Interfacing Architectural Design and Industtry 4.0 concepts: A case study

Abstract

(no german version) This contribution describes a TU Wien teaching and research activity pertaining to the relationship between architectural design and Industry 4.0 concepts (such as intertwining ICT and production processes, digital modelling for prefabrication, etc.). Thereby, interdisciplinary student teams from the graduate programs Architecture and Building Science and Technology were given the task to develop and evaluate the performance of new façade solutions for the envelope retrofit of an existing building in Vienna. This building - situated in a prominent location at the Danube channel - can be considered to be a representative of reinforced concrete skeleton buildings of the 1950 - 1970 period. Buildings of this period, influenced in part by the rationalist paradigm, often provide good interior qualities. For instance, they display good daylight availability, given large window areas. Likewise, functional solutions benefit from simple configurations. However, other properties, such as the thermal performance of the original envelope, do not meet today´s standards. Given the strict rectangular and repetitive forms of both ground plan and envelope, such buildings appear to be good candidates for the application of industry 4.0 concepts for retrofit planning, such as parametric design, rapid prototyping and individualized prefabrication of façade elements. The majority of design concepts developed by the students participating in the course adopted these ideas. In this contribution, we illustrate some of the retrofit concepts developed in the framework of this design course and discuss their connection to industry 4.0 principles.

This contribution describes a TU Wien teaching and research activity pertaining to the relationship between architectural design and Industry 4.0 concepts (such as intertwining ICT and production processes, digital modelling for prefabrication, etc.). Thereby, interdisciplinary student teams from the graduate programs Architecture and Building Science and Technology were given the task to develop and evaluate the performance of new façade solutions for the envelope retrofit of an existing building in Vienna. This building - situated in a prominent location at the Danube channel - can be considered to be a representative of reinforced concrete skeleton buildings of the 1950 - 1970 period. Buildings of this period, influenced in part by the rationalist paradigm, often provide good interior qualities. For instance, they display good daylight availability, given large window areas. Likewise, functional solutions benefit from simple configurations. However, other properties, such as the thermal performance of the original envelope, do not meet today´s standards. Given the strict rectangular and repetitive forms of both ground plan and envelope, such buildings appear to be good candidates for the application of industry 4.0 concepts for retrofit planning, such as parametric design, rapid prototyping and individualized prefabrication of façade elements. The majority of design concepts developed by the students participating in the course adopted these ideas. In this contribution, we illustrate some of the retrofit concepts developed in the framework of this design course and discuss their connection to industry 4.0 principles.