Visual typology in design: A computational view

This paper investigates the use of typological knowledge in the visual modality through a computer framework that combines multidisciplinary technologies from computer science, that is, artificial intelligence, software engineering, database system, and programming language, to help provide solutions and services to building designers. The solving of design problems frequently involves visual thinking, which has to do with the intensive use of visual knowledge like pictures, images, and other types of visual displays. The recognized power of typological knowledge in design problem solving is applied to support the exploration of a diversity of possible design solutions represented in a pictorial mode. The innovative use of computer science technologies enables a smooth link of visual typological knowledge with the design goals. Within the framework, a core technology was designed to respond to a designer's specific needs through dynamic user viewpoint generation, so that design solutions are associated with relevant (retrieved) visual typologies from the knowledge base. This has been achieved in a two-way process, in which the designer establishes an interactive dialogue with an experimental computerized framework.