Teaching Tools

Shading Mask

A tool for calculating window shading by overhangs and fins.

Sun shading devices provide an opportunity for the designer to control natural lighting, ventilation, and solar gain, all of which provide a benefit to overall building performance. Through sun path diagrams and shading masks, some of the effects of these solar controls can be demonstrated graphically. SHADING MASK is a computer program written to help designers understand the basic theory of solar control; generate sun path diagrams; design overhead, side, and eggcrate shading devices; calculate solar angles and shading masks; and provide case studies of actual buildings. There is a special emphsais on explaining the concepts introduced both visually and numerically. The project began as the masters thesis work of Effendi Setiadarma in 1995. This project has been published in Automation in Construction,Vol. 5, pp. 219-231.

Workshops

Hands-on workshops for instructing students in a variety of programs.

The workshops are a series of twenty-four hands-on tutorials and explanations for computer applications in architecture. The most recent describes the process of making personal web-pages, including text, image manipulation, and linking. Workshop topics are both for application programs and operating systems for a variety of different hardware platforms. The most popular series, workshops A:01, A:02, and A:03: "Introduction to Layer-Based Computer Aided Design using AutoCAD," have been used to teach over a thousand students, faculty, and professionals the basics of CAD. The workshops are available through the Center for Environmental Design Research, University of California, Berkeley. This is an on-going project since fall 1988.

CalcSolar

A program to generate solar envelopes.

CalcSolar is an AutoLisp program that is intended to be run within AutoCAD. It creates a three-dimensional representation of the maximum envelope that an architect can build in without casting a shadow on a neighboring property within definable time constraints. Work on the concept of the solar envelope was begun 30 years ago by Ralph Knowles. While the ideas proposed by Knowles have been widely published, practical application of the theories has been slow, due at least in part to the difficulties of visualizing and calculating the solar envelope. It often makes sense to look at design / planning concepts and theories developed before the advent of desktop computing and transform them to take advantage of the capabilities of computers. The published paper associated with this program recapitulates the incremental steps from early hand-modeling techniques, and then describes in detail the present interactive computer-based tool for solar envelope generation. Future work is planned to explore the benefits and potential limitations of the present tool for advancing both professional training and municipal solar-zoning policies. This project has been published in the ACADIA Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2.

SunStudio

A tool for teaching solar geometry.

SunStudio is a Macintosh-based teaching tool that illustrates diurnal and seasonal solar kinematics. The program includes an introduction to solar geometry, and animation's showing the sun and shadows moving in 3D over an abstracted hypothetical building and site. It is intended for beginning architecture students and includes a detailed structure for expanding the teaching tool into additional solar and daylighting topics. The tool was started by Paul Blazek, an independent study student, using Stratavision and Macromind Director, in 1992.