CompuServe Messages

>> Any ideas on what is being done or what should be done in the education process?<< Don't get me started <g>! I assume you mean Architetcural Colleges correct? They, as a whole have to stop considering CAD as vocational skill and realize it for what it is – an indespenciblt component of modern construction documents that is NOT going to go away. Heck, it may even become mandiated by clients and angencies. Now the design process is still an upward fight. There's a lot of old guard faculty that will never change and a LOTto be said for traditional methods. Although 3DS IS extremely valuable, it's not quite there yet (let's be honost). The tools need to be improved to be a true visualization AND design enviornment. It needs to be fluid enough so design returns to being the task – not figuring out how to model what you already have designed. Maybe that's a couple of (software/hardware) generations away? Well, untill that is realized it will still remain the valuable tool of those few that can master BOTH design and 3D modelling. Untill that day, in-roads at the University level will be slow – it has a learning curve and creates a barrier between the designer and the design and those factors are very hard for studio professors to overlook or accept. For a while, I think it will remain in the "experemental" studios or as elective courses while CAD replaces traditional drafting entirely. Now, when the software breaks the design/intuition barrier for the majority of designers – look out! – Phil