Issue 4(52)/2017

DOI: 10.5277/ARCHITECTUS

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Table of contents

Articles

Ada Kwiatkowska - Paradigms of the games’ strategy in architectural design

doi:10.5277/arc170401

Architecture of the 21st century is in a state of the everlasting eruption of ideas and patterns, inspired by the informative theory and driven by the technological development of digital age. Computers are not only tools of architectural design, but their inner languages, codes and graphic conventions have an influence on architectural forms. Real life is supplemented by actions in virtual reality and the architectural objects have their representation in the virtual world. The mixture of real and virtual matters causes that the setting of man’s life becomes a kind of gameland, and the architects and users are the active gamers in architectural space.     The aim of the research paper is to define the future direction of changes in architectural design influenced by the progress of information technologies and by implementation of different gaming strategies, making it possible to simulate variable states of the spatial structures. The paper points out the most important challenges on the basis of comparative and interpretative analysis of the present games and innovative architectural concepts of digital architecture, shown in the aspects of their congruency in relation to the used design strategies. On the basis of analysis, the following paradigms of the architectural design, relating to the existing gaming strategies which have direct influence on shaping of the architectural forms, are distinguished: RTS – real-time game strategies in the architectural space, DNA – coding of the spatial structures, CTRL – control of the info-matter-energy flow in the spatial structures, OSS – architectural form as expression of the open-source software and info-visual transparency, and Play Create Share – interactive and personalized architectural space. These strategies will define the future shape of interactive and smart builtenvironment and will have an impact on the future users’ expectations, relating to the attractiveness and interactivity of man’s life settings.

Keywords:

    simulation

    field-of-exploration

    spatial-games

    architectural-scenario

Bartosz Adamiczka - The Drop: phenomenon of free forms’ perception – searching for characteristic features of perception phenomenon

doi:10.5277/arc170402

The paper presents a research project referring to the phenomenon of perception. The main aim of this study was to define and characterize aspects, factors and effects of the perception of free form as one of the attributes in the process of shaping the architectural form. There were several identified effects: the first and the main of the expected effects of the research project was to increase the author’s knowledge of perception itself. The second one was to create a simulation model which distinguished instruments and characteristic traits which allowed describing the influence of the perception phenomenon on the design process. The last assigment was to recognize the set of aspects, factors and effects related to the phenomenon of perception. At the beginning the relation between the creator and the observer in the research reality and their roles were defined. Then the aims of the research project were presented and developed – a simulation of the groups of facts, problems and ideas was prepared. As the last part of the description of the theoretical model, an intuitive image of the concept’s nucleus of the research project was introduced. The next step was to make alterations to the fundamental attributes of the concept nucleus itself. Furthermore to examine the main aspects of the perception, a simple prototype of research simulation was prepared. This allowed observing the process of perception and its attributes at the same time controlling the external factors and focusing on impressions of the person tested in combination with those factors. Before performing the research simulation, the process of its parameter altering was executed. The parameter alteration include, inter alia, material simulations, spatial simulations, time-simulations, energy-simulations and info-simulations of the concept nucleus. The purpose of these simulations was the development and enrichment of the target research simulation prototype. After simulations, the concept of the prototype was prepared and described.

Keywords:

    perception

    free-forms

    architecture

Weronika Lechowska - Shake your shakes off: thermal comfort in buffer zones

doi:10.5277/arc170403

This article presents a methodology for assessing thermal comfort in building’s adjacent spaces, which may function as buffer zones. The game scenario and prototype model were proposed as the result of the research project. This prototype allows conducting simulations of the changes introduced by the player to the building’s model and consequences in the building’s thermal conditions. The created game algorithm includes the player’s actions, such as defining geometry, volume and openings in the building’s model; setting preferences (one or a multi player, members of the family) and describing the activity (metabolic rate). The algorithm also includes loops with additional changes, namely time of day and seasons, construction and insulation materials, small heat gains sources, virtual partitions, etc. Prototype analyses, conducted in Design Builder Energy Plus program, were focused on altering time, material, spatial, and energy settings in a theoretical building, located in Wrocław. The main aim of these simulations was to define best settings for the buffer zone, so that it will be possible to spend time there in the hottest week in summer and the coldest in winter. The project description also includes projected improvements and evaluation criteria for satisfying thermal comfort and happiness of the inhabitants.

Keywords:

    buffer-zone

    thermal-comfort

    energy-balance

    thermic-sensation

Maciej Nisztuk - Kinetic morphogenesis: generative system of structural expansion based on interactive motion capture

doi:10.5277/arc170404

The article outlines the principles and goals of the research project Kinetic morphogenesis trying to describe human movement through interactive motion capture and generative geometry based on real spatial context. In addition, the article describes the process of design guidelines development, demonstrates the effects of the first prototype, and outlines the direction of further research related to the project. The aim is to find the beauty in biological forms which arise based on human movement. The research here is about pure form finding and blurring the boundary between real, material world and virtual space. The main assumed outcome is the exploration of various possibilities of generative process visualization in real time through an interactive tool. Additional findings resulted in better understanding of spatial relations between the human body and real (or virtual) spatial context. In addition, exploration of new possibilities of interaction between generative environment (a digital process in which the generative object has a chance to occur; is a set of rules, scripts or algorithms specified by the designer. It also has a module of evaluation which allows assessing the aesthetic value of the generative object) and real context.

Keywords:

    motion-capture

    generative-design

    interactivity

    structural-expansion

Leszek Orzechowski - The Red Frontier: the embodied energy of Martian architecture

doi:10.5277/arc170405

The purpose of this publication is to present the problem of determining the costs of creating extreme space architecture using autonomous robots based on the example of the theoretical manned mission to Mars scenario contained in the NASA Mars Reference Mission document. The author focuses on strategies that can determine the embodied energy contained in architecture made from local materials, using additive manufacturing processes – 3D printing. Embodied energy is the sum of the energy invested in the process of producing any service or good, including the energy consumed to obtain raw materials for its production and transport. Procedures to optimise the work of robotic agents will be crucial during manned Mars missions with limited access to resources, including electricity. Using robots to work on the surface will precisely determine the amount of energy used to complete the given job, which will enable optimisation and the determination of the embodied energy of these works. As part of the strategy discussed by the author, the scope of work and tasks are grouped into four divisions that coincide with the gameplay structure of 4X-type strategic computer games. 4X computer games get their name from the brief description of the gameplay elements: “explore, exploit, expand, exterminate”. During the game, the user focuses on managing and developing a civilisation or city, where resource acquisition and management play a central role. The author considers such a structure to be a promising starting point for the strategy of optimising the process of building a Martian architecture using robotic agents. Procedures that can determine the embodied energy of the described processes have been grouped into the sections Exploration, Extraction, Exploitation, and Expansion, and have been included in the simulation model for the manned mission to Mars in the form of a 4X-type computer game prototype. This simulation could be used to create a tool for optimising procedures for the needs of an actual mission to Mars, using embodied energy as an indicator. Such a tool would have the potential to reduce costs during the first manned missions to other planets. In the longer term, the use of such a solution for the collection of data on embodied energy will preserve all environmental footprint data of the colonisation of Mars.

Keywords:

    space-architecture

    3d-printing

    embodied-energy

    building-automation

Piotr Węgrzynowicz - Race of desperadoes: optimization of the path to the bus stop in the case of a chosen suburban area in Kraków

doi:10.5277/arc170406

In a progressive and often uncontrolled process of urban sprawl, the safety of unprotected road users becomes less important in the name of maximizing investor returns. Difficulties encountered by pedestrians on a daily basis rarely come to the attention of local authorities. The main purpose of the project, presented in this article, is to create the concept of a tool that identifies problems related to movement in real space. One of the suburban districts of Kraków was selected for research. In order to collect needed data, environmental interviews in conjunction with the survey were conducted. The simulation of choice of the most optimal route to the bus stop, while identifying architectural and infrastructural barriers is described in this paper. Its’ results were used to create the concept of the tool, which, taking into account the further development of the project, could become a useful element for planers in space exploration. The idea of participation of the local community in creating the research prototype was a crucial issue.

Keywords:

    optimization

    decision

    road

    bus-stop

    public-transport

Tomasz Broma - Formation of housing structure using spatial game

doi:10.5277/arc170407

The article presents a spatial game called Cubic parcellation, which was created for the diploma project S’lowtecture: housing structure. The game is an algorithm that allows generating variant housing structures plans and their placement in the urban block. Its rules spatially self-assemble the structure, guarantee housing units access to the necessary infrastructure and residents the opportunity to individualize their houses and its flexibility to adapt to current needs. Cubic parcellation is an attempt to create an algorithm that will be managing the housing structure, which aims to eliminate blockages, conflicts and other negative spatial phenomena. At the same time its task is to leave to the inhabitants as much independence as it is possible while creating housing units. The article is a detailed description of the Cubic parcellation rules and the simulation carried out on a piece of a housing structure.

Keywords:

    game

    parcellation

    self-assembly

    structure

    habitat

Michał Bala - Virtual society and workplaces: Block 477, Sharing Knowledge: Incubator, NY

doi:10.5277/arc170408

The article refers to the problem of adapting architecture to today’s needs of man. The main purpose of this paper was to find the answer to the question of what is the role of modern work places. It is based on the diploma thesis “Block 477”. This is a project of the incubators’ network which include the most popular tools in the present time and place. Tools which allow making various innovative products based on the newest achievements of science and technology, and also cooperation and self-development of freelancers’. The project creates a functional structure, in which different fields of science are mixed, which leads to the merging and creating new phenomena.     The incubators’ locations are set in key places where the internet infrastructure in the world is most dense (e.g. Manhattan, NY). The usable program is a function of the algorithm elaborated on the basis of a chosen domain of social informatics, the so-called reality mining (analyzing social phenomena in the internet). The spatial structure of the incubator is bound with the functional algorithm which allows constant development and transformation of the building.

Keywords:

    innovations

    consumption

    maker-culture

    algorithm

    spatial-structure

Elżbieta Komendacka, Paweł Kirschke - Medical Cannabis Bank on the Tamka Island in Wrocław

doi:10.5277/arc170409

The article presents the project of the Cannabis Bank headquarter by Elżbieta Komendacka, which got awarded with an honorable mention in the international architectural competition for theCannabis Bank headquarters organized in 2016 by Bee Breeders . The theme was to design a universal form of the building for the Medical Cannabis Bank so the solution could easily be adapted to any location in the world. The proposal has a very simple design. Numerous facilities have been implied in order to create a pleasant atmosphere opposite to the current negative associations with marijuana. The building program has been extended with the research and educational facilities. The project is given in two variants. The basic with its universal character and the extended one that is adapted to the requirements of the location on the Tamka Island in Wrocław.

Keywords:

    architecture

    medical-cannabis-bank

    pharmacy

    laboratory

    wrocław