ABSTRACT
Most researchers in the field of CAD look upon the work that emerged from MIT as long ago as the early 1960s (Coons, 1963; Sutherland, 1963) as being the start of computer aided design (CAD) applications related to architectural design. The increasing frequency of releases of new CAD software since then, however, seems to be inversely proportional to the number of new technical developments in this field. Although there have been many new technological advances, these have largely come from other areas of computing, and the principles associated with the functionalities of CAD software systems have stayed fundamentally the same. What appears to be of greater significance, however, are the changes in the ways in which CAD is used in architectural practice. CAD in architectural education, therefore, should recognise and reflect these changes, and offer more to students than mere training or rote-learning of particular technical CAD system facts. By placing CAD in the context of contemporary architectural environments, and looking at case studies of the use of CAD in practice, I hope that students can glean not only technical, but also CAD principles of a more strategic nature.
