Knowledge-based systems programming for knowledge intensive teaching

Typological design implies extensive knowledge of building types in order to design a building belonging to a building type. It facilitates the design process, which can be considered as a sequence of decisions. The paper gives an outline of a new approach in a course teaching typological knowledge through the medium of Knowledge-Based Systems programming. It demonstrates how Knowledge-Based Systems offer an appropriate structure for analysing the knowledge required to implement typological design. The class consists of third-year undergraduate students with no extensive previous programming experience. The implementation language is AutoLISP which operates in the AutoCAD- environment. The building type used in the course is the office building. In order to become acquainted with both building type and programming in AutoLISP, information and instructions have been gathered and prestructured, including a worked out analysis and AutoLISP code. Office plans are generated through use of the Knowledge-Based System. They are encoded in the form of frames. At the end of the course the students will have learned the basics of Knowledge-Based Systems, have been introduced to programming these systems, have analysed and reflected upon the design process, and gained insight into a specific building type