Designing an adaptive building envelope for warm-humid climate with bamboo veneer as a hygroscopically active material

To address climate responsiveness, most of the envelope strategies experimented by architects so far has incorporated automated high-tech systems, electronic sensors and actuators, increasing our energy consumption. As our climate continues to change concomitant to our reliance on non-renewable energy sources, low-tech passive fagade systems require a more thorough investigation to adapt them for large-scale application. This includes an in-depth focus on sustainable building materials to generate a technologically independent, carbon-neutral building fagade. Materials such as bamboo, due to its hygroscopic nature, undergo constant expansion and contraction with changing levels of atmospheric humidity. From a crafting and construction perspective, this spontaneous dimensional change is seen as an inherent drawback of working with bamboo, with attempts being made to control, or mitigate, the change. But in order to develop a passive system of responsive architecture, it is time we look at the hygroscopic movement intrinsic to bamboo as an opportunity, rather than a challenge, and integrate it within the material performance of architecture itself. This paper looks into bamboo veneer as an adaptive material to help rethink building facades as organic, breathable skins rather than a mechanized barrier between human and nature. The methodology incorporates a series of physical experiments to study the deformation of a bilayer bamboo composite consisting of a bamboo veneer bonded with a clear cellulose film. The film, being non-reactive to climate, amplifies the curving motion of bamboo, along with its return to the initial position. The module was then used to explore different fagade patterns to study the opening and closing mechanism that could potentially generate maximum ventilation. The outcome of the research will consist of a working, demonstrable prototype for a no- tech adaptive fagade pattern that, while undergoing a bio-mechanical response, will perform particular functions including shading and/or ventilation, leading to a truly material-integrated architecture

Volumetric Envelopes: Precast elements in building envelopes

By supplanting survival with comfort, the environmental technologies ultimately increased the dependence of the building design on form and materials, particularly those of its ‘envelope.’ The emphasis on form and materials is best seen in the Brutalism Architecture where the “honesty in structure and material” is exhibited through the envelope. Brutalist is relevant to today’s digital fabrication techniques where materiality and fabrication methods are integrated with the realized building elements. For example, looking at 3D printed concrete, parallel and continuous layers of concrete placed on top of each other can be an indicator of the method, whereas seeing a smooth curved surface in a cast part can be an indicator of employing the molding method. Casting a malleable material such as concrete has multiple steps: creating a positive reference part, conceiving the formwork as the negative of the desired part, then pouring the liquid concrete, and finally demolding the hardened part. By employing 3D printing for creating the formwork, the first step of this process can be eliminated. In addition, limitations that a wood or steel formwork may impose on the part can be lifted. This paper looks at concrete elements used in building envelopes. It also reviews some recent projects regarding the design and fabrication of these modules with an interest in sculptural volumetric elements. It then provides an overview of students’ projects designing a volumetric self-standing shading screen using computational design tools and digital fabrication techniques, specifically 3D printed formwork. The pedagogy investigates challenges that students faced to break away from designing a “brick” mindset to designing topologically interlocking elements. The pedagogy demonstrates the complexities and opportunities that today’s advanced fabrication methods such as 3D printing can offer designers

Integrated open source architectural design for high density housing with computational control and management engineering the paradoxes of chinese housing architecture

Session V (Room D): Methodology IHousing is a collection of individual units based on negotiation between global standardization by the designers and local customization by the users after occupation. Due to the economic, industrial and time constrains, it is impossible to reflect users’ different needs in the design stage for high density housing. In response to this challenge, this research paper argues that the high density housing design can adopt the individual customization by the users in the design stage without paying significantly extra cost, hence the design process could be an open-ended evolutionary and transparent process rather than deterministic execution. To overcome the deficiency in addressing the future uncertainty by different users and the one-off development without the interactive mechanism for users’ feedback in the sub-sequential housing design and procurement, This essay proposes Integrated Open Source Design for Architecture (IOSDA) for housing design practice based on collective data and parametric connectivity between the end users and the designers, discussing how to integrate top-down mechanism with designer’s empirical inputs and the bottom-up ecosystems with users’ participation in high density housing design. IOSDA reflects a different attitude to design the future, which shifts from heroic prediction of the future to engaging the present grassroots, from board proactive reaction to the capacities for new possibilities.postprin

Artificial Intelligence Applied to Conceptual Design. A Review of Its Use in Architecture

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] Conceptual architectural design is a complex process that draws on past experience and creativity to generate new designs. The application of artificial intelligence to this process should not be oriented toward finding a solution in a defined search space since the design requirements are not yet well defined in the conceptual stage. Instead, this process should be considered as an exploration of the requirements, as well as of possible solutions to meet those requirements. This work offers a tour of major research projects that apply artificial intelligence solutions to architectural conceptual design. We examine several approaches, but most of the work focuses on the use of evolutionary computing to perform these tasks. We note a marked increase in the number of papers in recent years, especially since 2015. Most employ evolutionary computing techniques, including cellular automata. Most initial approaches were oriented toward finding innovative and creative forms, while the latest research focuses on optimizing architectural form.This project was supported by the General Directorate of Culture, Education and University Management of Xunta de Galicia (Ref. ED431G/01, ED431D 2017/16), and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via funding of the unique installation BIOCAI (UNLC08-1E-002, UNLC13-13-3503) and the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER)Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/01Xunta de Galicia; ED431D 2017/1

Integrated Dynamic Facade Control with an Agent-based Architecture for Commercial Buildings

Dynamic façades have significant technical potential to minimize heating, cooling, and lighting energy use and peak electric demand in the perimeter zone of commercial buildings, but the performance of these systems is reliant on being able to balance complex trade-offs between solar control, daylight admission, comfort, and view over the life of the installation. As the context for controllable energy-efficiency technologies grows more complex with the increased use of intermittent renewable energy resources on the grid, it has become increasingly important to look ahead towards more advanced approaches to integrated systems control in order to achieve optimum life-cycle performance at a lower cost. This study examines the feasibility of a model predictive control system for low-cost autonomous dynamic façades. A system architecture designed around lightweight, simple agents is proposed. The architecture accommodates whole building and grid level demands through its modular, hierarchical approach. Automatically-generated models for computing window heat gains, daylight illuminance, and discomfort glare are described. The open source Modelica and JModelica software tools were used to determine the optimum state of control given inputs of window heat gains and lighting loads for a 24-hour optimization horizon. Penalty functions for glare and view/ daylight quality were implemented as constraints. The control system was tested on a low-power controller (1.4 GHz single core with 2 GB of RAM) to evaluate feasibility. The target platform is a low-cost ($35/unit) embedded controller with 1.2 GHz dual-core cpu and 1 GB of RAM. Configuration and commissioning of the curtainwall unit was designed to be largely plug and play with minimal inputs required by the manufacturer through a web-based user interface. An example application was used to demonstrate optimal control of a three-zone electrochromic window for a south-facing zone. The overall approach was deemed to be promising. Further engineering is required to enable scalable, turnkey solutions

Performance-based Generative Shape Grammar Method: Energy Efficient Facade Design for Fully Glazed Multi-Storied Office Building - Hot and Humid Climate, Chennai, India

The traditional building form design or form-making is an intuitive design method that is neither efficient nor competent for energy-efficient façade design. The form-making design approach threatens sustainable development in India. This paper discusses the new tread of form-finding, a process in which the framework is set for parameters to interact. It suggests a performance-based shape grammar (PBSG) generative design method for façade finding and evaluates it as an energy-efficient facade design method for FGM office buildings for India's hot and humid climate. A research method to develop PBSG rules for a given project framework was demonstrated by redesigning a case sample site and evaluating the existing FGM office building in the sample site. The PBSG methods in two stages apply multiple rules, first for form-finding and later for façade plane-finding for energy efficiency. It was observed that the SG resultant generated form was 42% more energy-efficient than the existing design using the same envelope materials, HVAC equipment, development regulations, and context. The outcome of this study provides a framework for a generative design process using PBSG in the early design stages and proves to be an energy-efficient design method for India's hot and humid climate

Proceedings of the 9th Arab Society for Computer Aided Architectural Design (ASCAAD) international conference 2021 (ASCAAD 2021): architecture in the age of disruptive technologies: transformation and challenges.

The ASCAAD 2021 conference theme is Architecture in the age of disruptive technologies: transformation and challenges. The theme addresses the gradual shift in computational design from prototypical morphogenetic-centered associations in the architectural discourse. This imminent shift of focus is increasingly stirring a debate in the architectural community and is provoking a much needed critical questioning of the role of computation in architecture as a sole embodiment and enactment of technical dimensions, into one that rather deliberately pursues and embraces the humanities as an ultimate aspiration

What about if buildings respond to my mood?

This work analyzes the possibilities of interaction between the built environment and its users, focused on the responsiveness of the first to the emotions of the latter. Transforming the built environment according to the mood, feelings, and emotions of users, moment by moment, is discussed and analyzed. The main goal of this research is to define a responsive model by which the built environment can respond in a personalized way to the users’ emotions. For such, computational technical issues, building construction elements and users’ interaction are identified and analyzed. Case studies where occurs an interaction between the physical space and users are presented. We define a model for an architecture that is responsive to the user’s emotions assuming the individual at one end and the space at the other. The interaction between both ends takes place according to intermediate steps: the collection of data, the recognition of emotion, and the execution of the action that responds to the detected emotion. As this work focuses on an innovative and disruptive aspect of the built environment, the recognition of the new difficulties and related ethical issues are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio