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Spatial behavior is a principal aspect for architects to consider. Unfortunately, it is sometimes hard to predict, as users of space seldom follow a standard routine. However, predicting user behavior in a space can potentially illuminate the entire design process. Moreover, it is a key factor in fighting the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Until most of the public gets their vaccine, health officials recommend social distancing as the primary means of fighting the pandemic. This paper uses an agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) approach to reproduce, analyze, and predict spatial behavior during the pandemic in a school environment and its impact on disease propagation. The simulation reproduces the behavior of teachers and students at a sample elementary school. By manipulating parameters that simulate the school officials' response to the pandemic, stakeholders can assess the most effective preventive measures. As a result of running multiple scenarios, the study demonstrates how varying starting conditions and alternate spatial behaviors could lead to different results, providing insight to stakeholders on how to handle disease spread in school environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite broad adoption of Digital Human Models (DHMs) in other disciplines, the use of ergonomics in interior design heavily depends on design standards that offer rigid guidelines that do not adapt to design or human schemata. Digital ergonomic assessments and DHMs help designers predict and evaluate comfort for more human-centered designs. This paper proposes a framework to incorporate digital ergonomic evaluations to quantify and assess interior spaces' ergonomic comfort using customized DHMs. The framework demonstrates a closed feedback loop connecting 3D models with Human Builder to perform quantitative ergonomic tests while offering real-time results with design recommendations. This implementation showed that individual physical capabilities affected the users' comfort and design outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beyond the glamour of Cairo history lies a different side of the city that unravels the unique beauty of urban decay. Al-Hattaba, a UNESCO heritage area, is caught in between these narrations of beauty and decay; the beautiful home whose inhabitants want to keep and grow, and the formally enlisted dangerous informal space subject to eviction and demolition. Al-Hattaba embraces the beauty of its rich and diverse history, growing through time. It beholds moments of prosperity, failure, change, beauty, and loss. Urban decay photography is used to interpret al-Hattaba's controversy and explore the bonds between time and memory. We take the reader through a visual journey in al-Hattaba. It constitutes a photo-sequence that considers al-Hattaba in reflection of its background context, the Citadel of Saladin; historic and residential buildings, some abandoned and attempts of local renovation. This urban setting reflects a rich visual diversity that witnessed its changes through time. We argue that the essence of al-Hattaba's beauty is in its urban decay. It is a space that will never fail to amaze its visitors with its hidden beauty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]