Schematic design system for flexible and multi-aspect design thinking
Section snippets
Background and objectives of studies
A CAD for a schematic design, friendly to the way architects think of their designs, has long been an important topic of CAD studies. The Top-Down System that used the idea of parametric design and object substitution, is one of the preceding studies for a 2D system [5]. Several commercial CADs have introduced “a kit of parametric 3D parts” approach to support the object oriented 3D-design thinking. In recent years, Kolarevic [3], discussing that the design tool needs an ability of interactive
Common features of the schematic design process
Though the process of schematic design might vary by projects and designers, it is still possible to observe common procedures and general features of works to be supported by design tools. Reviewing the processes of several design projects as well as sketches, drawings or models produced in those projects,1
Basic concepts for the modeling environment of SDS'98
Assuming necessary features studied above, the authors' laboratory has studied several prototypes of a schematic design system, customizing AutoCAD R14J with AutoLISP [1], [6], [7]. The SDS'98 is the latest version that integrates paste studies.6
Utilities for space planning models
(a) SDS uses three different line types in addition to normal line entities: they are the Boundary Line (BL) of space units, the Construction Line (CL), and the section line of 3D models defined at the intersection with the PF or the SF.
(b) Once a user types in the command and clicks any area closed by the line entities such as the BL, or the CL, the system recognizes the areas as space units, and attaches the labels that indicate the size of the area and user defined name of the space (Fig.
Utilities for integrating and adjusting separate models
SDS provides six utilities to support designers integrating and adjusting the models of various representation types defined in the separate study spaces.
Case study
Authors asked a graduate student to perform a library design with the system and observed his design process. He was given information about the site, a list of required spaces. The following figures illustrates some of the important stages of the design process in the chronological order (Fig. 11).
Possibility of practical use
As the system uses only standard utilities in the AutoCAD R14J, it can be used on any platform by just loading the developed programs. Though the student used a DOS/V machine with a Pentium 300 MHz CPU and 128 MB memory, he did not face any difficulty with operations during his studies. It could be used in the normal working environment of designers.
Multi-aspect design thinking
In the past projects, students faced difficulties when integrating or exchanging data among models studied for different aspects. The case studies
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the grant-in-aid for Scientific Research (A) from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science: Project number 10355023. The authors would like to thank Mr. N. Hamada, Mr. T. Kido, Mr. K. Tsutsumi, and Mr. H. Koba who wrote necessary programs for the system.
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