Beginning Design Technology

Mike Christenson, AIA, is a registered architect and a tenured Associate Professor of Architecture at North Dakota State University. He teaches graduate and undergraduate design studios, and theories and practices of architectural representation. Christenson’s research examines questions of architectural epistemology: how knowledge about architecture is structured, organized, and disseminated.

• Preface Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Selection: Learning About Remote Buildings Through Media 2. Grain: Understanding the Inherent Texture of Digital and Physical Objects 3. Translation: Moving Between and Among Architectural Media 4. Operation: The Impact of Scale on Representation 5. Gravity: Testing the Limits of Simulation and Representation 6. Reflection Appendix A Appendix B Glossary Bibliography Image Credits Index

Mike Christenson has done an invaluable service with this book, explaining in clear and concise ways the complete and sometimes confusing array of technologies that beginning design students face in college. He doesn’t just describe these technologies and explain how they work; he also guides the reader in how to think about them and when to use – or not use – them, depending upon the situation. This is a must-have book for every design student just starting out. - Thomas Fisher, University of MinnesotaBeginning Design Technology makes a timely addition to any architecture school library. Unlike the typical 'how-to' introductory textbook, this publication helps architecture students to ask important 'why-to' questions about the use of various digital and analog design tools. - Andrzej Piotrowski, School of Architecture, University of Minnesota