ASPECTUALIZE AND CONQUER IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

This paper describes architectural design processes from a cognitive science/artificial intelligence perspective. It characterizes the design task in terms of classical AI problem solving attributes. As architectural design specifications leave many relevant dimensions unspecified, it is a fascinating question how these dimensions are fixed during the design process. We identify general strategies to cope with the complex space of spatial design by considering cognitive approaches to understanding and problem solving. The AI "divide and conquer" problem solving strategy is adapted to the common design strategy of reducing problem complexity by focusing on different aspects of the design problem at a time. Examples from design principles in architecture are presented. 1. The Designer's Dilemma The domain of creative design in general and the domain of architectural spatial design in particular pose special challenges for the modeling of the processes involved. We will briefly outline some of the characteristics of the problem space that architects are confronted with. We will use concepts and terminology from computer science/artificial intelligence to describe the architectural domain. In the article, we analyze the design problem from a knowledge representation and reasoning point of view. For this purpose, various abstract spaces are introduced to characterize the design task and the design process. In this framework, cognitive principles are considered and applied to principles from architectural design.

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