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Environmental Indicators for Building Design: Development and Application on Mexican Dwellings
Get PDFThe ultimate goal of building and construction — in relation to environmental issues — is to construct in an environmentally neutral way; or, as the Brundtland Report states, to consume in such a way that our children have the same choices that we have. Construction will always be needed, and will always consume resources. But in accordance with the conditions of the Brundtland Report, we should move construction into a direction that does not deplete resources, and does not worsen living circumstances through harmful indoor or outdoor environmental effects. Improving our efficiency in resource consumption is the only way in which we will be able to continue our current way of life. It has been calculated that in order to (only) maintain the world average lifestyle a factor 4 of improvement in efficiency of resource consumption is necessary, based on global resource availability, effects on climate change, and coping with growing welfare for developing countries. Measuring a factor x improvement heavily relates to the chosen benchmark. Building activities will always require some environmental load: the mere fact of living already implies use of earthbound resources, so it is generally not very efficient to calculate emissions and other effects in an absolute way. The ultimate target is not to avoid resource use at all, but to use only “reproductive resources” (“regrowable, renewable and replaceable”) to create a balanced situation. When this is achieved, we will still use resources, but usage will be sustainable: it can be maintained well into the future. In developing an approach for assessing sustainable building, the Three Step Strategy (in the Netherlands named Trias Ecologica) has proven to be useful. This publication takes a detailed look at this Strategy
Shanghai Pudong: Urban Development in an Era of Global-Local Interaction
Get PDFThis publication concerns large-scale urban area development in general, and in particular with gaining an understanding of the role played by global-local interaction in shaping the area development strategies in one particularly explosive urban project, the development of Shanghai’s Pudong New Area. The Pudong development provides an extreme example of a situation in which interaction between global and local forces took place in a location whose boundaries had been closed to the outside world for almost forty years and in a period when doors and windows were beginning to open. The research led to a concrete interpretation of the tensions developing at district level and provided an example capable of representing the complexity and dynamics of current area developments. The practical question addressed by the research was: What were the main factors responsible for the speed achieved by the Pudong development? The associated theoretical question was To what extent did the development of the Pudong New Area reflect the characteristics of a developmental state
Learning from co-housing initiatives: Between Passivhaus engineers and active inhabitants
Get PDFFollowing the UN world summits on Climate Change (Paris 2015) and Habitat (Quito 2016), most European cities assume an active role to implement internationally agreed goals related to climate change, translated in the so-called New Urban Agenda. At the same time, the urban housing market is increasingly inaccessible for low- and middle-income households. To overcome problems such as failing housing supply and high energy-bills, groups of residents take initiatives to create and manage housing projects collectively; these initiatives are further indicated as ‘co-housing’.
The aim of this study is to create deeper understanding of the current rise of co-housing in Europe, and what it could mean in urban policies addressing energy transition and climate change. There are two domains where co-housing can become an important asset for urban development: design and maintenance of (semi-)public space for climate change mitigation, and the transition to a circular metabolism in housing. Based on empirical data, this thesis concludes that co-housing projects present relevant models and approaches for reducing the energy consumption and for integrating renewable energies in the general housing stock. Engineers can learn from co-housing pioneers to advance the targets for energy-transition and further develop sustainable cities.
The thesis contributes to the emerging body of knowledge with a new understanding of co-housing, analysing its ‘key-features’ with an interdisciplinary framework, in a European context. It adds a new perspective to existing co-housing research, which is dominated by social sciences, by drawing attention to the physical characteristics of co-housing, produced in architectural, planning and engineering processes (the technosphere). The choices made during design and building are not only shaped by the residents’ aims and perception of sustainability, but also influenced by technosphere-related institutions, such as the building-components industry, energy or waste networks and providers, and planning regulations. The professional partners for the projects, such as housing associations and engineers, are equally affected by the institutional context, but their position is different from that of residents. They may for example be more anchored in governmental or professional regulations.
To structure this dynamic, the research distinguishes three interrelated aspects:
ACTORS / involved in the (realisation of) projects: social practices of residents and their professional partners in co-creation.
CONTEXT / the structural forces surrounding the projects, specifically the macroinstitutional regimes. This also includes culturally determined interpretations of sustainability, technology, participation, societal roles, sharing, and so on.
TECHNOSPHERE / specifically building technology and utilities, focussing on energyrelated design and engineering of the co-housing projects.
The thesis is primarily based on qualitative methods, as it found that reliable quantitative data are as yet unavailable. Looking for effective low-impact energysolution in co-housing, quantitative data remain however necessary and this thesis elaborates on pitfalls and possibilities for their accumulation. Empirical material from Dutch case-studies form the core of the research. Examples were also taken from countries where the re-emergence of co-housing is most visible and articulate: Belgium, France, Germany, the UK and Switzerland.
Co-housing continues to develop and gain experiences with competences, such as communication skills and the ability to work cross-disciplinarily. The building industry and engineering professions increasingly call for such capabilities, but resident-led urban development have not yet entered the urbanism and engineering curricula. Therefore, opportunities should be provided for future professionals not only to acquire such capabilities but also to address fundamental questions related to residentinvolvement and democracy. This will enable future professionals to create a balance between ‘bottom-up’ articulated needs on the quality of living environments with large-scale investments in new urban energy, mobility and mutual care networks
Imagine: Reimagining the envelope
No full textThe renovation of buildings which are past their prime can no longer be regarded as a necessary evil that costs money and causes inconvenience. Increasingly, it is being acknowledged that to renovate a building and its façade, also known as the ‘envelope’, can hold out great advantages. Not only does it improve the quality of life and the performance, it can save energy and increase the building’s market value. This makes renovation an interesting proposition for owners, users and architects alike. The façade research group at the Delft University of Technology, working with the Dutch façade builders’ association VMRG, carried out a three-year research project that yielded a number of basic requests, strategies and practical examples which it then developed together with several enlightened companies. Reimagining the Envelope reports on this exchange of ideas between science and practice. The result is a variety of strategies for renovating the envelope and examples of successful projects. It also presents a number of far-reaching design ideas. 
Imagine: Façades
Get PDFFaçade technology of the 20th century is related to the dissolution of the massive wall into a separation of structure and façade. Looking at the development of façade technology, after 60 years of curtain wall systems, 30 years of element-façade systems and ten years of experience with the integration of environmental services in double façades, it can be concluded that the peak of optimisation has been reached. No further technical developments can be expected by continuing to apply extra layers for each additional technical function. Understanding façades - or better envelopes - as part of an integral building, we have to see that creating the future envelope has to be done on a ’network’ basis: employing systems - but also methods of thinking - which provide the possibility to develop different aspects simultaneously and combine them as required. The envelope has to be seen as a functional part of the entire building, serving a part of the demand by providing the necessary technologies and qualities. In this regard, we have to withdraw from material and structure-orientated thinking and construction — we have to develop the envelope as a hybrid system: materials, technologies and production processes have to be integrated into the summation and combined into an all-encompassing result. Façades comprise various themes covering strategic, material and technological developments. Aspects such as function integration, networking of elements, new structures and materials as well as the addition of functions to existing structures will be investigated and explained in 85 or so concrete ideas. 
Imagine: Deflateables
Get PDFPneumatic structures are thoroughly investigated and developed during the 1960s. However, the energy crisis and aesthetic developments impeded the use of these structures as a mainstream construction method. Nowadays, they are typically used in special areas of architecture and design. Deflateables concentrates on the very limited knowledge of vacuum constructions and develops a range of aesthetic, technical and functional design possibilities.
However, very few designs that use pressurised constructions have actually been realised, even right down to the present day - despite the fact that this technology offers simple, positive aspects: the air pressure of the earth can be used as a stabilising and form-giving parameter, creating a specific and inspiring shape. In addition, the very nature of this technology provides varying degrees of thermal and acoustic insulation. Of course, there are weak points such as potential leakage and the need for high pressurisation of the construction; but new material technologies and specific structural concepts will bring solutions to such issues. Exploiting the possibilities of extremely light and energetically active constructions, deflateables are one of the promising fields of architectural and design developments. The chance to create structures that can move and react to requests such as user and climate requirements, as well as formative demands, lifts this topic onto the level of a realistic and usable technology for as-yet unknown design possibilities. 
Hotterdam: Hoe ruimte Rotterdam warmer maakt, hoe dat van invloed is op de gezondheid van de inwoners, en wat er aan te doen is.
Get PDFHet klimaat in de stad gedraagt zich anders dan daarbuiten, terwijl het stadsklimaat van wezenlijke invloed is op het welzijn van de inwoners van de stad. Het doel van het Hotterdam-onderzoek is het beter begrijpen van stedelijke warmte in Rotterdam om vandaaruit een verband te leggen met de gezondheid van de Rotterdamse bevolking en de kenmerken van de fysieke ruimte die de stad meer of juist minder warm maken. Die inzichten moeten de stad Rotterdam en haar inwoners bewuster í©n weerbaarder maken ten aanzien van de gezondheidseffecten van hittegolven. De inzichten die zo ontstaan zijn relevant voor andere steden in Nederland en daarbuiten
Een complex-cognitieve benadering van stedebouwkundig ontwerpen
Get PDFThis dissertation investigates: How urban design can be described as a collective cognitive activity in a complex living environment; How urban designers move across scales in their search for coherence; How urban designers, while moving across scales, can be subject to a variety of misconceptions and biases; How isovists and patterns can be used as design instruments to mitigate the negative effects of these misconceptions and biases; And, how urban design practice, and the concept of spatial quality in the province of North-Holland in particular, can be understood on the basis of the proposed theoretical framework.
The research method applied is transdisciplinary. It employs knowledge from cognitive science, complexity science, design sciences and urban design to build up a theoretical framework and a conceptual model. Parallel to this, two design instruments were developed and applied, and a case study was conducted.
The goal of the research is:
To develop a conceptual model of urban design, in which the dynamics of the design process and the dynamics of the living environment are interrelated, by which the role and position of urban design and the concept of spatial quality can be denoted scientifically.
Part A. Theoretical framework and conceptual model
In the theoretical framework and the conceptual model a distinction is made between designing as a complex system and the living environment as a complex system, and the relation between the two.
The first part builds upon insight from the design sciences by relating them to the notion of Synergetic Inter-Representation Networks (SIRN, Haken & Portugali, 1996; Portugali, 1996) and Construal Level Theory (CLT, Trope & Liberman, 2010).
On the basis of SIRN, the interaction between internal representations (in our mind/brain) and external representations (in the environment) can be described. To this existing approach, a variety of design-related elements are added, considering designing as mental time travel, as looking for coherence, and the relation between individual, group and collective design processes. This has led to the SIRN+design model, a hypothetical-descriptive model of designing.
On the basis of CLT, the movement between abstract and concrete information can be described. A distinction can be made between the different dimensions. From this perspective, the design sciences are examined, and several interrelated dimensions are identified: position in time, position in space, social distance, analogical distance, familiarity, and hypotheticality. Hereby, designing across scales can be described. Based on this CLT-design model, the difference between cognitive planning and cognitive designing, and the difference between analytical and creative tasks are set out.
The second part builds upon complexity theories of the living environment (Portugali, Meyer, Stolk, and & Tan 2012). This living environment is not only described as a doubly complex system (Portugali, 2011) but also as Complex Adaptive Prospective System (CAPS).
Herein, the dynamics of the living environment is not only described from the necessity to anticipate to changing conditions, but also on the basis of the capacity of humans to hold images of the future, act, and design accordingly. This establishes the relation between the dynamics of the living environment and the (collective) design process.
On this basis, a specific type of professional design is addressed: urban design (stedebouw). A number of specific characteristics of urban design are explored. This discipline focuses on collective, large-scale and complex design processes and artifacts. Hereby, urban designers move on fairly large distances across scales, making them susceptible to different potential misconceptions and biases.
Part B. Design tools and case study
In addition, two design tools were developed and applied, and a case study was conducted. The first design tool is developed to mitigate the negative effects of the airplane-perspective-bias. Isovist-Based Visibility Analysis (IBVA) is a framework for the analysis of three-dimensional isovists, developed in collaboration with Arthur van Bilsen (Van Bilsen & Stolk, 2007). On the basis of IBVA, the visual space can be calculated on a large number of points. The resulting visual fields provide an insight into the three-dimensional space on a large scale in the flat plane.
The second design tool builds upon the pattern language by Christopher Alexander (1977). It is proposed to structure the patterns based on the Form-Operation-Performance model (Tzonis, 1992; Guney, 2007) and to describe them based on the different CLT-dimensions. On the basis of the patterns, the negative effects of several potential misconceptions and biases, related to the cognitive activity of designing and the complexity of the living environment, can be reduced.
The case Spatial quality in the province or North-Holland has been developed parallel to the development of the SIRN+CLT design model. This case illustrates how by using the model, implicit processes can be described, and how the concept of spatial quality is used in practice. The research has focused on the North Holland Strategic plan (Structuurvisie), the different instruments to improve the spatial quality, and the role of the province as a co-designer of spatial quality.
It can be concluded that the scientific interpretation of urban design, based on the developed complex cognitive (SIRN + CLT) model, provides insight into the activities, position and context of urbanism. With this conclusion, the objective of this thesis is realized. From the discussion follow several observations that are highlighted for further research. The parts of the conceptual model can be developed and integrated further. This can provide a basis for developing a theory of urban design practice
OverHolland: Architectural studies for the Dutch city
Get PDFOverHolland — Architectural studies for Dutch cities is a series published by the Department of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology. The editors plan to publish two issues a year. The field of architectural research covered by the series includes both typological and morphological urban studies and the question of architectural interventions in the context of Dutch cities.The first issue explores the problems, and reports on the ‘Transformers of the European city conference, with contributions by architects Jo Coenen, Alber-to Ferlenga, Hans Kollhoff and Bob van Reeth.
Randstad Holland, Green Metropolis and Delta Metropolis are concepts that have been used by planners to define Holland as a metropolis. Proposals for the expansion of towns and cities, infrastructural works, ecological corridors, recreation areas and high-value urban hubs have been grafted on to this planning model by landscape and urban designers. At the end of this chain of virtual productions, it is the task of architecture to supply images and devise programmatic means of filling in ‘the shapes’.The problem here is the lack of a concrete vision of things: anarchipelago of Dutch cities in a suburban wetland, ratherthan the fiction of a potential metropolis.
Dutch cities are unique in the European context, and study of their development may make a significant contribution to the knowledge of the European city. However, OverHolland has opted for a project-based approach, focusing on the role of architectural projects in the transformation of Dutch cities. Currently, the main tasks are restructuring and renewal. This involves large numbers of projects in the most varied situations, in communities with autonomous powers of decision, and hence calls for an approach that takes full account of local settings and potentialities.
The theoretical focus in OverHolland will be on possible links between urban analysis and architectural design. The research conducted over recent decades has yielded a range of conflicting views and insights on the subject, raising all kinds of questions that will be highlighted and examined in-depth in OverHolland.
Note for the English-speaking reader: The ring-shaped conurbation of the western Netherlands is known in Dutch as theRandstad (literally ‘RimCity’). It is centred on the provinces of North and South Holland, and in Dutch the name ‘Holland’normally refers to this part of the country rather than the Netherlands as a whole. The same distinction has been maintained in the English edition of this series — in other words, ‘Holland’and ‘the Netherlands’ are not synonymous. The adjective ‘Dutch’ presents more of a problem since it refers to the whole of the country and English offers no convenient alternative. Here, however, ‘Dutch’ will normally be used in the same restricted sense as ‘Holland’
OverHolland 5: Architectural studies for the Dutch city
Get PDFThis issue of OverHolland presents the results of the first part of the research project 5x5 — Projects for the Dutch City, which is being carried out at the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology. With ‘Research by Design’, 5x5 intends to research the cohesion between architectonic interventions and urban transformations of the station areas in the five smaller historical cities of Randstad Holland: Delft, Dordrecht, Gouda, Haar-lem, and Leiden. OverHolland 5 presents analyses of these locations, together with a problem statement that has been tentatively formulated for the design research. These locations serve as a starting point for the second part of the project, where five teams of architects will design the five station areas. The basic assumption here is that the railway in the city centre area will be built underground, following the Delft example. The results of this design research will be published in 2008.
Historically speaking, building railways and stations constituted an important period in the development of Dutch cities. Because of recent changes in Dutch railways, the relation between the historic city core and the railway is again open for discussion. This issue begins with an introductory article by Henk Engel, in which the background and basic assumptions of the 5x5 project are explained and the current architectonic issues, with regard to the restructuring of these station areas, are also addressed. Next, Roberto Cavallo provides a general description of the history of the railway in the Netherlands in his article ‘Railway in the Dutch City’. In more abstract terms, Leslie Kavanaugh researches the effects of the introduction of the railway on time and space in the city in her article ‘Time and the City’. Further, the analyses of the station areas in the five cities are the main focus, showing the combination of city expansions and transformations of the respective sta-tion areas, which provide a new view on the possible development of the smaller historical cities in the 21st century.
The ‘Polemen’ section concludes this issue with two book reviews: Leslie Kavanaugh discusses the latest study by historian Auke van der Woud entitled Een nieuwe wereld. Het ontstaan van het moderne Nederland (‘A new world. The origin of the modern Nether-lands’), while Endry van Velzen elaborates on his vision in the book De tussenmaat: een handboek voor het collectieve woongebouw (‘The intermediate size. A handbook for col-lective residential building’) by Lieke Bijlsma and Jochem Groenland, which he places between a design study and an architecture handbook