Global Design and Local Materialization

This inquiry researches the impact of digital tools on the design process and empirically tests the association between computer aided design tools and each of cognition and creativity in architectural practice. The paper analyses the ‘design-tool’ relationship and reviews research in the field of computers as an instrument for creativity, examines their deductions and conducts a case study. Statistical analysis of the case study suggests that three measures of creativity correlated significantly with the length of time a subject spends using the computer in design: rho=0.487, P<0.05 for elaboration of design ideas; rho=0.605, P<0.05, for volume of ideas; rho=0.687, P<0.05, for ideation variety. Also, the length of designer-computer interaction seems to scaffold various forms of design reasoning and help cognition: rho=0.591, P<0.05. The study found little evidence to support the notion that computers prevent other forms of knowing.

This paper presents preliminary results from a pilot protocol study of the cognitive behavior differences of designers in a parametric design environment and a traditional geometry modeling environment. The aim is to explore the impact of the rule algorithm feature in parametric design by comparing designers’ behavior in these two design environments. Three architects participated in the experiment in which each of them was required to complete two design sessions, one in each environment. The protocols are coded using the function-behavior-structure (FBS) coding scheme. Preliminary results show that the overall behavior is not significantly affected by the environment; however, there are significant differences at different design stages in the two design environments.

The research is based on the theory of Space syntax (Hillier and Hanson, 1983). Just as the backbone is essential to compose the human body, two sorts of backbones of the outer spatial configuration of campus are proposed and defined in this thesis. The first is syntactically abstract, which is constituted with the axial lines to represent the relations between the buildings located in campus, and to characterize the essential spatial configuration of campus. The second is a road network which could be represented as a realistic backbone for human activities, and through which human get personal impression and knowledge of outer space of campus. Based on the concept of the backbone, several spatial patterns of campuses are explored and extracted, and the relationships with the spatial cognition and comprehension are quantitatively evaluated.

Parametric design offers a new paradigm in the field of Computer-Aided Design; a paradigm focused on the potential for producing design variations. However, despite this potential, the cognitive activities associated with parametric design are not well understood. The authors of this paper present a formal method for capturing cognitive activities via protocol analysis. To support the interpretation of this method, this paper evaluates creativity implicit in design products by way of a consensual assessment technique. The findings identify two cognitive activities (‘making generation’ and ‘changing existing parameters’) as potential critical to divergent thinking and the restructuring of design components. These activities facilitate the generative aspects of parametric design. The paper concludes with a discussion of three cognitive levels (physical, perceptual and conceptual) that support an understanding of cognitive activities in parametric design.

One of the most important criteria for the performance quality in design is the creativity of the design. Many researchers have developed methods to assess the creativity of product design, but the subjective and qualitative judgments of traditional creativity measurement are proved to lack sufficient validity and reliability. Furthermore, most of the assessment of creativity in design is based on the design outcome instead of the design process. In this paper, we proposed a computational approach of creativity assessment in product design via the combination of the design process and design creativity. We established a method to quantify the design process. And design creativity is rated using the Consensual Assessment Technique. Then the correlation of all the creativity-related factors in the design process and the design creativity will be calculated. Last, creativity assessment formula is proposed based on the factors and the correlation coefficient.

This paper presents the work carried out by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, gathering knowledge in architecture, drawing, geometry, mathematics and computation. The research was directed in order to create a computational tool for architectural visualization - a new digital perspectograph - with the use of a new theoretical and operative approach to linear perspective. A new kind of projection surface, a parametric one, is added to the perspective concept under current tools. The mutations of this surface are explained and a set of graphical outputs is shown. A workshop with architecture students took place to help test and validate the concept and the computational prototype.

This paper proposes a methodology that assesses in real-time the various impacts of the application of a CAD / CAM logic, to assist the designer in making objective considerations about the efficiency of a given manufacturing logic. A forecast of this nature enables the designer with the power to identify and quantify the strengths and weaknesses of a case versus others, and allows him to detect what are the configurations and processes that have potential to be optimized. The next chapters will show how the use of integration of knowledge-based-methodology (KBM) in the implementation of CAM to systematize the selection of different designs and operations, can improve the construction/fabrication practice depending on the fabrication equipment, material selection and other indicators. The adoption of the above-mentioned methodology is particularly pertinent for decision makers, since it can be deployed in a variety of different processes. It harvests information to compare and optimize the manufacture outline, and supports the screening and assortment of appropriate tool paths or combination of fabrication tools based on environmental/cost data, user-specified requirements and context characteristics.

This paper outlines generative strategies for the design of structural layout patterns of columns and beams in reinforced concrete structures based on contemporary local construction practice in China. Following an introduction to constraints and opportunities of this new potential context for generative design application, possible generative strategies are proposed and discussed, with a view to their viability within the local context. The proposed strategies are illustrated in terms of geometry, generative sequence and plausibility of construction and discussed in terms of visual and overall structural merit.

The project’s objective is to study spatial-structural design processes and to support the involved actors; to that end a computational tool so-called Research Engine (RE) has been developed. The RE seeks to fulfill four aims: (1) to study the influence of transformations methods on design instances; (2) to study the influence of transformations methods on the behavior of other transformations methods; (3) to aid in finding “best compromised” or interesting spatial and structural design instances; and (4) to serve as design support tool, providing useful information in early stages of the design process. The paper describes the RE framework and its implementation. Case-studies are presented which showcase the RE’s capabilities and demonstrate that it does fulfill the previously stated aims.

For a long time, robotic arms have been a common sight in many industries. Now, robots are rapidly entering architectural education. Within the past few years, more than 20 architectural faculties throughout the world have set up experimental labs with one or more robotic arms. This paper will discuss the use of robots in education beyond the scope of CNC fabrication, as open interfaces that confront students with problem-solving, geometry, and programming.

This paper presents the design-computation digital fabrication research for a thermoplastic panel technology for housing applications; a high-performance, low-cost building product based on parametric design methodology, glass fiber reinforced composite materials, and numerically controlled robotic fabrication processes. We present a highly integrated schematic design to production workflow, and discuss the potential and challenges of robotic prototyping and fabrication.

This paper examines the implications of digital fabrication techniques on design and tectonics, through the example of a double-curvature glass-brick wall, designed and constructed in the context of ongoing research on modular tectonics by the architectural practice of Archi-Union.

The high level of form complexity posed a great challenge for fabrication and gave rise to an alternate solution: customization and prefabrication of the supporting steel frame through a CNC rod-bending machine output a robust structure which allowed for accurate and fast placement of the bricks, thus minimizing costs, construction time and preserving design integrity. Therefore, the design orientated towards fabrication, and an algorithmic method that took into consideration production parameters was developed to optimize the structure.

Realization of this prototype helps support our methodology for control of complexity in non-standard geometries which is based on adapting the design approach to customized fabrication methods.

Advanced digital fabrication methods are not widely accessible in a developing country like China, where investment in high construction technology is slow and the already known construction methods and manual labour are preferred. The question addressed here is how to put advanced design ideas into practice in developing countries. In order to realize digital architecture in China the fabrication field cannot merely depend on high-technology and avoid low-technological means. The present paper goes through two projects of the Chinese architectural practice Archi-Union to discuss how, through appropriate application of computational technology, digital fabrication revitalizes traditional fabrication techniques, by developing computational aids to traditional construction. In particular, we emphasize the integration of digital fabrication, low-technology and traditional local material.

This paper offers perspectives on emerging trends in materiality and digital fabrication. It explores effects on communication practices and investigates how this changing materiality of data impacts collaboration and interoperability within design and making. Computer numerical controlled (CNC) routing and laser-cutting services are available in most major cities. Affordable kits for 3D printers, CNC routers and DIY KUKA robots are available across the Internet. A considerable part of the attraction of these tools is the ability to fabricate physical goods without detailed fabrication knowledge. We look at this phenomenon through two sets of examples, making furniture with a CNC router and making robots and tangibles with a 3D printer. In our examples it appears materiality remains an important factor throughout the process. We unpick these examples to shed light on how the technology impacts knowledge practices and ways of thinking during design and making.

Accessibility of information for the visually-impaired has greatly benefited from information and communication technologies (ICT’s) in the past decades. However, the interpretation of images by the blind still represents a challenge. Bidimensional representations can be understood by those who have seen at least sometime in their lives but they are too abstract for those with congenital blindness, for whom three-dimensional representations are more effective, especially during the conceptualization phase, when children are still forming mental images of the world. Ideally, educators who work with the visually-impaired should be able to produce custom 3D models as they are needed for the explanation of concepts. This paper presents an undergoing project that aims at developing a protocol for making 3D technologies technically and economically available to them.

This paper presents a system for design and construction of a parametrically designed, structural shell for remote communities. It explains how, through the use of various digital software platforms, a single-layer, structural shell is designed and optimized and subsequently how a series of customized joints can be output for direct digital fabrication. As the customization is focused primary in the joints of the structure, standard dimension, locally sourced structural members can be used. By embedding assembly information onto the physical joints, the system has the capacity to simplify the construction of complex shell structures by workers with basic construction skills. Flat-packed joints can be shipped to remote sites without heavy structural members thereby reducing transportation costs and the overall embodied energy. By lowering cost and simplifying construction of large span structures, the project is intended to extend the benefits of digitally driven design to rural, remote or under-privileged communities.

This paper reports on a research project with the dual aims of 1) linking acoustic simulation to complex custom surface design and 2) realizing a full-scale prototype meeting room within an open knowledge work environment at a very high level of craft, engineering and material specification and differentiation. Here we report on the outcomes of the novel design and materialization processes.

Bi-tonal, or black and white architectural renderings are a common medium to present an architectural design that goes beyond factual representations of dimensions of length, width and height, materials, structure or technical details. They aim to engage their audience with visual aspects as well as emotional reactions. An architectural presentation that is based on a story-telling approach, akin to comic or manga style, adds intangible expressions, which allows communicating key elements as well as concepts, development and overall aspects of a design easily to laypersons and professional alike. This paper presents how designers develop a narrative of their architectural proposals using a bi-tonal visualization and story-telling methodology that communicates design to a wider audience.

This paper describes a conceptual model of smart buildings as ecosystem of lean components. The smartness of a building should be an emergent property of many interacting lean components rather than a pre-programmed coordination of actions. A prototype smart house of software simulation and hardware experiment is presented.

This paper describes work conducted as part of an interdisciplinary research project into new approaches to using computer technology in the early phases of the architectural design process. The aim is to reduce the existing discrepancy between familiar, analogue ways of working in the early design stages and the increasingly widespread use of digital tools in office practice. Taking this as its starting point, a prototype for a design platform was developed. The core of the project is a direct, real-time connection between real volumetric models, an interactive 3D sketching-tool and interactive digital content that supports the design process. The conceptual and technical core of this connection is an integrated object recognition system. In this paper we describe the need for an integrated solution, the underlying conceptual idea and the recognition methods implemented including their respective strengths and limitations.

With the introduction of the internet to the public and the rise of digital technologies we experience a shift in our understanding of space. Mobile devices and ubiquitous computing in urban landscape make the physicality of distance disappear – the modern citizen is digitally connected to everybody at anytime and anywhere. The result of this network is a highly globalized world which effects economy same as personal interests and decisions of its inhabitants. The introduction of web 3.0 with its methods of comment, recommender and voting systems offers a broad platform for people all over the world to share experiences and exchange opinions about an unlimited variety of topics. Global opinions meet local interests.

In this paper we explore the possibilities of using global voting data to enrich locally the modern citizen’s urban walking experience. We describe a new approach to wayfinding by implementing methods of digital recommender systems into the physical world. We investigate Facebook voting data to generate an alternative to the shortest route, as suggested by common route finder systems, in order to maximize the pleasure of an urban stroll. The testing of the system in a real world context together with collected feedback stimulate the discussions.

In residential estate planning, several types of architectural combination space such as surround type, determinant, around the wrong column type and staggered type are commonly used. In this paper, the relationship between them and wind environment are simulated by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) technology. The difference between two kinds of incident angle conditions are analyzed by landscape contrast, as well as the difference between construction plane combination by vertical contrast. General rules of architectural combination space and wind environment are summarized, and it is of significance in guiding the development of ecological energy-saving living environment.

BIM and VR are playing more and more important roles in architecture and engineering design, implementation, management and many other domains. With iceberg 3d structure layout design of an ocean park as example, this paper explores the application of VR and BIM technologies in complex construction projects. In the paper, the laser scanning technology, point cloud processing, BIM model creation based on the Revit software and the specific applications of VR technology are described and discussed.

Existing research which is related to spatial knowledge acquisition often shows a limited scope because of the complexity in the cognition process. Research in spatial representation such as space syntax presumes that vision drives movement. This assumption is only true under certain conditions and makes these models valid only in specific scenarios. Research in human spatial cognition field suggests that the spatial information perceived by the individual is not equal to the visual appearance of the space, a straightforward way to represent this cognition process quantitatively is lacking. Research in wayfinding usually assumes a certain degree of familiarity of the environment for the individual, which ignores the fact that the individual sequentially perceives information during wayfinding and the familiarity of the environment changes during the wayfinding process.

In this paper, a conceptual spatial knowledge acquisition model for architectural space is presented based on the continuous spatial cognition framework. Three types of local architectural cues are concluded to relate common architectural elements to the continuous spatial cognition framework. With all relations in the proposed conceptual model quantitatively described, a computational model can be developed to avoid the aforementioned limitations in spatial representation models, human spatial cognition models and wayfinding models. In this way, our computational model can assist architects evaluate whether their designed space can be well perceived and understood by the users. It can help enhance the way-finding efficiency and boost the operational efficiency of many public buildings.

Interoperability and integration between design, analysis and fabrication in architectural practice allow building façade systems to be increasingly complex and non-standard. As customized building façade systems increase in contemporary buildings, it is important to adopt the integrated design process that aids problem solving and design-making in façade design. The primary goal of this study is to explore the integrated design process that incorporates building information modeling and parametric performance analysis tools in order to understand sustainability opportunities in sustainable façade fabrication. The integration of building information modeling (BIM) and parametric performance analysis tools poses a unique design process whose resolution has the potential to improve sustainability in built environment and façade fabrication efficiency. This paper uses an academic design research project, the Reading Pavilion located in the UNC Charlotte campus, as a case study to investigate the integrated design process of a building façade system, which was supported by quantitative data using BIM, parametric performance analysis, and rapid prototyping tools.

A choice modeling framework for evacuation simulation is needed for a better understanding of the human choice behavior. Facing with the debate between bounded and full rationality, this study builds upon different frameworks and tests them on a same set of choice data collected through virtual evacuation experiment. After comparisons, it is found that there is no significant performance difference between the two kinds of rationality. Additionally, an algorithm comparing pairs of alternatives in choice process performs much better than an algorithm evaluating individual alternatives. An improved utility maximizing model framework and an overall performance decline similar as the forgeting curve are proposed. Finally, it is concluded that the proposed choice model comparing pairs with its great robustness under varying number of alternatives is a proper choice for evacuation simulation.

Residential land development requires compact and intelligent growth in order to conserve land, especially in countries such as China with a large population but little usable land for built environment. This should not be done at the expense of public green space. Living density is an important issue that cannot be avoided in the urbanization process. This research uses Spatial Form Compact as the goal of trying to support the residential regulatory plan. A prototype site has been chosen to optimize the layout. Suppose the type of residential building had been decided and FAR is given as a premise. This method allows the arrangement of residential buildings to be compact and leads to more available space for concentrated green area, for example parks or other facilities. The BL-based method of genetic algorithm and VB program is used for the optimization and calculation of the prototype. The arrangement of residential buildings which is done by computer in this period is only used to explore the relationship between FAR and reasonable building layout. In order to guide the real construction of the building, the site plan should be done further elaborately under the guidance of regulatory plan by the developer and urban planner.

The complexity of the requirements on buildings is continuously increasing and thus, often confronting designers with interdisciplinary problems, reaching far beyond the traditional challenges and methods of architecture and engineering. Moreover, designers are often required to take decisions, when most of the information and knowledge is still missing or to be generated. In the context of sustainable building design, the re-usability of building elements and the optimisation for exchangeability is crucial for the achievement of two of the main goals: efficient use of material resources and waste reduction.

The scope of this work in progress is describing requirements for case-based decision support in order to optimise building element re-usability, create an analysis of explicit re-usability indicators (e.g. “connection liberation”, “modularity” or “life span collision”) and to identify retrieval strategies. A proposal to support decision making processes by retrieving existing design solutions graph representations as well as the use of building information models are also described.

Outdoor thermal comfort for pedestrians becomes important issues in urban planning affecting everyone’s daily lives. Mean Radiant Temperature (

T

mrt

) is one of the most important parameters in micro climate. In this study, we built a computerised model with variable and typical building types. Then a radiation model SOLWEIG was used to simulate pavements’

T

mrt

spatial variations. We analysed and discussed the simulation results by comparing different building types. We used RayMan to find some relationship between thermal comfort index PET or PMV. Our finding can act as a reference for architects and planners to make design decisions on quantifying the thermal comfort in specific urban environment and their building types.

I have conducted a study to explore aerodynamic performance as a driver for skyscraper design, utilizing up-to-date parametric design and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technologies readily available to architects. Previous scientific research has suggested strategies in modifying the form of skyscrapers for the purpose of improving their aerodynamic performance. I have incorporated six of such strategies into parametric design tool to produce a matrix of 60 prototypes. These prototypes are subjected to qualitative and quantitatively evaluation iterations to yield the most optimized design, with considerations given primarily to aerodynamic performance, and secondarily to structural robustness, program potential, and image attractiveness. The selected design option is further developed into a skyscraper concept. A multi-staged aerodynamic performance-driven design process is the most important result of the study. In addition, two valuable insights have been obtained: first, to inject a new inspiration into the design of skyscrapers, I have implemented the Multi-Disciplinary Optimization (MDO) methodology from the aerospace industry. Second, I am able to support form-generation parametric design by quantitative evaluation process.

The paper presents an architectural concept and design method that investigates the use of dynamic factors in evolutionary form finding processes. The architectural construct, phenotype, is based on a brick assembly and how this can be organized based upon material properties and environmental aspects selected from the factors used in the Fanger equations to determine perceived comfort. The work finds that the developed method can be applied as performance oriented driver, while at the same time allowing diversity and variation in the architectural design space.

Since 1960s there were many models for architectural layout planning which formulated design activities as problem-solving. On the other hand, various form-finding models had emerged after 1980s. The former seeks the necessity of architectural modeling as an objective science, while the latter encourages the contingent characters of individual modeling. This paper proposes a method of integrating the two families of models. A commutation channel is defined thus every member in one family can work with any member in the other. Therefore the models of architectural layouts can “multiple” the models of 3D forms, which leads to rich variety of architectural structures and forms. The method is implemented and tested in Java.

The resolution of architecture is a measure of the spatial density of information inherent in a building. This paper demonstrates how the confluence of advances in computational design and additive manufacturing has recently led to a paradigm shift in potential architectural resolution. Buildings can now be designed and fabricated with elements at the threshold of human perception. This resolution can be used to replicate existing architectural styles ever more efficiently and accurately. Yet as with the introduction of other new technologies, architects must now explore the latent potentials and determine what kind of new architectures become conceivable. Specifically, what architectures can adequately express this enormous resolution and the unlimited geometric complexity within reach? With the project

Digital Grotesque

, we present the first human-scale, enclosed structure that truly exploits these opportunities. Algorithms are used to articulate and orchestrate the geometry from the macro scale down to 1mm small details. The structure is enriched with local information at a previously unseen resolution. A unique language of form is developed that transcends rationality and celebrates spatial expression: a digital exuberance.

Free-form surfaces construction has been limited to the possibilities of graphical and constructive control. In a few years we have seen an important development of control of the form through digital graphic technology, software and hardware that allowed truly spectacular constructions. A significant researching way not only in architecture, but also in engineering even in sculpture, has been the adaptation of free forms through developable surfaces using different systems, many based on differential geometry. Reinterpreting some topics of projective geometry that allows the use of certain CAD software, jumping from the physical to the digital drawing system, has been developed a method allows the adaptation of free forms through developable surfaces using apparent contours that we can draw over these free form surfaces. Trough using them we can trace two types of developable surfaces as cones and cylinders that are touching the surface tangentially to this contours.

The paper presents a critique of the Shape Grammar paradigm viewed through the lens of the incompleteness theorem of Gödel. Shape Grammars have been extensively researched through many lenses. Their productive systemic nature was the focus of the first papers along with more recent treatises in the field while their use in analysis of known building styles has been extensive and a proven mechanism for style analysis. It is surprising though that use of Shape Grammars in actual design in practice however has been minimal. The architectural community has not actively used the paradigm in the design of real buildings, probably because of the rigid analytical approach to style and rules, following from the academic analysis that the paradigm has been subjected to. However I propose that there is another underlying reason, other than the rigid approach to construct a Shape Grammar. The nature of the concurrent application and creation of the rules lies close to the incompleteness theorem of Gödel, that uses a multitude of Turing Machines to prove that a from a set of True Axioms -A- we will never be able to determine if all sentences are true, without having to invent new axioms, outside the initial set -A-, thus unproven in terms of their true or false nature. Negation of this possibility drives us to the conclusion that true Design can never be feature -complete and thus can never be placed in a trusted framework that we all agree or believe it to be the complete truth.