Association for Computer Aided Design In Architecture
The Association for Computer Aided Design In Architecture is a 501 non-profit organization active in the area of computer-aided architectural design.
Mission statement
Begun in 1981, the organization's objectives are recorded in its bylaws:"ACADIA was formed for the purpose of facilitating communication and information exchange regarding the use of computers in architecture, planning and building science. A particular focus is education and the software, hardware and pedagogy involved in education."
"The organization is also committed to the research and development of computer aides that enhance design creativity, rather than simply production, and that aim at contributing to the construction of humane physical environments."
Membership
Membership is open to anyone who subscribes to the objectives of the organization, including architects, educators, and software developers, whether resident in North America or not. An online membership registration form and directory is available via the organization.The organization is primarily governed by the elected Board of Directors. The organization is led by the elected President, who presides over Board of Directors meetings, but does not vote except in the case of a tie.
Presidents (elected)
Activities
Annual conference
ACADIA sponsors an annual national conference, held in the autumn of each year at a different site in North America. Papers for the conferences undergo extensive blind review before being accepted for presentation. Membership is not a prerequisite for submission of a paper.Year | City, State/Province | Country | Host university | Conference theme | |
4th | 1985 | Tempe, Arizona | USA | ||
5th | 1986 | Houston, Texas | USA | ||
6th | 1987 | Raleigh, North Carolina | USA | Integrating Computers into the Architectural Curriculum | |
7th | 1988 | Ann Arbor, Michigan | USA | Computing in Design Education | |
8th | 1989 | Gainesville, Florida | USA | New Ideas and Directions for the 1990s | |
9th | 1990 | Big Sky, Montana | USA | From Research to Practice | |
10th | 1991 | Los Angeles, California | USA | Reality and Virtual Reality | |
11th | 1992 | Charleston, South Carolina | USA | Mission - Method - Madness | |
12th | 1993 | Texas | USA | Education and Practice: The Critical Interface | |
13th | 1994 | Saint Louis, Missouri | USA | Washington University | Reconnecting |
14th | 1995 | Seattle, Washington | USA | University of Washington | Computing in Design - Enabling, Capturing and Sharing Ideas |
15th | 1996 | Tucson, Arizona | USA | Design Computation: Collaboration, Reasoning, Pedagogy | |
16th | 1997 | Cincinnati, Ohio | USA | University of Cincinnati | Design and Representation |
17th | 1998 | Québec City, Québec | Canada | Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make a Difference? | |
18th | 1999 | Salt Lake City, Utah | USA | Media and Design Process | |
19th | 2000 | Washington D.C | USA | Eternity, Infinity and Virtuality in Architecture | |
20th | 2001 | Buffalo, New York | USA | Reinventing the Discourse - How Digital Tools Help Bridge and Transform Research, Education and Practice in Architecture | |
21st | 2002 | Pomona, California | USA | Thresholds - Design, Research, Education and Practice, in the Space Between the Physical and the Virtual | |
22nd | 2003 | Indianapolis, Indiana | USA | Connecting >> Crossroads of Digital Discourse | |
23rd | 2004 | Cambridge, Ontario | Canada | Fabrication: Examining the Digital Practice of Architecture | |
24th | 2005 | Savannah, Georgia | USA | Smart Architecture: Integration of Digital and Building Technologies | |
25th | 2006 | Louisville, Kentucky | USA | University of Kentucky | Synthetic Landscapes |
26th | 2007 | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Canada | Dalhousie University & NSCAD University | Expanding Bodies |
27th | 2008 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | USA | University of Minnesota | Silicon + Skin: Biological Processes and Computation |
28th | 2009 | Chicago, Illinois | USA | School of the Art Institute of Chicago | reForm: Building a Better Tomorrow |
29th | 2010 | New York, New York | USA | The Cooper Union & Pratt Institute | Life in:Formation |
30th | 2011 | Calgary/Banff, Alberta | Canada | University of Calgary | Integration Through Computation |
31st | 2012 | San Francisco, California | USA | California College of the Arts & UCSF | Synthetic Digital Ecologies |
32nd | 2013 | Cambridge, Ontario | Canada | University of Waterloo | Adaptive Architecture |
33rd | 2014 | Los Angeles, California | USA | University of Southern California | Design Agency |
34th | 2015 | Cincinnati, Ohio | USA | University of Cincinnati | Computational Ecologies: Design in the Anthropocene |
35th | 2016 | Ann Arbor, Michigan | USA | University of Michigan | Posthuman Frontiers: Data, Designers And Cognitive Machines |
36th | 2017 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | USA | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Disciplines & Disruptions |
Proceedings
Each year the conference papers are gathered into a proceedings publication which is distributed to members, and available to the public via the open access database CumInCAD.Awards
Started in 1998, ACADIA Awards of Excellence are "the highest award that can be achieved in the field of architectural computing". The awards are given in areas of practice, teaching, research and service, with at most one award in each category per year. Past awards have recognized various significant contributors to the field of architectural computing.The current awards given annually or biannually are the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Digital Practice Award of Excellence, the Innovative Academic Program Award of Excellence, the Innovative Research Award of Excellence, the Society Award for Leadership, and the Teaching Award of Excellence.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Digital Practice Award of Excellence
Innovative Academic Program Award of Excellence
History
Related organizations
Sister organizations
There are four sister organizations around the world to provide a more accessible regional forum for discussion of computing and design. The major ones are- CAADRIA - The Association for Computer Aided Architectural Design in Asia, since 1996.
- SIGraDi - Iberoamerican Society of Digital Graphics, since 1997.
- ASCAAD - The Arab Society for Computer Aided Architectural Design, since 2001.
Other related organizations
- CAAD Futures - Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures, since 1985.
- CUMINCAD - The Cumulative Index of Computer Aided Architectural Design, with public CumInCAD records available via an Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting feed and records are available via multiple bibliographic archives and citation indexes online.