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sustainability and resilience: socio-spatial perspective
Get PDFSustainability and resilience have become indispensable parts of the contemporary debate over the built environment. Although recognised as imperatives, the complexity and the variety of interpretations of sustainability and resilience have raised the necessity to again rethink their notion in the context of the built environment and to reframe the state-of-the-art body of knowledge.
The purpose of this book is to present ongoing research from the universities involved in the project Creating the Network of Knowledge Labs for Sustainable and Resilient Environments (KLABS). The book Sustainability and Resilience: Socio-Spatial Perspective so begins with the exploration of the broadest conceptual frame-of-reference of issues related to sustainability, and the re-establishment of the connection between the built environment and the conditions that are vital to its functioning, primarily in relation to energy, land use, climate, and economy. Subsequent discussion on resilience as a term, approach, and philosophy aims to conceptualise an interpretation of key resilience concepts, explain relationships and links among them, and propose the classification of resilience as applicable to the context of urban studies.
By studying the processes of transition of the built environment, the book then reveals a coherent formula of ‘thinking sustainability + resilience’ aimed at improving the ability to respond to disruptions and hazards while enhancing human and environmental welfare. The necessity to integrate the two approaches is further accented as a result of a deliberative discourse on the notions of ‘social sustainability’, ‘sustainable community’, and ‘socio-cultural resilience’. The potential of measuring sustainable development and urban sustainability on the basis of defined social, human, and, additionally, natural and economic values is presented through an overview of different well-known indicators and the identification of a currently relevant tangible framework of sustainable development.
Correspondingly, the role of policies and governance is demonstrated in the case of climate-proof cities. In this way, the consideration of approaches to sustainability and resilience of the urban environment is rounded, and the focus of the book is shifted towards an urban/rural dichotomy and the sustainability prospects of identified forms-in-between, and, subsequently, towards the exploration of values, challenges, and the socio-cultural role in achieving sustainability for rural areas. In the final chapters, the book offers several peculiarized socio-spatial perspectives, from defining the path towards more resilient communities and sustainable spaces based on a shared well-being to proposing the approach to define community resilience as an intentional action that aims to respond to, and influence, the course of social and economic change, to deliberating the notion of a ’healthy place’ and questioning its optimal scale in the built environment.
The study of sustainability and resilience in this book is concluded by drawing a parallel between environmental, economic, and social determinants of the built environment and the determinants that are relevant to human health and well-being
Future roles for architects: an academic design guide
Get PDF‘Future Roles for Architects’ describes the core insights from a research project into new role structures in the Dutch architectural sector, conducted as part of the futurA project on “future value chains of architectural services”. For four years a joint team from Delft University of Technology and Radboud University in Nijmegen, working in close collaboration with BNA, the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects, studied the future of the professional roles performed by architectural firms within the broader construction process.
FuturA was one of 23 projects funded by NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, in 2013 as part of the CLICK.NL programme, to strengthen knowledge about and innovation in the creative sector. The objective of this particular project was to better understand changes to the architectural profession arising out of ongoing social trends and the recent financial crisis, as well as to expose opportunities for the future. I believe that we have accomplished that mission very well.
Our professional consortium made up of De Zwarte Hond, EGM Architects, IAA Architects, JHK Architecten, Rothuizen, Ballast Nedam, Havensteder and the Studio of the Chief Government Architect (Atelier Rijksbouwmeester) has been of inestimable value. Twice a year, they helped us to critically examine our findings in “living lab” sessions against their own experiences in leading their own firms and in cooperating with partners in the building sector.
The members of the consortium and various other industry players were also generous in allowed us to gather data in their organisations. In line with the vision behind CLICK.NL — collaboration between curious researchers and entrepreneurial creative professionals — we have really invested jointly in knowledge and innovation to build a strong economy and a sustainable society. For me personally, this has been a most pleasant and inspiring process. I am therefore convinced that we will continue to work together beyond the duration of this project to enhance the innovative capability of the Dutch creative industry.
The architect “as entrepreneur” has long been a largely neglected topic in research on the construction industry. Thankfully, entrepreneurship has now become an accepted concept within the architectural sector. The Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA), for example, has developed many activities in this field. As a team, we are extremely proud of the enthusiasm with which our PhD students Marina Bos-de Vos and Bente Lieftink have foraged for scientific understanding amidst the forest of interesting practical examples and personal experiences in their respective areas of expertise. As a result of their efforts, we have not only been able to gather solid know-how about the creation and capture of professional, financial and use value, but also gained a good understanding of the various role structures within the construction supply chain, as well as the consolidation of changes to them.
This academic design guide for the architectural firm of the future is one of the products of our research. As well as providing theoretical insights into the architectural firm itself and into project collaboration in general, we present four practical role identities that architectural firms can take on within the construction process: “initiator”, “specialist”, “product developer” and “integrator”. The board game with cards accompanying this publication can be used in a variety of ways to stimulate collective reflection about the direction you as a firm want to take with a particular project and about which revenue models and collaborative strategies are best suited to that trajectory.
For each role identity, we present the most crucial professional challenges and opportunities facing the architectural firm as part of the supply chain. This should enable you to design your own role within a given project. But with that our task is complete. From here, it is up to you as a reader of this book and a player of the game to translate the lessons you learn into financially and professionally sustainable roles as an architect of the future
Transformation in Composition: Ecdysis of Landscape Architecture through the Brownfield Park Project 1975-2015
Get PDFThis study enlarges on the notion of composition in landscape architecture. It builds upon the ‘Delft method’, which elaborates composition as a methodological framework from its sister discipline architecture. At the same time takes a critical stance in respect to this framework, informed by recent epistemological developments in landscape architecture such as the site-specificity and process discourses. The notion of composition is examined from a historical and theoretical perspective, before turning to an examination of the brownfield park project realised in the period 1975-2015. These projects emerge as an important laboratory and catalyst for developments in landscape architecture, whereby contextual, process, and formal-aesthetic aspects emerge as central themes. The thesis of this research is that a major theoretical and methodological expansion of the notion of composition can be distilled from the brownfield park project, in which seemingly irreconcilable paradigms such as site and process are incorporated.
By extension, the study elaborates on the disciplinary specificity of landscape architecture as distinct to its sister disciplines architecture and urbanism, propositioning a ‘radical maturation’ of the foundations of the discipline in the period 1975 — 2015, via the brownfield park project. A metaphor for this process is offered by the phenomenon of ecdysis in arthropods (such as the blue swimmer crab), whereby the growth from juvenile to adult takes place in stages involving the moulting of an inelastic exoskeleton. Once shed, a larger exoskeleton is formed, whose shape and character is significantly different to its forebears. The research sketches the contours of a similar ‘disciplinary ecdysis’ in the period 1975-2015, whereby an evolution of design-as-composition praxis in landscape architecture takes place.
In the slipstream of these findings, the research sheds new light on the shifts in the form and content of the city itself in this period, and the agency of the urban park in the problematique of the contemporary urban realm. In the cases studied, the park typology has been able to address problems that much of the traditional apparatus of spatial planning and design has failed to do. By extension, the study reveals that many of the paradigms of urban planning and design are in need of major review in the context of deindustrialization. The urban park typology — in its guise as the brownfield park — also appears also able to shape and qualify larger urban regions. As such, the research highlights the rise of brownfield lands and their impact on the fabric of the city, the life of their inhabitants and the paradigms that dominate urban cultures, in turn fundamentally revising the definitions and agencies of notions such as city, nature and landscape
Sustainable High-rises: Design Strategies for Energy-efficient and Comfortable Tall Office Buildings in Various Climates
Get PDFWith the aim to limit the number of ineffective designs, this dissertation has investigated the impact of architectural design strategies on improving the energy performance of and thermal comfort in high-rise office buildings in temperate, sub-tropical and tropical climates. As the starting-point of this research, a comparative study between twelve high-rise office buildings in three climate groups was conducted. For each climate group, three sustainable high-rises were selected and one typical high-rise design as a reference. The effectiveness of architectural design strategies was compared between the two categories of buildings (high-performance versus low-performance) concerning their potential impact on heating, cooling, lighting and ventilation loads. Certain architectural design strategies were found to be major determinants of energy performance in high-rise buildings. These can be classified under the categories of geometric factors, envelope strategies, natural ventilation strategies, and greenery systems. To quantify the extent to which these architectural design strategies affect energy use and thermal comfort of tall office buildings, simulation studies were carried out.
To quantify the impact of geometric factors on the energy efficiency of high-rise office buildings, performance-based simulations were carried out for 12 plan shapes, 7 plan depths, 4 building orientations and discrete values for the window-to-wall ratio (WWR). The results of the total annual energy consumption (and different energy end-uses) were used to define the most and least efficient solutions. The optimal design solution is the one that minimises, on an annual basis, the sum of the energy use for heating, cooling, electric lighting and fans. The percentile difference - a deviation in the total energy use - between the most and least efficient design options showed the extent to which geometric factors can affect the energy use of the building. It was found that geometric factors could influence the energy use up to 32%. Furthermore, the recommended design options were classified according to their degree of energy performance for each of the climates.
The second group of strategies is related to the envelope design. To quantify their degree of influence, an existing tall office building was selected as a typical high-rise design for each of the climates and the energy use prior and after refurbishment was compared through computer simulations with DesignBuilder. The 21-storey EWI building in Delft, the Netherlands, is selected as the representative for the temperate climate and the 65-storey KOMTAR tower in George Town, Malaysia, for the tropical climate. As part of a sensitivity analysis, energy performance simulations defined façade parameters with higher impact on building energy consumption. A large number of computer simulations were run to evaluate the energy-saving potential of various envelope measures, as well as their combinations. The results showed which set of envelope measures suits each climate type best. Furthermore, it was found that the right combination of envelope strategies could reduce the total energy use of a conventional tall office building by around 42% in temperate climates and around 36% in tropical climates.
One other important difference between conventional and sustainable tall buildings is related to the application of natural ventilation. In this regard, the potential use of different natural ventilation strategies to reduce the energy demand for cooling and mechanical ventilation in high-rise buildings was investigated by using the same validated base models. The results showed that for a naturally ventilated tall office building in the temperate climate on average only 4% of the occupancy hours a supplementary air-conditioning system might be needed for providing thermal comfort during summer. For the tropical climate, the average percentage of discomfort hours (when air-conditioning is required to keep the indoor air temperature within the comfort limits) was around 16% of the occupancy hours during one year. In both climates, natural ventilation strategies could meet the minimum fresh air requirements needed for an office space for almost the entire period of occupancy hours; 96% in temperate climates and 98% in tropical climates.
The last important strategy that is becoming an integrated part of sustainable tall buildings is the use of greenery systems. The effects of greenery systems on the energy-efficiency, thermal comfort and indoor air quality of buildings were investigated by conducting a thorough literature review on five greenery concepts, including the green roof (GR), green wall (GW), green balcony (GB), sky garden (SG) and indoor sky garden (ISG). It was found that greenery systems have a limited impact for reducing the energy use of high-performance buildings. The maximum efficiency of greenery systems was reported during summer and for places with higher solar radiation and when integrated into buildings that have no solar control systems. However, other large-scale benefits for the urban environment (mitigation of CO2 concentration) and building residents (increased productivity and higher well-being) could justify the application of greenery systems as an essential sustainability feature for the design of tall office buildings.
To sum up, the architectural design is a determinant contributor to the performance of buildings and the comfort of occupants. The findings of this research were used to point out climate specific design strategies for tall office buildings in temperate and tropical climates. At the end of dissertation, a proposed model of an energy-efficient and comfortable high-rise office building for each of the investigated climates was illustrated. It is expected that the discussions and recommendations provided in this dissertation could form an acceptable starting point for improvements to tall building design and could be of assistance to make energy-wise decisions during the design process
Occupant behavior and energy consumption in dwellings: An analysis of behavioral models and actual energy consumption in the Dutch housing stock
Get PDFMuch is known about the increasing levels of energy consumption and environmental decay caused by the built environment. Also, more and more attention is shown to the energy consumption of dwellings, from the early design stage until the occupants start living in them. The increasing complexity of building technologies, the occupants’ preferences, and their needs and demands make it difficult to achieve the aimed energy consumption levels. The goal of reducing the energy consumption of dwellings and understanding the share of occupant behavior in it form the context of this research.
Several studies have demonstrated the ‘energy performance gap’ between the calculated and the actual energy consumption levels of buildings, and have explored the reasons for it. The energy performance gap is either caused by calculation drawbacks, uncertainties of modeling weather conditions, construction defects regarding air tightness and insulation levels, or by occupant behavior. This research focuses on the last aspect, i.e. analyzing the relationship between occupant behavior and energy consumption in dwellings, understanding the determinants of energy consumption, and finding occupants’ behavioral patterns.
There are several dimensions of occupant behavior and energy consumption of dwellings: dwelling characteristics including the energy and indoor comfort management systems, building envelope, lighting and appliances; occupant characteristics including the social, educational and economical; and actual behavior, including the control of heating, ventilation and lighting of spaces, and appliance use, hot water use, washing, bathing, and cleaning. Attempting to understand this complexity asks for a methodology that covers both quantitative and qualitative methods; and both cross-sectional and longitudinal data collection, working interdisciplinary among the domains of design for sustainability, environmental psychology, and building and design informatics.
The main question that this thesis deals with is: How much does the occupant behavior influence the energy consumption of dwellings in the Netherlands, and how could we identify the determinants of consumption, as well as the behavioral patterns and profiles?
In order to research this question, the following questions are formulated:
I What is the sensitivity of a dwelling’s heating energy consumption to occupant behavior? (Chapter 3)
What are the existing models developed for the occupant behavior and energy performance relationship? and how different are the results of these models in terms of calculating the influence of occupant behavior on energy performance?
How can behavior be modelled in order to assess the robustness of the energy performance in dwellings to occupant behavior?
What is the weight of each behavioral aspect in terms of its influence on energy consumption?
II What is the influence of lighting and appliance use on the total electricity consumption in dwellings? (Chapter 4)
What are the main direct and indirect determinants of electricity consumption? (Direct determinant: such as number of appliances and duration of appliance use …; Indirect determinant: such as household size, dwelling size, dwelling type …)
How much of the variance in electricity consumption in dwellings can be explained by direct and indirect determinants?
III What are the behavioral patterns and profiles of energy consumption?
What are the behavioral patterns of thermostat control? How do they relate to the household characteristics, revealing behavioral profiles? (Chapter 5)
What are the behavioral patterns of electricity consumption? How do they relate to the household characteristics, revealing behavioral profiles? (Chapter 6)
In this thesis, occupant behavior is modeled in different chapters using sensitivity, correlation, regression, repeated measures, and cluster and factor analyses, based on data on dwelling and household characteristics, actual behavior, and energy use. The structure of the thesis is based on the kind of energy use: heating energy and electricity for appliance and lighting. First, a sensitivity analysis for occupant behavior and heating energy consumption is conducted. Afterwards, determinants of occupant behavior in relation to heating energy consumption is explored through existing research. Determinants of electricity consumption for lighting and appliances are analyzed using correlation and multiple regression methods. In-depth analyses of behavioral patterns regarding heating energy are realized by repeated measures and cluster analyses, and electricity consumption by factor analysis. The research combined deductive and inductive methodologies. In this thesis, the deductive method is defined to operate on the macro level, using cross-sectional data on the dwelling and its systems, and include population data collected with one-time questionnaires and energy consumption characteristics based on yearly bills. The inductive method operates bottom up, applying monitoring and other longitudinal data collection methods and use actual data on thermostat control behavior. Research using inductive and deductive methods display a significant variance in explaining the sensitivity of energy consumption to occupant behavior.
Three datasets were used in this research. The first one is based on data collected in Wateringse Veld in The Hague, and Leidsche Rijn in Utrecht. The data was collected through a questionnaire in the autumn of 2008. The inhabitants were asked to respond to questions regarding the architectural typology, the heating and ventilation systems, the envelope properties of their dwellings, the number and use of lighting and electrical household appliances, and the energy consumption, in addition to the economical, educational and social characteristics of the household and the individual, the presence patterns in the house and in different rooms, the indoor comfort and energy management behavior patterns, habits, hobbies, and health conditions. This dataset consists of 323 dwellings.
The second dataset is comprised of 61 dwellings chosen randomly among the clients of one energy company. The household characteristics are representative for the Dutch average. Data on thermostat control behavior was collected by monitoring during March and April 2011, while a questionnaire was used for an inventory of household characteristics and behavioral attitudes, before the monitoring started.
Lastly, the WoON survey was used as a validation database for the first dataset. The WoON Database of the Dutch Ministry of Housing includes data of 4500 dwellings and is assumed to be representative for the Netherlands. This database includes a household survey, data on occupant behavior, dwelling inspections and reports on energy consumption in 4500 dwellings across the Netherlands.
In relation to the research questions, the main conclusions of this research can be summarized as follows:
Q I: Sensitivity analysis can be used as a method of evaluating the impact of occupant behavior on heating energy consumption. Heating energy consumption of a dwelling is the most sensitive to thermostat control, followed respectively by ventilation control and presence. Both heating energy consumption and the resultant indoor temperature are the most robust to radiator settings, meaning that heating energy consumption and resultant indoor temperature change minimal if the occupants change the radiator control.
Q II: Total appliance use (ownership and duration of use of appliances) is calculated based on the direct detereminants of electricity consumption. DHES (Dwelling, Household, Economic, System) characteristics of dwellings, i.e. household size, dwelling type, the number of showers, use of dryer and washing cycles are the indirect determinants, and the combined model of direct and indirect determinants explains 58% of the variance in electricity consumption.
Q III - 1: Four occupant profiles are identified for heating energy consumption: (1) no pattern, (2) one-off, (3) comforty, (4) controller. The first profile does not have significant common household characteristics, and displays no pattern of thermostat use. This profile requires detailed investigation of the household behaviors. The second profile, ‘one-off’ households pick a single set point over a period of hours (morning, day time, evening, and night time), and this is repetitive during two months. These households can be characterized with higher educated males and gadget lovers, not necessarily interested in energy saving. The third profile, ‘comforty’ households have a thermostat control of more than one set point and intervals, with high temperature preferences, in different days of the week, which is identified as a pattern during the two months. This group is composed of homeowners with a high income and larger dwellings, and are not interested in energy saving, also prefer higher temperatures. Lastly, the fourth profile, ‘controller’ households prefer one or two set point temperatures and intervals, with low temperature preferences, in different days of the week, repetitive for two months. Group four is composed of households with an energy saving agenda, mostly families and sometimes the elderly, where the parents/couples take decisions regarding energy consumption together.
Q III - 2: Behavioral factors of electricity consumption are total appliance use, the use of Information, Communication, Entertainment (ICE) devices, presence, personal hygiene and household cleaning, and energy conservation behavior. Based on these, the behavioral patterns are defined as appliance use, the use of technology / occupant presence, personal hygiene and household cleaning / occupant presence, and energy conservation. The correlations between behavioral factors, and household and dwelling characteristics reveal the behavioral profiles. These are the specific groups of users with corresponding behavioral characteristics: (1) family (couples (sometimes with a kid) with average user behavior), (2) techie (households that possess a lot of ICE devices), (3) comforty (larger households with a higher income that have a high usage of lighting and appliances, as well as heating), (4) conscious (smaller size family, elderly, lower income, higher education households who consume less, as well as owning solar panels, energy saving lamps, etc.). The behavioral patterns and the behavioral profiles are statistically significantly different from each other in relation to electricity consumption.
In relation to the main question; “how much does the occupant behavior influence the energy consumption of dwellings in the Netherlands, and how could we identify the determinants of consumption, as well as the behavioral patterns and profiles?” we could summarize the following:
This thesis has been interested in determining occupant behavior in relation to energy consumption, claiming that the buildings’ energy consumption can be validated in total, only during occupancy, when the design is tested on actual use. Referring to the lack of research, this study combined the deductive (cross-sectional, macro data, macro level statistics) and the inductive methods (longitudinal data, detailed high frequency data, performance simulation), by considering both the determinants of behavior and the actual behavior itself. We found that deductive methods are much faster in calculating and dissecting energy consumption into its factors, such as household characteristics, dwelling characteristics, behavioral aspects, etc; and inductive methods model actual behavior from bottom up experimenting and validating energy consumption levels. In addition, this research has found that the heating energy consumption of a dwelling is the most sensitive to thermostat control, followed respectively by ventilation control and presence. Both heating energy consumption and indoor resultant temperature are the most robust to radiator control. Calculating a regression model on the determinants of electricity consumption, this research has found that using the total duration of appliance use and parameters of household size, dwelling type, number of showers, use of dryer and washing cycles, and presence in rooms, 58% of the variance in electricity consumption could be explained. Introducing behavioral profiles and patterns contribute to the modeling of energy consumption and occupant behavior, this research revealed that household composition, age, income, ownership of dwelling, and education are the most important elements of behavioral profiling.
This thesis addresses occupant behavior in dwellings in the field of sustainability and building energy consumption by using interdisciplinary methodologies, i.e. by combining different modeling and data collection methods. It reveals unknown aspects of the relationship between energy consumption and occupant behavior, and reveals occupants’ behavioral patterns and profiles of energy consumption.
For the energy and indoor comfort engineering industry, the knowledge gained through this research means support for designing systems that are more effective in reducing energy consumption, in addition to influencing users towards energy efficient behaviors. For policy, building industry, and design informatics (particularly simulation based energy performance assessment and design tools), this research illustrates the benefit of considering occupant behavior in early phases of design in renovating existing housing stock and for new housing when aiming for sustainability. Furthermore, this thesis could contribute to the better design and implementation of energy control systems and products. Further research could utilize this knowledge to increase the energy efficiency of dwellings
HyperCell: A Bio-inspired Design Framework for Real-time Interactive Architectures
Get PDFThis pioneering research focuses on Biomimetic Interactive Architecture using “Computation”, “Embodiment”, and “Biology” to generate an intimate embodied convergence to propose a novel rule-based design framework for creating organic architectures composed of swarm-based intelligent components. Furthermore, the research boldly claims that Interactive Architecture should emerge as the next truly Organic Architecture. As the world and society are dynamically changing, especially in this digital era, the research dares to challenge the Utilitas, Firmitas, and Venustas of the traditional architectural Weltanschauung, and rejects them by adopting the novel notion that architecture should be dynamic, fluid, and interactive. This project reflects a trajectory from the 1960’s with the advent of the avant-garde architectural design group, Archigram, and its numerous intriguing and pioneering visionary projects. Archigram’s non-standard, mobile, and interactive projects profoundly influenced a new generation of architects to explore the connection between technology and their architectural projects. This research continues this trend of exploring novel design thinking and the framework of Interactive Architecture by discovering the interrelationship amongst three major topics: “Computation”, “Embodiment”, and “Biology”. The project aims to elucidate pioneering research combining these three topics in one discourse: “Bio-inspired digital architectural design”. These three major topics will be introduced in this Summary.
“Computation”, is any type of calculation that includes both arithmetical and nonarithmetical steps and follows a well-defined model understood and described as, for example, an algorithm. But, in this research, refers to the use of data storage, parametric design application, and physical computing for developing informed architectural designs. “Form” has always been the most critical focus in architectural design, and this focus has also been a major driver behind the application computational design in Architecture. Nonetheless, this research will interpret the term “Form” in architecture as a continual “information processor” rather than the result of information processing. In other words, “Form” should not be perceived only as an expressive appearance based computational outcome but rather as a real-time process of information processing, akin to organic “Formation”. Architecture embodying kinetic ability for adjusting or changing its shape with the ability to process the surroundings and feedback in accordance with its free will with an inherent interactive intelligent movement of a living body. Additionally, it is also crucial to address the question of whether computational technologies are being properly harnessed, if they are only used for form-generating purposes in architecture design, or should this be replaced with real-time information communication and control systems to produce interactive architectures, with embodied computation abilities?
“Embodiment” in the context of this research is embedded in Umberto Eco’s vision on Semiotics, theories underlying media studies in Marshall McLuhan’s “Body Extension” (McLuhan, 1964), the contemporary philosophical thought of “Body Without Organs” (Gilles Deleuze and Fí©lix Guattari, 1983), the computational Logic of ‘Swarm Behavior’ and the philosophical notion of “Monadology” proposed by Gottfried Leibniz (Leibniz, 1714). Embodied computation and design are predominant today within the wearable computing and smart living domains, which combine Virtual and Real worlds. Technical progress and prowess in VR development also contribute to advancing 3D smart architectural design and display solutions. The proposed ‘Organic body-like architectural spaces’ emphasize upon the realization of a body-like interactive space. Developing Interactive Architecture will imply eliciting the collective intelligence prevalent in nature and the virtual world of Big Data. Interactive Architecture shall thus embody integrated Information exchange protocols and decision-making systems in order to possess organic body-like qualities.
“Biology”, in this research explores biomimetic principles intended to create purposedriven kinetic and organic architecture. This involves a detailed study/critique of organic architecture, generating organic shapes, performance optimization based digital fabrication techniques and kinetic systems. A holistic bio-inspired architecture embodies multiple performance criteria akin to natural systems, which integrate structural, infrastructure performances throughout the growth of an organic body. Such a natural morphogenesis process of architectural design explores what Janine M. Benyus described as “learning the natural process”. Profoundly influenced by the processes behind morphogenesis, the research further explores Evolutionary Development Biology (Evo-Devo) explaining how embryological regulation strongly affect the resulting formations. Evo-Devo in interactive architecture implies the development of architecture based on three fundamental principles: “Simple to Complex”, “Geometric Information Distribution”, and “On/Off Switch and Trigger.”
The research seeks to create a relatively intelligent architectural body, and the tactile interactive spatial environment by applying the extracted knowledge from the study of the aforementioned principles of Evo-Devo in the following fashion:
A. Extract a Self-Similar Componential Systembased approach from the “Simple to Complex” principle of Evo-Devo
B. Extract the idea of “Collective Intelligence” from “Geometric information Distribution” principle of Evo-Devo
C. Extract the principle of “Assembly Regulation” from “On/Off switch and trigger” principle of Evo-Devo
The “HyperCell” research, through an elaborate investigation on the three aforementioned topics, develops a design framework for developing real-time adaptive spatial systems. HyperCell does this, by developing a system of transformable cubic elements which can self-organize, adapt and interact in real-time. These Hypercells shall comprise an organic space which can adjust itself in relation to our human bodies. The furniture system is literally reified and embodied to develop an intra-active space that proactively provokes human movement. The space thus acquires an emotive dimension and can become your pet, partner, or even friend, and might also involve multiple usabilities of the same space. The research and its progression were also had actively connected with a 5-year collaborative European Culture project: “MetaBody”.
The research thus involves exploration of Interactive Architecture from the following perspectives: architectural design, digital architectural history trajectory, computational technology, philosophical discourse related to the embodiment, media and digital culture, current VR and body-related technology, and Evolutionary Developmental Biology. “HyperCell” will encourage young architects to pursue interdisciplinary design initiatives via the fusion of computational design, embodiment, and biology for developing bio-inspired organic architectures
Rhine cities - Urban Flood Integration (UFI): German and Dutch Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies
Get PDFWhile agglomerations along the Rhine are confronted with the uncertainties of an increasing flood risk due to climate change, different programs are claiming urban river front sites. Simultaneously, urban development, flood management, as well as navigation and environmental protection are negotiating the border between the river and the urban realm. This produces complex spatial constellations between the river system and the urban realm with a diverse set of interdependencies, where programs have to synergize while adapting to dynamic water levels. Based on an expanding area at risk and the reliance on flood levels to remain within an acceptable spectrum for adaptive measures to be effective, Urban Flood Integration (UFI) involves border negotiations between the river and the urban realm where adaptation and mitigation ideally synergize.
Instead of a scientific approach that reduces complexity in order to reach a verifiable question, a post-normal science approach is chosen as an evaluation and working method applied within this research. The working method relies on literature studies, semi-structured interviews and empirical research through repeated site visits. The general heterogeneity of the case studies regarding their planning structure, status and time scales, data availability and the willingness by the agencies involved to provide usable information shapes the formal research structure.
Part I serves as a narrative for the case study analysis and for the final conclusions and recommendations in Part II. It is made up of three chapters, where Urban Flood Integration is framed historically, theoretically and strategically within the specific geographic context of the navigable Rhine:
Anthropogenic transformations of the Rhine flood plains in the 19th and 20th century have turned formerly wide, often meandering or bifurcating river beds into urbanized embankments along straight, channelled rivers. The perception of the river changed from being dynamic to being controllable. This produced the spatial backdrop for modernist and therefore sectoral developments based on a dialectical relationship between the urban realm and the (river) landscape. Yet, as conversions of former harbours are turning sites outside the flood defence into inner city living quarters, as retention polders are positioned in flood plains with enough damage potential to threaten regional economies, and flood mitigating measures are more viable/effective on site in the middle of the city than in a rural area, site specific negotiations between simultaneous programmatic claims are producing new urban typologies/ecologies that in turn demand and rely on a new methodological approach. Within this research design is considered not only a spatial, but also a strategic tool capable of not only linking different programs, but also different disciplines.
Flood Risk Management along the Rhine today combines river expanding measures and adaptive strategies with the existing defensive system to cope with the risk increase as a consequence of previous interventions and developments and fluctuations in water levels due to climate change. Differences in landscapes and urgencies and differences in planning cultures between the Upper and Lower Rhine and the Delta have also led to different strategic approaches. Within this research the innovative capacity of the adaptive and anticipatory water-based approach in the Netherlands provides lessons to be learned specifically regarding spatial quality as a strategic component of water-related projects.
In Part II, the investigation of two Dutch and two German urbanized water front developments along different river segments of the Rhine according to their synergetic potential, but also regarding the temporal and spatial interdependencies between the river system as a whole, the regional context as well as the actual water front as the project site, aims to examine the following questions: Between adaptive and mitigative strategies, what is the spectrum of spatial constellations between urban development and flood management within the constraints set by navigation and a (partial) restoration of the dynamic river landscape? How are temporal and spatial interdependencies shaping these projects? Relational diagrams show the reciprocations between urban development and river dynamics of each investigated case study and the respective agencies and processes involved. The case study analysis serves as a basis for recommendations for the architectural and programmatic scope of flood-resilient projects dealing with expansive flood management strategies and respectively a strategic design approach addressing multiple scales and programs. Embedded in an exemplary atlas of the respective typology along the different Rhine segments, the four case studies from south to north are:
Karlsruhe Rappenwãrt, a steered retention polder along the meandering Upper Rhine
Mainz Zollhafen, a port conversion with flood adaptive housing along the bifurcating Upper Rhine
Nijmegen Lent, a bypass and urban extension based on a dike set back along the Waal
Dordrecht Stadswerven, an urban development outside the dikes in the Delta
In summary, differences in landscape, threat and political structures have produced different planning cultures in Germany and the Netherlands in terms of flood management. Both Dutch and German mitigation measures remain path dependent on the defensive system. Yet, whereas the Dutch approach to flood mitigation is holistic in an extended ecological sense and specifically includes spatial quality, in Germany, planning flood-related issues remains part of a sectoral approach where spatial quality is not initially included, bit remains an additional layer towards the end of the project. Confronted with a strong ecological lobby, the focus is to restore the former alluvial forest in niches. Of the six programs defined in the ICPR Atlas, forestry seems the only one capable of taking on river dynamics and transforming accordingly over time. All other programs (settlements, industries, traffic infrastructure, and to some degree agriculture, specifically when ecological flooding is taken into account) remain reliant on defensive measures, and in case of their failure, infrastructural support and adaptation measures. They are, however, not included in a design strategy that explores potentialities.
In the light of long-term strategies and programs, the Dutch approach offers a more iterative planning practice that is capable of evolving with the experience gained. Dutch experience and corresponding policy adaptation has further shown that a more permissive planning approach to allow additional programs within Room for the River measures can raise local acceptance and thus reduce negative effects. In Germany, water management agencies avoid projects that could become precedence cases and thus enable repetition. This restrictive approach is a hindrance on the way to larger-scale strategies that rely on pilot projects as testing grounds. The Dutch approach seems to aim for incentives and actually provides them, as the trade-off in the Nijmegen case shows. Moving from a restrictive to a responsive planning approach that includes incentives produces a breeding ground and should always be a central component of any strategy. One of the main findings of this research is, specifically in Germany, the limited availability of information, as well as lacking visualization layers of ongoing programs and projects (which may be an additional indication of the lacking involvement of designers in German spatial flood risk management projects). This research contributes to a broader understanding by providing an atlas of selected flood-adaptation and flood-mitigation typologies along the Rhine between Basel and Rotterdam.
Directly adressing the design practice, this research proposes to move from a spatial to a strategic design approach by
involving architects, landscape architects, urban designers from the initial stage to enable their engagement also in the strategic design of a project;
enabling design to become part of a systemic approach that aims for capacity building and therefore includes ecological, economic and cultural conditions through a transdisciplinary approach;
making the invisible layers visible: Visualize systems/expert information to make them accessible and to enable communication between disciplines;
hosting design competitions in cooperation with local stakeholders bringing people and ideas together to trigger emergence;
applying back-casting strategies to move beyond existing conceptions: design may thus becomes “telescopic” and allow a challenge of existing givens, the visualization of concepts again playing a central role.
Two follow-up research projects are proposed:
Development of Design Guidelines for a river segments approach: Evaluation of ongoing or recent mitigation and adaptation projects, but also other river-related developments (e.g. navigation) in an academic research project to define potential emergent capacities between systemic and qualitative elements. In collaboration with the practice, smaller scale pilots as part of existing mitigation programs on a river segment scale could aim to substantiate the findings.
Cost-Benefit-Analysis Spatial Quality: To substantiate the qualitatively developed argument towards Urban Flood Integration (UFI), a cost-benefit analysis of a transdisciplinary layer that is comparable to the measures defined by the Dutch Quality Team for the German Room for the River, which focus today on ecological rejuvenation vs. spatial quality as a secondary aim.
The final outcome of the following multiple case-study investigation and the typological atlas provided is seen to be valuable for a number of different organizations, such as governmental and educational institutions dealing with the geospecific context and spatial development along the Rhine, representatives from the building sector and venture capitalists, as well as people with a personal interest in ecological urbanism in the context of the Rhine
De toekomstige rol van de architect: een wetenschappelijke ontwerpgids
Get PDF‘De toekomstige rol van de architect’ beschrijft de essentie van onze wetenschappelijke verkenning naar nieuwe rolstructuren in de Nederlandse architectenbranche. Deze verkenning is uitgevoerd in het kader van het futurA project, dat verwijst naar future value chains of architectural services. Vier jaar lang hebben we vanuit de Technische Universiteit Delft en Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen in nauwe samenwerking met de BNA onderzoek gedaan naar de toekomstbestendigheid van de rollen die architectenbureaus in het bouwproces vervullen.
Het futurA project is í©í©n van de 23 projecten die vanuit NWO, de Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, binnen het programma CLICK.NL in 2013 tot stand is gekomen om de kennis over en innovatie in de creatieve industrie te versterken. De doelstelling van het project was om veranderingen in het werkveld van de architect ten gevolge van sociaal-maatschappelijke verschuivingen en de financií«le crisis te doorgronden en kansen voor de toekomst bloot te leggen.
Ik denk dat we daar uitstekend in geslaagd zijn. Ons consortium van De Zwarte Hond, EGM architecten, IAA Architecten, JHK Architecten, Rothuizen, Ballast Nedam, Havensteder en het Atelier Rijksbouwmeester is hierbij van onschatbare waarde gebleken. Twee keer per jaar werden onze bevindingen kritisch tegen het licht gehouden tijdens Living Lab bijeenkomsten, waarbij de consortiumleden op een zeer open wijze hun ervaringen hebben gedeeld over het aansturen van hun organisaties en de drijfveren om met ketenpartners samen te werken.
Daarnaast hebben de consortiumleden en verschillende branchegenoten hun organisatie opengesteld voor het verzamelen van gegevens. We hebben in lijn met de visie achter CLICK.NL - samenwerking tussen nieuwsgierige onderzoekers en ondernemende creatieve professionals - echt samen geïnvesteerd in kennis en innovatie voor een sterke economie en een duurzame samenleving. Ik heb dit als een zeer inspirerend en prettig proces ervaren. Ik ben er daarom van overtuigd dat we ook na de afronding van dit project blijven samenwerken om de innovatiekracht van de creatieve industrie te vergroten.
De architect als ondernemer was lange tijd een onderwerp waar weinig aandacht voor was in de bouw. Inmiddels is ondernemerschap in de architectenbranche een gangbaar begrip. Ook de BNA ontplooit veel activiteiten op dit gebied. We zijn als team uitermate trots dat onze promovendi Marina Bos-de Vos en Bente Lieftink, ieder vanuit hun eigen expertisegebied, met veel enthousiasme wetenschappelijke verdieping hebben gezocht in het woud aan interessante praktijkvoorbeelden en persoonlijke ervaringen. We hebben hierdoor zowel gedegen kennis kunnen vergaren op het gebied van het creí«ren en toe-eigenen van professionele, financií«le en gebruikswaarde, als inzicht gekregen in de verschillende rolstructuren in de bouwketen en het bestendigen van veranderingen hierin.
Ons onderzoek heeft geleid tot de ontwikkeling van deze ontwerpgids die zijn gebundeld in deze wetenschappelijke ontwerpgids voor het architectenbureau van de toekomst. Naast theoretische inzichten over het bureau en de samenwerking binnen een project wordt een onderscheid gemaakt in vier rolidentiteiten van waaruit de architect in de bouwketen kan acteren: de initiator, de specialist, de productontwikkelaar en de integrator. Het spelbord met kaartjes, dat als bijlage beschikbaar is bij deze publicatie, kan op verschillende manieren gebruikt worden om in gezamenlijkheid na te denken over waar je als bureau met een project heen wilt en welke verdienmodellen en manieren van samenwerken daar het beste bij past.
Per rolidentiteit worden de meest cruciale uitdagingen en kansen voor de bedrijfsvoering van architectenbureaus en de samenwerking in de keten weergegeven. Dit maakt het mogelijk om je rol in een project zelf te ontwerpen. Onze taak zit er hiermee op. Het is aan de lezer van het boek en gebruiker van het spel om de opgedane inzichten verder te vertalen in financieel en professioneel duurzame rollen voor de architect van de toekomst
City Rhythm
Get PDFRhythm is fundamental to life. Rhythm can be perceived in the movement of the sun, the moon and the stars. Rhythm makes our hearts tick and defines our breath, in and out. And even the smallest particle in a microbe is part of rhythmic movements. Rhythm in activities is important for culture, for religion, and for sports, schools and hospitals for example. Yet in social situations, social analyses and in social policymaking, rhythm is not considered as a space of analyses or a space of design.
City Rhythm explores the potential of using rhythm analyses in the physical world and related data domain for enhancing social safety in neighbourhoods in the Netherlands. Rhythm in the physical world happens both in space as well as in time. Rhythm in data can connect to location (instead of persons), thus circumventing the issue of privacy. However, because the data addresses specific times and places, nonetheless the data still addresses significant social issues.
Founded in the social sciences, humanities, arts and computer science, the interdisciplinary research team also includes civil servants of six cities in the Netherlands who have engaged throughout the research. With the help of students, nine case studies are carried out.
Building upon methodologies from the social sciences and architecture, it is found that in seven cases rhythm analyses identified new design solution spaces. As a result, a methodology for doing rhythm analyses in the physical world is developed. More theoretical and artistic explorations are carried out. These enable the bridging of experience and insight from rhythm analyses to the data world.
The interdisciplinary research team formulates the basic concept and terminology for the City Rhythm Data Model (CRDM). This consists of beats, base and street rhythms. Beats are defined by the state of specific area at a specific moment in time, As an example of a state, a street might have lots of cars, few cars, or no cars at all. Street rhythms show significant transitions over time for the specific area. The base rhythm of an area is defined by comparison to other areas. These derived rhythms are like a musical meter. In this specific context, individual street rhythms develop. Street rhythms represent a variation around a few specific themes.
The City Rhythm Data Model (CRDM), based on mixtures of hidden Markov models, is built and run with open and linked data from the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) of the Netherlands. Areas can be represented using sizes in different datasets. City Rhythm worked with areas of 500 by 500 meters.
The choice of datasets is defined by mapping upon the YUTPA framework which indicates trade-offs for trust. In the validation session of the City Rhythm Data Model it is concluded that the general experience of social safety of specific areas is reflected in CRDM base rhythms. For being able to understand which specific data constitute a beat (or “state”) and for understanding specific street rhythms, further research is necessary. In conclusion to the one year exploratory study, City Rhythm indicates that rhythm analyses, in the physical world as well as in the related data domain, offer a potential new approach for policymaking
Energy performance progress of the Dutch non-profit housing stock
Get PDFWorldwide, buildings consume a large part of the total energy delivered. In the context of all the end-use sectors, buildings represent the largest sector with 39% of the total final energy consumption, followed by transport in the EU (European Union )1. A considerable percentage of this energy consumption is attributed to the residential sector. The building sector plays a major role in order to meet the energy saving targets set in the EU and in the Netherlands. This is particularly true for existing buildings, because they will constitute the major part of the housing stock over several decades. The renovation activity is expected to be greater than the construction and demolition activity in the future.
Policy targets and regulations are in force at the EU level to ensure the energy efficiency improvement of the building stock. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive ([EPBD] 2002, recast 2010) is the main legislative and policy tool in EU and focuses on both new and existing buildings. At the same time, the building sector plays a prominent role in the Energy Efficiency Directive ([EED] 2012). Relatedly, in the Netherlands, the foundation of energy efficiency policy has been a number of national cross-cutting measures and EU derived policies that play a large role; like the strengthening of standards for new buildings or dwellings and energy labels for existing ones.
The focus of this research is the existing dwelling stock and its energy performance progress. Throughout Europe, national approaches to building stock monitoring have evolved separately. Nevertheless, monitoring the building stocks’ energy performance is gaining attention. Information about the progress of energy performance improvements is not only needed to track the progress of policy implementation, but also better information and data are necessary to help the development of roadmaps towards a more energy efficient building stock.
This research seeks to provide insight into the energy performance progress, of the existing non-profit housing stock in the Netherlands, through the application of energy renovations. The non-profit housing stock comprises 30% of the housing market in the Netherlands and a large part of the policies towards a more efficient housing stock rely on the non-profit housing sector. To that end, we determine the energy renovation rate of the stock and the impact of the applied renovations on both the predicted and actual energy consumption. The difference of predicted and actual energy savings is analysed through longitudinal statistical modelling in renovated and non-renovated dwellings. Based on the knowledge gained on the renovation rates of the non-profit housing stock we compare and evaluate future renovation rates through dynamic building stock modelling and empirical data validation. In essence, we examine the effect that the improvement of thermo-physical characteristics of dwellings has on efforts to make the existing housing stock almost emission-neutral by 2050, as advocated by the European Commission since 2011