Study of the Relationship between Building Arrangement and Visibility of Open Spaces Based on a Simplified Area Evaluation

This paper studies which building arrangement will provide the maximum visibility to an example of open space proposed in the Abu Dhabi 2030 Master Plan. The building forms, the distance between the buildings, the setback and the building heights would all affect visibility and were considered closely. Although this research methodology could be applied to any site in different situations, it remains simple and interesting. It can be applied in general, with a change of the variables （setback, distance between buildings, building height, building form）, to any site by both professionals and students who can simply use any CAD program for producing drawing in both the architectural or urban designs phases, hence the importance of this research. Two different building arrangements were proposed and studied： a linear and an L-shaped arrangement. After applying the simulations, it appears that the L-shape offers more visibility to the open space. The outcomes of this study were combined with another research project that studies the same building arrangements to test the possible climatic comfort provided in outdoor spaces in order to encourage the use of open spaces and walkability in the studied area.

Accessibility and Integration Study of Part of the Abu Dhabi 2030 Master Plan by Using Space Syntax

This paper studies the accessibility of open spaces and facilities and the integration of streets to the whole urban system of the Emirati neighbourhood of the Business District of the Abu Dhabi 2030 Master Plan. For this purpose, axial lines were produced by applying space syntax theory, Depthmap software. The research aims to verify the location of open spaces and facilities, such as schools, in relation to the location of public transportation stops （bus, metro and tram）, in order to check their accessibility within walking distances. The objective is to pay attention to the relationship between land use and transportation in the planning phase for future interventions or proposals, in other words, to improve the accessibility of public spaces or buildings by pedestrians in order to comply with the vision of the Abu Dhabi 2030 Master Plan and its promotion of walkability and cycling. Although many measures will be taken at the scale of urban design to provide shaded open spaces and sidewalks, saving pedestrians from walking long distances shall be done in the planning phase, the challenge remains to create a micro climate to increase the ease of walking in the heat and decrease dependence on cars for mobility.

Extreme Adaptation to Extreme Environments in Hot Dry, Hot Sub-humid and Hot Humid Climates in Mexico

The paper discusses the results of a field study carried out in four cities in Mexico： Hermosillo, Mexicali, Merida and Colima, during the warmest seasons of 2006-2007. The survey is according to the adaptive approach of thermal comfort. The cities＇ climates are hot dry, hot sub-humid and hot humid. The respondents were inhabitants of low cost housings without air conditioning. The research was performed during warm seasons and according to ISO 10551. The measurements were processed by the common method of linear regression and also by alternative methods, useful for asymmetric climates. Individuals declared comfort at very high temperatures, either high or low humidity, therefore, the resulting neutral temperatures are higher than 30 ℃, except in Colima （28.8 ℃）. The upper limits of comfort ranges achieved temperatures up to 35 ℃. The results suggest how great is the capacity of humans to adapt to conditions as extreme as those measured in the study.

OPTIMAL ENERGY DESIGN AND RETROFIT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE TURKISH BUILDING SECTOR

This paper introduces methodologies and optimal strategies to reduce the energy consumption of the building sector with the aim to reduce global energy usage of a given region or country.Many efforts are underway to develop investment strategies for large-scale energy retrofits and stricter energy design standards for existing and future buildings.This paper presents a study that informs these strategies in a novel way.It introduces support for the cost-optimized retrofits of existing,and design improvements of new buildings in Turkey with the aim to offer recommendations to individual building owners as well as guidance to the market.Three building types,apartment,single-family house and office are analyzed with a novel optimiza-tion approach.The energy performance of each type is simulated in five different climate regions of Turkey and four different vintages.For each vintage,the building is modelled corresponding to local Turkish regulations that applied at the time of construction.Optimum results are produced for different goals in terms of energy saving targets.The optimization results reveal that a 50%energy saving target is attainable for the retrofit and a 40%energy saving target is attainable for new design improvements for each building type in all climate regions.

Cultural schema and design activity in an architectural design studio

Research on the cognitive activities and on the structure and quality of knowledge flow involved in architectural design education is increasing. These studies generally focus on the interaction between student and instructor, including processes such as producing ideas, solving display problems, and integrating design strategies. These studies commonly include computational evaluations and confirmation of the coding of knowledge. They may also include the determination of designer＇s thoughts and cognitive actions of design process, as welt as the analysis and digitization of verbal protocols during the design process. In most of these studies, the designer＇s cultural and psychological components are not considered. Accordingly, research on the effects of designers＇ cultural schema on design activity in design studios is limited. This study aimed to solve this problem by analyzing the relationship between design activity and the designer＇s cultural schema in a design studio. We performed an experimental study based on a specific conceptual framework and a research model aimed at identifying the relationships among cultural schemas, the architectural design process, and design studios.

Neuroscience and architecture:What does the brain tell to an emotional experience of architecture via a functional MR study?

Environment psychologically affects individuals.According to the base of cognitive psychology,there is a direct relationship between human behavior,environment,and emotional process.Assuming that pleasantness and unpleasantness are associated with peripheral nervous system activation,the current study aims to explore if the pleasant or unpleasant architectural places can stimulate the brain regions engaged in emotions or not.As the main contribution,we used functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)measuring blood oxygenation level-dependent(BOLD)changes to effectively detect the brain’s region that mainly responds to the emotional-perceptual processes.Based on the results of examining the emotional assessment model of “Pleasure-Arousal”applied to 140 students,30 most-rated images representing 15 pleasant and 15 unpleasant places were shown to 32 participants in a 1.5-T MRI scanner.After applying standard preprocessing steps(re-alignment,slice-timing,coregistration,segmentation,normalization,and smoothing)to functional MR images,first-level analysis was applied to each subject.The results were evaluated using statistical corrections at different levels for female and male participants with the second-level analysis.In conclusion,it has been shown that there is a significant linkage between environmental experience and brain activation so that the architectural qualities can change blood flow in specific brain regions.