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Katja Knecht

Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute for Sustainable Urbanism, Post-Doc

Queen Mary, University of London, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Graduate Student

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Singapore-ETH Centre, Post-Doc

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Claudio Coletta

Maynooth University

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University of Arizona

University of Leeds

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Ondřej Mulíček

Masaryk University

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Papers by Katja Knecht

CITY AS DATA: URBAN ANALYTICS AS CONTEMPORARY FORM OF RHYTHMANALYSIS

by Katja Knecht, Olaf Mumm, and Vanessa Miriam Carlow

AMPS PROCEEDINGS SERIES 32 Representing Pasts -Visioning Futures, 2023

Cities and urban regions are complex and dynamic systems, constantly in flux. The attempt to repr... more Cities and urban regions are complex and dynamic systems, constantly in flux. The attempt to represent material and immaterial interrelations and activities in the context of the built environment in its spatio-temporal ebb and flow is in traditional media such as film always a collage of unique, concrete moments captured at a specific time and place. With the rise of pervasive computing, digital and information technology, however, the capturing and representation of urban flows and rhythms have taken an abstract and quantitative turn. Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile computing devices allow to collect a continuous flow of data on spatial practices and their rhythms, whose analysis provides not only new representations of urban space but also a deeper understanding of it. This paper juxtaposes Lefebvre’s Rhythmanalysis and urban analytics by comparing respective approaches, methods and tools. It explores data-driven and -informed representations of the city and the rhythms and flows of people, things and the built environment within it alongside research activities at the Spatial Analytics and Crossdisciplinary Experimentation (SpACE) Lab at the Institute for Sustainable Urbanism (ISU). The paper concludes by critically discussing the short-comings and opportunities of urban analytics as contemporary form of Rhythmanalysis as well as by laying out a trajectory for future research.

Citizen Engagement through Design Space Exploration: Integrating citizen knowledge and expert design in computational urban planning

by Katja Knecht and Dimitrie Stefanescu

eCAADe 37, 2019

A common understanding exists that citizens should become more involved in the design, planning, ... more A common understanding exists that citizens should become more involved in the design, planning, and governance of the city. Due to a lack of common platforms and difficulties in the meaningful integration of the participatory input, however, the tools and methods currently employed in citizen engagement are often ill connected to the design and governance tools and processes used by experts. In this paper we describe a Grasshopper and Rhino based approach, which allows designers to share a subset of the design space formed by parametric design variants with citizens via the online interface Beta.Speckle. In a user study we evaluated the usability of the tool as well as studied the design choices of participants, which were found to be influenced by preferences for visual order and underlying economic, social, and environmental values. For the future design of participatory exercises, it was concluded that indicators relating to citizens' values and preferences will allow for a more effective exploration of the design space and increase the meaningfulness of results. Keywords: design space exploration, citizen engagement, parametric urban design, computational urban planning, space matrix

COLLABORATIVE LARGE-SCALE URBAN DESIGN WITH THE FOCUS ON THE AGENT-BASED TRAFFIC SIMULATION

by Katja Knecht and Reinhard Koenig

Intelligent & Informed, Proceedings of the 24th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) 2019, 2019

The better integration of the knowledge and expertise from different disciplines into urban desig... more The better integration of the knowledge and expertise from different disciplines into urban design and the creation of more interdisciplinary and collaborative work processes to accommodate this have been under discussion in related research for decades. Nevertheless, many barriers preventing a seamless collaborative work flow still persist. In this paper we present an experiment taking place under real-world conditions, which outlines an alternative way for more efficient collaboration by focusing on the design process rather than the result and thus providing additional insights for all parties involved. A parametric design approach was chosen to help mediate between the areas of expertise involved supporting the smooth transition of data, the mutual translation of design feedback and better informed design decisions as an outcome. The case study presented in this paper exemplifies the application of the approach in a design project on masterplan scale integrating inputs from urban design, economics and mobility experts; and shows the opportunity for transforming the formerly segregated design process into a platform for transparent negotiations.

Usability and Design of Personal Wearable and Portable Devices for Thermal Comfort in Shared Work Environments

by Katja Knecht and karen shoop

Proceedings of the 30th International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference: Fusion!, 2016

Personal comfort is important in the design of objects and environments. However, as comfort is a... more Personal comfort is important in the design of objects and environments. However, as comfort is a subjective experience, it is a very difficult aspect to design for. This paper presents an interrogation into the design for human thermal comfort, in particular the design of personal devices for use in shared work environments. The findings of two user studies are presented, in which wearable and portable, off-the-shelf personal heating and cooling devices were deployed in the field to explore the interaction with and use of these devices in everyday settings with the aim to uncover key aspects and requirements for the design of such devices. We found that functionality and affordances, i.e. the design for versatility, appropriation and mobility, as well as control, availability, effectiveness and efficiency of use were most important. Furthermore, individual preferences, foremost the preference for on-body versus off-body heating and cooling, and aspects related to wearable design of the devices, such as aesthetics, materiality, comfort of wear, mobility and unobtrusiveness, also need to be taken into account.

Computational urban design prototyping: Interactive planning synthesis methods-a case study in Cape Town

by Reinhard Koenig, Katja Knecht, and Peter Buš

This article is motivated by the fact that in Cape Town, South Africa, approximately 7.5 million ... more This article is motivated by the fact that in Cape Town, South Africa, approximately 7.5 million people live in informal settlements and focuses on potential upgrading strategies for such sites. To this end, we developed a computational method for rapid urban design prototyping. The corresponding planning tool generates urban layouts including street network, blocks, parcels and buildings based on an urban designer's specific requirements. It can be used to scale and replicate a developed urban planning concept to fit different sites. To facilitate the layout generation process computationally, we developed a new data structure to represent street networks, land parcellation, and the relationship between the two. We also introduced a nested parcellation strategy to reduce the number of irregular shapes generated due to algorithmic limitations. Network analysis methods are applied to control the distribution of buildings in the communities so that preferred neighborhood relationships can be considered in the design process. Finally, we demonstrate how to compare designs based on various urban analysis measures and discuss the limitations that arise when we apply our method in practice, especially when dealing with more complex urban design scenarios.

Herthogs et al 2019 Indicia 02 Big Data Informed Urban Design and Governance20190425 36634 4hswxn

by Reinhard Koenig, Katja Knecht, and Pieter Herthogs

The ‘Urban Elements’ method for teaching parametric urban design to professionals

Frontiers of Architectural Research, 2018

The article proposes a method for teaching advanced urban design to working professionals in Sing... more The article proposes a method for teaching advanced urban design to working professionals in Singapore. The article aims to expand the discourse on parametric urban design education by introducing ‘Urban Elements’ as conceptual urban design instruments with an inherent rule-based logic, which can help to bridge gaps in teaching parametric urban design thinking. As case study we present a course developed for and delivered to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in Singapore in 2017 by the Future Cities Laboratory at the Singapore-ETH Centre. The article reports on the pedagogical method, course results and course feedback. The main difficulties of teaching professionals in parametric urban design are described and possible reasons and improvements are discussed. The results show that participants using the ‘Urban Elements’ method successfully linked theoretical input to urban design problems, applied evidence-based urban design strategies to these problems, and developed parametric definitions to explore the solution spaces of these urban design challenges. The teaching methodology presented opens up a new research field for urban design pedagogy at the intersection of explicating urban design intent, integrating multidisciplinary knowledge and exploring new software driven tools.

Computational urban design prototyping: Interactive planning synthesis methods—a case study in Cape Town

International Journal of Architectural Computing, 2018

This article is motivated by the fact that in Cape Town, South Africa, approximately 7.5 million ... more This article is motivated by the fact that in Cape Town, South Africa, approximately 7.5 million people live in informal settlements and focuses on potential upgrading strategies for such sites. To this end, we developed a computational method for rapid urban design prototyping. The corresponding planning tool generates urban layouts including street network, blocks, parcels and buildings based on an urban designer’s specific requirements. It can be used to scale and replicate a developed urban planning concept to fit different sites. To facilitate the layout generation process computationally, we developed a new data structure to represent street networks, land parcellation, and the relationship between the two. We also introduced a nested parcellation strategy to reduce the number of irregular shapes generated due to algorithmic limitations. Network analysis methods are applied to control the distribution of buildings in the communities so that preferred neighborhood relationships can be considered in the design process. Finally, we demonstrate how to compare designs based on various urban analysis measures and discuss the limitations that arise when we apply our method in practice, especially when dealing with more complex urban design scenarios.

Parametric assistance for complex urban planning processes

6th Annual International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering (ACE 2018), 2018

This paper will discuss the process of development and application of procedural methods in urban... more This paper will discuss the process of development and application of procedural methods in urban planning and design. Despite a lot of progress being made at architectural scale to consider a planning area as an integrated system of infrastructure, constructions, uses, socio-economic indices and many more, there is a gap in approaching larger urban areas with a similar degree of coherence.
Addressing this challenge, we were working on a framework that would facilitate communication and discussion during decision-making processes between various fields of expertise. Using a modular approach, we developed a design and analysis workflow for a city-scale project in Ethiopia, district-scale developments in Singapore, and neighborhood-scale interventions in Singapore. The number of examples shows the flexibility of the approach and its prospect for more effective transdisciplinary collaborations.
The method applied has proved a high potential due to approaching several aspects simultaneously: the speed and, hence, number of variations considered can be increased drastically enlarging the design space with no significant time investments; a modular work flow that breaks down the linear sequence of the design process and gives opportunity for changes at any stage without affecting all the decisions made afterwards; automatization of a larger part of decisions makes it possible to correct the direction of the initial strategy, as a simple draft with any level of detail is enough to generate the best possible solution on its basis. These case-studies have also shown that parametric interventions can be most effectively made in several phases of project development that include analysis, design generation and evaluation.

On-site participation linking idea sketches and information technologies-User-driven Customised Environments

by Katja Knecht and Tanja Hess

Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe), 2017

The paper introduces the methodology related to the topic of citizen-driven urban design and revi... more The paper introduces the methodology related to the topic of citizen-driven urban design and revises the idea of on-site participation of end-users, which could prospectively lead to customisation of architectural and urban space in a full-scale. The research in the first phase addresses the engagement of information technologies used for idea sketching in participatory design workshop related to local urban issues in the city of Chur in Switzerland by means of the Skity tool, the sketching on-line platform running on all devices. Skity allows user, which can be individual citizens or a community, to sketch, build, and adapt their ideas for the improvement of an urban locality. The participant is the expert of the locality because he or she lives in this place every day. The content of this paper is focused on the participatory design research project conducted as a study at the ETH Zürich and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft HTW in Chur in collaboration with Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, mainly concentrated on the first step of the methodological approach introduced here.

City Afforestation: Abstracting the Urban Geometries into Tree Structures for Urban Fabric Optimization

Traditional urban design methods, still relying on the static and sectoral approaches, reach thei... more Traditional urban design methods, still relying on the static and sectoral approaches, reach their limits to adapt themselves to the growing complexities and dynamics of modern cities. With the flourishing of artificial intelligence, a new approach called " cognitive design computing " has been proposed to utilize both the human creativity and computing power for the development of next generation urban design supporting tools, where Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization (EMO) is employed for urban synthesis. However, a unified data structure is missing for the genotype representation of different urban features, such as streets, blocks, plots and buildings, so that they can be optimized together. This paper aims to address this problem and is focused on i) the introduction and description of the genotype data structure, and ii) the application of the prototype of the proposed design tool in practice.

Vergleich zweier Methoden zur Erzeugung von Grundriss-Layouts: Dichte Packung vs. Unterteilungsalgorithmen

by Katja Knecht and Reinhard Koenig

In diesem Kapitel werden die Methoden zur Erzeugung von Grundrisslayouts mit- tels dichter Packun... more In diesem Kapitel werden die Methoden zur Erzeugung von Grundrisslayouts mit- tels dichter Packung (Kapitel 5) und mittels Unterteilungsalgorithmen (Kapitel 7) miteinander verglichen. Basierend auf zwei Grundrissszenarien werden die Eigen- schaften der beiden Layoutsolver analysiert. Die Analysen betrachten erstens die Geschwindigkeit, mit der Lösungen gefunden werden, zweitens die Zuverlässigkeit, mit der optimale Lösung gefunden werden, sowie drittens die Anzahl an unter- schiedlichen Lösungen, die überhaupt gefunden werden können. Die Ergebnisse der Analysen werden einer vergleichbaren Studie von Flemming, Baykan et al. (1992) gegenübergestellt. Abschließ end werden die Unterschiede der beiden verglichenen Methoden im Hinblick auf die Möglichkeiten der Nutzerinteraktion besprochen. In einer abschließ enden Betrachtung wird dargestellt, dass keine der betrachteten Me- thoden der anderen überlegen ist, sondern dass sie sich aufgrund ihrer unterschied- lichen Eigenschaften für versc...

Interactive Urban Synthesis Computational Methods for Fast Prototyping of Urban Design Proposals

by Reinhard Koenig, Katja Knecht, and Peter Buš

In this paper, we present a method for generating fast conceptual urban design prototypes. We syn... more In this paper, we present a method for generating fast conceptual urban design prototypes. We synthesize spatial configurations for street networks , parcels and building volumes. Therefore, we address the problem of implementing custom data structures for these configurations and how the generation process can be controlled and parameterized. We exemplify our method by the development of new components for Grasshopper/Rhino3D and their application in the scope of selected case studies. By means of these components, we show use case applications of the synthesis algorithms. In the conclusion, we reflect on the advantages of being able to generate fast urban design prototypes, but we also discuss the disadvantages of the concept and the usage of Grasshopper as a user interface.

Automatische Grundstücksumlegung mithilfe von Unterteilungsalgorithmen und typenbasierte Generierung von Stadtstrukturen

by Reinhard Koenig and Katja Knecht

Dieses Arbeitspapier beschreibt, wie ausgehend von einem vorhandenen Straßennetzwerk Bebauungsare... more Dieses Arbeitspapier beschreibt, wie ausgehend von einem vorhandenen Straßennetzwerk Bebauungsareale mithilfe von Unterteilungsalgorithmen automatisch umgelegt, d.h. in Grundstücke unterteilt, und anschließend auf Basis verschiedener städtebaulicher Typen bebaut werden können. Die Unterteilung von Bebauungsarealen und die Generierung von Bebauungsstrukturen unterliegen dabei bestimmten stadtplanerischen Einschränkungen, Vorgaben und Parametern. Ziel ist es aus den dargestellten Untersuchungen heraus ein Vorschlagssystem für stadtplanerische Entwürfe zu entwickeln, das anhand der Umsetzung eines ersten Softwareprototyps zur Generierung von Stadtstrukturen weiter diskutiert wird.

Evolutionäre Generierung von Grundriss-Layouts mithilfe von Unterteilungsalgorithmen

by Reinhard Koenig and Katja Knecht

Das Unterteilen einer vorgegebenen Grundfläche in Zonen und Räume ist eine im Architekturentwurf ... more Das Unterteilen einer vorgegebenen Grundfläche in Zonen und Räume ist eine im Architekturentwurf häufig eingesetzte Methode zur Grundrissentwicklung. Für deren Automatisierung können Unterteilungsalgorithmen betrachtet werden, die einen vorgegebenen, mehrdimensionalen Raum nach einer festgelegten Regel unterteilen. Neben dem Einsatz in der Computergrafik zur Polygondarstellung und im Floorplanning zur Optimierung von Platinen-, Chip-und Anlagenlayouts finden Unterteilungsalgorithmen zunehmend Anwendung bei der automatischen Generierung von Stadt-und Gebäudegrundrissen, insbesondere in Computerspielen. Im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts Kremlas wurde das gestalterische und generative Potential von Unterteilungsalgorithmen im Hinblick auf architektonische Fragestellungen und ihre Einsatzmöglichkeiten zur Entwicklung einer kreativen evolutionären Entwurfsmethode zur Lösung von Layoutproblemen in Architektur und Städtebau untersucht. Es entstand ein generativer Mechanismus, der eine Unterteilungsfolge zufällig erstellt und Grundrisse mit einer festgelegten Anzahl an Räumen mit bestimmter Raumgröße durch Unterteilung generiert. In Kombination mit evolutionären Algorithmen lassen sich die erhaltenen Layoutlösungen zudem hinsichtlich architektonisch relevanter Kriterien optimieren, für die im vorliegenden Fall Nachbarschaftsbeziehungen zwischen einzelnen Räumen betrachtet wurden.

Generating Floor Plan Layouts with KDTrees and Evolutionary Algorithms

by Reinhard Koenig and Katja Knecht

K-dimensional trees, abbreviated as k-d trees in the following, are binary search and partitionin... more K-dimensional trees, abbreviated as k-d trees in the following, are binary search and partitioning trees which represent a set of n points in a multi-dimensional space . K-d tree data structures have primarily been used for nearest neighbor queries and several other query types for example in database applications. In the context of a research project at the Bauhaus-University Weimar concerned with the development of a creative evolutionary design method for layout problems in architecture and urban design, spatial partitioning with k-d trees has been applied as a partial solution to generate floor plan layouts. Unlike, for example, packing algorithms in [2] and slicing tree structures in [3] the employment of k-d tree algorithms in combination with evolutionary algorithms to generate floor plan layouts has not previously been examined in the scope presented here. In the application developed in this project the k-d tree algorithm is initially used to subdivide a given rectangular area. The dividing lines thereby correspond to eventual spatial boundaries. By combining the k-d tree algorithm with genetic algorithms and evolutionary strategies, layouts can -in the current version -be optimized in three criteria dimensions (size, ratio and topology). Through user interaction the layouts can be dynamically adjusted and altered in real time. The result is a generative mechanism that provides an interesting and promising alternative to existing well-established algorithms for the creative and evolutionary solution of layout problems in architecture and urban design.

Investigating the impact of topological properties of two-dimensional layouts on aesthetic preference

by Reinhard Koenig and Katja Knecht

The starting point of this study is the hypothesis that aesthetic judgements about twodimensional... more The starting point of this study is the hypothesis that aesthetic judgements about twodimensional layouts indirectly inform how functional aspects are evaluated. To test this assumption we investigated whether there is a connection between the topological property of the "intelligibility" of two-dimensional layouts and their aesthetic evaluation. Intelligibility, a criterion from Space Syntax theory, can be regarded as a simplified measure of the functionality of a layout (it is commonly used as an indicator for ease of orientation in an urban layout). In an online survey we collected data from 62 test persons on the aesthetic judgement of different two-dimensional layouts. The analysis of the collected data has shown that, contrary to the hypothesis, no correlation could be found between intelligibility values and the aesthetic evaluation of the tested layouts.

Comparing two evolutionary algorithm based methods for layout generation: Dense packing versus subdivision

Koenig, R. & Knecht, K. (2014). Comparing two evolutionary algorithm based methods for layout gen... more

KREMLAS: Entwicklung einer kreativen evolutionären Entwurfsmethode für Layoutprobleme in Architektur und Städtebau

Koenig, R., Schneider, S. & Knecht, K. (2012). KREMLAS: Entwicklung einer kreativen evolutionären... more

Generating Floor Plan Layouts with K-d Trees and Evolutionary Algorithms

Knecht, K., & König, R. (2010). Generating Floor Plan Layouts with K-d Trees and Evolutionary Alg... more

CITY AS DATA: URBAN ANALYTICS AS CONTEMPORARY FORM OF RHYTHMANALYSIS

by Katja Knecht, Olaf Mumm, and Vanessa Miriam Carlow

AMPS PROCEEDINGS SERIES 32 Representing Pasts -Visioning Futures, 2023

Cities and urban regions are complex and dynamic systems, constantly in flux. The attempt to repr... more Cities and urban regions are complex and dynamic systems, constantly in flux. The attempt to represent material and immaterial interrelations and activities in the context of the built environment in its spatio-temporal ebb and flow is in traditional media such as film always a collage of unique, concrete moments captured at a specific time and place. With the rise of pervasive computing, digital and information technology, however, the capturing and representation of urban flows and rhythms have taken an abstract and quantitative turn. Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile computing devices allow to collect a continuous flow of data on spatial practices and their rhythms, whose analysis provides not only new representations of urban space but also a deeper understanding of it. This paper juxtaposes Lefebvre’s Rhythmanalysis and urban analytics by comparing respective approaches, methods and tools. It explores data-driven and -informed representations of the city and the rhythms and flows of people, things and the built environment within it alongside research activities at the Spatial Analytics and Crossdisciplinary Experimentation (SpACE) Lab at the Institute for Sustainable Urbanism (ISU). The paper concludes by critically discussing the short-comings and opportunities of urban analytics as contemporary form of Rhythmanalysis as well as by laying out a trajectory for future research.

Citizen Engagement through Design Space Exploration: Integrating citizen knowledge and expert design in computational urban planning

by Katja Knecht and Dimitrie Stefanescu

eCAADe 37, 2019

A common understanding exists that citizens should become more involved in the design, planning, ... more A common understanding exists that citizens should become more involved in the design, planning, and governance of the city. Due to a lack of common platforms and difficulties in the meaningful integration of the participatory input, however, the tools and methods currently employed in citizen engagement are often ill connected to the design and governance tools and processes used by experts. In this paper we describe a Grasshopper and Rhino based approach, which allows designers to share a subset of the design space formed by parametric design variants with citizens via the online interface Beta.Speckle. In a user study we evaluated the usability of the tool as well as studied the design choices of participants, which were found to be influenced by preferences for visual order and underlying economic, social, and environmental values. For the future design of participatory exercises, it was concluded that indicators relating to citizens' values and preferences will allow for a more effective exploration of the design space and increase the meaningfulness of results. Keywords: design space exploration, citizen engagement, parametric urban design, computational urban planning, space matrix

COLLABORATIVE LARGE-SCALE URBAN DESIGN WITH THE FOCUS ON THE AGENT-BASED TRAFFIC SIMULATION

by Katja Knecht and Reinhard Koenig

Intelligent & Informed, Proceedings of the 24th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) 2019, 2019

The better integration of the knowledge and expertise from different disciplines into urban desig... more The better integration of the knowledge and expertise from different disciplines into urban design and the creation of more interdisciplinary and collaborative work processes to accommodate this have been under discussion in related research for decades. Nevertheless, many barriers preventing a seamless collaborative work flow still persist. In this paper we present an experiment taking place under real-world conditions, which outlines an alternative way for more efficient collaboration by focusing on the design process rather than the result and thus providing additional insights for all parties involved. A parametric design approach was chosen to help mediate between the areas of expertise involved supporting the smooth transition of data, the mutual translation of design feedback and better informed design decisions as an outcome. The case study presented in this paper exemplifies the application of the approach in a design project on masterplan scale integrating inputs from urban design, economics and mobility experts; and shows the opportunity for transforming the formerly segregated design process into a platform for transparent negotiations.

Usability and Design of Personal Wearable and Portable Devices for Thermal Comfort in Shared Work Environments

by Katja Knecht and karen shoop

Proceedings of the 30th International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference: Fusion!, 2016

Personal comfort is important in the design of objects and environments. However, as comfort is a... more Personal comfort is important in the design of objects and environments. However, as comfort is a subjective experience, it is a very difficult aspect to design for. This paper presents an interrogation into the design for human thermal comfort, in particular the design of personal devices for use in shared work environments. The findings of two user studies are presented, in which wearable and portable, off-the-shelf personal heating and cooling devices were deployed in the field to explore the interaction with and use of these devices in everyday settings with the aim to uncover key aspects and requirements for the design of such devices. We found that functionality and affordances, i.e. the design for versatility, appropriation and mobility, as well as control, availability, effectiveness and efficiency of use were most important. Furthermore, individual preferences, foremost the preference for on-body versus off-body heating and cooling, and aspects related to wearable design of the devices, such as aesthetics, materiality, comfort of wear, mobility and unobtrusiveness, also need to be taken into account.

Computational urban design prototyping: Interactive planning synthesis methods-a case study in Cape Town

by Reinhard Koenig, Katja Knecht, and Peter Buš

This article is motivated by the fact that in Cape Town, South Africa, approximately 7.5 million ... more This article is motivated by the fact that in Cape Town, South Africa, approximately 7.5 million people live in informal settlements and focuses on potential upgrading strategies for such sites. To this end, we developed a computational method for rapid urban design prototyping. The corresponding planning tool generates urban layouts including street network, blocks, parcels and buildings based on an urban designer's specific requirements. It can be used to scale and replicate a developed urban planning concept to fit different sites. To facilitate the layout generation process computationally, we developed a new data structure to represent street networks, land parcellation, and the relationship between the two. We also introduced a nested parcellation strategy to reduce the number of irregular shapes generated due to algorithmic limitations. Network analysis methods are applied to control the distribution of buildings in the communities so that preferred neighborhood relationships can be considered in the design process. Finally, we demonstrate how to compare designs based on various urban analysis measures and discuss the limitations that arise when we apply our method in practice, especially when dealing with more complex urban design scenarios.

Herthogs et al 2019 Indicia 02 Big Data Informed Urban Design and Governance20190425 36634 4hswxn

by Reinhard Koenig, Katja Knecht, and Pieter Herthogs

The ‘Urban Elements’ method for teaching parametric urban design to professionals

Frontiers of Architectural Research, 2018

The article proposes a method for teaching advanced urban design to working professionals in Sing... more The article proposes a method for teaching advanced urban design to working professionals in Singapore. The article aims to expand the discourse on parametric urban design education by introducing ‘Urban Elements’ as conceptual urban design instruments with an inherent rule-based logic, which can help to bridge gaps in teaching parametric urban design thinking. As case study we present a course developed for and delivered to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in Singapore in 2017 by the Future Cities Laboratory at the Singapore-ETH Centre. The article reports on the pedagogical method, course results and course feedback. The main difficulties of teaching professionals in parametric urban design are described and possible reasons and improvements are discussed. The results show that participants using the ‘Urban Elements’ method successfully linked theoretical input to urban design problems, applied evidence-based urban design strategies to these problems, and developed parametric definitions to explore the solution spaces of these urban design challenges. The teaching methodology presented opens up a new research field for urban design pedagogy at the intersection of explicating urban design intent, integrating multidisciplinary knowledge and exploring new software driven tools.

Computational urban design prototyping: Interactive planning synthesis methods—a case study in Cape Town

International Journal of Architectural Computing, 2018

This article is motivated by the fact that in Cape Town, South Africa, approximately 7.5 million ... more This article is motivated by the fact that in Cape Town, South Africa, approximately 7.5 million people live in informal settlements and focuses on potential upgrading strategies for such sites. To this end, we developed a computational method for rapid urban design prototyping. The corresponding planning tool generates urban layouts including street network, blocks, parcels and buildings based on an urban designer’s specific requirements. It can be used to scale and replicate a developed urban planning concept to fit different sites. To facilitate the layout generation process computationally, we developed a new data structure to represent street networks, land parcellation, and the relationship between the two. We also introduced a nested parcellation strategy to reduce the number of irregular shapes generated due to algorithmic limitations. Network analysis methods are applied to control the distribution of buildings in the communities so that preferred neighborhood relationships can be considered in the design process. Finally, we demonstrate how to compare designs based on various urban analysis measures and discuss the limitations that arise when we apply our method in practice, especially when dealing with more complex urban design scenarios.

Parametric assistance for complex urban planning processes

6th Annual International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering (ACE 2018), 2018

This paper will discuss the process of development and application of procedural methods in urban... more This paper will discuss the process of development and application of procedural methods in urban planning and design. Despite a lot of progress being made at architectural scale to consider a planning area as an integrated system of infrastructure, constructions, uses, socio-economic indices and many more, there is a gap in approaching larger urban areas with a similar degree of coherence.
Addressing this challenge, we were working on a framework that would facilitate communication and discussion during decision-making processes between various fields of expertise. Using a modular approach, we developed a design and analysis workflow for a city-scale project in Ethiopia, district-scale developments in Singapore, and neighborhood-scale interventions in Singapore. The number of examples shows the flexibility of the approach and its prospect for more effective transdisciplinary collaborations.
The method applied has proved a high potential due to approaching several aspects simultaneously: the speed and, hence, number of variations considered can be increased drastically enlarging the design space with no significant time investments; a modular work flow that breaks down the linear sequence of the design process and gives opportunity for changes at any stage without affecting all the decisions made afterwards; automatization of a larger part of decisions makes it possible to correct the direction of the initial strategy, as a simple draft with any level of detail is enough to generate the best possible solution on its basis. These case-studies have also shown that parametric interventions can be most effectively made in several phases of project development that include analysis, design generation and evaluation.

On-site participation linking idea sketches and information technologies-User-driven Customised Environments

by Katja Knecht and Tanja Hess

Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe), 2017

The paper introduces the methodology related to the topic of citizen-driven urban design and revi... more The paper introduces the methodology related to the topic of citizen-driven urban design and revises the idea of on-site participation of end-users, which could prospectively lead to customisation of architectural and urban space in a full-scale. The research in the first phase addresses the engagement of information technologies used for idea sketching in participatory design workshop related to local urban issues in the city of Chur in Switzerland by means of the Skity tool, the sketching on-line platform running on all devices. Skity allows user, which can be individual citizens or a community, to sketch, build, and adapt their ideas for the improvement of an urban locality. The participant is the expert of the locality because he or she lives in this place every day. The content of this paper is focused on the participatory design research project conducted as a study at the ETH Zürich and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft HTW in Chur in collaboration with Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, mainly concentrated on the first step of the methodological approach introduced here.

City Afforestation: Abstracting the Urban Geometries into Tree Structures for Urban Fabric Optimization

Traditional urban design methods, still relying on the static and sectoral approaches, reach thei... more Traditional urban design methods, still relying on the static and sectoral approaches, reach their limits to adapt themselves to the growing complexities and dynamics of modern cities. With the flourishing of artificial intelligence, a new approach called " cognitive design computing " has been proposed to utilize both the human creativity and computing power for the development of next generation urban design supporting tools, where Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization (EMO) is employed for urban synthesis. However, a unified data structure is missing for the genotype representation of different urban features, such as streets, blocks, plots and buildings, so that they can be optimized together. This paper aims to address this problem and is focused on i) the introduction and description of the genotype data structure, and ii) the application of the prototype of the proposed design tool in practice.

Vergleich zweier Methoden zur Erzeugung von Grundriss-Layouts: Dichte Packung vs. Unterteilungsalgorithmen

by Katja Knecht and Reinhard Koenig

In diesem Kapitel werden die Methoden zur Erzeugung von Grundrisslayouts mit- tels dichter Packun... more In diesem Kapitel werden die Methoden zur Erzeugung von Grundrisslayouts mit- tels dichter Packung (Kapitel 5) und mittels Unterteilungsalgorithmen (Kapitel 7) miteinander verglichen. Basierend auf zwei Grundrissszenarien werden die Eigen- schaften der beiden Layoutsolver analysiert. Die Analysen betrachten erstens die Geschwindigkeit, mit der Lösungen gefunden werden, zweitens die Zuverlässigkeit, mit der optimale Lösung gefunden werden, sowie drittens die Anzahl an unter- schiedlichen Lösungen, die überhaupt gefunden werden können. Die Ergebnisse der Analysen werden einer vergleichbaren Studie von Flemming, Baykan et al. (1992) gegenübergestellt. Abschließ end werden die Unterschiede der beiden verglichenen Methoden im Hinblick auf die Möglichkeiten der Nutzerinteraktion besprochen. In einer abschließ enden Betrachtung wird dargestellt, dass keine der betrachteten Me- thoden der anderen überlegen ist, sondern dass sie sich aufgrund ihrer unterschied- lichen Eigenschaften für versc...

Interactive Urban Synthesis Computational Methods for Fast Prototyping of Urban Design Proposals

by Reinhard Koenig, Katja Knecht, and Peter Buš

In this paper, we present a method for generating fast conceptual urban design prototypes. We syn... more In this paper, we present a method for generating fast conceptual urban design prototypes. We synthesize spatial configurations for street networks , parcels and building volumes. Therefore, we address the problem of implementing custom data structures for these configurations and how the generation process can be controlled and parameterized. We exemplify our method by the development of new components for Grasshopper/Rhino3D and their application in the scope of selected case studies. By means of these components, we show use case applications of the synthesis algorithms. In the conclusion, we reflect on the advantages of being able to generate fast urban design prototypes, but we also discuss the disadvantages of the concept and the usage of Grasshopper as a user interface.

Automatische Grundstücksumlegung mithilfe von Unterteilungsalgorithmen und typenbasierte Generierung von Stadtstrukturen

by Reinhard Koenig and Katja Knecht

Dieses Arbeitspapier beschreibt, wie ausgehend von einem vorhandenen Straßennetzwerk Bebauungsare... more Dieses Arbeitspapier beschreibt, wie ausgehend von einem vorhandenen Straßennetzwerk Bebauungsareale mithilfe von Unterteilungsalgorithmen automatisch umgelegt, d.h. in Grundstücke unterteilt, und anschließend auf Basis verschiedener städtebaulicher Typen bebaut werden können. Die Unterteilung von Bebauungsarealen und die Generierung von Bebauungsstrukturen unterliegen dabei bestimmten stadtplanerischen Einschränkungen, Vorgaben und Parametern. Ziel ist es aus den dargestellten Untersuchungen heraus ein Vorschlagssystem für stadtplanerische Entwürfe zu entwickeln, das anhand der Umsetzung eines ersten Softwareprototyps zur Generierung von Stadtstrukturen weiter diskutiert wird.

Evolutionäre Generierung von Grundriss-Layouts mithilfe von Unterteilungsalgorithmen

by Reinhard Koenig and Katja Knecht

Das Unterteilen einer vorgegebenen Grundfläche in Zonen und Räume ist eine im Architekturentwurf ... more Das Unterteilen einer vorgegebenen Grundfläche in Zonen und Räume ist eine im Architekturentwurf häufig eingesetzte Methode zur Grundrissentwicklung. Für deren Automatisierung können Unterteilungsalgorithmen betrachtet werden, die einen vorgegebenen, mehrdimensionalen Raum nach einer festgelegten Regel unterteilen. Neben dem Einsatz in der Computergrafik zur Polygondarstellung und im Floorplanning zur Optimierung von Platinen-, Chip-und Anlagenlayouts finden Unterteilungsalgorithmen zunehmend Anwendung bei der automatischen Generierung von Stadt-und Gebäudegrundrissen, insbesondere in Computerspielen. Im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts Kremlas wurde das gestalterische und generative Potential von Unterteilungsalgorithmen im Hinblick auf architektonische Fragestellungen und ihre Einsatzmöglichkeiten zur Entwicklung einer kreativen evolutionären Entwurfsmethode zur Lösung von Layoutproblemen in Architektur und Städtebau untersucht. Es entstand ein generativer Mechanismus, der eine Unterteilungsfolge zufällig erstellt und Grundrisse mit einer festgelegten Anzahl an Räumen mit bestimmter Raumgröße durch Unterteilung generiert. In Kombination mit evolutionären Algorithmen lassen sich die erhaltenen Layoutlösungen zudem hinsichtlich architektonisch relevanter Kriterien optimieren, für die im vorliegenden Fall Nachbarschaftsbeziehungen zwischen einzelnen Räumen betrachtet wurden.

Generating Floor Plan Layouts with KDTrees and Evolutionary Algorithms

by Reinhard Koenig and Katja Knecht

K-dimensional trees, abbreviated as k-d trees in the following, are binary search and partitionin... more K-dimensional trees, abbreviated as k-d trees in the following, are binary search and partitioning trees which represent a set of n points in a multi-dimensional space . K-d tree data structures have primarily been used for nearest neighbor queries and several other query types for example in database applications. In the context of a research project at the Bauhaus-University Weimar concerned with the development of a creative evolutionary design method for layout problems in architecture and urban design, spatial partitioning with k-d trees has been applied as a partial solution to generate floor plan layouts. Unlike, for example, packing algorithms in [2] and slicing tree structures in [3] the employment of k-d tree algorithms in combination with evolutionary algorithms to generate floor plan layouts has not previously been examined in the scope presented here. In the application developed in this project the k-d tree algorithm is initially used to subdivide a given rectangular area. The dividing lines thereby correspond to eventual spatial boundaries. By combining the k-d tree algorithm with genetic algorithms and evolutionary strategies, layouts can -in the current version -be optimized in three criteria dimensions (size, ratio and topology). Through user interaction the layouts can be dynamically adjusted and altered in real time. The result is a generative mechanism that provides an interesting and promising alternative to existing well-established algorithms for the creative and evolutionary solution of layout problems in architecture and urban design.

Investigating the impact of topological properties of two-dimensional layouts on aesthetic preference

by Reinhard Koenig and Katja Knecht

The starting point of this study is the hypothesis that aesthetic judgements about twodimensional... more The starting point of this study is the hypothesis that aesthetic judgements about twodimensional layouts indirectly inform how functional aspects are evaluated. To test this assumption we investigated whether there is a connection between the topological property of the "intelligibility" of two-dimensional layouts and their aesthetic evaluation. Intelligibility, a criterion from Space Syntax theory, can be regarded as a simplified measure of the functionality of a layout (it is commonly used as an indicator for ease of orientation in an urban layout). In an online survey we collected data from 62 test persons on the aesthetic judgement of different two-dimensional layouts. The analysis of the collected data has shown that, contrary to the hypothesis, no correlation could be found between intelligibility values and the aesthetic evaluation of the tested layouts.

Comparing two evolutionary algorithm based methods for layout generation: Dense packing versus subdivision

Koenig, R. & Knecht, K. (2014). Comparing two evolutionary algorithm based methods for layout gen... more

KREMLAS: Entwicklung einer kreativen evolutionären Entwurfsmethode für Layoutprobleme in Architektur und Städtebau

Koenig, R., Schneider, S. & Knecht, K. (2012). KREMLAS: Entwicklung einer kreativen evolutionären... more

Generating Floor Plan Layouts with K-d Trees and Evolutionary Algorithms

Knecht, K., & König, R. (2010). Generating Floor Plan Layouts with K-d Trees and Evolutionary Alg... more

KREMLAS: Entwicklung einer kreativen evolutionären Entwurfsmethode für Layoutprobleme in Architektur und Städtebau

by Reinhard Koenig, Katja Knecht, and frank petzold

DeCodingSpaces Toolbox for Grasshopper: Computational analysis and generation of STREET NETWORK, PLOTS and BUILDINGS

by Katja Knecht and Peter Buš

Computational Planning Group (CPlan), 2017

The DeCodingSpaces Toolbox for Grasshopper is a collection of analytical and generative component... more The DeCodingSpaces Toolbox for Grasshopper is a collection of analytical and generative components for algorithmic architectural and urban planning. The toolbox is free software released by the Computational Planning Group (CPlan) and is a result of long term collaboration between academic institutions and praxis partners across the globe with the common goal to increase the efficiency and quality of architecture and urban planning.

Development of the toolbox is on-going. Please visit https://toolbox.decodingspaces.net/ for the latest tutorials and case studies as well as to download the latest version of the DeCodingSpaces Grasshopper library.