Architectural Design Tools Research Articles

Exploring Digital Visualization Methods in Urban Public Building Space Design

Digital technology has driven the innovation of architectural design methods and tools, applying digital techniques to allow greater possibilities for more innovative and scientific design of public building spaces. This article first analyzes the characteristics of digital visualization and its advantages in the design of urban public building spaces, including aspects such as visualizing three-dimensional expression, rational analysis of building space, Virtual Reality Experience, and integration of design and construction processes. Subsequently, by introducing digital design methods such as parametric design, algorithmic generation, nonlinear design, and artificial intelligence-assisted design, it explores the methods and implementation approaches of digital visualization in the design of public building spaces. The aim is to offer insights and references for the deeper integration of digital technology into architectural design practices.

Creative programming in architecture: a computational thinking approach

The creative programming language Processing can be used as a generative architectural design tool, which allows the designer to write design instructions (algorithms) and compute them, obtaining graphical outputs of great interest. This contribution addresses the inclusion of this language in the architecture curriculum, within the context of digital culture and alternative approaches to how digital tools are used and learned. It studies the different processes related to Computational Thinking that are triggered in the prototyping of computer applications and that lead to creativity. The similarity between architectural design and programming is analysed, both in problem solving (abstraction, decomposition, iterative revisions -debugging-, etc.) and in the use of mechanisms of a digital nature (loops, randomness, etc.). The results of the design and testing of a pilot course are shown, in which the way of teaching, learning and using this programming language is based on the graphical representation of problems through sketches.

An Example of an Application Project on Contemporary Office Design

This study aims to define the concept of office spaces and their requirements, as well as the contemporary interior design approaches. It will also cover the interior design and application process for an architecture office in Konya. The company, originally named Çınar Architecture and active in Konya between 1985 and 1990, has been operating as Kerimler Planning Construction Consultancy Company in Konya since 1995. The company requested an interior architecture project for their new location. In the current environment, the office is starting to become outdated and is unable to offer users enough physical amenities. The main goal of the new office’s interior design was to create areas where employers and employees could collaborate in a welcoming and adaptable setting without facing any kind of discrimination. In Konya Meram Pirebi District, the Menekşe Apartment’s ground floor, which is currently a street-level store, is the site of the project, which occupies a total of 280 m2 and consists of a ground + basement. The office occupies 145 square meters on the ground floor of a recently constructed building, with glass extending to the open floor on the south, north, and west facades. The room has a very large opening because the columns are concealed by the walls, making the two stories easily visible from the entrance. The office, which occupies a 135 m2 basement floor, is connected to the elevator and staircase at the back. Natural light enters the basement through the gallery area that is attached to the staircase. Within the parameters of the study, two- and three-dimensional architectural design tools, including phases of the interior design process, were employed in conjunction with a qualitative research method based on inspection and observation. The architectural office put it into practice about half a year after the design stage. The outcome was the creation of a dynamic, modern office analysis that values teamwork and permits the emergence of unique and creative ideas throughout the project.

Real Time FPGA Implementation of an Efficient High Speed Harris Corner Detection Algorithm Based on High-Level Synthesis

Computer vision systems use corner detection to identify features in an image. In applications such as motion detection, tracking, picture registration, and object recognition, corner detection is often one of the initial steps. In this paper, a real-time image processing system based on Harris corner detection was designed and implemented using Zynq architecture and model-based design tools. The system was based on a development board containing the Zynq-7000 chip, which consists of a combination of FPGA and microprocessor, and the image taken with a high-resolution camera was processed in real-time by applying color conversion and Harris corner detection. The filter hardware designs used in the system were made using the HDL Coder tool in Matlab/Simulink without writing HDL code. The hardware that receives images from the camera was designed on a model-based basis with the Xilinx Vivado 2020. The HDL code that was implemented on the Xilinx ZedBoard using Vivado software was then validated to ensure real-time operation with the incoming video stream. The results achieved exhibited superiority compared to prior implementations in terms of area efficiency (reduced number of gates on the target FPGA) and speed performance on an identical target card. Using the rapid prototyping approach, two alternative hardware accelerator designs were created using various high-level synthesis tools. This design used less than 50% of the host FPGA's logic resources and was at least 30% faster than current implementations.

Virtualization in Information Technology Science and Its Integration to Develop Future Architectural Design Tools (Comparative descriptive research case study of BMW showroom building)

The increasing availability and utilization of information are the defining characteristics of the information age. While the industrial revolution focused on material production, the information revolution focuses on the production of ideas. Countries with more information are the most dominant in the world, and over the past thirty years, we have witnessed the tremendous development of the information and communication sector, leading to various changes in the modern world, including the replacement of some jobs with new technologies. This has had a profound impact on society, concepts, and beliefs, and the field of architectural engineering has been significantly affected by the advancements in information technology, resulting in changes in the way architects think, analyze, and design buildings. The digital revolution has also had a significant impact on various disciplines, giving rise to new ideas and trends in each of them. One of the most important outcomes of this revolution is virtual representation, which allows multiple applications to run on a single device. This has led to several ways of understanding and interpreting the concept in different fields. (1) The architectural product is directly influenced by digital technology in all areas, as architectural design increasingly moves into the realm of virtual reality, which is expected to become more logical and realistic. (2) Simulating virtual reality is one of the evident effects of the technological revolution on architectural design and can be referred to as "digitalizing architectural design. (3) This study presents a model for integrating the new elements resulting from the technological revolution into visions and approaches for dealing with future architecture, through the reciprocal relationship between architecture and technology.

The oscillation between “becoming-tool” and “becoming-prosthesis” in architectural designs

This study explores the architectural design tools that have evolved through digital media in the postdigital era, which is evaluated through analog and digital hybridize. It raises the question of how the tool, as a mediator between the designer-subject and the designed-object in the architectural design process, can be re-examined in a hybrid design environment. The study proposes that what connects the designer-subject and the designed-object can be understood not only as a tool but also as a prosthesis. In this context, the “tool” in architectural design is described by the oscillation between the concepts of “becoming-tool” and “becomingprosthesis” and their impact on the designer-subject through bodily, cognitive, and consciousness extensions. The relations among the concepts are discussed by folding them on each other using the hermeneutic methodology.

Walking and Sketching as a Tool for Architectural Design

This study investigates the effectiveness of combining walking and sketching exercises to develop a cohesive tool for architectural design. Prescriptive walking exercises guide how to walk to gain insight into the surrounding environment, which is particularly valuable for preliminary site analysis in architectural design. Sketching exercises complement the walking experience by prompting questions about composition, scale, and technique. Sketching requires interpretation of the environment to reveal new patterns and intricacies. Additionally, sketches serve as a tangible memory to reflect on during the design process. This study focuses on four primary walking exercises: Dérive, Synesthesia Walk, Radius Walk, and Traced Cup Walk. Author 1 followed by Design 6 students, tested and evaluated these exercises and found them helpful in grounding the rendering and narrative of studio projects in the urban context. This research is part of Author 2’s broader study, culminating in a guidebook outlining applicable walking and complementary visual exercises for the architectural design process.

A New Approach in Daylighting Design for Buildings

Daylighting is a future building design trend, subjected to all the global energy efficiency standards, but its design still largely depends on the architect and it is difficult for electrical engineers to precisely quantify the energy efficiency of the solution. This study presents an innovative integration process of design and simulation, rooted in the parameters of existing standards and regulations, and leveraging architectural design and simulation software tools. Within this novel integrated design methodology, the peripheral zones of the building envelope and the central core areas of the structure are discretely conceptualized and designed. Daylight intensity in the building envelope’s peripheral zones is calculated based on the average daylight factor and the building’s optimized window-to-wall ratio. In contrast, the central core areas are designed to attract daylight from open spaces on the roof, roof structure, reflective roofs, and clerestories. A building energy performance simulation tool is utilized to validate the energy efficiency of these new design techniques. This fresh approach is tested on a complex pilot-scale building in Nhon Trach, Dong Nai, Vietnam, to evaluate the method’s feasibility and scientific soundness. The simulation results corroborate the accuracy of the proposed approach in quantifying the efficiency of reducing a building’s lighting system energy consumption by 34%, equivalent to an annual CO2 saving of over 4,000 tons. Through the proposed daylighting design, an approximate 7% increase incurs in total initial investment, promising substantial profitable returns.

Exploringthe Potential of Artificial Intelligence as a Tool for Architectural Design: A Perception Study Using Gaudí’sWorks

This study undertakes a comprehensive investigation into the comparison of designs between the acclaimed architect Antoni Gaudí and those produced by an artificial intelligence (AI) system. We evaluated the designs using five main metrics: Authenticity, Attractiveness, Creativity, Harmony, and overall Preference. The findings underline the superiority of Gaudí’s designs in terms of Authenticity and Harmony, testifying to the unique aesthetic appeal of human-created designs. On the other hand, AI-generated designs demonstrate significant potential, exhibiting competitive results in the categories of Attractiveness and Creativity. In some cases, they even surpass Gaudí’s designs in terms of overall Preference. However, it is clear that AI faces challenges in replicating the distinctive aspects of human design styles, pointing to the innate subjectivity inherent to design evaluations. These findings shed light on the role AI could play as a tool in architectural design, offering diverse design solutions and driving innovation. Despite this, the study also emphasizes the difficulties AI faces in capturing the unique facets of human design styles and the intrinsic subjectivity in design evaluations.

Brain–computer interfaces as an architectural design tool: Feasibility and usability study

The applications of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) for ideation scenarios in architectural design have not been widely explored. In this paper, a BCI tool was developed and tested with the goal of enabling architectural designers to manipulate the placement and dimensions of windows in a virtual-reality room through the use of self-selected body movements. Usability tests, followed by semi-structured interviews, were conducted to investigate the accuracy of the BCI, the cognitive loads experienced by users, and their subjective reactions to the tool. The findings revealed that a wide range of online binary accuracy (41%–86%) was observed among different participants when the BCI was utilized. The tool was enthusiastically received by the participants, who described it as a rewarding and creativity-enhancing approach. The main challenges reported were high mental loads and confusing visual feedback, both of which may be addressed by future technological adjustments.

Designing for Maintenance: Plant Care Technology in the Office.

This article examines the design and incorporation of potted plants in office interiors around the late twentieth century. This era saw an increasing use of plants, not only deemed healthy for office workers and the office environment but also as architectural and social interior design tools, fueling the growth of "interiorscaping" as a design field. Working within the constraints of designed offices, interior landscapers were responsible for managing plants' relationship with the office environment and providing ongoing care in the months and years ahead, in order to ensure each plant's long-term survival. Delving into the technical and social systems of interiorscape maintenance practices, the author argues that maintenance was a primary concern in interiorscape work, from the initial cultivation and acclimatization of plants through their installation and ongoing care.

New Simulation Tool for Architectural Design in the Realm of Solar Radiative Transfer

In this paper, we devise a system for architectural simulations that considers the volumetric and three-dimensional properties or the energy sources involved in the energy exchanges within or around edifices and built or urban spaces. The advances are based in optics theory evolving from the assumptions presented in the book The Photic Field by P. H. Moon and D. E. Spencer, with added improvements suggested by D. DiLaura. Such procedure is deftly performed by means of solving complex integral equations, which were unavailable until recently and originate in the research developed by the authors. This experimental software is called DianaX. The advantages of this new system allow for a clearer visualization of the performance of buildings in terms of radiated energy. Reductions in the amounts of used energy can be achieved precisely by means of the design process of the software, which can be considered in some respects as a Design Tool. With this tool, the analysis of heritage building paradigms is feasible as it assesses the potential of new foreseen projects taking into account new artificial lighting devices that deviate from the conventional linear or point approach in the domain. The main finding demonstrated is the feasibility and appropriateness of this method to address the problems posed. As future prospects, we would like to increase the catalogue of designs that can benefit from the conscious use of our tool for scientific design.

Physiological and cognitive discontinuities: From mythical mediation to implicit discretization of architectural design tools

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.

MetaMAP: a graphical tool for designing initiatives to support multiple sustainability goals

This paper presents MetaMAP: a new graphical tool and framework for designing well-integrated sustainability initiatives, and managing synergies and trade-offs regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are highly interconnected, but many institutional structures and thinking paradigms lead us to look at them in isolation. This stifles innovation and social transformation. Most tools and frameworks, while valuable, focus on analysis, not design, and are limited to a particular discipline, sector, SDG, or geographic scale. Without holistic frameworks and collaborative tools, many sustainability practitioners may be playing chess without a board. To support a more integrated approach to achieve the SDGs, MetaMAP resembles architectural design tools which help users to synthesise knowledge, reframe complex situations, and identify stakeholders, leverage points, synergies, and trade-offs. MetaMAP applies a new meta-framework to organise concept maps developed collaboratively by interdisciplinary teams following a guided process. This framework integrates components of the natural environment, built environment, and society across multiple spatial and temporal scales. It incorporates concepts from social-ecological systems, planetary boundaries, design thinking, integral theory, ecosystem services, and ecological footprint, among others. MetaMAP was designed with input from over 170 people from diverse disciplines in five workshops, numerous case studies, and critique. This article demonstrates MetaMAP through its application to a case study in which a multidisciplinary team analysed the impacts of an Ecovillage across scales and designed synergetic initiatives. We then critique MetaMAP from four disciplinary perspectives. We envision that MetaMAP will support the design of sustainability initiatives which are more efficient, more broadly supported, and contribute to multiple SDGs simultaneously. By taking a systems view and applying design thinking, MetaMAP helps users to understand interlinkages, maximise synergies, and minimise trade-offs when designing specific SDG initiatives.

Designing for optimum thermal comfort using bioclimate simulation and analysis as an urban and architectural design and educational support tool

Abstract Bioclimatic design is a design process that takes into account climate and environmental conditions when designing for optimum thermal comfort with minimum outside energy use. The present study intends to highlight the role of the bioclimatic analysis in design operations at both urban and architectural scale in Guelma city, Algeria. As our challenge is to provide a precise analysis of the climatic conditions, we have resorted to several methods and bioclimatic tools using climatic data from the decade from 2008 to 2017. Each tool consists of presenting and following the intersection of one or more climatic parameters with respect to time. As a result, we have located the bioclimatic floor to which Guelma city belongs, the overheating, the under heating and the comfortable zones have been determined. The findings are significant to draw up the main recommendations and requirements for a bioclimatic design for Guelma city in particular and for regions with semi-arid climate in general.

Developing and user-testing a “Digital Twins” prototyping tool for architectural design

The researchers developed and tested a hybrid physical/digital toolset for architectural prototyping, named “Ph2D,” which allows adjustments in a physical floorplan model to be mirrored and analyzed in a digital platform. The toolset uses a modular approach based on interconnectable tiles (e.g., “wall section with exterior door”). Additional tile pieces beyond the base toolset can be 3D-printed and/or digitally defined by users, allowing for a large degree of customization. The “digital twin” approach combines the utility of hand-on experimentation with automatic digital representation, and it enables analytical tools such as connectivity analysis and energy performance simulation to be conducted simultaneously with the physical design ideation. User-testing (n = 182) indicated significant enthusiasm for the toolset's usability, and showed an association between exposure to the toolset and higher regard for physical prototyping in design. Non-designers expressed a strong interest in experimenting with the tool, indicating potentially effective roles in design education and team-communication.

PTAD: A web-based climate service for building design adaptation

Projections Tool for Architectural Design (PTAD) is a web-based climate service product available at www.ptad.mju.ac.th. Targeted at building owners and designers, it is intended to support these decision makers in building design to reduce the impacts of climate change. This study presents the technical environment of PTAD and provides a conceptual basis for linking academic information on climate change to building-related data with the cooperation of the relevant authorities. The PTAD development concept was divided into three parts: climate change impact assessment in small areas (i.e., at a construction site scale), building damage analysis of the impacts, and climate-resilient recommendations for building design. Tools such as GIS, HEC-RAS, and ERDAS and the existing outputs of regional climate models were used as the baseline data for analyzing the impacts that may occur at the study site. The impacts in small areas and design strategies to reduce the potential damage were analyzed with the Delphi technique using existing standards and guidelines. A 3-tier architecture was employed for the production and development environments by modularizing the user interface, service object, and data storage layers. The impact data values, namely, the highest annual surface temperatures and flood characteristics, including the maximum flood level, flood duration, and water velocity from 1998 to 2047, were displayed as markers on the satellite maps, tables, and figures. The impacts can be linked to architectural design guidelines to help design buildings that mitigate some of the impacts of climate change.

Biomimetic Approaches for Adaptive Building Envelopes: Applications and Design Considerations

In the past decade, the evolution of biomimicry architecture was considered as an important issue for achieving adaptation strategies to cope with the different climatic aspects and to provide thermal comfort inside buildings which suit various environmental conditions. Egypt is one of the countries that faces the problem of using excessive energy to cool buildings due to weak building envelopes especially during the summer season that needs to be solved through biomimicry design approaches. The paper assumes that the role of nature design has a significant influence to promote occupants’ comfort, ensure energy conservation of the building and can be seen as an important contribution to sustainability of the built environment. The paper presents the concept and development of biomimicry architecture and its impact on building envelopes. Then, it analyses different biomimetic design applications in hot arid climates to conclude adaptable design considerations that are flexible and responds to differences in their surrounding context. Finally, the third part concludes a biomimicry design matrix for building envelopes that can act as a road map for adaptive implementations. The scope of the paper is the study and analysis of biomimicry as an important tool for architectural design and sustainable construction focusing on the possibility of applying biomimetic principles for adaptive building envelopes describing their potential for future building design in hot arid regions.

건축공간의 형상과 경계의 변화에 관한 연구

This study macroscopically examines the modification in architectural space and attempts to systematically suggest what kind of process the contemporary architectural space has developed in terms of shape and boundary. Furthermore, in order to analyze the categories of architectural systems that stimulated and induced changes in the shape and boundaries of architectural spaces in terms of architectural structures, forms, materials, experiences, design tools, various theories, and artistic needs, the flow of change in the shape of space is presented in diagrams. Through important examples, the geometrical shape and effect of architectural space were presented. The case was presented as a plan, elevation, cross-section, and internal and external images, and the change of space was visually refined. The shape and boundary change of these spaces were integrated into a conceptual language and diagrammed. Finally, the modern architectural space was reconstructed through heterogeneity, diversity, and dynamism, and it developed into the trends of folding, landscape, and metamorphosis, which is an effort to define space organically, and the value of space through communication with nature and living energy.

Application of PREEvision in Functional Intelligent Safety Design for Integrating Automotive Electronic and Electrical Architecture

With the increase of people’s attention to car safety and the introduction of functional safety, designers have changed their thinking from fault-based to functional-based safety architecture design. PREEvision, an architecture design tool, can integrate automotive electronic and electrical architecture design and integrate functional safety design into it, which greatly simplifies the design process and design time, and at the same time can also reduce the probability of product failure to Improve security.