The changing patterns of architectural design education

Digital technologies have been introduced to students of architecture for over two decades and at present it could be argued that students are producing some of the highest quality designs, and some of the most interesting forms ever to come from University Schools. The value of computer aided design (CAD) is also being demonstrated in architectural practice, with high profile, large budget, bespoke and iconic buildings designed by internationally renowned architects. The value of computer aided design (CAD) is also being demonstrated in architectural practice, with high profile, large budget, bespoke and iconic buildings designed by internationally renowned architects. This paper reviews the changing patterns of architectural design education and considers the contribution digital technologies could make to buildings with more commonplace uses. This paper reviews the changing patterns of architectural design education and considers the contribution digital technologies could make to buildings with more commonplace uses. The study offers a perspective on different kinds of buildings and considers the influence that emerging technologies are having on building form. The study offers a perspective on different kinds of buildings and considers the influence that emerging technologies are having on building form. It outlines digital technologies, alongside students application for architectural design and considers the role they could play in the future, in developing a shared architectural language. It outlines digital technologies, alongside students application for architectural design and considers the role they could play in the future, in developing a shared architectural language. It is suggested that some of the biggest opportunities for future research will be in the design of external spaces, often a neglected part of architectural design education. It is suggested that some of the biggest opportunities for future research will be in the design of external spaces, often a neglected part of architectural design education

Classroom Examples of Robustness Problems in Geometric Computations

International audienceThe algorithms of computational geometry are designed for a machine model with exact real arithmetic. Substituting floating point arithmetic for the assumed real arithmetic may cause implementations to fail. Although this is well known, there is no comprehensive documentation of what can go wrong and why. In this extended abstract, we study a simple incremental algorithm for planar convex hulls and give examples which make the algorithm fail in all possible ways. We also show how to construct failure-examples semi-systematically and discuss the geometry of the floating point implementation of the orientation predicate. We hope that our work will be useful for teaching computational geometry. The full paper is available at http://hal.inria.fr/inria-00344310/. It contains further examples, more theory, and color pictures. We strongly recommend to read the full paper instead of this extended abstract

Portmerion, Proportion and Perspective

The holiday village of Portmerion was created by Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis (1883 1978) over a period of fifty-one years, starting in 1926. It was grade II listed in 1971. However, Portmerion has become a part of western popular culture rather than of mainstream architectural history. Its use as the setting for the cult 1967 television series “The Prisoner” ensures continued worldwide interest and a constant stream of visitors. Williams Ellis’ design methods were empirical, initial designs being adjusted by eye on site in close collaboration with trusted builders. This paper analyses the development of Portmerion as a gesamtkunstwerk; considering the experience of movement through the village as a dynamic composition of shifting vistas, focussing the visitor on a series of constructed views. Through this analysis, Portmerion is revealed as both a manifestation of the architecture of pleasure and an exercise in the pleasure of architecture

Exact geometric predicates in python

Στόχος της διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι ένα “γεωμετρικό ιδίωμα” για την Python που μπορεί να εμπλουτίσει με τη δυνατότητα εκτέλεσης τον ψευδοκώδικα αλγορίθμων, όπως αυτών σε ένα σύγγραμμα Υπολογιστικής Γεωμετρίας, καθώς επίσης και η ανάπτυξη ενός περιβάλλοντος που θα συμπληρώνει τη διδασκαλία της Υπολογιστικής Γεωμετρίας. Ένας νέος αριθμητικός τύπος αναπτύσσεται προκειμένου να συμπληρωθεί η αριθμητική στους πραγματικούς. Δυστυχώς, τα περισσότερα δεκαδικά κλάσματα δεν μπορούν να αναπαρασταθούν με δυαδικά κλάσματα. Για περιπτώσεις που απαιτούν ακριβή δεκαδική αναπαράσταση, χρησιμοποιείται η δομή decimal. Προκειμένου να απλοποιηθεί η διαδικασία, αναπτύσσεται νέος αριθμητικός τύπος, ο οποίος περιλαμβάνει τον επαναπροσδιορισμό όλων των αριθμητικών πράξεων και ο καθορισμός της ακρίβειας ώστε να αποφεύγονται οι αλλαγές στους δεκαδικούς αριθμούς κατά την επεξεργασία τους. Μια “pure Python” γεωμετρική βιβλιοθήκη, ενώ δίνει τη δυνατότητα φυσικής γεωμετρικής έκφρασης στον κώδικα, υπολείπεται στην ταχύτητα εκτέλεσης μιας C++ βιβλιοθήκης σαν τη CGAL. Προκειμένου να αποδειχθεί ότι η “pure Python” γεωμετρική βιβλιοθήκη είναι ορθή χρησιμοποιείται η διαθέσιμη έκδοση των δεσμεύσεων με τη CGAL σα μέτρο σύγκρισης της ορθότητας. Χρησιμοποιώντας το άρθρο των Kettner et al. ως σημείο αναφοράς σχετικά με τους λόγους που θα μπορούσαν να προκαλέσουν την αποτυχία των εφαρμογών, έχουν αναπτυχθεί αντίστοιχες μελέτες περιπτώσεων, έτσι ώστε να πιστοποιηθεί η εγκυρότητα των αποτελεσμάτων.The main target of this diploma thesis is the development of a “geometric idiom” for Python which will enrich the algorithmic pseudo-code, such as those in Computational Geometry documentation, with the execution capability and the development of an environment that will support the courses of Computational Geometry. Unfortunately, most decimal fractions cannot be represented as binary fractions. For cases which require exact representation, the decimal module is available. In an effort to simplify the process, a new arithmetic type is developed, which supplements the floating point arithmetic. This type redefines all the arithmetic operations and predefines the precision in order to avoid any representation or rounding error. A “pure Python” geometric library, while offering a physical geometrical expression to the coding, it presents a lack in execution speed, compared to a C++ library such as CGAL. As a proof of correctness for this “pure Python” geometric library, the available version of CGAL bindings are used. Using the article of Kettner et al. as a point of reference to the possible failures caused by the floating –point arithmetic, respective test cases have been introduced, so as to verify the exactness of the results

Teaching Computational Geometry

This paper describes a possible approach to teaching computational geometry to students. It gives a brief introduction in computational geometry, followed by three possible ways of treating the area: mathematically, algorithmically and applicationoriented. Next a course outline is described, introducing computational geometry from an application-oriented point of view. Finally, some remarks are made about implementation issues. COMPUTATIONAL GEOMETRY In general terms, computational geometry concerns itself with the study of algorithms for geometric problems involving points, lines, polygons, etc., in the plane and in higher-dimensional space. As an example, consider the following problem: Given a set of n line segments in the plane, does there exist a pair that intersects. An easy solution would test all pairs, thus requiring O(n 2 ) time in the worst case. A much better approach exists though, requiring only O(n log n) time (see [Bentley-Ottmann79]). Since its introduction by Sha..

An Interactive Tool for Experimenting with Bounded-Degree Plane Geometric Spanners (Media Exposition)

The construction of bounded-degree plane geometric spanners has been a focus of interest in the field of geometric spanners for a long time. To date, several algorithms have been designed with various trade-offs in degree and stretch factor. Using JSXGraph, a state-of-the-art JavaScript library for geometry, we have implemented seven of these sophisticated algorithms so that they can be used for further research and teaching computational geometry. We believe that our interactive tool can be used by researchers from related fields to understand and apply the algorithms in their research. Our tool can be run in any modern browser. The tool will be permanently maintained by the second author at https://ghoshanirban.github.io/bounded-degree-plane-spanners/index.htm

Classroom examples of robustness problems in geometric computations

The algorithms of computational geometry are designed for a machine model with exact real arithmetic. Substituting floating point arithmetic for the assumed real arithmetic may cause implementations to fail. Although this is well known, there is no comprehensive documentation of what can go wrong and why. In this paper, we study simple algorithms for planar convex hulls and 3d Delaunay triangulations and give examples which make the algorithms fail in many different ways. For the incremental planar convex hull algorithm our examples cover the negation space of the correctness properties of the algorithms. We also show how to construct failureexamples semi-systematically and discuss the geometry of the floating point implementation of the orientation predicate. We hope that the paper will be useful for teaching computational geometry