Hybrid Environmental-Media Facades

There is significant potential for responsive sun screening systems to improve the energy performance of large scale public and commercial buildings. However there has been minimal uptake, primarily due to the capital and maintenance costs. We propose that these costs can be offset by providing added value in three ways. (1) Development of a finer grained control interface for occupants to enhance individual comfort, which has been shown to improve worker productivity. (2) With a high granularity of panels and a control system that enables individual movement of each panel, the system can be re-purposed as a low resolution media screen to foster social interactions in urban settings. (3) Enabling a new movement-aesthetic for architecture of indeterminate states that coalesce and shift during the daily and seasonal cycles, thus enlivening the public face of architecture. To evaluate the feasibility of such hybrid responsive facades we are developing physical prototypes calibrated to real time simulation and control software. A initial proof-of-concept design explores the optimal configuration and geometry of the kinetic panels to enable the granularity required for a range of graphic and textural information, along with development of the actuator. We document progress to date on this research into hybrid environmental-media façades’

Urban codes : abstraction and case-based approaches to algorithmic design and implications for the design of contemporary cities

This paper reports on a comparative study that evaluates two approaches to support the learning and use of algorithmic design in architecture, and extrapolates from this to consider applications for the algorithmic design of cities. The study explored two methods to reduce the barriers of using programming and potentially improve design performance. The first is the reuse of abstract algorithmic ‘patterns’. The second approach is the reuse of algorithmic solutions from specific design cases (case-based design). Reflecting on this research we outline how our findings discussed in relation to alternate thinking on the use of pattern, might inform a hybrid approach to the algorithmic design of cities

Abstraction versus case based:A comparative study of two approaches to support Parametric Design

We describe an experimental study testing the reuse of design knowledge as a method to support learning and use of parametric design in architecture.The use of parametric design systems and programming environments offer architects new opportunities, providing a powerful means to create geometries and allowing dynamic design exploration, but it can also impose substantial challenges.The proposition tested in this study is that the reuse of design knowledge can improve architects’ ability to use parametric modelling, and reduce the barriers to using programming in a design context.The paper explores and compares two approaches as a means of accessing and reusing existing design solutions: the reuse of abstract parametric ‘Design Patterns’ [1]; and secondly the reuse of parametric solutions from specific design cases (Case- Based Design).This paper outlines the principles and methods of ‘abstract’ versus ‘case-based’ approaches to reuse parametric solutions; and focuses on the results of their practical implementation through the statistical analysis of a comparative study involving 126 designers. In conclusion, it is proposed the outcomes from this study can be applied to inform the methodology for introducing parametric design in architecture and design disciplines

The affordance of virtual reality to enable the sensory representation of multi‑dimensional data for immersive analytics: from experience to insight

Using the theory of affordance from perceptual psychology and through discussion of literature within visual data mining and immersive analytics, a position for the multi-sensory representation of big data using virtual reality (VR) is developed. While it would seem counter intuitive, information-dense virtual environments are theoretically easier to process than simplified graphic encoding—if there is alignment with human ecological perception of natural environments. Potentially, VR affords insight into patterns and anomalies through dynamic experience of data representations within interactive, kinaesthetic audio-visual virtual environments. To this end we articulate principles that can inform the development of VR applications for immersive analytics: a mimetic approach to data mapping that aligns spatial, aural and kinaesthetic attributes with abstractions of natural environments; layered with constructed features that complement natural structures; the use of cross-modal sensory mapping; a focus on intermediate levels of contrast; and the adaptation of naturally occurring distribution patterns for the granularity and distribution of data. While it appears problematic to directly translate visual data mining techniques to VR, the ecological approach to human perception discussed in this article provides a new framework for big data visualization researchers to consider