ABSTRACT

Research objectives for computer applications The vision of many working in the field of computer applications in architecture and construction has been for the automation of information in the architectural design decision-making process. This was based on the view that the architectural design process was by and large a question of processing information due to the large amount of data required to create a modern building. It was thought that an improvement in decision-making would come through the computer’s ability to handle data and to relate the large amounts of data required to design and construct the building ‘product’. In the UK, early computer applications were used in ‘system’ building, with its pre-defined standard components and assemblies. It was thus envisaged that construction information could automatically be generated from the design information describing a building’s form and detail. This meant that when an architect produced computerized working drawings, the necessary schedules of manpower, material and plant needed for construction were produced automatically. In other words, the 2D graphical information directly generated the basic non-graphical information regarding the required construction resources.