| authors |
Van Bakergem, Dave |
| year |
1990 |
| title |
Image Collections in the Design Studio |
| source |
The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [CAAD Futures ‘89 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-262-13254-0] Cambridge (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, pp. 261-271 |
| summary |
No matter what the medium, architects are constantly using images in all aspects of design thinking. Whether it is the perception of the environment, an image in the mind's eye, an abstract drawing or a photographic record, designers use images to conceive of, and manipulate their design ideas. Managing these image collections occurs at a variety of levels in the creative process and is dependent on the type of image that is called upon for reference. The most basic example would be the image collection residing in the mind's memory which is a result of the designer’s world experiences and the relative impressiveness of each experience. Clearly, personal memory plays a significant role in the use of imagery in design, but it is unreliable and can be abstracted in uncontrollable ways. The sketchbook and later photographic collections of the grand tour were the beginnings of efforts to manage and utilize image collections as an aid to drawing and thinking about design. Now the capacity to use electronic means of creating, altering, storing, and retrieving images will enable designers to effectively use large image collections in ways that have not been possible before. This paper describes current work at the School of Architecture at Washington University in a graduate design studio. The students use a powerful 3D modeling CAD system (HOKDraw) to design and present their studio projects. In addition, we are experimenting with an image storage and retrieval system which is directly linked to the CAD model through a relational database (INGRES). Access to the database and images is instantly available through the command language and graphic display. The CAD model in effect becomes a 3D menu to an extensive image database stored on an optical memory disc recorder. Several collections are available to the studio members: the library's slide collection which relates to the studio project, specific photographs and drawings of the project site, and personal image collections stored by individuals for their own reference. The commonly accessible images are basically background material and images collected by the students to document the site, urban context and building typology. The personal images collections are any images (drawings, photographs, published images, CAD images) created or collected by the students for purposes of informing their design thinking. This work relates to the use of precedents and typology in architecture as a point of departure as well as in development of design ideas. |
| series |
CAAD Futures |
| full text |
 file.pdf (919,593 bytes) |
| references |
Content-type: text/plain
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| last changed |
1999/04/03 17:58 |
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