Michael J. Ostwald – författare

New computational design tools have evolved rapidly and been increasingly applied in the field of design in recent years, complimenting and even replacing the traditional design media and approaches. Design as both the process and product are changing due to the emergence and adoption of these new technologies. Understanding and assessing the impact of these new computational design environments on design and designers is important for advancing design in the contemporary context. Do these new computational environments support or hinder design creativity? How do those tools facilitate designers’ thinking? Such knowledge is also important for the future development of design technologies. Research shows that design is never a mysterious non-understandable process, for example, one general view is that design process shares a common analysis-synthesis-evaluation model, during which designers interact between design problem and solution spaces. Understanding designers’ thinking in different environments is the key to design research, education and practice. This book focuses on emerging computational design environments, whose impact on design and designers have not been comprehensively and systematically studied. It comprises three parts. The history and recent developments of computational design technologies are introduced in Part I. The main categories of technologies cover from computer-aided drafting and modelling tools, to visual programming and scripting tools for algorithmic design, to advanced interfaces and platforms for interactions between designers, between designers and computers, and between the virtual environment and the physical reality. To critically explore design thinking, especially in these new computational design environments, formal approaches to studying design thinking and design cognition are introduced and compared in Part II, drawing on literature and studies from the 70s to the current era. Part III concludes the book by exploring the impact of different computational design technologies on design and designers, using a series of case studies conducted by the author team building on their close collaboration over the past five years. The book offers new insights into designers’ thinking in the rapidly evolving computational design environments, which have not been critically and systematically studied and reported in the current literature. The book is meant for design researchers, educators and students, professional practitioners and consultants, as well as people who are interested in computational design in general.

New computational design tools have evolved rapidly and been increasingly applied in the field of design in recent years, complimenting and even replacing the traditional design media and approaches. Design as both the process and product are changing due to the emergence and adoption of these new technologies. Understanding and assessing the impact of these new computational design environments on design and designers is important for advancing design in the contemporary context. Do these new computational environments support or hinder design creativity? How do those tools facilitate designers’ thinking? Such knowledge is also important for the future development of design technologies. Research shows that design is never a mysterious non-understandable process, for example, one general view is that design process shares a common analysis-synthesis-evaluation model, during which designers interact between design problem and solution spaces. Understanding designers’ thinking in different environments is the key to design research, education and practice. This book focuses on emerging computational design environments, whose impact on design and designers have not been comprehensively and systematically studied. It comprises three parts. The history and recent developments of computational design technologies are introduced in Part I. The main categories of technologies cover from computer-aided drafting and modelling tools, to visual programming and scripting tools for algorithmic design, to advanced interfaces and platforms for interactions between designers, between designers and computers, and between the virtual environment and the physical reality. To critically explore design thinking, especially in these new computational design environments, formal approaches to studying design thinking and design cognition are introduced and compared in Part II, drawing on literature and studies from the 70s to the current era. Part III concludes the book by exploring the impact of different computational design technologies on design and designers, using a series of case studies conducted by the author team building on their close collaboration over the past five years. The book offers new insights into designers’ thinking in the rapidly evolving computational design environments, which have not been critically and systematically studied and reported in the current literature. The book is meant for design researchers, educators and students, professional practitioners and consultants, as well as people who are interested in computational design in general.

This book presents the first detailed mathematical analysis of the social, cognitive and experiential properties of Modernist domestic architecture.The Modern Movement in architecture, which came to prominence during the first half of the twentieth century, may have been famous for its functional forms and machine-made aesthetic, but it also sought to challenge the way people inhabit, understand and experience space. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s buildings were not only minimalist and transparent, they were designed to subvert traditional social hierarchies. Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic Modernism not only attempted to negotiate a more responsive relationship between nature and architecture, but also shape the way people experience space. Richard Neutra’s Californian Modernism is traditionally celebrated for its sleek, geometric forms, but his intention was to use design to support a heightened understanding of context. Glenn Murcutt’s pristine pavilions, seemingly the epitome ofregional Modernism, actually raise important questions about the socio-spatial structure of architecture. Rather than focussing on form or style in Modernism, this book examines the spatial, social and experiential properties of thirty-seven designs by Wright, Mies, Neutra and Murcutt. The computational and mathematical methods used for this purpose are drawn from space syntax, isovist geometry and graph theory. The specific issues that are examined include: the sensory and emotional appeal of space and form; shifting social and spatial structures in architectural planning; wayfinding and visual understanding; and the relationship between form and program.

This book presents new ways of facilitating design thinking, through the combination of cognitive design strategies and information technologies. It provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the traditional and digital design processes and activities that are employed in architecture, computational design, communication design and graphic design.The book is divided into three parts: Part I, which focuses on creativity, uses evidence derived from empirical studies to develop an understanding of the way computational environments shape design thinking and may lead to more inventive outcomes. Part II considers the cognitive dimensions of design teams, crowds and collectives. It investigates the ways digital design platforms promote interactive and collective thinking. Lastly, Part III addresses culture, examining the linguistic and cultural context of the globalised design ecosystem.Providing valuable insights into design thinking, this book helps readers engage with their local and global environments. It will appeal to academics, researchers and professionals with an interest in understanding design thinking in the context of creativity, collaboration and culture.

This book presents new ways of facilitating design thinking, through the combination of cognitive design strategies and information technologies. It provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the traditional and digital design processes and activities that are employed in architecture, computational design, communication design and graphic design.The book is divided into three parts: Part I, which focuses on creativity, uses evidence derived from empirical studies to develop an understanding of the way computational environments shape design thinking and may lead to more inventive outcomes. Part II considers the cognitive dimensions of design teams, crowds and collectives. It investigates the ways digital design platforms promote interactive and collective thinking. Lastly, Part III addresses culture, examining the linguistic and cultural context of the globalised design ecosystem.Providing valuable insights into design thinking, this book helps readers engage with their local and global environments. It will appeal to academics, researchers and professionals with an interest in understanding design thinking in the context of creativity, collaboration and culture.

This book examines multimodality in architecture and its impacts on collaborative, technical and educational processes or systems. Multimodality is becoming increasingly critical in contemporary architectural practice and education. Creative design teams face new challenges when they embrace new modes of communication, technology, and knowledge development processes. From diverse online modes of communication to shared digital environments, generative AI and advanced hardware solutions, new modes of information creation, sharing, and application are changing the ways architects and designers work.The book presents new research which empowers international researchers and designers to work more effectively in a diverse range of digital environments.Whether the readers are architects, teachers, students, or scholars, this book provides critical insights and practical tools for understanding and optimising processes in architecture and design.

This book examines multimodality in architecture and its impacts on collaborative, technical and educational processes or systems. Multimodality is becoming increasingly critical in contemporary architectural practice and education. Creative design teams face new challenges when they embrace new modes of communication, technology, and knowledge development processes. From diverse online modes of communication to shared digital environments, generative AI and advanced hardware solutions, new modes of information creation, sharing, and application are changing the ways architects and designers work.The book presents new research which empowers international researchers and designers to work more effectively in a diverse range of digital environments.Whether the readers are architects, teachers, students, or scholars, this book provides critical insights and practical tools for understanding and optimising processes in architecture and design.

As a result of global warming, extreme events, such as firestorms and flash floods, pose increasingly unpredictable and uncertain existential threats, taking lives, destroying communities, and wreaking havoc on habitats. Current aesthetic, technological and scientific frameworks struggle to imagine, visualise and rehearse human interactions with these events, hampering the development of proactive foresight, readiness and response.This open access book demonstrates how the latest advances in creative arts, intelligent systems and climate science can be integrated and leveraged to transform the visualisation of extreme event scenarios. It reframes current practice from passive perception of pre-scripted illustrations to active immersion in evolving life-like interactive scenarios that are geo-located. Drawing on the multidisciplinary expertise of leaders in the creative arts, climate sciences, environmental engineering, and intelligent systems, this book examines the waysin which climate disaster preparedness can be reformulated through practices that address dynamic and unforeseen interactions between climate and human life worlds. Grouped into four sections (picturing, narrating, rehearsing, and communicating), this book maps this approach by exploring the emerging strengths and current limitations of each discipline in addressing the challenge of envisioning the unpredictable interaction of extreme events with human populations and environments.This book provides a timely intervention into the global discourse on how art, culture and technology can address climate disaster resilience. It appeals to readers from multiple fields, offering academic, industry and community audiences novel insights into a profound gap in the current knowledge, policy and action landscape.

As a result of global warming, extreme events, such as firestorms and flash floods, pose increasingly unpredictable and uncertain existential threats, taking lives, destroying communities, and wreaking havoc on habitats. Current aesthetic, technological and scientific frameworks struggle to imagine, visualise and rehearse human interactions with these events, hampering the development of proactive foresight, readiness and response.This open access book demonstrates how the latest advances in creative arts, intelligent systems and climate science can be integrated and leveraged to transform the visualisation of extreme event scenarios. It reframes current practice from passive perception of pre-scripted illustrations to active immersion in evolving life-like interactive scenarios that are geo-located. Drawing on the multidisciplinary expertise of leaders in the creative arts, climate sciences, environmental engineering, and intelligent systems, this book examines the waysin which climate disaster preparedness can be reformulated through practices that address dynamic and unforeseen interactions between climate and human life worlds. Grouped into four sections (picturing, narrating, rehearsing, and communicating), this book maps this approach by exploring the emerging strengths and current limitations of each discipline in addressing the challenge of envisioning the unpredictable interaction of extreme events with human populations and environments.This book provides a timely intervention into the global discourse on how art, culture and technology can address climate disaster resilience. It appeals to readers from multiple fields, offering academic, industry and community audiences novel insights into a profound gap in the current knowledge, policy and action landscape.

This monograph explores the profound connections between architecture and mathematics through the works of Andrea Palladio, Le Corbusier, and Peter Eisenman. Combining historical insights with computational analyses, it examines the social, spatial, and aesthetic properties of twenty-six iconic designs. Advanced methods such as Space Syntax, isovists, fractal analysis, image segmentation and semantic linguistic analysis reveal the mathematical principles underlying architectural thinking and properties.Richly illustrated with over 100 visuals, this volume is an essential resource for senior undergraduates, postgraduates, practicing architects, and historians seeking a deeper understanding of mathematical thinking in architectural design and analysis.

This book presents new ways of facilitating design thinking, through the combination of cognitive design strategies and information technologies. It provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the traditional and digital design processes and activities that are employed in architecture, computational design, communication design and graphic design. In response to evolving design practices, including the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), this fully updated and expanded edition features a new chapter on digital design collaboration, along with extended discussions on the role of technology in shaping creative and collaborative processes.The book is divided into three parts: Part I, which focuses on creativity, uses evidence derived from empirical studies to develop an understanding of the way computational environments shape design thinking and may lead to more inventive outcomes. Part II considers the cognitive, sociotechnical dimensions of design teams, crowds and collectives. It investigates the ways digital design platforms promote interactive and collective thinking. Lastly, Part III addresses culture, examining the linguistic and cultural context of the globalised design ecosystem.Providing valuable insights into design thinking, this book helps readers engage with their local and global environments. It will appeal to academics, researchers and professionals with an interest in understanding design thinking in the context of creativity, collaboration and culture.

Every age and every culture has relied on the incorporation of mathematics in their works of architecture to imbue the built environment with meaning and order.

Every age and every culture has relied on the incorporation of mathematics in their works of architecture to imbue the built environment with meaning and order.

Fractal analysis is a method for measuring, analysing and comparing the formal or geometric properties of complex objects. In this book it is used to investigate eighty-five buildings that have been designed by some of the twentieth-century’s most respected and celebrated architects. Including designs by Le Corbusier, Eileen Gray, Frank Lloyd Wright, Robert Venturi, Frank Gehry, Peter Eisenman, Richard Meier and Kazuyo Sejima amongst others, this book uses mathematics to analyse arguments and theories about some of the world’s most famous designs. Starting with 625 reconstructed architectural plans and elevations, and including more than 200 specially prepared views of famous buildings, this book presents the results of the largest mathematical study ever undertaken into architectural design and the largest single application of fractal analysis presented in any field. The data derived from this study is used to test three overarching hypotheses about social, stylistic and personal trends in design, along with five celebrated arguments about twentieth-century architecture. Through this process the book offers a unique mathematical insight into the history and theory of design.

Every age and every culture has relied on the incorporation of mathematics in their works of architecture to imbue the built environment with meaning and order.

Every age and every culture has relied on the incorporation of mathematics in their works of architecture to imbue the built environment with meaning and order.

This book presents the first detailed mathematical analysis of the social, cognitive and experiential properties of Modernist domestic architecture.The Modern Movement in architecture, which came to prominence during the first half of the twentieth century, may have been famous for its functional forms and machine-made aesthetic, but it also sought to challenge the way people inhabit, understand and experience space. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s buildings were not only minimalist and transparent, they were designed to subvert traditional social hierarchies. Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic Modernism not only attempted to negotiate a more responsive relationship between nature and architecture, but also shape the way people experience space. Richard Neutra’s Californian Modernism is traditionally celebrated for its sleek, geometric forms, but his intention was to use design to support a heightened understanding of context. Glenn Murcutt’s pristine pavilions, seemingly the epitome ofregional Modernism, actually raise important questions about the socio-spatial structure of architecture. Rather than focussing on form or style in Modernism, this book examines the spatial, social and experiential properties of thirty-seven designs by Wright, Mies, Neutra and Murcutt. The computational and mathematical methods used for this purpose are drawn from space syntax, isovist geometry and graph theory. The specific issues that are examined include: the sensory and emotional appeal of space and form; shifting social and spatial structures in architectural planning; wayfinding and visual understanding; and the relationship between form and program.