The Use of Computing Techniques in the Design of Residential Buildings

Abstract

This section of the book The Application of Computer Techniques and Modelling in Architectural Design introduces the architecture student to uses of graph theory in modelling and manipulating the functional structures of dwelling plans. It demonstrates the use of mathematical and computing techniques for the following purposes: (a) to exhaustively generate permutations of plan elements; (b) to optimise the plan parameters of individual apartments, of standard clusters of the apartments, and of whole buildings and housing developments, in relation to different economic objectives or to the demographic mix required; and (c) to reconcile spatially ideal plans with the constraints of standard constructional systems or with the requirements of modular coordination. It discusses certain approaches to systematic site planning (including some Western examples), and problems of establishing optimal selections of external walling panels for particular housing schemes.

Extensive appendices to the book as a whole give the student an “introduction to the elements of modern applied mathematics and computer programming” that includes matrices and determinants; linear, nonlinear, discrete, whole-number, stochastic, and dynamic programming; elements of graph theory; basic concepts of probability theory and mathematical statistics; and basic principles of computer programming, including machine codes, machine-oriented languages, and problem-oriented languages, with considerable attention to the details of ALGOL, FORTRAN-4 and some of the principles of COBOL.