Co-ordinator
Michael Donn
Room 2.10
Email michael.donn@vuw.ac.nz
Tel 463 6221
Computer Staff
Peter Ramutenas, Stewart Milne,
ITS-Help
Tutor
Introduction
The course consists of a series of lecture, seminar and practical work
sessions which discuss the use of computers as aids to architectural
design. Topics include the role of the computer in architectural practice,
computer aided architectural design, graphics and 3D modeling, customising
user environments, and animation. Use is made of the School's access
to a range of computer facilities and "hands-on" use of existing programs
and application-oriented systems is encouraged. The course is a complement
to the design and technology courses in the School.
Aims
The aim of the course is to provide students with an understanding of
the uses and potentials of computers to add to the quality of information
that can be conveyed through images about buildings.The course assumes
knowledge of Revit, AutoCAD or Archicad for modelling buildings. It
introduces students to the use of the animation package 3D Studio Max,
but it is not a training course for animators. As future professionals
students learn sufficient of the capabilites of computer animation packages
to be able to assess when the computer can contribute usefully to the
business of design and construction of buildings. They also learn how
one might customise a computer package for increased productivity.
Objectives
Within
this general aim, it is intended that on completion of the course students
should be able to:
- Understand the nature and role of computers in relation
to time varying images of architecture and its associated activities.
- Criticise knowledgably current and proposed developments
in computer applications in architecture.
- Understand some principles of the organisation and
design of electronic models of buildings.
- Use a number of packaged programs (including, Microstation Generative Components, AutoCAD
Architecture, Revit, ArchiCAD and 3D Studio Max) and application-oriented systems
for a range of architectural activities.
- Compare knowledgeably the options available and brief
others adequately to assure relevant and useful outcome from the customisation
of a computer applications package.
"...architectural drawing embodies the conflict between architecture
as an art and as a social practice. On the one hand, architectural drawing
serves as a way of investigating and discussing what the built world
should or could be. On the other hand, it is a way for the architect
to come to grips with the social divisions fostered by the realities
of power, position, and authority associated with the making of that
world. In both cases, the drawing acts as a form of empowerment..."
Edward Robbins in Why Architects Draw, MIT
Press, 1997
