READING RESPONSE:  Digital Design - Schodek

We have entered a new era or phase of digital design: no longer are we in the phase of designing for the sake of designing (we do it because we can) and exploring the limits of the capabilities. In this next phase we are becoming more critical of the accuracy, the flexibility, the adaptability, and the accessibility of each platform we are utilizing for design. I prefer to think of each software application as a pen in a drafter's drawer: each  has its own unique uses and special application that are needed at specific times and it is the designers responsibility to have the necessary knowledge to implement and execute this selection. Currently the main avenues of focus are in parametric flexibility and BIM harvesting capability. CATIA is an industry leading software in that it combines both with proven precision. It compounds and develops on the system of parametric parent-child relationships that allow for the flexibility that requires front loaded investment into digital models but is rewarded by later stage flexibility.

This having been said however there is inherently something much more powerful about the parent-child relationships that will come into play as modeling applications continue to develop. Currently we tend to strive for loadable surface model or describe our models in terms of double curvature. Although necessary, this is catastrophically near sited. Nurbs modeling underpins all current parametric knowledge and logic. However, when this logic is applied to the fluid shapes of subdivision modeling (sub-d) it shatters in to irreconcilable matrix fractures (data-tree deterioration). This is due to underpinning logic of the nurbs UVW coordinate system---a new or modified mathematical solution is required to bluster our current parametric knowledge if we are to engage the computational and fabrication demands of the next generation of designers.

READING RESPONSE:     How Do Simulations Know  - Loukissas

As Loukissas pointed out at the beginning of this chapter, technical representation has always been a competitive element of the design industry. Today the best way for young designers to gain a toehold is diversify their software experience and proficiency. In a way it is akin to knowing how to draft with pencil or pen. Software is means of graphical representation the same as these earlier more tradition methods.

The interesting thing is that the more advanced technology does not negate the need for intuition and experience. The software can be tweak and fudged the same as a pencil drawing can. Results of simulations can be altered based on the variability of the inputs. What is more appropriate for discussion is how the tools of communication have evolved with the demands of expanded knowledge, exponential growth of data management and ever increasing diversification of specializations. As the design industry becomes more and more about collaboration of specialized individuals rather than master designers. This puts more constraints on the means of communications--- i.e. the software platforms---, standards and consistency is required for fluid this to work.

Loukissas - Keepers of the Geometry

In Keepers of the Geometry, Loukissas touches on two key issues in the implementation of software into the architecture work environments: abstinence and design flexibility in the digital design. Loukissas states that "Shales [the principle] made her place by keeping it [Catia] at an arm's length" (159). This is true of many of today's principle's---they realize, as my own boss once said, it is easier for them to hire the next generation of architectural designers to deal with the next wave of technological advances. This creates a symbiotic relationship between both the experienced and the recent graduates of the architecture profession.
Secondly, the issues of resistance to placing a project in the digital realm due to the finalization that this implies (155) is both an obsolete and relevant issue to today's situation: first of all advances in the software platforms have delivered greater flexibility in design and thus makes this argument slightly obsolete. However, what makes it a relevant topic is that even in the virtual realm of most 3d programs the design is struggling to maintain the pace demanded of today's consumer-driven-design-realm. This make parametric bases software such as Catia, Revit, Grasshopper, and Python much more robust and valuable platforms as they allow designers to quickly make both macro and micro alterations to design without having to rebuild each time.

Dynamic Plan in Digital Project Based on the Spiral House by Zvi Hecker.

Day 1: Crash course on Digital Project and learned CATIA.