Recent progress in the EVA project: Evaluation of visionary architectural concepts - state of the art

Abstract

(no german abstract) This contribution reports on the progress in the EVA project. This project was started in 2017 based on past experiences made in the framework of workshops and design seminars at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Within these workshops, different concepts toward energyactive and reactive architectural concepts were conceived and realized into scale models. The major design goal is to provide a built structure that is able to adapt to different climate and usage patterns and can display dynamic behavior in response to stimuli from the surroundings and the occupants. To construct the designs into scale models, different supportive tools and techniques were deployed, such as numeric thermal building simulation, parametric design programming, micro-controllers and mechatronic systems among others. Moreover, a wide range of resources, such as biology, bionics, natural phenomena, and traditional architectural concepts, inspired the different designs and concepts. Partly, these concepts (e.g. the photosynthesis of algae plants) were integrated in the scale models and mockups. As such, the workshops and design seminars could be considered a success as challenging, and exciting designs were developed and engineered. However, the proof of concept in terms of real life implementation is missing. This gap will be bridged by the EVA project, which targets the evaluation of different concepts and the realization of the most promising project as a fully functional full-scale mock-up. Needless to say, the level of complexity increases by the scale: Aspects of structural and dynamic stability have to be considered, mechatronic elements have to be constructed, and intelligent and reliable building control methods have to be implemented. This paper describes the first phase of this project, which is the collection, description, and structured evaluation of a number of design studies from the past years. Thereby, it was decided not only to assess projects that were designed in the framework of the University of Applied Arts, but also to investigate similar design studies from professional and academic backgrounds worldwide. The contribution concludes with an outlook of the project's next steps.

This contribution reports on the progress in the EVA project. This project was started in 2017 based on past experiences made in the framework of workshops and design seminars at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Within these workshops, different concepts toward energyactive and reactive architectural concepts were conceived and realized into scale models. The major design goal is to provide a built structure that is able to adapt to different climate and usage patterns and can display dynamic behavior in response to stimuli from the surroundings and the occupants. To construct the designs into scale models, different supportive tools and techniques were deployed, such as numeric thermal building simulation, parametric design programming, micro-controllers and mechatronic systems among others. Moreover, a wide range of resources, such as biology, bionics, natural phenomena, and traditional architectural concepts, inspired the different designs and concepts. Partly, these concepts (e.g. the photosynthesis of algae plants) were integrated in the scale models and mockups. As such, the workshops and design seminars could be considered a success as challenging, and exciting designs were developed and engineered. However, the proof of concept in terms of real life implementation is missing. This gap will be bridged by the EVA project, which targets the evaluation of different concepts and the realization of the most promising project as a fully functional full-scale mock-up. Needless to say, the level of complexity increases by the scale: Aspects of structural and dynamic stability have to be considered, mechatronic elements have to be constructed, and intelligent and reliable building control methods have to be implemented. This paper describes the first phase of this project, which is the collection, description, and structured evaluation of a number of design studies from the past years. Thereby, it was decided not only to assess projects that were designed in the framework of the University of Applied Arts, but also to investigate similar design studies from professional and academic backgrounds worldwide. The contribution concludes with an outlook of the project's next steps.