A domain specific software model for interior architectural education and practice

Abstract

Interior architectural education and practice employ various general-purpose software packages. This study problematizes that as none of these packages is developed specifically for interior architectural design process and purposes, both interior architecture education and market seek ways to fulfill their specific needs. It is argued that currently interior architecture does not fully benefit from digital opportunities. A specific software package for interior architecture will enable the discipline to put forth its assets and manifest its existence. Consequently, this study proposes a domain specific model for interior architectural software. Initially, general-purpose and domain specific computer aided architectural design (CAAD) software used in interior architecture are determined. Then, selected software packages are analyzed according to Szalapaj's [1] set of features: 'drawing', 'transformation', 'view', 'rendering' and 'other'. Based on these analyses, domain specific requirements for interior architecture are obtained. Consequently, questionnaires and interviews are performed with interior architectural students and professionals in order to determine the user needs. Finally, based on the findings, a software model for interior architecture is proposed. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All Rights Reserved.