Architectural informatics

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Architecture computer science is a teaching and research at some architecture - faculties in Germany. It deals with the scientific principles of information processing and information technology in architecture and in the field of activity of architects . In architectural informatics, objects and basic architectural procedures are researched with regard to information processing and the application of machine (digital) processes.

Goal setting

Computers and digital media are a matter of course in architecture today. The professional position of architects and their ability to implement architectural concerns depend very much on how they implement the possibilities of information technology in their work. The architecture faculties want to contribute to exploiting the potential of informatization in architecture through training and research.

The use of information technology should create added value for all subject areas of architecture. Architectural informatics would like to support the necessary developments in other specialist areas and collaborate on interdisciplinary research projects. Architectural informatics is not seen as a service provider for other areas of architecture, but pursues its own theoretical and practical concerns in teaching and research.

Content

Architectural informatics includes all basic activities associated with informatization in the field of architecture, in particular:

  • Basic research (gaining knowledge and methods)
  • Process considerations, structuring and standardization
  • Conception and development of tools
  • Integration of tools
  • Prototype and experimental applications
  • Assessment and tests

In architectural informatics, those involved deal with the product ( buildings , real and virtual cities ) as well as with the life cycle-related processes (feasibility studies, design , construction planning , construction , operation , renovation and disposal).

The contact to other knowledge and specialist areas is very important. This concerns z. As the transitions for Geoinformatics ( Geographic Information Systems ), for Bauinformatik ( Architecture, Engineering and Construction ), for structural engineering , for building information modeling , for CNC - production to specific areas of computer science and artistic design with new media .

The distinction between architectural informatics and building informatics results largely from the different activities of architects and civil engineers . For civil engineers, for example, the numerical and deterministic processes as well as building technology aspects are in the foreground, while for architects, the weakly structured functional and design processes, the topological properties, visualization and communication are in the foreground.

The numerous scientific publications reveal the following content in teaching and research:

  • Architectural Design Decision Support Systems - Systems to support architectural design
  • Agent-based Knowledge Application, Infrastructure and Architecture
  • Building and Construction Management and Robotics - Construction management and automation
  • Case-based reasoning, information processing, indexing and retrieval
  • Cognitive Aspects of Design Computing Systems
  • computer-aided manufacturing - Computer-aided manufacturing
  • Computer Integrated Construction - Computer Integrated Construction
  • Computer Supported Collaborative Problem Solving and Practice
  • Digital Design , Representation and Visualization - Digital design, representation and visualization
  • Design Methods, Process and Creativity - Design methods, processes and creativity
  • Electronic Communication, Activities and Distance Education - Electronic communication and distance learning
  • Emerging Systems and Computing Paradigms
  • Energy, Sustainable Building Technology Applications - Applications for sustainable building
  • Environment and Behavior Recording and Simulations - Function documentation and simulations of the environment
  • Evaluation and Standards for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Technologies - Evaluation and standards for CAAD
  • Human-Machine Interaction Design - design of human-computer interaction
  • Intelligent Buildings , Mobile Computing , Ubiquitous Computing
  • Implementation, Connections of Physical Environments and Virtual Worlds - linking the real environment with virtual worlds
  • Intelligent Support in Design and Built Environment
  • Intention and Context Aware Computing
  • Knowledge Based Design and Generative Systems
  • Knowledge Management , Networks and Communities
  • Multi-Media Communications and Representations - Multimedia communication and presentations
  • Multi-Modal Applications and Data Analysis - Modular applications and data analysis
  • Precedents, Prototypes and Case Studies - precedents , prototypes and case studies
  • Prediction, Evaluation and Validation - prediction, evaluation and evaluation
  • Responsive Environments and Smart Spaces
  • System evolution, learning and adaptation
  • Visual Thinking , Visual Computing , Spatial / Temporal Reasoning and Languages

development

technology

The foundations of computer graphics were developed in research laboratories in the United States and Europe in the early 1960s. Although the hardware and software requirements were still rudimentary at that time, the basics of the data structures and user interfaces of today's CAD programs were already anticipated in some pioneering achievements . Amazingly, architects were also among these pioneers. The road to user-friendly programs in architecture was, however, longer than in other engineering disciplines.

In the 1970s, application-neutral standard software such as databases, structural analysis software, building administration software and, based on new peripherals, interactive drawing editors and geometry modelers were added. The photorealistic representation of geometric models in renderings and animations was discovered for architecture, although the long computing times on the hardware of the time made their creation very difficult. The importance of data modeling and thus of the databases for the use of computers in architecture was recognized. The first bridges between graphical and non-graphical data were thus built.

The field of architectural informatics has recently expanded again. In addition to the role of information technology as a tool and communication medium in architectural planning, information technology is increasingly emerging as part of the building process ( computer-aided manufacturing , computer integrated construction ) and as part of the built environment ( smart buildings , ubiquitous computing ).

Colleges

Teaching computer skills is an essential part of any architecture degree today . The number of offices that plan without computers has shrunk to a marginal minority. There are simply no more internships or jobs for students who lack relevant knowledge.

In the beginning, many architecture faculties focused on providing suitable hardware and software for student workplaces and training rooms . There was great pressure to justify budgets and investment cycles that had not been common in architecture until then. In the meantime, high-performance hardware and software are mostly available and are increasingly being purchased by the students themselves. Nevertheless, universities must continue to invest in up-to-date, high-quality infrastructure in order to enable training based on the latest technology.

The project-oriented work typical of architecture training is part of the teaching, the other is the teaching of basic principles. Students should also be prepared for the formulation of new methods and approaches. In particular, when working with software developers and IT specialists, they should not be able to act as customers, but as competent co-designers.

Influence on the job description

The background to any discussion about equipment and didactic goals is the question of the job description. Basically, one can say that the introduction of information technology has led to a broadening of the professional field. New fields of activity have opened up for architects who are open to new technologies. Your creative skills can be transferred to many areas of media and information design . The traditional skills of architects in management and communication also result in possible applications in various social and economic areas through the new media. But information technology has also changed the traditional architectural profession.

Early on, research postulated a change in the job profile as a result of the new work equipment. The formalization of the work processes, the application of new abstraction forms and simulation programs already in the early design phases, but also the models for new working methods and forms of communication in the construction industry, which were presented and discussed at relevant conferences, were aimed at reorienting the work of architects from the ground up . In practice, the influence of computer support in the early design phases was very small for a long time. The decisive productivity advances were achieved in the area of implementation planning and construction administration . Existing work processes were carried out faster and more reliably. The exchange of data with clients, specialist planners and companies made rapid progress. The use of new communication tools such as B. Project rooms and Internet portals are also quickly gaining ground, since the productivity gains are considerable here too. Technological advances in rendering and animation software have recently led to an increasing use of computers in project development and form-finding in the early design phases. The design language and construction of many current architecture projects would not be possible without the intensive use of digital tools.

However, its use is mostly limited to formal experiments and its importance is limited to a relatively small area of ​​the architect's activity. The more thorough penetration of complex architectural problems, as would be possible in the design process by linking data models and simulations with the help of the computer, is still excluded. In this last area, the comprehensive IT control of the entire planning process, the share of the architects in the future fields of work will be decided. In view of the large and ever-growing breadth and diversity that the field of architectural informatics has now assumed, the shortage of geometric shapes is only an episode. The formal experiments that have been published and discussed frequently in recent times rather show that the willingness to allow digital technologies to play an active role in the early phases of the design process has increased significantly. It is now up to the representatives of architectural informatics at the architecture schools to impart knowledge and methods on the basis of which future architectural practice can be supported in a comprehensive sense.

Relationship between teaching and research

Due to the rapid changes in the job profile of architects , the training must increasingly be geared towards a future that is sometimes very uncertain. This means that fundamental, theoretical content must have priority over application-oriented skills. The direct reference to research is also important in the training of architects and can only be realized here through the research of the architecture informatics chairs. In view of the lack of tradition of academic research at architecture faculties, it is necessary to expressly defend this point of view for architectural informatics.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The list essentially corresponds to the list of topics published in 2003 by the International Journal for Architectural Computing (IJAC) and is in English in accordance with the international research discourse, since in many cases there are no corresponding German terms.