Design Education and Institutional Transformation

This chapter aims to develop awareness of the changing characterization of design and design education in response to the impact of global crisis and the ongoing introduction of innovative computational design methods and technologies. This chapter presents a strategic vision that includes a range of major concerns in relation to design education’s learning and teaching needs in higher education. The purpose of the chapter is to reconsider the foundation and consequent assumptions required of a vital relevant design education in the 21st century. It reflects on a general academic reassessment of the nature of design education in the light of the impact of computational methods and technologies and asserts a need for the re-envisioning of design education pedagogies in terms of networked interaction and global issues. Specifically it maintains that computational methods and techniques and the institutional adoption of interaction as a key factor in education has transformed the conception and construction of content as well as the delivery of communications across the broad spectrum of both the arts and sciences. It acknowledges the theory of institutional transformation, explores the evidence for such a theory, and discusses design education’s potential pedagogical strategies for reform of higher education.

Augmented Reality Research for Architecture and Design

A growing body of research has shown that Augmented Reality (AR) has the potential to contribute to interaction and visualization for architecture and design. While this emerging technology has only been developed for the past decade, numerous journals and conferences in architecture and design have published articles related to AR. This chapter reviews 44 articles on AR especially related to the architecture and design area that were published from 2005 to 2011. Further, this chapter discusses the representative AR research works in terms of four aspects: AR concept, AR implementation, AR evaluation, and AR industry adoption. The chapter draws conclusions about major findings, research issues, and future research directions through the review results. This chapter will be a basis for future research of AR in architecture and design areas.

Implementing Computer Gaming Technology in Architectural Design Curricula

The case for utilizing computer game modding in an architectural design curriculum is a strong one. The rich intertwining of real-time spatial, material lighting and physical simulations reinforce spatial visualization, navigation, and mental rotation. In the past two decades many researchers have implemented games engines in architectural curricula, but in every case, the courses have been in upper years of their students’ degrees, with small, elective classes rather than core courses. That this is in contrast to the wider computer game modding community, suggesting that the difficulties previous researchers have had may actually be mitigated by implementing the technology, along with aspects of computer game modding culture, in large first year classes. Case studies of student work collapse Stockburger’s distinction between the game designer and the game player to further his extension of Lefebvre’s and Soja’s thinking about space as it relates to computer gaming. The chapter concludes by reconsidering the term ‘player’ as a ‘game designer in testing mode’.

Will Different Scales Impact on Design Collaboration in 3D Virtual Environments?

This chapter presents a study on the impact of design scales on collaborations in 3D virtual environments. Different domains require designers to work on different scales; for instance, urban design and electronic circuit design operate at very different scales. However, the understanding of the effects of scales upon collaboration in virtual environment is limited. In this chapter, the authors propose to use protocol analysis method to examine the differences between two design collaboration projects in virtual environments: one large scale, and another small scale within a similar domain. It shows that the difference in scale impacted more on communication control and social communication.

Direct Building Manufacturing of Homes with Digital Fabrication

Architecture, engineering, and construction industries maintain a long standing desire to enhance design communication through various forms of 3D CAD modeling. In spite the introduction of Building Information Modeling (BIM), designers and builders expect varying amounts of communication loss once construction has started due to indirect construction techniques or hand based methods to manufacture buildings. This is especially true for houses and small structures, buildings that makeup the core of villages and suburbs. Unfortunately, paper documentation and reading 3D CAD models on screen continue the trend of indirect production defined in most manufacturing industries as error. The emerging application of CAD/CAM within design and construction industries provides hope for elevated communication between design and building. With CAD/CAM, it is possible to manufacture buildings of all types and sizes directly from CAD files similar to mass produced artifacts, thus reducing complexity in communication between parties. This chapter is presentation of one process of direct manufacturing from CAD and the emerging possibilities for small building production using digital fabrication. The chapter will focus on houses to illustrate the potential of direct manufacturing of buildings from CAD data.

Inserting Computational Technologies in Architectural Curricula

This chapter describes two case studies concerning the introduction of computational design methods and technologies in new undergraduate architectural curricula, one in Portugal and the other in Brazil. In both cases, the immediate goal was to introduce state-of-the-art technologies in the curriculum to promote creative design thinking. The ultimate goals were to fulfill the criteria of intellectual satisfaction, acquisition of specialized professional skills, and contribution for the economic development of society that should underlie university education. The chapter describes the theoretical framework, the various courses and labs that were devised and implemented, as well as the strategies used to implement them. Then it presents the final results and concludes with a discussion of the pros and cons of each strategy. The main lesson drawn from both efforts was that cultural and organizational aspects are at least as important as technical aspects for the successful integration of computer media in architectural education.

Information Engagement through Interactive Sonification Design

Design for effective information engagement through interactive sonification and visualization can be divided into two parts: (1) interface and interaction - designing the method of manipulating, investigating and interrogating information representations; and (2) information design - designing the representation, interactivity and user-customizability of the data content. The user experience is affected by the responsiveness and intelligence (awareness, contextual knowledge, situated interactivity) of the representation design. The purpose of information visualization and sonification is to transform data into information, that is, to enable users to find meaningfulness in the data. Integral to the success of computational technologies in design is an understanding of designing around the human user, the user experience, ergonomics, aesthetics, usability, and attractive, engaging, “sticky” modes of interactivity.

Constructivist Learning Theory in Virtual Design Studios

In the authors’ design teaching, they have been employing virtual world technologies, allowing students the capacity to collaborate and design within a constructivist immersive design platform such as Second Life (www.secondlife.com) and Active Worlds (www.activeworlds.com). These environments support synchronous design communication and real-time 3D modelling. Particularly, 3D immersive design environments have the potential to make a major contribution to design education as constructivist learning environments. Based on authors’ teaching experience and the students’ learning experience, this chapter discusses 3D virtual world as constructivist learning environments that support team-based design and communication skill-building and presents the challenges faced by design education today. The chapter firstly provides a critical analysis of various design learning and teaching features offered in 3D virtual worlds as constructivist learning environments, secondly, identifies a number of key issues in addressing engagement and interaction in virtual design learning, thirdly, addresses the core skills and cognitive processes of designing in 3D virtual worlds, and finally, provides several strategies for the facilitation of virtual worlds as the constructivist design teaching platform.

Applying BIM in Design Curriculum

This chapter presents an educational case study of applying Building Information Modeling (BIM) as an integrated design platform for interdisciplinary building and construction projects. The course is meant to focus on utilizing BIM for commercial construction. Students examine 3D geometry, spatial relationships, geographic information, quantities of materials, and properties of building components in this course. The students also learn the processes that make up BIM so they will be able to apply this information in a company. The purpose of the initial study was to assess the need for and receive feedback on the syllabus of the first commercial construction computer graphics course at Purdue University through a survey that was sent to industry professionals. The class was taught in the Fall 2009 semester and was successful according to the students in what they learned. The course was a 400 level course in which both upper level undergraduates and graduate students participated. The professor took the approach of a real world job and incorporated it into the content of the course. This chapter will discuss the initial case study of industrial professionals, the initial course creation, the development, and ultimately the final curriculum delivered within the course, as well as student feedback received at the end of the semester.

Novel Concepts in Digital Design

New media and methodologies are being employed in changing the conceptual understanding of what digital design is and may become. New experience is beginning to emerge in relation to novel key design concepts, computational methods, and digital technologies in the use of, and interaction with, digital media in design. The chapter describes an experimental program, the objective of which was to identify and map novel design concepts and relevant methodologies of digital design. In making the survey, analysis, and the categorization of relevant concepts and emerging precedents in this field, the authors made an attempt to formulize a theoretical basis for the conceptual mapping of this field. The conceptual mapping of this field is termed DDNET: Digital Design Network. The DDNET is a semantic system divided into the following conceptual levels: Key-concepts, sub-concepts, computational models and techniques, and precedent level. As a first step in this research, the authors made a survey of emerging knowledge from both praxis and theoretical resources, and then formulated and presented proposed set of design models, concepts, relevant methodologies, and precedents. Next, the authors mapped a network representation around leading key-concepts. The final step was to accommodate and apply this representation as a new basis for a pedagogical experiment in teaching digital design. The research has been conducted in Experimental Digital Design Studio in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion, Israel.