Semiotics of computer media in architecture

The object of the research is drawing in architecture. Architectural drawing can be seen as a metasemiotics, having buildings as an object, that is to say, a part of what Greimas and Courtes (1986: 218, 314-5) call natural semiotics, which is our ability to give a human meaning to everything that surrounds us. Architecture in strict terms is a connotative semiotics, which starting from constructed objects communicates its way of seeing space in a social and ideological way. A design is a text very different from a picture. First of all, it consists of many different drawings, hierarchically related to each other, which repre- sent the object that has to be built. Furthermore, it lacks the outline frame which sets the space relationship between the painted items in an unequivo- cal way: in this case the disposition of the representation in different drawings and in each single drawing has a purely practical function (Ciribini 1967). On a figurative level, we find on the plane of expression the figures and for- mants, that is to say, the representation of elements of the building (pillars, walls, floors, windows, etc.) on various flat supports to be integrated with each other (horizontal and vertical sections, isometric views, perspectives) according to the characteristics that define the elements themselves (dimensions, situation, material of which they have to be built). On the con- tent plane, we find the same elements of the building (Table 3), now real, with their respective social and artistic aspects, the latter belonging also to connotative semiotics "architecture". The introduction of the computer in design cannot be considered as a univocal process (Mitchell 1990): we must distinguish between bi- and tri- dimensional programs

Large-scale Design Project Integration across Computer Networks

This paper presents the study of a computer system capable of supporting the information work connected with a design project at an urban scale. The computer system must fulfil a number of specific requirements. First, it must integrate a complex set of instruments for creating, retrieving, manipulating, processing, managing the interaction between the users and the overall information regarding the project. Secondly, it must operate at a geographical level to connect the various actors involved. Third, because of the heterogeneity of the participants involved, it must be compatible with numerous systems, even low entry, to ensure effective accessibility even to small companies, firms and citizens. The computer networks extend the possibility of accessing the information beyond the project employees, towards the citizens. In the computers and in the networks, which connect them, the idea of interaction as communication and reciprocal action is inherent. A result is the possibility of interacting dynamically with the information, of assimilating, modifying, and redistributing it in progress. An high level of accessibility and interactivity with respect to information points to different approaches to architectural design and urban planning

Virtual Studio of Design and Technology on Internet

This paper presents a teaching experience involving students and professors from various universities, in Italy and abroad, which began in 1996 and is still on going. The Virtual Studios on the Internet (VSI) have some features in common with the Teaching Studios planned for the new programme of the faculties of Architecture in Italian universities. These are the definition of a common design theme, and the participation of disciplinary teachers. The greatest difference is in the modes of collaboration, which is achieved through information and communication technologies. The chief result of this is that the various work groups in different places can work and collaborate at the same time: the computer networks provide the means to express, communicate and share the design project. Apart from giving the first results of this experience, the paper intends to examine certain theoretical aspects of the teaching of architectural design in relation to the innovations produced by information and communication technologies. It is a response, firstly, to our need to organise systematically these on-going experiences, and, secondly, to the theoretical content of the teaching programmes. It will also deal with the methods of information storage and retrieval determined by the computer, the media for communication offered by telematics, and the spatial configurations adopted. It is the need to think up a working method, and a teaching method, that can correspond to innovation. What is required is, if not a systemisation, then at least an organisation capable of comparison with the cultural reference points in each individual’s design and teaching method

Computer Supported Design Studio

The paper presents the ongoing experimentation of a Computer Supported Design Studio ŽCSDS.. CSDS is part of our continuing effort to integrate computers and networks in the design studio. We recognise three corner stones to CSDS: memory, process and collaboration. They offer a framework for the interpretation of the pedagogical aspects of the teaching of architectural design in relation to the innovations produced by information and communication technologies. The theme of the 1998 CSDS is a railway station in Turin, Italy, to be incorporated in a reorganised rail transport system. The choice of this theme emphasises the realistic simulation aspects of the studio, where technical problems need to be interpreted from an architectural point of view