Biophilic urban developments following dynamic flows of tree-shaped architectures

Latest theories and practices in Biophilic designs of the urban space regard the urban fabric as being composed of several interrelated layers of energetic structure influencing each other in a non-linear manner primarily. The interaction between two or more interfaces of the urban space layers evolves into new and non-predictable properties. Evolution and creation of new boundaries/interfaces follows laws related to fractal growth; most of the times this particular evolution is defined by laws of physics, such as Thermodynamics and Constructal Law. Designs that do not follow these laws may produce anti-natural and hostile environments, which do not fit into human beings’ evolution, and thus, fail to enhance life by all means. The author of this paper should like to illustrate how new developments of urbanism worldwide currently work upon conceptual and town planning models based not only upon cutting-edge technology, but also upon natural laws and patterns of life and human behaviours strictly related to flaws and movement dictated by natural phenomena. When abrupt interruption of the urban structure has occurred, a consequent design solution does not even guarantee flowing and freedom to morph. It is impossible to create harmonic designs which naturally “unite the animate with the inanimate”, as Adrian Bejan and Sylvie Lorente affirm, whenever urban sprawl fails to encompass Biophilic solutions related to tree-shaped architectures. The author argues that Constructal invasion into the urban space “as fundamental problems of access to flow: volume to point, area to point, line to point, and the respective reverse flow directions” can only guarantee high standard quality of life in either contemporary or future cities developments

Designing digital technologies and learning activities for different geometries

This chapter focuses on digital technologies and geometry education, a combination of topics that provides a suitable avenue for analysing closely the issues and challenges involved in designing and utilizing digital technologies for learning mathematics. In revealing these issues and challenges, the chapter examines the design of digital technologies and related forms of learning activities for a range of geometries, including Euclidean and co-ordinate geometries in two and three dimensions, and non-Euclidean geometries such as spherical, hyperbolic and fractal geometry. This analysis reveals the decisions that designers take when designing for different geometries on the flat computer screen. Such decisions are not only about the geometry but also about the learner in terms of supporting their perceptions of what are the key features of geometry

Texture descriptor combining fractal dimension and artificial crawlers

Texture is an important visual attribute used to describe images. There are many methods available for texture analysis. However, they do not capture the details richness of the image surface. In this paper, we propose a new method to describe textures using the artificial crawler model. This model assumes that each agent can interact with the environment and each other. Since this swarm system alone does not achieve a good discrimination, we developed a new method to increase the discriminatory power of artificial crawlers, together with the fractal dimension theory. Here, we estimated the fractal dimension by the Bouligand-Minkowski method due to its precision in quantifying structural properties of images. We validate our method on two texture datasets and the experimental results reveal that our method leads to highly discriminative textural features. The results indicate that our method can be used in different texture applications.Comment: 12 pages 9 figures. Paper in press: Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Application

Graphic design + biomimicry

GRAPHIC DESIGN + BIOMIMICRY: Integrating Nature into Modern Design Practices is a thesis that explores how to effectively integrate the methodologies and principles of graphic design and biomimicry. The objective is to create an innovative design process resulting in successful, sustainable and timeless design solutions. This process is meant to remind designers of the benefits nature has to offer in helping us solve many of the problems that society is currently grappling with today. Nature over 3.8 billion years has already used its imaginative prowess to find what works, what is appropriate, and most importantly, what lasts here on Earth. The final print application acts as a resource guidebook cataloging all of the research, processes, and findings throughout the documentation of this thesis. This includes the indirect method; applying nature\u27s fourteen design principles with the fourteen universal design principles and elements, as well as the direct method of the biomimetic design process; applying the six stages: (1) Defining, (2) Analyzing, (3) Observing, (4) Selecting, (5) Implementing, and (6) Evaluating. Each chapter within the resource guidebook is defined by each stage in the graphic design + biomimicry process. Informational charts, diagrams, text and photographs are also included throughout to enhance user comprehension of the subject matter that is presented. Overall, this thesis is meant to encourage designers to think differently, forcing themselves to innovate, experiment, push and adapt their designs further than ever before. The objective at hand is to create good design that also has the potential to do good, for the world and everything that encompasses it. We are on the cusp of great change: will designers curl up at the thought of this or embrace this new mode of thinking and biomimetic mindset to help shape a positive future for design, people, and most importantly, our planet

Surveying Computer Graphic Trends

Computer graphics is a new tool for the visual artist. Historic and educational theories and facts outline the rapid growth of the medium and how it has become an essential tool for educators, researchers and businesses. Business applications remain at the periphery of computer graphic applications, but are included in the general trend of the new medium\u27s development. Visual art generated through computer graphic imaging is exemplified in the work of artists: Barbara Nessim, computer graphic student, Jim Squires, and the team of computer graphic artists, Richard Chuang and Glenn Entis. Nessim is a career graphic designer and artist, who only recently chose to explore the computer graphic medium. Jim Squires is a student of computer graphic art who generates images by writing programs for that purpose. The team of Chuang and Entis generates animated computer graphics in its own studio, Pacific Data Images, for commercial purposes. An overview of how each artist works, and what considerations must be made in generating these images, gives an understanding of the general trends prevalent in the computer graphic field. A type of shape called a “fractal” is discussed to illustrate the importance these shapes have in computer imaging. Fractals had little importance for any discipline until they could be generated on the computer screen. Their relevance to the analysis of chaotic shapes in nature has opened a whole new realm of study for disciplines such as mathematics, ecology and meteorology, among others. The computer graphic field is a new and essential by-product of the computer revolution. The discipline is important for visual artists because it is a virtually unexplored medium that has great potential

Art reshaping space

In the attempt to create interactive architectural space, biomorphic design principles and theories have been applied to develop forms derived from nature. The experience of a space is developed through the use of patterns and surfaces, which have historical importance in architecture and design. Patterns have created unique identities for space throughout history, contributing to the perception and interactive nature of space. Therefore, this use of pattern develops a variety of different applications in the field of architecture; in this case it is the design and development of a wall used for the creation of boundaries within a space through the pattern's articulation of surfaces. These surfaces create a physical entity within a space, primarily forming the perception of limits that make up the wall system by defining two or more distinct spaces within the area. The biomorphic design of the wall system integrates the uses of forms and patterns found in nature with the inherent human attraction to natural elements. Evidence supporting human affinity for nature uncovers features of natural forms that are both stimulating and beneficial to the user. The visually interactive qualities of the wall system will provide spatial cues that influence the perception and resulting behavior within the environment

SentientWorld : human-based procedural cartography - an experiment in interactive sketching and iterative refining

This paper presents a first step towards a computer-assisted design tool for the creation of game maps. The tool, named Sentient World, allows the designer to draw a rough terrain sketch, adding extra levels of detail through stochastic and gradient search. Novelty search generates a number of dissimilar artificial neural networks that are trained to approximate a designer’s sketch and provide maps of higher resolution back to the designer. As the procedurally generated maps are presented to the designer (to accept, reject, or edit) the terrain sketches are iteratively refined into complete high resolution maps which may diverge from initial designer concepts. Results obtained on a number of test maps show that novelty search is beneficial for introducing divergent content to the designer without reducing the speed of iterative map refinement.This research was supported, in part, by the FP7 ICT project SIREN (project no: 258453).peer-reviewe