This work implements parametric tools to optimize the environmental design of urban adaptive shadings through multiobjective evolutionary algorithms that look for solutions of dynamic (time-changing) structures used in open public spaces. The proposal is located in Malecon Cancun Tajamar in the southeast part of Mexico, and the main objective is to enhance the thermal comfort of users as well as to become part of the social dynamics of the place reinforcing identity through appropriation. The proposed workflow includes four steps: (1) geometric modelling by parametric modelling tools; (2) simulation of environmental parameters by using BPS tools; (3) shape optimization by using an evolutionary algorithm; and (4) environmental verification of the results. The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was used to assess the outdoor thermal comfort derived from the dynamic shadings. The results showed a significant improvement in the thermal comfort with absolute UTCI differences of 3.9, 7.4, and 3.1 °C at 8, 12, and 16 h, respectively, during the summer; and absolute differences of 1.4, 3.5, and 2 °C at 8, 12, and 16 h, respectively, during the winter. The proposed workflow can help to guide the early design process of dynamic shadings by finding optimal solutions that enhance outdoor thermal comfort.

Since the 1980s, the municipality of San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, has been a territory with constant clashes between its rural population and the official land use policy. In this context, the rural community and its millenary bio-cultural traditions have collided with neoliberal political and economic interests, new urbanism, and land speculation, commodification of local culture and privatization of the public space. The above-mentioned facts represent a challenge for sustainable land management of the territory and for socio-spatial justice, as a large portion of the land is becoming a private asset, meanwhile the large extension of rural land has been for communal use. The present work aims to discuss the processes triggered by neoliberal urban development logic in the area, and how these dynamics have affected the identity of the place, endangered its bio-cultural heritage and jeopardized the local communal right to the land. It will also examine the possibilities for a creation of a collaborative instrument to enhance the participation of the local community (or pueblos originarios—original people—as they identify themselves), in sustainable land management processes, in order to obtain a balance between the community, the public policy and the economic forces in urban development.

Bamboo is a promising material for structural use due to its mechanical properties and rapid growth. Currently, standards and codes to support the analysis and calculation of bamboo structures are still scarce. Even international standards do not include specifications for the design of complex geometries. This work aimed to verify the use of parametric tools to design complex shapes. First, the NSR-10 Colombian code was used to analytically solve and design the mechanical behavior of double-curved shells. Then, the results were compared to those calculated with the add-on Karamba3D. Lastly, verification was considered successful when both results coincided. Here, it should be noticed that the resultant data might lead to plastic deformation of the cylinder head. However, this work did not intend to formulate structural designs whose beams effectively support the requested stresses but focused on the verification of software applications. Once the software was verified, this work further analyzed the structural behavior of two double curvature geometries simulated with bamboo, showing that digital simulation tools have the potential to be applied during the early structural design phases.

This paper presents the evolution of and influence that the use of a triangular grid has had on the transformation of layered grid structures during the last two centuries. Historical facts, technological advances, economic and social crises among other factors influence the process of change and evolution of the grid systems in architecture to make construction processes more efficient by reducing the consumption of materials and qualified labor. Geometry and structure innovate styles and processes that are perfected over the years, achieving lighter and more stable structures. For the purpose of this paper historical data will be collected that allows the development of a theory that shows the influence of various periods based on technological advances. This research shows four historical periods in the evolution of layered grid structures. Being the triangular grid a widely used methodology in the construction of a diversity of geometric proposals and innovative construction systems for the solution of a diversity of buildings from the first domes built in the early 19th century to the free-form structures built from the late 20th century to the present day.

Spatial structures have shown a great development, mainly since the postwar years from the middle of the twentieth century. They have become a constructive solution which provides lightness and stiffness, while achieving longer spans and reducing energy and used material. In Mexico City, the Sports Palace was completed in 1968 to become a landmark of Mexican architecture and an example of a low-cost, lightweight, dome. This essay shows the geometric influences and foundation behind its design, as well as the development and typological transformation of its structural elements and materials in the finally adopted constructive solution ─the crossed arch. Such solution transformed material and its geometry into a structural typological solution of its own. Here, Félix Candela used constructive and structural elements, previously experienced in other typologies, into solutions to form new types. This way, Candela developed the hyperbolic paraboloid, employing new materials and applying geometry for the structural typological development of the shape of the Sports Palace, achieving a dome which would become a typological model of international architecture.