Rivka Oxman

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology | technion · Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning

Within the last two decades digital media have become rapidly absorbed within the diverse fields of design and engineering. This new design ethos has affected the culture and logic of design and exerted a fundamental impact upon the theories and practices of the various design disciplines. Due to the extensive impact of digital media on contemporar...

In this paper we formulate and define a novel conceptual schema termed MFD: Material-Fabrication-Design. MFD is defined as a computational informing process that enhances tectonic relationships between structure and material within the logic of fabrication technologies. This research investigates, explores and formulates the transition towards the...

Due to significant recent design-related technological developments, design theories and processes are undergoing re-formulation and an epistemological shift. The tools and practices of parametric design are beginning to impact new forms of Parametric Design Thinking (PDT). The present work is motivated by the need to explore and formulate the body...

In this paper we propose and introduce parametric design as a potential methodological basis for a shared computational representation schema that can support crowdsourcing design in a ‘social motive’ model of design. A ‘social motive’ model of design is multi-phase (Pre-design, Design, and Post-design) model of design that offers a new perception...

The development of digital design and fabrication technologies is enabling an expanding inter-relationship between technology and design. Material-based design is defined as a computational informing process that enhances the integration between structure. material. and from within the logic of fabrication technologies. The term informed tectonics...

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 exper...

Virtual environments are being designed and implemented to accommodate diverse experiences of real space. Form and content are two basic concepts that have a significant impact on the sense of presence in virtual environments. Architectural design has a particular meaningful role in designing and creating form in which content takes place. Recent e...

The New Structuralism focuses upon the potential of novel design processes to return architecture to its material sources. A theoretical research presents how the structuring, encoding, and fabricating of material systems are contributing to a new material practice which demands a theoretical foundation comprehensive enough to integrate emerging th...

Recent developments in the field of morphogenesis, theories, techniques and methods of digital design have contributed a new model of integration between tectonics and digital morphogenesis based on the reinterpretation of organizational properties of form, material and structure. A new level of integration between tectonics and digital morphogenes...

Editorial ( Helen Castle). About the Guest-Editors (Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman). Spotlight: Visual highlights of the issue. Introduction. The New Structuralism: Design, Engineering and Architectural Technologies (Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman). Radical Sources of Design Engineering (Werner Sobek). The renowned proponent of ultra- lightweight struc...

: Theories and methods of digital design can no longer be conceptualized as the merging of computational tools with conventional formulations of design knowledge in design. New media -and the evolution of digital design as a unique field of design knowledge, supported by new technologies, and producing unique understanding of designs is a phenomeno...

Though design for building performance is traditionally considered an evaluative act, current developments in the theory and technology of digital design are promoting new directions for performance-based models of design. This paper presents a theoretical basis for understanding the current shift in performance-based design and proposes a model of...

Introduction: Virtual prototyping for architectural designVirtual prototypingWhat's in a prototype? Problems and issues in virtual prototyping for architectural designPerformative designPerformative prototyping in digital architectural designPerformative designSummary and conclusionsAcknowledgementsReferences

The paper introduces and discusses current developments in architectural discourse, design theory, digital design models and techniques and their relations to design pedagogy. The evolution of design knowledge in architectural theory and praxis is explicated and its implications for required changes in design education are presented. The theoretica...

On the basis of analysis of the current state of the art key concepts and issues in the application of performance-based design in architecture are defined. Future directions for performance-based model that couple principles of evaluation and generation are proposed. Here generative and modifications of a design can be automatically achieved emplo...

In view of current developments in the theory and technology of digital design, potential novel directions for environments that support performance-based design are beginning to emerge. The field of performance-based design is defined through an analysis of current work in the field. Various models of performance-based architectural design are pre...

In creative domains such as architecture, there is great potential to employ performance-based design as a means for innovation and creativity. Whereas design and building performance in design were considered traditionally as an evaluative act, today, current developments in the theory and technology of digital design are promoting new directions...

Designerly ways of thinking have become a significant topic in design research. If indeed, the contemporary phenomena of \“digital design thinking” are different from traditional models, then there is emerging pressure to pioneer new teaching paradigms Theories and methods of digital design can no longer be conceptualized as the merging of computat...

Rapid prototyping (RP) today is absorbed into practice and is being recognized as a significant technology for design. This paper attempts to formulate key aspects of the design methodological framework that are coalescing with RP's capability to build artifacts as part of the creative design process. In doing so, it attempts to formulate questions...

Digital design and its growing impact on design and production practices have resulted in the need for a re-examination of current design theories and methodologies in order to explain and guide future research and development. The present research postulates the requirements for a conceptual framework and theoretical basis of digital design; revie...

אחד מן האתגרים המרכזיים שעומדים לפני אנשי המקצוע המעורבים בתהליך שינויי דיור הוא להצליח ולעצב את הסביבה בדרך שתאפשר את ההתאמה הטובה ביותר בין היחיד לבין הסביבה שבה הוא מתפקד. אתגר זה נובע מן האופי הבסיסי של עיצוב: אפשר לראות ולבחון את התוצאה הסופית של שינויי דיור רק לאחר שנעשה השינוי. מטרת מחקר זה היא להתייחס לבעיה זו על ידי פיתוחו והערכתו של מודל...

One of the major challenges facing the professionals involved in the home modification process is to succeed in adapting the environments in a way that enables an optimal fit between the individual and the setting in which he or she operates. The challenge originates primarily from the fundamental characteristic of design - one can see and test the...

Computational models, Theory and education of the project, Conceptual mapping.

We are experiencing qualitative developments that are substantively affecting several facets of design education. Professional relationships, construction techniques, buildings, materials, design tools and ways of working are changing rapidly. Of particular interest to us in this paper is the role of digital media in schools of architecture and our...

A pedagogical framework for design learning and design teaching termed Think-Maps is introduced, presented and demonstrated. In this framework, domain knowledge becomes explicit as a significant component to be taught and transferred in design education. The Think-Maps framework proposes that by constructing a conceptual map that reflects one’s thi...

One of the major challenges facing the professionals involved in the home modification process is to succeed in adapting the environments in a way that enables an optimal fit between the individual and the setting in which he or she operates. The challenge originates primarily from the fundamental characteristic of design -one can see and test the...

According to the Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe's (eCAADe) mission, exchange and collaboration within the area of CAAD education and research, respecting the pedagogical and administrative approaches in the different schools and countries, can be regarded as a core activity. The following paper reports on so...

Computational systems in the field of building technology are, at present, mainly employed as electronic catalogs for the retrieval of technological information (content providers). However, the massive amount of information associated with building design demands explicit knowledge about the way various information pieces relate one to another in...

Emergence has been widely recognized as a significant phenomenon of visual reasoning in design. Despite its centrality as a cognitive phenomenon, research in emergence currently lacks a comprehensive theoretical foundation. A broadened view of design emergence that adds to the perceptual phenomenon of shape emergence in reflecting the way the desig...

This chapter considers the role of cognitive content of design and design thinking as a basis for developing an educational approach. Various design researchers discussed cognitive approaches in design, and the role of knowledge and representations as a cognitive design-thinking tool. Most of these studies are related directly to design and design...

Despite the long-term effort to establish the theoretical foundations for Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) in design, it appears that additional theoretical efforts are needed in order to achieve the promise of this affinity. In this paper we argue that visual reasoning, is a fundamental attribute of architectural design, and therefore combining it with...

Despite the long-term effort to establish the theoretical foundations for Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) in design, it appears that additional theoretical efforts are needed in order to achieve the promise of this affinity. In this paper we argue that visual reasoning, is a fundamental attribute of architectural design, and therefore combining it with...

Work on media for design which are responsive to the cognitive processes of the human designer are introduced as a paradigm for research and development. Design media are intended to support the cognitive nature of design and, particularly, the exploitation of design knowledge in computational environments. Basic theoretical assumptions are present...

Work on media for design which are responsive to the cognitive processes of the human designer are introduced as a paradigm for research and development. Design media are intended to support the cognitive nature of design and, particularly, the exploitation of design knowledge in computational environments. Basic theoretical assumptions are present...

This paper presents a hypothesis about design education that is framed within and derived from cognitive theories of learning. The relevance of design thinking and cognitive approaches to the development of pedagogical approaches in design education is presented and discussed. A conceptual model for design education that emphasizes the acquisition...

One of the main problems of the Web is its dominant textual characteristics. Since the natural way designers express their design ideas is in graphical form, accessing graphical information is a key issue. Since most of the design documents which are created today are products of CAD programs, our current research emphasis is upon indexing and retr...

One of the main problems of the web is its dominant textual characteristics. Since the natural way designers express their design ideas is in graphical form, accessing graphical information is a key issue in developing the web as a visual design medium. Since most of the design documents which are created today are products of CAD programs, our cur...

The relevance of design thinking and cognition to the development of pedagogical approaches in the architectural electronic design studio is presented and discussed. In this approach we emphasize and demonstrate the role of the acquisition of explicit knowledge in design. The acquisition of knowledge is achieved through the explication of cognitive...

A CDM (cognitive design medium) is defined as a medium which supports the cognitive nature of design in computerized environments. We review the theoretical background and demonstrate the basis upon which an interactive counterpart can be achieved in supporting the cognitive capabilities of the designer, such as visual thinking. The approach is ela...

Conventional CAD systems have not yet proven their ability to provide support for activities which characterise the early conceptual phase of design. We propose to refer to this set of capabilities of the human designer in conventional design as, design prototyping. We define the theoretical limitations of current CAD systems for supporting design...

The conception of design as a sequential process of description and redescription in the development of designs is presented. Rerepresentational theory (RRH) is introduced and the cognitive mechanisms which enable re-representation in design are explicated. A theory of re-representation and multiple representations in design is proposed. The concep...

Presents a conceptual structure for the organization and representation of textual and visual information on the World Wide Web. A generic conceptual structure is proposed which contributes to new forms of visual navigation and interactivity within large collections of textual and visual data. This can assist in the exploration, discovery and extra...

In this paper, we present an approach which we term Shared Design Web-Space (SDWS). The work considers the implication of emerging Web technologies which can enhance he content and level of communication in shared knowledge resources in the Web. SDWS is a medium for the enhancement of the open collaborative constriction of design knowledge bases in...

The nature of the Internet as a medium for the representation, storage and accessing of design knowledge is explored and various research issues were introduced. The appropriateness of certain characteristics of the medium as a potential environment for a new interactive way of doing design by exploring design ideas are investigated. Considerations...

Precedent-Based Design (PBD) is introduced as a potential research area in Case-Based Reasoning in design. In Precedent-Based Design, computerized libraries of design precedents may provide solution principles as a basis of reasoning in current design situations. Indexing is identified as a research issue and its role in Precedent-Based Design is e...

Design research has a number of goals, including a better understanding of design, the development of tools to aid human designers, and the potential automation of some design tasks. Computer-aided design is concerned with using computers to assist in the design process to produce better designs in shorter time. The reuse of well-tested and optimiz...

This paper surveys ongoing research and implemented systems for a major step in the case-based reasoning (CBR) cycle which is the adaptation of similar cases to the current problem at hand. On the basis of the systems contained in the survey, we come up with several classifications by the type of task, by knowledge and methods, by characteristics o...

The paper presents a classification of multiuser information systems based upon levels in which information is shared in team collaboration. In this classification, data, knowledge and experience are suggested as information level categories. The concepts underlying the classification are presented through a review of current approaches to informat...

The ICON project is concerned with the creation of a generic information structure for the construction industry. A central feature of the information model is the use of object-oriented modelling techniques to allow information to be viewed from different ‘perspectives’ and at different levels of abstraction, according to the requirements of the u...

I t is highly opportune that the workshop on 'Analysing design activity' was recently convened by a group of researchers from the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology (September 1994). The papers presented at the workshop by leading researchers in the field, will stand out as a valuable reference work on this t...

This paper highlights potential problems in the construction industry concerning the large quantities of information produced and the lack of an adequate information structure within which to coordinate this information. The Information Engineering Method (IEM) and Information Engineering Facility (IEF) CASE tool are described and put forward as a...

The conceptual modelling of construction management information models the information for the activities performed at the post design stage. In this paper, such activities have been identified by a steering group of industrialists and representatives of the major professional institutions in the UK who are assisting the research team in the develo...

Typological design implies extensive knowledge of building types in order to design a building belonging to a building type. It facilitates the design process, which can be considered us a sequence of decisions. The paper gives an outline of a new approach in a course teaching typological knowledge through the medium of Knowledge-Based Systems prog...

This paper reports on an object‐oriented building procurement model being developed at the University of Salford as part of an integrated database for the construction industry (ICON). The model is based on a top‐down approach using the information engineering method (IEM), object‐oriented method (OOM), and an object‐oriented CASE (computer‐aided s...

This paper describes the development of an object oriented model for building design which is being developed by the ICON (Information/Integration for CONstruction) project at Salford University. This model consists of a series of sub-models of varying levels of abstraction which represent the conceptual, physical and structural perspectives of des...

This paper reports on an approach used by the ICON (Integration/Information for CONstruction) project in order to elicit knowledge and information from experts in the construction domain. The approach adopted is that of protocol analysis whereby the expert is encouraged to think aloud about a certain domain area or application. The ICON project aim...

A computational model for the organization of design precedent knowledge is developed. The model is composed of distinct chunks of knowledge called design stories. A formalism for the design story is proposed which represents the linkage between design issue, concept and form in designs. Stories are structured in memory according to a semantic netw...

Modelling of knowledge in the construction industry is a cumbersome task because of the large amount of data involved and the lack of automated information-modelling tools. Adoption of a method and an automated CASE (Computer-Aided Software Engineering) tool could eliminate many problems encountered in the development of information systems in the...

The paper presents a model of case memory for design in a computerized library of design precedents. The model is composed of distinct chunks of knowledge called design stories. A formalism for the design story is developed which represents significant conceptual linkages. Stories are structured in memory according to a semantic network of the desi...

The paper presents an approach to a memory structure of design ideas in a library of design precedents. A model of case memory for design is developed. The model is composed of distinct chunks of knowledge called design stories. A formalism for the design story is proposed which represents the linkage between design issue, concept and form in stori...

Refinement and adaptation are proposed as two cognitive styles in design. These two concepts are defined and elaborated. Refinement is associated with generic design and adaptation is associated with case-based design. An approach to computational modelling of design processes is developed. A method based on this approach is employed for the study...

Current CAD systems are characterized by the use of geometrical models as a central representation. The paper identifies the limitations of this representation and the lack of other types of knowledge in design systems. Formal knowledge is identified as a significant class of knowledge which can be represented in design systems. The relevance of kn...

Formal knowledge in architecture is defined as an independent field of knowledge. The significance of formal knowledge to design as recognized by design researchers and theoreticians is reviewed. Formal representations, the graphical representation of architectural formal knowledge, is the language of built form which the architect manipulates duri...

Within a transformational paradigm of form generation, refinement and adaptation are presented as two distinct concepts which can provide formalisms for encoding design knowledge. Refinement and adaptation are treated as syntactical models of form generation. Computational formal analysis is proposed as a method for the study and modelling of refin...

In an important contribution to the theoretical foundation of design computing, Mitchell noted "an increasingly urgent need to establish a demonstrably sound, comprehensive, rigorously formalized theoretical foundation upon which to base practical software development efforts" (Mitchell, 1986). In this paper we propose such a theoretical framework....

The expert system shell is now considered to be one of the key concepts of AI. In this paper an application of the shell concept to design is described. This illustrates how a concept in artificial intelligence, the shell, can be adapted to fit the characteristics of design and the requirements of knowledge-based design systems. The early experimen...

The concept of a design prototype is proposed for encoding and using generic design knowledge and GPRS, a design shell based on the notion of a prototype, is presented. A method for representing the various kinds of knowledge which constitute a design prototype is proposed. The method exploits the characteristics of both rules and frames and integr...

The paper presents an approach for the development of a specialized shell for design. The concept of a knowledge-based design shell is proposed as a medium for encoding and using structured schema of generic design knowledge. The prototype as one kind of significant class of generic knowledge in architectural design is introduced. The significance...

The incorporation of precedents into a present design situation by adaptation, restructuring and reformulation depends upon processes of typification and generalization. The function of prototypes as a characteristic form of generalized and structured knowledge in design is described. A precedent-based design model employing memory-based reasoning...

We suggest that learning-by-doing situations built upon professional simulation of problem tasks have been employed in design education in place of the rational elaboration and teaching of design knowledge in the form of the elements, principles and processes of design. We consider the potential role for the computer as a pedagogical medium for the...

Design knowledge in the form of a priori knowledge is put forward as an essential ingredient in knowledge-based design. The concept of the prototype in design is introduced and different strategies for refinement processes are discussed. The concept of a generative prototype is proposed as a way to represent a generative design description in knowl...

This paper describes the concepts which allow an expert system to be used for both design diagnosis and design synthesis. An example of the implementation of these concepts is presented in the domain of preliminary design of domestic kitchens in the expert system PREDIKT. PREDIKT carries out both design diagnosis and design synthesis using the same...

In addition to functioning as a general design strategy and, possibly, even as a general problem solving heuristic, componentizing possesses other attributes in a class of design problems involved with diversity and variation. This article is about variation, the way in which systems behave in creating variations, and the principles of design which...

Expert systems are a novel software technology which aim to model the behavior and knowledge of human experts. This paper presents two modes of interaction between graphics and expert systems in the domain of computer-aided design. The first concerns the interaction between an expert system and commercial CAD systems. The second demonstrates how ex...