Effects of the Use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) on Architecture: A Quantitative Approach (original) (raw)
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“Computational Civil Engineering 2010”, International Symposium, 2010
The competition among the big producers of software programs is maintained through the evolution of programs that answer any complex problems or the ones that give solutions for any new features needed to be introduced or, often, the creation of large databases that would contain standardized building components. Unfortunately, the designers from different areas are attracted by these new facilities, but they don’t use them at their full potential. These databases introduced in designing programs together with the new features could be a disadvantage to the professionalism. We must be aware that these programs are tools for drawing and nothing more. They have to ease and help us detail our intellectual work, but not do it for ourselves. The effect of superficial design of such programs is dangerous and the results, unfortunately, are visible everywhere throughout our country. This article aims at an awareness that regards what computer aided design should be and not what it has become. Computer, all together with special programs, must be the element throughout the designer explains his project better, which helps him study better solutions and not a tool to design faster, obviously in a more shallow way. This is the never ending struggle between quantity and quality. Architecture and engineering should not have such problems, the design process is by definition a meticulous process based on intellectual work which should be not be altered by. KEYWORDS: design, CAD, tool
2017
The current concept of architectural design education in most schools of architecture in Jordan is a blend between manual pen drafting and digital approaches. However, the disconnection between these two methods has resulted in the students' failure to transfer skills learnt through traditional methods to the digital method of CAD. The objective of this study is twofold: to first compare students’ attitudes toward using both methods and to then assess the impact of CAD use on the quality of architectural design. An open-ended questionnaire was designed to measure variables related to students’ preferences toward CAD and traditional methods. The quality of sixty graduation projects at three Jordanian universities was investigated. The results appear to support the assumption that CAD tools are used largely as visual means and thereby cause a marked decline in design quality. These findings call for a reconsideration of the status quo and a rethinking of perhaps the entire archite...
INTED2017 Proceedings, 2017
The use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) became popularized at the end of the 20 th century and there have been disagreements on the impacts of these softwares on the creativity of students of architecture around the world. The paper investigated how CAD has affected students' creativity in architectural schools using Covenant University as a case study. The research employed the use of quantitative method by classifying the population into two groups. This includes the undergraduate and post graduate students. Questionnaires were used to elucidate information from the groups. The findings of this study revealed that CAD in one way or another has greatly influenced the productive, speed as well as accuracy of students' performance. The outcome of the research would help students, lecturers, and professionals alike to plan and structure the use of CAD in architecture on a local and global scale.
Designing with the computer: the influence of design practice and research
Computers in design studio teaching, 1999
The paper describes the setup and development of an advanced course in CAAD in the framework of a particular teaching environment and the democratization of computing technologies. It traces the transformation of goals and means for the course as a result of changing priorities and interests towards a form that agrees with emerging cultural patterns as observed in architectural education.
Information Technology in Computer Aided Architectural Design
2006
The present time can be characterized as an era of digital revolution which has resulted in a creativity burst in different design applications. Nowadays Computer Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) undoubtedly is recognized as a design media rather than a simple computerized design tool and is widely accepted in architectural practice. The general goal architects pursue is to visually express design and illustrate their projects or ideas using both professional experience and personal computerized creative skills. Rapid advancements in Information Technology (IT) are still under way and are widely used to communicate architectural design projects. CAAD is a particularly dynamic field that is developing through the actions of architects, software developers, researchers, technology, users and society alike. New methods and terms are introduced and developed, just to mention a few of them -Human Computer Interaction, Computer Supported Collaborative Work, Virtual Reality (VR), Rapid Prototyping (RP), etc. 3D modeling, virtual buildings, single building models, and other ideas have been widely used during the last two decades. The main concept focuses on three main benefits: 1) The generation or extraction of 2D drawings from 3D building models thus improving productivity in documentation, 2) Visualization, animation, including virtual reality scenes from the same model, and 3) The use of data embedded in objects contained in the model for the purposes of generating schedules and lists of materials. However, not always these advancements have been effectively used in an everyday design practice. The paper deals with an exploration of some of these new information technologies, how they can be integrated into architectural design process. The introduction of contemporary CAAD knowledge into the university curricula is discussed as well. Academic courses basically are about the development of computer aided creative and problem solving skills in context with fast changing CAAD media. It becomes more difficult to teach the common principles behind the software which are general and will most likely survive ever-changing software versions. Limited university class contact hours for the subjects do not allow developing detailed courses for training particular software. An evaluation of the promptitude of the architectural students at Riga Technical University for the self sufficient problem solving tasks was performed. The statistical analysis of the results of the research covering 2 academic years is presented in the discussion. A strong linear correlation was found between the time to complete particular exercise and CAD competence level among the students. Proficent users spent only 7 minutes on this while the beginers 110-130 minutes, thus clearly demonstrating the importance of CAD training in effective use of software. Current developments in architectural problem solving education are presented and discussed.
Computer and traditional tools in design activity: Experimental study on students of architecture
Proceeding: Conference: International Conference on Contemporary Affairs in Architecture and Urbanism (ICCAUA-2018)At: Girne American University, Girne, North Cyprus, 2018
The worldwide emergence of computer tools in the field of architecture has evolved along with the great advance in digital technologies, extending to the whole process of the project. A fact that we cannot generalize in Algeria: students and teachers hesitate to adopt these tools in architectural projects. Some prefer "traditional tools" (paper/pencil) especially in the early stages of design. This paper presents the results of an experimental study aiming to know how and when the student of architecture uses computer tools during the design of his projects and how the used tools affect the method and the quality of design. The study is based on an exercise with a group of volunteer students from the Master of Architecture. At the end of the exercise, they filled-in a questionnaire to learn their opinions and choices. The design outcomes were collected at the end of the experiment (texts, papers and digital files), and they were presented in a unified way and printed out before being distributed to the jury composed of teachers from the same department. During the experiment, observations were collected and annotated using an observation matrix. Based on this matrix, the design activity of each student was segmented and graphically presented via timelines. The latter showed difference between students regarding timing and order of the use of tools (computer tools and pencil). It was proved that most of them used both tools. The results of the evaluation show that the design and quality of the project did not rely on the tool. More specifically, the students’ projects were not significantly affected by the adoption of computer tools.
Architectural Design Methods with Commercial Computer Aided Design Systems
This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion about the changed expectations towards computers as design tools by presenting three case studies describing how a computer aided design (CAD) system is used in a design setting. The first case describes how the commercial CAD system is presented to students of architecture at a university. The second and third case studies show how designers in an architectural firm have evolved distinctly different ways of augmenting their creative thinking using the CAD system. The three cases demonstrate how designers adopt standard tools and adapt their individual design processes to utilize digital media creatively.
Computer Assessed Design – A Vehicle of Architectural Communication and a Design Tool
The Bulletin of the Polytechnic Institute of Jassy, Construction. Architecture Section, 2012
In comparison with the limits of the traditional representation tools, the development of the computer graphics constitutes an opportunity to assert architectural values. The differences between communication codes of the architects and public are diminished; the architectural ideas can be represented in a coherent, intelligible and attractive way, so that they get more chances to be materialized according to the thinking of the creator. Concurrently, the graphic software have been improving the quality of design activity, transforming it into an intensive design and management process correlated with the others building design disciplines involved. The computer modeling is today a refined and sophisticated artistic discipline that successfully reinterprets, communicates and promotes architectural concepts in the new virtual world. It also constitutes a creative process that helps optimizing and refining design concepts. It also makes possible the invention of new types of spaces an...
Implementing computer-aided design: the transition of nonusers
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 1989
Prior research on the social impacts of CAD has treated nonusers, those still using manual methods, as control groups to which users are compared. The assumption is that nonusers' worklives are essentially unchanged by the implementation of CAD. In this paper we argue that nonusers can also be affected by their organization's transition to CAD. We hypothesized that CAD has primarily job-enhancing effects for the worklives of designers selected to use CAD and primarily negative effects for the worklives of nonusers who might fear their manual skills would soon be obsolete. Data were collected in two large manufacturing firms through a survey of 74 CAD users and 30 nonusers and through a smaller number of interviews at each site. The results indicate that, compared with CAD users, nonusers were significantly older and spent more time on support and maintenance of old designs and relatively little time on conceptual design work and new design projects. Despite these differences in job content, CAD users did not differ from nonusers in any of Hackman and Oldham's job design characteristics associated with intrinsically motivating work. Nor did users and nonusers differ in perceived opportunities for advancement, job security, or satisfaction with their company and management. There was little evidence that nonusers felt disadvantaged in their potential for career advancement. Older designers did not believe that learning CAD would help them in their careers, while younger designers believed it was important for them to learn CAD, but there would be opportunities to do so. The paper considers the management implications of assigning relatively young designers to CAD and of the approaches to CAD implementation chosen by these companies.