This paper proposes a computational framework that integrates vernacular architecture knowledge (VAK) into genetic algorithms (GA) to enhance architectural design optimization. First, in addition to the parameters required for the design optimization process, constants derived from VAK are introduced. Secondly, an algorithmic model is presented in which these extracted parameters and constants are incorporated into GA processes. The integration of VAK-based constants has the potential to improve architectural design optimization while preserving the local structural characteristics of the design. This approach emphasizes the designer’s expertise by reducing the number of meaningless variations in GA processes and increasing efficiency. The proposed method is demonstrated through a case study that generates design variations for Karaçadır, a traditional structure used by the Yörüks, a nomadic culture in Anatolia. The study incorporates key design elements: cover modules, load-bearings, and connectors to produce variations that preserve the traditional structure of Karaçadır.

Purpose: This study aims to present a pedagogical framework that is centered around architectural technology (AT) for design studios. To achieve this, our purpose is to implement a new pedagogical framework that applies AT-facilitated thinking processes within computational design (CD) in the design process.Design/methodology/approach: We use a descriptive methodology to explore a pedagogical framework that applies CD. To integrate this in design studios, rule-based design (RBD), generative design (GD) and genetic algorithms (GAs) are used. The research includes a literature review and examines the framework’s application through a design studio. This dual approach, combining theory and implementation, offers a comprehensive understanding of the framework.Findings: The study’s findings indicate that a comprehensive CD approach, encompassing modules such as defining rules for design problems, generating multiple variations, adapting and optimizing, can be utilized to implement a design pedagogy suitable for an AT-centered industry. The presented framework led to the conclusion that individuals can successfully adapt to the AT-centered construction industry by using a comprehensive CD approach.Originality/value: This study presents an original pedagogical framework that integrates CD as the primary approach within the design studios. We introduce a process that integrates RBD and GD as complementary elements. We aim to incorporate GAs into design studios as an original approach, which are relatively limited in the literature. This integrated approach aims to integrate the AT-centered industry by fostering adaptability across the design process.

In this study, as PhD candidates and teaching assistants working in the Interior Architecture Department of the Faculty of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) we aimed to explore the interrelationship between the students’ messages and the studio’s affordances by using participant observation and photovoice methods in the classes we attended in the same physical space. We used the photographs taken by us during the studio courses as the central data set to explore the messages triggered by the studio affordances, which are formed based on the complex environments and relationships created by the limited physical facilities of our design studio, the high student quotas and the large project groups using the same physical space at different and even the exact times. Through collaborative commentary and reflective writing, we produced written and visual reports on the final themes at the conclusion of the analysis process. Finally, we concluded that the four main themes, namely, direct message, indirect message, transcendent message, and no message but action, guided us in exploring and explaining our studio’s affordances.

Purpose: This study aims to translate the spatial logic embedded in the temporary settlements of Yörük communities into a visual spatial grammar in order to reframe nomadic spatial practices as mobile heritage ecosystems. Design/methodology/approach: An in-motion visual grammar approach was developed to analyze six Yörük settlements based on schematic diagrams and ethnographic documentation. The spatial analysis focused on three interrelated parameters: positional patterns, componential layouts and flow and transition paths. Findings: The findings show that Yörük settlements follow a visual spatial grammar expressed through rules (R1–R9). The consistency of these rules across different settlements indicates that mobility functions as a cultural logic that generates re-usable and adaptable spatial configurations. Originality/value: This study offers a novel contribution by conceptualizing nomadic settlement systems as living heritage ecosystems, thereby expanding the scope of heritage discourse beyond sedentary frameworks. Through the integration of visual patterns, it highlights how ephemeral, mobile spatial practices can embody enduring ecological and cultural knowledge systems.

This chapter examines the intersection of generative artificial intelligence and immersive virtual reality as a transformative shift in the communicative structure of architectural representation. It aims to reconceptualize representation not as a linear process of visual production but as a multilayered system of mediation through which spatial meaning is progressively constructed. The chapter outlines how linguistic input, algorithmic interpretation, visual synthesis, volumetric modeling, and immersive experience operate as interconnected stages within a unified framework. Through this perspective, representation is positioned as a dynamic and iterative process shaped by feedback loops between human intention and computational systems. The proposed AI–IVR mediated framework highlights how design knowledge is generated, evaluated, and reformulated across semantic, visual, geometric, and experiential domains, offering a conceptual model for understanding contemporary interior architectural practice.

Fundamental factors such as constantly changing space usage habits, evolving technology, and various physical and demographic characteristics of space users today call the accuracy of anthropometric assumptions into question. This paper aims to reveal whether VR could be used as an anthropometric measurement tool based on VR’s capacity to measure size perception. For this, the parameters that reveal the difference in size perception between VR and the real world were determined, and it was aimed to reveal their effect on the size perception process. Participants received instructions to estimate the sizes of various space components in experimental environments in both real and virtual reality. However, this approach was used to analyze the convergence and divergence between the assumptions rather than the accuracy of user-generated dimensional assumptions. The study’s findings are presented as comparative graphical narratives of user estimates in physical and virtual environments.