A software environment to support early phases in building design

SEED aims at providing computational support for the early phases in building design in all aspects that can benefit from such support. It intends to encourage an exploratory mode of design by making it easy for designers to generate and evaluate alternative design concepts and versions. The tasks supported at the present time are architectural programming, schematic layout design and the geration of a fully 3-dimensional configuration of physical building components like structure and enclosure. A standards processor supports standards and code checking as it relates to any one of these tasks. An object database allows designers to store and retrieve different design versions, alternatives and past designs that can be reused and adapted in different contexts (case-based design). The present paper provides an interactive introduction to the different components of SEED that are currently under development, starting with a statement of goals and a description of the overall systems architecture.