This article gave a brief informational history of computing
in Architecture. It was interesting to see how far it has come to help in
design. Towards the beginning in the 1970s, computing took on two categories.
One was specifically for mechanical engineering and the other exclusively for
the construction industry. This was the first generation. After these programs
were initiated, a tidal wave occurred in programming. There were constantly
people dreaming up and implementing new and better advances. Industries began
to see immediate advantages of having this illustrative software for their
designers. They were able to see new things graphically that before people
would have to hand draw. This way, it was accurate. These programs were
beginning to be used not only now for visualizing the design in an illustrative
form but to actually solve building issues before construction even began. This
first generation used more architectural ideas instead of computer science to
iterate ideas. This was supposed to help the software, but it would need a few
more years to mature to become truly user friendly.
These first generation programs needed large powerful
computers along with expensive displays in order to actually use the software
how it was meant to be. Enter personal computers! After these were introduced
in the industry, it became easier, not to mention cheaper to use these programs
for large firms. Thus began the second generation of CAD systems. It was
initially written for Apple but other companies quickly jumped on the personal
computer bandwagon. They brought with them faster, more powerful processors,
better display resolutions, and ink jet printers. This furthermore allowed the
programs to not only be used for architectural drafting, but for basic photo
realistic renderings. They hit the scene and they hit big. Clients would not
have long to wait anymore to see their projects come to life. This was a big
step forward in my book for computer modeling programs. Though computer model
was making a big leap forward with rendering, they fell backwards in the
technical aspect. Instead of having analytical capabilities that were vital in the
first generation, that was exchanged for polygons, solids, and NURBS. This all
changed in the third generation.
People knew that this was not an option. These programs
should have both the rendering and drafting capabilities. At various Universities,
they set about making this come into fruition. They all tried fusing the
non-informational solid shapes into units that would have sets of rules and qualities
to distinguish them from others. They came to find out the following: “…recent
advances in object-orient programming (OOP), artificial intelligence (AI), and
database management systems (DBMS) are the underpinnings of the third
generation CAD systems.” As of now, we are still in the third generation era.
There is a continuation to make these programs better but it is difficult to
pair ‘comprehensive building-specific data and knowledge bases” with that of “nongeometric
attributes into an effective design support system.”
Computing helps not only in the architectural
field. The brobdingnagian aspects of its existence is in the ability to
communicate. No longer do people have to be in the same room or even the same
city to talk and see ideas. They could even be a part of a meeting from their
own home if they would like. In more advanced computing, the computer or
program has the ability to do specific tasks for the user. The example given in
the article is to tell the computer, "design a staircase between these
floors" and it would. That blows my mind that we have come so far. Taking
this one step further and looking outside of using computers in design is utilizing
one day to day. Computers are used in security systems, automatic doors, cell
phones, car systems, etc. There are little computers everywhere doing big jobs
and most of those jobs never even cross our mind. Our cars have a plethora of
computers running every second. All we do is turn the key and put it in drive.
That is what makes it so interesting. I believe what hit me the most in this
article is the fact that technology has become so ingrained in our culture.
This just astounds me. Knowing where computing has come from has shown me that
this shouldn't be taken for granted but to be used with tremendous gratitude.
Computing is such an important and vital role in our culture today. It has come
so far, but I bet it will go farther. It will be fun seeing what comes next in
the computing world of design tool as well as a help in life and being a part
of the process is a truly great opportunity.
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