Abstract
This chapter discusses human–computer interaction in architectural design. It focuses on two topics: (1) the role of graphic representations and, therefore, of computer graphics in the architectural design process; and (2) the role of internal representations and models in design cognition and value judgment. The availability of sophisticated, powerful, and inexpensive information technology has enabled considerable progress to be made in recent years in the development of computer systems for assisting the architectural design activity. Many systems, both in the US and in other countries, can presently address the information needs of building designers at various stages of the process, from facility programming and design to the management of both design and construction. A survey of architectural firms in the US carried out for the magazine Progressive Architecture indicated that in architecture, as in many other professions, the age of computers has truly arrived, with 95% of the sample having or planning to acquire some form of computer.