Automation Takes Command: toward a design typology

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Automation Takes Command toward a design
typology

• Joseph A. Betz
• Associate Professor of Architecture
• Department of Architecture Construction
  Management

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Introduction

• Technology is changing the design process
• Certain design acts are now automated
• Some acts of design change from creation to
  analysis
• Design acts can be categorized into Typologies
• This paper develops a Design Typology
• Based on the theory and argument developed in
  "Epistemology, Technology and
  Organization the affects of change in
  architectural design," Proceedings of American
  Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual
  Conference, at Nashville, Tenn., June 2003

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Background

• The Dilemma
• Tension between academia and industry
• industry is moving toward one type of technology
  platform for economic reasons that academia
  cannot use for pedagogical and assessment ones.
• technology is rendering specific types of
  knowledge obsolete and vice versa
• historical precedents in other disciplines
• automation reduces the designer to observer
• new act being created called design analysis

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Design Typology

• Design Typology is used to predict whether a
  particular design act can be automated or not.
• Conceptual Evidence
• progression of automated design
• parallels with mechanization (mechanical
  automation) and design automation
• software examples (see paper for examples)

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Progression of Automated Software

• First use of design automated process
• highly standardized assemblies
• limited number of components
• modular system
• example prefabricated industrial buildings
• Next step was to automate engineering aspects
• prescriptive design (i.e, AISC steel design
  rules)
• applied science, linear in decision making
• measurable solution and predictable outcome

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Historical Parallels

• Provide clues to patterns of modernization
• Aspects of mechanization during the Industrial
  Revolution
• standardization a modular component system
• assembly line linear process of production
• Power source, raw material, flow and product of
  each
• Mechanization internal combustion engine
  iron/steel canal/railroad consumer items
• Design automation computer technology
  information the Internet professional/management
  services

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Setting the Categories

• Variables organized into a chart as forecasting
  tool
• Chart is like a diagram and is reductive
• Intent is clarity over an impossibly large set of
  facts
• Three categories
• Theoretical/Philosophical Operating Model
• Mode of Production
• Design Solution
• Classification System
• comparative polar test
• preliminary only

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Example
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Conclusion

• 1. Need to recognize that technology is driving
  change
• evidence (technological and historical) to
  support this
• result is the creation of a new design act
• 2. Ramification of not recognizing this change
• effects on the graduates we prepare for the
  profession
• relationship between academia and industry
• 3. Forecast for the future
• fewer designers doing design creation
• more designers dong design analysis
• reduction in the total number of designers