Clipper Lab

Description

CAD Lab for Instruction, Professional Partners, and Electronic Research .

The USC School of Architecture established the CAD Lab for Instruction, Professional Partners, and Electronic Research (Clipper) to enable the school to meet a critical and growing need among architects and designers to incorporate sophisticated computer technology into the design process. The concept encompasses teaching, research, and training at both the academic and professional levels. The primary purpose of the Institute will be to promote design computing and expand upon the capabilities of computer hardware and software in architecture and design. Students will use the lab to conduct research and to prepare for professional careers, and the lab will provide practicing professionals with a state of the art laboratory that both showcases that latest hardware and software and teaches them how to incorporate this technology into the design process at all stages.

Grants

Helping the vision materialize.

In the last few years, the Clipper lab has been developed primarily through grants and gifts. We now have nearly forty very good graphics-capable computers. In addition, we have moved boldly into high-end graphic computing with ten Silicon Graphics workstations. Most of these computers were acquired through grants or special programs. The research, equipment, and software grants total something over $1,000,000. Of that figure, close to $300,000 is in hardware and research grants alone. This is an on-going project started in 1993.

An assistant in navigating the Internet.

CHARTHOUSE is a hierarchical index and navigation system for architecture-related, southern California Internet resources. The index includes links to web pages in six categories: southern California architects and places, the architecture, engineering, construction professions; architectural education; architectural literature; computers in architecture; and other architectural indices.