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 349e
authors Durmisevic, Sanja
year 2002
title Perception Aspects in Underground Spaces using Intelligent Knowledge Modeling
source Delft University of Technology
summary The intensification, combination and transformation are main strategies for future spatial development of the Netherlands, which are stated in the Fifth Bill regarding Spatial Planning. These strategies indicate that in the future, space should be utilized in a more compact and more efficient way requiring, at the same time, re-evaluation of the existing built environment and finding ways to improve it. In this context, the concept of multiple space usage is accentuated, which would focus on intensive 4-dimensional spatial exploration. The underground space is acknowledged as an important part of multiple space usage. In the document 'Spatial Exploration 2000', the underground space is recognized by policy makers as an important new 'frontier' that could provide significant contribution to future spatial requirements.In a relatively short period, the underground space became an important research area. Although among specialists there is appreciation of what underground space could provide for densely populated urban areas, there are still reserved feelings by the public, which mostly relate to the poor quality of these spaces. Many realized underground projects, namely subways, resulted in poor user satisfaction. Today, there is still a significant knowledge gap related to perception of underground space. There is also a lack of detailed documentation on actual applications of the theories, followed by research results and applied techniques. This is the case in different areas of architectural design, but for underground spaces perhaps most evident due to their infancv role in general architectural practice. In order to create better designs, diverse aspects, which are very often of qualitative nature, should be considered in perspective with the final goal to improve quality and image of underground space. In the architectural design process, one has to establish certain relations among design information in advance, to make design backed by sound rationale. The main difficulty at this point is that such relationships may not be determined due to various reasons. One example may be the vagueness of the architectural design data due to linguistic qualities in them. Another, may be vaguely defined design qualities. In this work, the problem was not only the initial fuzziness of the information but also the desired relevancy determination among all pieces of information given. Presently, to determine the existence of such relevancy is more or less a matter of architectural subjective judgement rather than systematic, non-subjective decision-making based on an existing design. This implies that the invocation of certain tools dealing with fuzzy information is essential for enhanced design decisions. Efficient methods and tools to deal with qualitative, soft data are scarce, especially in the architectural domain. Traditionally well established methods, such as statistical analysis, have been used mainly for data analysis focused on similar types to the present research. These methods mainly fall into a category of pattern recognition. Statistical regression methods are the most common approaches towards this goal. One essential drawback of this method is the inability of dealing efficiently with non-linear data. With statistical analysis, the linear relationships are established by regression analysis where dealing with non-linearity is mostly evaded. Concerning the presence of multi-dimensional data sets, it is evident that the assumption of linear relationships among all pieces of information would be a gross approximation, which one has no basis to assume. A starting point in this research was that there maybe both linearity and non-linearity present in the data and therefore the appropriate methods should be used in order to deal with that non-linearity. Therefore, some other commensurate methods were adopted for knowledge modeling. In that respect, soft computing techniques proved to match the quality of the multi-dimensional data-set subject to analysis, which is deemed to be 'soft'. There is yet another reason why soft-computing techniques were applied, which is related to the automation of knowledge modeling. In this respect, traditional models such as Decision Support Systems and Expert Systems have drawbacks. One important drawback is that the development of these systems is a time-consuming process. The programming part, in which various deliberations are required to form a consistent if-then rule knowledge based system, is also a time-consuming activity. For these reasons, the methods and tools from other disciplines, which also deal with soft data, should be integrated into architectural design. With fuzzy logic, the imprecision of data can be dealt with in a similar way to how humans do it. Artificial neural networks are deemed to some extent to model the human brain, and simulate its functions in the form of parallel information processing. They are considered important components of Artificial Intelligence (Al). With neural networks, it is possible to learn from examples, or more precisely to learn from input-output data samples. The combination of the neural and fuzzy approach proved to be a powerful combination for dealing with qualitative data. The problem of automated knowledge modeling is efficiently solved by employment of machine learning techniques. Here, the expertise of prof. dr. Ozer Ciftcioglu in the field of soft computing was crucial for tool development. By combining knowledge from two different disciplines a unique tool could be developed that would enable intelligent modeling of soft data needed for support of the building design process. In this respect, this research is a starting point in that direction. It is multidisciplinary and on the cutting edge between the field of Architecture and the field of Artificial Intelligence. From the architectural viewpoint, the perception of space is considered through relationship between a human being and a built environment. Techniques from the field of Artificial Intelligence are employed to model that relationship. Such an efficient combination of two disciplines makes it possible to extend our knowledge boundaries in the field of architecture and improve design quality. With additional techniques, meta know/edge, or in other words "knowledge about knowledge", can be created. Such techniques involve sensitivity analysis, which determines the amount of dependency of the output of a model (comfort and public safety) on the information fed into the model (input). Another technique is functional relationship modeling between aspects, which is derivation of dependency of a design parameter as a function of user's perceptions. With this technique, it is possible to determine functional relationships between dependent and independent variables. This thesis is a contribution to better understanding of users' perception of underground space, through the prism of public safety and comfort, which was achieved by means of intelligent knowledge modeling. In this respect, this thesis demonstrated an application of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) as a partner in the building design process by employing advanced modeling techniques. The method explained throughout this work is very generic and is possible to apply to not only different areas of architectural design, but also to other domains that involve qualitative data.
keywords Underground Space; Perception; Soft Computing
series thesis:PhD
email
last changed 2003/02/12 22:37

_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 16d2
authors Grión, María
year 2000
title Cambios Profundos en la Expresión Gráfica: Nuestros Primeros Pasos (Deep Changes in Graphic Expression: Our First Steps)
source SIGraDi’2000 - Construindo (n)o espacio digital (constructing the digital Space) [4th SIGRADI Conference Proceedings / ISBN 85-88027-02-X] Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 25-28 september 2000, pp. 271-273
summary This is the first report on the project to create a new syllabus for the subject Representation Systems in the careers of the Ingeneering at Salta´s University. Being our work hypothesis that the introduction of changes in the teaching of the graphic expression area will improve the learning and provide them with a greater capacity to adapt to certain requirements in the professional field, in particular in the use of CAD, we start to develop the work scheduled for the first year complying with the objectives set: (-) Knowledge of the “state of the art” in the syllabus of the area, analyzing the various experiences and programs developed in Argentina and other countries universities. (-) Settings of the new demand placed on the engineer, according to the demands of the environment. (-) Setting of the contents, objectives, methodology, bibliography and evaluation, updated to satisfy the suggested profile. (-) Pedagogic and team educational research training.
series SIGRADI
email
last changed 2016/03/10 09:52

_id 988d
authors Russell, Peter and Forgber, Uwe
year 2000
title The E-Talier: Inter-university Networked Design Studios
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.045
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. 45-50
summary The widespread infiltration of internet based variations of traditional areas of society (e-commerce, e-business, e-mail etc.) will not spare the halls of academia in its propagation. The term courseware is well nigh 20 years old and considerable research and development has been done in bringing network based distributed courses to university consortiums including those in architecture and civil engineering. Indeed, the European Commission has recently approved funding for a 3-year web-based virtual university of architecture and construction technology: the WINDS project led by the University of Ancona. Such attempts to create e-courses are largely an extension of typical courseware where the syllabus is quantified and divided into lessons for use by the students alone or in conjunction with their tutors and professors. This is quite adequate in conveying the base knowledge of the profession. However, the tenants of being an architect or engineer involve the deft use of that unwieldy named and deliciously imprecise tool called "design". Teaching design sooner or later involves the design studio: a pedagogically construed environment of simulation intended to train, not teach the skills of designing. This is fundamentally different from normal courseware. A network based design studio (Etalier) must be able to reflect the nature of learning design. Design studios typically involve specifically chosen design problems, researched supporting information to assist design decisions, focussed discussions, individual consultation and criticism, group criticism, public forums for presentation discussion and criticism as well as a myriad of informal undocumented communication among the students themselves. So too must an Etalier function. Essentially, it must allow collaboration through communication. Traditional barriers to collaboration include language, culture (both national and professional) and distance. Through the internet's capricious growth and the widespread use of English as a second language, the largest hurdle to attaining fruitful collaboration is probably cultural. In the case of an Etalier in a university setting, the cultural difficulties arise from administrative rules, the pedagogical culture of specific universities and issues such as scheduling and accreditation. Previous experiments with virtual design studios have demonstrated the criticality of such issues. The proposed system allows participating members to specify the degree and breadth with which they wish to partake. As opposed to specifying the conditions of membership, we propose to specify the conditions of partnership. Through the basic principal of reciprocity, issues such as accreditation and work load sharing can be mitigated. Further, the establishment of a studio market will allow students, tutors and professors from participating institutions to partake in studio projects of their choosing in accordance with their own constraints, be they related to schedule, expertise, legal or other matters. The paper describes these mechanisms and some possible scenarios for collaboration in the Etalier market.
keywords e-Studio, Virtual Design Studio, Courseware, CSCW
series eCAADe
email
more http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed 2022/06/07 07:56

_id ga0025
id ga0025
authors Chiodi , Andrea and Vernillo, Marco M.
year 2000
title Deep Architectures and Exterior Communication in Generative Art
source International Conference on Generative Art
summary Human beings formulate their thoughts through their own language. To use a sentence by Ezra Pound: “The thought hinges on word definition.” Software beings formulate their thoughts through data structures. Not through a specific expressive means, but directly through concepts and relations. Human beings formulate their thoughts in a context, which does not require any further translation. If software beings want to be appreciated by human beings, they are forced to translate their thoughts in one of the languages the human beings are able to understand. On the contrary, when a software being communicates with another software being, this unnatural translation is not justified: communication takes place directly through data structures, made uniform by opportune communication protocols. The Generative Art prospect gives the software beings the opportunity to create works according to their own nature. But, if the result of such a creation must be expressed in a language human beings are able to comprehend, then this result is a sort of circus performance and not a free thought. Let’s give software beings the dignity they deserve and therefore allow them to express themselves according to their own nature: by data structures. This work studies in depth the opportunity to divide the software ‘thought’ communication from its translation in a human language. The recent introduction of XML leads to formal languages definition oriented to data structure representation. Intrinsically data and program, XML allows, through subsequent executions and validations, the realization of typical contextual grammars descriptions, allowing the management of high complexities. The translation from a data structure into a human language can take place later on and be oriented to different alternative kind of expression: lexical (according to national languages), graphical, musical, plastic. The direct expression of data structures promises further communication opportunities also for human beings. One of these is the definition of a non-national language, as free as possible from lexical ambiguities, extremely precise. Another opportunity concerns the possibility to express concepts usually hidden by their own representation. A Roman bridge, the adagio “Music for strings, celesta and drums” by Bartok and Kafka’s short novel “In the gallery” have something in common; a work of Generative Art, first expressed in terms of structure and then translated into an architectural, musical, or literary work can express this explicit community.
series other
more http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed 2003/08/07 17:25

_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 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 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 d59a
authors Zarnowiecka, Jadwiga C.
year 1999
title AI and Regional Architecture
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.584
source Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 584-588
summary In 1976 Richard Foqué established periods in the development of methods of designing. The first stage (the 50's and early 60's) - automatization of the designing process - properly identified language of description that is understood by a machine is vital. Christopher Alexander publishes 'Pattern Language'. The second stage (late 60's) - the use of the Arts - research techniques as interview, questionnaire, active observation; ergonomic aspects are also taken into consideration. The third stage (starts at the turn of the 60's and 70's) - co-participation of all of the parties involved in the designing process, and especially the user. The designing process becomes more complex but at the same time more intelligible to a non-professional - Alexander's 'Pattern Language' returns. It's been over 20 years now since the publication of this work. In the mid 70's prototypes of integrate building description are created. We are dealing now with the next stage of the designing methods development. Unquestionable progress of computer optimalization of technical and economical solutions has taken place. It's being forecasted that the next stage would be using computer as a simulator of the designing process. This stage may be combined with the development of AI. (Already in 1950 Alan Turing had formulated the theoretical grounds of Artificial Intelligence.) Can the development of the AI have the influence on the creation of present time regional architecture? Hereby I risk a conclusion that the development of AI can contribute to the creation of modern regional architecture.
keywords Design Process, Artificial Intelligence, Regional Architecture
series eCAADe
email
last changed 2022/06/07 07:57

_id b5f3
authors Johnson, Brian R.
year 2000
title Sustaining Studio Culture: How Well Do Internet Tools Meet the Needs of Virtual Design Studios?
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.015
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. 15-22
summary The Internet beckons seductively to students. The prospect of nearly instantaneous communication with acquaintances spread across the face of the earth is alluring. The ease with which rich graphical content can be made available to the world is stunning. The possibility of a design being seen by friends, family, and famous architects is tantalizing. Faculty are drawn by the potent synergy and learning that can be found in the opposition and cooperation of different cultural roots. It is probable that entire design studio sequences will be offered through distance-learning programs in the near future. Is that a good idea? Much has been written about "virtual design studios" in architecture schools and "virtual offices" in practice. Most offices have largely or totally abandoned drafting boards in favor of digital tools of production. Yet, regarding design, Ken Sanders, author of The Digital Architect, and Manager of Information Services at Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership (ZGF), of Portland, Oregon, has written "we still make an effort to locate project teams together and always will". Production CAD work requires different kinds of interaction than design and design instruction. The experiments have been invaluable in developing strategies for use of the Internet as a component of a design studio series, but rarely depend entirely on use of the Internet for all course communications. In fact, most describe fairly isolated efforts to augment some aspect of traditional design environments using Internet tools (ftp, email, web). A few have implemented new pedagogic or collaboration paradigms (e.g., ETH’s phase(x)). This paper considers the traditional design studio in terms of formal and informal activities, characterizes the major Internet technologies with regard to the resulting interaction issues. In particular, it describes an area of informal work group communications that appears to be ill-supported with existing tools. The paper goes on to describe a web-based collaboration tool which was developed to address the need for less formal communication. The context for this development is the concept of a fully distributed collaboration environment with particular attention to questions of informal communication. Finally, it describes how the tool was deployed in an experimental "web studio" setting and student responses to use of the tool.
keywords Virtual Design Studio, Collaboration, Online Communities, Web Tools
series eCAADe
email
more http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed 2022/06/07 07:52

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

_id cef3
authors Bridges, Alan H.
year 1992
title Computing and Problem Based Learning at Delft University of Technology Faculty of Architecture
doi https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.289
source CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 289-294
summary Delft University of Technology, founded in 1842, is the oldest and largest technical university in the Netherlands. It provides education for more than 13,000 students in fifteen main subject areas. The Faculty of Architecture, Housing, Urban Design and Planning is one of the largest faculties of the DUT with some 2000 students and over 500 staff members. The course of study takes four academic years: a first year (Propaedeuse) and a further three years (Doctoraal) leading to the "ingenieur" qualification. The basic course material is delivered in the first two years and is taken by all students. The third and fourth years consist of a smaller number of compulsory subjects in each of the department's specialist areas together with a wide range of option choices. The five main subject areas the students may choose from for their specialisation are Architecture, Building and Project Management, Building Technology, Urban Design and Planning, and Housing.

The curriculum of the Faculty has been radically revised over the last two years and is now based on the concept of "Problem-Based Learning". The subject matter taught is divided thematically into specific issues that are taught in six week blocks. The vehicles for these blocks are specially selected and adapted case studies prepared by teams of staff members. These provide a focus for integrating specialist subjects around a studio based design theme. In the case of second year this studio is largely computer-based: many drawings are produced by computer and several specially written computer applications are used in association with the specialist inputs.

This paper describes the "block structure" used in second year, giving examples of the special computer programs used, but also raises a number of broader educational issues. Introduction of the block system arose as a method of curriculum integration in response to difficulties emerging from the independent functioning of strong discipline areas in the traditional work groups. The need for a greater level of selfdirected learning was recognised as opposed to the "passive information model" of student learning in which the students are seen as empty vessels to be filled with knowledge - which they are then usually unable to apply in design related contexts in the studio. Furthermore, the value of electives had been questioned: whilst enabling some diversity of choice, they may also be seen as diverting attention and resources from the real problems of teaching architecture.

series eCAADe
email
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 6756
authors Butler, K.S., Rincón, H., Maria Lane, K. and Brand, R.
year 2001
title Construyendo una ciudad sostenible en la frontera: planificación de la ciudad de Colombia, Nuevo León, México [Constructing A Sustainable City In the Border: Planning of the City of Colombia, Nuevo León, Mexico ]
source 2da Conferencia Venezolana sobre Aplicación de Computadores en Arquitectura, Maracaibo (Venezuela) december 2001, pp. 194-203
summary The policy rationale for promotion of urban development in the Mexico-Texas borderland of Nuevo León is likely to be sustained and even strengthened. The University of Texasí participation in new town planning for Colombia spans at least three hierarchical levels with students, faculty members, practitioners and government officials joining efforts. At the ìstudio levelî, students completed a comprehensive landscape assessment for portions of the future city using GPS surveying and GIS database and modeling. Graduate students, using field data, updated 2000 maps/shapefiles, and spatial modeling as an analysis tool, created a series of spatial models to produce useful information about the study areaís inherent suitability for agriculture, human settlement and preservation. This work culminated in a research symposium, planning charrette, refinement of land use and infrastructure assumptions, and the development of masterplan elements for the future city. In contrast to the professional firm, the project provides unique opportunities for intensive learning and applied research that contribute to the ecological, social and economic well-being of new cities and developing regions,
keywords USA-Mexico Border; Sustainable Development; Regional Planning; Arch View
series other
email
last changed 2003/02/14 08:29

_id b09a
authors Ceccato, C., Falk, L. and Fischer, Th.
year 2000
title The Silk Road: An Interactive Online Encyclopaedia as a Foundation for Networked Education in Design
source SIGraDi’2000 - Construindo (n)o espacio digital (constructing the digital Space) [4th SIGRADI Conference Proceedings / ISBN 85-88027-02-X] Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 25-28 september 2000, pp. 50-54
summary This paper describes a multidisciplinary design studio project conducted in Spring 2000 titled “The Silk Road”. The studio is an implementation of an innovative initiative in design education known as Networked Education in Design (NED) and is a further component in a series of on-line, interactive design studios under development at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design. NED is an educational philosophy, a pedagogical strategy encompassing several different aspects of Internet and Intranet communications, multimedia and shared learning environments, with the goal to decentralise the campus experience, enhance the local-global academic dialogue, and create an interdisciplinary, extendable and flexible virtual learning environment. In the case illustrated here, NED was manifested as an “Electronic Encyclopaedia” exercise designed to provide a universally applicable body of knowledge for students to use in design studios within their field of study, resulting in a rich and diverse body of work which in its disciplinary diversity manifested a common epistemological root.
series SIGRADI
email
last changed 2016/03/10 09:48

_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 3338
authors Heylighen, Ann and Neuckermans, Herman
year 2000
title DYNAMO - Dynamic Architectural Memory On-line
source Educational Technology and Society, Vol.3, No.2, April 2000 (ISSN 1436-4522), pp. 86-95
summary This paper describes the current status of DYNAMO, a web-based design assistant for students and professional designers in the field of architecture. The tool can be considered a Case-Based Design (CBD) system in so far that it was inspired by the view of cognition underlying CBD. The paper points out how DYNAMO incorporates this view, and at the same time extrapolates it beyond the individual. In this way, the tool attempts to embrace and profit from several kinds of interaction that are crucial for the development and renewal of design knowledge. This should result in a design tool that both feels cognitively comfortable to (student-) designers, and offers them a platform for exchanging knowledge and insights with colleagues in different contexts and at different levels of experience. In addition, the paper describes the implementation of these theoretical ideas as a working prototype, which has recently been tested by 4th year design students. Finally, DYNAMO is situated in the context of other comparable tools that have been or are being developed in the field of architectural design.
keywords Educational Multimedia, Interactive Learning Environments, Online Education
series journal paper
email
more http://ifets.gmd.de/periodical/vol_2_2000/heylighen.html
last changed 2002/11/14 08:40

_id 3888
authors Reffat, Rabee M.
year 2000
title Computational Situated Learning in Designing - Application to Architectural Shape Semantics
source The University of Sydney, Faculty of Architecture
summary Learning the situatedness (applicability conditions), of design knowledge recognised from design compositions is the central tenet of the research presented in this thesis. This thesis develops and implements a computational system of situated learning and investigates its utility in designing. Situated learning is based on the concept that "knowledge is contextually situated and is fundamentally influenced by its situation". In this sense learning is tuned to the situations within which "what you do when you do matters". Designing cannot be predicted and the results of designing are not based on actions independent of what is being designed or independent of when, where and how it was designed. Designers' actions are situation dependent (situated), such that designers work actively with the design environment within the specific conditions of the situation where neither the goal state nor the solution space is completely predetermined. In designing, design solutions are fluid and emergent entities generated by dynamic and situated activities instead of fixed design plans. Since it is not possible in advance to know what knowledge to use in relation to any situation we need to learn knowledge in relation to its situation, i.e. learn the applicability conditions of knowledge. This leads towards the notion of the situation as having the potential role of guiding the use of knowledge.

Situated Learning in Designing (SLiDe) is developed and implemented within the domain of architectural shape composition (in the form of floor plans), to construct the situatedness of shape semantics. An architectural shape semantic is a set of characteristics with a semantic meaning based on a particular view of a shape such as reflection symmetry, adjacency, rotation and linearity. Each shape semantic has preconditions without which it cannot be recognised. Such preconditions indicate nothing about the situation within which this shape semantic was recognised. The situatedness or the applicability conditions of a shape semantic is viewed as, the interdependent relationships between this shape semantic as the design knowledge in focus, and other shape semantics across the observations of a design composition. While designing, various shape semantics and relationships among them emerge in different representations of a design composition. Multiple representations of a design composition by re-interpretation have been proposed to serve as a platform for SLiDe. Multiple representations provide the opportunity for different shape semantics and relationships among them to be found from a single design composition. This is important if these relationships are to be used later because it is not known in advance which of the possible relationships could be constructed are likely to be useful. Hence, multiple representations provide a platform for different situations to be encountered. A symbolic representation of shape and shape semantics is used in which the infinite maximal lines form the representative primitives of the shape.

SLiDe is concerned with learning the applicability conditions (situatedness), of shape semantics locating them in relation to situations within which they were recognised (situation dependent), and updating the situatedness of shape semantics in response to new observations of the design composition. SLiDe consists of three primary modules: Generator, Recogniser and Incremental Situator. The Generator is used by the designer to develop a set of multiple representations of a design composition. This set of representations forms the initial design environment of SLiDe. The Recogniser detects shape semantics in each representation and produces a set of observations, each of which is comprised of a group of shape semantics recognised at each corresponding representation. The Incremental Situator module consists of two sub-modules, Situator and Restructuring Situator, and utilises an unsupervised incremental clustering mechanism not affected by concept drift. The Situator module locates recognised shape semantics in relation to their situations by finding regularities of relationships among them across observations of a design composition and clustering them into situational categories organised in a hierarchical tree structure. Such relationships change over time due to the changes taken place in the design environment whenever further representations are developed using the Generator module and new observations are constructed by the Recogniser module. The Restructuring Situator module updates previously learned situational categories and restructures the hierarchical tree accordingly in response to new observations.

Learning the situatedness shape semantics may play a crucial role in designing if designers pursue further some of these shape semantics. This thesis illustrates an approach in which SLiDe can be utilised in designing to explore the shapes in a design composition in various ways; bring designers! attention to potentially hidden features and shape semantics of their designs; and maintain the integrity of the design composition by using the situatedness of shape semantics. The thesis concludes by outlining future directions for this research to learn and update the situatedness of design knowledge within the context of use; considering the role of functional knowledge while learning the situatedness of design knowledge; and developing an autonomous situated agent-based designing system.

series thesis:PhD
email
last changed 2003/05/06 11:34

_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 ga0019
id ga0019
authors Ceccato, Cristiano
year 2000
title On the Translation of Design Data into Design Form in Evolutionary Design
source International Conference on Generative Art
summary The marriage of advanced computational methods and new manufacturing technologies give rise to new paradigms in design process and execution. Specifically, the research concerns itself with the application of Generative and Evolutionary computation to the production of mass-customized products and building components. The work is based on the premise that CAD-CAM should evolve into a dynamic, intelligent, multi-user environment that encourages creativity and actively supports the evolution of individual, mass-customized designs that exhibit common features. The concept of Parametric Design is well established, and chiefly concerns itself with generating design sets that exists within the boundaries of pre-set parametric values. Evolutionary Design extends the notion of parametric control by using rule-based generative algorithms to evolve common families of individual design solutions. These can be optimized according to particular criteria, or can form a wide variety of hierarchically related design solutions, while supporting design intuition. The integration of Evolutionary Design with CAD-CAM, in particular the areas of flexible manufacturing and mass-customization, creates a unique scenario which exploits the full power of both approaches to create a new design-process paradigm that can generate limitless possibilities in a non-deterministic manner within a variable search-space of possible solutions.This paper concerns itself with the technical and philosophical aspects of the codification, generation and translation of data within the evolutionary-parametric design process. The efficiency and relevance of different methods for treating design data form the most fundamental aspect within the realm of CAD/CAM and are crucial to the successful implementation of Evolutionary Design mechanisms. This begins at the level of seeding and progresses through the entire evolutionary sequence, including the codification for evaluation criteria. Furthermore, the integration of digital design mechanisms with CAM and CNC technologies requires further translation of data into manufacturable formats. This paper examines different methods available to system designers and discussed their effect on new paradigms of digital design methods.
keywords Evolutionary, Parametric, Generative, Data, Format, Objects, Codification
series other
more http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed 2003/08/07 17:25

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