Semantic Structures For Construction Concept Interpretations
Iván Mutis, Raja R. A. Issa, Ian Flood · Proceedings of the Joint CIB W78, W102, ICCCBE, ICCC, and DMUCE International Conference on Computing and Decision Making in Civil and Building Engineering, Montreal, Canada, 14-16 June · 2006
The interpretation of any construction concept during the construction process of a project is performed by reading and integrating or assembling drawings, construction specifications, and other construction documents. Drawings are visual representations of a construction product, while specifications and construction documents are text-based representations. The mapping between these visual representations and the text-based representations is a convoluted or intricate task because it requires complex synthesis and high levels of expertise. Accordingly, the constructor’s interpretation of the construction concept relies entirely on the construction participant’s experience instead of the full, integral interpretations of the available representations of the intended product. Interpretation problems may arise for new or innovative concepts as well as unknown concept components. The purpose of this study is to analyze where the problem resides and propose a strategy that will use a semantic structure to aid the interpretation of representations. Visual representations are elaborated by extension, while text representations are mapped to multiple possible instances by intention. Therefore, the strategy used in this study takes into account the traditional reference problem and adopts a pragmatic approach. This approach fills the gap between the representations and the intended concept by using a semantic structure. This structure is composed of a conceptual base that identifies: the meaning of the concepts; the possible concept perceptions; the pattern of their topological structure; the functional structure; the metaphorical views; the meaning of the associated syntax by pragmatic analysis; and intention of the concept representation.