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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Reformat results as: short short into frame detailed detailed into frame

_id	2de7
authors	Lachmi, K., Beatrice, B., Timerman, A. and Kalay, Y.E.
year	1997
title	Semantically Rich Building Representation
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1997.207
source	Design and Representation [ACADIA ‘97 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-06-3] Cincinatti, Ohio (USA) 3-5 October 1997, pp. 207-227
summary	At the core of any computational system that can support design development, analysis, and evaluation is a building representation which should be able to represent all the different components that make up a building, along with the manner in which they come together. In other words, the representation must be informationally complete and semantically rich. The paper discusses these two criteria in detail, and briefly reviews other research efforts aimed at developing building representations for CAAD that attempt to meet them. Our solution to this problem is then presented. It is aimed primarily at the schematic design phase, the rationale for which is also stated. Taking the view that buildings are unique assemblies of discrete, mostly standardized components, our representation is clearly divided into two components: the Object Database (ODB) which stores detailed information about various building elements, and the Project Database (PDB) which holds information about how these elements are assembled to make up a particular building. An ODB may be shared by many building projects, while the PDB must necessarily be unique to each. The data schemas of both the PDB and the ODB are described in detail and their computational implementation, to the extent that it has been completed, is illustrated.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	b3b1
authors	Ebrahim, Mostafa Abdel-Bary
year	1997
title	Application and evaluation of digital image techniques in close range photogrammetry
source	University of Innsbruck
summary	Most of the orthomapping techniques that are used in the present are restricted to surfaces that arise from a function of 'ground co- ordinates' z = f (x, y) , so-called 2.5D objects. Some techniques are also restricted to surfaces with kind of smooth shape or even to regular surfaces, but all of them are established to rectify images (although increasingly digitally). A new approach has been established for digital restitution and orthomapping of close range objects of almost any shape and size and with almost no restriction to images or objects. The idea of this approach is an inversion of the photographic technique and is (on the contrary to the 'rectification approach') strictly object oriented. All of the objects are regarded to be describable in their geometrical shape by a number of particular faces that can be regular or irregular but can anyway be created in a CAD environment. The data needed to get this surface can come from any photogrammetric, tachometric or other source with any particular one wants to have for the results. All the details that lie on that surface don't have to be restituted by analog or analytical point measurement but can after that be projected onto this surface from any photo, from any side and with any camera they have been taken. A 'Digital Projector' does the projection of the photos from the same positions and with the same inner orientation as of photographic camera. Using this approach any measurements of any details on the facades can be done easily. No details of the object can be neglected, none can be forgotten, no prior filtering of details has preceded this using. The full information of the original photos is available in the results. The results of the restitution can be presented in many ways. One of them is create orthoimages in any scale. Other results are any perspective or parallel view of the object. Other use of the strict 3D map-covered object for visualization (e.g. in architecture and archaeology application) is possible
keywords	Digital Image; Digital Projector; Close Range Photogrammetry; Architectural Photogrammetry; 2.5d Objects; Visualization
series	thesis:PhD
email
more	http://www.arcs.ac.at/dissdb/rn027356
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	9824
authors	Etzion, Y., Pearlmutter, D., Erell, E. and Meir, I.A.
year	1997
title	Adaptive architecture: integrating low-energy technologies for climate control in the desert
source	Automation in Construction 6 (5-6) (1997) pp. 417-425
summary	The article describes a `climatically adaptive' approach to intelligent building in which a variety of technologies are integrated in the architectural design to provide thermal comfort with a minimal expenditure of energy. This concept is illustrated by the design of the Blaustein International Center for Desert Studies, a multi-use complex completed recently at the Sede-Boker Campus of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. In response to the local climate of this desert region, a number of strategies were developed by the authors to exploit natural energy for heating and cooling: earth berming of major parts of the building, 'selective glazing' for seasonal shading and energy collection, a down-draft 'cool-tower' for evaporative cooling and a hybrid mechanism for hot-air supply are several of the unique systems whose performance and feasibility are analyzed within the context of the overall building design.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	a99e
authors	Kalay, Yehuda E.
year	1997
title	P3: An Integrated Environment to Support Design Collaboration
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1997.191
source	Design and Representation [ACADIA ‘97 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-06-3] Cincinatti, Ohio (USA) 3-5 October 1997, pp. 191-205
summary	Buildings are the combined product of the efforts of many participants interacting in complex ways over a prolonged period of time. Currently, sequential communication among the participants is the standard means of collaboration. This method, which is well suited to current legal and professional practices, is inefficient, fraught with loss of information and prone to errors, cost and schedule overruns, and promotes optimization of individual parts at the expense of the overall project. This paper describes an integrated design environment that will facilitate collaborative decision making among the various participants, not merely communicate the results of decisions made by one participant to the other participants in the design team. It is based on the convergence of computing and telecommunication technologies, coupled with the emergence of new design paradigms, which together can overcome the technical difficulties associate with current collaborative design practices. It comprises three different modules: a product model, a performance model, and a process model (hence it is called P3). The paper presents each of these models and their integration into a unified framework.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	8e5c
authors	Khemlani, Lachmi and Kalay, Yehuda E.
year	1997
title	An Integrated Computing Environment for Collaborative, Multi-Disciplinary Building Design
source	CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 389-416
summary	The increasing complexity of the built environment requires that more knowledge and experience be brought to bear on its design, construction and maintenance. The commensurate growth of knowledge in the participating disciplines-architecture, engineering, construction management, facilities management, and others-has tended to diversify each one into many sub-specializations. The resulting fragmentation of the design-built-use process is potentially detrimental to the overall quality of built environment. An efficient system of collaboration between all the specialist participants is needed to offset the effects of fragmentation. It is here that computers, with their ubiquitous presence in all disciplines, can serve as a medium of communication and form the basis of a collaborative, multi- disciplinary design environment. This paper describes the ongoing research on the development of such an integrated computing environment that will provide the basis for design and evaluation tools ranging across the many building-related disciplines. The bulk of the discussion will focus on the problem of a building representation that can be shared by all these disciplines, which, we posit, lies at the core of such an environment. We discuss the criteria that characterize this shared building representation, and present our solution to the problem. The proposed model has been adapted from geometric modeling, and addresses explicitly the difficult Problem of generality versus completeness of the represented information. The other components of the integrated environment that are under development are also described. The paper concludes with some implementation details and a brief look at two evaluation tools that use the proposed building representation for their task.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	1999/04/06 09:19

_id	9
authors	Stipech, Alfredo
year	1998
title	Un Nuevo Horizonte Arquitectonico, Productivo e Intelectual (A New Architectural, Productive and Intelectual Horizon)
source	II Seminario Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings / ISBN 978-97190-0-X] Mar del Plata (Argentina) 9-11 september 1998, pp. 76-83
summary	This work presents the pedagogical experience of a Design Workshop that investigated the impact of the digital and analogic means on the architectonic design process This work was based on the research of Dr. Arch. Julio BermÝdez who also directed this workshop in 1997. This class was part of the Training Program organized by the "Centro de Informatica y Diseho" (CID) at the "Universidad Nacional del Litoral" FADU (Facultad de Arquitectura Diseho y Urbanismo) Santa Fe, Argentina and made possible by the ongoing International Program of Academic Exchange between the FADU and the (University of Utah Graduate School of Architecture (IPAE Project NO 4). The experimental studio utilized an architectural problem to study the procedural, technical, interpretative and theoretical issues associated with the relationship of contemporary media and design process. The pedagogical vehicle was a program that expresses in itself the meeting or collision between two cultures competing for dominance at the end of the millennium: the immemorial material culture (corporeal, tectonic) and the new and everyday more influent virtual culture (information, nets, media, simulation). The premise for the design process, communication and criticism was the constant migration between the digital and analog representation systems. Within this theoretical-practical context semantic aspects containing different representation modalities were used such as physical and electronic models along with systematic and sensitive drawings (manuals, pixels and with CAD). Hybrid interfaces took a leading role in the process since they allowed the communication between analog and digital media through the creative and technical interaction between scanner, video and computer. This architectural and media context generated an intense pedagogic environment fostering the development of creativity and a critical attitude while allowing concrete breakthroughs in the teaching process and format design. Our work reflects on these results showing examples of stud-go works and providing a final evaluation of this unique experience in Argentina.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 10:01

_id	2312
authors	Carrara, G., Kalay Y.E. and Novembri, G.
year	1992
title	Multi-modal Representation of Design Knowledge
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1992.055
source	CAAD Instruction: The New Teaching of an Architect? [eCAADe Conference Proceedings] Barcelona (Spain) 12-14 November 1992, pp. 55-66
summary	Explicit representation of design knowledge is needed if scientific methods are to be applied in design research, and if computers are to be used in the aid of design education and practice. The representation of knowledge in general, and design knowledge in particular, have been the subject matter of computer science, design methods, and computer-aided design research for quite some time. Several models of design knowledge representation have been developed over the last 30 years, addressing specific aspects of the problem. This paper describes a different approach to design knowledge representation that recognizes the multimodal nature of design knowledge. It uses a variety of computational tools to encode different kinds of design knowledge, including the descriptive (objects), the prescriptive (goals) and the operational (methods) kinds. The representation is intended to form a parsimonious, communicable and presentable knowledge-base that can be used as a tool for design research and education as well as for CAAD.
keywords	Design Methods, Design Process Goals, Knowledge Representation, Semantic Networks
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	4bd2
authors	Carrara, G., Kalay, Y.E. and Novembri, G.
year	1992
title	A Computational Framework for Supporting Creative Architectural Design
source	New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992. pp. 17-34 : ill. includes Bibliography
summary	Design can be considered a process leading to the definition of a physical form that achieves a certain predefined set of performance criteria. The process comprises three distinct operations: (1) Definition of the desired set of performance criteria (design goals); (2) generation of alternative design solutions; (3) evaluation of the expected performances of alternative design solutions, and comparing them to the predefined criteria. Difficulties arise in performing each one of the three operations, and in combining them into a purposeful unified process. Computational techniques were developed to assist each of the three operations. A comprehensive and successful computational design assistant will have to recognize the limitations of current computational techniques, and incorporate a symbiosis between the machine and the human designer. This symbiosis comprises allocating design tasks between the designer and the computer in a manner that is most appropriate for the task at hand. The task allocation must, therefore, be done dynamically, responding to the changing circumstances of the design process. This report proposes a framework for such a symbiotic partnership, which comprises four major components: (1) User interface and design process control; (2) design goals; (3) evaluators; (4) database
keywords	architecture, knowledge base, systems, design process, control
series	CADline
email
last changed	2003/06/02 14:41

_id	42eb
authors	Chastain, Th., Kalay, Y.E. and Peri, C.
year	2002
title	Square peg in a round hole or horseless carriage? Reflections on the use of computing in architecture
source	Automation in Construction 11 (2) (2002) pp. 237-248
summary	We start with two paradigms that have been used to describe the relationship of computation methods and tools to the production of architecture. The first is that of forcing a square peg into a round hole –– implying that the use of a tool is misdirected, or at least poorly fits the processes that have traditionally been part of an architectural design practice. In doing so, the design practice suffers from the use of new technology. The other paradigm describes a state of transformation in relationship to new technology as a horseless carriage in which the process is described in obsolete and `backward' terms. The implication is that there is a lack of appreciation for the emerging potentials of technology to change our relationship with the task. The paper demonstrates these two paradigms through the invention of drawings in the 14th Century, which helped to define the profession of architecture. It then goes on to argue that modern computational tools follow the same paradigms, and like drawings, stand to bring profound changes to the profession of architecture as we know it.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	ad51
authors	Chastain, Th., Kalay, Y.E. and Peri, Ch.
year	1999
title	Square Peg in a Round Hole or Horseless Carriage? Reflections on the Use of Computing in Architecture
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1999.004
source	Media and Design Process [ACADIA ‘99 / ISBN 1-880250-08-X] Salt Lake City 29-31 October 1999, pp. 4-15
summary	We start with two paradigms that have been used to describe the relationship of computation methods and tools to the production of architecture. The first is that of forcing a square peg into a round hole — implying that the use of a tool is mis-directed, or at least poorly fits the processes that have traditionally been part of an architectural design practice. In doing so, the design practice suffers from the use of new technology. The other paradigm describes a state of transformation in relation-ship to new technology as a horseless carriage in which the process is described in obsolete and ‘backward’ terms. The impli-cation is that there is a lack of appreciation for the emerging potentials of technology to change our relationship with the task. The paper demonstrates these two paradigms through the invention of drawings in the 14th century, which helped to define the profession of Architecture. It then goes on to argue that modern computational tools follow the same paradigms, and like draw-ings, stand to bring profound changes to the profession of architecture as we know it.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	7f64
authors	Harfmann, A.C., Swerdloff, L.M. and Kalay, Y.E.
year	1986
title	The Terminal Crit
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1986.079
source	ACADIA Workshop ‘86 Proceedings - Houston (Texas - USA) 24-26 October 1986, pp. 79-87
summary	Numerous attempts have been made to develop formal design methods with -the purpose of increasing the predictability, consistency and dissemination of the design process and improving the quality of the objects produced. The ill- structured nature of design, and the perception of design activities as intuitive and experience dependent have frustrated many of the efforts to structure these process. The growing complexity of the built environment and advances in technology have led to a more rigorous effort to understand and externalize creative activities. Computer aided design tools have recently been playing an important role in the evolution of the design process as a rationally defined activity. The use of- computers for drafting, analysis, and 2 or 3 dimensional modeling is rapidly becoming an accepted method in many design schools and practitioners. A next logical step in the externalization of the design process is to endow the computer with the ability to manipulate and critique parts of the design. Under this scenario, the "terminal crit" is redefined to mean critiques that are carried out by both the designer and the computer. The paper presents the rationalization of the design process as a continuum into which CAD has been introduced. The effects of computers on the design process are studied through a specific incorporation of CAD tools into a conventional design studio, and a research project intended to advance the role of CAD in design.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:49

_id	4248
authors	Kalay, Y.E. and Skibniewski, M.J.
year	1995
title	Automation in Construction: Fulfilling the promise
source	Automation in Construction 4 (1) (1995) pp. 1-3
summary	Three years ago, Elsevier Science B.V. has embarked on one of the most important endeavors for the A/E/C community, worldwide. With the help of three dedicated individuals, it has inaugurated a new refereed journal devoted to discussing, critically examining and disseminating the latest developments affecting the processes that lead to the design, construction and use of buildings and other facilities. Unlike other jour-nals in this field, Automation in Construction has been dedicated to exploring the processes and tools used by the A/E/C community, rather than its products. It has been dedicated to issues concerning the A/ E / C community specifically, and to methods, practices and tools that make use of computers in particular, thereby filling a void which existed, until its inauguration, within the A/E/C community's publications.
series	journal paper
email
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/06/02 09:30

_id	07c6
authors	Kalay, Y.E., Harfmann, A.C. and Swerdloff, L.M.
year	1985
title	ALEX: A Knowledge-Based Architectural Design System
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1985.096
source	ACADIA Workshop ‘85 [ACADIA Conference Proceedings] Tempe (Arizona / USA) 2-3 November 1985, pp. 96-108
summary	A methodology for the development of a knowledge-based computer-aided design system and its experimental application in the domain of single family house design are presented. The methodology involves integrating within a unified design environment, tools and techniques that have been independently developed in various disciplines (including knowledge representation, information management, geometric modeling, human,machine interface, and architectural design). By assuming the role of active design partners, the resulting systems are expected to increase the productivity of designers, improve the quality of their products, and reduce cost and lead time of the design process as a whole. ALEX (Architecture Learning Expert), a particular application of this methodology, is a prototype knowledge-based CAD system in the domain of single family house design. It employs user-interactive, goal directed heuristic search strategies in a solution space that consists of a network of objects. Message-based change propagation techniques, guided by domain-specific knowledge, are used to ensure database integrity and well-formedness. The significance of the methodology and its application is threefold: it furthers our knowledge of the architectural design process, explores the utilization of knowledge engineering methods in design, and serves as a prototype for developing the next generation of computer-aided architectural design systems.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	3d2f
authors	Kalay, Y.E., Khemlani, L. and JinWon, C.
year	1998
title	An integrated model to support distributed collaborative design of buildings
source	Automation in Construction 7 (2-3) (1998) pp. 177-188
summary	The process of designing, constructing and managing buildings is fragmented, and involves many participants interacting in complex ways over a prolonged period of time. Currently, sequential communication among the participants is the norm. Consequently, while individual parts of the project may be optimized, the optimality of the overall project suffers. It is our view that the quality of the overall project can be significantly improved (in terms of time, money, and quality of design) if there was a tighter, non-sequential collaboration among the participants. Additional improvements will accrue if the participants were provided with discipline-specific design and evaluation tools, which assist them in performing their tasks. This paper describes the development of an integrated design environment, which is intended to facilitate such collaboration. It comprises a semantically-rich, object-oriented database, which forms the basis for shared design decisions. The database is augmented by knowledge-based query and update operators. Geometric and semantic editing tools round out the environment.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	4f90
authors	Kalay, Y.E.
year	1998
title	P3: Computational environment to support design collaboration
source	Automation in Construction 8 (1) (1998) pp. 37-48
summary	The work reported in this paper addresses the paradoxical state of the construction industry (also known as A/E/C, for Architecture, Engineering and Construction), where the design of highly integrated facilities is undertaken by severely fragmented teams, leading to diminished performance of both processes and products. The construction industry has been trying to overcome this problem by partitioning the design process hierarchically or temporally. While these methods are procedurally efficient, their piecemeal nature diminishes the overall performance of the project. Computational methods intended to facilitate collaboration in the construction industry have, so far, focused primarily on improving the flow of information among the participants. They have largely met their stated objective of improved communication, but have done little to improve joint decision-making, and therefore have not significantly improved the quality of the design project itself. We suggest that the main impediment to effective collaboration and joint decision-making in the A/E/C industry is the divergence of disciplinary `world-views', which are the product of educational and professional processes through which the individuals participating in the design process have been socialized into their respective disciplines. To maximize the performance of the overall project, these different world-views must be reconciled, possibly at the expense of individual goals. Such reconciliation can only be accomplished if the participants find the attainment of the overall goals of the project more compelling than their individual disciplinary goals. This will happen when the participants have become cognizant and appreciative of world-views other than their own, including the objectives and concerns of other participants. To achieve this state of knowledge, we propose to avail to the participants of the design team highly specific, contextualized information, reflecting each participant's valuation of the proposed design actions. P3 is a semantically-rich computational environment, which is intended to fulfill this mission. It consists of: (1) a shared representation of the evolving design project, connected (through the World Wide Web) to (2) individual experts and their discipline-specific knowledge repositories; and (3) a computational project manager makes the individual valuations visible to all the participants, and helps them deliberate and negotiate their respective positions for the purpose of improving the overall performance of the project. The paper discusses the theories on which the three components are founded, their function, and the principles of their implementation.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	ee8e
authors	Kalay, Y.E.
year	1999
title	Performance-based design
source	Automation in Construction 8 (4) (1999) pp. 395-409
summary	Even before Louis Sullivan coined the phrase `Form Follows Function,' architectural researchers have sought, to no avail, a causal relationship between these two primary constituents of the building enterprise. This paper attempts to explain why this quest has been futile, and proposes a performance-based design paradigm, instead of the prevailing process-based paradigms. It suggests that the driving force behind any design activity is the desire to achieve a qualitative solution for a particular combination of form and function in a specific context. Furthermore, it suggests that quality can only be determined by a multi-criteria, multi-disciplinary performance evaluation, which comprises a weighted sum of several satisfaction/behavior functions. The paper develops a performance-based design methodology and demonstrates its application in an experimental, knowledge-based CAD system.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	68fb
authors	Khemlani, L., Timerman, A., Benne, B. and Kalay, Y.E.
year	1998
title	Intelligent representation for computer-aided building design
source	Automation in Construction 8 (1) (1998) pp. 49-71
summary	At the core of any computational system that can support design development, analysis, and evaluation is an “intelligent” building representation which should be able to represent all the different components that make up a building, along with the manner in which they come together. In other words, the representation must be informationally complete and semantically rich. The paper discusses these two criteria and briefly reviews other research efforts aimed at developing building representations for computer-aided design that attempt to meet them. Our solution to this problem is then presented. It is aimed primarily at the schematic design phase, the rationale for which is also stated. Taking the view that buildings are unique assemblies of discrete, mostly standardized components, our representation is clearly divided into two components: the Object Database (ODB) which stores detailed information about various building elements, and the Project Database (PDB) which holds information about how these elements are assembled to make up a particular building. An ODB may be shared by many building projects, while the PDB must necessarily be unique to each. The data schemas of both the PDB and the ODB are described in detail and their computational implementation, to the extent that it has been completed, is illustrated.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/03/05 13:12

_id	c804
authors	Richens, P.
year	1994
title	Does Knowledge really Help?
source	G. Carrara and Y.E. Kalay (Eds.), Knowledge-Based Computer-Aided Architectural Design, Elsevier
summary	The Martin Centre CADLAB has recently been established to investigate software techniques that could be of practical importance to architects within the next five years. In common with most CAD researchers, we are interested in the earlier, conceptual, stages of design, where commercial CAD systems have had little impact. Our approach is not Knowledge-Based, but rather focuses on using the computer as a medium for design and communication. This leads to a concentration on apparently superficial aspects such as visual appearance, the dynamics of interaction, immediate feedback, plasticity. We try to avoid building-in theoretical attitudes, and to reduce the semantic content of our systems to a low level on the basis that flexibility and intelligence are inversely related; and that flexibility is more important. The CADLAB became operational in January 1992. First year work in three areas – building models, experiencing architecture, and making drawings – is discussed.
series	other
more	http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/research/pubs/
last changed	2003/03/05 13:19

_id	75a8
authors	Achten, Henri H.
year	1997
title	Generic representations : an approach for modelling procedural and declarative knowledge of building types in architectural design
source	Eindhoven University of Technology
summary	The building type is a knowledge structure that is recognised as an important element in the architectural design process. For an architect, the type provides information about norms, layout, appearance, etc. of the kind of building that is being designed. Questions that seem unresolved about (computational) approaches to building types are the relationship between the many kinds of instances that are generally recognised as belonging to a particular building type, the way a type can deal with varying briefs (or with mixed use), and how a type can accommodate different sites. Approaches that aim to model building types as data structures of interrelated variables (so-called ‘prototypes’) face problems clarifying these questions. The research work at hand proposes to investigate the role of knowledge associated with building types in the design process.Knowledge of the building type must be represented during the design process. Therefore, it is necessary to find a representation which supports design decisions, supports the changes and transformations of the design during the design process, encompasses knowledge of the design task, and which relates to the way architects design. It is proposed in the research work that graphic representations can be used as a medium to encode knowledge of the building type. This is possible if they consistently encode the things they represent; if their knowledge content can be derived, and if they are versatile enough to support a design process of a building belonging to a type.A graphic representation consists of graphic entities such as vertices, lines, planes, shapes, symbols, etc. Establishing a graphic representation implies making design decisions with respect to these entities. Therefore it is necessary to identify the elements of the graphic representation that play a role in decision making. An approach based on the concept of ‘graphic units’ is developed. A graphic unit is a particular set of graphic entities that has some constant meaning. Examples are: zone, circulation scheme, axial system, and contour. Each graphic unit implies a particular kind of design decision (e.g. functional areas, system of circulation, spatial organisation, and layout of the building). By differentiating between appearance and meaning, it is possible to define the graphic unit relatively shape-independent.If a number of graphic representations have the same graphic units, they deal with the same kind of design decisions. Graphic representations that have such a specifically defined knowledge content are called ‘generic representations.’ An analysis of over 220 graphic representations in the literature on architecture results in 24 graphic units and 50 generic representations. For each generic representation the design decisions are identified. These decisions are informed by the nature of the design task at hand. If the design task is a building belonging to a building type, then knowledge of the building type is required. In a single generic representation knowledge of norms, rules, and principles associated with the building type are used. Therefore, a single generic representation encodes declarative knowledge of the building type. A sequence of generic representations encodes a series of design decisions which are informed by the design task. If the design task is a building type, then procedural knowledge of the building type is used.By means of the graphic unit and generic representation, it is possible to identify a number of relations that determine sequences of generic representations. These relations are: additional graphic units, themes of generic representations, and successive graphic units. Additional graphic units defines subsequent generic representations by adding a new graphic unit. Themes of generic representations defines groups of generic representations that deal with the same kind of design decisions. Successive graphic units defines preconditions for subsequent or previous generic representations. On the basis of themes it is possible to define six general sequences of generic representations. On the basis of additional and successive graphic units it is possible to define sequences of generic representations in themes. On the basis of these sequences, one particular sequence of 23 generic representations is defined.The particular sequence of generic representations structures the decision process of a building type. In order to test this assertion, the particular sequence is applied to the office building type. For each generic representation, it is possible to establish a graphic representation that follows the definition of the graphic units and to apply the required statements from the office building knowledge base. The application results in a sequence of graphic representations that particularises an office building design.Implementation of seven generic representations in a computer aided design system demonstrates the use of generic representations for design support. The set is large enough to provide additional weight to the conclusion that generic representations map declarative and procedural knowledge of the building type.
series	thesis:PhD
email
more	http://alexandria.tue.nl/extra2/9703788.pdf
last changed	2003/11/21 15:15

_id	127c
authors	Bhavnani, S.K. and John, B.E.
year	1997
title	From Sufficient to Efficient Usage: An Analysis of Strategic Knowledge
source	Proceedings of CHI'97 (1997), 91-98
summary	Can good design guarantee the eflicient use of computer tools? Can experience guarantee it? We raise these questions to explore why empirical studies of real-world usage show even experienced users under-utilizing the capabilities of computer applications. By analyzing the use of everyday devices and computer applications, as well as reviewing empirical studies, we conclude that neither good design nor experience may be able to guarantee efficient usage. Efficient use requires task decomposition strategies that exploit capabilities offered by computer applications such as the ability to aggregute objects, and to manipulate the aggregates with powerful operators. To understand the effects that strategies can have on performance, we present results from a GOMS analysis of a CAD task. Furthermore, we identify some key aggregation strategies that appear to generalize across applications. Such strategies may provide a framework to enable users to move from a sufficient to a more ef)icient use of computer tools.
keywords	Strategies; Task Decomposition; Aggregation
series	other
email
last changed	2003/11/21 15:16

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