How non-designers understand the architecture design project: a comparative study using immersive virtual reality

This study focusses on how people who are not familiar with the traditional methods used to represent architecture understand architecture design projects. The main objective of the study was to assess the client's level of comprehension of a design project presented using traditional representation methods in comparison with a method based on the use of immersive virtual reality. Two experiments were conducted, involving architects, design projects and real clients. In both experiments an architecture design project was presented using two different methods: i) the traditional method, ii) the immersive method, using virtual reality, viewed by means of a Head Mounted Display. The results were used to address the questions posed during the study regarding comprehension of architecture design projects. They confirmed the hypothesis that individuals who are not familiar with architectural representations have a better and more accurate perception of a project after viewing it using immersive virtual reality rather than looking at technical drawings, renders and scale models.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Developing and assessing shape grammar design systems

The ongoing and future research focus on the developing and assessing shape grammars design systems for architecture. The work started by the join paper from Eloy (ISTAR-IUL), Vermaas (TU Delft) and Andrade (ISTAR-IUL) (Eloy, Vermaas, & Andrade, n.d.) where the quality of designs generated by shape grammar systems with designs created by professional architects was compared. In this work authors collaborated in defining and analysing an experiment in which evaluators rank the quality of preliminary designs for refurbishing Lisbon’s Rabo-de-Bacalhau apartments, and that makes plausible that the design quality of the grammar solutions for this task is similar to that of the designs of the professional architects. It was argued that shape grammars can therefore be used as stand - alone design systems in architecture. The practical value is that shape grammar systems become alternative means to take up design challenges (such as refurbishing all of Lisbon’s Rabo -de-Bacalhau apartments) that currently require too much effort of architects to be economically feasible. In the scope of the developed work the three authors joined a consortium composed by TU Ghent, ISCTE-IUL, TU Delft, SWAP, MVRDV, ARUP and Caramel for a call proposal to H202 0 ICT-20-2017. The proposal project aims at bringing out creative architectural design content as smart digital data, and making this data effectively re - usable across different use - cases, offices and purposes. The project shall create a design engine that can work with given datasets and shape grammar rule set s to generate diverse alternative design solutions. The designs generated by the engine are customized since they responds to specifically selected architectural design language, to building regulations and to a particular architectural design brief. In this H2020 proposal the team of ISCTE-IUL was composed by Eloy, Andrade and Lopes. Within the project workplan the task and collaboration between the ISTAR group was the following: Sara Eloy tasks were related to architectural design and shape grammar design rules definition, Pedro Faria Lopes collaborated on the interface design and tests, Marina Andrade was part of the team for developing the experimental settings and performing statistical analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Customizing mass housing: a dual computer implementation design strategy based on shape grammars

This research aims at developing a system for automatic generation of designs that allows housing customers to participate in the design of their house by using mass-customization design. The proposed system is based on shape grammars and will allow future owners to acquire houses that fit their needs while simultaneously complying to a language of design (Stiny 1980). Such a system will enable to deliver design solutions with quality (Eloy et al. n.d.) and at affordable prices improving satisfaction of clients and their quality of living. The system encodes knowledge on housing design principles (sizes of rooms, types of rooms and there preferable connections) as well as in the construction techniques that underlies the shape composition principles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Digital technologies in architecture and engineering: Exploring an engaged interaction within curricula

This chapter focuses on the development and adoption of new Multimedia, Computer Aided Design, and other ICT technologies for both Architecture and Computer Sciences curricula and highlights the multidisciplinary work that can be accomplished when these two areas work together. We describe in detail the addressed educational skills and the developed research and we highlight the contributions towards the improvements of teaching and learning in those areas. We discuss in detail the role of Digital technologies, such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Multimedia, 3D Modelling software systems, Design Processes and its evaluation tools, such as Shape Grammar and Space Syntax, within the Architecture curricula.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Multimodal interaction with BIM data in immersive virtual reality

In this paper, we combine the potential brought by BIM standards to AEC processes, with the recent trends and results taken from human-computer interaction (HCI). As a result, our system supports the visualization and interaction with 3D BIM models of buildings, at full scale in an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment, using natural and multimodal HCI, namely, combining gesture with speech. We´ve carried usability and user satisfaction evaluation with a panel of architects, engineers and architect students and our research shows that such an environment allows a deeper understanding of the work throughout the design process and improve the communication between AEC specialties, during design briefs. We have concluded also, that our technology offers great benefits during all the stages of design, from the initial phase of conceptual design until the detailed stages up to the construction work. The practical experimentation of our in-house developed system, was possible by taking advantage of the virtual reality facilities of ISCTE-IUL, namely, its PocketCAVE lab.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Shaper-GA: automatic shape generation for modular house design

This work presents a Genetic Algorithm (GA) approach to produce automatic designs for modular houses: Shaper-GA. A set of architectural design rules defining a language of design is incorporated into the GA fitness function. When possible genetic drift or local convergence might be occurring, the method starts an adaptive mutation rate to overcome fitness stagnation. The GA tool efficiently produces several layout solutions obeying the design rules and further placement constraints. Such a tool can be integrated into an appropriate user interface allowing future house owners to customize their own house or construction companies to answer client's' requirements while complying with a language of design.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Wood mass-customized housing: A dual computer implementation design strategy

This paper reports our current research on automatic generation of houses layouts according to future inhabitant's requirements. For that generation we propose the use of a design method based on shape grammars that encodes light wood frame construction guidelines. Two different implementations for the design system are presently under development. One based on shape grammars supplemented with procedural knowledge and another using a genetic algorithm. Both implementations allow the generation of house layouts that fulfill both the user requirements and the design language.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Alternative shaper: a model for automatic design generation

This paper discusses the formalization of Alternative Shaper, a Spatial Grammar supplemented with procedural knowledge for supporting design generation. The nondeterministic process style perspective supports an exploratory and flexible specification of designs and the use of predicates relating shapes allow the confirmation of shape spatial restrictions on design processes. Although simple at this stage, Alternative Shaper actually offers interesting potentialities on design generation that may be improved soon with convenient abstractions.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

ARch4maps: A mobile augmented reality tool to enrich paper maps

This paper describes an augmented reality app running on a Windows tablet that recognizes image features on a city paper map and overlays, in real-time, digital content related to the relevant buildings of the city. The system register in 3D the location of those buildings in the map, enriching the user experience with several multimedia information per building: image, text and 3D models which can be explored in detail in an included BIM viewer. Displayed buildings can be queried and filtered by associated meta-data such as decade, author, conservation, etc. The main target users of this system are tourists or users interested in architecture or history. Our usability evaluation study conducted with several users shown that our app increase the scope of applicability of a paper map.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analysing people's movement in the built environment via space syntax, objective tracking and gaze data

In this paper we use analysis tools from Space Syntax and objective observation of the human behaviour, to understand the impact of landmarks in the walking patterns of users of spaces. Our case study was a large exterior public open space (University Campus), in which participants could walk freely and simultaneously be tracked by several sensors. We carried Space Syntax analysis for this space, and then collected Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking information and used a mobile eye-tracking device to acquire eye gaze information. The collected data allowed us to map and analyse each subject behaviour in the public space. A more specific analysis was done to four selected landmarks that, according to the Space Syntax analysis, were the ones with higher integration values. Results indicate that landmarks with such higher integration values show also a larger count of fixations and saccades of gaze interaction.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio