Professional Insights
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Transformations in Detail Design Drawings: Ethnographic Excerpts on CAD in Smaller Architectural Practices View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jim Sloan
The fundamental importance of transformations to the operation of CAD software was identified in the early days of computer modelling - CAD allows drawing objects to be easily changed after creation. How does transformation have agency in the development of detail design drawings? This research focuses on the use of CAD by early career architects to produce detail design drawings in architectural practice. A detail design drawing shows the arrangement of materials and components to enable the proposed building to be constructed. Direct observation of early career architects in small and medium sized architectural practice was used to gather ethnographic data on the use of CAD in detail design drawings. Using an Actor Network Theory approach to interpret this data reveals the way that these digital drawings emerge through an iterative dialogue between humans and computers. Multiple actors are involved in the creation of each drawing: human actors manipulating the CAD drawing or discussing the drawing around the screen and nonhuman actors, particularly the CAD software, facilitating and constraining the way drawings are produced. This study suggests how CAD encourages and enables particular tactics in detail design drawing including reproduction, adaptation, insertion, and tidying. The ’slippery’ medium of CAD is often used more like a photocopier and a pair of scissors than a digital equivalent of the analogue drawing board, helping us to see how the final drawing is descended from a range of ancestors.
Remote Learning Experiences in Design and Construction: A Look at Remote Learning Practices in Constructed Environments View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Avery Schwer
The reasons for delivering remote learning in constructed environments are examined for this study. These include: to provide greater access, provide greater flexibility, expand the learning culture, increasing delivery methods, availability of technology, be state of the art in approaches to learning, and to develop improvements to increase productivity. The findings in this study provide a better understanding of the remote learning issues faced in constructed environments. These findings lay a foundation for the subsequent study of these issues faced in leadership roles as we guide the delivering of remote learning opportunities in the future.
Designing Socially Inclusive Third Places: A Longitudinal Analysis of Age Friendly Communities View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lihua Huang
Evidence on the social inclusion of built environment in age friendly communities for diverse older adults has been scarce. Using the frameworks of intersectionality and third places, the purpose of this longitudinal study is to examine the characteristics and trends of social inclusion in designed third places among the AARP Age-Friendly Communities from 2012 to 2022. Social inclusion is measured by diversity, equity, inclusion, and social participation. Third Places are measured by outdoor public spaces, public places, and community and health services. The qualitative analysis reveals that the Age Friendly Communities Movement has added designed third places such as community gardens, intergenerational health healing parks, and African American culture and heritage libraries that are designed to facilitate inclusive aging-in-place, and that inclusive third places are designed for people with different backgrounds. The quantitative analysis indicates that less than one fifth of age-friendly communities have inclusive third places for diverse older Americans, and that since the peak in 2016-2017, the new inclusive third places in these communities have declined and reached the lowest level in the pandemic years from 2020 to 2022. Meanwhile, the dramatic increase of AARP Community Challenge Grants for inclusive age friendly communities predicts a great uptick in inclusive third places in the coming years. However, the ratio between the total Age Friendly Communities and the Age Friendly Communities with inclusive third place has significantly decreased from 2012 to 2022. Limitations of the study and the practice implications of the findings for the inclusive age-in-place design are discussed.
