Modern mediator: computer aided design

The development of mediating techniques explored in section 4.1 demonstrates key stages in the history of representation and how such techniques have influenced the architectural profession. In 1977, Mitchell stated that the 1980s would see the use of computer-aided design techniques change the profession radically. This proved to be true, and over the last thirty-five years the role of the computer has rapidly increased, becoming part of our everyday lives. As a mediating technique, the use of computer aided design has direct links with devices in history, with the computer screen working ‘as if it were a window looking on the world of the drawing sheet’ (Jones 1986, p.3). To fully understand the potential that digitally mediated techniques can provide, it is important to understand the origins, applications and advantages that computer software and hardware has enabled.

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4.2.1 Beginnings in engineering and manufacturing

The use of interactive computer graphics has its roots in the 1950s where the US Air Force’s SAGE Air Defence System allowed targets to be displayed using cathode ray tubes (CRT). However, it was not until engineering and manufacturing companies became involved that the use of computer aided design increased significantly (Jones 1986).

The architectural profession lagged behind engineering and manufacturing companies in their speed to exploit the computer mainly because such firms tend to be large with the ability to secure capital to invest in expensive equipment, whereas architectural practices tend to be relatively small hence unable to make such investments. In addition to this, the cost of design in engineering, such as cars or planes, is a fraction of the cost of the end product whereas in architecture the design cost is a lot greater as designs are almost always one-offs (Mitchell 1977). Therefore, it was much more difficult for architectural firms to gather the necessary capital compared to the benefits this would bring. However, by the 1970s some national and international architectural practices as well as educational institutes were able to experiment with the potential uses for computer aided design as a specialist resource (Jones 1986). An example of this is Otto & Behnisch’s design for the Munich Olympic park roof held in 1972 in which the engineers, in conjunction with Stuttgart University, used computer methods to refine the load bearing capacity of the substantial roof structure (Otto 2005).

During this time, a similar attitude was taken in architecture to that of engineering and manufacturing; due to the significant capital and human resources required, the computer should be used for highly repetitive design projects, such as hospitals and commercial offices (Dobson 2005).

4.2.2 Introduction of the personal computer

As computers developed, the cost of hardware decreased and performance increased, in addition to which they became physically smaller in size. This enabled an increased complexity in digital modelling that could be handled by a single person computer (Dobson 2005). The machine that made this possible was IBM’s personal computer launched in 1981 (Jones 1986). This was a significant moment not only the development of architectural representation:

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“The emergence of low cost personal computers in the 1980s heralded a watershed in the adoption of computer-based working throughout business, industry and society, and the design professions were no

exception.” (Dobson 2005, p.17)

Once personal computers were available and affordable to architectural practices, the possibilities for computer aided design began to increase as appropriate software was developed.

4.2.3 Emergence of computer aided design software

The first piece of software to become available at an affordable price was AutoCAD in 1982, closely followed by others such as MicroStation, MiniCAD and CADDIE (Dobson 2005). AutoCAD and MicroStation still dominate the architectural software market today.

One of the aims of computer aided design in its formative years was to increase the speed of reproductions, for example, at the turn of the twentieth century copies of drawings were made using linen, since then blueprints were used and then photocopying (Jones 1986). Computer aided design software, coupled with the introduction of inexpensive plotting machines in 1982, increased the speed of drawing reproduction. This could then give the architect more time to design rather than drafting (Lloyd Morgan and Zampi 1995). In these early years, the use of computer aided design should probably have been called computer aided drafting, as it was used mainly in the post-design phases of a project (Szalapaj 2001).

Although the reduced price in software and hardware enabled computer aided design to enter a wider market, ‘market economics also resulted in computer programmers becoming very distant from end users’ (Bijl 2001, p.8). This meant that the software was becoming increasingly seen as a drafting tool rather than designing tool as previously noted. This differs from first generation computer software which recognised building specific objects such as windows and doors, whereas second generation software ‘dealt with polygons, solids, NURBS and blobs,’ which led to second generation software requiring additional specialist software to perform building or design analysis, hence architects ‘gained computer- assisted drafting and rendering capabilities but lost the analytical capabilities that formed the basis for the introduction of computing into the profession in the first place’ (Kalay 2004, p.70). However, in recent years this has begun to change, with

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computer aided design software being used at all stages of the design process (Szalapaj 2001).

4.2.4 University education as a catalyst for change

Dobson (2005) argues that computer aided design was met with resistance from some design tutors in schools of architecture, due to its reputation as a drafting tool rather than a design tool and was essentially ‘ghettoised’. It was only during the mid-1990s after two-dimensional and three-dimensional techniques were cheaply available and offered a level of visual sophistication to rival hand drawings that digital techniques began to become prominent in education (Dobson 2005). This occurred as a ‘quiet revolution’, with the students rather than educators being the primary drivers for change. This falls in line with mid 1990s students being the first generation to have computers as part of their everyday lives.

4.2.5 Three-dimensional digital modelling

The introduction of three-dimensional digital modelling in architecture also has its origins in automotive and aerospace engineering, where they were used to enable direct production from idea to end product without the use of intermediate drawings. They became popular from 1985 onwards as an add-on feature in two-dimensional drafting programs (Jones 1986). Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is one of the first architectural designs to take advantage of this technology; a physical model was produced by hand then scanned into the computer and constructed digitally. This data was then used to manufacture parts using computer aided manufacturing, essentially eliminating the need for drawings (Szalapaj 2001). It is projected that this process will eventually end the need for paper drawings that ‘involve a complex shorthand and consequent errors due to interpretation’ as working directly to drive a machine is more efficient and accurate (Jones 1986, p.73).

Paradoxically, the main use of three-dimensional modelling in architecture has become primarily the production of visualisations to enable analysis and greater understanding of designs as well as a clearer vision for people unable to read architectural drawings. This directly relates to the historical use of perspective and axonometric drawings as visualisations, with digital techniques seeing a revival in producing perspective images as the computer makes the process of producing such imagery increasingly simple (Allen 2009). This paradox can be compared to the invention of the camera, where photographs were initially used to replicate

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paintings (Mitchell 1992a). In this sense, there is still a trend in the architectural community to view three-dimensional computer aided design as a tool for visualising schemes rather than exploiting its full potential in manufacturing terms. However, third generation computer aided design software has increasing focus towards analysis, where components are treated as objects that can act as ‘transistors, capacitors and resistors’ rather than merely shapes (Kalay 2004, p.71). For example, software could calculate fire egress in a design or assist with placement of furniture.

Three-dimensional digital modelling has developed rapidly; firstly integrated into traditional drafting programs such as AutoCAD and MicroStation, followed by specific three-dimensional modelling programs such as 3D Max, Rhinoceros and SketchUp. By the turn of the 21st century visual imagery created using three- dimensional computer aided design software had become widespread due to the fast paced development of the computer (Dobson 2005). The importance of the computer cannot be underestimated;

“The changes are occurring very rapidly compared to the sedate pace of fast evolutions in architectural design, thus shaking the foundations of

the profession as no other invention has done before – not even the

invention of scale drawing in the Renaissance, which established the

profession of architecture in the first place.” (Kalay 2004, p.81)

This highlights the impact that the introduction of the computer has had on the profession and how its utilisation and capabilities are developing constantly. This can be used to initiate a discussion into the various digital representation tools available to enhance understanding and analysis of architecture; with particular emphasis on how they can be used to enhance understanding of unbuilt, damaged and destroyed works of architecture.