University of Michigan


Architecture

Reproduced with permission from NeXT Computer, Inc.
A Reference Guide to NeXT in Higher Education, Fall 1992
ยช 1992 NeXT Computer, Inc

Meeting the needs of education and professional architectural design

To build complex architectural models on a NeXT computer, Harold Borkin and James Turner, professors of architecture at the University of Michigan, and Ted Hall of the computing staff used the NeXTSTEP development environment to create GEDIT, a geometry-based CAD system. GEDIT is a geometric editor and computer graphics program that can create, modify, export, import, draw, and measure two- and three-dimensional geometries. Architecture students can build and work with variety of primitive and nonprimitive geometries, including a convex hull, a prism, and a triangulated mesh.

With GEDIT, students can compute the area, box, centroid, volume, and size of an object; produce an overlay of an object on top of another; change the size, location, or orientation of a geometry; create one-, two-, or three-point perspective drawings; and produce a drawing with top, front-side and user-defined parallel projection views. GEDIT users can also conduct coordinate transformations like moving geometries to a new location; scaling them along the X,Y, and Z axes; rotating them about any axis; and reflecting them about any coordinate plane. The application also includes a 2D sketching subprogram so users can model objects by creating and editing two-dimensional geometries by sketching straight-line segments, called edges.

"Working in an object-oriented environment gives us access to a library of software objects for building applications like GEDIT-and save time doing so because we don't have to write as much code," says Borkin. "We really appreciate the integrated development tools and the reusable objects that we can link together in a variety of ways for all our different projects."

Before acquiring NeXT machines, Borkin and his colleagues had been working on Apollo workstations. Borkin says they switched to NeXT because "we always had a problem creating consistent user interfaces across applications on the HP-Apollo. The X-Windows tool kits we were using just weren't very good. We thought there must be an easier way to build an interface. We also wanted to create a more flexible interface. With NeXT's Application Kit, we have all the features of a consistent interface, and the interface is much easier to build than on the Apollo. We've very impressed with the quality of NeXT's user interface design."

Borkin is also developing an image database for the department. The database will combine text with photographic images, including 10,000 slides used in the department's architectural history courses. Borkin plans to make the images and text accessible to NeXT, Macintosh, and other workstation users who wish to retrieve the data via anonymous FTP. Borkin says that eventually students will be able to conduct full-search texts to access the images as well. He hopes students will use the images in the database to illustrate papers and to build their architectural modeling projects.

Once Borkin and his colleagues have finished the GEDIT interface, they plan to create additional design software for NeXTSTEP.

"We're looking forward to continuing our development and using NeXT for both design education and professional architectural design," he says.

For more information, please contact:

Harold Borkin
Professor of Architecture
College of Architecture and Urban Planning
University of Michigan
2000 Bonisteel Boulevard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069
(313) 764-1340
borkin@um.cc.umich.edu