An Integrated CAD System for Architecture

This paper discusses the advantages of an integrated approach to computer-aided design and more particularly to computer-aided architectural design (CAAD). We have studied different ways of organizing integrated systems, and our work has enabled us to define an integrated system for computer-aided architectural design: SIGMA-ARCHI which we describe. This system is a general support for CAAD, which can, on the one hand, be enriched by new operations of general interest, and, on the other hand, be adapted for a specific application by the adjunction of specialized operations. We illustrate these two methods, the first one by showing how we integrate an open industrialized building system, and the second with the example of the sub-system, SIGMA-HOUSING. Finally we present the computer aspects of the system to demonstrate that the general systems approach to CAD facilitates the specification and the implementation of the system.