Design Considerations and the Complex Facade
The design of complex, high-performance facades involves balancing attention towards principles of material selection, thermal and moisture protectio…
43 results
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Origami-Inspired Facade Design
To paraphrase Robert le Ricolias, the art of the structure is where to put the folds. Using that inspiration, fundamental concepts from origami, topo…
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Build Test Iterate Repeat
The global increase in atmospheric temperature rise combined with the rapid growth of previously underdeveloped climate zones presents a growing need…
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Active and Energy Autonomous Window
Reducing GHG emissions related to energy use in buildings is a prominent obligation given their impact in terms of climate change. In this light, ene…
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Vertical Louvered Solar Control
Exterior shading devices, when typically used, are horizontal planes that are most effective at the south face of buildings in the northern hemispher…
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Orbit Tower
While most of high-rise buildings feature a core surrounded by a spatial frame defining the volume, one could envision a column-free plan where the p…
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Hydroformed Shading
New approaches to lightweight metal forming have the potential to advance architectural fabrication, particularly in the design and engineering of hi…
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Balancing Visual Comfort and Energy Efficiency
With increasing interest in wellness and human-centric design in workplaces, the design of building enclosures is predicated on optimizing competing …
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The Performative Double-Skin
Double-Skin Facades (DSF) are well-known to boost the thermal performance of a façade: they can provide extra insulation in the wintertime and lower …
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Shape Memory Alloy Activated Shading
A novel shading device for facade application was developed by combining innovative geometry elements (twisting cylinders) with a smart use of shape-…
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ACT Facade
Due to material and technological advancement during the last century, transparency has become a prominent trend in contemporary architecture. Howeve…
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Parametric Louver System
The Parametric Louver System is a customized tool that expedites several design iterations while embedding multiple design parameters. The ambition o…
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Highly Efficient Façades with Innovative Shading and Light Control
The Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) on the Allston Campus is the largest new building at Harvard University in recent decades with a footprint …
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The Versatile Envelope Garden
Facades play an integral role in defining the experience of modern life. As rising populations gravitate from rural to urban communities, they bring …
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Integrated Energy Analysis
Energy codes across the country are progressively getting stricter and increasing the threshold for a baseline building’s energy performance. Califor…
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Performance Based Generative Facade Workflow for Large Scale Projects
Over the last two decades, in what has been coined “The Digital Turn”, the introduction of parametric design software has afforded increased accessib…
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Adaptive Building Envelope
Designing a multi-functional building envelope as an architectural façade, environmental interface and solar collector is a multi-objective explorati…
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Reinforced Polymer Concrete Screen Walls
Apertures is a six-story, commercial building in the Roma Norte neighborhood of Mexico City–a neighborhood severely impacted by the 1985 and 2017 ear…
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Facade Technology in Educational Methodology
With facades becoming increasingly more complex, and performance a key objective, expertise becomes an important component of successful design proje…
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Shaping Skin
The conventional modern facade is essentially flat, which creates the tendency toward visual monotony and problems for modulating daylight—both on th…