An Experimental Program for Architectural Design

This program was written to show how a computerdriven display could be used as an input/output device when designing with modular building units. I t was written for the PDP-7 computer at the Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory, which is equipped with a Type 340 Display and Light Pen (see Fig. 1). The user of the program can add wall units, windows, doors, etc., to his design by typing the appropriate request on a teleprinter. A picture of the unit then appears on the screen wherever the light pen is pointing, and can be moved about the screen until it is in its correct position. The user can then insert the unit permanently in the design, and the program auto­ matically aligns the unit with the modular grid. By means of the light pen, units can be erased, duplicated or moved to new positions. The designs are stored in the computer in a form which enables them to be compactly recorded on punched tape, and which allows the program to perform numerical processing on the design, including calculating areas. In the first part of this paper the operating techniques and general capabilities of the program are outlined, and the second part describes some of the programming methods adopted.