New visual languages supporting design of multi-storey buildings

Sustainable multi-story building designs are gaining increasing attention in light of the green development of the building industry. Recently, many studies have been conducted to determine the optimized embodied energy considering size of structural members and materials strength using a single objective function. In this context, the current study adopted a multi-objective function based on cost and Embodied Energy (EE) for the sustainable design of the entire multi-story building. A BuildingEnergy computer program is used to assess the energy consumption performance of a multi-story reinforcement cement concrete building. Based on the proposed method, an analysis is carried out to compare the optimal solutions for multi-story building. Furthermore, a detailed parametric study was conducted to explore the main factors for energy-efficient column and beam design. The results revealed that with a comparison of the most “carbon-friendly” and “cost-friendly” solutions, an added cost of 6–7% can contribute up to a 13% emission reduction. The sectional dimensions, steel rebar, concrete strengths, cost ratio, building height, and eccentricity remarkably influence sustainable design, cost optimization, and minimum carbon emission. Overall, this study could help to define cost-effective and energy-efficient structural members. Eventually, the EE is confirmed to be a feasible parameter for designing more sustainable multi-story RCC buildings.

Consideration matters on product design and development are remarkably increasing recent years in manufacturing and improvement of the intelligent productivity of design business has become a pressing need for enterprises. Especially, in the design field of welding vessels, which are comparatively large size products, it is not only to concern with the geometric information like drawing, more important thing to be considered for a designer is to treat with the existing design knowledge. But traditional CAD systems can not treat it efficiently because of the shapes-oriented approaches. Thus, there has been a considerable growth of interest in knowledge-based design support systems. Based on object-oriented methodologies and attribute-oriented modeling paradigms, we have proposed the assembly structure as a design object model. This paper focus the discussion on modeling and representation of weld joint, and processing the public design knowledge used in manufacturing deign based on the proposed assembly structure model.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the economic viability of a new and innovative seismic damage resisting system (SDRS) device by conducting a feasibility study. The SDRS device has been patented and specifically designed to be implemented in multi-storey modular buildings in seismic regions such as New Zealand.Design/methodology/approachUsing a case study approach, two sample modular multi-storey buildings were purposively selected for the study. A cost-comparison analysis was conducted using the SDRS device in the two buildings, by carrying out a measure and price exercise of the construction elements.FindingsThe research results showed that the SDRS device is an economically viable option for mitigating seismic damage in modular multi-storey buildings in New Zealand. There is an average of 7.34 per cent of cost reduction when SDRS is used in modular multi-storey buildings when compared to other seismic resistance systems such as base isolation, moment resisting frames and friction damper systems.Practical implicationsThe economic viability of the SDRS presents an opportunity for its usage in modular design and construction of multi-storey buildings. SDRS system is also applicable to other building typologies and construction methods. The use of SDRS also aligns with the current national objective to provide more affordable and resilient housing within a limited time; the opportunity is considered significant in New Zealand, including for export and manufacturing.Originality/valueThe confirmation of the SDRS device’s economic feasibility is the original contribution of the authors.

The Novel Encounter: Visualising Memories of Home is a personal examination of both the absence and presence of home. I explore the concept of home through the lens of memory as well as a representation of mundane space. I approach these concepts from the perspective that home is not necessarily a fixed or ideal place, but rather an on-going pursuit underpinned by the tension between preservation and transformation. Within these parameters, I define home as a self-referential process whereby memory and autobiography are integral. Home and memory are reconceptualised through visual language as a hybrid of image and narrative. Central to my research is how visual communicators can engage with and articulate home and memory as a portable artefact and a core subject for storytelling, which embraces ambiguity and the potential for loss through the abstract and poetic language of the photogram and the fragility of paper. Building on the work of philosophers and theorists, I examine how psychological, phenomenological, autobiographical, and practical contributions about home and memory inform my studio investigation. Artists and designers who have framed home and memory as a subject, with a particular focus on empty interiors, absence and the repetitiveness of the ordinary, are explored. I outline where these concepts and practices intersect with the language of visual communication and examine how an autobiographical investigation of home through memory can enter into this domain. To address these questions, my studio work aims through a combination of photograms, cut-paper typography, illustrations, and paper sculpture to develop a method of recording, cataloguing and reconceptualising memory set within the rooms where personal life is lived. My research seeks to contribute to new knowledge in the practice and education of visual communication, which combines visualisation, narrative, experiential and material aspects of domestic space with the ephemeral qualities of memory. I argue that home, memory and autobiography as a genre of visual communication support opportunities for authorship and in doing so it enrich methodologies of storytelling.

Objective: To explore the views of key stakeholders on using visual supports for children with developmental disabilities in early intervention group settings. Specifically, this study aimed to determine stakeholders’ views on the barriers to and facilitators for the use of visual supports in these settings to inform the feasibility of implementing an immersive Visual Language in Autism program. Methods: This study involved three focus groups of parents, educators, and health professionals at one Australian early intervention group setting. Results: Lack of time, limited services, negative attitudes in society, and inconsistent use were cited as common barriers to using visual supports. Facilitators included having access to information and evidence on visual supports, increased awareness of visual supports, and the use of mobile technologies. Conclusion: The Visual Language in Autism program is feasible in early intervention group settings, if barriers to and facilitators for its use are addressed to enable an immersive visual language experience.

Development of systems, machinery and components for deep sea mining from 2000–6000 meters depth in the ocean is a major technological challenge. The existing engineering system concepts have been demonstrated for short duration and have to be well evaluated for long term mining operations. The need for conceptualization of new systems has often been emphasized. A Knowledge Based Design Support System has been developed which can be used as a tool to aid a system designer in evaluating existing systems as well as conceive new systems and components. The architecture for evaluating available products and development of evolvable products, hybrid products and genetically modified products are presented. System synthesis using far and near vision fused with conventional methods are described. System variants can be evaluated using a fusion of Analytical Hierarchy Processes (AHP) and Altschullerian approaches.

Knowledge and reasoning in design systems

Natural ventilation in multi-storey buildings: Design process and review of evaluation tools

In multi-storey structural wall buildings, the structural walls are required to resist additional shear force due to their interactions with the floors and gravity-resisting system, which is not fully catered for in current seismic design provisions and assessment guidelines. This paper scrutinizes the mechanics of the interaction between structural reinforced concrete (RC) structural walls, floors and gravity frames in multi-storey RC structural wall buildings during elastic and nonlinear response phases. It also investigates the implications of this interaction on design of multi-story RC wall buildings. Generic expressions are derived to predict the drift and rotation profiles of multi-storey RC wall buildings. Then, a simple hand calculation method is developed to estimate the system (moment) overstrength of multi-storey RC wall buildings due to system (wall-floor-frames) interaction. The proposed method is applied to a prototype building with different slab dimensions and stiffness, and verified by comparing with the system overstrength factor obtained using finite element analysis. The simplified method estimates, and the nonlinear finite element analyses results agree, that a system overstrength factor of 1.7 can be used to account for the 3D interaction between the structural walls, floors and gravity frames in design and assessment of typical ductile RC wall buildings.

Performative Microforests: Investigating the potential benefits of integrating spatial vegetation environments into buildings, in regards to the performance of buildings, their occupants + local ecosystems

Products derived from trees have been used by mankind for thousands of years, where timber has a long tradition as an ecological construction material. There is currently an increasing trend in multi-storey timber buildings, because of the projected growth in the demand for housing in urban areas between now and 2050, along with the urgent need for a more sustainable and productive construction industry. The construction of these buildings is now possible thanks to the new advances in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) and the new technological developments around timber construction. Its industrialization requirements imply a paradigm shift for the construction industry, which requires, among other aspects, the early and collaborative integration of stakeholders in its design and construction process. According to this, the objective of this review article is to determine the main advances and limitations related to the design and construction of multi-storey timber buildings, categorizing them in aspects such as sustainability, engineering and construction sciences, and collaborative design. The methodology of this article was based on the review of 266 articles published in Web of Science (WoS), as indexed scientific journals, between 2017 and mid-2022, performing a comparative and cooccurrence analysis of the contents. The results evidenced that 73% of the articles showed advances and limitations corresponding to the engineering and construction sciences category, 23% to sustainability, and the remaining 4% to collaborative design. The main advances in the development of multi-storey timber buildings are related to seismic analysis, connections design, fire performance, and fire design. While the main limitations are related to social sustainability, the results are not conclusive due to the low number of publications that support them.

The Reformed tradition, following Zwingli and especially Calvin, excluded images from the churches. Calvin rejected the sacred images of his day as idolatrous on the grounds that they were treated as making God present, that the necessary distinction between God and God’s material creation was not maintained, and because an image, which rightly was to be mimetic of visible reality, could not truthfully depict God. Calvin approved the Renaissance notion of visual art as mimetic and he understood that artists’ abilities were gifts of God and were to be used rightly. He also had a very keenly developed visual aesthetic sense in relation to nature as the “mirror” of God’s glory. However, the strong human tendency towards idolatry before images, he believed, meant that it was not expedient to place any pictures in the churches. Reinterpretation of key biblical passages, particularly the first and second commandments (Calvin’s numbering), together with changes in the understanding of what constitutes visual art, of the relationships between words and visual images, and of the processes of interpretation and reception not only of texts but of all perceived reality, lead to a re-thinking of the issues. The biblical narrative with its theological insights can be interpreted into a visual language and used by the church as complementary to, but never replacing, biblical preaching and teaching in words. Attention to the visual aesthetic dimensions of the worship space is important to allow for this space to function as an invitation and call to worship. Its form, colour, light and adorning may give aesthetic delight, which leads to praise and thanksgiving, or it may provoke other response which helps people prepare to offer worship to God. The world and its people depicted in visual art/image may inform the praying of the church and the visual representation of the church (the saints) may provide congregations with an awareness of the breadth of the church at worship in heaven and on earth. In the present diversity of views about visual art and the work of the artist there is freedom for the artist to re-think the question of vocation and artists may find new opportunities for understanding and exercising their vocation not only in secular art establishments and the community but also in relation to the worship of the church.

A visual assistance system has become attractive as a technique to improve the efficiency and stability of remote control. While an operator controls a working robot, another autonomous monitoring robot evaluates a suitable viewpoint to observe the work site, and dynamically moves to the optimal viewpoint for monitoring. Choosing the observation region (ROI: region of interest) is equivalent to deciding the action of the following autonomous monitoring system. Therefore, we focus on ROI detection in our visual support system. We propose an ROI selection method to identify the most suitable observation point and interobject relations. The monitoring robot detects a gestalt of the scene in order to identify the relations between objects. Such an adaptive ROI in real time improves the efficiency of the remote control. The experimental results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed system in terms of execution time and number of errors.

Abstract. Highlights A knowledge-based rapid design system for combine chassis is proposed. The object-oriented knowledge representation uniformly describes the multi-source heterogeneous design knowledge. The multivariate linear regression analysis ratiocinates further unknown design principles behind existing products. Abstract. In the design of agricultural machinery, the lack of systematic and structured knowledge utilization systems results in low development efficiency and poor reusability of design knowledge. This paper considers the design of a combine chassis, and focuses on the application of knowledge-based rapid design to agricultural machinery. As a typical sophisticated agricultural machine, combines have a complicated design that requires the integration of multiple disciplines according to the crop types, production areas, and ability of the designers. Hence, a knowledge-based design system for a wheeled combine chassis is proposed. By integrating object-oriented technology with a mixed reasoning strategy, multi-source heterogeneous design knowledge can be applied in completing the chassis design task. To date, there are more than 2000 design ideas and 350 parameter models in the knowledge database. In addition, tacit design knowledge acquired by a knowledge discovery method can be employed to perfect the design and improve the reliability of the product. The design of a combine chassis demonstrates that the knowledge-based rapid design of agricultural machinery is completely feasible, and the design system significantly reduces the design workload, shortens the development cycle, and improves design efficiency and knowledge utilization.

An approximate method is presented to estimate the maximum lateral drift demands in multistory buildings with nonuniform lateral stiffness responding primarily in the fundamental mode when subjected to earthquake ground motions. The method is aimed at the estimation of the maximum roof displacement and of the maximum interstory drift ratio for a given response spectrum. A simplified model of the multistory building is used based on an equivalent continuum structure with nonuniform lateral stiffness distribution consisting of a combination of a flexural cantilever beam and a shear cantilever beam. The effect of the type and amount of reduction in lateral stiffness along the height of the building and of the ratio of overall flexural and shear deformations on the ratio of the spectral displacement to the roof displacement and on the ratio of the maximum interstory drift ratio to the roof drift ratio is investigated. It is shown that reductions in lateral stiffness along the height have a negligible effect on the ratio of spectral displacement to maximum roof displacement and only a small effect on the ratio of maximum interstory drift ratio to roof drift ratio. The use of the method is exemplified with a ten-story steel moment-resisting frame building with nonuniform lateral stiffness. Results computed with the simplified method are compared with those computed using linear and nonlinear time history analyses. It is shown that the method provides good approximations that are adequate for the preliminary design of new buildings or for a rapid evaluation of existing buildings.