Architecture, Faculty of Engineering

Since Building Information Modelling as a technology depends on recognizing parts of the buildings as objects that can be simulated digitally, to prepare students to grasp the BIM way of thinking, educators can start introducing the concept early in the architectural curriculum without using the real tools. The researchers monitored the students' progress over a period of time while they were using different 3 dimensional CAD tools in several situations such as design studio visualization and construction document production until eventually the same group of students have been introduced formally to a real BIM tool. The research tries to establish a relationship between the pedagogical techniques and the success of the students to grasp what BIM is about and the development of their ability to use it fruitfully. Comparisons between their performances should shed the light on the best method to use in order to prepare students for the use of BIM.

The construction industry in the 21st century is facing a huge challenge. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is emerging as a technological, procedural and strategic new approach to the fields of Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) providing a way for iterating, documenting and managing a design through most of its life-cycle from conceptual design, design development to construction through operations and management. The bulk of the time spent on a design project is in the detailed design and construction document phases of a project, while the building's general appearance, performance and cost are largely decided during conceptual design. Since CAD easily helps visualize the design concept, where the conceptual design phase is mainly the responsibility of the architect, most curricula in architectural education are currently designed with more focus on CAD and less or no focus on BIM. As a result, most architecture graduates do not posses enough BIM knowledge or...

CiteSeerX - Document Details (Isaac Councill, Lee Giles): This paper investigates an approach to the use of fractals in architectural design. Two major aspects are discussed. First, the effect of the direction of the line segments on the generated fractal, as well as, the proportions between ...

It is important to discuss and compare the rationale behind the success of the additive manufacturing technology in particular industries and at a particular scale versus full-scale building construction. The comparison should include structural qualities of the possible used materials, the cost effectiveness of the process, the time factor and its value in the construction process, the mass customization potential of the technology and its effect on building forms. The current state of technology in architecture, despite huge potential, has not produced new architectural forms.

Since Building Information Modelling as a technology depends on recognizing parts of the buildings as objects that can be simulated digitally, to prepare students to grasp the BIM way of thinking, educators can start introducing the concept early in the architectural curriculum without using the real tools. The researchers monitored the students' progress over a period of time while they were using different 3 dimensional CAD tools in several situations such as design studio visualization and construction document production until eventually the same group of students have been introduced formally to a real BIM tool. The research tries to establish a relationship between the pedagogical techniques and the success of the students to grasp what BIM is about and the development of their ability to use it fruitfully. Comparisons between their performances should shed the light on the best method to use in order to prepare students for the use of BIM.

Building Information Modeling is the technology converting the workplace in design firms around the world. Now, professionals as well as academia see the feasibility and benefits of converting to such a new technology. Therefore, it seems inevitable to start teaching BIM to architecture students. And as we keep using and depending on computers the way we are, it also seems inevitable that programming will soon become one of the core curriculum classes for architecture students. However, the same problems facing professionals in design firms are those facing academic educators in schools of architecture, but with some different aspects. The misconceptions about the reality of BIM and the lack of understanding the full potential of the applications are the common issues. Few schools have started looking at the problem of preparing their students for a career in a BIM enabled work environment. The difficulty is due partly to the novelty of the technology and partly to the dilemma of te...

Building information modeling is the technology that is converting the workplace in design firms. The initial resistance to applying the concept has faded due to many reasons. Professional architects now see the feasibility and benefits of using the new technology. CAD managers in design firms are working toward the implementation of BIM packages in order to eventually, replace the conventional CAD platforms that are still widely used. However, there are still internal obstacles that slow down the process of the implementation. The change in the project management and the required proper training for the conversion are the two major internal obstacles. The current well organized work flow tailored around the conventional CAD platforms has to be changed in a way suitable for the new technology. The training firms provide for their employees should also be restructured in a more vertical organization in order to guarantee that everyone understands the new concept and the new work flow. Architectural education usually reflects the needs of the work market. It is very important to understand the needs and identify the directions where the architectural education should go. What do we expect from newly graduated architects? How should we shift the focus toward BIM based CAD in design schools? And, what does it mean to teach modeling versus teaching drafting?

This thesis contributes to computer-aided design and modeling of microwave circuits exploiting space mapping technology. Comprehensive frameworks for enhancing available empirical models or creating new ones are presented. A novel technique for ...

Acoustics is an important factor in mosque prayer halls that had not been given extensive concern during the architectural design stages. Eventually, the importance of speech intelligibility became more important, given the integration of other activities into the prayer halls, such as the holy Quran recitation, speeches, and lectures. Early attempts have been made to control the propagation of sound and to maintain good acoustic quality within the prayer spaces. Architects during the conceptual design stage had barely paid attention to the design issues that affect the acoustic environment inside the prayer zones, which is either due to lack of time during the project development or, in most cases, a lack of simple design guidelines to overcome any drastic acoustical defects arising from the incorrect design, shape, or material selection. The basic guidelines for designers to select the appropriate shape, geometry, size, and finishing materials are an essential design tool. This work examines the three common design topologies of mosques, which differ in size, shape, and finishing materials. In this study, a geometric and material parametric analysis was conducted based on the shape, surface area, volume, and finishing materials of each of the three designs. For the geometric acoustics, a computer model employing the ray tracing theory was employed to investigate the three configurations. Different acoustic treatments were tested relative to the geometric disposition of each design. Finally, basic recommendations and design guidelines were presented.

A questionnaire study was conducted to investigate the soundscape preferences of the sonic environment in Cairo. Participants, who were Cairo residents, were questioned about their appraisal of familiar urban soundscapes in a close-and open-ended format questionnaire. Psycholinguistic data analysis of verbal descriptions expressed by respondents was conducted to identify the relevance of semantic categories of environmental sounds and quantitative soundscape aspects for the urban sonic environment of Cairo. Results confirmed a direct relevance of the linguistic semantic auditory judgment and of the outputs of the quantitative close-ended questions. Cairenes were also found to express their sonic environment linguistically based on physical properties rather than semantic features and values. Analyzing the relative annoyance increase (RAI) of the close-ended part, overall positive RAI values for all sound categories reveal how sensitive to noise Cairo residents are. Results further showed that at an RAI value of approximately 27%, sound category perception transforms from positive to negative.

I call architecture frozen music" a quote by Johan Wolfgan von Goethe. It seems that his description of architecture will not be this much long lasting. Since many architectural structures now are considered soniferous. In an approach to rational the thinking of positive soundscape and move onwards in terms of systematic decision making, and creating tools for more creative planning techniques, this paper utilizes two methodologies in assessing soundscape impacts. One approach usually implemented in quality of manufacturing and product development, namely the Kano Model. The other approach deals with the case in the form of a wider scope which relates the design of the soundscape, and the effect of sound sculptures in objective terms. Due to the complexity of characterizing the soundscape, and its dependence on several of perceptual aspects and interventions, both models are mapped to form an evaluation tool for a specific sonic environment. It can be considered to be a complement along with previous frameworks that shed light on the emission of sound, and others on factors influencing the soundscape perception, or to be used as a tool for understanding and assessing individual responses and evaluation. In this case the importance of having a framework is to help evaluating the common effect of a successful intervention on the positive attributes of the soundscape.

There is a great demand in multipurpose elements design for use adaptation. This in turn requires great flexibility in design strategies, as well as a wider spectrum of space settings to achieve the required environment that special activities imply. Acoustics is an essential factor influencing cognitive acts and behavior as well as on the extreme end the physical wellbeing inside a space. The complexity of this constrain is fueled up by the extended geometric dimensions of multipurpose halls, making acoustic adequateness a great concern, that could not easily be achieved for each purpose. To achieve a performance oriented acoustic environment, various parametric shaped false ceilings based on origami folded notion are simulated. These parigamic shapes are able to fold and unfold forming an oribotic structure, and changing the mutual acoustic environment according to the geometric shapes position and its changing exposed surface areas. The mobility of the facets in the parigamic sur...

The development of sustainability has made the application of green concepts to cityscapes and urban design mandatory and has popularized the installation of vegetation on external street walls. Introducing greenery on external building elements is beneficial to the environment, reducing the heat impact experienced in "urban heat islands" and enhancing an area's visual effect. The popularity of such green systems has necessitated the assessment of their acoustic characteristics and their impact on long-distance noise propagation. These effects become important in hot climates, where the topology of the dense urban texture gives building walls larger areas than exposed streets, thereby amplifying the effects of the former's acoustic characteristics on noise levels. Considering the resultant sound level at a particular location between buildings as the contribution of several remote sources, a simplified computer model based on energy exchange is developed in this study. Owing to the complexity of the urban landscape, buildings are assumed to be an array of rectangular blocks. The computer model is used to investigate the effects of the installation of street vertical vegetation on long-distance noise propagation, as well as those of the geometric parameters of the dense Islamic urban texture on the resultant noise levels.

Façades as a part of urban areas' components; play an important role in sound propagation which affect sound environment in a street canyon. A parametric study was performed in order to investigate the influence of façade's formation by segments ratio on sound fields in urban streets in terms of sound pressure level (SPL). A computer simulation technique based on a hybrid method combining ray tracing and image source modeling was adopted, and an omnidirectional sound source was used. Series of computer simulations of varied numbers of segments that form façades were investigated in order to evaluate the real effect of the diffusion reflections that happened by façades with formations; relative to the smooth façades on sound propagation in streets. Results, in terms of relative sound pressure levels, show that a positive effect can be observed in the reduction of sound levels.