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
Computers in Design Studio Teaching [EAAE/eCAADe International Workshop Proceedings / ISBN 09523687-7-3] Leuven (Belgium) 13-14 November 1998, pp. 41-50
summary
As the cost of 3D digitisers drops and PC price performance rises, opportunities for hand - computer co-operation improve. Architectural form may now be experimentally moulded or carved using manual techniques in close association with the computer. At any stage the model can be mechanically digitised and translated to a computer database for explorations that go beyond simple physical manipulation. In the virtual environment, the resulting forms can be rationalised using an ordering geometry or further de-rationalised. This potential for debasing intuitive, sensually haptic and responsive handwork through its translation into numerically cogent formulations is risky business. But it may also bring new and unlikely rewards. This paper considers the implications and aesthetics of negotiations between handcraft and consecutive or synchronous computer digitalisation of intentions. Two situations will be discussed and compared. The first is the nature of computer modelling and its representation per se, and the second is the relevance of using handcraft as a sponsor for computer-based manipulation and morphological experimenting.