Hybrid Concept Formation Through Interaction with a Situated Reasoner

Contemporary building design tools face limitations in offering designers a comprehensive understanding of the models they create. The inherent structure of these tools do not align with the ontological principles of the designer, and the user's experience reflects only a simulated snapshot of the model at any given time. This results in designers grappling with ill-fitting protocols and the challenge of maintaining semantic integrity in the digital encoding process. Initially, this research aimed to address these limitations by developing a novel design companion. This companion, powered by a semantic reasoner—an inference engine capable of deducing rule based, case-based, or hybrid conclusions from formalized information—was envisioned to provide designers with contextualized insights into their models. Positioned as an integration into existing building design tools, it would interact with designers in real-time. However, the research findings indicate that the prevailing technical rational paradigm has not enhanced design but, instead, has fostered tools for design manufacturing. These tools prioritize efficiency and productivity over creativity and discovery, falling short in providing designers with the necessary insights for inventive and contextualized designs. Consequently, the initially established milieu for the reasoner proved to be overly rigid, reductionist, and tangential to the essence of design. As a response, this dissertation critically examines computerized design tools and computer assisted design (CAD) education. A historical overview traces the evolution of design approaches and perspectives since the inception of CAD systems, aiming to redefine our understanding of design, professional deontology, and the quest for a design companion. It identifies a profound ix clash between the declarative and protocol-based nature of current computerized tools and the tacit and situated qualities inherent in design. Despite hesitancy in acknowledging the vulnerabilities of the designerly approach to human activities, the practice of design has succumbed to an efficiency-driven paradigm. This paradigm dismisses any social and humane contributions as extraneous, conforming to dominant forms of symbolic exchanges. It reinforces the spectacular and speculative aspects of design, increasingly practice has become reliant on commercial tools developed with linear logic to simulate solutions. Instead of supporting an informed co-evolution of problem and solution dualities by designers with their tools. The dissertation advocates for an embrace of more fluid and adaptive paradigms in design tools, that incorporate fuzziness in both algebras and geometry while embracing ambiguity over certainty. It acknowledges that design, as practiced, is inherently subjective and context dependent. The assertion is that this can be well achieved through the use of the pencil and collaboration, rather than relying on computerized solutions and isolation.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Architecture

Grantor dc:publisher

Georgia Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Bermek, Mehmet Sinan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gentry, T. Russell

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Bafna, Sonit
• Economou, Athanassios
• Cavieres, Andres
• Noel, Vernelle A.A.

• CAD
• BIM
• Soft Computing
• Toolmaking

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1853/76833

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.gatech.edu:1853/76833