The amount of received sunlight and radiant energy could affect the energy consumption in heating, cooling and lighting systems. Utilization of natural daylight in architecture, in addition to fulfilling the inhabitants’ mental and physical needs, could greatly reduce fossil fuel consumption. Although higher levels of daylight can be obtained by increasing light transmission, this increased transmission could negatively affect the building’s sustainability and thus result in higher energy consumption in turn. So, designers must seek an acceptable balance, in which not only optimal daylight comfort and usage are met but also the best possible thermal performance is achieved. The use of a parametric design model can facilitate the simulation of lighting and annual thermal performance of a building in the early stages of the design or restoration process. In this paper, the daylight and thermal performances of an office building are optimized using a simulated parametric-based design model and the Octopus plug-in which is an optimizing tool based on genetic algorithms developed for Grasshopper. By applying the developed workflow, the enhanced results for (useful daylight illuminance) is up by 20.56% and for energy use intensity by 141 kWh/m²/yr.

This study investigated the categories of generative and conservative offices by using syntactic theories and conducting a comparative analysis of two different layout configurations. Generativity depends on several features that include but are not limited to spatial criteria. Generativity is also affected by aspects that extend beyond the physical, such as the symbolic relationship between the social organism of an organization and the internal structure of a workplace. Results show that no consistent relationship exists between spatial variables and behaviors even though the examined layouts satisfy an organization׳s basic cultural requirements, including privacy, territoriality, and hierarchy. Spatial parameters increase the potential for generativity, but such increase is not guaranteed without necessary changes in the attitudes, programs, and policies of organizations. Recognizing the limits of spatial variables requires evidence-based field research on office settings to determine operational and tailor-made solutions.

Purpose: User-generated content was explored to understand the public discourse surrounding the Vessel, a star architecture in New York. Through text analytics, the study aims to uncover topics, sentiments and themes in public opinion regarding this controversial building from social media data. Design/methodology/approach: This study utilized a big data and text analytics approach, employing topic modeling with the BERTopic technique, sentiment analysis with roBERTa and thematic analysis on 10,259 Reddit comments pertaining to the Vessel. Findings: The comments were grouped into 20 topics and seven themes, shedding light on discussions regarding the Vessel’s philosophy of existence, critiques of the architect’s approach, evaluations of project success or failure and considerations of the project’s future. Negative sentiments dominate the discourse, reflecting widespread criticism and skepticism towards the project. Research limitations/implications: The manual data collection method, due to API restrictions, precluded tracking evolving trends over time. Nevertheless, the study provides insights for architects, urban planners, policymakers and stakeholders involved in public space design and management, highlighting the importance of considering user feedback from social media platforms. Originality/value: This study enriches our comprehension of how users perceive star architecture in the age of social media, focusing on hidden layers of discourse surrounding a controversial iconic building. By combining topic modeling and sentiment analysis, the study offers a novel approach to analyzing architectural public debates on social media platforms like Reddit.

Architects and designers have employed angulated structures for kinetic architectural design due to their formal esthetics, geometry, and light weight. The arrangement of these structures within a regular repetitive (modular) layout forms a kinetic skin. Geometric patterns are repeated in angulated structures based on particular orders as happens in girih patterns in Iranian historical architecture. This similarity forms the base of this study. Given the importance of revitalizing these motifs due to the gap between the modern and traditional architecture and their modernization using up-to-date technologies, the authors propose a process for implementing these patterns on generated lattice structures. This study is organized into two parts to achieve the mentioned goals: in the first part, the effect of changing parameters on the ultimate form of lattice structure is evaluated. In the second part, changes are applied to the structural form according to the patterns through two strategies (i.e., implementing the pattern of girih components on the central opening of the structure and implementing the form of girih components on structural elements), focused on the Islamic girih patterns and the importance of their implementation on the structure. The outcome of this study is kinetic skins containing forms dominantly shapes of Iranian patterns repeated regularly throughout the structure; it represents the beauty and identity of the traditional Iranian architecture and can adapt to changing conditions according to the purposes of sustainable architecture. Finally, a designed structure is modeled and analyzed using the Ansys software in order to investigate the constructability of a full-scale structure and evaluate it under loads in the climate of Tabriz; the results of the analysis indicate that the structure can withstand loads applied in the climate of Tabriz with a thickness of more than 3 mm. Employed as ornaments in many traditional Iranian and Islamic buildings, the geometric motifs and Islamic girih patterns are esthetically pleasing with good functional strength. These motifs reflect the spirit and identity of traditional architecture and are stuck in people’s minds as patterns from past architecture. The importance of revitalizing these patterns is undeniable due to the identity crisis in contemporary Iranian architecture and the gap between today’s architecture and its brilliant history. As the ornaments have been replaced with functional items in today’s architecture, we attempt to represent these concepts and patterns as architectural functions in this research. Kinetic skins are advanced technologies in the world and have great importance in the functional discussions about sustainability in architecture and reduction of energy consumption. In this research, a positive step is taken towards the research objective, i.e., revitalization of geometric patterns as functions in contemporary architecture in a methodological approach, by selecting a suitable lightweight structure (angulated scissor-like structures) and changing the main structural properties in order to apply the mentioned form on the structure.

Most of today's buildings, due to improper imitation of the architecture of buildings in other countries, are forced to use more energy to create conditions of thermal comfort. Building windows affect energy efficiency. So, the aim of this research is to be concerned with Tabriz climate; in selecting the proportion and suitable glazing of the windows, in order to access the best design and execute a model to decrease energy consumption. The research approach is to utilize simulation and Design Builder software as a research tool. So, the annual gas consumed in the Building was received from the National Iranian Gas Company and a case study is modeled and after converting the unit from kWh to kg and kg to m3 and reliability of simulation results. Then, through parametric optimization, eight scenarios in designing windows and through the genetic algorithm, the glazing coating were evaluated. The simulations were performed again and the results index was examined. Eventually, based on the analysis of outputs, according to fixed area, it is more suitable to replace windows with the height of 1.5 to 1.74 meters instead of windows with the height of 1 or 1.2 meters. A window should be replaced with 2, 3, 4 or 5 windows with the same fixed area. I is desired to superseded triple-glazed glazing with low-emissivity filled with argon gas with clear double-glazed glazing filled with air to reduce energy consumption. The amount of heat losses for the window height of 1 to 1.5m, from one window to five windows and for the clear double-glazed glazing filled with air were 2.04%, 11.11%,. and 45.36%, respectively.