In architectural design, representation tools are often compared according to their alleged effects on the creativity of designers. Moreover, their mediating capacities are often mythicized, to such an extent that one might surmise the direct transmission of the mental images from the designer’s consciousness to an external representation. In this speculative essay, we demonstrate that the process of representation at work in architectural design originates from the designer’s consciousness natural cognitive ability, rather than from the use of a specific mediation tool between the designer and his environment, between the mentally constructed architectural project and its representation. The effects of any tool of representation—analog or digital—on our perceptual apparatus depend primarily on the cognitive mechanisms affecting the discontinuous flow of internal representations formed by our consciousness. In other words, we propose to shed a new light on these limitations through the heuristic modeling of an architectural project designer confronted with his own cognitive biases, and the limits of the representation processes. In the present essay, the discontinuities and uncertainties inherent to the processes of representation are reintegrate in the models.
The architectural modernity that prevailed in Germany during the first half of the twentieth century cannot be understood without an appreciation of the work of Lilly Reich, a brilliant designer of interiors, furniture, and ephemeral architecture who exerted significant influence from her active position as a member of the Deutscher Werkbund. Despite the critical recognition she acquired in the media of the time during her solo career, her association with the architect Mies van der Rohe, far from positioning her in the field of contributions, relegated her to the role of a mere collaborator. For this reason, this article aims to shed light on the extensive legacy of Lilly Reich, a woman whose figure is being acknowledged as a result of recent research but who was nevertheless omitted from the leading books on the history of architecture. The methodology employed in the research analyses comparatively „what she did” and „what was said about her”, highlighting the convergences and divergences between „work” and „criticism”. The study and its results yield interesting conclusions regarding both the recognition that Lilly Reich received during her lifetime and the criticism she received after her death and up to the present day.
This article investigates the one-century construction history of Silla’s state monastery Hwangryongsa, understanding its architectural transformation in relation to the changing ritual-spatial concept within the context of the medieval Sino-Korean cultural exchanges. The initial construction between 553 and 569, supervised by the Koguryǒ émigré monk Hyeryang, followed the sixth-century Northern Chinese model to build Hwangryongsa as a dormitory-enclosed compound, in which the One-Hundred-Seat Assembly was enacted in the image hall as the earlier Chinese Buddhist tradition would do. This plan was soon altered under the increasing popularity of the newly developed Southern Chinese paradigm. An extensive reconstruction started in 574 for the purpose of imitating the Chen imperial performance of the One-Hundred-Seat Assembly at Taijidian compound of Jiankang palace, while the archaic, oddly-empty organization of the central image hall reveals a hidden connection between Hwangryongsa and Tongtaisi, the state monastery of the Liang and also the first Chinese monastery modeled after the Taijidian compound. Hwangryongsa was eventually transformed into a corridor-enclosed ceremonial courtyard fronted by three image halls and one nine-story pagoda by 645, and the transformation profoundly mirrored China’s medieval architectural reform of Buddhist ritual space between the sixth and seventh centuries.
The development of the scientific theory on the stability of vaulted structures was driven mainly during the 18th century based on applying the laws of Mechanics and the knowledge of the properties of materials. In the specific case of structures such as domes, the development of the theory is closely related to the theory of arches and vaults. Still, the main contributions are made in technical reports on the construction, stability, and repair of domes, such as the dome of Saint Peter’s in Rome and Sainte-Geneviève or Pantheon in Paris. This article, therefore, analyses the relationship between theory and practice and the development achieved in the specific subject of masonry domes during the 18th century from the point of view of the Limit Analysis of Masonry Structures. In a more general sense, the objective of this research is to study in greater depth the theory of Limit Analysis itself, that is, to learn from the work carried out in the 18th century by mathematicians, architects, and engineers, who, although unaware of the existence of the theoretical framework of Limit Analysis as such, moved within it.
This research provides a mixed method of investigating and analyzing pedestrian behavior in pedestrianized areas, which is one of the human-based urban development practices. The relationship between pedestrian behavior and perception of the city is discussed through a combination of architect and urban planner Gordon Cullen’s theory and Space Syntax methodology. This study examines the development and implementation of the methodology to understand the relationship between pedestrian behavior and space in Besiktas Koyici settlement, Istanbul. The methodology, integrated with on-site observations (observing 10 min at five different observation points in the settlement at predetermined times on weekdays and weekends), surveys (determining pedestrian movement and perception in terms of Cullen’s theory) and spatial configuration (Space Syntax analysis (connectivity, integrity) done with DepthMapX software), aims to analyze pedestrian behavior patterns. The concepts of sense of place and content, as well as the effects of their sub-concepts on their behaviors, were revealed because of a survey conducted with students and architects of variety of educational levels who are daily users of the field. Pedestrian counting and observations were used to create density, activity, and mobility maps of the area. It has been found that pedestrianized areas have a significant impact on pedestrian behavior through influencing vitality and appeal and that Cullen’s theory may be used to analyze pedestrian behavior and perceptions of the city. The study showed that spatial configuration and Cullen’s theory effect pedestrian movement by complementing each other.
Understanding the physical characteristics and cultural connotations of water is fundamental in obtaining a more in-depth view of the relationship between monastic lives and spaces. This study moves from several case studies to two case comparisons to a synthesis of two space prototypes to investigate how water management evolved into spatial water thought and became a common reference for monastic lives and spaces. Cistercian and Han Buddhist monasteries are investigated and considered to share many similarities in the internal institutional model of monks’ lives, as well as their corresponding architectural core values. They are suitable cases for exploring this research idea. In Cistercian and Han Buddhist monasteries, the role of water in monks’ lives and spaces is mainly reflected in the following aspects: 1) the form of the water body shaped the monastic spatial morphology in site selection; 2) the structure of water flow was closely related to spatial order and affected the spatial distribution; and 3) the performance of the water status formatted the connotation of space. This article attempts to depict a complete picture of the relationship between monastic lives and spaces from the perspective of water. Under the common pursuit of self-sufficient retreat life, water management was the common strategy for monastic venues to turn the wilderness into paradise refuges. Findings of this article show that the water culture of self-sufficiency and self-cleaning is the common reference, a shared universal value, and common parts of the spatial thought of the two monastic venues. Awareness of the importance of water in monastic lives and spaces helps us to pay attention to the relationship between the water environment and monastic venues. The research findings are linked to the current requirements of historical monasteries’ preservation, restoration, and even reconstruction, which are fundamental in maintaining the sustainable development of monastic lives and spaces.
With the advent of on-site robotic tools, they can be deployed for editing landscapes – defined as the modulation of grounds with a high degree of sensitivity to matter and form. The paper contributes a theoretical grounding and two experimental frameworks for territorial-based robotic fabrication. Each experimental framework supports a robotic capacity for informing and forming grounds, demonstrated in relation to extreme territories using simulation setups. The frameworks include (1) a layer-sensitive modulation for protecting topsoil and (2) a performance-based robotic forming for creating wind barriers. For each framework, the paper proposes a setup, an exploration method, and an evaluation process. Drawing on the presented frameworks, the paper outlines three potentials of territorial-based robotic fabrication: the capability to modulate grounds vertically, the possibility to perform cross-scalar forming, and the opportunity to form dynamic, performative landscapes. The paper concludes with potential ways in which robotic tools could be leveraged for advancing precise landscape editing across scales.
Landscape character assessment (LCA) is an effective tool for understanding people’s perceptions and preferences of landscape characteristics. Other than the assessment indicators and subjects, the reliability of photos as assessment objects is equally important for the LCA result. However, the commonly used onsite photos are mainly obtained at randomly selected locations by the researchers. We can neither know whether those photos represent the researchers’ own preferences, nor, to our best knowledge, can their reliability be tested scientifically. This method is also difficult to apply in large-scale geographical areas. To address these issues, we (1) propose an improved method including the protocols of photography and the sampling of photography locations, in which the fractal principle and stratified random sampling method were combined to minimize the effects of the researchers’ preferences and other factors; (2) apply the method to the Guanzhong region as an example, and obtain sampling photos and their geographical coordinates, which can be used as a data package for LCA; (3) use Fractalyse to test the sampled result and receive good validity. In conclusion, this study extends the methodological chain of the LCA and supports the application of LCA in large-scale regions.
Architects have been following nature in their constructions for a long time. Observations of nature reveal that it has many highly developed structures that provide scientists and engineers with a lot of useful clues for creating more efficient structures and building forms. Therefore, revealing systematic thinking about natural species is a crucial requirement for today’s buildings. A software analysis method was used to design four modules in the roof structure of the Iranian University of Science and Technology’s exhibition. The roof structure is based on the Voronax structure, which is a relaxed formof Voronoi, which is seen in the structures ofmany natural creatures. They were analyzed in terms of optimization and structural simulation using Grass-hopper plugins and tools by taking into account VonMises stress in the structural design. The results indicated that by increasing the density of Voronax cells in the areaswith high Von Mises stress concentration, a more efficient structure could be achieved in terms of load-bearing and designing predefined free-form roof structures. By analyzing predefined roof structures in an optimum way, the study took a step toward optimizing these kinds of structures.
The transformation of urban and building design into green development is conducive to alleviating resource and environmental problems. Building design largely determines pollutant emissions and energy consumption throughout the building life cycle. Full consideration of the impact of urban geometries on the microclimate will help construct livable and healthy cities. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations significantly improve the efficiency of assessing the microclimate and the performance of design schemes. The integration of CFD into design platforms by plug-ins marks a landmark development for the interaction of computer-aided design (CAD) and CFD, allowing architects to perform CFD simulations in their familiar design environments. This review provides a systematic overview of the classification and comprehensive comparison of CFD plug-ins in Autodesk Revit, Rhinoceros/Grasshopper, and SketchUp. The applications of CFD plug-ins in urban and building design are reviewed according to three types: single-objective, multi-objective, and coupling simulations. Two primary roles of CFD plug-ins integrated into the design process, including providing various micro-scale numerical simulations and optimizing the original design via feedback results, are analyzed. The issues of mesh generation, boundary conditions, turbulence models, and simulation accuracy during CFD plug-in applications are discussed. Finally, the limitations and future possibilities of CFD plug-ins are proposed.
Against the background of urban renewal, the landscape transformation of urban public space into urban parks has become an effective way of improving environmental quality and creating an emotional attachment for people. Meanwhile, existing studies have seldom adopted experimental methods to scientifically reveal the effect of different landscape features on emotional experience. Using a portable eye movement tracker, wearable wireless physiological sensor, and emotional attachment scale, this study collects participants’ ergonomics data, and their degree and dimension of emotional attachment while experiencing different landscape features in Wudaokou Park in Beijing, China. The data were analyzed with the help of ErgoLab platform and IBM SPSS software. The results indicate that the artificial and natural landscape features and their specific characteristics have different effects on eye movement index, heart rate variability, skin conductance level, and attachment degree and dimension. The design of Wudaokou Park was proven to significantly promote emotional attachment. Natural features play an important role, among which the use of wild plants and gazebos—showing the texture and structural logic of bamboo materials—stand out. The research not only expands the practical scope of ergonomics instruments and improves the rationality of the emotional attachment scale, but also provides emotion-oriented design methods for urban researchers and designers to improve the emotional experience in urban parks in the future.
This paper presents a meta-synthesis conducted to identify, compare and synthesize published qualitative data related to the Maggie’s Centres, as a paradigmatic architectural example in the provision of non-institutional cancer support. These centres are internationally renowned for their unique architecture, where the careful design of indoors and outdoors spaces plays a critical role in their agenda for supporting care. Previous research has thoroughly analysed this approach to therapeutic environments, not only confirming the importance of designed space as originally conceived in Maggie’s philosophy but also identifying precise supporting effects associated with specific elements within their design. This paper aims to provide a new reading of Maggie’s contribution to cancer support by offering an examination of all these data through the lens of biophilia, which clarifies the impact of design decisions connected to nature on cancer patients’ lives. The analytic process included a systematic search strategy, extraction and classification of salient concepts using an open-coding approach, and lastly an interpretive evaluation. The systematically selected data helped to identify and rank the biophilic design parameters that appear the most critical for promoting and supporting human health and wellbeing in non-clinical therapeutic environments, from the user’s perspective. It also provided a compilation of distinctive design interventions related to biophilic parameters, which provides benchmark information for future research and design guidance in these environments.