.L.
year	2000
title	Analysis of design communication with and without computer mediation
source	Proceedings of Co-designing 2000, pp. 329-337
summary	With recent developments in CAD and communication technologies, the way we visualise and communicate design representations is changing. A matter of great interest to architects, practitioners and researchers alike, is how computer technology might affect the way they think and work. The concern is not about the notion of 'support' alone, but about ensuring that computers do not disrupt the design process and collaborative activity already going on (Bannon and Schmidt, 1991). Designing new collaborative tools will then have to be guided by a better understanding of how collaborative work is accomplished and by understanding what resources the collaborators use and what hindrances they encounter in their work (Finholt et al., 1990). Designing, as a more abstract notion, is different than having a business meeting using video conferencing. In design it is more important to 'see' what is being discussed rather than 'watch' the other person(s) involved in the discussion. In other words the data being conveyed might be of more importance than the method with which it is communicated (See Kvan, 1994). Similarly, we believe that by using text instead of audio as a medium for verbal communication, verbal representations can then be recorded alongside graphical representations for later retrieval and use. In this paper we present the results of a study on collaborative design in three different environments: face-to-face (FTF), computer-mediated using video conferencing (CMCD-a), and computer-mediated using "talk by typing" (CMCD-b). The underlying aim is to establish a clearer notion of the collaborative needs of architects using computer-mediation. In turn this has the potential in assisting developers when designing new collaborative tools and in assisting designers when selecting an environment for a collaborative session.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	gerardgabriel_phd
id	gerardgabriel_phd
authors	Gabriel, Gerard Caesar
year	2000
title	COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION IN DESIGN
source	PhD Thesis, Faculty of Architecture, University of Sydney
summary	Up till now, architects collaborating with other colleagues did so mostly face-to-face (FTF). They had to be in the same space (co-located) at the same time. Communication was ‘spontaneous’ and ideas were represented, whether verbal or nonverbal, by talking and using ‘traditional drawing tools’. If they were geographically displaced, the interaction was then space affected as well as the probability of being time affected. In this case communication was usually mediated through the telephone, and graphically represented ideas were sent by Fax or posted documents. Recently, some architectural firms started using modems and Internet connections to exchange information, by transferring CAD drawings as well as design information, through e-mail and file transfer protocol (FTP). Discussing ideas in architecture, as a more abstract notion, is different from discussing other more concrete arguments using video conferencing. It is more important to ‘see’ what is being discussed at hand than ‘watch’ the other person(s) involved in the discussion. In other words the data being conveyed might be of more importance than the mode of communication. Taking into consideration recent developments in computer and communication technologies this thesis investigates different communication channels utilised in architectural collaboration through Computer Mediated Collaborative Design (CMCD) sessions as opposed to FTF sessions. This thesis investigates the possible effects these different channels have on collaborative design in general and collaborative design communication in particular. We argue that successful CMCD does not necessarily mean emulating close proximity environments. Excluding certain communication channels in a CMCD environment might affect the flow and quantity of synchronous collaborative communication, but not necessarily the quality and content of mutually communicated and represented design ideas. Therefore different communication channels might affect the type of communication and not necessarily the content of the communication. We propose that audio and video are not essential communication channels in CMCD environments. We posit that architects will collaborate and communicate design representations effectively although with some differences, since those two channels might cause interruptions and successful collaborative sessions can take place without them. For this purpose we conducted twenty-four one-hour experiments involving final year architecture students all working to the same design brief. The experiments were divided into three categories, FTF, full computer mediated collaborative design sessions (CMCD-a; audio-video conferencing plus whiteboard as a shared drawing space) and limited computer mediated collaborative design sessions (CMCD-b; with Lambda MOO used as a chat medium plus whiteboard as a shared drawing space). The experiments were video and audio taped, transcribed and coded into a custom developed coding scheme. The results of the analysed coded data and observations of the videotapes provided evidence that there were noticeable differences between the three categories. There was more design communication and less communication control in the CMCD-b category compared to the FTF and CMCD-a categories. Verbal communication became shorter and straight to the point in CMCD-b as opposed to spontaneous non-stop chat in the other two categories. Moreover in CMCD-b the subjects were observed to be more reflective as well as choosing and re-examining their words to explain ideas to their partners. At times they were seen scrolling back through the text of the conversation in order to re-analyse or interpret the design ideas at hand. This was impossible in FTF and CMCD-a sessions, since the subjects were more spontaneous and audio representations were lost as soon as they were uttered. Also the video channel in the CMCD-a category was ignored and hardly used except for the first few minutes of the experiments, for a brief exchange of light humour on the appearance of each subject. The results obtained from analysing the experiments helped us conclude that different communication channels produce different collaborative environments. The three categories of communication for architectural collaboration explored in our experiments are indicative of the alternatives available to architects now. What is not clear to architects is why they would choose one category over another. We propose that each category has its own strengths and difficulties for architectural collaboration, and therefore should be selected on the basis of the type of communication considered to be most effective for the stage and tasks of the design project.
series	thesis:PhD
type	normal paper
email
last changed	2005/09/09 13:02

_id	1eac
authors	Garner, S.
year	2000
title	Is Sketching Still Relevant in Virtual Design Studios?
source	Proceedings of DCNet, Sydney
summary	Sketching, as a particular subset of drawing, has for a long time, been valued within design activity. Although they can appear rough, inaccurate or incomplete, sketches have been presented as both valuable output from, and evidence of, essential activity in designing by individuals and groups. This paper reflects on this value and asks whether sketching is relevant today, given the advances in computing and communications technology seen in modern virtual design environments. Is it time to let go of the metaphor of drawing or can this ancient human capability still tell us something relevant for the improvement of the virtual design studio? While freehand line drawings may not have the same importance in current virtual design studios the support of incompleteness, ambiguity and shared meaning in solution-focused and problem-focused thinking remains essential. The paper proposes that attention to 'graphic acts' has improved our understanding of sketching within collaborative designing. A particular type of fast, transitory 'thumbnail' sketch would appear to be important. If this is so then attention to its modern counterpart in the latest 3D, multi-user, immersive virtual design studios is overdue if they are to support the cognitive processes of creativity vital to design.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	70c4
authors	Gross, M.D., Do, E.Y.-L. and Johnson, B.R.
year	2000
title	Beyond the low-hanging fruit: Information technology in architectural design past, present and future
source	W. Mitchell and J. Fernandez (eds), ACSA Technology Conference, MIT Press, Cambridge MA
summary	Today's commercial CAD software is the product of years of research that began in the 1960's and 1970's. These applications have found widespread use in the architectural marketplace; nevertheless they represent only the first fruits of research in computer aided design. New developments based on research in human-computer interaction (HCI), computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW), and virtual reality (VR) will result in a next generation of tools for architectural design. Although preliminary applications to design have been demonstrated in each of these areas, excellent opportunities remain to exploit new technologies and insights in service of better design software. In this paper we briefly examine each of these areas using examples from our own work to discuss the prospects for future research. We envision that future design technologies will develop from current and traditional conventions of practice combined with forward looking application of emerging technologies. In HCI, pen based interaction will allow architects to use the pencil again, without sacrificing the added power of computer aided design tools, and speech recognition will begin to play a role in capturing and retrieving design critique and discussion. In CSCW, a new generation of applications will address the needs of designers more closely than current general purpose meeting tools. In VR, applications are possible that use the technology not simply to provide a sense of three-dimensional presence, but that organize design information spatially, integrating it into the representation of artifacts and places.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	maver_090
id	maver_090
authors	Harrison C., Grant, M., Granat, M., Maver, T. and Conway, B.
year	2000
title	Development of a Wheelchair Virtual
source	3rd International Conference on Disability, VR and Associated Technologies, Sardinia, (Ed. P Sharkey) ICDVRAT2000, 1-8
summary	In the UK the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 aims to end discrimination against disabled people. Importantly the Act gives the disabled community new employment and access rights. Central to these rights will be an obligation for employers and organisations to provide premises which do not disadvantage disabled people. Many disabled people rely on wheelchairs for mobility. However, many buildings do not provide conditions suited to wheelchair users. This project aims to provide instrumentation allowing wheelchair navigation within virtual buildings. The provision of such instrumentation assists architects in identifying the needs of wheelchair users at the design stage. Central to this project is the need to provide a platform which can accommodate a range of wheelchair types, that will map intended wheelchair motion into a virtual world and that has the capacity to provide feedback to the user reflecting changes in floor surface characteristics and slope. The project represents a collaborative effort between architects, bioengineers and user groups and will be comprised of stages related to platform design, construction, interfacing, testing and user evaluation.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/09/03 15:01

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