Last night I had the opportunity to attend a great lecture which was presented by the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture and hosted at the Newschool of Architecture & Design. This lecture was to be the first of three regarding the research currently being done on the connections between neuroscience and architecture. This first presentation featured architect Gordon Chong FAIA who discussed on the topic of evidence-based design as a way to enhance innovation into the process of design. His presentation was followed by commentary from neuroscientist Dr Fred “Rusty” Gage who talked about the connections between environments and stimulations in the brain.

The presentation began with architect Gordon Chong FAIA presenting the idea of evidence-base design and how these types of strategies can help inform design decisions. He talked about three areas found to be important in gathering evidence.

-Simulation, Modeling and Data Mining |Building Performance

-Social-Psychological Scientific methodologies |Human Performance

-Natural and Physical Scientific Methodologies |Building & Human Performance

He explained how these evidence gathering techniques can be used to inform design decisions and predict possible conflicts. One of the things Gordon Chong discussed that hit right at home was the use of technology and simulation tools to develop a better informed process for the development of high performing designs.  Giving examples of how certain architects and designers are embracing the use of these types of technologies in to their own process as a way to develop more efficient design practices. Then he talked about the importance of human performance and the methodologies used to gather these types of evidences (surveys, observations). Explaining the importance of designing for the actual needs of the user as oppose to the perceived needs that seems to be more common practice.

Then he continued by presenting a case study that used these evidence base design strategies as a way to enhance the building design. The case study was California Academy of Science in San Francisco. Which was done in a collaborative effort between Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Chong partners Architecture (now Stantec), and ARUP.

Then following Gordon Chong was Dr Fred “Rusty” Gage who discussed the ideas of environmental stimulations in the brain. He discussed something that is rather new to me and at the same time very interesting. He explained how the brain is always dividing in a way that generates new brain cells or baby stem cells.  He explained that making new brain cells was not a static process but more of a dynamic process affected by every movement & environment. He then went in further depth about the types of studies being done on the idea of neuroscience and architecture. About the type of tools being used to monitor brain function and how these types of studies can potentially help inform design decisions.

These presentations were then followed by an open discussion triggered by questions and comments from people in the audience. Starting with a few questions in regards to the measurement of success and the ability to define success. Another person (who happened to be me) asked about the idea of possibly adding game design methods to create real-time environments in order to analyze how people (brain stimulation) respond to space. Then another person brought up the idea of flipping the script. Instead of design environments to trigger human response, was the idea of possibly designing a type of neuro-morphic architecture that can respond to human activity. This idea totally reminded me of my thesis project which consist of a self-organizing architecture that adapts to social as well as environmental conditions in-order to enhance experiential and performative qualities. I guess great minds think alike (LOL).  

If you found these ideas interesting or just want to learn more about them check out the website for the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture. They have a good list of resources as well other useful information that could help answer any questions you might have. Another thing to note was that this lecture/ presentation was video recorded. We were told that this video would be posted  on their website possibly sometime in the near future, so check it out. 

www.anfarch.org

This last month has been a really busy time for me, as I have now entered my final (thesis) year at the Newschool of Architecture. As I mentioned in previous posts I am a graduate student pursuing a professional degree in architecture, so most of my time this month has been spent working on research for my thesis.  My thesis exploration will look at the idea of kinetic (dynamic) architecture that can adapt (as needed) to its environment as a way to possibly enhance user experience as well as building performance. The current conditions of finished built structures tend to be static in nature which can at times lead to limits or barriers of how people experience space as well as how buildings perform. This exploration will look at how to potentially integrate parametric and performance strategies as a way to develop high performing architecture that can maximize the experiential qualities of the built environment.

In the last few months my interests on the subject of parameter driven design has increased. Parameter driven design which is more commonly referred to as parametric design gives designers the opportunity to explore the process of creating form. In this type of process designers identify potential variables that could be used to lead the process of form finding. In my thesis exploration I will be looking to further explore the idea of parameter driven design by using social as well environmental conditions as driving factors of form. The use of parametric strategies in conjunction with performative analytical methods will help me develop an optimal approach towards the development of architecture.

While working on my thesis research for the development of high performance architecture, I came across a list of recommended readings posted on Studio Mode’s website. These books are a good source of information on the subject of parametrics, fabrication and performative architecture.

My thesis investigations will give me the opportunity to further explore my goals of adapting performative design strategies for the development of a better approached and more informative process of design. In upcoming posts I will look at simulation software such as Autodesk Ecotect, and Desktop Radiance. Autodesk Ecotect is a popular performance simulation tool can be used in conjunction with Desktop Radiance to create daylighting studies. I have worked with both of these tools in the past during previous employment and found them to be very useful during the design process. The pursuit continues!!

I have to admit being in architecture school is very time consuming and at times extremely stressful, but at the end of the day I can honestly say that it is all worth it. Its a lot of fun.

Design Wizards

I have actually used eQuest in the past at my previous place of employment (KEMA) and found that this piece of software is actually pretty easy to pick up. Especially when you have the opportunity to work with a bunch of talented individual who specialize in high performance design and our proficient in the art of energy modeling. Working with these designers I got to see firsthand how this piece of software can helps designers find the best design solutions, and how I myself could potentially use it to verify my own design decisions. I am not an expert in eQuest (at least not yet), but I do see this software being a vital tool to any designers list of tools. Like I mentioned before it’s pretty easy to pick up. One of the reasons why eQuest seems to be such an easy program to use would have to be the design wizards used for inputting data. These design wizards help designers by creating guiding steps for data input. eQuest currently has two wizards one for schematic design and one for design development. As of right now I have only experimented with the schematic design wizard, which has worked great for my simple experiments.

Parametric Simulations

You might ask “how does eQuest work?” To answer that question it works by creating advance parametric simulations that helps designers figure out which design solution will work best. The design team uses eQuest to create baseline models that meet Title 24 (California) or Ashrae 90.1minimum energy standards for building designs. Then the modeler uses these baseline models as starting points for alternative design solutions. The designer applies energy efficient measures (such as, more efficient technologies, materials, or lighting strategies) to help find better alternatives. Once these parametric runs our done simulating the designers will be able to see detailed comparison studies of both the baseline models as well as the proposed alternative models. This will then give the designer and understanding of how the building will potentially perform and/ or further insight to what steps he/ she might possibly need to take.

Now the best way to succeed in high performance design is to know where you are going from the beginning.  So the use of energy modeling software such as eQuest should begin early on in the design process to help create better decisions on how to achieve the goal of high performance.

For more information on eQUEST check out the DOE2 website.

 
To help me continue with my pursuit for high performance, I have decided to begin my research by looking at what  tools are currently being used by industry professionals to evaluate performance. Many of these analytical tools I have worked with personally (at previous employment positions) while others I have only seen or heard of from people who have experience using them. My goal as a student of architecture will be to research and experiment with as many of these tools as possible. This will allow me to develop a greater understanding of what these tools can do and how I can potentially implement them into my design process. In future posts I will be going into further detail of what I have learned and possibly explaining how they can be utilized in conjunction with one another.

The following is a list of some of the current simulation tools being used by professionals:

Energy Analysis
eQuest the quick energy simulation tool
EnergyPro Title 24 compliant energy analysis software
EnergyPlus Energy analysis software
DesignBuilder Building simulation made easy

Performance Modeling
IES Virtual Environment Building Performance Modeling
Autodesk® Ecotect® Building Analysis for designers

Lighting & Daylighting
AGi32 Lighting design software
Radiance Synthetic imaging system
DAYSIM Dynamic Daylight Simulations
DIALux Light Building Software

Web Based Service 
Autodesk® Green Building Studio®

Sustainability, eco friendly, and green are hot terms that architects, designers, and design enthusiasts are constantly throwning around in casual conversations throughout coffee shops in almost every city. As a graduate student in the field of architecture I am constantly seeing how professors are pushing these ideas of sustainability on to their students. They are pushing them to think green, to believe in green, and to design green. This can be seen throughout many architecture and design campus throughout the world. But in my opinion (though I may be wrong) we are not taught how to justify our decisions in regards to sustainability. We as students sometimes add skylights, double facades, low-e glass, shading devices, and sometimes even photovoltaic panels to our design projects. But how do we know if these design decisions are even the right ones? How do we validate our decisions?

Performance based design | performance guides design decisions

In the last decade or so there has been a large increase in tools used to predict how buildings will perform.These tools can be used to measure and validate the decisions we make. There are tools to measure energy, light, acoustics, structures, comfort, as well as tools to measure air flow. The use of these and other similiar type of tools can help us as designers potentially make the right decisions or at least point us in the right direction. Building simulation tools are key in the development and advancement of high performance design. I strongly believe that as a student of architecture and future architect that high performance should be the aim of every design project. High performance is not about performing designs well, but about designs that perform well.

In this blog I will be investigating these types of tools as well as strategies and technologies that could be implemented into the process of design in order to achieve our goal of high performance.

[ Developing high performance architecture without jeopardizing design intent | vision.]

Project Description: Pedestrian Bridge

I decided to post these images of one of my early student projects from previous years. This is to help show the progression of where I am coming from, and where I am heading to. This was a quick one week design studio project. The assignment was to develop a pedestrian bridge for the Santa Fe Depot (Amtrak) which is located in downtown San Diego. I see all my design exercies / experiences whether good or bad as stepping stones in my journey through architecture.

This project was a modeling exercise to explore and experiment with the associative modeling plug-in for Rhino called Grasshopper. Grasshopper is a simple yet powerful tool that could help in the development of advance design modeling. The end result of this exercise was a definition used to create double facade structures held together by a pipe frame.