Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemModelling Workflows for More-than-Human Design: Prosthetic Habitats for the Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua)(Springer, 2019)Anthropogenic degradation of the environment is pervasive and expanding. Human construction activities destroy or damage habitats of nonhuman lifeforms. In many cases, artificial replacement habitats become necessary. However, designing for the needs and preferences of nonhuman lifeforms is challenging. Established workflows for this type of designing do not exist. This paper hypothesises that a multi-scale modelling approach can support inclusive, more-than-human design. The case-study project tests this approach by applying computational modelling to the design of prosthetic habitats for the powerful owl (Ninox strenua). The proposed approach simulates owls’ perception of the city based on scientific evidence. The tools include algorithmic mapping, 3D-scanning, generative modelling, digital fabrication and augmented-reality assembly. Outcomes establish techniques for urban-scale planning, site selection, tree-scale fitting, and nest-scale form-making. The findings demonstrate that computational modelling can (1) inform more-than-human design and (2) guide scientific data collection for more inclusive ecosystem management.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableParametric Skinning of Complex Graphs: An Airborne Textile Structure Test-Case(Architectural Science Association and RMIT University, 2018)The research project presented in this paper aims to extend the repertoire of architectural design and construction. To achieve this purpose, research-through-design methods are used to match a commonly desired target geometry with a realistic and efficient materialisation strategy. The proposed approach has been tested through construction of practical prototypes that eventuated in a full-scale structure that performed well in a variety of outdoor conditions. The outcome of this work is a workflow for semi-automated skinning of complex graphs such as trusses or space frames. The project tests this workflow through an application to a topologically complex L-system. The L-system graph is parametrically skinned with a continuous, adjustable envelope. The outcomes of this skinning are materialised in fabric to produce a twelve-metrelong, wind-supported, airborne inflatable structure. This workflow is a novel extension of existing approaches to skinning and fabrication of structures based on complex graphs because it allows a hitherto unavailable, fabrication-ready geometric definition of joints between cylindrical and conical tubes of varying diameters. It is significant as a reusable approach to the geometric construction of such joints in a variety of materials and across multiple scales. Furthermore, it is interesting as an innovative prototype of possible wind-supported architectural structures.
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ItemMobile Gaming for Agonistic Design(The Architectural Science Association and The University of Adelaide, 2016)This paper demonstrates how mobile games can contribute to participatory design and its aim of achieving positive change through the involvement of stakeholders. This overarching goal is considered via a particular case-study that utilizes a purpose-built smartphone game. The case-study applies this game to the design challenges of urban cycling. Utilisation of the game in a stakeholder workshop suggests that mobile play can aid understanding and help to establish communication amongst diverse participants. For further information and media, see https://osf.io/vy5dq/
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ItemDesign Tools and Complexity: Mobile Games and Collective Imagination(eCAADe; University of Oulu, 2016-09-24)This paper is based on a hypothesis that games can be used to support design decisions in a variety of complex situations. To explore this proposition, the research described below focuses on two aspects. Firstly, it experiments with the potential of games to be socially provocative. And secondly, it applies the induced provocations in support of collective imagination. This discussion is supported by a practical case study: a working prototype of a smartphone game that simulates urban cycling. The paper discusses utilisation of this game by diverse stakeholders in a workshop that sought to advance decision-making in a particularly vexatious stalemate.
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ItemBuilding Like Animals: Using Autonomous Robots to Search, Evaluate and Build(School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, 2016-05-16)