Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 81
-
ItemRepertory Grid Methodology to Research Tacit Knowledge in Construction(CIB, 2022)Quality and buildability are important issues in construction, and both emerge at the earliest stages of design. However, neither are well-defined concepts. Our premise is that behaviour, values and culture impact on quality and buildability in the design stage, but these are also vulnerable to precise definition and difficult to investigate within a typical hypothesis-driven positivist approach. A better method may lie in a theory of personal constructs or ‘constructivism’ which takes the human experience as a whole. Qualitative research methods and data collection techniques are critically reviewed to assess those methods best fit for the purpose of approaching the research problem. Personal Construct Psychology (PCP), using repertory grids, emerges as a suitable candidate and is applied in two pilot studies in Australia and Singapore. Preliminary results show the appropriateness of the approach for engaging in buildability studies.
-
ItemComputational design and robotic fabrication of a self-supporting acoustic shell(ICSA, 2022)In the early twentieth century, acoustic shells were primarily conceived as permanent structures, generally made in reinforced concrete. Architects like Candela and Niemeyer exploited the high density and plasticity of concrete to realise forms that could reflect sound efficiently. However, building doubly-curved shapes required laborious construction methods, including using complex and wasteful formworks. This paper presents the development and application of a computational workflow for the design and fabrication of acoustic concrete shells. The workflow allows controlling the shape of discrete, curved panels that can be assembled into continuous surfaces. The panels are designed to comply with the robotic fabrication requirements of a novel Parametric Adjustable Mould (PAM) technology and assembled to create shells that satisfy a set of acoustic requirements. The technology is used to fabricate custom curved concrete panels using a single mould frame that reduces waste in concrete formwork.
-
ItemNo Preview AvailableMFR 2021: Masked Face Recognition Competition(IEEE, 2021-08-04)
-
ItemCity diplomacy and Australian LGAs: The Potential for Global Urban Leadership in Pluralised Systems of Local Government(Analysis & Policy Observatory, 2022-05-05)Australian LGAs have become central actors in globally networked urban initiatives, such as C40 Cities, ICLEI and the Urban 20 track of the G20. The City of Melbourne, for example, has 15 formal transnational city network memberships, the same number as London and Berlin, while the City of Sydney has eight. However, the mostly pluralised form of local government in Australia’s largest cities, such as Melbourne and Sydney, often contrasts with centralised models we see in peer cities abroad where local authorities commonly have significantly larger populations, and at times authorities, than their Australian counterparts. This article questions whether the more limited jurisdiction of LGAs in Australia’s largest cities hinders their capacity to maximise the benefits of ‘city diplomacy’ within their countries when compared with peers? Or can the leadership of these authorities in connecting with global urban agendas bring tangible benefits to the greater metropolitan city-regions in which they reside?
-
ItemMulti-Scalar Mapping of Transit-Oriented Assemblages: Metropolitan Mobilities, Neighbourhood Morphologies and Station Design(tab edizioni, 2022)With the vast expansion of cities enabled by motorised transport, the conjunction between metropolitan and neighbourhood mobilities has attracted increasing attention in transport and urban research. Within these fields, transit-oriented urbanism has become a key paradigm for environmentally sustainable, healthy and creative environments. While the importance of urban design has been acknowledged, research has generally focused on exploring correlations between metrics of built form characteristics and transport, health or environmental outcomes. However, many of these metrics are not capturing the spatial complexity of actual urban forms and are poor proxies for capacities for movement. Urban morphological studies on the other hand, while exploring historical change at neighbourhood scale with spatial precision through mapping, often neglect the importance of metropolitan transport networks. Based on case studies from Chicago and Melbourne, this research is seeking to bridge the gap between micro-, meso- and macro-scalar urban morphological studies, by focusing on metro stations as the inter-scalar interfaces between walkable neighbourhoods and rapid transit networks. In this pursuit, new mapping methods for capturing capacities for movement at multiple scales are developed. It is shown that urban mobilities are mediated by the complex assemblage of station architecture, neighbourhood form and the metropolitan transit network.
-
ItemTowards swarm construction(The Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia, 2021-01-01)Swarm intelligence has primarily been explored in architecture as a form-finding technique with resulting material articulation using advanced 3d-printing technology. Researchers in engineering have developed swarm robotics for construction and fabrication, typically constraints to small scale prototypes as the technology matures within the field. However, a few research explores the implication of swarm robotics for construction on the building or urban scale. This paper presents a novel swarm robotics construction method using mole-like digging technology to construct new architectural language using machine intelligence. The research discusses the role of swarm intelligence behaviours in design and synthesis such behaviour with machine logics. The paper addresses the conference theme through the speculative projection of future construction methodology and reflects on how automation can impact the future of construct and design.
-
ItemA liveability framework for Health Impact Assessment(RMIT University, 2021)Major infrastructure projects are intended to alter the built ecology for the better and should produce public health benefits that are commensurate with their scale, particularly when they are publicly funded. Health impact assessment (HIA) is an underutilized method of evaluating projects using a determinants of health equity lens. Simultaneously, there is increased interest in ‘livability’, yet the concept is contested. We introduce and test an evidence-based, exhaustive framework of eleven liveability domains for HIA by scoping a Level Crossing Removal project in Melbourne. We then present an empirical assessment of one domain, ‘social cohesion and local democracy’. Results showed that the government’s broader social licence permitted tokenistic local consultation, with implications for community mental health. Nevertheless, some positive health benefits were attributed to community activism and thence, social cohesion, in opposition to the project. The potential of using ‘liveability’ to activate and realise the benefits of HIA is discussed.
-
ItemWine and User Experience Design(ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY, 2020-01-01)Wine is an experience. It engages all of our senses. Before we even taste wine we hold the bottle, admire the label, listen to it being poured in the glass, assess the colour and texture of the wine, swirl it around the glass, smell it and finally taste it. However, human pleasure in the experience can be designed to go far beyond the value of simply drinking the wine. What about the journey the wine has taken to reach you? Who made it, and why? Who else is drinking it now? Why does it taste the way it does? The social, cultural and scientific aspects of wine making, marketing and drinking offer opportunities for designers and HCI researchers to enhance the user experience of wine. This workshop offers academics and practitioners interested in designing wine futures, to chance to envision new experiences, products and services. Through participative design activities we will explore ways for design and technology to push our knowledge and craft into this unexplored applied research area.
-
ItemThe Home as a Work-life Hub: A Policy (and Design) Blackspot(CIB, 2021)There is a complex relationship between home and work for people with a disability that is not reflected in the many policies and legislative frameworks that apply to housing in Australia. These include Commonwealth housing policy (largely financial in nature), the Building Code of Australia, and Home Modification Schemes run through the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Much current policy settings assume housing as a passive economic generator – a financial asset that appreciates and gains value over time. However, for many people with disability, the home is a place of active economic activity, both by the person with disability (working from home) and for them, as external workers come into the home to provide services that support their activities of daily life. This complicates the spaces within dwellings, particularly in terms of public and private space, which effects personal and professional places. The policy and legislative disconnect is reflected in housing design which manifests in a structural inequality – homes are not accessible, and a social inequality – homes do not support work or socializing. This paper reviews the policy and legislation used to support appropriate design recognising the role of the home as a location that blends elements of privacy, work, and socialising, while also providing the physical support so people can work and socialize in the community as full citizens. The aim of the ongoing research is to show how change and innovation to the legislative frameworks and the role that AECM consultants can play in improving the wellbeing of people who live with disability.
-
ItemDesigning for neurodiversity: Reimagining the home for a covid normal life( 2021-01-01)As cities went into lockdown in response to COVID-19, for many, the role of the home in everyday life expanded. Activities that would normally occur at another venue, including work, study, recreation, and health appointments, were reconfigured to be done in the home. Among the legacies from this experience is a clearer understanding of the spatial and phenomenological quality of the spaces in which we live. Housing design already assigns private and public areas within dwellings, such as bedrooms and living rooms, but these are often rigidly defined and largely inflexible for alternative uses. Research on designing housing suitable for people with cognitive disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), (such as a 'sensory design' approach, where it is necessary to move beyond public vs private, and recognise other dicotisms, light/ dark, warm/cool, loud/quiet, hard/soft, work/rest, and so on, and the transition between modes), may provide lessons for more general COVID-normal housing design. This study analyses three case studies of residential accommodation for people with ASD as opportunities for developing more responsive housing that can adapt to the demand for a greater range of activities to be fulfilled in the home.