Architectural Engineering Commons^™

Performative Biomechanics : Evolving Buildings Into Inhabitable Organisms, Josh Lopez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

There has always been a connection between biology and architecture. Michael Pawlyn, in Biomimicry in Architecture, coined “biomechanical designs” to describe structural techniques derived from creatures. This study investigates chitin-based creatures. Crustaceans, insects, and microscopic organisms all have exoskeletons in nature. With a focus on crabs, other crustaceans and bugs, this study examines and evaluates the formal characteristics of chitin-based organisms. The architectural creations of OXMAN, NOX, which was founded by Lars Spuybroek; and Lebbeus Woods are among those that are analyzed and studied due to their inspiration from living things. They follow functional effectiveness in nature, which is why …

Chioma Di Ulivo - Courtyard Canopy, Lilla J. Vigh, Claudia A. Geist

Architectural Engineering

Chioma di Ulivo ("Olive Tree Canopy") is the investigation and design of a canopy structure in the Engineering West (Bldg. 21) Hasslein Courtyard. The canopy will serve as a filtration system for both water and fallen olives from the olive tree on site, while providing a functional collaboration space for faculty and students alike. The goal of this project was to construct a quality diorama built by Lilla Vigh and Claudia Geist under the supervision of Dr. Craig Baltimore.

The Leaf For Leaning Pine Arboretum, Maria Boyle, Shelby Holmquist, Andrew Duong

Architectural Engineering

The goal of this ARCE 415 senior project course was to create a shade structure that could be incorporated into The Leaning Pine Arboretum, located on campus at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. From start to finish, these three ARCE students took on the role of form-finders to form-testers to form-makers. We are putting the "architectural" back in architectural engineering as we reclaim the historical tradition of the engineer as the form finder. In many of our design labs we focused primarily on sizing members and analysis, just using a structure that the architect already had established. In this one-of-a-kind …

Crescent: Proposed Arboretum Shade Structure, Hayle Jones, Ian Kelly, Emilie Phuong, Brooke Heitman

Architectural Engineering

This is a sunshade structure that uses shells as the facade to create the enclosing of this structure.

Earthquake Resistant Buildings, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Showcase

Students learn about earthquakes and engineering by building a structure that can survive an earthquake.

Revealing Bluff-Body Aerodynamics On Low-Rise Buildings Under Tornadic Winds Using Numerical Laboratory Tornado Simulator, Ryan Honerkamp, Guirong Grace Yan, John Van De Lindt

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Tornadoes result in death and property loss in communities around the world. To quantify the actions of tornadoes on civil structures, researchers have built physical laboratory tornado simulators to simulate tornadoes in the lab environment and tested building models in the simulated tornadic wind field, which is similar to wind tunnel testing when quantifying the wind effects induced by straight-line winds. Unfortunately, physical tornado simulators are much less common than straight-line wind tunnels, leading to the lack of research on bluff-body aerodynamics on civil structures under tornadic winds. Considering that it is expensive to conduct experimental testing in physical tornado …

Technological Augmentation: Creating A Public Center For Making, Timothy Hardeman

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

We live in an era where technology is driving forward at an unprecedented pace. We have access to tools, materials, and processes which weren’t even conceptualized 50 years ago. 3D printing, CNCs, and Laser Cutters allow us to create incredible designs, and at affordable prices. We have carbon fiber, advanced composites, and modern alloys.

But where do we experience these things? In a classroom? Through screens as we read about these intangible leaps in technology? Why don’t we have a place where we get to experience these things first-hand, and experiment with our own ideas about how they could be …

"Knotted Tubes" High Rise Residential Tower, Roman Lara Iv

Architectural Engineering

Knotted Tubes is an 800' residential tower designed by a team of two third year architecture students and one graduate architectural engineering student in the two-quarter high-rise design studio partnered with Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill LLP. The report documents it's design origins and narrative evolution throughout the studio's duration, as well as the design process and final iteration of the whole system, focusing on the structural system and tectonic integration.

Topology And Form Finding Via Genetic Algorithms, Michael Goldenberg, Nick Coburn

Architectural Engineering

The following presents an approach to early applications of the Galapagos program as a means to optimize structural forms. The process was conducted with Rhino’s Grasshopper program, the structural analysis plug-in, Karamba, and the genetic algorithm solver, Galapagos. This topological form finding process was based on flexible parameters that modified brace and column locations, and diaphragm size and positions.

This process worked by having Galapagos modify a parametric model which had initial randomly generated variables for the genomes. After structural analysis, Galapagos was tasked with changing the form in order to minimize overall displacement of the structure. Being an evolutionary …

A Practitioner’S Guide To Small Unmanned Aerial Systems For Bridge Inspection, Sattar Dorafshan, Robert J. Thomas, Calvin Coopmans, Marc Maguire

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Small unmanned aerial system(s) (sUAS) are rapidly emerging as a practical means of performing bridge inspections. Under the right condition, sUAS assisted inspections can be safer, faster, and less costly than manned inspections. Many Departments of Transportation in the United States are in the early stages of adopting this emerging technology. However, definitive guidelines for the selection of equipment for various types of bridge inspections or for the possible challenges during sUAS assisted inspections are absent. Given the large investments of time and capital associated with deploying a sUAS assisted bridge inspection program, a synthesis of authors experiences will be …

Modular House Restoration, Abby M. Lentz, Michael L. Blanchard

Architectural Engineering

The aim of this senior project is to help restore the vitality of Poly Canyon by continuing the renovation of the Modular House. The Modular house was originally built in 1969 as living quarters for caretakers of Poly Canyon. The two-story structure was built as a series of 8 foot (ft.) by 8 ft. wall, floor and ceiling frames in a 2x3 bay floor plan. The 8 ft squares were filled with 2 standard sized 4 ft. by 8 ft. plywood sheets. Since its original construction, triangular expansions have been added to the floor plan of the original layout. Also, …

Transfused Architecture: Ascent Of A Developing World, Sandy Ferrier

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Because there is a lack of adequate health care facilities in developing countries, there is a substantial amount of unrealized, optimal health gains and effective, architectural interventions which are not fully realized. With 80% of its population living below the world poverty line, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. The United Nations Development Program’s 2014 report shows the extents of poverty at 75% mainly in the rural areas of Haiti. Only 25% of households benefit from adequate sanitation, thus people become more susceptible to infections and diseases. Reoccurring natural catastrophes have also dented the country's …

Procunier Remodel Project, Chris Chinn, Jeret Buerger, Brooke Lipsey

Architectural Engineering

The Procunier Remodel Project report summarizes the preconstruction process for a single-family home remodel in the city of Walnut Creek. Key aspects of the report involve architectural design, structural design, interaction with the city, and interaction with the client.

Polaris, Dennise M. Manalo, Andy Do, Emilio Lozano, Mackenzie Stickney

Architectural Engineering

The project explores the relationship between the architecture and the engineering behind thin-shelled concrete structures. Initially, hanging chain models were used to observe pure compression; then, this model was improved upon using software like Rhinocerus, AutoCAD. From AutoCAD, the model was imported into SAP2000 for analysis.

Innie/Outie | Renegotiating Figure And Structure, Maxwell Rosner

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis contends that in order to sustain its claim to be socially progressive and accessible enterprise, the discipline of architecture must resist the divorce of figure and structure.

Innie/Outie considers Architecture as a simultaneously typological and teleological proposition. Architects exploit typology as a means of classifying, diagramming, and ultimately flattening and iconicizing ideas about Architecture so as to place them within a broader cultural context, thereby making them intellectually accessible to their audiences. By contrast, architects from the advent of Modernism onwards have displayed a critical preoccupation with the discipline’s teleological potential, the creation of form that follows function …

The Space Between The Notes: Reflections On A Collaborative Student Project On The Work Of Irish Engineer Peter Rice, Jim Roche

Conference papers

Abstract

This paper is a reflection on a collaborative pedagogic process at the Dublin School of Architecture (DSA), Technological University Dublin, on aspects of the work of Irish engineer Peter Rice (1935–92) who, in his short life, combined contemporary tools of computer-analysis and mathematics with a careful sensibility for materials, natural light and structure. He collaborated with many famous architectural practices on what have now become iconic works of architecture such as the Sydney Opera House, the Centre Pompidou, Lloyds of London and Kansai Airport. The collaborative project on his work was undertaken at DSA in the fall semester of …

Interactive Pavillions: Responsive Transformation Of Structure Systems, Xiangru Chen

Architecture Thesis Prep

With the personal interest in tectonic design and kinetic structure arts. This study is aimed to explore the application of interactive technology in the transformation of the structure system in a tectonic architecture design--- to cross the gap between static tectonic design and kinetic structure in small scale. The responsive pavilion will sense and respond to the verification of gravity loads (for occupancy detection) and lights (for solar energy), with the spatial transformation of the entire structure system. As a result, the form of the architecture will follow the function. The responsive pavilion will spatially respond to the varied occupancy …