01 Fakultät Architektur und Stadtplanung
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Item Open Access A systematic approach for developing agent-based architectural design models of segmented shells : towards autonomously learned goal-oriented agent behaviors(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2021) Schwinn, Tobias; Menges, Achim (Prof.)Segmented shell design constitutes a novel and promising research area in shell design that has emerged over the last 10 years. The prospect of dividing a continuous shell surface into segments is to resolve some of the constraints of continuous shells that have limited their application in building practice. As part of large-span surface structures, segmented shells have shown to possess similar desirable features, while allowing for a high degree of prefabrication. The geometry of individual building elements and global form are, however, complex, which poses a challenge to designing and building segmented shells. One of the challenges of segmented shell design in particular is meeting multiple interrelated, sometimes conflicting, evaluation criteria: geometric validity, structural stability, and producibility. In segmented shell design geometric validity and producibility are aspects that can be considered locally, meaning on the level of the individual building element, while structural stability needs to be evaluated globally and can be conceived of as the global effect of the properties and interactions of all segments in the shell. Agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) provides the opportunity to bridge the gap between local characteristics and global performance. By focusing on the detailed description of the individual building elements and their interactions and by conceiving of the global form as the result of a myriad of local interactions of virtual agents representing building elements, the global design problem can be solved in parallel on the level of the individual building elements. The work thus proposes a methodology for developing agent-based models of buildings where agents constitute building elements. The research pursues and synthesizes two investigative strands: on the one hand, generalizing findings from previously built plate shells as part of a case study-based, inductive research approach, which is geared towards building a catalog of validated design principles for plate shells; on the other hand, systematizing the agent-based modeling approach for architectural design-oriented applications in general, and plate shell design in particular.Item Open Access Housing adjustment to handle natural hazards : proactive urban development planning for an effective response to natural hazards and to "build back better" in recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction - on the case of Banda Aceh, Indonesia(2021) Lucas, Sabrina; Schönwandt, Walter L. (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Ing. Dipl.-Psych.)Natural hazards, including climatological, meteorological, hydrological, and geophysical hazards can have a devastating impact on human life, the built environment, urban development, and economy. A lack of money and resources, inadequate planning laws and regulations as well as a lack of effective monitoring strategies, are reasons why people in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to the impact of natural hazards. In many cases, there is a lack of information and knowledge about what can be done to appropriately adjust housing, comprising the immediate physical environment, both within and outside of buildings where people live, and which serve as a shelter from external influences. The present thesis investigates the need for pre-disaster housing adjustment strategies as a necessary contribution of urban development planning at a local level. This was achieved through systematic interviews and field studies in the post disaster study area Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Two instruments for pre-disaster planning are introduced: ‘Proactive urban development planning as pre-disaster protection’, a systematic risk management approach, before a disaster strikes as part of the everyday planning process; and a ‘reconstruction template’ to prepare for the worst-case scenario. With these two instruments, not only the quality of reconstruction projects can be improved but, in long-term urban development planning, housing can be adjusted to natural hazards. This approach is based on the UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction) Sendai framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and forms a bridge between post-disaster reconstruction and long-lasting urban development.Item Open Access Space production by migrants in urban villages in China : the case of Beijing(2021) Yang, Shiyu; Ley, Astrid (Prof. Dr.-Ing.)China’s rapid urbanisation is characterised by an influx of migrants into urban centres and sprawl of urban areas toward the suburbs. Along with the urbanisation process, the urban village, as the informal settlement resulting from dualism in China’s land and hukou system, has been an object of research since the first decade of this century. Its developing mechanisms, spatiality and approaches to its upgrading and redevelopment has been well studied. However, while urban villages have been acknowledged as migrants’ enclaves, too little attention has been paid to the impact of migrants’ activities on space in urban villages and vice versa. The potential heterogeneity embedded within migrants and their decision-making and everyday lives remain largely examined. The key research question of the thesis is how migrants shape urban villages in China, and specifically in Beijing, through their social production of space. The thesis examines what role migrants play in the process of shaping informality embodied in the development of urban villages, what migrants’ everyday lives are like, and how the process of migration is reflected in space in urban villages. In addition, it also seeks to understand the applicability of Henri Lefebvre’s theory of space production to the analysis of space production in China, specifically in the case of informal settlements. The thesis adopts grounded theory method with a design of case study approach. Shigezhuang village and Dongxindian village in Beijing, which accommodated migrant groups with different demographic profiles, were chosen as study cases for in-depth research, and a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to collect and analyse data. Three aspects of space have been observed in the process of space production in urban villages, corresponding with the spatial triad conceptualised by Lefebvre, including: 1) representations of space - the space of governance and negotiation; 2) spatial practices - the space of everyday life; and 3) spaces of representations - the space of two-directional linkage. The space of governance and negotiation is conceived by different levels of government and the rentier class of indigenous villagers. While migrants are not the initial producers of the logic and forms of knowledge, institutional spaces are produced in response to migration. The space, with its character of ‘organised informality’, exerts controls over migrants but is also contested and resisted by them. The space of everyday life is the physical basis of space production. It has been found that spatial practices in urban villages were correlated with migrant profiles and migrants’ influence on the physical aspect takes place indirectly. Individual migrants also produce space through their daily routines and their connections to the urban routes. The space of two directional linkage is lived through migrants’ imagining of the urban destination and their memory of places of origin. As individuals, households, and members of a tongxiang community, migrants self-stage in the arrival urban villages through spaces of representation, while straddling the rural and urban to maximise living qualities and minimise risks. The thesis implies that Lefebvre’s theory of space production can be applied to explain empirical studies in the context of China in its post-economic-reform era, where and when a high level of decentralisation and flexibility in governance can be observed. It also acknowledges heterogeneity of urban villages and migrants and highlights the critical role that migrants play in producing social space in urban villages in China. The thesis suggests that, in addition to housing, migrants’ employment conditions and their limited access to urban social infrastructure corresponding with the hukou system are of research significance.Item Open Access Material programming for fabrication : integrative computational design for self-shaping curved wood building components in architecture(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2021) Wood, Dylan; Menges, Achim (Prof.)Form and structure play critical roles in architecture yet the processes required to produce performative geometries often require tremendous resources and physical effort. Advances in computational design and the programming of digital fabrication machines have increased variety, precision and automation in the production of building components. However, the underlying processes of generating material form still rely predominantly on brute-force methods of shaping. This research presents an alternative, material programming approach to the fabrication of building components in which shape is generated by activating the material’s inherent capacity to change in relation to external stimuli. The concept is investigated through the development of an innovative method of self-shaping manufacturing for load-bearing curved wood building components. The dissertation introduces material programming in the context of architectural design, fabrication processes, wood materials and existing self-shaping and development of a computational design-to-fabrication approach. In parallel the challenges of upscaling and predictability are addressed through computational mechanics and physical prototyping. The concept is then adapted and implemented through the design and production of components for a building demonstrator, the of the material system. The material programming approach is therefore shown as a simple yet sophisticated method of fabrication for a novel, ecological and effective architecture.Item Open Access Strategies for cyber-physical robotic fabrication and construction in architecture(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2021) Vasey, Lauren; Menges, Achim (Prof.)Interconnected devices, online robotic control, and sensor feedback can enable the development of cyber-physical systems within robotic production processes for architecture and construction. Within the context of architecture and construction, cyber-physical systems present enormous potentials, enabling a reconsideration of typical fragmentation and compartmentalization through increased possibilities for integration and collaboration and a reexamination of the role of standardization, representation, and simulation within stereotypical design and production processes. The capacity of cyber-physical systems to connect the actions of multiple machines, tools, and robots opens up new possibilities for architectural realization. The possibilities considered in this doctoral research fall into four interdependent categories: (i) Flexible, semi-autonomous, and adaptive robotic processes; (ii) Processes that involve indeterminate materials, incalculable, or non-standardized fabrication processes; (iii) Collaborative or interactive fabrication processes which connect multiple entities and human operators towards the execution of common goals; (iv) Increased integration, decision making at run-time, and diagnostics enabled by global monitoring and data processing. A set of methods for implementing a cyber-physical fabrication workflow are presented. These methods include computational techniques for circumnavigating robotic constraints both before and during production. Several extendable network architectures are presented for online control and networked communication, and their application scenarios are discussed. Computational strategies and algorithms for integrating sensor feedback during a fabrication or production process are presented and discussed. The potentials identified and techniques presented are investigated through large-scale physical demonstrators: either single robotic processes augmented with sensor feedback or multi-robot fabrication and construction processes in which networked communication systems connect robots, machines, users, and devices to work collaboratively towards common fabrication or construction goals. Critically, these case studies faced challenges that would have made them difficult or impossible to implement in the context of a highly linear and compartmentalized production workflow without feedback, sensor integration, or adaptation. The findings summarize design guidelines and strategies for cyber-physical robotic construction processes. A critical conclusion of the work is that technical methodologies are insufficient in enabling the true potentials of cyber-physical construction. Additional developments would enhance the impact of cyber-physical systems in AEC, including domain-specific hardware and software tools developed for the needs and constraints of construction. Integrated co-design processes could enable new material systems and their requisite automation systems to be co-developed.Item Open Access HAUS TRADITION GLÜCK - Die Korrelation traditioneller Architektur und Stadtstrukturen mit dem subjektiven Wohlbefinden der Altstadtbewohner von Tunis(2021) Humpert, Raoul Cyril; Hannemann, Christine (Prof. Dr.)Das Haus, die Tradition und das Glück; die drei charakteristischen Termini dieser Forschung stehen explizit und markant in ihrer direkten Aneinanderreihung und sollen als Hyperonyme einer Metaebene für den folgenden Diskurs dienen. Diese setzt sich mit der Wechselbeziehung und Symbiose dieser drei Themenfelder auseinander. HAUS - als Synonym für (domestikale) Architektur und Stadtstruktur sowie Planung. TRADITION - für traditionelles Bauen und verwandte traditionelle Bräuche sowie kulturelle Gegebenheiten. GLÜCK - als Überbegriff von Wohnzufriedenheit, Lebensqualität, Glück und subjektivem Wohlbefinden in Bezug zur gebauten Umwelt. Die Zielsetzung der vorliegenden Forschungsarbeit ist die Erkenntnis darüber, ob, inwiefern und auf welche Weise traditionelle Architektur und traditionelle Stadtstrukturen das Wohlbefinden von Bewohnern beeinflusst. Prinzipiell setzt sich die Abeit somit aus zwei Teilen zusammen. Im ersten Teil, der theoretisch-konzeptionellen Rahmung, wird sich in einem (Architektur-)theoretischen Diskurs mit der Forschungsthematik auseinandergesetzt. Darauf aufbauend, wird das Konzept für die Feldforschung entwickelt. Deren Ergebnisse die Grundlage des zweiten empirischen Teils der Arbeit bilden.Item Open Access Designing for unsupervised construction : an investigation of the affordances of on-site autonomy(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2021) Melenbrink, Nathan; Menges, Achim (Prof.)Since the First Industrial Revolution, the construction and maintenance of buildings and infrastructure has been characterized by a reliance upon heavy equipment, which has shaped how designers and engineers conceive of their agency in the built environment. However, 21st century advances in hardware and control systems allow for distributed and autonomous hardware solutions, enabling a paradigm shift in the co-design of machines and the interventions they deliver. However, in order to overcome the inertia of the mature technologies developed around heavy equipment, an entirely new suite of sensors, actuators and algorithms needs to be developed. This thesis will present an argument for small-scale distributed robotics for construction automation, and will demonstrate that this approach can utilize practical materials to build useful structures in unpredictable environments. This argument is supported by an extensive literature review focused on the technological requirements for unsupervised (fully autonomous) robotic construction, and identifies gaps between academic and industry research that remain unfilled. Among these overlooked areas are (1) the need for embedded sensing in construction materials, and for co-designing robot hardware in coordination with novel construction robots, and (2) the need for an autonomous solution to providing foundation support. These two needs are explored through the representative example tasks of truss assembly and pile driving, respectively. Each task is demonstrated in prototypical hardware, with an emphasis on realistic materials and scenarios not dependent on human preparation. Each task is explored in simulation as multi-agent deployments. Finally, a summarizing demonstration illustrates how these two research findings might be leveraged in coordination to advance autonomy in an example construction scenario.