Papers by Niloufar Emami
Blucher Design Proceedings, 2021
This study explores how alternative molding methods can be utilized to construct a variety of pre... more This study explores how alternative molding methods can be utilized to construct a variety of prefabricated volumetric concrete panels for façades from a single digitally fabricated mold. First, precedents were studied and panel variability was classified into ornamental, geometric, or assembly categories. Then, a molding method was proposed that improves upon traditional processes. Traditionally, geometrically varied façade panels are realized through creating a single mold for every variant, which is inefficient and wasteful. The proposed method allows for reusability of a singular mold which can fabricate variated panels through utilizing interchangeable mold inserts. This proposal was tested on a small scale through creating rapid iterations of molds fabricated with Stereolithography (SLA) printing. Emerging big area additive manufacturing (BAAM) technology allows for the proposed methods to be utilized at the industrial scale where they can reduce the cost, labor, and time of fabricating varied concrete panels while also creating complex geometries.
Automation in Construction, 2020
In this work, a computational interdisciplinary design approach is used to integrate assessment o... more In this work, a computational interdisciplinary design approach is used to integrate assessment of the structural and environmental performance of perforated concrete shell structures. Design parameters that co-exist in these disciplines and relevant performance criteria are identified. Questions result: how do these design parameters affect performance? What is the tradeoff between performance in each? Computer-aided design tools are used for form generation and performance assessment. Statistical analyses are used to study the sensitivity of performance to each parameter. Finally, the perforation ratio is found to be the most significant parameter affecting both disciplines; a value ≤ 10% to 20% is recommended for shell structures when translucent glazing is installed without shades in a Boston-type climate.
Shading screens have been used as daylight control systems, which also play a role as design elem... more Shading screens have been used as daylight control systems, which also play a role as design elements of transparent facades. A facade’s configuration can be an explicit representation of its functions. There are multiple functions within a building and sometimes a dominant function imposes one configuration to the whole system; in this case, a replicated geometry that is used for the shading screen. In contrast, by grading the screen’s geometry, there is a response to each individual programmatic function according to the interior space of the building [1].We propose a functionally graded shading system that responses to different programmatic building functions. In this study, some geometric patterns, widely used in Persian historical ornamentations, have been chosen as the underlying geometry for shading screens. Geometric ornamental patterns are based on mathematical concepts, which are implemented on regular shapes of a certain arrangement. In general, such configurations have ...
Henry Kamphoefner’s opening for Mario Salvadori’s talk reveals a key historical shift in consider... more Henry Kamphoefner’s opening for Mario Salvadori’s talk reveals a key historical shift in considering structures in the education of architects. He points to the Beaux-Arts school of thought and its emphasis on buildings as pictures and rendered drawings, and highlights that as students they were told by their teachers to ignore the structure, that Engineers were a dime a dozen, that almost everyone can tell them how to make it stand up. This highlights the main reason that even some of the very best architects don’t understand structures, emphasizing that there has not been too much emphasis on structural knowledge in the architectural schools. This calls for a different approach in teaching structures to Architectural students than engineering students. Soft knowledge is oriented to architectonic sense, thus hard knowledge through soft methods should be facilitated. There is a gap that must be filled between the theory of structures and the art of teaching it to Architectural stude...
The Float'n'rise Design Studio encourages a paradigm shift in design by speculating how a partial... more The Float'n'rise Design Studio encourages a paradigm shift in design by speculating how a partially submerged building can be designed along the Southern Louisiana coast. As the erosion and submersion of terra firma continues, what might the future of a community's existence look like? If the fact that once-inhabitable ground slowly submerges is assumed, why not construct buildings designed to float on water in the first place? Instead of holding firm to past ground/water conditions, and only raising buildings according to the hundred-year flood level principle, why not embrace a relationship with water as a new design opportunity? Located at the intersection of architecture, ecology, and advanced technology, this studio is a step forward in navigating the fraught/complex relationship between terra-firma/aquafirma and its environmental settings, using advanced computational and fabrication techniques to rethink modes of habitation in the coastal areas of Southern Louisiana. This paper first provides an overview of the environmental conditions of the Southern Louisiana region in general and New Orleans in particular. Then, a review of the existing research and practice in the field of floating architecture is presented. Next, the specifics of the Float'n'rise Design Studio are introduced, followed by an overview of the CAD/CAM techniques employed throughout the process. Finally, students' projects are presented with a discussion of how they aligned with the pedagogical goals. Employing CAD/CAM methods was found to be an inspiring source for design thinking that offers innovative design solutions to multi-faceted complex problems. It can also act as an aid in prototyping and to verify the feasibility of proposed design scenarios. In fact, an interesting improvement to the studio, if repeated, will involve using CAD/CAM techniques paired with material explorations to fabricate small-scale prototypes that can actually be tested on water. The iterative nature of prototyping and testing can synergize the iterative nature of design towards better contextualizing it.
Technology|Architecture + Design, 2021
With bespoke fabrication on one end, and mass production on the other end of the fabrication spec... more With bespoke fabrication on one end, and mass production on the other end of the fabrication spectrum, this study investigates custom repetitive manufacturing through molding concrete by using 3D printed formwork. The process demonstrates a proof‐of‐concept for 3D printing elastic resin as a formwork for repeated casting of interlocking concrete blocks. Among the challenges are the method of digitally generating the block geometry and designing the molds to accommodate complex curvatures on four sides of a block while operating within the material limitations of 3D printing with an elastic material. The overall process investigates the limitations of such a system in order to identify future potential for mass customized fabrication employing casting techniques.
International Journal of Architectural Computing, 2020
Many computational studies generate an array of solutions for a design problem paired with their ... more Many computational studies generate an array of solutions for a design problem paired with their structural or daylighting performance. An enormous investment of effort and computational time is required to create these simulation-based datasets. However, the generated data is usually bound to the specific case studies they were created to explore. Can this data be useful for application to other design cases? This study employed a generative algorithm to fill a database with perforated shell structures covering a courtyard. A shell by Heinz Isler was chosen to be mapped onto the generated solution space based on its performance. The study found that this method is effective for predicting daylight performance, while structural performance modifications can be a source of inspiration for designing other structural forms.
Advanced Engineering Informatics, 2019
Abstract Employing an interdisciplinary approach in design is an important part of the future of ... more Abstract Employing an interdisciplinary approach in design is an important part of the future of architecture. Therefore, taking a step toward better understanding the overlaps between disciplines, and formalizing the process of integration between disciplines accelerates progress in the field. In examining an interdisciplinary design approach using computational design and simulation tools, while considering shell structures as a special case for spanning large-span roofs, structural and daylighting discipline are considered. The aim is to understand what are the design parameters that co-exist in the structural and daylighting design disciplines, and how may these parameters be implemented in a parametric model created by designers. The parametric model that includes discipline specific parameters can later be used for interdisciplinary performance-based design. Implementing design parameters calls for an understanding of the ways in which parameters affect design and performance. This research considers the application of parametric design methods at the early stages of design for designing high-performance buildings.
By supplanting survival with comfort, the environmental technologies ultimately increased the dep... more By supplanting survival with comfort, the environmental technologies ultimately increased the dependence of the building design on form and materials, particularly those of its 'envelope.' The emphasis on form and materials is best seen in the Brutalism Architecture where the "honesty in structure and material" is exhibited through the envelope. Brutalist is relevant to today's digital fabrication techniques where materiality and fabrication methods are integrated with the realized building elements. For example, looking at 3D printed concrete, parallel and continuous layers of concrete placed on top of each other can be an indicator of the method, whereas seeing a smooth curved surface in a cast part can be an indicator of employing the molding method. Casting a malleable material such as concrete has multiple steps: creating a positive reference part, conceiving the formwork as the negative of the desired part, then pouring the liquid concrete, and finally de...
Nexus Network Journal, 2016
ABSTRACT: During the latter half of the last century, architects emphasized lightness and transpa... more ABSTRACT: During the latter half of the last century, architects emphasized lightness and transparency in buildings, with trends towards fully glazed building envelopes, including glass façades, atriums and roof structures. However, these glass facades presented challenges such as, the structural design of the envelopes for safety, durability of joints, as well as daylight glare control, thermal insulation and solar heat gain. Today’s changing paradigm for design, places an ever-greater emphasis on integrated solutions that are not only aesthetic and experiential, but embrace environmental influences. Environmental imperatives necessitate an agent for change that integrates environmental concerns with the human experience. Two contradictory factors influence the design of glass envelopes. On the one hand, stylist design overemphasizes the benefits of maximizing transparency (the desire to create ‘glass cathedrals’). This infatuation with transparency results in unintended consequenc...
ABSTRACT: In the last century and especially after the modern movement, the architects emphasized... more ABSTRACT: In the last century and especially after the modern movement, the architects emphasized more on the ‘lightness’ and ‘transparency’ of the buildings, pushing towards fully glazed envelopes. Le Corbusier stated the glass envelope as the ‘minimum membrane’ between indoors and outdoors. Today, architects are not satisfied by the natural illumination and panorama views which is provided by the glass skins, but they are looking after something more. They want to create the whole building, from the beams and the columns to the ceilings and the roofs from glass. Their desire to use glass as a structural element has pushed the architects and researchers towards conducting practical experiments on the structural capacity of this material. Many all-glass prototypes and structures have been constructed in this regard. Following the above mentioned desire, the main subject of this paper would be confined to distinguishing of potentials and abilities of the glass structures. Thus after ...
Shading screens have been used as daylight control systems, which also play a role as design elem... more Shading screens have been used as daylight control systems, which also play a role as design elements of transparent facades. A façade’s configuration can be an explicit representation of its functions. There are multiple functions within a building and sometimes a dominant function imposes one configuration to the whole system; in this case, a replicated geometry that is used for the shading screen. In contrast, by grading the screen’s geometry, there is a response to each individual programmatic function according to the interior space of the building.We propose a functionally graded shading system that responses to different programmatic building functions. In this study, some geometric patterns, widely used in Persian historical ornamentations, have been chosen as the underlying geometry for shading screens. Geometric ornamental patterns are based on mathematical concepts, which are implemented on regular shapes of a certain arrangement. In general, such configurations have thre...
Conference Papers by Niloufar Emami
Shading screens have been used as daylight control systems, which also play a role as design elem... more Shading screens have been used as daylight control systems, which also play a role as design elements of transparent facades. A façade's configuration can be an explicit representation of its functions. There are multiple functions within a building and sometimes a dominant function imposes one configuration to the whole system; in this case, a replicated geometry that is used for the shading screen. In contrast, by grading the screen's geometry, there is a response to each individual programmatic function according to the interior space of the building [1].We propose a functionally graded shading system that responses to different programmatic building functions. In this study, some geometric patterns, widely used in Persian historical ornamentations, have been chosen as the underlying geometry for shading screens. Geometric ornamental patterns are based on mathematical concepts, which are implemented on regular shapes of a certain arrangement. In general, such configurations have three geometric characteristics that have raised the tendency of employing the geometric patterns in ornaments of shading screens, facades, floor finishing and windows of both historical and contemporary architecture. First, these patterns can be fitted on different surfaces through geometrical concepts such as propagation, curtailment and scaling. Second, most of these types of patterns are self-similar configurations that are roughly similar to one part of themselves. This characteristic assists in making use of the properties of fractal geometry in parametric design of the patterns and further modification of an arrangement and density of a typical configuration. Third, some different patterns are generally based upon the same underlying rules and can be generated using almost the same geometrical processing techniques. Considering the self-similarity characteristic of the patterns, some shading screens are designed in this study with some Persian geometric patterns and then they are evaluated regarding their daylighting and structural performance. In the daylighting performance evaluation phase, we look at the year around daylighting levels and light distribution of a regular office space, while the specified shading screen is installed in front of a transparent full floor to ceiling glass facade. It is assumed that by using the shading screen, the required lighting levels are being maintained, while the heat gain is being reduced. In addition, the designed patterns play a role as an architectural feature of the building. In the structural performance evaluation phase, the shading screens which are considered as exterior self-supporting systems are analyzed under their self-weight and wind loads. The goal is to reach a minimum weight for the screens that are performing structurally. Ultimately, the presented shading screens are based on Persian geometric ornamental patterns and arranged according to the lighting and structural requirements. Results are indicating a multidisciplinary approach in the design of the shading screens, which can be employed in creating similar prototypes with different climatic and loading requirements.
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Papers by Niloufar Emami
Conference Papers by Niloufar Emami