Antonio Fioravanti | Sapienza University of Roma (original) (raw)

Papers by Antonio Fioravanti

Reconsidering digital architectural design approaches involves an accurate observation of the rel... more Reconsidering digital architectural design approaches involves an accurate observation of the relation between human behaviours and spaces. Exploring the reciprocal relationships between people and context, helps better understanding societies' needs and "genius loci" specific identity factors; in other words, the bases of good design. Inclusion of users' behaviours in the design -apart from traditional questionnaires of participatory design -has been enhanced in the last years by the development of behaviour acquisition strategies, influenced by the evolution of sophisticated tools: the last can easily collect/use a considerable amount of data, tracking the actors' use process in different spatial contexts (regional, urban, architectural, interior scale). The present paper, based on our previous research, wants to contribute in sketching a theoretical framework within which it is possible to address a more smart and effective computation of the interaction between users and spaces, and vice versa. The quest is to reflect on a strategy to formalise explicit design knowledge by engineering the required semantic information on top of available simulation systems. An analysis of computable architectural design process implies the investigation of project models anatomy along the CAAD history. By discussing the evolution of those models, knowledge structures and their "design entity" formal representations, this work aims at providing an 'Ariadne's thread' for designers, software developers and academicians in order to enhance consciousness about limits and potentials of the tools they are familiar with.

The behavior of a human being in a building, its activities, its interactions with it and with ot... more The behavior of a human being in a building, its activities, its interactions with it and with other people are certainly a highly complex phenomenon extremely hard to predict and evaluate. At the same time, the response of a built environment to future users' needs is one of the key factors of its performance. The Agent-based Modeling paradigm is considered potentially the best way to represent human behavior but, in the building design field, its experiences are limited to representation of partial aspects of human behavior in discrete events. Currently, a more "extended" representation of human behavior able to offer an overview of the human activities related to the building ‗functioning', is missing,. This lack is due to the complexity of interaction among users and built environment, and to the extensive knowledge, provided by different disciplines, needed to reliably represent it. The proposed research focuses on the construction of a general representation template of user-actor, easy to implement and flexible enough to structure the large amount of data affecting human behavior. The development of the ontology-based template shown in this paper can lead to a user-agent's entity whose parameters and behavioral rules can encode and represent several ‗aspects' of real users and their interactions with the other entities (building components, furniture, other people) in a built environment.

eCAADe proceedings

Digital models in this field are evolving from an aesthetic simulation of reality, or, rather, a ... more Digital models in this field are evolving from an aesthetic simulation of reality, or, rather, a representation of the visual perception, to a more complex model: an information aggregation core. The investigation presents a research panel oriented to enhance the digital survey products -point clouds, meshes, 3D models -to be used as an intelligent visual archive assigning structured knowledge contents to artefacts' geometry. The implemented case regards the Temple of Venus and Rome. Research, in progress, has been developed by the following steps: 1) Subdividing the artefact geometry into subregions; 2) Developing the consolidation ontology for a few restoration classes; 3) Assigning (manually) to each artefact subcomponent, namely a mesh sub-region, a "smart label" including a link to its consolidation ontology instance. The aim is to combine the potential of VR visualization with ontology reasoning systems.

Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe)

The use of meta-design tools to support the early stages of the design process is widely proven i... more The use of meta-design tools to support the early stages of the design process is widely proven in literature. Among these tools, the adjacency matrix and the bubble diagram provided the various professionals involved -not only in the AEC sector -with some useful information mainly regarding the connection types between spaces and the sizing of their dimensions. With the evolution of design and the change of architectural aims (e.g. sustainability, refurbishment), it is not fruitful, especially related to complex buildings (e.g. hospital, airport), to manage spaces and their connections through the traditional Adjacency Matrix and its dual (Bubble Diagram). These tools, used as they were originally designed, do not consider other characteristics but basic topological ones and are still linked to 2D geometry. For this reason, this research aims to increase the unexplored design potential of these tools considering huge advances in building object representation and links with knowledge. The first research steps led to a 3D analysis capable of providing knowledge on the connections and adjacencies between spaces and its environments located on different floors. Therefore, we decided to define further goals, breaking limits of the ``adjacency'' concept for a more extendable and general concept of ``relation'' between spaces and environments.

Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe)

www.aec-agency.com 1,4 {zhelun.zhu|antonio.fioravanti}@uniroma1.it 2,3 {um.coraglia|d.simeone}@ae... more www.aec-agency.com 1,4 {zhelun.zhu|antonio.fioravanti}@uniroma1.it 2,3 {um.coraglia|d.simeone}@aec-agency.com This paper presents the development of SIENA -Space Identity Evaluation aNd Assignment -based on duck typing for automatic recognition and semantic enrichment of the architectural spaces. This method is known in computer science as a form of abductive reasoning and leverages on the observable features of an object in order to establish its recognition. As result, the spatial identity is object-oriented and can be dynamically defined. In this research, the duck typing approach has been achieved with the support of BIM methodology and graph database. The former allows information-based modeling of an architectural project while the latter makes possible the representation of the knowledge along with their relationships. Consequently, this research may have many possible applications, especially as a valid design support tool in the very first design stages. Furthermore, an efficient spatial identity detection could contribute to the development of further human-machine interactions and therefore a possible optimization of the design process.

Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2], 2022

This paper focuses on the Space transplanet habitations, or spaceships, that will host astronauts... more This paper focuses on the Space transplanet habitations, or spaceships, that will host astronauts during their transfer to other celestial bodies. In this enterprise, the transfer phase is the most critical in resource shortages (e.g., air, water, room), making it harsh under habitability perspectives. The increasing number of involved scientific disciplines has raised difficulties in managing the design process, and the traditional design strategies have collapsed under the growth of complexities. PASTA proposes an implementation of generative design for the spaceship's internal configurations. This framework focuses on the multi-objective and performance-driven design process, allowing a designer to explore multiple layouts of a complex 'building' such as a spaceship. It encodes habitability needs in an unusual environment and estimates each configuration performance among intertwined needs, including adjacency relationships, by an evaluation system. As a result, PASTA can automate part of the spaceship design tasks and provide decision-making support by evaluating generated solutions, improving the handling of complexities in the design process.

eCAADe proceedings, 2017

The introduction of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) approach has facilitated the manageme... more The introduction of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) approach has facilitated the management process of documents produced by different kinds of professionals involved in the design and/or renovation of a building, through identification and subsequent management of geometrical interferences (Clash Detection). The methodology of this research proposes a tool to support Clash Detection, introducing the logical-operative dimension, that may occur with the presence of a construction site within a hospital structure, through the integration of a BIM model within a Game Engine environment, to preserve the continuity of daily hospital activities and trying to reduce negative impacts, times and costs due to construction activities.

Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]

Biomimicry and computational design are two growing fields of research and practice in architectu... more Biomimicry and computational design are two growing fields of research and practice in architecture for their potential in performative and sustainable design, among many other benefits. Cooling loads are posing serious energy problems in hot climatic cities as in Cairo and Alexandria. Attempting to solve these problems, this research turned to botanical inspirations for ideas in order to improve thermoregulation of the building skin. One of these ideas was chosen and implemented using computational software in the design of a parametric vertical shading screen for a typical office room in Cairo. The challenge was to minimize cooling loads as much as possible without compromising daylight requirements. An evolutionary solver was used to optimize results and environmental simulations were performed before and after the proposed screen to assess its performance and evaluate this biomimetic-computational approach to design.

eCAADe proceedings

The building industry is a field even more complex, characterized by different risks which can de... more The building industry is a field even more complex, characterized by different risks which can deeply influence the success of a building construction process. Aim of this paper is to demonstrate how the risk, declined in the main aspects that affects the construction industry, can be properly modelled and reduced thanks to the innovation of existing design methods and tools.The goal is to enhance the BIM models with AR (augmented reality), in order to intervene in the risk management process, increasing the level of knowledge exchanged between actors and, consequently, reduce defects related to misunderstandings. This can be possible using AR visualizations on site and/or Virtual Reality (VR) simulations, oriented to inform via the easier perceptive channel-the sightactors involved in the process

Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]

fioravanti}@uniroma1.it 3 francesco.squasi@gmail. com Within the field of digitally fabricated ho... more fioravanti}@uniroma1.it 3 francesco.squasi@gmail. com Within the field of digitally fabricated housing, the paper outlines a theoretical model for a housing system that combines complete off-site prefabrication with parametric assemblies. The paper then presents some insights on the application of snap-fit joints to the wall assemblies entirely fabricated using agricultural residue panels. Mechanical characterization of the material was performed through axial tension, compression and 4-point bending tests. Guidelines of plastics snap-fit design were applied to the joint design within the elastic limits of the material. Three different full scale wall typology prototypes were built using this jointing technique. The results show that while snap-fits can be a promising solution encouraging self-build in low-cost housing, the brittle nature of the specific agricultural residue panel material necessitates further joint enhancements.

Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]

Three-quarters of the production value are generated during activities that involve thinking, con... more Three-quarters of the production value are generated during activities that involve thinking, conducting relational and brainstorming activities. Most of the European office buildings today have been designed on more than fifty year old architectural and psychosocial concepts. To improve wellbeing and productivity, design innovation focuses on human's use-process, evolving individual workspace to flexible and specialized ones, according to the users tasks-activity-based. BIM supports sophisticated behaviors simulation such as energy, acoustics, although the state of the art, this paradigm is not able to manage space use-processes. Compared to current research on simulation systems, the proposed method links spaces to user's Behavioral Knowledge including formalization of Personality Typologies and profiled behavioral patterns. A hybrid approach for computational technique has been identified, combining (big) data-driven algorithm with ontology-based context reasoning, in order to achieve both, the best performance from intensive data-driven methods, and the finest adaptation for ontological context awareness (including unexplored context capabilities and objects adaptations).

eCAADe proceedings

To improve environmental wellbeing and productivity, design innovation focuses on human's use-pro... more To improve environmental wellbeing and productivity, design innovation focuses on human's use-process, evolving individual space to flexible and specialized ones, according to the users`tasks-activity-based. BIM models supports sophisticated behaviours' simulation such as energy, acoustics, although it is not able to manage space use-processes. The present paper rather than a report of a case study or the presentation of a new methodology wants to contribute, together with previous works, in sketching a theroretical framework within which it is possible to compute the interaction between users and spaces (and vice versa). The quest is to reflect on possible paths for engineering knowledge and understanding, providing a BIM system the semantic information required to operate adaptively and achieve robust and innovative goal-directed behavior. Compared to current research on simulation systems, this research approach links Context, intended as spaces capabilities to Actor's Behavioural Knowledge including formalization of personality typologies and profiled behavioural patterns. By means of a classical problem solving metaphor, the``squared peg in a round hole'' one, multiple categories for goal achievement are sketched, based on reciprocal Actors and Context behaviour adaptation.

eCAADe proceedings

Context in Architectural Design can be defined-related-comparable to hypothesis and boundary cond... more Context in Architectural Design can be defined-related-comparable to hypothesis and boundary conditions in mathematics. An ecosystem that influences it by means of natural and artificial events, space and time dimension. The research has the aim to analyze the critical issues related to Context by providing a contribution to the study of interactions between Context Knowledge and Architectural Design and how it can be used to improve the performance of the buildings and reducing design mistakes. The research focusing on formal ontologies, has developed a model that enables a semantic approach to design application programs, to manage information, to answer design questions and to have a clear relation between the formal representation of the context domain and its meanings. This context model provides an advancement on the state of the art in simplified design assumptions, in term of ontology ambiguity and complexity reduction, by using algorithms to extract and optimize branches of the graph. The extraction does not limit the number of relations, that can be extended and improve context taxonomy coherency and accuracy.

The big challenge of the current industrialized society is the concrete adoption of 4.0 paradigm:... more The big challenge of the current industrialized society is the concrete adoption of 4.0 paradigm: this consists in the interconnection of the physical object to digital computation, by a collaborative and dynamic approach (i.e. Internet of Things – IoT). The creation of this interconnected computational network allows verifying the efficiency of a production system by recursive checks, which locates lacks and misproductions into the production chain. The progressive improvement of production quality, intended as the approach of needs and performances, is the core of Lean paradigm. In the big picture, these are the fundamental elements needed in the current condition of the Building process, that has an evident delay in technology and management techniques adoption. As an answer to this need, the research is oriented towards the definition of appropriate methodologies useful to seize the opportunities that the paradigm of 4.0 industry offers to the building sector in a lean way: the ...

Blucher Design Proceedings, 2020

COVID-19 infection is forcing designers and building managers in rethinking the use and experienc... more COVID-19 infection is forcing designers and building managers in rethinking the use and experience of architectural spaces, as well as the interactions within the people in it. To support this difficult task, this research is working on a simulation model, based on agent-based modeling, able to predict the use phenomena of buildings and provided quantitative and qualitative feedback regarding the impact of redefined use processes to COVID-19 infection risk. The derived platform is particularly designed to support the testing of visiting scenarios in museums and galleries, potentially helping them in their reopening phases.

eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction, Sep 3, 2018

Proceedings of the 33th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]

Biomimetic design is an approach that is gaining momentum among architects and designers. Computa... more Biomimetic design is an approach that is gaining momentum among architects and designers. Computational design and performance simulation software represent powerful tools that help in applying biomimetic ideas in architectural design and in understanding how such proposals would behave. This paper addresses the challenge of reducing cooling loads while trying to maintain daylight needs of office buildings in hot climatic regions. Specifically, it focuses on double skin facades whose application in hot climates is somewhat controversial. Ideas from nature serve as inspiration in designing a porous, folded double façade for an existing building, aiming at increasing heat lost by convection in the façade cavity as well as reducing heat gained by radiation. The cooling loads and daylight autonomy of an office room are compared before and after the proposed design to evaluate its performance.

eCAADe proceedings

The Perceptions of Depth and Distance are considered as two of the most important factors in Virt... more The Perceptions of Depth and Distance are considered as two of the most important factors in Virtual Reality Environments, as these environments inevitability impact the perception of the virtual content compared with the one of real world. Many studies on depth and distance perceptions in a virtual environment exist. Most of them were conducted using Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) and less with large screen displays such as those of Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVEs). In this paper, we make a comparison between the different aspects of perception in the architectural environment between CAVE systems and HMD. This paper clarifies the Virtual Object as an entity in a VE and also the pros and cons of using CAVEs and HMDs are explained. Eventually, just a first survey of the planned case study of the artificial port of the Trajan emperor near Fiumicino has been done as for COVID-19 an on-field experimentation could not have been performed.

eCAADe proceedings

The growth of urban areas and the increase of urban migrations caused an incorporation of industr... more The growth of urban areas and the increase of urban migrations caused an incorporation of industrialized areas in the development of cities. The difficulties related to city planning in these areas could be coped with more satisfactorily through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Context ontologies plus reasoning rules to reuse old industrial buildings. The 'Context' entities and rules are studied using a Context Knowledge Model formalized with Protégé OWL (Ontology Web Language). The study was carried out on industrial buildings situated in southern Lazio-Italy-in particular a paper mill network. Applying GIS instruments to the study of these areas is not enough as designers can only obtain information, but not knowledge, which depends on the urban, historical, cultural, economic, environmental and juridical 'context'. The goal of this research is to create a combination of these technologies to manage knowledge for a more aware design to regenerate old industrial areas with new uses.

Reconsidering digital architectural design approaches involves an accurate observation of the rel... more Reconsidering digital architectural design approaches involves an accurate observation of the relation between human behaviours and spaces. Exploring the reciprocal relationships between people and context, helps better understanding societies' needs and "genius loci" specific identity factors; in other words, the bases of good design. Inclusion of users' behaviours in the design -apart from traditional questionnaires of participatory design -has been enhanced in the last years by the development of behaviour acquisition strategies, influenced by the evolution of sophisticated tools: the last can easily collect/use a considerable amount of data, tracking the actors' use process in different spatial contexts (regional, urban, architectural, interior scale). The present paper, based on our previous research, wants to contribute in sketching a theoretical framework within which it is possible to address a more smart and effective computation of the interaction between users and spaces, and vice versa. The quest is to reflect on a strategy to formalise explicit design knowledge by engineering the required semantic information on top of available simulation systems. An analysis of computable architectural design process implies the investigation of project models anatomy along the CAAD history. By discussing the evolution of those models, knowledge structures and their "design entity" formal representations, this work aims at providing an 'Ariadne's thread' for designers, software developers and academicians in order to enhance consciousness about limits and potentials of the tools they are familiar with.

The behavior of a human being in a building, its activities, its interactions with it and with ot... more The behavior of a human being in a building, its activities, its interactions with it and with other people are certainly a highly complex phenomenon extremely hard to predict and evaluate. At the same time, the response of a built environment to future users' needs is one of the key factors of its performance. The Agent-based Modeling paradigm is considered potentially the best way to represent human behavior but, in the building design field, its experiences are limited to representation of partial aspects of human behavior in discrete events. Currently, a more "extended" representation of human behavior able to offer an overview of the human activities related to the building ‗functioning', is missing,. This lack is due to the complexity of interaction among users and built environment, and to the extensive knowledge, provided by different disciplines, needed to reliably represent it. The proposed research focuses on the construction of a general representation template of user-actor, easy to implement and flexible enough to structure the large amount of data affecting human behavior. The development of the ontology-based template shown in this paper can lead to a user-agent's entity whose parameters and behavioral rules can encode and represent several ‗aspects' of real users and their interactions with the other entities (building components, furniture, other people) in a built environment.

eCAADe proceedings

Digital models in this field are evolving from an aesthetic simulation of reality, or, rather, a ... more Digital models in this field are evolving from an aesthetic simulation of reality, or, rather, a representation of the visual perception, to a more complex model: an information aggregation core. The investigation presents a research panel oriented to enhance the digital survey products -point clouds, meshes, 3D models -to be used as an intelligent visual archive assigning structured knowledge contents to artefacts' geometry. The implemented case regards the Temple of Venus and Rome. Research, in progress, has been developed by the following steps: 1) Subdividing the artefact geometry into subregions; 2) Developing the consolidation ontology for a few restoration classes; 3) Assigning (manually) to each artefact subcomponent, namely a mesh sub-region, a "smart label" including a link to its consolidation ontology instance. The aim is to combine the potential of VR visualization with ontology reasoning systems.

Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe)

The use of meta-design tools to support the early stages of the design process is widely proven i... more The use of meta-design tools to support the early stages of the design process is widely proven in literature. Among these tools, the adjacency matrix and the bubble diagram provided the various professionals involved -not only in the AEC sector -with some useful information mainly regarding the connection types between spaces and the sizing of their dimensions. With the evolution of design and the change of architectural aims (e.g. sustainability, refurbishment), it is not fruitful, especially related to complex buildings (e.g. hospital, airport), to manage spaces and their connections through the traditional Adjacency Matrix and its dual (Bubble Diagram). These tools, used as they were originally designed, do not consider other characteristics but basic topological ones and are still linked to 2D geometry. For this reason, this research aims to increase the unexplored design potential of these tools considering huge advances in building object representation and links with knowledge. The first research steps led to a 3D analysis capable of providing knowledge on the connections and adjacencies between spaces and its environments located on different floors. Therefore, we decided to define further goals, breaking limits of the ``adjacency'' concept for a more extendable and general concept of ``relation'' between spaces and environments.

Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe)

www.aec-agency.com 1,4 {zhelun.zhu|antonio.fioravanti}@uniroma1.it 2,3 {um.coraglia|d.simeone}@ae... more www.aec-agency.com 1,4 {zhelun.zhu|antonio.fioravanti}@uniroma1.it 2,3 {um.coraglia|d.simeone}@aec-agency.com This paper presents the development of SIENA -Space Identity Evaluation aNd Assignment -based on duck typing for automatic recognition and semantic enrichment of the architectural spaces. This method is known in computer science as a form of abductive reasoning and leverages on the observable features of an object in order to establish its recognition. As result, the spatial identity is object-oriented and can be dynamically defined. In this research, the duck typing approach has been achieved with the support of BIM methodology and graph database. The former allows information-based modeling of an architectural project while the latter makes possible the representation of the knowledge along with their relationships. Consequently, this research may have many possible applications, especially as a valid design support tool in the very first design stages. Furthermore, an efficient spatial identity detection could contribute to the development of further human-machine interactions and therefore a possible optimization of the design process.

Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2], 2022

This paper focuses on the Space transplanet habitations, or spaceships, that will host astronauts... more This paper focuses on the Space transplanet habitations, or spaceships, that will host astronauts during their transfer to other celestial bodies. In this enterprise, the transfer phase is the most critical in resource shortages (e.g., air, water, room), making it harsh under habitability perspectives. The increasing number of involved scientific disciplines has raised difficulties in managing the design process, and the traditional design strategies have collapsed under the growth of complexities. PASTA proposes an implementation of generative design for the spaceship's internal configurations. This framework focuses on the multi-objective and performance-driven design process, allowing a designer to explore multiple layouts of a complex 'building' such as a spaceship. It encodes habitability needs in an unusual environment and estimates each configuration performance among intertwined needs, including adjacency relationships, by an evaluation system. As a result, PASTA can automate part of the spaceship design tasks and provide decision-making support by evaluating generated solutions, improving the handling of complexities in the design process.

eCAADe proceedings, 2017

The introduction of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) approach has facilitated the manageme... more The introduction of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) approach has facilitated the management process of documents produced by different kinds of professionals involved in the design and/or renovation of a building, through identification and subsequent management of geometrical interferences (Clash Detection). The methodology of this research proposes a tool to support Clash Detection, introducing the logical-operative dimension, that may occur with the presence of a construction site within a hospital structure, through the integration of a BIM model within a Game Engine environment, to preserve the continuity of daily hospital activities and trying to reduce negative impacts, times and costs due to construction activities.

Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]

Biomimicry and computational design are two growing fields of research and practice in architectu... more Biomimicry and computational design are two growing fields of research and practice in architecture for their potential in performative and sustainable design, among many other benefits. Cooling loads are posing serious energy problems in hot climatic cities as in Cairo and Alexandria. Attempting to solve these problems, this research turned to botanical inspirations for ideas in order to improve thermoregulation of the building skin. One of these ideas was chosen and implemented using computational software in the design of a parametric vertical shading screen for a typical office room in Cairo. The challenge was to minimize cooling loads as much as possible without compromising daylight requirements. An evolutionary solver was used to optimize results and environmental simulations were performed before and after the proposed screen to assess its performance and evaluate this biomimetic-computational approach to design.

eCAADe proceedings

The building industry is a field even more complex, characterized by different risks which can de... more The building industry is a field even more complex, characterized by different risks which can deeply influence the success of a building construction process. Aim of this paper is to demonstrate how the risk, declined in the main aspects that affects the construction industry, can be properly modelled and reduced thanks to the innovation of existing design methods and tools.The goal is to enhance the BIM models with AR (augmented reality), in order to intervene in the risk management process, increasing the level of knowledge exchanged between actors and, consequently, reduce defects related to misunderstandings. This can be possible using AR visualizations on site and/or Virtual Reality (VR) simulations, oriented to inform via the easier perceptive channel-the sightactors involved in the process

Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]

fioravanti}@uniroma1.it 3 francesco.squasi@gmail. com Within the field of digitally fabricated ho... more fioravanti}@uniroma1.it 3 francesco.squasi@gmail. com Within the field of digitally fabricated housing, the paper outlines a theoretical model for a housing system that combines complete off-site prefabrication with parametric assemblies. The paper then presents some insights on the application of snap-fit joints to the wall assemblies entirely fabricated using agricultural residue panels. Mechanical characterization of the material was performed through axial tension, compression and 4-point bending tests. Guidelines of plastics snap-fit design were applied to the joint design within the elastic limits of the material. Three different full scale wall typology prototypes were built using this jointing technique. The results show that while snap-fits can be a promising solution encouraging self-build in low-cost housing, the brittle nature of the specific agricultural residue panel material necessitates further joint enhancements.

Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]

Three-quarters of the production value are generated during activities that involve thinking, con... more Three-quarters of the production value are generated during activities that involve thinking, conducting relational and brainstorming activities. Most of the European office buildings today have been designed on more than fifty year old architectural and psychosocial concepts. To improve wellbeing and productivity, design innovation focuses on human's use-process, evolving individual workspace to flexible and specialized ones, according to the users tasks-activity-based. BIM supports sophisticated behaviors simulation such as energy, acoustics, although the state of the art, this paradigm is not able to manage space use-processes. Compared to current research on simulation systems, the proposed method links spaces to user's Behavioral Knowledge including formalization of Personality Typologies and profiled behavioral patterns. A hybrid approach for computational technique has been identified, combining (big) data-driven algorithm with ontology-based context reasoning, in order to achieve both, the best performance from intensive data-driven methods, and the finest adaptation for ontological context awareness (including unexplored context capabilities and objects adaptations).

eCAADe proceedings

To improve environmental wellbeing and productivity, design innovation focuses on human's use-pro... more To improve environmental wellbeing and productivity, design innovation focuses on human's use-process, evolving individual space to flexible and specialized ones, according to the users`tasks-activity-based. BIM models supports sophisticated behaviours' simulation such as energy, acoustics, although it is not able to manage space use-processes. The present paper rather than a report of a case study or the presentation of a new methodology wants to contribute, together with previous works, in sketching a theroretical framework within which it is possible to compute the interaction between users and spaces (and vice versa). The quest is to reflect on possible paths for engineering knowledge and understanding, providing a BIM system the semantic information required to operate adaptively and achieve robust and innovative goal-directed behavior. Compared to current research on simulation systems, this research approach links Context, intended as spaces capabilities to Actor's Behavioural Knowledge including formalization of personality typologies and profiled behavioural patterns. By means of a classical problem solving metaphor, the``squared peg in a round hole'' one, multiple categories for goal achievement are sketched, based on reciprocal Actors and Context behaviour adaptation.

eCAADe proceedings

Context in Architectural Design can be defined-related-comparable to hypothesis and boundary cond... more Context in Architectural Design can be defined-related-comparable to hypothesis and boundary conditions in mathematics. An ecosystem that influences it by means of natural and artificial events, space and time dimension. The research has the aim to analyze the critical issues related to Context by providing a contribution to the study of interactions between Context Knowledge and Architectural Design and how it can be used to improve the performance of the buildings and reducing design mistakes. The research focusing on formal ontologies, has developed a model that enables a semantic approach to design application programs, to manage information, to answer design questions and to have a clear relation between the formal representation of the context domain and its meanings. This context model provides an advancement on the state of the art in simplified design assumptions, in term of ontology ambiguity and complexity reduction, by using algorithms to extract and optimize branches of the graph. The extraction does not limit the number of relations, that can be extended and improve context taxonomy coherency and accuracy.

The big challenge of the current industrialized society is the concrete adoption of 4.0 paradigm:... more The big challenge of the current industrialized society is the concrete adoption of 4.0 paradigm: this consists in the interconnection of the physical object to digital computation, by a collaborative and dynamic approach (i.e. Internet of Things – IoT). The creation of this interconnected computational network allows verifying the efficiency of a production system by recursive checks, which locates lacks and misproductions into the production chain. The progressive improvement of production quality, intended as the approach of needs and performances, is the core of Lean paradigm. In the big picture, these are the fundamental elements needed in the current condition of the Building process, that has an evident delay in technology and management techniques adoption. As an answer to this need, the research is oriented towards the definition of appropriate methodologies useful to seize the opportunities that the paradigm of 4.0 industry offers to the building sector in a lean way: the ...

Blucher Design Proceedings, 2020

COVID-19 infection is forcing designers and building managers in rethinking the use and experienc... more COVID-19 infection is forcing designers and building managers in rethinking the use and experience of architectural spaces, as well as the interactions within the people in it. To support this difficult task, this research is working on a simulation model, based on agent-based modeling, able to predict the use phenomena of buildings and provided quantitative and qualitative feedback regarding the impact of redefined use processes to COVID-19 infection risk. The derived platform is particularly designed to support the testing of visiting scenarios in museums and galleries, potentially helping them in their reopening phases.

eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction, Sep 3, 2018

Proceedings of the 33th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]

Biomimetic design is an approach that is gaining momentum among architects and designers. Computa... more Biomimetic design is an approach that is gaining momentum among architects and designers. Computational design and performance simulation software represent powerful tools that help in applying biomimetic ideas in architectural design and in understanding how such proposals would behave. This paper addresses the challenge of reducing cooling loads while trying to maintain daylight needs of office buildings in hot climatic regions. Specifically, it focuses on double skin facades whose application in hot climates is somewhat controversial. Ideas from nature serve as inspiration in designing a porous, folded double façade for an existing building, aiming at increasing heat lost by convection in the façade cavity as well as reducing heat gained by radiation. The cooling loads and daylight autonomy of an office room are compared before and after the proposed design to evaluate its performance.

eCAADe proceedings

The Perceptions of Depth and Distance are considered as two of the most important factors in Virt... more The Perceptions of Depth and Distance are considered as two of the most important factors in Virtual Reality Environments, as these environments inevitability impact the perception of the virtual content compared with the one of real world. Many studies on depth and distance perceptions in a virtual environment exist. Most of them were conducted using Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) and less with large screen displays such as those of Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVEs). In this paper, we make a comparison between the different aspects of perception in the architectural environment between CAVE systems and HMD. This paper clarifies the Virtual Object as an entity in a VE and also the pros and cons of using CAVEs and HMDs are explained. Eventually, just a first survey of the planned case study of the artificial port of the Trajan emperor near Fiumicino has been done as for COVID-19 an on-field experimentation could not have been performed.

eCAADe proceedings

The growth of urban areas and the increase of urban migrations caused an incorporation of industr... more The growth of urban areas and the increase of urban migrations caused an incorporation of industrialized areas in the development of cities. The difficulties related to city planning in these areas could be coped with more satisfactorily through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Context ontologies plus reasoning rules to reuse old industrial buildings. The 'Context' entities and rules are studied using a Context Knowledge Model formalized with Protégé OWL (Ontology Web Language). The study was carried out on industrial buildings situated in southern Lazio-Italy-in particular a paper mill network. Applying GIS instruments to the study of these areas is not enough as designers can only obtain information, but not knowledge, which depends on the urban, historical, cultural, economic, environmental and juridical 'context'. The goal of this research is to create a combination of these technologies to manage knowledge for a more aware design to regenerate old industrial areas with new uses.