The aim of this research is to make the early design process more efficient. This is done with a parametric model, which compares high-rise stability systems. The research is focused on the stability systems shear walls, core, outrigger and tube. All systems are executed in concrete cast-in-situ, in the range from 100 to 250 m. The parametric model is executed in Grasshopper and Karamba. Four performance criteria are checked in the model. These are strength, stiffness, foundation design and comfort. An optimisation procedure has been applied to find the most optimal system based on input and optimisation goal. Three optimisation goals have been appointed. These are slenderness of wall and column elements, total weight and carbon emission and flexibility. Flexibility is defined as effective floor area and ratio facade openings. The results of each optimisation goal are plotted with respect to the height to obtain insight in the suitability per system. Input parameters, optimisation procedure and performance criteria have been processed in a tool in Human UI. The model and tool have been applied on De Zalmhaventoren to verify the outcomes. It can be concluded that the model, tool and optimisation results have led to more insight in the high-rise early design process and ease decision making.

This thesis aims to explore various possibilities in grid-structures by introducing atypical line geometries and examine its feasibility in a built environment. The proposition is derived from the larger purpose of adapting native design characteristics in modern built environment. Focusing on the Asian context, one of the essential characteristics of their traditional architecture, lattice patterns, is taken as an inspiration and a reference to be explored in the project. Grid-shell is an emerging building typology in contemporary architecture due to its unique features in terms of lightness and abundance of natural daylight. In modern construction technology, there is an advancement in the method of fabrication and its applicability in complex curved forms. However, its surface character remains very similar in various context. Therefore, it is important to explore how the surface can be more vibrant and can improve the overall experience if space with different geometries. The main research focuses on developing a method to generate such patterns in a parametric workflow, design grid-shell with it and examine their structural performance. The literature research focuses on three topics, 1) Variation and complexity of traditional lattice patterns and different ways to generate them in the parametric environment, 2) Types, designing methods and construction techniques of grid-shell structures, 3) Multi-objective optimization method to optimize the overall material quantity of structures. The development of this method is carried out by first selecting structurally suitable lattice patterns and developing them in a parametric workflow. The structural performance these patterns is investigated gradually from small flat surfaces to large span complex forms with multiple shell surfaces; this investigation is carried out simultaneously with the development of grid-shell generation workflow. The final results for all the patterns are documented and compared to draw conclusions for general structural behavior if these patterns. Finally, the methodology to optimize the material quantity for any patterned grid-shell is used to compare selected sample patterns. As a final outcome it validates the usability of the collected information regarding designing and analyzing patterned grid-shell for future design and research exercises.

A growing trend is present nowadays towards the renovation of football stadiums with the main objectives of enhancing the capacity of the venues and of mproving the user experience of the spectators. The stadium design process requires to blend multiple components together, while evaluating different performances and complying with several requirements. In addition, the complexity of the process is increased in case of a renovation by considering the constraints and the components of the existing stadium. Hence, the decision-making process of the designer results to be difficult and it is likely to produce few inefficient designs. The introduction of computational methods can facilitate the decision-making process, allowing the designer to explore multiple solutions and to produce more efficient designs. This study explores how a computational method can be developed for stadium renovation to support the designer into making decisions in the early design phase, allowing them to explore multiple solutions that improve the initial performances of the stadium. A digital workflow was developed to generate different existing stadiums and to evaluate the performances related to the viewing quality and the roof structure. The study highlights how a designer is able to identify the portions to be kept based on the performances of the stadium and to develop a concept for the renovation, from which multiple design alternatives can be produced in the optimization process. Inefficient designs can be identified quickly and discarded, allowing to concentrate on more efficient concepts for the renovation, which will be further developed in the subsequent phases of the design process.

One result of climate change is the increasing strength and frequency of wind events. This creates a problem for the also increasing number of high-rise buildings many of which are of unconventional shape. However, current methods for calculating wind response either do not account for these geometries, such as the Eurocode or are prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, such as physical wind tunnel tests. This thesis aims to address this issue by developing a computational method by which one can analyse the structural effects of wind on a building and optimise the external geometry to reduce those effects in the early design phase. The method involves the combination of three main algorithms: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to simulate the wind and the pressure it exerts on a building, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) which calculates the structural effects such as deflection and stresses due to these forces, and an optimisation algorithm which can iteratively manipulate an input geometry to obtain better performance. For this thesis, a tool based on the method was developed in Grasshopper, the visual scripting plugin for Rhinoceros3D. Existing plugins were used for the main algorithms while custom scripting was used to combine them into a single tool that was made relatively easy to use and returned quick results.
The methodology involved extensive research into the various aspects of the method. This was followed by the development of the method throughout which testing and validation were performed to determine its accuracy and timeliness. Case study buildings were tested with the goal of reducing structural material use. In all tests, the mass of structural material needed was reduced by allowing the optimisation algorithm to manipulate only the external geometry of the building. This produced a tool within Grasshopper and a set of guidelines for developing such a method.

Due to technological innovations free-form shapes in architecture can be seen more often nowadays. For instance in façades, roofs and pavilions. In between this design shape and actual producible shape lays a complex process that has to do with approximating and subdividing this shape in economically producible panels. Restrictions for production depend on the used materials, production techniques and the method of assembly. The aim of this research is to develop a method for manufacturing free-form steel structures – with a guarantee for high accuracy – relying only on a CNC laser cutter. This methodology consist out of three parts. The first part focusses on generating a quadrangular subdivision based on the topology of the shape. The second part explains a global approach that increases the developability in the panels, while maintaining a certain accuracy to the original shape. Lastly the modified geometry is transformed to structural elements on which a preliminary structural analysis is executed to provide an estimation of the required dimensions of the elements.

Parkstad is in the South Limburg. It used to be a coal mine industrial region. In the mid of 1970s, all the coal mines were closed. This has caused great impact on the region in many aspects. Now the whole Parkstad region is facing several challenges. The halt of the coal industry has caused the decline of economy and the shrinkage of the population. The rising mine water in the flooded coal mine threatens to contaminate the fresh water aquifer on the shallow layer. And since all the facilities of the past coal mines have been demolished and replaced by new urban development, this random urban sprawling has led to a fragmented metropolitan landscape and the lack of identity. This research focuses on the landscape approach to help solving all these challenges. By studying the existing landscape and open space, create a new blue-and-green structure, from which a new landscape system or a park system can be generated, so that the whole fragmented urban region can be integrated into it. At the same time, this landscape system should have other benefits. It has its own ecologic and economic values. It can help maintain the rainwater in all the neighbourhood, creating micro climate and supplementing the groundwater. By reusing the shaft and the tunnels system underground left from the former coal mines, create a underground pumped hydropower system to store and regenerate renewable energy. The infrastructure of this technology can also be integrated into the new landscape system and bring about new kind of space and experience. In this way, the industrial heritage is reused. The hidden landscape is revealed. A new kind of identity can be created. The research can be a relevant example for the development of other post-industrial cities. Many past coal regions can draw some strategy for the future sustainable development from it. And the basic principle to rethink the metropolitan landscape can also benefit for the further development of the concept of park city.

The role of the architect as a “master builder”, or someone who possessed a deep knowledge about the materials and ways to use them, has recently disappeared in favour of technical specialisation. The distancing of the architect from the actual construction site coincides with the emergence of digital design environments that provide seemingly abundant design choices yet draw the attention away from the fabricability of them. Often, matter is considered as a homogeneous element that “receives” the form. However, in case of structures such as the woven ones, the material nature of which constitutes their most unique characteristic and dictates their form up to a large extent, the integration of materiality as an active agent in the design process is imperative.

This study explores this new relationship between form, materiality and structural performance through the proposal of a theoretical framework and an original digital tool, SpaceWeave, developed in Grasshopper for Rhino in collaboration with the Karamba plug-in for structural analysis. SpaceWeave aims to facilitate the generation, modelling and preliminary structural analysis of woven structures during the early design phase. The role of material properties in a design workflow, the advantages and limitations of designing and structurally analysing in a parametric setting, as well as the correlation between weave parameters and structural behaviour of the resulting structures are discussed.

Quadrangular Grid shells have generated interest in recent years for their application in rationalizing free form geometry in the built environment. Shell structure are efficient because their form is governed by flow of internal forces. But while discretizing shells into grid shells, instead of using flow of forces, current method follows patterns and tessellation techniques. Quadrangular grids are easier to manufacture but they are not stiff inherently compared to triangulated meshed grid, which doesn’t allow them to be used as frequently. There is a scope to improve stiffness by discretization informed by flow of forces.
A workflow was developed for designing quadrangular static-responsive grid shells which are structurally efficient, homogenous and has near planar cladding, including preferences of the designer. The workflow is set up in a parametric environment in grasshopper, a plugin for Rhino 3d modelling software. It uses particle spring method for form finding a shell which has membrane like load bearing behaviour. The solid shell is discretized into a grid shell by a custom stress line generator which uses principal stress vector field derived by Finite element analysis of the shell. The grid shell is homogenised and optimized for planarity by dynamic relaxation. Multiple design alternatives are generated and stored. Design space is explored by using data analytics and visualization techniques which helps user to make informed design decisions. The workflow is applied to create a grid shell over delft bus station as a case study to protect travellers from varying weather conditions. The results are quite satisfactory in terms of structural performance when compared to methods used in state of the art in practice. Stiffness of a structure can be measure by total strain energy. The grid shell for delft bus station generated using this workflow was 32% and 49% lower in terms of total strain energy(compliance) than regular quad grid shell and diagrid quad shell respectively. The results are promising for real life application. Meaning that the workflow can be used to find a homogenised quadrangular grid shell which are stiffer than their predecessors. Grid shells are used for approximating free form geometry for various projects around the globe. Using this method can save time, money and material which was required to make a grid shells stiff by thicker beams or extra stiffening members.

The novel technique of 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) shows great potential in the reduction of labor and material as well as the fabrication of freeform design. Different research institutions and companies recognize this potential and have set up printers to further investigate and develop the technique all over the world. Some pioneering projects showcase the state of the art by producing full scale structures, but otherwise printing of concrete is done mostly in a research lab. In an effort to find whether 3DCP is ready for the current market of the building industry, this thesis performs a viability analysis on the production of façade panels by 3DCP. This research is performed for the University of Technology Delft and Movares Nederland B.V. using the concrete printer from Bruil.
The origins of 3DCP are defined by the development of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in other materials (plastics) as well as the demand for freeform concrete production. Both fields are examined to help understand from where the technique is derived and what its goal and potentials are. Next to the initiators, some of the more advanced researches on the topic are disclosed in order to define the current level of capability of concrete printing.
As this research focusses on testing the viability of 3DCP as production technique for structural verified elements, a case study is performed. Façade design is chosen as the design scope in order to consider the potential benefit of freeform design as well as integration of functions, which are both prominent in a building enclosure. Through analysis of façade designs, typologies and performance requirements, a concept design of a perforated façade panel is defined. Over the course of the case study the fabrication technique and the engineering model influence the design of the panel, and this design process is analyzed for the disciplines of design, engineering and fabrication. The façade panel is designed parametrically to allow façade patterns to be created by customized elements on mass-production scale (mass-customization). This sets the requirement for the engineering models to also be parameterized, for this a software strategy is defined.
Specimen are printed and tested to define material properties of printed concrete and analyze the effect of the additive manufacturing method on the strength and concrete development. Additionally, different forms of reinforcement are implemented in the 3DCP production process and tested on fabrication and structural aspects. Finally, the case study element is produced and load-tested to conclude the research on the feasibility of fabricating and engineering a façade panel by 3DCP. This thesis proves that the technique can produce elements from which the structural behavior (load bearing capacity and failure behavior) can be safely predicted.

Shell structures have been regularly used in the past for creating huge spanning structures, with the use of minimal material. Even though this method saves a lot of material, the labor cost of constructing these structures is high, due to the amount of work on the building site. By prefabricating these structures, a huge amount of labor and therefor money is saved. While research into prefabricating shell structures has been done, some research needs to be done before shell structures can be prefabricated. On of these topics is the connection of prefabricated segments. To make sure the connections suffice, a method is designed to have the connection tested and analysed. Besides small scale testing, a model for analyzing the connections in a shell is proposed, to make sure the connections hold up in a full scale shell.

In the EU, the heating and cooling of buildings consumes 14% of all energy. This is a major consumer for one type of activity, and it is compounded by the fact that 75% of it is sourced from fossil fuels. The thoughtful design of facades play a major role in the reduction of heating and cooling energy loads, and the reduction of both necessitates some form of adaptiveness between the cold season and the hot season.
This thesis investigates a subset of adaptiveness called adaptronic. It has been defined as “the integration of actuators, sensors and controls with a material or structural component“, and it means that a device would be able to sense its surroundings and thoughtfully respond to it in a designed way, using the properties of its materials. Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) were investigated to achieve adaptronic architecture, with the idea of designing a courtyard atrium that is able to sense the temperature of the outside and thereby open up in hot weather. Such a seasonal atrium could in theory result in a 21-30% heating energy saving for houses in Amsterdam, due to the Greenhouse Effect in the winter.
The aim of the thesis is therefore to investigate and design the adaptronic ability of an auto-responsive façade module, with regards to the structural and detailing aspects. Literature studies were carried out on the material behaviour and reference projects, which appreciated the complexity of the behaviour and the remoteness of the material towards designers with no specialist knowledge. A computational tool was produced in Grasshopper, a plug-in of Rhino 3D, to allow a designer with no specialist knowledge to track and predict the movement of an SMA structure as the temperature changes. The tool is now available online with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
Thereafter, a concept design was made followed by experiments and explorations with prototypes to produce and test an “engine” that could deliver the actuation for the adaptronic atrium. The prototype was able to successfully actuate a 61.3 degree rotation when electrically heated, and then return to the rest position when cooled. The prototype was also able to be actuated by the environment with the help of a constructed solar-heated chamber, under zero-stress conditions.
A final design was made for an adaptronic façade module, composed of a custom-made adaptronic engine that is fitted onto a set of 4 standard pivot-window profiles to animate them. The engine features an environmentally powered heat chamber which provides a pattern of temperature to the SMA piece. The entire module is prefabricated, so that the required precision of the hardware can be attained. In a future study, the for saving HVAC loads as a result of the modules can be quantified and thereafter the design can be optimized.
The thesis hopes to lay the foundation for both adaptronics and architecture animated by SMAs. Both show a promising future towards a smart-materials based adaptiveness for sustainable progress.