1,720,952 research outputs found
Preface
No full textCAAD Futures is a biennial international conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design under the umbrella of the CAAD Futures Foundation, and it is active world-wide in advancing and documenting related research. On 5–7 July 2023, the 20th CAAD Futures conference was hosted at Delft University of Technology. The CAAD Futures Foundation was established in 1985, holding the first conference on 18–19 September of that year at the very same University. The return of the conference to Delft for its 20thedition offered a chance to reflect on the past, present and future role of Computation in Architecture and the Built Environment. With reference to the theme of “INTERCONNECTIONS: Co-computing beyond boundaries”, CAAD Futures 2023 reflected on the role of computation to interconnect in and for Architectural Design.Digital TechnologiesArchitectural Technolog
Performance Assessment Strategies: A computational framework for conceptual design of large roofs
Full text linkUsing engineering performance evaluations to explore design alternatives during the conceptual phase of architectural design helps to understand the relationships between form and performance; and is crucial for developing well-performing final designs. Computer aided conceptual design has the potential to aid the design team in discovering and highlighting these relationships; especially by means of procedural and parametric geometry to support the generation of geometric design, and building performance simulation tools to support performance assessments. However, current tools and methods for computer aided conceptual design in architecture do not explicitly reveal nor allow for backtracking the relationships between performance and geometry of the design. They currently support post-engineering, rather than the early design decisions and the design exploration process.
Focusing on large roofs, this research aims at developing a computational design approach to support designers in performance driven explorations. The approach is meant to facilitate the multidisciplinary integration and the learning process of the designer; and not to constrain the process in precompiled procedures or in hard engineering formulations, nor to automatize it by delegating the design creativity to computational procedures. PAS (Performance Assessment Strategies) as a method is the main output of the research. It consists of a framework including guidelines and an extensible library of procedures for parametric modelling. It is structured on three parts.
Pre-PAS provides guidelines for a design strategy-definition, toward the parameterization process. Model-PAS provides guidelines, procedures and scripts for building the parametric models. Explore-PAS supports the solutions-assessment based on numeric evaluations and performance simulations, until the identification of a suitable design solution. PAS has been developed based on action research. Several case studies have focused on each step of PAS and on their interrelationships.
The relations between the knowledge available in pre-PAS and the challenges of the solution space exploration in explore-PAS have been highlighted. In order to facilitate the explore-PAS phase in case of large solution spaces, the support of genetic algorithms has been investigated and the exiting method ParaGen has been further implemented. Final case studies have focused on the potentials of ParaGen to identify well performing solutions; to extract knowledge during explore-PAS; and to allow interventions of the designer as an alternative to generations driven solely by coded criteria.
Both the use of PAS and its recommended future developments are addressed in the thesis
PULSE: Integrated Parametric Modeling for a Shading System: From Daylight Optimization to Additive Manufacturing
No full textThis paper presents a parametric approach to an integrated and performance-oriented design, from the conceptual design phase towards materialization. The novelty occurs in the use of parametric models as a way of integrating multidisciplinary design constraints, from daylight optimization to the additive manufacturing process. The work focuses on the case of a customized sun-shading system that tailors daylighting effects for a fully glazed façade of the alleged PULSE building.The overall workflow includes preliminary analysis on simplified models and an initial parametric model to run computational optimization loops. The output consists of individually unique sun-shading panels, optimized for varying daylighting requirements based on programmatic distribution and specified viewing areas. The resulting geometric complexity was resolved through subsequent detailed parametric models; implementing the structural design requirements and integrating the constraints dictated by the additive manufacturing process, including the necessity to minimize material and 3D-printing time. This paper focuses on a particular part of the overall workflow, describing the support provided by parametric modelling to control geometric complexity and multi-disciplinary requirements.Design Informatic
Supporting Exploration of Design Alternatives using Multivariate Analysis Algorithms
No full textParametric modelling allows quick generation of a large number of design alternatives. Ultimately, it can be combined with optimization algorithms for obtaining optimal performance-driven design. However, setup of design space for optimization is a very complex task requiring designer’s a priori knowledge and experience. Therefore, this paper focuses on the process that happens before the optimization. It proposes to use multivariate analysis algorithms for exploring and understanding the relations between various design parameters, after sampling the design space. Additionally, portrayal of geometry isintroduced as an extension of conventional visualization methods, which accounts for evaluation of ill-defined design criteria by using designer’s expertise. The proposed method is computationally efficient and integrated into an environment familiar to architects. It relies on multivariate analysis algorithms together with database querying capabilities and an interactive dashboard developed for geometry portrayal.Design Informatic
Integrating technical performances within design exploration: The case of an innovative Trombe wall
No full textThe Double Face 2.0 research project aims at developing a novel type of an adaptive translucent Trombe wall. The novelty of the proposed system is based on the integration of new lightweight and translucent materials, used both forlatent heat storage and insulation, advanced computational design processes, used to identify the relationship between variations in geometry and their effect in terms of overall performance, as well as proposed fabrication methods basedon Fused Deposition Modelling. Various concepts and geometric configurations are explored and improved via a computational design workflow. The exploration is deeply rooted in performance simulations manufacturing constraints and measurements of prototypes. The paper presents the workflow of the overall on-going research project, with specific emphasis on the incorporation of a omputational assessment and optimization process. Moreover, it presents the preliminary set of measurements and simulations for thermal performances, their results and related conclusions.Design InformaticsBuilding Physic
Simulating natural ventilation in large sports buildings: Prediction of temperature and airflow patterns in the early design stages
No full textIn large sport’s buildings, a big part of energy can be saved by providing natural instead of mechanical ventilation. However, additional challenges arise while controlling airflow and temperatures in different zones. These measureshighly depend on the shape, construction and ventilation openings, which are mostly decided in the early design stages. Computational optimization can support these early stages of design, but needs to be performed in efficient ways. In this respect, the project proposes rapid assessment of temperature and airflow patterns using customized Grasshopper components, which would be able to evaluate a given model using CONTAM and EnergyPlus software assimulation engine. The proposed method integrates these simulations within an environment, which is familiar to architects and is largely used for parameterization of design in its early stages. A case study (Jiangmen Sports Center, Jiangmen, China) is used to test the developed process for a large indoor sports hall.Design Informatic
A Sound Working Environment: Optimizing the Acoustic Properties of Open Plan Workspaces Using Parametric Models
No full textOptimizing the acoustic environment of open plan offices is a complex task due to the large number of design parameters that must be considered. In current practice, acoustic analysis – even in a simplified form – is not naturally integrated into the design process of office spaces. Applying digital acoustic simulation in architectural design currently requires a time consuming back-and-forth transition between geometric modelling programs and specialist analysis software. In this study, an acoustic ray tracer was developed within Grasshopper and coupled to Galapagos in order to optimize the acoustics of an open office space. This tool has been tested and validated through a case study performed on an existing office space in the Netherlands. This study demonstrates the possibility to computationally optimize open plan workspaces by way of acoustic analysis performed on a parametric model. In itscurrent form the presented model is still limited in its features and calculation speed. Hence, further development of the tool is needed in order to facilitate a truly seamless iteration and hands-on evaluation of different design configurations (with respect to room acoustic performance).Design InformaticsTeachers of PracticeBuilding Physic
Application of Surrogate Models for Building Envelope Design Exploration and Optimization
No full textBuilding performance simulations are usually timeconsuming. They may account for the major portion of time spent in Computational Design Optimization (CDO), for instance, annual hourly daylight and energy simulations. In this case, the optimization may become less efficient or even infeasible within a limited time frame of real-world projects, due to the computationally expensive simulations. To handle the problem, this research aims to investigate the potentials of surrogate models (i.e. Response SurfaceMethodology - RSM) to be used in the building envelope design exploration and optimization that consider visual and energy performance. Specifically, the work investigates how, and to what extent, 1) problem scales may affect the application of RSM, and 2) different ways of using RSM may affect the quality of Pareto Front approximations. Thus, a series of multi-objective optimization tests are carried out; preliminary discussion is made based on the current results.Design Informatic
A computational design exploration platform supporting the formulation of design concepts
No full textThe comparison of various competing design concepts during conceptual architectural design is commonly needed for achieving a good final concept. For this, computational design exploration is a key approach. Unfortunately, mostof existing research tends to skip this crucial process, and purely focuses on the late-stage design optimization based on a single concept that, they assume, has been good enough or accepted already. This paper focuses on information or knowledge extracted from a multi-objective design exploration for the formulation of a good geometrical building design concept. To better support the exploration process, a new integration plug-in is developed to integrate parametric modelling software and process integration and optimization software. Through a case study that investigates the daylight and energy performances of a large indoor space, this paper 1) tackles the importance of design exploration on the formulation of a good design concept; 2) presents and shows the usability of the new integration plug-in for supporting the exploration process.Design Informatic
THERM_VENATION: Active Thermal Façade Venation: Fabricating a concrete twin-wall façade panel optimised for integrated heat exchange system
No full textPassive measures to tackle increasing energy demands of modern buildings are aimed to generate energy from the roof or the ground beneath and by improving insulation to isolate indoors and outdoors. The author targets the opaque facade sections of a building to develop an active panel to exchange solar thermal energy with his project THERM_VENATION- Active Thermal Façade Venation. It is a project dealing with designing and fabrication of a twin-wall concrete façade panel with heat exchange tubular network embedded within it inspired by the leaf venation, which by actively exchanging fluid between the two panels conditions the indoor temperature, in the extreme composite climate of Delhi, India. This project follows a design through research methodology with computation tools, boundary conditions, material properties and the method of fabrication guiding the design and its result.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Building Technolog
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