Plausibility of CAAD in Conceptual Design: Challenges in Architectural Engineering for Early-Stage Digital Design Tools

Abstract

Although the reasons for and against the early use of digital tools in design have been intensively researched and studied for years, there has been a scarcity of substantial analysis of the challenges posed by using computer-assisted architectural design (CAAD) tools in the early design phase. By drawing on reviewed materials and cross-mapping digital software and current commercially available programs, this paper elucidates and evaluated the impact of CAAD tools in the early design process. In this research, a two-way, systematic mapping of research-based tools that support the conceptual design process and commercial CAAD methods was implemented, utilizing five criteria as illustrated in a recent study. The paper concludes with three scenarios of CAAD's future direction, which will have an impact on conventional architectural engineering, as well as architectural practice and education.

Comparative Study of 3D Reconstruction Methods for Medical Imaging

“…With a CAD software, participants tend to focus on the accuracy of the representation, to the detriment of thinking about the concepts [17]. [1] provide a list of reasons why CAD software are not adequate to support the early conceptual design stages. They indicate that CAD leads to poor designs in the early stages, that it is impossible to explore many concepts quickly and that designers are distracted by technical issues and software usage issues rather than by the concepts.…”

“…In the product design process, the early stages tend to require tools promoting the designers' creativity, while the later stages aim to model the product more accurately, considering as many constraints as possible. Digital tools are very common in the latter phases in the form of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software, but are much less present in the early stages of projects where pen, paper and sticky-notes are very adequate to represent ideas [1] because of the central role of hand movement in facilitating thinking and supporting the emergence of ideas [24]. Technological development offers new opportunities that could change design processes.…”

Cognitive Comparison of design methods in the conceptual phase

“…While sketching is often associated with conceptual design, [1][2][3] parametric tools are seen as suitable for the further detailed design processes. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] In the conceptual phase, often design ideas are generated and assessed quickly one after the other. Usually, this is done by producing quick sketches of the ideas.…”