Computer-Aided Architectural Design vs. Architect-Aided Computing Design

This paper presents a recent design project - a group work of postgraduate students of CAAD Chair at Architecture Faculty at Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (henceforth ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. In this project a broad variety of possibilities provided by CAD and CAM in architectural design was used, in terms of both the design and production. The paper will present the entire process step by step from its conception to production. Nowadays CAAD technologies seem to dominate not only in visualization and drafting. They have also started to play a more important role in the generation and optimization of the design, which have always traditionally been perceived as the domain of architects. Therefore, the focus in the paper will be placed not only on extensive usage of digital tools, but also on analysis of advantages and difficulties in architect/computer cooperation