Supporting the Designer’s and the User’s Perspectives in Computer-Aided Architectural Design

At any given step in the architectural design process, a designer can usually only consider a small subset of the actions that can be applied to a design along with the consequences of those actions on the overall design process. Computer-based design tools can enable humans to operate more efficiently in this process. In the end, the design product (i.e., a built environment) is meant to be used by people other than the designer. Taking the users ’ perspective into account while creating a layout is crucial to not only creating an environment that fulfills all design constraints but that is also usable in everyday life. We present CoSyCAD, a program that can be used to assist architects in the layout of a floor plan; it simultaneously analyzes the cognitive complexity of routes through an indoor environment, thereby enabling direct feedback on a layout’s usability. We provide a sample scenario that utilizes the program and discuss further possible enhancements. Key words: Spatial cognition, computer-aided architectural design, floor plan complexity wayfinding, spatial constraints