"Research Methods for Environmental Studies: A Social Science Approach." Technology|Architecture + Design, 6(2), pp. 247–248

In this project, three drawings for a horizontal skyscraper by El Lissitzky are analyzed and reconstructed using an iterative design process. The historical drawings serve as the basis of a series of models that attempt to visualize the architect’s design process by focusing on gaps, interruptions, inconsistencies, and contradictions in the representational field. A coherent and integrated massing, structure, and materials can be reconstructed by selecting a stable set of elements from the drawings. Improbable geometries constructed based on other elements foreground the normative force of the design as an ideal object that the historical architect never produced. Thanks to a counterfactual model, this ideal object can be examined in relation to historical design methodologies.

This paper demonstrates a design method that integrates various computational tools such as Rhinoceros, the artificial neural network from MATLAB, and computational fluid dynamics from Eddy3D to search for the optimal aerodynamic geometries for a wind turbine. It introduces a site-specific microclimate analysis method that can maximize site-specific wind energy potential. Through the integration of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and artificial neural networks (ANN), the study was able to find the optimized shape to maximize the wind potential for the specific test site. These ANN models use fewer computational resources and less time with reasonable average regression values up to 0.96. The result shows improvement of the annual hourly wind speed around the wind turbine up to 13.24 m/s. It would be beneficial to test the proposed method with actual performance to improve the proposed method.

DFAB HOUSE, a multi‐technology demonstrator of digital fabrication in architecture, integrates six full‐scale novel construction technologies into a three‐story residential building for the first t...

Interview Date: August 19, 2020Editorial Note: Peter Galison is a University Professor in Physics and the History of Science at Harvard University. His publications, including Image and Logic (1997...

This research proposes an integrated building evaporative cooling assembly using pervious concrete acting as a thermally active system. The proof‐of‐concept prototype demonstrates the capacity of the system. The prototype simulates the operation of a wall assembly of pervious concrete that utilizes gravity to drive water through its matrix. The wall assembly lowers the interior surface temperature of the concrete by 9–11°F and the interior air temperature of the insulated box by 7°F. This research demonstrates the capacity of an integrated wall assembly utilizing pervious concrete acting as a non‐technical ceramic evaporative cooling wall assembly.

The case study is such a ubiquitous and seemingly natural form of inquiry in architecture that it can be surprising to discover it has a scholarly literature of rules and procedures. As a formal re...