Abstract

The study of precedents plays an important role in design and design education. Architecture students prepare analyses of prominent precedents with respect to various criteria. Such design analyses are represented and communicated through abstractions. Collections of these abstractions are stored, related, managed, and presented in digital environments. Such web-based environments can serve as an extensible library of design precedent analyses. The use of an extensive library by a collection of students requires a flexible and extensible information model for relating and integrating the various contributions. We propose a methodology that establishes an information model for digital architectural analysis environments. This model facilitates a rich information structure of abstraction entities and their relationships, both structural and semantic, offering increased value for accessing and browsing this information. Specifically, a rich information structure allows one to access the information from alternative views to those that are expressed by the individual abstractions. In this paper, we start by discussing precedent-based learning, and describe the abstraction model currently used for precedent documentation and analysis. We then present our methodology for achieving a rich information structure. We end the paper with a description of an implementation of this methodology as an architectural analysis construction and presentation environment for a second year design studio.

Share

COinS
 
Sep 5th, 12:00 AM

Managing architectural analyses in a collaborative context

The study of precedents plays an important role in design and design education. Architecture students prepare analyses of prominent precedents with respect to various criteria. Such design analyses are represented and communicated through abstractions. Collections of these abstractions are stored, related, managed, and presented in digital environments. Such web-based environments can serve as an extensible library of design precedent analyses. The use of an extensive library by a collection of students requires a flexible and extensible information model for relating and integrating the various contributions. We propose a methodology that establishes an information model for digital architectural analysis environments. This model facilitates a rich information structure of abstraction entities and their relationships, both structural and semantic, offering increased value for accessing and browsing this information. Specifically, a rich information structure allows one to access the information from alternative views to those that are expressed by the individual abstractions. In this paper, we start by discussing precedent-based learning, and describe the abstraction model currently used for precedent documentation and analysis. We then present our methodology for achieving a rich information structure. We end the paper with a description of an implementation of this methodology as an architectural analysis construction and presentation environment for a second year design studio.

 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.