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This thesis reviews the state of art in architectural robotic fabrication, and develops a bi-system framework for responsive assembly with non-standardized raw branches, creating potentials for automation in mass customized fabrication with heterogenous natural materials. The framework synthesizes features of adaptive path planning, material analysis, and parametric design as an efficient and dynamic feedback system to adjust decision-making both on the trajectory planning side and design decision side. Through extensive testing and research, the thesis completed a series of prototypes to verify, improve and evaluate the performance of the system. Apart from prototypes, the results also include a branch-specific design strategy for global shape fitting, a material analysis strategy to quantify and make hierarchical categorization, and optimization for the pick and place procedure in a complicated context. It demonstrates the future potential of robotic automation to directly engage non-standardized natural materials in the field of architectural manufacture and construction.

The latest boom of Machine Learning (ML) in the early-2010s has raised a new wave of interest among creative practitioners to explore the intersection of Art and Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Generative Machine Learning. A growing number of artists, designers, and architects appropriated these algorithms to make new tools for their creative practices. This dissertation introduces and documents a collaborative framework to make machine learning-based tools for creative practices. The framework embraces the idiosyncratic nuances and elements of the physical context of the creative practice. It takes a new point of view on data and data curation as the primary method of interacting with ML algorithms. The framework achieves this goal by utilizing small user-generated datasets, which are biased toward the creative practitioners’ personal preferences, subjective measures, and elements of the physical context of their practice. Through collaboration with machine learning expert toolmakers, the framework makes ML algorithms more accessible to these creative practitioners. It highlights the affordances of ML algorithms, specifically Conditional Variational AutoEncoders (C-VAE), that can be efficiently trained and overfit on small datasets to produce outcomes that are closely tied to the creative practitioners and their context. In the two case studies, the framework serves as a high-level blueprint to develop bespoke tools that support various stages of machine learning-based toolmaking for creative practitioners. In SecondHand, I collaborated with a group of participants to develop handwriting typeface generation tool. A dashboard, based on Dash Plotly, featuring interactive data visualization and data curation tools, was developed for this study. In ThirdHand, I collaborated with a musician to create a robotic tool to play santur, a traditional Persian musical instrument, using an ABB IRB 120 robotic arm and a real santur. The case studies demonstrated that the proposed collaborative framework meaningfully brings ML experts’ technical literacy to complement creative practitioners’ domain knowledge and skills to overcome the technical ML challenges, and help integrate various idiosyncratic aspects, elements of the physical context, and nuances of creative practice in the toolmaking process.

Motivated by situated cognition in architectural design, this research investigates a computational approach for spatial synthesis that supports designers inside the generative loop with fine-grained interaction. After reviewing and creating a taxonomy of classic paradigms of generative modeling, we present a research guideline for interactive spatial synthesis. This guideline comprehends control of problem parameters, real-time interaction, stepby-step and fine-granular construction of the spatial representations, event-driven computing, reduced assumption about control strategies, and simultaneously addressing multiple spatial goals. To test the feasibility of this research guideline, we investigate multi-agent spatial synthesis (MASS), which comprehends a collection of discrete and autonomous entities referred to as spatial agents that interact in a shared environment. By distributing the computation, MASS benefits from robustness and scalability and can enable designers to engage in interactive simulations to explore spatial patterns in large state spaces under uncertainty. Besides, similarly to agent-based models, MASS can potentially model the dynamics of complex systems and display qualities such as emergence and complexity. Nevertheless, there is no clear methodology to design agents that can manage conflicts with realistic spatial synthesis goals. Existing prototypes for MASS typically rely on trends such as bioinspiration and physics-simulation and often on hybridization with global solutions, such as metaheuristics. We address this bottleneck of agent design in a MASS research artifact by using multi-agent reinforcement learning as a training methodology for spatial agents. It enabled creating agent policies that address multiple architectural goals and that support fine-grained interaction with reduced dependency on initial design states and order of operations. The resulting artifact is based on training an ecology of spatial agents with parameter sharing and a parameterized reward function to support domain knowledge and enable heterogeneous agent behaviors. The MASS artifact was evaluated in multiple design cases: a house design in different site conditions, a museum on a large interstitial site, and a speculative design of a house complex on a large empty site. Overall, the agent policies satisfied custom spatial goals and produced consistent morphological patterns for the different design cases. After the evaluation of the MASS artifact, we integrated it to an interactive simulation workflow to support designers in the generative loop with access to fine-grained interaction, event-driven computing, and other properties described in the initial guideline. The success of the design artifact and the implementation of the interactive simulation workflow are proofs by construction of the feasibility of the proposed approach to design spatial agents for interactive spatial synthesis. Besides, they open doors to different lines of research, such as agentbased architectural morphology, spatial synthesis of complex spaces based on ecologies of agents, and mainly, the evaluation of situational and collaborative design behavior with architects.

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Buildings have a significant impact on energy use and the environment, accounting for approximately 20% of global energy consumption and 40% of CO2 emissions. The US Energy Information Administration predicts that rising living standards and populations in non-OECD nations, including Lebanon, will inevitably lead to a significant hike in electricity demand, leading to a 50% rise in global energy consumption and exacerbating climate change. However, realizing energy efficiency in residential buildings remains a significant challenge for many countries such as Lebanon due to non-existent legislative frameworks and absence of green construction practices. As a result, energy consumption in Lebanon is a significant source of economic distress, social inequity, and air pollution. Approximately half of the Lebanese electric generation is consumed by the residential building market. Despite this, energy conservation measures (ECMs) have not been widely adopted in standard Lebanese apartment buildings, the most prevalent archetype of housing in the nation. This dissertation evaluated the feasibility and applicability of Net Zero Energy apartment buildings (NZEB) in Lebanon’s residential sector. To address these issues, 1,110 individuals in the US and Lebanon were surveyed to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions and potential of NZEBs in Lebanon. Additionally, the dissertation examined the effects of various passive and active ECMs on energy consumption in a baseline multi-family apartment building, utilizing an incremental multi-stage iterative building performance modeling and simulation approach. Simulation results identified the following variables as the most optimal energy indicators: insulated envelope, highefficiency HVAC & DHW systems, high- performance glazing, high-efficiency lighting and equipment, and a compact square footprint. These combined variables yielded a 56% reduction in energy use over the baseline. Thereafter, building optimization yielded a NZEB with PV integration. Accordingly, the dissertation generated targeted architectural guidelines toward energy optimization for NZEB in Lebanon, encompassing passive and active design strategies. The guidelines were validated via survey responses from 152 Lebanese respondents. Finally, the dissertation provided a framework for an informational NZEB mobile based app to provide Lebanese homeowners, students, and building professionals with design guidelines to achieve NZEB in Lebanon. Adopting a NZEB approach offers households resiliency, autonomy, and improved financial stability. They also offer robust options for improving environmental justice, social equity, and economic stability. The dissertation promotes sustainable residential building practices to reduce energy use, mitigate air pollution, combat climate change, and eliminate energy inequities. The fundamental premise of the dissertation is providing Lebanese people a viable path towards eliminating energy poverty, providing social inequity, and reducing financial strain. The dissertation aims to equip Lebanese households with Resiliency and Immunity from potential future crises. The dissertation findings clearly show that NZEB are feasible as a new design and construction paradigm within Lebanon’s multi-family sector and that transitioning the existing residential market into Net Zero Energy is now within reach.

In the face of the climate crisis, many countries are intensifying cities in a bid to reduce urban sprawl and minimise carbon production. In Aotearoa New Zealand we are observing similar trends, with many new-built homes having smaller living spaces and private outdoor areas. Aotearoa is a small, colonised country, where the legacy of 20th century suburban backyard sections impacts cultural expectations of how people socialise and spend time outdoors. As our major cities intensify, it is critical that the public amenities grow alongside to off-set reduction in private space whilst also reclaiming cultural narratives and honoring Te Tiriti o Waitangi. These new public spaces need to recognise the social and cultural shift that they facilitate. This paper presents an interdisciplinary design research project that explores how industrial design and urban design combine to create solutions that better meet the needs of communities in Pōneke Wellington (NZ). The project analyzes the shifting built and social environments of Wellington, and proposes new possibilities for industrial design interventions that support and foster a cultural shift toward social inhabitation of urban spaces. The project is a provocation for rethinking the social potential of public space, exemplifying an approach centring the cultural and social needs of users and communities in order to enrich and transform urban environments. Underpinned by indigenous knowledge and values (Tikanga Māori), the research promotes ‘manaakitanga’ or generous hospitality, and aims to develop inclusive, accessible, culturally responsive, and generous social spaces supporting a transition to a more livable, lower carbon city.

This article describes a Smart Heritage computational system that automatically produces a wide range of design proposals for new timber Gothic churches based on an intelligent interpretation of an architectural database of historic churches. The system enlists the software ‘Houdini’ and a digitally archived dataset of 19th Century timber Gothic churches. The cases presented here focus primarily on timber churches built in Wellington, New Zealand. Through a process of analysis and deconstruction of these historic churches into their characteristic architectural components, spatial organisation and geometric relationships, the system assembles them into novel designs based on high-level design parameters. This paper details this computational system, its development, its operation and its outputs. The role of the system that has been developed is two-fold. One is designing in an architectural heritage context, and one is as an aid to historical architectural investigations, or what can be called digital forensics. The particular outputs are automatically generated hybrid churches that capture the historical design values and complexities of Gothic inspired churches in New Zealand. However, the broader applications are as an investigative tool for historians, and as an objective generative tool for those involved in heritage reconstruction.

While houses built from engineered timber products such as cross‐laminated timber are an excellent structural construction solution, the mass house construction market in New Zealand still sticks with more traditional construction methods centred on individual sticks of timber. These traditional methods are however still reliant on timber sizes that are relatively weighty and volumetrically large, in relation to more advanced cladding systems such as cars or planes, where thin skins of cladding are carefully wrapped over a lightweight but structurally rigorous framework. This paper examines current and future walls, including possible structural solutions such as the stressed skin matrix and monocoque construction methods that are widely used in vehicles. Comparisons are made with other technologies where recent advances in large‐scale 3D printing have created entire houses fabricated from liquidised amorphous substances. Can they be reliably considered as practical building systems for the future? Recent advances in 3D printing are multiplying, including the ability to sinter solids directly from sand, being explored as a possible future for building “off‐shore” constructions. The paper draws upon advances being worked in freeform 3D printing and real‐life building projects as well as examining the future of student‐led research into digitally‐led building construction systems.

Report produced as part of The Monitoring Object and Visitor Environments (MOVE) project on 'The performance of a heritage museum under lockdown.'The report is included here with permission as part of the research outputs for the MOVE project.

This Professional Doctorate in Sustainable Built Environment (DSBE) research project is based on the United Kingdom���s (UK���s) need to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions from buildings.The aim of this project is to investigate and develop methods to enable adoption of the Active Building (AB) concept for UK building projects through enabling a change to organisational practice (SPECIFIC and the Active Building Centre). The AB concept offers a practical solution to reducing the energy use and carbon emissions of buildings, helping the UK meet its decarbonisation targets and consequently helping to combat the global problem of climate change.Prior to commencing this Main Study, an AB Protocol was developed to capture proposed enablers based on research undertaken in earlier modules of this DSBE. This Main Studyfocuses on developing one of the enablers identified - an AB Toolkit - to provide a knowledge base and design guidance to aid the design of ABs. This consists of a suite of documents providing a knowledge base that includes a clear definition of the AB approach, AB case studies, and a process to follow to design and deliver AB projects, aligned with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Plan of Work 2020, adhered to by architectural design professionals in the UK.The AB Toolkit has been tested, evaluated, and refined throughout the project by engaging with architectural designers, and using data collected from focus groups (FGs), a questionnaire and webinars in an iterative process of data collection, analysis and refinement. Other enablers to the utilisation of the AB concept proposed within the ABProtocol were validated and added to using the data collected within this study. These were used to form an AB Roadmap for SPECIFIC and the Active Building Centre (ABC) to follow in their future work programmes.The author is an architect currently employed as a Design Manager at SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC), Swansea University, where her main role is to support organisations, to develop AB projects.In 2018, the Active Building Centre (ABC), funded through the UK Government���s Transforming Construction Challenge (TCC), was established to develop tools to enable widespread adoption of the AB concept. Thus, the work described in this Main Study contributes to the organisational practice of both SPECIFIC and the ABC.The main benefit of this research project is the development of a structured approach to enable architectural designers and other built-environment professionals to adopt the AB concept, supporting the aims of both SPECIFIC and the ABC. The methods of data collection developed by the author could be beneficial to other researchers. These comprise FGs that combine data collection with knowledge dissemination to contribute to architectural designers��� Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training; and mass webinars as a means of collecting data remotely while sharing knowledge, which is beneficial to enable research work to continue when face-to-face contact is not possible.There are two main outputs from this research project. Firstly, an AB Roadmap (an evolution of the AB Protocol) that addresses challenges identified from the data and provides a focus for SPECIFIC���s and the ABC���s future priorities. Secondly, an AB Toolkit, which architectural practitioners can employ in the design and delivery of low-operational energy, low-carbon building projects. While architectural designers were the main participants for this research project, the methods developed are also relevant and applicable to other built-environment disciplines such as Building Control Surveyors and Building Services Engineers, who attended and took part in some of the webinars the author delivered.

Urban areas in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) are experiencing increased flooding due to rapid urbanisation and a rise in the incidence and intensity of severe rainfall. This study develops an approach to model flooding in cities of LMICs using a high-performance hydrodynamic computational model, largely driven by open data. The strategy is substantiated by simulating the 09-21 January 2021 high rainfall event in the 2,245km2 Chivero Catchment, which impounds Harare City. Coarse-resolution Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) topographical data was corrected to improve modelling accuracy. Simulations driven by the corrected SRTM data demonstrate the model’s ability to simulate the floodwater levels and to approximately predict the spatial extent of flooding. Simulations driven by the original SRTM data generally underestimated flood depths. The generated simulation results are used to inform the design and testing of green infrastructure (GI), which led to a 25% decrease in the spatial extent of flooding. Appendix 1 has been removed and is available on request.

This capstone follows the process of the complete architectural design, structural design, and construction documentation of a four-bedroom house. This was done with an emphasis on creating a logical, aesthetic, economical, and efficient design that could be easily constructed by a contractor. The theoretical client chose a site in a hypothetical location outside the city limits of Laramie, WY, and requested a walkout basement and a retaining wall, adding additional complexity to the design. Overall, this project demonstrates experience in the thorough design of a residential home.

In architecture, recent developments in machine learning technologies have reenergized the established research areas of generative design and design analysis. Proponents argue that data-driven systems can learn the implicit rules of architectural design for the generation of new designs or the incorporation into new methods of architectural research and analysis. This recent research has focused primarily on machine learning model development, in particular the algorithms, but not the data from which the models learn. However, without a concurrent reflection on the data and the representations used to encode the data, a critical understanding of the affordances and limitations of data-driven machine learning tools in architecture is not possible. Therefore, in this research I interrogate the data with a focus on graph-based representations of spatial organizations. As a research method, I present the theoretical concepts tying graphs to computational design theory to selected cutting-edge graph-based and data-driven generative and analytical approaches. I also reconstruct an example of early generative design software and create computational instruments to explore, demonstrate and evaluate the concepts presented in the literature research. Placing recent analytical and generative techniques in the lineage of graph-based representations demonstrates how the motivations of the early theorists, and limitations of graph representations themselves, are carried forward into the machine learning context. Further, investigating the floor plan data sets essential to these technologies reveals the inherently contingent nature of graph-based architectural data, and by extension, the contingency of the results.

The article explores the technological features and mechanisms of realization of VR, AR, MR, etc., and illustrates how XR promotes participation in the field of architecture. On this basis, it explores the prospective trend of a combination of participatory design and new technologies.

This report presents an analysis of evacuation centres by architecture, engineering, and GIS experts from RMIT University. They worked closely with key stakeholders in Honiara to undertake preliminary analysis on evacuation centre needs, and to make recommendations for interventions for the Climate Resilient Honiara project (CRH).The report is based on a combination of desktop research and several field visits during which observations and informal discussions took place with local leaders and community members. Consultations also took place with the National Disaster Management Office; Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey (MLHS); Honiara City Council; and Ward Councillors. Design guidelines and field observations have led to the development of concept designs which can be used as a starting point for further detailed discussions with the communities and related stakeholders.

The Design Study was commissioned by the Tasman Council and Tasmania Parks and Wildlife. The study investigates the opportunities and potentials of new public spaces in nominated locations throughout the Tasman Peninsula. The study considers and articulates how place-responsive contemporary architectural design ideas can productively balance the desire to build and diversify the tourism offering on the Tasman Peninsula, with the ongoing needs of local residents.

Aim: This Australian research explores how “user group” participants from diverse professional discipline backgrounds understand, define, perform their roles, and assess the outcomes of the healthcare design process. Background: Part of the design process in Australia and New Zealand, the purpose of interdisciplinary user group consultation is to design the best healthcare facilities possible within the parameters set by project clients and funding bodies. Method: An online survey was used to explore how user group participants viewed the process, including how well informed they felt they were about their role/s in it, its success in achieving specific outcomes for their project, and how they felt their project client, owner, or funding body assessed these same issues. It included both closed and open-ended questions, and data were then analyzed using an interpretative methodology by an architect researcher based in practice. Results: Emergent issues identified include governance of the process, knowledge asymmetries between participants, missed opportunities for innovation, composition and workloads of user groups, and the quality of resources available to guide the process. Conclusions: The interdisciplinary user group process could be improved, and future research will look at how drawing on participatory design methods used in sectors such as urban planning may support the development of new techniques for conducting user groups.

© 2015 IEEE. This paper shows the progress of an ongoing digital heritage research focusing on Kashgar, a unique historical city in the westernmost part of China. The project aims to decode intangible heritage with the help of tangible characteristics representing Kashgar architecture. Narrow alleyways of Kashgar accommodate multifunctional usage formed by the local distinctive culture. The presented study follows a 'research through design methodology'. The interpretation of the heritage information is a game design that feeds research. Through an architectural game alternative agglomerations are generated that employ 'design-grammars' developed on the basis of Kashgar's architecture and vivid street life. The study reveals the first step of photogrammetry documentations and aerial views of a specific part of Kashgar's old town, 'Gaotai' (- Kozichiyar Beshi).

This booklet provides an account of the Newton Fund project Repositioning Graphic Heritage, undertaken by researchers at Loughborough University (UK) and Tongji University (China) between 2018–2021. It contains eight case studies, four from several cites in the UK and four from Shanghai in China. It features extensive photo-documentation and an overview of activities organised as part of the project. The text is in English and Chinese.

Motivated by the urgency of the challenges we all now face - environmental, social and economic - young architects in Aotearoa are inventing new, alternative forms of practice. In September and October 2019, Making Ways: Alternative architectural practice in Aotearoa took place at Objectspace gallery, Auckland. Taking the format of a staged, live, rolling workshop of events, the exhibition included four practices that have emerged in Aotearoa New Zealand in response to this context. Through essays, interviews and photographs, this volume documents and reflects upon the exhibition and contextualises the impetus toward ‘alternative’ forms of practice it captured. If normative architectural practice is the production of a building for a client, set within market conditions, then ‘alternative’ implies a departure from this in the way that architecture might be realised, and in the way architectural knowledge might be employed. Making Ways seeks to remind the reader that the practice of architecture – and the use of architectural imagination and knowledge – is a practice of multiple alterna­tives, and a diverse and locally inflected undertaking. The exhibition was and the book is invested in the diversity of architectural voices and operations that enable a lively local architectural discipline to contribute meaningfully to the broader cultural space it is part of.

Fullerenes, and specifically Buckminsterfullerene (C60), are among the most widely studied types of manufactured nanoparticles in the rapidly expanding field of nanotechnology. Of particular interest are the environmental implications associated with these unique materials and the ability of our water treatment systems to remove them from likely exposure routes (e.g., drinking water). The objective of this study was therefore to analyze the removal of polyhydroxylated C60 (fullerols, C60 OH18-24) by coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation processes. These processes generally make up what is referred to as conventional water treatment. Jar tests were performed using a synthetic source water whose composition was similar to that of typical surface water with regards to electrolyte composition and concentrations, as well as organic content. Fullerol removal efficiency was assessed as a function of the humic acid concentration. The highest fullerol removal efficiency measured was approximately 88%, in terms of mass concentration, during coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation processes. However, the removal efficiency decreased as the humic acid concentration in the source water increased indicating that the presence of organic material will affect the removal of fullerol by conventional treatment processes.

This research operates at the intersection of three domains: informal settlements, water infrastructure, and participatory design. These domains are connected by the wicked problem of how to design and deliver health and environmental improvements for the one billion people living in informal settlements. How can participatory methods meaningfully engage people and things to facilitate systemic change? Embedded within the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) Program, this research explores the tensions and contradictions of designing decentralised water and sanitation infrastructure in six informal settlements in Makassar, Indonesia.

The overall goal of this project was to obtain a thorough understanding of structural system design and construction. This was accomplished by studying the four phases a structural project goes through; schematic design, design development, construction documents, and construction administration. After gaining a thorough understanding of these four phases the knowledge was applied to design an entire structural system for a four story office building located in Cheyenne, WY. This system was designed in accordance to all applicable codes.

The design and construction of skyscrapers has rapidly increased in the last decade. This project results in the architectural design of an iconic hotel on the beach of Barcelona, Spain. Consideration for the surrounding Barcelona architecture, means of egress, structural system, mechanical system, shading design, and heating and cooling loads is incorporated within the floor plan and three-dimensional design of the building. Precedent examples are used to support design decisions. While the hotel is designed in detail, this project also includes the masterplan for the vacant site surrounding the hotel lot.

This item is part of: Boarin, P., Haarhoff, E., Manfredini, M., Mohammadzadeh, M., Premier, A., (2021). Rethinking Sustainable Pacific Rim Territories. Proceedings of the 2020 APRU Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Hub PhD Symposium, Future Cities Research Hub, School of Architecture and Planning of the University of Auckland. ISBN: 978-0-473-53616-9ABSTRACTMachine learning (ML) is a subdivision of artificial intelligence (AI) technology that has been extensively researched and applied in the building and construction industry for the past few years, particularly in the building design process. It yields significant benefits to the sector through its learning method that not only offers automation for repetitive complex design tasks and evaluation for decision-making functions but also optimization of building performances. This study investigates the existing exploration of the machine learning techniques utilized in the building design process to improve both the performance and result of the building design in the early design stage. From the 27 publications discussed in this paper, the Genetic Algorithm was the most utilized technique in the building design research area, followed by Neural Network. However, the employment of machine learning in this area mostly focused on particular building aspects, creating an opportunity for further studies to develop comprehensive building design solutions through the machine learning approach

Currently, membrane processes are the most widely used technology for removing dissolved constituents from water (i.e., desalination); however, membrane processes are hindered by a variety of challenges, such as membrane fouling and the generation of a concentrated reject stream. Engineered nano-adsorbents, such as functionalized magnetic nanoparticles, are a possible new technology for selectively removing/recovering dissolved metals of value (e.g., Au3+, Li+, Ag3+) from liquid streams like reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate streams, whose recovery could offset some of the costs associated with treatment. Maghemite (��-Fe2O3) is a superparamagnetic material that has been used for removing heavy metals from industrial wastewaters. By using this type of concentrate management strategy, it might be possible to increase the recovery rate of RO systems while monetizing what was before another waste source. This presentation will cover our work to date on the use of magnetic nano-adsorbents (��-Fe2O3) for selectively removing scale forming elements (Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42-) and dissolved metals (e.g., Au3+, Li+, Ag3+) from brackish water sources. We will present on a variety of possible surface coatings that may be used for increased removal/recovery of constituents and provide a cost-benefit analysis for recovering specific metals of value from oil and gas produced waters.

The concept of Form-Based Code is of central importance in American New Urbanism. There is an increasing concern on Form-Based Code’s components and adoptions in cities and countries in the USA. This paper aims to extend Form-Based Code’s study to high-density cities of Asia. It explores the methodology of embedding parametric thinking into the multi-scenario evaluation of Form-Based Code. The methodology framework is developed by taking advantage of parametric modelling instruments which visualizes the coding procedure on software interfaces. Using Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong as the experimental site, the paper concludes with a parametric evaluation system towards a walkable and accessible environment in the volumetric urban morphology of high-density cities.

This paper presents the impacts of different street orientations and street zones of a typical Dutch residential area on micro-scale human thermal comfort. The spatial and temporal variation of mean radiant temperature (T mrt ) of a typical summer day in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, is simulated by using an established long- and short-wave 3D radiation fluxes model (SOLWEIG). This model calculates human radiation load and expresses this as a T mrt . Hereby we simulate and analyse the T mrt variations for three zones of a street consisting of a centre area for cars and the adjacent pedestrian zones for pedestrians and bicycles. The streets are azimuth rotated. The simulation and analysis results show various T mrt patterns of the three zones in the different orientations at different periods during daytime. We show that the spatial distribution of T mrt at street level strongly depends on street orientation and street zone. This is crucial since optimizing street configuration will directly influence the human thermal comfort in relation to street orientation and street zone. Finally we present a time adjusted framework of thermal comfort and classify the various T mrt for each zone and orientation.

This presentation will demonstrate some of the buildings, structural frames, mechanical systems, and infrastructure I worked on for my Architectural Engineering Senior Design projects. The first included an 80-story skyscraper and plaza. For the project, the leaning design had to be resolved architecturally with complete and detailed renderings of the building. Then the preliminary structural and mechanical systems had to be developed and modeled. My second project includes designing the full structural system for a low-rise office building. The third project includes fully designing and analyzing a Net-zero multi-family building being designed for a competition in Portland, Oregon. My third project is research I have done concerning urban heat islands and city-wide infrastructure. This includes commentary about the design process, the energy saving measures, and reaching a net-zero energy use intensity. For the projects, various software packages were used to model the building, estimate the interaction to the surrounding climate, and analyze specific functionalities of the building. These analyses included computational-fluid dynamic airflow analysis to view how air flows through and around buildings, solar daylighting analysis which is required for LEED accreditation, and advanced parametric design strategies for unique architectural structures. The final project included performing these analysis on a typical three story office building located in India.

This project aims to shed some light on the issue of why so few Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings exist in Wyoming. Only nine LEED certified buildings exist in Wyoming. For the research project, the project managers or LEED-APs received a questionnaire. A total of 36 questionnaires were sent out and only four were received back within the deadline. Three of the four questionnaires that were returned said that Credit 5.2 Regional Materials was impossible or at least a barrier to LEED Certification in Wyoming. Added costs to build "green" ranged from 8.3% to 35% more than if constructing a typical building. One responder mentioned that, "It is illegal in Wyoming to harvest rainwater for reuse unless you own the water rights. This makes an innovative wastewater technology very difficult for Wyoming." Even though only four surveys were returned, some important facts were learned as to why so few LEED accredited buildings exist in Wyoming. Hopefully by providing the United States Green Building Council with this feedback, the number of revisions needed in the future can be decreased and the number of "green" buildings in Wyoming can increase.

This project, which culminated in a self-published book, took an interdisciplinary approach to the two fields of entrepreneurship and green building, specifically targeting micro-businesses, those with 25 employees or less or annual income less than $500,000. The author, an architectural engineering student and small business owner herself, investigated and interviewed the local light industrial businesses of Laramie, drew from her experience working in her mother's small manufacturing business, and applied techniques learned in her engineering curriculum to recommend strategies for retro fitting and designing facilities unique to this sector of small businesses. The goal of the project was to convey to the light industrial business owner that building green, applying sustainable practices into every line of their work, and reducing energy consumption across the board can save companies money, money that can greatly impact their cash flow and continuity of operations.

Housing affordability is a multifaceted problem, however there is a disconnect between the socio-economic approaches of academia and government, with the fragmented, construction-oriented approaches of housebuilding. The compartmentalisation of the issues within and across both academia and industry results in disparate efforts to improve affordability. Instead, holistic approaches integrating many fields of knowledge are required to address these issues. This thesis builds the case for a new knowledge visualisation framework called the Affordability Atlas, which facilitates the transfer of knowledge, mapping innovative and holistic approaches to addressing housing affordability via meaningful collaboration between academia and industry.

This item is part of: Boarin, P., Haarhoff, E., Manfredini, M., Mohammadzadeh, M., Premier, A., (2021). Rethinking Sustainable Pacific Rim Territories. Proceedings of the 2020 APRU Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Hub PhD Symposium, Future Cities Research Hub, School of Architecture and Planning of the University of Auckland. ISBN: 978-0-473-53616-9ABSTRACTThis paper examines the presently under-developed potential for school grounds to form part of learning environments, especially in the pandemic situation, when the schools face difficulties accommodating students in indoor classrooms. The article attempts to provide a connection between Outdoor Learning Environments (OLE) and Innovative Learning Environments (ILE), proposing Outdoor Innovative Learning Environments (OILE[1]) on school grounds which can be used effectively by teachers and students. The paper includes a brief background of open-air schools as the first generation of OLE, a summary of the positive impacts of OLE, the definition of ILE, an ILE spatial typology, and evaluates some OILE examples in school grounds.[1] OILE is the term suggested by the author.

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This project evaluated the abilities of two new nanostructured surface coatings, diamond-like carbon (DLC) and hydroxyapatite (HA) for mitigating the deposition and adsorption of proteins to ceramic membrane surfaces (i.e., membrane fouling) by altering the surface energetics. Membrane properties known to influence membrane fouling; surface roughness, pore geometry, and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity were studied. Membrane performance was evaluated in terms of decline in permeate flux with time. Durapore�� membranes designed to have low protein binding capabilities were used as baseline comparisons. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as the model protein. BSA properties, charge and particle size, were also investigated and used to determine interaction energies including Lifshitz-van der Waals, electrostatic and acid-base interactions. Force-plots based on the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theory were then generated. Compared to the unmodified alumina anodisk, HA surface coating reduced the amount of protein fouling (less flux decline). The DLC surface coating resulted in a higher rate of protein fouling relative to the unmodified anodisk membrane. Durapore�� membranes exhibited the least protein fouling. The hydrophilic Durapore�� and HA coated membranes exhibited an overall repulsive interaction with the model colloid BSA. The relatively hydrophobic DLC had an overall attractive interaction with BSA.

The worldwide demographic trend of an ageing society has important implications in the built environment. As the ageing population increases, designers are increasingly challenged to manage the diverse needs of older citizens so that health and quality of life are improved and independent living ��� or ���ageing in place��� - can be guaranteed.In this context, since older people���s individual differences are excessively wide, considering them as a single and uniform population can lead to misleading conclusions. Consequently, this study aims to investigate relationships between thermal comfort and wellbeing of older people on an individualized level, by developing occupant centric and data driven comfort models using machine learning algorithms, as opposed to the generalized static models traditionally used today.This approach seeks to enable more adequate design guidelines and thermal conditioning management for older people���s built environment, which could help decrease health-related vulnerability, enhance wellbeing, minimize reliance on heating and cooling, reduce energy use and ultimately diminish fuel poverty.

The design was developed, commissioned by Artistic Director at Valley Arts Trust in Clare Valley, South Australia. The proposal is a portable, prefabricated theatre, which starts in Clare Valley and travels to other parts of the globe.The proposal is made with aluminium structure frame with timber seating and stage. The structure is covered with mesh/fabric on the exterior and roof. The theater is an exterior theatre with no electricity. Daylight performances only The theatre accommodates around 400 people.The venue was intended t occur along side March Fringe festival.

The Environmental Performance in Construction (EPiC) database is a free resource that contains embodied environmental flow coefficients for over 280 construction materials using a comprehensive hybrid life cycle inventory approach.Detailed metadata for each material is available at www.epicdatabase.com.au by clicking on the DOI links for each material in the interactive table of coefficients.Cite as: Crawford, R.H., Stephan, A. and Prideaux, F. (2019) Environmental Performance in Construction (EPiC) Database, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne.

The Solar Decathlon is an international student competition requiring university-led interdisciplinary student teams to research, design, build and operate a solar-powered house. Projects like this are highly competitive but have significant learning benefits for those involved. The Decathlon requires a wide range of student skills and so is by nature highly interdisciplinary. To win requires a significant amount of collaboration between team members who must rapidly accumulate specialised knowledge of diverse fields including solar design. This paper looks at the Solar Decathlon 2011 project submitted by Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, examines the pedagogical methodologies used, and debates the usefulness of this type of interdisciplinary and collaborative project for students of a school of architecture. It notes the difficulties placed on integration of a single-project focus on the wider scope of a typical architectural education and proposes that the broader degree curriculum may benefit from evolving to better accommodate the flexibility needed for targeted design-led research competitions such as the Solar Decathlon.

A 1.1 MW hydropower facility is proposed at a location approximately two miles south of Lingle, Wyoming. The facility's source water comes from the Fort Laramie Canal. After running through the facility, the water is deposited into the Platte River through a small channel. In 1918, a hydropower plant was built at this same location, and it operated until April 1956. However, the old power plant is currently not functional; in fact, only remnants remain. This project aims to redesign the plant and make it a feasible and attractive operation. The project includes such broad elements as cost estimates, environmental impacts, constructability issues, the preliminary design, as well as an economic analysis. It also includes the detailed design of the penstock, the turbine selection, the layout of the powerhouse, and other various elements. The proposed hydropower plant operates at 150 cfs and is designed to produce 1.1 MW of power. The water is conveyed through a single, above-ground penstock to a Francis turbine. The initial construction cost is estimated at roughly two and a quarter million dollars, with the earliest return on investment being 11 to 12 years.

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For architectural engineering, the senior project was to follow the design process for structural engineers while designing a portion of the addition to the Rochelle Athletics Center. It was the responsibility of myself and two other students to provide our interpretation and solution to the structural challenges that the addition posed. My responsibilities on this project included collaborative work in positioning the columns and designing the beam and girder layout. Once a general design was determined, each member of our group was responsible for calculating loads and capacities of members. Throughout the entire project, we had a collaborative effort to design the building, seeing as three minds are better than one. However, I went beyond what was required for the project itself and used a structural analysis program to validate our pencil and paper solution we had come up with.

Hong Kong’s building density is one of the highest in the world. Since ventilation is a key element in sustainable and environmental design, there is a need to evaluate local wind environments of high dense cities such as Hong Kong. In recent years non-standard curvilinear residential buildings that don’t follow conventional rectilinear block structures are becoming increasingly more popular. Though various studies of ventilation conditions of conventionally design buildings have been made, research of non-standard curvilinear building layouts is still limited. Previous research mainly explored rectilinear block-shaped layouts that typically cause a so called ‘Wall-Effect’ by blocking adequate ventilation on street- and mid-levels around buildings. Our paper presents and summarizes the analysis of airflow and ventilation of non-standard curvilinear buildings based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The Flow Simulation of Solidworks has been used as our analysis software tools. Its technology is based upon the use of Cartesian based meshes and solving the Navier-Stokes equations. Nonstandard and curvilinear shaped building arrangements are categorized into various groups and analyzed in respect to their performance of ventilation on street and mid-levels using a case study of high rise buildings in Sha Tin, Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s climate is subtropical warm and humid in summer, subsequently a higher ventilation is needed and building design has to accommodate good airflow around the buildings. Our findings show that curvilinear buildings lead to a more favourable ventilation environment since they have a smaller wind resistance. Non-standard curvilinear designs perform better in terms of general ventilation since the airflow around the buildings is faster and less turbulent. Our simulations present that convex-shaped buildings have a better overall wind environment than concave-shaped ones. We conclude our paper with a classification of various nonstandard curvilinear buildings that offer a general better airflow and ventilation due to their shape. This classification allows designer to understand quickly wind resistance, airflow, and turbulences that a non-standard curvilinear design has on the immediate environment.

This item is part of: Boarin, P., Haarhoff, E., Manfredini, M., Mohammadzadeh, M., Premier, A., (2021). Rethinking Sustainable Pacific Rim Territories. Proceedings of the 2020 APRU Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Hub PhD Symposium, Future Cities Research Hub, School of Architecture and Planning of the University of Auckland. ISBN: 978-0-473-53616-9ABSTRACTResilience has received increased attention in urban-related research, policies and practice in recent years. Many urban development-related international initiatives have been established, such as the Making Cities Resilient Campaign and 100 Resilient Cities Programme, aiming to assist governments in enhancing urban resilience. Although the building stock is a significant component of the built environment, little work has been done on the scale of buildings compared to the work developed for the city scale. Resilient buildings can deliver their functions in the face of stresses and shocks, which are the converse of buildings that are vulnerable to the city's weaknesses and hazards. Enhancing the resilience of buildings boosts the urban fabric's resilience at a larger scale. This paper discusses what defines resilient buildings, focusing on existing building retrofits as it offers great opportunity to enhance the resilience of the built environment on a larger scale. It establishes a comprehensive understanding of resilience in buildings that consider both stresses and shocks threatening the built environment. Since resilience is a context-specific approach, the study also takes Jordan as an example and identifies the resilience challenges of its buildings according to 200 local professionals' perception who responded to an online questionnaire.

Will Swan discusses the Energy House 2.0 Project and its Impact.

The profile of New Zealand housing has for some time been dominated by the stand alone suburban house. However, this pattern absorbs considerable land resource and leads to socially stagnant environments, heavily dependent on private motorcars. For these reasons the largest New Zealand cities have declared limits to peripheral growth. Such limits coupled with changes in lifestyle lead naturally to intensification of existing residential areas. Urban planning and design objectives that underpin residential intensification are sound; greater densities can provide for improved social opportunities, bolster economic circumstances to enable a greater range of services to be offered and can make better use of existing physical infrastructure. However, experience shows that the built outcomes are patchy and that many infill projects fall short of meeting expectations for on-site amenity and/or appear to be at odds with the character of the surrounding area. In late 2005, Housing New Zealand Corporation organised an architectural design competition for comprehensive redevelopment of a large site in the Auckland region. On the basis of this representative cross section of designers, research aiming to evaluate achievement by New Zealand designers in terms of residential amenity and fit with the surrounding context was conducted. A review of literature, including the design brief and a number of design guides for infill housing, informs criteria addressing key urban design and architectural amenity issues specific to medium density housing. The criteria were used to assess the entries using a five point scale. The methodology generates data that are used to compare entries and analyses relative strengths and weaknesses seen across all schemes. The results provide a snapshot of contemporary practice in New Zealand, suggesting where strengths and weaknesses lie with respect to planning and design of medium density housing.

Published to accompany an exhibition by the same name held at Toi Moroki Centre of Contemporary Art Christchurch (CoCA) in 2020-21. Contains essays, photographs, and review of exhibition. The exhibition and writing centres on architectural drawing, simulation and scale. Contributors: Fabio Morreale, Clovis McEvoy, Xiaoling Cheng, Tony Cranch, Brendan Donovan Text contributors: Simon Twose, Fritha Powell Design: Daniel Shaskey Photography: Simon Devitt, John Collie, David St George, David Straight

Design of Small Earth Dams, CE 5820, is a Civil Engineering "Comprehensive Design Experience" course. Dams, even small earth dams such as those for stock ponds, require combining knowledge from Hydrology, Hydraulics, Geotechnical Engineering and Construction. The project this semester is to design a water storage dam facility to collect excess water from both natural rainfall runoff and from a water discharge point located on the Lake Owen to Granite Dam pipeline. Engineering, legal and safety aspects must be incorporated into the design. Judges will be from the State Engineer's Office, the Wyoming Water Development Commission and an engineering consultant.

The world so large is growing ever so small. Scattered souls are slowly making their way quickly to urban concentrations, establishing residency in whichever fashion possible, thus slums are manifest. As of consequence, the health, safety, and overall standards of living for approximately one billion slum dwellers are less than poor and on the decline. To solve this problem a system must be initiated in place of the current infrastructure entanglement. A future proof system able to be universally implemented. By creating a standardized and compartmentalized housing design, the ability to grow organically from both existing and new roots can be achieved. Additionally, a majority of the current infrastructure and urban planning in place acts as juxtaposition rather than ease of circulation. As slums are cities within themselves, a more proper sense of city organization must be taken into account. To account for this, structures outside of residential must also be implemented. From community centers to business incubators, again standardized and compartmentalized, a variety of needs can be fulfilled unique to the many slums of today.

A reflection of transcoding is projected in the context of museums as cultural heritage institutions that seek innovative ways for converting and tapping into the realm of mass and social media. In parallel with the New Museology movement having been discussed since 1970s critiques of traditional curatorial practices argue that ordinary objects are more informative than precious elements. Based on critical reflections of the novel The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk, this paper presents an analysis of its main stakeholders (object, visitor and collector) in the context of heritage. Hereby the New Aesthetic that employs variety of digital technologies is discussed of how a contemporary curatorship sits in contrast to conventional comprehension of arts in respect of the phenomena itself. Arguably critical to Kant’s philosophy, object-oriented ontology suggests to go further than the relations between humans and computers. The argument between opponents and supporters of the movement is whether a machine can define our aesthetic apprehension; whether we can experience the world through their eyes; or rather if transcoding from digital to cultural is worthwhile. Having provided all these background information to ground its focus on its place, this paper is limited to a comparatively analyse of Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence and a digital heritage project, The Museum of Gamers in terms object-oriented perspective as contribution to the aforementioned knowledge.