A growing body of research has demonstrated that access to fresh air indoors is closely linked to improved cognitive function, reduced absenteeism, and greater overall workplace satisfaction. Yet, the consequences of inadequate ventilation are often difficult to isolate in occupied office settings. This paper draws on a unique, naturally occurring experiment in a high-performing Atlanta office building, where a mechanical failure in the dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) resulted in a complete loss of mechanically ventilated air for two months during the winter of 2024.

Continuous environmental monitoring over the course of the year revealed that, during the HVAC malfunction period, indoor carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations routinely exceeded the ASHRAE recommended threshold of 1000 ppm and, on several occasions, rose above 2000 ppm during working hours. These values contrast with an average of 557 ppm when the system was operating normally, highlighting the magnitude of the deviation.

To explore the broader implications, air quality data from the malfunction period is compared alongside anonymized financial productivity metrics provided by the firm, as well as occupant satisfaction surveys. Preliminary survey results suggest a marked decline in perceived air quality, comfort, and satisfaction during the malfunction period, reinforcing the critical role of ventilation in supporting a healthy and effective workplace.

This case study offers compelling evidence of the tight coupling between ventilation, occupant experience, and workplace performance. It highlights the vulnerability of even high-performing buildings to system failures and the need for continuous monitoring and resilient HVAC design. These findings underscore the importance of treating air quality not only as a health factor but also as a vital asset for organizational productivity and wellbeing.

Thermal alliesthesia is a psycho-physiological mechanism that governs the conditions of thermal pleasure in architectural spaces. It includes thermal pleasure arising from physiological reactions in non-steady and non-uniform environments, defined as temporal and spatial alliesthesia, respectively. Recent studies have outlined that this concept can be expanded to include non-sensory and broader cognitive processes, such as acquired pleasure from previous memories and architectural experiences, acknowledging both the psychological and physiological impacts of thermal stimuli. It is essential to understand the parameters that impact occupants’ perception of thermal alliesthesia to develop a comprehensive approach to designing built environments that not only maintain thermal comfort but also promote thermal pleasure and occupants’ well-being. However, the parameters governing thermal alliesthesia in architectural settings remain unclear. In addition, an integrated framework that incorporates both the physiological and psychological dimensions of this mechanism is still lacking. This gap in the literature limits opportunities to design spaces that are both thermally engaging and comfortable to occupy.

This paper reports on a systematic literature review to deduce a comprehensive framework illustrating the mechanisms of the three aspects of thermal alliesthesia: temporal, spatial, and phenomenological. A bibliometric analysis conducted using CiteSpace examines the evolution of research, disciplinary fields, and emerging fronts. This is followed by a theoretical development of the parameters that govern thermal alliesthesia in historic buildings, as an example for applying the alliesthesia mechanism in architecture. This application focuses on identifying the architectural parameters of thermal alliesthesia associated with both the physiological dimension of temporal and spatial alliesthesia and the psychological dimension of phenomenological alliesthesia. The paper concludes by identifying the gaps in the literature that warrant further investigations of thermal alliesthesia in architecture. In addition, it develops a comprehensive framework that details the mechanisms and architectural parameters for managing thermal comfort and thermal pleasure in architecture.

This research paper investigates the use of knitting as a site-specific architectural intervention in post-conflict urban environments, specifically focusing on the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Once celebrated for its diversity, Mostar faced devastating destruction during the Bosnian War, resulting in the loss of sixty to seventy-five percent of the city’s infrastructure[1] and marking it as one of the most contested urban landscapes in the former Yugoslavia. Today, Mostar stands as a symbol of ethnic division, with urban sites still visibly and symbolically marked by the conflict. These remnants of war, such as fractured façades and abandoned structures, serve as enduring scars in the collective urban memory of post-war Mostar.

Our project engages with these remnants of war through the development of an architectural textile and covering that both acknowledges and responds to the trauma embedded in the built environment. The project reimagines Gottfried Sempers’ notion of “dressing” (Bekleidung)[2] in architecture as a retroactive act, applying a literal garment (Gewand) that wraps the existing structure. The project explores the integration of computational tools toward the development of context-responsive textile patterns and designs using digital knitting machines. Historically rooted in domestic labor and intergenerational knowledge, knitting carries both symbolic and material weight. Its strength and flexibility allow for adaptable forms that can wrap damaged architectural surfaces, reactivating them without erasing their historical significance. Using a variety of knitting techniques to control stitch density and placement, the project creates customizable textile patterns with varying degrees of porosity, while referencing design elements that have been lost because of the wartime destruction. By integrating traditional knitting techniques with computational design tools, the project creates a structural and cultural system that responds to the complexities of post-war reconstruction.

The paper situates this intervention within broader discussions on memory, heritage, and architectural agency in post-conflict environments. It explores the relationship between the individual envelope of clothing and the collective envelope of architecture, framing knitted coverings as a second skin that mediates between past and present, destruction and renewal. Through this lens, knitting becomes a generative methodology for healing—transforming static ruins into dynamic spaces for reflection, engagement, and repair.

Historic religious buildings are dense vessels of cultural memory whose artworks and fabrics are increasingly threatened by unstable indoor environments. Fluctuations in temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH), varying light, and airborne pollutants drive deterioration mechanisms from fungal growth and varnish failure to thermal shock and wall disaggregation. These risks are shaped by local climate and control practices and are amplified by extreme weather and long-term climate change. This study examines preservation and climate resilience through the 18^th-century Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña (San Antonio, TX, USA), part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. Built of locally quarried limestone with ~1 m thick walls, the church typifies high-thermal-mass vernacular construction, offering a testbed for how traditional envelopes buffer indoor climates under stress. Objectives were to: i) evaluate current and projected indoor environmental performance in a high-mass church; ii) test the role of natural ventilation (NV); and iii) assess adaptive performance across ASHRAE climate zones 2A (hot-humid), 1B (very hot-dry), and 3B (warm-dry). A year-long monitoring campaign from May 2023 until May 2024 recorded hourly indoor/outdoor weather conditions, informing a calibrated DesignBuilder model. Future weather files were produced with CCWorldWeatherGen, and scenarios were simulated in EnergyPlus for two cases: NV (all windows open) and no NV (all openings closed). Results show thermal mass delays and attenuates outdoor T swings but cannot alone maintain conservation-appropriate conditions under extremes or projected climate warming. NV strongly impacts RH and thus conservation risk, with especially adverse moisture exposure in hot-humid contexts like San Antonio. Projections indicate rising cooling demand and heightened RH-related degradation. Integrating historical material knowledge with calibrated simulation, the study argues for climate-specific, hybrid strategies that respect cultural heritage while improving resilience: controlled NV schedules, targeted air-sealing and moisture management, and minimal, reversible conditioning to supplement mass-based buffering.

Urban furniture, often dismissed as a minor or strictly utilitarian component of the built environment, plays a decisive role in shaping behavioural patterns, social dynamics and public life. This paper examines how everyday urban objects - including vending machines, benches, smoking booths, tactile surfaces, and makeshift resting points – function as cultural and governance interfaces within four global cities: Tokyo, New York, London, and Berlin. The aim is to analyze how small-scale infrastructural elements vary in their spatial regulation, cultural meaning, and levels of behavioural tolerance. To investigate three categories of objects (formal and informal seating, micro-functional fixtures, cultural-aesthetic elements), this study employs a comparative qualitative methodology drawing on field observation, photographic documentation, typological analysis. Neighborhoods in each city were selected based on the intensity of public life and the diversity of street objects. Through this approach, the paper examines how people occupy, adapt, or avoid specific elements within street life. In the analysis, it uncovers how Tokyo’s streetscape enables a high degree of informal occupation and multifunctional use due to its behavioural norms as well as cultural acceptance of spatial ambiguity. In contrast, Western cities operationalize urban furniture by emphasizing standardization, regulation and durability – though some notable exceptions include New York’s food carts and Berlin’s community-built benches showcasing structured informality. The study focuses on developing a nuanced comparative framework where it shifts from uncovering the East-West binaries towards highlighting how social norms, governance cultures and design traditions shape everyday public life through seemingly ordinary objects. The findings reveal how everyday objects shape micro-public life and rethink the design of public furniture, which opens pathways for more inclusive, culturally expressive and responsive streetscapes. Overall, this paper encourages Western contexts to reflect on the value of ambiguity, multi-functionality, and micro-scale cultural specificity.

As populations in urban areas now exceed half the global total, many rural areas face serious challenges, including population decline, aging demographics, and deteriorated infrastructure. These issues are intensified by climate change and global economic pressure, making rural communities around the world more vulnerable. Many of these places are now struggling with insufficient public services, land insecurity, and the disruption of traditional ways of life. In response to these challenges, this paper explores how design can function not merely as a product or service, but as a collaborative process that empowers rural communities to create more equitable, healthy, and resilient environments. Based on several years of our research and community-based design projects in rural Senegal and Kenya, this paper presents participatory design and planning strategies that respect and incorporate local knowledge, cultural values, and spatial contexts. Rather than relying solely on outside expertise, these approaches prioritize the lived experiences and social values of communities. While these methods may not be new to design and planning practice, they are carefully curated as part of an inclusive framework for developing spatial interventions that directly respond to community needs. These tools are not intended as one-time events or symbolic gestures of participation, but as critical entry for ongoing dialogue, trust-building, and collective decision-making. The paper further challenges architects and designers to rethink their roles within such processes. In rural communities where institutional planning capacity may be limited or does not exist, architects and designers are encouraged to look beyond the role of service providers and embrace that of advocates and leading collaborators. This includes initiating and supporting fundraising efforts, facilitating inclusive planning processes, and maintaining long-term engagement beyond project completion. In this context, design becomes an ongoing act of care and commitment to working with communities, not simply delivering design solutions for them.

Community Resilience describes a community's ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from challenges such as natural disasters, economic hardships, and social disruptions. It involves bouncing back from adversity while reducing long-term negative effects on daily life, the economy, and overall community well-being.

This paper documents the initial steps in creating a comprehensive strategy to revitalize a cotton mill workers’ village in rural Alabama. By leveraging the historical significance of the cotton mill community, the project seeks to foster sustainability and resilience within the community. One of the primary objectives is to reimagine the legacy of workers’ housing, transforming it into a modern, sustainable environment that meets the needs of 21st-century residents. Prefab 21 is an ongoing research project by the author that encourages students to interact with stakeholders while creating design-build opportunities. This iteration of the Prefab 21 project focuses on replacement housing in the Workers Village, providing functional and attractive housing for current and future generations. This involves designing and building new housing that reflects contemporary architectural standards while honoring the historical context of the area.

This project is a collaboration with Kennesaw State University, Auburn University, EARTH, Difference Architecture, and the community of Sylacauga, designing prototype small house units for affordable replacement housing in the Avondale Mills Workers’ Village. The construction of these prefab houses will be part of the workforce training program being developed in Talladega County at the high schools, community college, and the EARTH campus. Creating a collaborative strategy with these stakeholders optimizes the building process and replacement strategy. Developing the workers’ village masterplan explores density strategies for small-house development and creates new approaches for affordable housing, new economic models of ownership, and evaluates new strategies, with smaller lots, higher density, and microvillage concepts. The goal is to create sustainable communities integrating housing, jobs, and economic development.

This paper examines a multidisciplinary, service-learning design studio conducted in collaboration with a community-based organization in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Positioned at the intersection of design education, critical pedagogy, and global engagement, the project sought to cultivate students’ cultural competence, socio-environmental awareness, and ethical design practices through direct, community-centered collaboration. The studio foregrounded the design of a public space, a Plaza in the Tropics, that responded to the cultural, ecological, material, and spatial dynamics of the Caribbean context, while advancing a pedagogy of reciprocity. Drawing upon Paulo Freire’s (1970) model of critical pedagogy, the course was structured as a praxis-oriented learning environment in which students engaged not merely as designers but also as co-learners embedded within a collaborative, multi-disciplinary process. Through field immersion, participatory workshops, and sustained dialogue with Fundación Red de Misericordia, students co-developed architectural proposals rooted in the expressed needs, cultural practices, and aspirations of the community. This reciprocal model disrupts traditional hierarchies of knowledge production and design authorship, reflecting Freire’s vision of education as a collaborative act of liberation. bell hooks (1994) further enriches this framework through her notion of “education as the practice of freedom,” where engaged pedagogy demands the full presence of students and teachers alike. This studio embodied that call by integrating emotional, intellectual, and ethical dimensions into the design process. This paper will offer insight as to how research into environmental and spatial justice, vernacular building knowledge, passive climate strategies, and material systems of tropical design created a foundation for the design work. Emphasizing shade, cross-ventilation, and the use of locally sourced materials, student proposals embodied climate-responsive strategies that resonate with the indigenous modes of dwelling exhibited by the Taino Indigenous peoples. In this way, the studio operated within a decolonial framework, in favor of pluralistic, place-based knowledge.

Energy infrastructure facilitates modern occupation of buildings – with electricity comes the ability to heat and cool spaces for comfort, to keep food refrigerated, and to complete tasks safely after the sun has set. However, in times of changing climates and increasing natural disasters, electrical access is not guaranteed in many contexts; when the power is out following a severe weather event, the spaces of daily life are compromised, no longer safe and functional in the ways they are with electricity.

In the mountain town of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, homes and businesses were left without power for up to a year following Hurricane Maria in 2017. Following this disaster and the subsequent recovery process, the local community organization Casa Pueblo realized the need for energy independence and developed a microgrid that unites the buildings around Adjuntas Square to power local businesses, including the pizzeria. While the aesthetics and spatial qualities of Lucy’s Pizza remain largely unchanged by this intervention, the power grid enhances the ability to occupy the restaurant. In this way, architecture has been made more versatile and more resilient through an infrastructural project that has unified the community.

The example that is the Adjuntas Plaza microgrid and how it has allowed ordinary architectures like that of Lucy’s Pizza to adapt is local in its realization, spearheaded by a homegrown institution and responding to specific problems faced in the context. However, there are lessons that can be extrapolated and applied to vulnerable communities. How can existing architectures be made more adaptable through relatively simple infrastructural systems and technologies? How can sustainable infrastructure unite a community? This paper, utilizing site visits, documentation, and interviews with participants in the Adjuntas microgrid project, will analyze the project and discuss how places in a community can be made more resilient through energy infrastructure.

This paper presents an open source framework that converts block level travel demand outputs into building level electric vehicle charging load profiles through a three stage stochastic simulation process. The workflow connects activity based travel behavior, temperature adjusted trip energy estimation, and probabilistic charging dynamics to generate hyperlocal EV load profiles tailored to different building types.

We describe this workflow as a technology of place. It is locally calibrated using city specific mobility patterns, building stock data, and charging infrastructure, while remaining transferable to other urban contexts. A case study in the City of Ithaca demonstrates the framework’s ability to reproduce realistic daily charging patterns across activity categories and to reveal significant spatial and behavioral variation in EV demand.

Using Ithaca as a testbed, we evaluate three scenarios. The first represents present conditions, with approximately one percent EV adoption and existing charging infrastructure. The second projects a ten year scenario with twenty percent adoption and thirty additional charging locations. The third models a 2050 future with eighty percent adoption and a mix of Level 2 and DC fast chargers. Scenario based load intensity maps show how neighborhood scale infrastructure decisions can either concentrate or redistribute charging demand across the city.

Clustering analysis identifies representative daily load profiles that can be integrated into Urban Building Energy Modeling workflows. By explicitly linking travel behavior, spatial context, and charging dynamics, the framework provides a stronger basis for evaluating building and district scale energy performance under transportation electrification. The open source release supports transparency, replication, and adaptation by researchers and practitioners seeking to translate local design and policy interventions into broader energy planning insights.

Puerto Rico’s fragile energy landscape is marked by fossil fuel dependency, climate vulnerability, and infrastructural inequities that present a critical opportunity for place-based transformation. The interdisciplinary graduate landscape architecture studio, Energy Landscapes: Puerto Rico, examined how landscape architecture can guide a transition to renewable energy systems that are not only technically viable but culturally and ecologically grounded.

Focusing on Puerto Rico’s southern coast, the studio investigated the spatial legacies of extractive industry, including the decommissioned Aguirre power plant and the remnants of the sugarcane economy. These post-industrial territories were reimagined as generative landscapes capable of supporting decentralized, community-based energy systems. Students developed design strategies that integrated solar energy production with habitat restoration, public space, food systems, and civic infrastructure.

The pedagogical framework emphasized systems thinking and multi-scalar design, linking energy infrastructure to the social, ecological, and material realities of local communities. Studio activities included site visits, stakeholder engagement, expert lectures, and the use of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an evaluative framework. Students engaged the island’s energy challenges through community-based research, spatial analysis, digital modeling, and speculative design.

Proposals explored agrivoltaics, landscape-based carbon strategies, adaptive reuse, and participatory planning. Emphasizing resilience and flexibility, the projects envisioned energy landscapes as living systems in which technical performance is inseparable from cultural meaning and ecological health that serve educational, social, and environmental purposes.

Informed by research from organizations such as Cambio, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), the studio addressed tensions between centralized grid models and the island’s growing movement toward distributed, community-owned energy.

By situating renewable energy within a broader landscape narrative, the studio demonstrates how design can reshape energy infrastructure as a catalyst for ecological repair, cultural memory, and community resilience.

Transportation network expansion has accelerated landscape fragmentation, disrupting ecological connectivity across regions. While wildlife crossing structures offer significant ecological and safety benefits, strategic siting decisions remain largely reactive rather than evidence based. This study presents an integrated geospatial and machine learning framework to predict wildlife crossing suitability at landscape scale and identify areas of unmet demand where ecological need is high, yet infrastructure is absent. We developed a methodology combining five national datasets (species density, population density, natural trails, road networks, and existing WCS inventory) standardized into a unified 10 × 10 km grid covering Spain. After applying ecological assumptions to filter zero-presence cells and outlier variable ranges, we trained four supervised machine learning algorithms (Linear Regression, Random Forest, Gradient Boosting Machine, and Support Vector Regression) using spatial cross-validation on 1,573 grid cells representing 28% of the complete dataset. Model performance was evaluated using RMSE, MSE, MAPE, and residual diagnostics. The Gradient Boosting Machine emerged as the optimal model, achieving test RMSE = 3.113 and MAPE = 2.103%, with homogeneous error distribution across prediction domains. Applied to Spain's complete territory, predictions identified critical and high-priority zones requiring immediate crossing infrastructure investment. Results demonstrate that fragmentation in Spain exhibits two distinct patterns: structural vulnerability forming continuous barriers in the northern plateau, requiring large-scale corridor restoration; and dispersed fragmentation in the south and east, demanding targeted micro-interventions. This framework provides policy-ready spatial guidance for infrastructure investment prioritization, translating predictive models into actionable design and conservation decisions. The methodology is transferable to other regions with comparable open-access geospatial data, supporting transdisciplinary and landscape-scale connectivity planning.

This paper develops, tests and expands a conceptual framework for digital placemaking tailored to the complex realities of informally structured cities in the Global South. As digital tools become increasingly prominent in urban planning, their deployment often reflects technocentric models rooted in Global North contexts. These approaches tend to prioritize optimization and datafication, neglecting the informal spatial practices and limited civic trust that shape many urban environments.

Grounded in participatory urbanism, this study proposes approaching digital placemaking as a relational and ethical process. To operationalize this framework, a layered, mixed-methods study was conducted with two groups: design-literate students and everyday users of informal micro-public spaces.

Findings reveal that despite near-universal smartphone access, everyday users' engagement with digital civic platforms remains low. This highlights that primary barriers are not technical but rather stem from poor platform legibility and a lack of institutional trust. Furthermore, the data confirmed a persistent epistemic divide: while students overestimated public readiness for digital tools, everyday users engaged more openly in familiar, informal settings.

To address these gaps and operationalize hybrid engagement models, the framework is refined with four new dimensions: participatory legibility, spatial immersion for designers, feedback visibility, and the integration of embedded intermediaries. This research contributes to a contextually grounded, empirically tested model for designing inclusive civic technologies responsive to Global South realities.

University campuses function as daily living environments where the built environment shapes physical activity, mental well-being, and social connection. Yet most campus planning systems lack explicit public health performance criteria that link environmental quality to measurable health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: This paper develops the Outdoor Wellness–Oriented Design Strategy (OWODS), a measurable and scalable preventive-health framework that integrates Logic Model (LM) causal reasoning with the Health-Oriented Environment for Active Living Score (HEALS) to evaluate and guide outdoor environments as components of preventive health infrastructure within campus planning systems. The study addresses three questions: (1) how campus environments can be assessed using standardized health-oriented indicators; (2) how LM clarifies causal pathways linking environmental quality to health outcomes; and (3) how integrating HEALS and LM within OWODS creates a scalable framework for guiding campus planning and preventive health design. METHODOLOGY: A case study at a large public university (>70,000 population) applied HEALS scoring across seven outdoor locations, evaluating shading, safety, pedestrian accessibility, noise exposure, and social-support infrastructure, and mapped findings onto the LM pathway to examine alignment between environmental performance and preventive-health objectives. ACHIEVED OUTCOMES: OWODS demonstrates how measurable built-environment performance patterns correspond to defined behavioral pathways associated with active living, mental well-being, and chronic disease prevention. By integrating HEALS indicators with the Logic Model’s outcome and impact stages, the framework clarifies how environmental design, planning standards, and institutional governance can be systematically aligned to support preventive health objectives. The model shows strong transferability across university campuses and adaptability to broader community outdoor environments, offering a locally actionable framework with global relevance for advancing preventive-health strategies through the built environment.

This paper presents a comparative study of two evaporative cooling systems, an open-air configuration and an enclosed wall-integrated configuration, constructed from 3D printed porous ceramic modules. The objective is to evaluate how geometry, airflow, and enclosure conditions interact to produce microclimatic cooling effects in hot arid and semi-arid climates, where low humidity and high summer temperatures make evaporative strategies particularly effective. While historic precedents such as mashrabiya screens, jali perforations, and wind catchers demonstrate the long-standing value of evaporative cooling in dry regions, contemporary adoption is limited by material constraints and construction infeasibility.

Two ceramic block designs were developed iteratively and tested. One relies on exposed surface channels that promote rapid evaporative cooling under airflow. The other contains internal, semi-closed geometries that store water within ceramic mass compartments and release it slowly. Both geometries were tested under open and closed conditions using identical material mixes, irrigation strategies, and environmental sensing. Results show that enclosure significantly enhances evaporative persistence. Closed configurations maintained temperature differentials of 8 to 15 °F and humidity increases of 10 to 20 percent, while open configurations produced faster but shorter-lived cooling of 3 to 5 °F with rapid humidity spikes after irrigation. Design 1 performed best when exposed to airflow, while Design 2 achieved its strongest results when shielded from wind.

Together, the findings demonstrate that digitally fabricated ceramics can function as modular, climate-responsive cooling systems that adapt to airflow and enclosure. By linking material design, geometry, and environmental performance, this work positions ceramic 3D printing as a practical strategy for increasing thermal comfort in regions where mechanical HVAC is inaccessible or energy intensive.

Material efficiency in building construction must increase to avoid the depletion of natural resources. This paper reports on the development of a novel paperless design-to-construction workflow that facilitates the use of reclaimed fired bricks by generating brick patterns that can adapt to existing material stocks. Fired bricks are widely available and, due to their durability, are often ready for repurposing after their first service life. While in computational masonry research, material efficiency is often the sole objective, we present a framework rooted in a holistic approach: In traditional brick construction (i.e., using mortar), the builder’s tactile experience is still indispensable. The bonding pattern of structural masonry heavily influences its structural performance. Therefore, our framework focuses on the balance between material efficiency, structural soundness, and constructability from a human’s standpoint. Our ultimately geometrical approach constrains the solution space by enforcing a minimal ¼ brick overlap between layers and considers the trade-off between the simplicity of a pattern and its ability to adapt to different material stocks. In this paper, we present the results of a systematic parameter analysis in a contrast experiment. The first scenario assumes fully automated construction (and prioritizes material efficiency) while the second assumes human-machine collaboration (AR-assisted construction) and aims at a reasonable trade-off between efficiency and complexity. Our results suggest that simple, easy-to-follow patterns can be achieved with little compromise in material efficiency. We demonstrate this on the masonry dome, where the curved shape adds a level of complexity to the patterning challenge. By keeping the patterns simpler, we transfer much of the agency back to the builder. Therefore, the presented approach informs contemporary, human-machine collaborative construction where the emphasis is on amplifying rather than controlling the mason’s craft.

Seokguram Grotto, built in the 8th century, is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in South Korea. This Buddhist grotto is well known for its monumental Buddha statue sitting in a circular chamber with a hemispherical dome. Along with its cultural significance, the environmental strategies employed at Seokguram Grotto have successfully preserved the statue and chamber despite the region's hot and humid climate. However, the grotto has undergone several renovations that have altered its original structure, resulting in a current environment that differs significantly from the original form. Given the absence of mechanical systems at that time, examining the environmental strategies of this grotto could provide valuable insights into passive building design in similarly challenging climates. This study investigates the lighting and ventilation strategies of Seokguram Grotto, focusing on how its design adapted to the local climate without relying on mechanical systems. While numerous studies have examined the grotto's original configuration, quantitative analyses of its original environment remain limited. In response, this study provides a quantitative analysis that can serve as a reference for restoring the original environment of the grotto, helping to preserve its cultural heritage and advance passive design research. To achieve this, precedent studies on the spatial composition and environmental characteristics of the original grotto were reviewed, and a 3D model was developed based on these findings. The model was subsequently simplified for simulations. The lighting environment was assessed using four daylight metrics: Illuminance, Daylight Factor, Spatial Daylight Autonomy, and Useful Daylight Illuminance. Indoor airflow was simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to identify the distribution of air velocity throughout space. Based on the findings, this study assesses the environmental quality of the original Seokguram Grotto and considers its application in a global context.

As Virtual Reality (VR) technology becomes increasingly accessible, it offers powerful opportunities for controlled investigation of environmental and lighting effects on human behavior. VR enables precise manipulation of spatial and photometric variables, allowing researchers to evaluate human responses without the constraints of physical settings. Although prior studies show that well-calibrated VR can approximate real spaces for visual perception, evidence remains limited regarding its validity for assessing behavioral and cognitive outcomes, particularly among older adults. This study examines whether a VR-based lighting environment can serve as a reliable surrogate for a real-world setting when measuring perceptual appraisals and cognitive performance in aging populations.

Thirty-seven older adults were recruited, and thirty-two met the inclusion criteria and completed both experimental sessions. Using a within-subjects, counterbalanced design, participants performed a three-dimensional Trail Making Test–inspired task in a physical environment and in a matched virtual replica. The virtual scene was generated from a calibrated high dynamic range image of the real setting, tone-mapped, and rendered as an immersive 360-degree environment in Unreal Engine. Illuminance and correlated color temperature were closely matched across conditions using spectrometric and luminance measurements.

Subjective responses indicated comparable ratings of pleasantness and comfort in both environments. However, excitement, stress, and confusion were significantly higher in VR, suggesting elevated emotional arousal and cognitive load during immersive exposure. Despite these perceptual differences, no statistically significant differences were observed in completion times or error rates. Cognitive outcomes remained strongly associated with Mini-Mental State Examination scores across both settings, supporting the stability of the assessment. Overall, the findings demonstrate that a carefully calibrated VR environment can reproduce key lighting characteristics and support valid cognitive assessment in older adults, while highlighting the need to address spectral discrepancies and affective responses in future VR-based lighting research.

Tokyo is celebrated and known for its spatial efficiency and technological advancement, yet beneath this pragmatism is a pressing demographic challenge: over 29.1% of Japan’s population is aged 65 and older. As Japan becomes one of the world’s fastest-aging societies, its urban environments must increasingly support elderly well-being. Nowhere is this ethos more evident in Japan than Tokyo, the world’s largest city with densely populated metropolitan areas. Using a qualitative methodology emphasized in literature review, supported by site observation, case studies and logical argumentation, the study examines three urban conditions that contribute to senior isolation: high-density housing typologies, fragmented public spaces, and large-scale redevelopment. The research illustrates how design decisions prioritizing efficiency and commercial value will often overlook the urgent relational needs of seniors, resulting in diminished neighborhood familiarity, weakened social networks, and increased physical and emotional disconnection from the city around them. However, the study also examines design strategies that begin to foster inclusion, community, and autonomy for older adults. Drawing on contemporary planning practices, these positive ‘typologies’ include transit-oriented development and mobility access, micro-scale public realms, and intergenerational shared housing models. Furthermore, the authors propose several innovative interventions that create spaces for connection, such as memory-friendly wayfinding, care-integrated public spaces, and low commitment social infrastructure.

Ultimately, the paper argues that Tokyo’s response to senior isolation exposes core tensions between density and intimacy, growth and care, and efficiency and empathy. Drawing on literature by Gehl, Cullen, and Almazan and supported by studies from Matsumoto (2011), Drilling et al. (2025), and Raikhola & Kuroki (2009), this study reveals how spatial design of the city has the power to enable or withdraw social connection, instill or erode dignity, and reinforce or weaken agency in later life. The insights extend beyond Tokyo, offering a framework for global cities grappling with aging populations.

This paper investigates strategies for re-localizing food production to mitigate inequitable access to fresh produce through polyvalent structures that address overlapping urban needs. An analytical mapping framework identifies critical and viable zones for architectural intervention, addressing how existing hydroponic typologies overlook opportunities to operate within underutilized urban conditions shaped by environmental risk and infrastructural fragmentation.

Atlanta serves as the case study due to its legacies of infrastructural disinvestment, exclusionary zoning, and stormwater vulnerability. GIS-based mapping reveals compounded stress zones—where food insecurity, transit inaccessibility, socio-economic marginalization, and flood risk intersect—informing an adaptable framework for situating hydroponic interventions as tools for urban metabolic repair.

Applications are modular. They range from small-scale hubs on flood-prone residential infill lots to vertical farming units integrated into highway bridge extensions, activating areas rendered functionally or symbolically inert by water-related issues or infrastructural neglect. Architecturally, soil-less cultivation is repositioned from concealed industrial interiors to hybrid structures with a civic interface, reframing agriculture as a public and spatial encounter. Scalable modular systems support incremental development, gradually replacing extractive supply chains. By treating water and food production as community assets, the proposal offers agencies a replicable strategy to advance public health, climate resilience, and spatial equity in 21st-century cities.

Computational thinking has become central to contemporary architectural practice, yet its integration into architectural education remains fragmented and uneven. While recent advances have expanded the computational design landscape, architecture students often enter these environments with limited programming experience and without the conceptual scaffolds needed to navigate algorithmic reasoning. Existing curricula frequently emphasize tool proficiency or isolated software workflows rather than developing computational literacy that supports multi-objective design exploration and informed decision-making. At the same time, research rarely employs systematic qualitative methods or iterative curriculum development frameworks to understand how architecture students learn computation and how pedagogy can be shaped in response.

This study addresses these gaps through a three-term Design-Based Research (DBR) investigation, grounded in the learning science literature, conducted in a graduate-level visual programming course. The curriculum was iteratively designed, implemented, analyzed, and refined using empirical evidence from semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and thematic analysis. Thematic analysis revealed six major cognitive and metacognitive challenges: difficulties with abstraction, a lack of prior programming experience, time constraints, debugging challenges, unclear alignment with career goals, and insufficient early exposure to computational tools. These challenges directly informed targeted revisions, including explicit conceptual instruction, progressive scaffolding through incomplete recipe exercises, expanded collaborative learning structures, and differentiated self-paced instructional videos.

The refined curriculum culminated in a structured three-module sequence—parametric modeling, performance simulation, and evolutionary design exploration—supported by lectures, recorded tutorials, guided practice, and student-led discussions. Results demonstrate that when computational pedagogy is grounded in cognitive evidence and connected to students' design contexts, learners develop stronger agency, improved problem-solving strategies, and a deeper understanding of computation as a design medium rather than a technical requirement. The study contributes a replicable DBR-based model for computational design pedagogy, offering transferable strategies for architecture programs seeking to cultivate computational literacy that meaningfully supports multi-disciplinary design decisions.

Together, architects and engineers develop solutions while navigating complex design problems, resource limitations, and social interactions. However, differences in their disciplinary goals and training can influence how they approach collaboration. Understanding how designers approach cooperative strategies when negotiating their own disciplinary goals is useful in identifying opportunities for better collaboration and recognizing gaps in their understanding of cross-disciplinary design. In response, this study uses a game theory approach to measure and compare cooperative behavior and strategies of architects and engineers when engaging in collaboration. Thirty participants from architecture and engineering, and at the experience level of student or professional, played an established game within game theory, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, and a new game, made for the study, that documented their focus on disciplinary design goals or cooperation outcomes. Participants played the games online over a video meeting platform with a pre-programmed computer opponent and after playing as their own discipline, they played as the other discipline. Between each game, they verbally reported their strategies to the researcher. Disciplinary strategies, perceptions, and scoring outcomes were compared using a Chi Square analysis, and content analysis was used to code their reported strategies. Disciplinary identity related to differences in score outcomes and level of experience influenced different reported strategies. The results of the study support the varied assumptions between the disciplines and suggest an exploratory approach to study architect and engineering cooperation through strategic interaction. This research contributes to the understanding of interdisciplinary collaboration strategies through the context of game theory, which has not previously been explored in architect-engineer teams.

Architecture education seeks to prepare students for a rapidly changing profession. How can curricula and courses be structured to help students thrive in an interdisciplinary field? This study addresses that question by examining the Design the Future podcast. Since its 2020 launch, hosts Lindsay Baker and Kira Gould have interviewed more than 100 leaders across built environment fields.

To understand how narratives are shaped, we are conducting an AI-assisted pilot analysis of interviews. Our analytical lens is Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), a sociological framework that builds on Pierre Bourdieu’s work to explain how individuals and their knowledge gain recognition. LCT includes three dimensions called Specialization, Semantics, and Autonomy.

Our project has three aims.

1. Apply Specialization to investigate leaders’ paths across built environment fields. Interviewees describe diverse trajectories through and between disciplines. For example, Angie Brooks speaks of “breaking down the silos… creating these horizontal links between people and between what you might normally think are disparate disciplines.” Specialization reveals patterns in how ideas move across domains.

2. Apply Semantics to examine how leaders frame and communicate complex concepts. Interviewees often use concrete examples to illuminate abstraction. For example, Eden Brukman uses the case of an office chair to explain circularity, noting that it can be cheaper to discard surplus furniture than return it to a manufacturer. Semantics clarifies how complex ideas are made accessible.

3. Apply Autonomy to analyze how the podcast links built environment leadership to broader cultural and professional influences. For example, Marta Schantz cites inspiration from political figures and fictional characters such as Leslie Knope, who combines civic commitment with personal connection. Autonomy explains how external ideas are integrated into a field.

By analyzing narratives, this study shows how forms of knowledge shape broader patterns in design education. LCT offers a structured approach for addressing change.

Accurate building geometry is fundamental to neighborhood-scale building energy modeling because it directly shapes conditioned volume, envelope area, and resulting energy use patterns at both the building and district scales. Improving geometric fidelity is especially important when modeling small residential buildings in low-income communities, where reducing uncertainty in baseline simulations is necessary to support equitable planning and energy-burden aware decision making. Prototype, archetype-based building stock datasets (e.g., ORNL Model America) enable scalable neighborhood modeling; however, because they are developed for broad coverage, geometric representation can remain uncertain for small residential buildings, motivating community-specific calibration of key geometric features.

This study develops and tests a geometry-correction workflow that updates archetype-based residential prototypes using local spatial data and quantifies the impact on simulated energy performance. Two geometric updates are implemented: (1) replacing default footprints with building outlines extracted through deep-learning segmentation of high-resolution aerial imagery in a GIS environment, and (2) correcting building height using LiDAR-derived elevation differences. The workflow is applied to 22 single-family homes in a low-income Arizona neighborhood. For each home, three EnergyPlus models are simulated; baseline, height-only, and full-geometry, while holding constructions and schedules constant to isolate geometric effects.

Results show that correcting height alone increases annual site energy by an average of 16%, reflecting underestimated conditioned volume in prototype models. Incorporating both footprint and height further increases total site energy at the neighborhood scale, while moderating or reducing EUI at the building scale. These findings demonstrate that geometric inaccuracies in prototype datasets propagate to district-level estimates, highlighting the need for morphology-aligned models in energy analysis for low-income communities.

Contemporary energy-efficient building design often relies on standardized assumptions about household energy use, assumptions that do not reflect the diverse ways people consume energy across social, climatic, and cultural contexts. This study addresses this limitation by analyzing the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), a nationally representative dataset containing detailed information on household energy use, building characteristics, and operational behaviors. Drawing on descriptive assessment, end-use analysis, and mixed-data clustering, the study develops intensity-based energy-use typologies that characterize demand heterogeneity at the residential scale.

Results reveal pronounced variation in total consumption and energy use intensity (EUI) across states, climate zones, and housing forms, with space and water heating energy demands emerging as the dominant contributors to annual household consumption. The study also underscores the significant but frequently overlooked contribution of the “Other” end-use category, small appliances and electronics, which is often missing from conventional energy modeling practices. In addition, the results highlight the influence of building form and thermal exposure, suggesting that design strategies such as shared walls and compact massing can meaningfully reduce energy intensity.

Clustering identifies 13 statistically distinct household clusters, which are subsequently interpreted as energy-use typologies based on their distinctions in energy profiles. These typologies provide a structured framework for differentiated architectural decision-making, archetype selection informing energy simulations, retrofit prioritization, and performance target setting without asserting specific causal drivers. By translating empirical energy segmentation into design-relevant categories, the study advances a performance-informed approach to residential energy analysis that supports more context-sensitive and scalable architectural strategies.

Implementation researchers typically refer to the gap between knowing what should be done and current best practice as the "Know-Do Gap." However, in the field of residential energy efficiency, architects have long recognized the importance of reducing energy consumption through passive design strategies before offsetting energy use with renewable sources. In an era of mechanical conditioning and ventilation, however, thermal comfort can easily be provided independent of envelope design. This creates a divide where high-performance design is reserved for custom residential projects, and cost of construction dictates design decisions for the vast majority of “typical” residential new construction. This focus on initial cost seemingly precludes consideration of operations and maintenance costs, and rather than leveraging energy efficiency measures that reduce the total cost of homeownership, minimum performance baselines dictate envelope and system efficiencies. In non-profit affordable housing development, where resources must be allocated judiciously to extend impact to the greatest number of clients, the authors see a strong opportunity for beyond-code construction to be incentivized.

Using initial findings from a study measuring energy savings attributed to energy efficiency improvements in affordable, single-family housing, the paper seeks to identify data points beyond initial construction cost that can inform decisions affecting building performance. The larger study tracks how changes to physical characteristics influence the energy use of a house by measuring circuit-level consumption in eight pairs of houses constructed by non-profit affordable housing developers in a range of climate zones across the US. Initial interviews with the construction teams provide insight into their decision-making processes, and additional feedback will be gathered once energy monitoring study findings are shared with those teams. This paper documents how nonprofit affordable housing developers choose to invest in performance improvements, and results of the study will serve to inform the motivation for incentives offered moving forward.

Loneliness is debilitating and can significantly affect health outcomes, yet its underlying causes vary significantly across cultural, physical, and policy contexts. This paper compares Tokyo and Calgary as representative urban settings within Japan and Canada, recognizing that national demographic trends, governance structures, and cultural norms shape social isolation differently in each place. It is important to acknowledge the cultural and structural differences between Japan and Canada (and between Tokyo and Calgary specifically) that produce isolation beyond the influence of built form alone, and that simultaneously shape how urban environments are organized and interpreted.

Using a literature-based methodology that synthesizes OECD reports, sociological studies, planning scholarship, and urban theory, the paper examines how built environments, cultural expectations, and policy regimes interact to shape social connection and perceptions of safety. In Tokyo, chronic loneliness is closely tied to demographic aging, neoliberal labour reforms, and a ‘long-hours’ work culture, where time scarcity and norms of restraint constrain the social potential of dense, walkable neighborhoods. Shotengai shopping streets and fine-grained residential lanes exemplify Jane Jacobs’s principles of “eyes on the street,” yet their sociability is moderated by cultural expectations of efficiency and limited lingering. In Calgary, by contrast, suburban expansion, single-use zoning, and automobile dependence create spatial fragmentation that directly restricts opportunities for unstructured social encounters, disproportionately affecting seniors and low-mobility populations. This paper compares how urban form functions not as a universal cause of loneliness but as a mediator that amplifies or buffers the dominant structural drivers within each city. By critically mapping these distinct conditions, the study argues that built form must be understood within broader cultural and policy systems. The paper concludes by suggesting how each context might learn from the other: Calgary from Tokyo’s human-scaled, transit-oriented neighbourhoods, and Tokyo from Calgary’s emerging focus on social infrastructure and inclusive place-making.

With rapid urbanization, rural migration, and growing economic pressures, cities across developing countries face extreme health problems for surging populations, exacerbated by a lack of habitable, hygienic housing, drinking water, sanitation, consistent electricity, and food security. This paper presents community-engaged spatial and health focused research to connect the above domains through an evaluative framework — a Habitable Index (HI) based on collaborative research between partner institutions in the UK and Ghana. The HI model is presented as a locally tested approach to better inform transdisciplinary efforts to tackle inequity in investment, policy, planning and design that impact land-management, infrastructure and quality of life for the most vulnerable, frequently marginalized populations in developing urban and rural environments. The proposed Index, a pilot mapping tool, has been developed through internationally funded projects in two phases that address wider socio-economic and health-driven evaluations of sustainable development across academic, industrial, policy-making, and local community contexts. The paper focuses on project outcomes in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, combining quantitative and qualitative data, including drone-supported GIS mapping of existing infrastructure, surveys from government representatives, and in-situ observation with local partners and community hosts from one of Accra’s poorest and most densely populated inner settlements, Nima. The research compares Nima to an adjacent, more affluent Airport Residential Area, focusing on inequities in planning with contaminated water and waste impacts from incomplete infrastructure resulting in poor health conditions. Discussions include different spatial mapping overlays addressing both built environment and epidemiological data. Conclusions argue for the Habitable Index as an effective tool to guide future wellbeing-informed planning and urban research with transferable lessons from Nima about engaging with complex physical, social, and economic conditions for underserved settlements at local and more global scales to address shared sustainable development challenges.

Social isolation has emerged as a global health and urban design challenge, intensified by the decline of informal social spaces, rising populations, and rapid modernization. Tokyo offers valuable insight into how urban environments can balance efficiency with dignity by acknowledging the quiet undercurrent of loneliness woven into daily life. Yet public spaces—from expressive, sticker-covered passageways to intimate Yokocho lanes and expansive waterfront edges—encourage lingering, visibility, and belonging. Vancouver, by contrast, strengthens social engagement through community murals, alley revitalizations, and waterfront redevelopment. This research shows how both cities employ spatial strategies that cultivate belonging and community connection, shaped by their distinct geographies, histories, and social cultures. Tokyo’s dense urbanism reflects centuries of cultural continuity, social harmony, and small-scale adaptation, while Vancouver’s development has been shaped by waves of migration, an Indigenous past, and extensive planning initiatives. These differences create a productive foundation for comparing how context informs approaches to social connection. Findings reveal that Tokyo’s informal, culturally layered spaces—stickered-covered nooks, Yokocho alleys, and contemplative waterfronts—foster authentic interactions rooted in history and cultural memory. Vancouver’s policy-led murals, reactivated alleys, and redeveloped waterfronts reclaim public space and invite active engagement, even when less organically formed. Both cities demonstrate that social connection flourishes when design responds to local culture, history, and lived experience. By reimagining urban typologies through a culturally-grounded lens, this study offers a comparative model for understanding how cities can design more inclusive, context-responsive, and emotionally connective public spaces. The findings underscore a broader implication: addressing urban loneliness requires not only new public spaces, but new ways of designing that honor the informal, the intimate, and the culturally specific.

Sea-level rise and recurrent flooding threaten millions in urban coastal communities, yet residents remain excluded from environmental monitoring and decision-making that shapes adaptation strategies. While participatory sensing networks (PSNs) promise to democratize environmental knowledge, most implementations struggle to achieve institutional integration or sustained community engagement. This paper examines PSNs as distributed systems for community-based environmental data collection and investigates what design considerations enable them to function as integrated civic infrastructure rather than isolated interventions. Drawing on architecture's capacity to mediate between technical systems and public experience, we used Design-Based Research to develop three PSN prototypes across scales and institutional contexts. Water Wand is a mobile hydrometry system that captures water depth and quality through structured workflows with geotagged documentation during flood events. SMARTblox integrates coastal protection with ecological monitoring through modular seawall tiles combining bio-enhancing geometries, solar-powered IoT sensors, and open data platforms for continuous shoreline observation. In Deep Water is a mixed reality installation overlaying NOAA sea-level rise projections, real-time sensor data, and community narratives onto familiar geographies, evaluated with 200 participants across two coastal cities. Cross-case synthesis reveals that PSNs succeed not as standalone deployments, but as configured assemblages of devices, data infrastructures, and civic interfaces positioned within existing governance ecologies. We present the Civic Ecology Mediation Framework (CEMF), identifying four dimensions for PSN viability: 1) credibility pathways bridging citizen and institutional data practices; 2) participation models sustaining ongoing engagement; 3) public legibility making sensor systems interpretable to non-experts; and 4) governance integration without institutional capture. Our findings demonstrate that PSNs achieve greatest impact when designed to complement rather than replace institutional monitoring, filling gaps in coverage, resolution, or community engagement. We conclude with design principles for embedding participatory sensing within coastal adaptation infrastructures, including how collected data can inform stormwater design, seawall specifications, and neighborhood-scale floodplain management.

This paper presents a multi-studio investigation into how architectural pedagogy can respond to inequity, exclusion, and spatial precarity through community-engaged, site-based design research. Across four advanced design studios, students explored “safe space” as a design framework and civic responsibility. Three studios were grounded in Atlanta-based partnerships and sites, while one studio extended the model to cities nationwide. Together, the studios addressed LGBTQ+ youth and affirming educational environments, intergenerational and multi-family housing, and public maker spaces through mixed-use programs, adaptive reuse, and speculative prototypes. Each studio framed architecture as advocacy by asking what should be built—not only what is feasible within conventional typologies. In collaboration with partners including The Pride School Atlanta and Mudfire Studio & Gallery, students tested alternative spatial organizations and public–private thresholds, using making and material experimentation as a central method of inquiry. Through interviews, fieldwork, and iterative prototyping, students learned from lived experience and local cultural and ecological contexts while developing design proposals that prioritize belonging, visibility, connection, and dignity. By positioning these studio outcomes as local responses to global challenges, the paper argues for architectural education as a critical site for cultivating civic design intelligence and expanding inclusive spatial practice.

This research investigates the first phase of a two-year experimental collaboration supported by the Mellon Foundation, centered on the 2024 DMU Summer Institute Freedom Ride. Designed as a mobile, place-based workshop across Georgia, Florida and Alabama, the initiative convened 25 students and 25 educators in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design from institutions across the U.S. and Canada. Drawing inspiration from the Civil Rights-era Freedom Rides, the journey served as both a logistical and pedagogical framework, transforming travel itself into a critical site of reflection and knowledge exchange. Participants engaged with historically marginalized sites exploring histories of enslavement, segregation, racial violence, and Indigenous resistance. Framed as a process of unlearning and relearning, the program emphasized design justice and invited participants to reconsider the architect’s role in addressing systemic inequities. Through activities outside the traditional classroom setting, such as site-responsive workshops, narrative reflection, peer-to-peer learning and peer interviews, the experience fostered themes of resilience, identity, and solidarity. The second phase—outside the scope of this essay—entails a stationary residency in a single historically significant location. Together, the two phases aim to compare mobile versus place-embedded models of experiential learning. The outcomes will culminate in a public exhibition and publication in Fall 2027, contributing to discourse on immersive, justice-oriented pedagogy in architectural education. The Summer Institute asserts that architectural knowledge is not merely taught—it develops through dialogue, critique and shared experience. This paper explores the thesis that peer-to-peer experiences have a more lasting and meaningful impact than traditional learning methods, drawing on qualitative reflections and insights gathered through peer interviews and field-based observations. Together, these reflections underscore the importance of collaborative and experiential models for cultivating deeper, more lasting forms of knowledge.

It is time to move away from a dependence on imported, industrialized materials such as concrete and steel and reconnect with the potential of earthen construction. This study addresses the divide between contemporary building practices and the sustainable, culturally rich methods traditionally used throughout Latin America. Rooted in natural materials, a diverse set of regional techniques has evolved since pre-Hispanic times, visible today in iconic examples of earthen architecture shaped by climate, culture, and place.

However, the dominance of concrete and steel has led to the rejection of traditional aesthetics and techniques. Earthen buildings are often associated with poverty, despite once forming the most sacred structures of ancient civilizations. This study challenges that perception by exploring how traditional methods can be revitalized to support sustainable, culturally grounded design.

Focusing on school construction in Chiclayo, Peru, the research evaluates how regionally sourced materials can reduce costs, limit reliance on imports, and reinforce cultural identity. Prefabricated earth wall panels inspired by the traditional wattle and daub method were developed using only local materials, offering efficiency, adaptability, and cultural value.

A wooden mold was created for consistent panel fabrication. Each panel uses a mix of earth (silt, sand, and clay) combined with local fibers such as hay and reinforced with a bamboo lattice for stability. Multiple prototypes were tested, adjusting material proportions to achieve structural durability and visual quality. By comparing traditional and contemporary practices, this study demonstrates how natural, locally sourced materials can be effectively integrated into modern construction. The resulting panels show that efficient, cost-effective, and regionally meaningful designs are possible, offering a model that can inspire similar initiatives across Latin America.

This study examines the design and construction of housing for the Tebughna people of the Native Village of Tyonek, Alaska. While there are well-documented strategies to provide basic economical housing in the United States, there is very little work that has been done to address the extreme challenges facing native villages and remote communities of Alaska. The existing houses in the Native Village of Tyonek are struggling under the weight of snow and the probing rivulets of water that have gradually found their way through untended assemblies. The structures leak air and water, requiring immense amounts of energy to be only barely habitable through the long winter months. The situation is tenuous and dire, as the community ages and loses its youth to opportunity elsewhere. Working within this context, explicit research questions include: How can academic research support culture and community in extreme climates? How can research help to amplify the voices of a people and their cultural practices through genuine support and service? What are appropriate architectural responses to the complex and competing demands of environmental performance, culture, and climate? How can researchers better listen to the people and their native lands, recognizing the limitations of pre-formed research questions and common academic research structures? Over the last four years, we have worked alongside the people of Tyonek to address the critical housing needs in the village and to address these research questions. Our methodology has involved numerous community meetings and a robust, consensus-driven approach to building trust with the elders of the village. We conducted detailed surveys of existing housing, created proposals for new and renovated housing, and tested proposals by evaluating life cycle costs and energy efficiency. The work serves as a useful model for community-based work with remote native communities, especially those in cold climates.

In the past decade, expanding the tools and methods for digital documentation has become a priority in historic preservation, offering valuable support for the management, maintenance, and adaptive reuse of heritage buildings. Although technologies such as laser scanning and photogrammetry can capture unprecedented detail, they often generate documentation with large file sizes that exceed the practical needs of many restoration projects. This paper introduces a workflow designed to balance efficiency with usable outputs. The method integrates material documentation pipelines to guide physical assessment, streamline data acquisition, and produce essential construction documents. The workflow was developed from interventions at Sacred Heart Church, a historic landmark in El Paso’s Segundo Barrio, one of the city’s oldest and most culturally significant neighborhoods in this US–Mexico border community in West Texas. Its application demonstrates the potential to reduce redundant data collection, focus analysis on critical elements, and generate documentation that directly supports restoration activities. Future work will examine how this approach can be adapted to different building types and contexts, and how streamlined digital documentation workflows can serve as tools for community empowerment and equitable preservation.

Designing K-12 classrooms with proper daylighting is imperative to the educational enrichment of children. Out of all design parameters in the classroom, including temperature, acoustics, and air quality, daylight has consistently shown to have the highest impact on overall student progress. Daylight supports focus, the stability of the circadian cycle, and overall mental health. While daylight alone is a great element that supports biophilic design within classrooms, it can also be utilized in creative ways to introduce other natural phenomena that exist in nature, such as fractals. Despite the growing interest in incorporating fractal patterns in architectural spaces, few studies have explored their impacts on daylight performance in spaces.

This study evaluates the performance of fractal patterned screens on students' visual comfort and daylight performance in a typical K-12 school classroom. The goal is to demonstrate the impacts of daylight fractal patterns on students’ visual comfort and to add to the body of knowledge related to biophilia in architecture and its performative benefits. The simulation model used in this study was determined based on average K-12 classroom sizes in the U.S. A total of 3 varying perforated solar screens were modeled along with a standard glazed opening as a base case for comparison.

The results of this study suggest that fractal patterned screens offered the best performance for daylight exposure in classrooms. Fractal patterns applied to solar screens have been proven to be a practical solution for providing good quality of daylight. It also created a more enriching educational experience as the patterns of light create appealing biophilic characteristics. This study suggests that the perforation geometry of a solar-screen matters when aiming for specific daylighting performance. The performance examined from the fractal patterned screen in this study encourages the use of daylight and fractals as biophilic design elements within classrooms.

This paper examines how hemp-based materials could offer a alternative to conventional components in Virginia residential construction, exploring a potential shift to construction norms that adopt biomaterials and scalable fabrication methods. To understand the feasibility of combined hemp-based alternatives, the paper conducts a comparative case study of 3 different wall section designs that are constructed using commercially available products. The first is a conventional vinyl siding wall assembly made using standard materials, the second substituted standard materials with direct hemp-based alternatives such as hemp-batt insulation and hemp-based lumber, and the third used hemp-based products that were not direct replicas of conventional products such as hempcrete. The models are compared based on presence of VOC emissions, embodied carbon, fabrication requirements, material sourcing, and material cost. Materials are sourced by collaborating with industry leaders and American companies manufacturing hemp-based products. The paper uses Virginia as a case study, as it is in a mixed climate zone. Findings from this region can be scaled across the country. Additionally, Virginia’s temperate climate and established agriculture industry make it an ideal region for cultivating hemp. Given the legalization of industrial hemp growth with the 2018 farm bill, identifying local opportunities for industrial hemp usage is economically relevant. The comparative study found that hemp-based wall assemblies are more expensive than traditional wall sections and are more challenging to source and fabricate. On the other hand, the hemp-based wall assemblies have lower embodied carbon and VOC emissions that contribute to better indoor air quality. The findings suggest that having more sources for locally grown hemp-hurd, as well as more manufacturers for hemp-based products, could reduce costs and embodied carbon as well as increase availability for hemp-based products. This paper provides the foundation for future investment and research efforts to establish increased availability of hemp based building materials.

This paper traces connections between theoretical and practical frameworks of ecological architecture. In the 1990s, the understanding of ecological architecture as rooted in bioclimatic and vernacular responses to place and culture began to fold into conceptions of "green" and sustainable design. A global exchange of ideas led to the introduction of green building standards such as those developed by the Building Research Establishment in the UK and the United States Green Building Council. In 2000, the Architectural League of New York’s Ten Shades of Green exhibition curated by London-based architect and journalist Peter Buchanan highlighted the growing breadth of ecological architectural thinking. The exhibit presented a holistic view of ecological architecture including not only technological efficiencies related to energy, water, and materials but also the social, cultural, psychological, and economic dimensions of environmentally responsible design.

Twenty-five years on, this paper examines the architectural history of ecological architecture. It posits that the Ten Shades of Green represents a pivotal milestone in cross-Atlantic and global architectural discourse. It establishes the plurality of ecological architecture and examines the shared themes and divergences across environmental discourses. Noting key strands that have emerged since the 2000s, it draws inspiration from Charles Jencks’ taxonomical thinking on the evolution of architecture and situates Jencks and Buchanan within the broader eco-logics outlined by Guy and Farmer (2001). A comparative study links Buchanan’s framework to the global proliferation of green building rating systems and awarding organizations. Grounding this discussion in post-2000 building examples, including work by women architects, community-led initiatives, and projects in non-Western contexts, the paper uses a comparative lens and inductive reasoning to highlight emerging societal values shaping ecological practice. Revitalizing the Ten Shades of Green today offers a relevant philosophical guide to practice in an era of continued social and environmental crisis.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of energy-efficient retrofit strategies across three historically significant Brutalist buildings in the Western Balkans, each representing a distinct typology and climate condition: a residential complex in Sarajevo (cold climate), a civic cultural center in Kolasin (cold climate), and a multi-use congress center in Belgrade (mixed climate). The study investigates how context-specific design strategies can inform broader frameworks for sustainable retrofitting of culturally significant modernist architecture. Methods combined archival research, fieldwork, and computational performance modeling. Environmental response, envelope performance, and full-building Energy Use Intensity (EUI) were evaluated using Revit, WINDOW, THERM, WUFI, and IES-VE under both existing and proposed retrofit scenarios. Retrofit strategies prioritized improved passive thermal performance through envelope upgrades and the replacement of fossil fuel–based systems with high-efficiency electrified mechanical systems. Across all three case studies, projected whole-building EUI reductions ranged between 53–56%, demonstrating that minimally invasive retrofits can substantially improve performance while preserving architectural character. However, envelope-only interventions proved insufficient to meet energy reduction targets, yielding highly variable savings between 7–33%. Significant performance gains were achieved only when envelope improvements were combined with decoupled and upgraded mechanical systems. Findings highlight the importance of localized decision-making, as climate, construction typology, and original material assemblies directly shaped retrofit priorities and outcomes. By comparing diverse building types and urban contexts, the study demonstrates that modernist architectural stock, which is often perceived as inefficient, can be transformed into high-performing assets. The research proposes a scalable, culturally responsive retrofit framework grounded in climate-specific and typology-driven analysis, with future work extending this methodology to additional building types and regions.

ABSTRACT: As the global construction industry confronts the challenges of climate change, resource depletion, and waste generation, adaptive reuse offers a practical and culturally sensitive pathway to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment. This paper presents a comparative life‑cycle assessment (LCA) of three development scenarios for Building 12 at Pier 70 in San Francisco: demolition and new construction, adaptive reuse, and low‑carbon adaptive reuse. Using One Click LCA and a cradle‑to‑grave boundary, the analysis quantifies Global Warming Potential (GWP) and biogenic carbon storage for each scenario and links outcomes to material choices, preservation constraints, and design strategies. Results indicate that adaptive reuse (retaining structural components and façade cladding) reduces embodied GWP by 44% relative to new construction, and that combining retention with low‑carbon material substitutions—engineered timber, optimized concrete mixes, recycled steel, and bio‑based insulation—in summary, biogenic materials and circular economy practices, can further lower emissions by 65% while increasing biogenic carbon storage. The low‑carbon adaptive reuse scenario approaches a net‑negative material balance over the assessed service life (50 years), functioning as a carbon sink rather than a carbon emitter. Pier 70 thus serves not only as a redevelopment project but also as a living laboratory that illustrates how heritage structures can be transformed into environmental assets that both avoid emissions and contribute to carbon sequestration. The findings advocate for embedding adaptive reuse within evaluation frameworks, planning incentives, and design standards across the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sectors. By shifting from demolition to reuse, the industry can honor the past while designing for a low-carbon future. The study concludes with recommendations for practice and policy to mainstream reuse as a central decarbonization strategy in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector.

This multidisciplinary initiative explores the potential of a site-built stress-skin panel, the Vaulted Insulated Metal Roof Panel (vIMRP), to facilitate low-cost residential roof assemblies. This paper complements full-scale construction of the proposed roof assembly with computational modeling and analysis of the structural and thermal efficacy of the system. The proposed vIMRP incorporates corrugated galvanized metal sheets as an exposed vaulted ceiling surface to increase the structural capacity of the panel and eliminate additional costs due to Finishing Trades. This paper presents two cycles of a recursive action research sequence that weave together faculty from the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and the School of Architecture. Findings from the research include key techniques in the sequence of construction, deflection tables, along with thermal insulation analysis and strategies for roof and eaves details.

Additive manufacturing (AM) of wood composites enables the reuse of sawdust, a byproduct of the wood industry, and offers potential reductions in construction-related carbon emissions, supporting a circular economy. Although material researchers have examined the material formulation of 3D printed wood, focusing on binder selection and mechanical characterization, there is a gap in exploring the design possibilities of 3D-printed wood. In contrast to traditional orthogonality of wood structures, this paper presents a systematic workflow for exploring topologically optimized (TO) structural wood-composite slabs for 3D printing, benchmarked against cross-laminated timber (CLT). Although the current mechanical properties of 3D printed wood are inferior to CLT, this study evaluates structural adequacy under present conditions and explores the role of TO in achieving material efficiency. To validate the simulation approach, we recreated the Gatty Wool Factory slab designed by Nervi in a CAD environment (Rhino) and analyzed its deformation and stress behavior in ANSYS, establishing a baseline for slab design and structural performance analysis. Next, a CLT slab was modeled using the same dimensions and boundary conditions as a benchmark. Methyl-cellulose (MC) was selected as the binder for the 3D printed wood-composite slab, and a set of topology-optimized wood-MC slabs was generated using the Topos plug-in in Grasshopper and evaluated in ANSYS. Several variants demonstrated structural performance comparable to the CLT benchmark. The lightest design has an average depth of 303mm, using almost twice the mass of CLT but less than half the material of an equivalent concrete slab. Its cradle-to-gate global warming potential (GWP) is estimated to be 1.3 times that of CLT and 0.45 times that of concrete, indicating that 3D-printed wood composites can provide a structurally viable and environmentally competitive alternative. This study contributes a validated methodology for linking material innovation, computational design, and structural benchmarking in support of sustainable construction.

Generative diffusion models have rapidly entered architectural practice, producing visually persuasive imagery through statistical inference over vast datasets. Yet these models remain fundamentally representational systems whose outputs frequently lack disciplinary specificity, tectonic logic, or environmental reasoning. This paper introduces a methodological framework for fine-tuning generative AI within architectural design workflows through curated datasets, Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) training, and Midjourney AI mood-boards. Rather than treating AI as a mere image generator, the research positions it as a specialized design collaborator trained through domain-specific visual knowledge. The study proposes a multi-scale generative workflow in which architectural design tasks are structured across four levels of spatial reasoning: material scale, modular unit scale, architectural element scale, and spatial system scale. At each stage, generative models are guided through curated datasets and fine-tuned models to ensure that AI outputs progressively transition from material articulation to spatial organization. The framework was implemented within an experimental elective course in architectural design, where students developed Midjourney mood-board datasets, trained LoRA models, and employed Midjourney-based generative processes to produce design artifacts across these scales. The pedagogical experiment demonstrates that fine-tuned generative AI can move beyond stylistic speculation toward structured design reasoning when guided through scale-aware workflows. The study contributes to emerging discourse on AI in architectural design by proposing a model of computational authorship grounded in dataset curation, model calibration, and multi-scale spatial reasoning, reframing the architect as an orchestrator of generative intelligence.

Deep Pixels presents a two-phase design research project that tests the use of generative AI for design ideation on building surfaces, particularly facades. This exploratory work asks how AI-generated images relate to the production of geometry that can be aligned with real buildings, rationalized, and translated into physical prototypes, with the goal of outlining how AI might contribute to a conceptual framework of facade tectonics.

Phase 1 focuses on 2D-to-3D translation through two methods that are directly compared. The first tests a NeRF and Gaussian splat point-cloud reconstruction pipeline capable of producing meshes from AI-generated video inputs. Although conceptually robust, this pipeline introduces frequent reconstruction instabilities such as irregular point densities, topological discontinuities, and view-dependent artifacts. The second method employs a direct image-to-mesh workflow using Midjourney for image generation and ComfyUI with Hunyuan 3D-2.0 for mesh synthesis. The comparative evaluation shows that the mesh-native workflow is more stable and computationally efficient and becomes the primary pipeline for further exploration.

Phase 2 applies these insights at the architectural scale, focusing on facade design. ChatGPT structures context-specific prompts that encode structural information, site conditions, and references to Detroit-based artists. These prompts are combined with elevation and section drawings in Midjourney to generate oriented facade images. Selected images are converted to meshes, registered to the building grid, panelized, thickened, and 3D-printed as sectional fragments, while attachment strategies are examined through exploded axonometric diagrams.

The results indicate that generative AI can serve as a meaningful collaborator in facade design when paired with mesh-native workflows, contextual prompts, and physical prototyping. As these tools advance and gain greater capacity to interpret multi-material assemblies, their collaborative potential will grow. The tested pipeline shows the potential for GenAI to contribute to facade design in ways that are both conceptually and materially coherent.

Current tools for AI-enabled urban design, including Digital Twins, smart-city dashboards, and sensor networks, often optimize infrastructure and predict risk. What they often miss is harder to quantify but decisive: the drainage path a neighborhood has managed informally for decades, the market that anchors a block’s economy, the ritual site that has no address. Henri Lefebvre called this the gap between conceived space, the abstract city of experts and models, and lived space, the city as people actually inhabit, remember, and sustain it (Lefebvre 1991).

This paper introduces the Cultural Twin (CT) to address that gap. The CT is a model in which community knowledge, including vernacular practices, informal systems, and cultural memory, carries equal authority in scenario generation alongside engineering performance targets. We call this civic-encoded design: community claims are formalized as constraints the generative system must respect, not suggestions it can ignore.

Methodologically, the CT proceeds in three steps. First, civic and cultural data are gathered via fieldwork: story pins, walk-alongs, mapping exercises, and oral histories. Second, this material is translated into a Conflict Ontology, a set of Boolean, boundary, and relational constraints that govern what the model may or may not propose. Third, an Assumption Ledger records data sources, interpretive decisions, and trade-offs so outputs remain contestable and revisable.

We demonstrate the logic through a flood-prone district vignette. A conventional Digital Twin tends toward levees, floodplain compaction, and relocation, reducing risk on paper while erasing informal systems communities depend on. CT scenarios pursue comparable risk reduction while keeping markets, ritual spaces, and local housing typologies intact. The difference is not better data, but whose knowledge counts as binding constraint. The CT scales not by exporting forms but by sharing translation protocols, constraint-encoding methods, and governance structures. What works in one context becomes a template, not a blueprint.

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry is undergoing a transformative shift with the integration of AI-supported computational co-design tools. These platforms foster real-time, cross-disciplinary collaboration among architects, engineers, fabricators, construction professionals, and clients, enabling early-stage design processes that account for spatial, regulatory, material, and social factors. As a result, design outcomes are becoming increasingly innovative, context-sensitive, and construction-ready. This study investigates the practical implementation of co-design methodologies across disciplinary boundaries within the AEC sector. Using a combination of contemporary case studies and survey data from AEC professionals, the research examines how computational platforms and generative modeling tools facilitate more accurate, integrated, and efficient design workflows. Key findings indicate that computational co-design frameworks have potential to improve project timelines, cost-efficiency, stakeholder communication, and overall design quality. The research also identifies a broader industry trend: a departure from traditional, siloed design models toward iterative, collaborative processes. In addition, the study addresses the pedagogical and institutional challenges of embedding co-design into design and construction education. It suggests that overcoming these barriers is essential for the future adoption of more sustainable, efficient, and human-centered design practices in the AEC industry.

The global demand for rapid, sustainable post-disaster housing requires solutions that leverage local resources like bamboo. While deployable bamboo structures offer resilience and flexibility, their design is complex and computationally expensive, often requiring hours of parametric simulation. This research presents a data-driven artificial intelligence (AI) surrogate model that replaces slow optimization with instantaneous prediction, democratizing access to safe design. To identify the optimal tool, we conducted a benchmark of three machine learning algorithms—Enhanced Neural Network, Random Forest, and XGBoost—across two datasets: a general design space and a specific architectural application case. The benchmark identified XGBoost as the optimal predictive engine. The results revealed a critical "Complexity Gap": while the general unconstrained model successfully predicted geometric properties, it struggled to capture structural safety (R² ≈ 0.72). However, by constraining the problem to a specific topology, the application model achieved a R² of 0.982 and a reliability index (a20) of 0.936. Furthermore, analysis of the optimization frontier revealed a beneficial conservative bias, where the AI consistently underestimates the safety of hyper-optimized designs, acting as an implicit safety buffer. These results confirm that an empirically-tested, typology-based AI tool can provide local builders with structural assessment in real-time.

Climate change has become a critical ecological and social issue in the twenty-first century, contributing to rising sea levels that increasingly endanger coastal cities around the world. In the United States, rising sea levels have increased the frequency and severity of flooding events, particularly in Gulf Coast cities such as Corpus Christi, Texas. The city of Corpus Christi currently has over 60% of its buildings at flood risk. Further, approximately 16% of the city’s area falls within the United States government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) special flood hazard area. There is a pressing need for flood-resilient architectural interventions for this city and several others that face a similar situation. This research study seeks to address this need by proposing a comprehensive research-backed set of guidelines that can be used for the design of flood-resilient buildings in the city. The process for the development of the guidelines involves several steps, including systematic reviews of the literature, critical analyses of previously completed flood-resilient buildings, and analyses of the city’s local vernacular architectural strategies. The newly developed guidelines are then subjected to a Delphi validation process, following which they are deployed in the design of a mock community center building for a site selected within the city. The building design is then tested for its resilience to flooding through a critical evaluation of the design solution relative to the design guidelines. While the proposed guidelines for the design of flood-resilient buildings are implemented in the city of Corpus Christi as part of this study, they offer adaptable solutions for similar coastal regions worldwide.

• Problem / Global Context
  In the face of global issues like climate change, cultural erasure, and material waste, architecture too often defaults to standardized, cost-driven solutions that ignore local identity and community voice. At the same time, the enormity of global challenges can obscure the power of small-scale, place-specific architectural work to generate meaningful, lasting change.
• Case Study
  This paper examines the adaptive reuse of a 100-year-old grain elevator and flour mill into housing in Livingston, Montana. Once abandoned and destined for demolition, the structure was reimagined through a collaborative effort between architect, builder, and local stakeholders. The project resisted templated models in favor of an iterative, community-centered approach that prioritized cultural resonance and long-term sustainability. The logistical and funding challenges were met not through off-the-shelf solutions, but through creative alignment of local resources, regulations, and partnerships.
• Framework
  Rather than promoting a replicable design product, the project offers a locally embedded design methodology rooted in critical regionalism, community collaboration, and respect for the existing built environment. This approach centers process over product, allowing architectural practice to become a responsive and regenerative act.
• Impact
  By preserving a culturally significant landmark and adapting it for contemporary use, the project demonstrates how architecture can support ecological, social, and cultural resilience. It challenges the notion that adaptive reuse is only viable in large urban centers or high-budget contexts.
• Model and Conclusion
  While the physical solution cannot be universally applied, the principles and processes behind it offer a model for other communities facing similar challenges. By treating design as a conversation between past and present, people and place, this work suggests that small-scale, deeply contextual interventions can serve as catalysts for broader global change.

This paper examines how computational design methodologies can meaningfully bridge global design frameworks and local architectural conditions in historic neighborhoods. While concepts such as critical regionalism, vernacular modernism, and high-style versus popular architecture have long framed debates on architectural hybridity, they offer limited means for systematically identifying or operationalizing hybrid design languages. To address this gap, the paper advances shape grammar as a methodological tool for analyzing and generating hybridity in contexts where heritage preservation intersects with contemporary urban development.

The study focuses on Duranguito, a historic neighborhood in El Paso, Texas, whose threatened demolition for a proposed arena ignited citywide activism and national attention. Building on previous work comparing architectural grammars, the research develops a composite grammar that integrates modernist principles with vernacular patterns documented in Duranguito’s building stock. The resulting methodology enables formal analysis, generation of design alternatives, and evaluation of how global design ideas can be adapted into site-specific interventions.

Beyond its theoretical contributions, the project functions as a pedagogical model that introduces undergraduate students to computational thinking, cultural analysis, and socio-political awareness. Ultimately, the paper argues that shape grammar offers a rigorous and culturally grounded approach for advancing local architectural futures while addressing global concerns of displacement, heritage loss, and environmental change.

ABSTRACT: We present an innovative pedagogical framework implemented in a college sophomore-level architecture design studio that combines podcasting, peer review workshopping, and visual storytelling to deepen engagement, collaboration, and intellectual development. The central inquiry guiding this study asks how a multimodal framework—combining voice, text, and image—can enhance reflective practice, collective learning, and conceptual rigor in architectural education. Positioned as a manifesto of action and discovery, the framework promotes an “in-between” mode of learning that operates across disciplines, media, and voices. Drawing on architecture, literature, and performance, the studio environment emphasizes narrative, conversation, and experimentation, redefining architectural education as a space for intellectual exploration, dialogic exchange, and collective learning. The methodology follows a repeating three-phase cycle applied to each of three major design projects over one semester. First, students create group podcasts as tools for brainstorming, critical inquiry, and self-reflection, encouraging them to think through sound and voice as generative design media. Second, these audio narratives function as prompts for in-class peer-review workshops, where students engage critically with one another’s written ideas, strengthening collaboration, empathy, and dialogic exchange. Third, students translate their reflections into hybrid visual narratives termed drawdels, a neologism adapted from sculpture that merges drawing and modeling. These representations synthesize spatial thinking with conceptual and narrative development. Repeating this cycle across projects enables students to iteratively deepen their reflective and representational capacities. The framework is evaluated through pre- and post-surveys. Results indicated higher levels of student engagement and reflection as compared to the baseline. Students reported improved communication and collaboration skills, heightened empathy through peer exchange, and increased ability to critically assess their design processes. By integrating accessible technologies and cyclical, multimodal practices into studio pedagogy, this framework offers a robust model for advancing reflective and collaborative learning in architectural design education.

Learning from precedents on ‘mapping’ in architecture, we saw the opportunity in mapping as a means to rethink and re-engage with the built environment in our city of Atlanta. Mapping as a way, method, and procedure for documenting built and natural environments, is a form of cognition of our surroundings. Further, we seek to explore intersections between ideas of mapping with techniques, tools and procedures. We set studios that inquired into the everyday built environment, one at the scale of buildings and the other at the urban level. These studios explored ways to map form, space, atmosphere, materiality, and activities, and to record visible and invisible aspects through intersecting and mashing up media and techniques of representation. These mapping process served not only as ways to describe forms of everyday Atlanta and relationships within it and with the world, but also, as a means to think designerly about the everyday. They were design speculations that act as re-readings of the built environment to open alternative conditions, to re-engage with locality, and to engage with locals and the global. This paper documents and analyzes the process and findings from our studios and reflects on the findings on the capacities of mapping in architectural design.

Architectural education is increasingly challenged to equip students with the digital and critical capacities needed for sustainable design. BIM has emerged as a central tool for visualization, coordination, and data-driven decision-making. However, its role in curricula often remains limited to software operation rather than conceptual engagement. This narrow focus restricts students’ ability to connect digital workflows with the experiential, ethical, and human-centered dimensions of design practice. This study reframes BIM as a strategic framework rather than a technical competency, advocating for pedagogical models that align BIM instruction with sustainability, interdisciplinary collaboration, and civic responsibility. It examines the ongoing disconnect between theoretical teaching and the practical application of BIM in sustainable design contexts. Using a mixed-methods approach, including a literature review, curriculum analysis, and surveys across multiple institutions, the research evaluates students’ understanding of BIM, identifies misconceptions, and assesses the effectiveness of current pedagogical strategies. Findings show that although students recognize BIM’s value for coordination and performance analysis, many lack awareness of its relevance to site-specific design, community engagement, and long-term environmental impact. This gap signals the need for instructional models that strengthen critical thinking and contextual application. The study recommends embedding BIM within site-based learning, interdisciplinary project-based studios, and real-world design challenges related to climate adaptation, urban resilience, and community development. Integrating sustainability metrics and experiential learning into digital workflows helps students perceive BIM as a tool for inquiry, ethical decision-making, and collaborative problem-solving. Such an approach not only improves technical fluency but also cultivates awareness of the social and environmental responsibilities of practice. Ultimately, the research supports a holistic curriculum model that bridges digital tools and human-centered design. By repositioning BIM as a medium for sustainable innovation, the study aims to prepare future designers and construction professionals to contribute thoughtfully and adaptively to a rapidly changing built environment.

The building sector is currently facing challenges in balancing decarbonization and occupant well-being. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a key player that addresses these challenges, providing digital intelligence across the entire life cycle of buildings. This paper introduces a scoping review, employing the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, to map 112 peer-reviewed publications from 2015 to March 2025. Based on the review, the applications of AI were categorized into three stages of the buildings’ life cycle: generative design, construction informatics, and operations using digital twins. The results of the review indicated the benefit of employing AI in the building design, construction, and operation phases. In the design stage, generative models could accelerate creative iteration, reduce simulation time, and optimize energy performance. In construction, computer-vision pipelines such as YOLOv5 decrease site-inspection labor by as much as 120 hours per month, while increasing accuracy sixfold compared to baseline approaches. Reinforcement-learning systems reduce idle crane energy consumption even more. In operation, AI-enabled digital twins achieve a median of 13% HVAC energy savings, enhancing predictive control, as well as improving indoor environmental quality and reducing mechanical downtime through predictive maintenance. Despite these advantages, some significant risks of using AI, such as privacy violations, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and algorithmic bias, remain understudied; less than 10% of the reviewed studies assessed either fairness or explainability in the AI use. This review proposes a four-pillar strategy for responsible AI deployment by ensuring: 1) life-cycle data continuity, 2) open benchmark datasets, 3) privacy-preserving edge analytics, and 4) government-supported "AI sandboxes". The results show that the use of AI can lead to smart buildings; however, for widespread and equitable implementation, strong governance, enhanced human-AI collaboration, and workforce development are essential.

By 2050, over two-thirds of the world's population is projected to live in urban areas, intensifying myriad interconnected global challenges that cities must urgently address. We simultaneously consider the critical needs for affordable housing in urban areas, combatting energy precarity and structuring energy independence, and creating a more livable environment by augmenting tree canopy. With this project we focus on three vectors: a) implementing additional and complementary sources of energy within existing housing complexes, b) focusing on small-scale built-environment wind turbines and c) investigating the intersection of the natural and the built environment by integrating microforests in the urban realm. This paper reports on the work undertaken by our interdisciplinary research group, of a case study on three large affordable housing towers on the northern edge of Cambridge, Massachusetts. We ask: What if, rather than relying on known and commercially developed renewable sources (solar panels), one would shift to provide additional and new sources of renewable energy? What if, by imagining a slow and steady transformation of open spaces, one could envision a more ecologically performant open space? By showing simulations, maps, GIS data, and hypothetical strategies to slowly and continuously act upon existing housing projects, the paper envisions a future in which a continuous reconfiguration, adaptation, and change can transform the urban scene towards a more equitable access to energy and housing. This experimental approach is intent on developing guidelines for adaptive reuse scenarios in more holistic ways, culminating in a kit of parts to communicate the findings of the project and demonstrate the possibilities of improving the built environment with a more expanded view of its intersection with the natural environment.

Gypsum is one of the most commonly used materials to date and is prevalent in architectural acoustics. This research includes a catalog of acoustic-based designs and fabrication strategies for unique gypsum wallboard surface finishes that can be incorporated into typical methods of construction. It explores the material properties of wallboard in folded configurations to enhance their sound scattering properties while also investigating physical material strategies for fabrication. It presents the resulting suitable geometries that satisfy acoustic and manufacturing goals. Overall, it focuses on an opportunistic research agenda centered around acoustic performance-driven design for alternative wallboard configurations and outlines the demonstrated workflow from modeling and digital simulation to full-scale prototyping as a way to build practical research applicable to the current building industry.

The River Arts District (RAD) in Asheville, North Carolina, embodies a layered narrative familiar to many postindustrial riverfronts: rail spurs, mills, and warehouses reimagined as studios and galleries, a creative economy flourishing on a vulnerable floodplain, and, most recently, hurricane driven flooding that exposed critical weaknesses in its aging fabric. By grounding global climate concerns in this single mile of riverbank, RAD offers an ideal laboratory for teaching how local architectural strategies can confront the global realities of climate change and resiliency planning.

This paper reports on an undergraduate fourth-year architecture studio that asked students to “rebuild with purpose.” Working onsite and in dialogue with neighborhood stakeholders, students devised interventions for a district wide plan that includes storm water management, flood adaptive retrofits, and public spaces that nurture the district’s creative identity while strengthening its climate resilience.

A targeted literature review anchored the design inquiry: The AIA Resiliency Design Toolkit guided technical decisions for elevating and phasing interventions; the Planning for Climate Resilience: City of Asheville Final Assessment Report supplied watershed, scale, risk, and equity metrics; and the City of Asheville Municipal Climate Action Plan articulated policy targets for carbon neutrality, green infrastructure, and environmental justice. By juxtaposing these documents with on the ground observation, students interrogated the gap between policy aspiration and built reality.

Outcomes include research portfolios containing risk assessments, policy translation matrices, and design prototypes delivered to city officials and community organizations. The portfolio demonstrates that small-scale, local architectural and sustainable actions can advance global goals.

By detailing this pedagogical model and its RAD-specific outcomes, the paper contributes to the ARCC discourse on Local Solutions for Global Issues. It offers a replicable framework for schools of architecture seeking to empower students to confront climate realities through place-based, heritage-sensitive, community-engaged design.

Climate-driven wildfires continue to intensify in severity, particularly in urban regions like Southern California. However, traditional fire risk communication tools often fail to earn public trust due to inaccessible design, non-transparent outputs, and a lack of contextual relevance. These limitations are particularly problematic in high-risk urban communities, where trust in technological tools depends on how clearly and locally relevant the information is presented. Neighborhoods such as Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, and Altadena in Los Angeles, CA face recurrent wildfire threats and exemplify these challenges. This study introduces a community-led approach for integrating AI into wildfire risk assessment using the Participatory AI Literacy and Explainability Integration (PALEI) framework. PALEI emphasizes early literacy building, value alignment, and participatory evaluation before any predictive model is deployed, prioritizing clarity, accessibility, and mutual learning between developers and residents. Early engagement findings indicate strong acceptance of visual, context-specific risk communication, favorable fairness perceptions across neighborhoods, and clear adoption interest, alongside privacy and data-security concerns that shape trust. Participants emphasized localized imagery, accessible explanations, neighborhood-specific mitigation guidance, and transparent communication of uncertainty. The intended outcome is a mobile app co-designed with users and local stakeholders that enables residents to scan visible property features and receive interpretable fire risk scores, along with customized recommendations. By embedding local context into the design, the tool becomes more than a technical interface: it serves as an everyday resource for risk awareness and preparedness. This study argues that user experience must be treated not as an afterthought but as a central element in ethical and effective AI deployment. By establishing a literacy-first, participatory foundation for AI design, the study provides a replicable pathway for applying the PALEI framework to other regions facing growing climate-related hazards.

Climate disruption, economic inequality, and resource insecurity are global crises that often feel too massive for meaningful grass-roots intervention. Despairing, we run to the arms of society’s most powerful, believing that their top-down approaches and monumental gestures will solve our problems and relieve our collective malaise. Unfortunately, their promises rarely have the desired effect, and the problems faced by society’s most vulnerable become more acute.

This paper proposes an alternative: guerrilla altruism, a grassroots architectural praxis that privileges modest, scalable, and community-embedded actions over heroic, monumental solutions. Founded upon the thinking embedded within ideological pedagogy, bricolage, collective intelligence, and insurgent organization, guerrilla altruism aims not to deliver objects but to co-create new tools, knowledge, and spatial opportunities that are rooted in the local realities they are designed to change.

Anchored by case studies in Bolivia, India, and South Africa, this paper demonstrates how these tactics can be used to foster agency, build resilience, and create sustained change. Ultimately, the research argues that the future of a just and sustainable world lies not in the spectacle of the monument, but in the power of small, distributed acts of care to empower society’s most vulnerable so that they might help articulate a more resilient address. In the process, the paper argues that through guerrilla altruism it is possible to reposition architecture as a distributed, participatory, and subversive force capable of offering much-needed change.