Study on the mechanical response of anticlastic cold bending insulating glass and its coupling effect with uniform load.

Cold bending is a characteristic of significance for the beautiful curved glass curtain walls, because it affects them in terms of energy-efficiency and cost-efficiency. The increasing engineering projects call for more special studies on the mechanical properties of cold-bent glass panels, especially when the walls are built by insulating glass that is currently widely used while its relevant research is very scarce. This paper is devoted to studying the mechanical properties of anticlastic cold-bent insulating glass while taking different factors into consideration, including glass thickness, cold-bent torsion rate and cavity thickness. 9 pieces of insulating glass were manufactured for anticlastic cold-bending test and their coupled effect with identical load is also studied, and numerical finite element analysis sessions were carried out to simulate the experimental results for each one of them. Further, we analyzed the stress distribution performance of the sample pieces under cold bending and a uniform load, followed by discussions about stress transfer controls in glass plates. The results showed that the cold-bent control stress is on the surface with direct loads from cold bending and close to the cold-bent corner on the short edge, and it is transferred from the parts around the corner to the center when the uniform load plays a leading role in generating stress. This transfer could occur under a relatively small load with a small cold-bent torsion rate. A higher cold-bent torsion rate in cold bending contributed mostly to greater center stress in the glass, and as the glass thickness grows, stress and deflection at the plate center would significantly drop. However, the effect of cavity thickness on the anticlastic mechanical response of insulating glass was found to be trivial.

Crowdsourcing architectural beauty: Online photo frequency predicts building aesthetic ratings.

The aesthetic quality of the built environment is of paramount importance to the quality of life of an increasingly urbanizing population. However, a lack of data has hindered the development of comprehensive measures of perceived architectural beauty. In this paper, we demonstrate that the local frequency of geotagged photos posted by internet users in two photo-sharing websites strongly predict the beauty ratings of buildings. We conduct an independent beauty survey with respondents rating proprietary stock photos of 1,000 buildings across the United States. Buildings with higher ratings were found more likely to be geotagged with user-uploaded photos in both Google Maps and Flickr. This correlation also holds for the beauty rankings of raters who seldom upload materials to the internet. Objective architectural characteristics that predict higher average beauty ratings of buildings also positively covary with their internet photo frequency. These results validate the use of localized user-generated image uploads in photo-sharing sites to measure the aesthetic appeal of the urban environment in the study of architecture, real estate, urbanism, planning, and environmental psychology.

Bioarchitecture: bioinspired art and architecture--a perspective.

Art and architecture can be an obvious choice to pair with science though historically this has not always been the case. This paper is an attempt to interact across disciplines, define a new genre, bioarchitecture, and present opportunities for further research, collaboration and professional cooperation. Biomimetics, or the copying of living nature, is a field that is highly interdisciplinary, involving the understanding of biological functions, structures and principles of various objects found in nature by scientists. Biomimetics can lead to biologically inspired design, adaptation or derivation from living nature. As applied to engineering, bioinspiration is a more appropriate term, involving interpretation, rather than direct copying. Art involves the creation of discrete visual objects intended by their creators to be appreciated by others. Architecture is a design practice that makes a theoretical argument and contributes to the discourse of the discipline. Bioarchitecture is a blending of art/architecture and biomimetics/bioinspiration, and incorporates a bioinspired design from the outset in all parts of the work at all scales. Herein, we examine various attempts to date of art and architecture to incorporate bioinspired design into their practice, and provide an outlook and provocation to encourage collaboration among scientists and designers, with the aim of achieving bioarchitecture.This article is part of the themed issue 'Bioinspired hierarchically structured surfaces for green science'.

Living in cities, naturally.

Natural features, settings, and processes in urban areas can help to reduce stress associated with urban life. In this and other ways, public health benefits from, street trees, green roofs, community gardens, parks and open spaces, and extensive connective pathways for walking and biking. Such urban design provisions can also yield ecological benefits, not only directly but also through the role they play in shaping attitudes toward the environment and environmental protection. Knowledge of the psychological benefits of nature experience supports efforts to better integrate nature into the architecture, infrastructure, and public spaces of urban areas.

A study of human behavior simulation in architectural design for healthcare facilities.

INTRODUCTION: Current tools and methods in architectural design do not allow predicting and evaluating how people will use designed environments before their actual realization. OBJECTIVE: To investigate how computational simulation can help in evaluating design proposals as far as their use by people is concerned. METHODS: Simulation of a medicine distribution procedure in a general hospital facility, while accounting for serendipitous social interactions made possible by the presence of different users in the same space, at the same time. DISCUSSION: The simulation shows how use patterns are influenced by the social and physical context in which actors are situated, and demonstrates the significance of the proposed method of evaluating hospital designs before construction. The system allows simulating use patterns with different degrees of complexity, and enables architects to ask new types of questions related to the interactions between people and physical settings.

Architectures for paediatric palliative care: how to improve quality of life and environmental well-being.

INTRODUCTION: The influence of the environment on wellness, not only for patients themselves but for all care-givers as well, refers to the humanisation principles of spaces of care. Commencing with an analysis of existing paediatric hospices, the paper examines design suggestions for prosthetic environments, considered as a fundamental component in the healing process. METHODOLOGY: A prosthetic environment can be created only through a specific knowledge of the real needs of users. Therefore, some scholars have conducted research work for defining the best practices for healing environments, supported by an assessment and comparison of case studies. The methodology is based on two phases: the first is based on interviews with experts in hospice design and management and the second, through the application of a questionnaire to several users. Discussion and Results. The output of the work is the achievement of a logical, sequential and participatory broad-spectrum process in the design of health facilities in order to cause a sustainable awareness in paediatric hospices. CONCLUSION: Starting from the research work, it is necessary to define a scientific method for implementing knowledge on health, psychological, perceptual and behavioural needs to contribute towards proper planning for meeting the real requirements of users.

Perspectiva global de la ingeniería y arquitectura hospitalaria / año 2050 / No disponible

Todo lo relacionado con el cuidado de la Salud se encuentra en proceso de transición, en especial los hospitales, en todo el mundo. Modernizar, implementar y mantener nuevas tecnologías requiere más esfuerzo y conocimiento práctico del que se puede encontrar en un único país. El conocimiento analítico de datos y tendencias es un punto de partida básico para tomar decisiones de cara al futuro. El objetivo de este trabajo es ponderar los temas clave sobre el cuidado de la Salud que han sido, desde el año 2000, parte del trabajo desarrollado por la Organización GUPHA (Global University Programs in Healthcare Architecture, Programas Universitarios Globales de Arquitectura Hospitalaria). En 2000, GUPHA fue establecido con el soporte de varias instituciones de ámbito mundial y especialmente con el soporte del Ministerio de Educación de Japón, con el propósito de promover competencia e intercambio de conocimientos, tanto a nivel internacional como interdisciplinario, y promover en todo el mundo la enseñanza en universidades de programas de diseño de instalaciones sanitarias. El actual tema de investigación es "Global Healthcare Environment in 2050". Desde su fundación, GUPHA ha crecido hasta incluir más de 126 miembros de más de 72 instituciones en 32 países. Sus miembros son profesionales, arquitectos, diseñadores, planificadores, ingenieros, médicos, administradores de hospitales, académicos, investigadores, educadores y estudiantes. GUPHA promueve foros, que consisten en presentaciones, discusiones, sesiones y talleres, para comunicarse y establecer el intercambio de ideas en torno al tema de la Salud (AU)

No disponible

Beyond assemblies: system convergence and multi-materiality.

The architectural construction industry has become increasingly more specialized over the past 50 years, creating a culture of layer thinking over part-to-whole thinking. Building systems and technologies are often cobbled together in conflicting and uncorrelated ways, even when referred to as 'integrated', such as by way of building information modeling. True integration of building systems requires rethinking how systems and architectural morphologies can push and pull on one another, creating not only innovation in technology but in aesthetics. The revolution in composite materials, with unprecedented plasticity and performance features, opens up a huge range of possibilities for achieving this kind of convergence. Composites by nature fuse envelope and structure, but through various types of inflections, they can also be made to conduct air and fluids through cavities and de-laminations, as well as integrate lighting and energy systems. Assembly as we know it moves away from mineral materials and hardware and toward polymers and 'healing'. Further, when projected into the near-future realm of multi-materiality and 3D manufacturing, possibilities for embedding systems and creating gradients of rigidity and opacity open up, pointing to an entirely new realm of architectural thinking.

Rapid evolution of ritual architecture in central Polynesia indicated by precise 230Th/U coral dating.

In Polynesia, the complex Society Islands chiefdoms constructed elaborate temples (marae), some of which reached monumental proportions and were associated with human sacrifice in the 'Oro cult. We investigated the development of temples on Mo'orea Island by 230Th/U dating of corals used as architectural elements (facing veneers, cut-and-dressed blocks, and offerings). The three largest coastal marae (associated with the highest-ranked chiefly lineages) and 19 marae in the inland 'Opunohu Valley containing coral architectural elements were dated. Fifteen corals from the coastal temples meet geochemical criteria for accurate 230Th/U dating, yield reproducible ages for each marae, and have a mean uncertainty of 9 y (2sigma). Of 41 corals from wetter inland sites, 12 show some diagenesis and may yield unreliable ages; however, the majority (32) of inland dates are considered accurate. We also obtained six 14C dates on charcoal from four marae. The dates indicate that temple architecture on Mo'orea Island developed rapidly over a period of approximately 140 y (ca. AD 1620-1760), with the largest coastal temples constructed immediately before initial European contact (AD 1767). The result of a seriation of architectural features corresponds closely with this chronology. Acropora coral veneers were superceded by cut-and-dressed Porites coral blocks on altar platforms, followed by development of multitier stepped altar platforms and use of pecked basalt stones associated with the late 'Oro cult. This example demonstrates that elaboration of ritual architecture in complex societies may be surprisingly rapid.

El hospital como edificio / The hospital as building

En los edificios, nos preocupamos de la confortabilidad, de los espacios, de la iluminación, ya no es suficiente que un ambiente sea agradable en temperatura, queremos que no huela mal, que no contenga substancias nocivas, en definitiva que sea saludable (AU)

In buildings, we care about the comfort, spaces, lighting is no longer enough for a pleasant atmosphere in temperature, we do not smell bad, that does not contain harmful substances, ultimately that is healthy (AU)

Estrategias medioambientales para la arquitectura hospitalaria. Un compromiso contemporáneo / Environmental strategies for the hospital architecture. A contemporary commitment

A través de este trabajo se trata de dar una visión sistemática sobre la arquitectura hospitalaria incorporando la óptica medioambiental, aplicado estrategias que permiten reducir las emisiones y los consumos, integrando la arquitectura con otras disciplinas tradicionalmente más vinculadas a la ingeniería (AU)

Through this work seeks to provide a systematic view on hospital architecture incorporating environmental perspective, implemented strategies to reduce emissions and consumption, integrating the architecture with other disciplines traditionally associated with engineering (AU)