Computer Added Design

Definition:
The letters CAD stand for computer-aided design. Architects, drafters, engineers, and artists use CAD software to create plans and construction drawings.
Before the age of computers, drawings and blueprints were drafted by hand. CAD is more efficient because the software records lines as vectors based on mathematical equations. Portions of a drawing can be twisted, stretched, or moved. The picture as a whole will automatically adjust.

CAD Software will let the designer:

* Switch between two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) views.
* Zoom in and out for close-up and distant views.
* Rotate images to view them from different perspectives.
* Change the scale of images: When one value changes, related values are automatically adjusted.
* Manipulate the shape of images: Changing one portion of an image automatically changes the entire picture. 

“It is possible to view the aesthetic qualities emerging in the new genre of ‘digital craft’ - such as the use of triangulation and the quality of line produced by generic pre-set machine parameters - as a temporary phase in the digital craft timeline. As more makers adopt digital technologies, we may discover that these visual aesthetic qualities are more attributable to the technology than the maker rather than being understood as unique. The author believes it is therefore important for makers wishing to further their practice in this field to seek ways in which they can gain greater control over the processes and tools they are using. “

  Masterton, D.H. Deconstructing The Digital, University College Falmouth, Penryn, UK. from:           http://www.autonomatic.org.uk/team/dm/Deconstructing%20the%20Digital.pdf

Also Known As:
CAD is also known as CADD, which stands for Computer-Aided Design & Drafting
Examples:

-Popular CAD programs used by architects and engineers include:
* AutoCAD
* TurboCAD
* Vectorworks 

Simplified versions of CAD tools can be found in home design software tailored for non-professionals.

Relation between Computer Aided Design and Deconstructivism

Recent developments in computer hardware and in particular software have already had quite staggering impacts on working practices of some architects. Within the last few years, designers of software have come to realize that whilst it is within human nature to respond to a limited amount of constraints, no one likes to have their actions entirely dictated by another. The ideals of communism have much to be admired, but their implementation failed where dictation was seen to be the solution. Computer programs are beginning to allow adaptation, and one of the earliest examples of this are the macro languages to be found in one or two CAD packages. These allow the relatively simple 'mini' programs to be written, to allow the computer to automate a wide variety of functions. One example was written to automatically calculate invert levels of drains, with the minimum input from the user. It is not difficult to see that these simple macro languages working within the confines of the CAD package can be utilized to great effect. Where the architect is allowed to make his or her own rules, the possibilities of this method of designing become infinite. In the same way that automated draughting processes have improved the speed and efficiency of junior architects, so this method can be used to increase the efficiency of the senior partners' time spent designing. With the architect making the rules and providing a number of variables, the computer can be used to visualize the vast array of possibilities. The computer's ability to monotonously repeat instructions more fully utilizes the computer's capabilities than automating draughting processes. Although the rules of composition for Classical architecture are well documented, making it an ideal example for this sort of exercise, the possible results are somewhat predictable. Much less defined and well known is once fashionable Deconstructivism, a style that owes its definition to the 1988 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and whose life span it barely seemed to outlast. Often criticized for being elitist, and much misunderstood, the brief duration of its existence as a coherent movement has past, but the main practitioners continue along their individual paths, each concerned with differing but similar aspects of architectural theory. The term Deconstructivism in truth captures the time at which their trains of thought roughly coincided, enough at least to form convincing arguments for the exhibition.