Scholarly Works, School of Architecture + Design

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https://hdl.handle.net/10919/24310

Research articles, presentations, and other scholarship

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 125

Eye-Tracking and Visual Preference: Maybe Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder?
Miller, Patrick A. (MDPI, 2024-04-29)
The “Content-Identifying Methodology”, or CIM, is an approach developed by environmental psychologists Rachel and Stephen Kaplan to understand the landscape characteristics that people find visually attractive. The Kaplans did this by surveying people’s landscape preferences and then analyzing the preferences to develop sets of landscape scenes to which people reacted in a similar pattern. The underlying assumption is that a common stimulus or content exists in the photographs of a set responsible for the preference. However, identifying the common stimulus or content in each set or grouping of scenes and how it affects preference can still be challenging. Eye-tracking is a tool that can identify what the survey participants were looking at when indicating their preference for a landscape. This paper demonstrates how eye-tracking was used in two different landscape preference studies to identify the content important to people’s preferences and provide insights into how the content affected preference. Eye-tracking can help identify a common stimulus, help determine if the stimulus is a physical or spatial characteristic of the landscape, and show how the stimulus varies in different landscape contexts.
Reclamation through Extraction
Rosier, Shaun (2024-03-21)
Human-Centric Lighting Design: A Framework for Supporting Healthy Circadian Rhythm Grounded in Established Knowledge in Interior Spaces
Jalali, Mansoureh Sadat; Jones, James R.; Tural, Elif; Gibbons, Ronald B. (MDPI, 2024-04-17)
Over the past 300 years, scientific observations have revealed the significant influence of circadian rhythms on various human functions, including sleep, digestion, and immune system regulation. Access to natural daylight is crucial for maintaining these rhythms, but modern lifestyles often limit its availability. Despite its importance, there is a lack of a comprehensive design framework to assist designers. This study proposes an architectural design framework based on the review of literature, lighting-related codes and standards, and available design and analysis tools that guides the creation of lighting systems supporting healthy circadian rhythms. The framework outlines key decision-making stages, incorporates relevant knowledge, and promotes the integration of dynamic lighting techniques into building design. The proposed framework was presented to a group of design professionals as a focus group and their feedback on the relevance and usability of the tool was obtained through a survey (n = 10). By empowering designers with practical tools and processes, this research bridges the gap between scientific understanding and design implementation, ensuring informed decisions that positively impact human health. This research contributes to the ongoing pursuit of creating lighting environments that support healthy circadian rhythms and promote human well-being.
Finding the Potential in Lines: Faults, Horizons, and the City
Rosier, Shaun (2024-02-24)
Presentation of scholarly research at Virginia Tech's inaugural "Landscape First Symposium".
Encapsulated Masculine Dreams: The Cultural and Material Impermanence of the Nakagin Capsule Tower
Ishida, Aki ("Ion Mincu" University Press, Bucharest, 2023-03-15)
Work Activity Pattern and Collaboration Network: New Drivers for Workplace Space Planning and Design
Tagliaro, Chiara; Zhou, Yaoyi; Hua, Ying (Wiley, 2022-07-17)
Information about the users’ work activity patterns is essential for office space planning and the design of organizations. However, it is not clear yet what factors can be used for predicting work activities, especially at the group level. In this study, we found that work activity patterns of groups are associated with the workgroup’s job function and their location in the organizational collaboration networks. Two hypotheses were tested through a survey conducted on a sample of 188 managers from an Italian utility company. The participants were asked about (1) the percentage of time different groups (based on job function and demographic composition) spent doing individual, collaborative, and mobile work; and (2) how network connectivity affected individual versus group work. The results showed that workgroups with different job functions spent different percentages of time on individual, mobile, and teamwork. Communication network connectivity is not significantly correlated with the amount of time spent on individual work, but statistical evidence confirmed that it plays an essential role for the assessment of the amount of work time spent on teamwork, even more than job functions. By investigating the factors affecting collaborations between groups, we advanced the research on work activity in large companies in order to complement existing studies that mostly addressed work activity patterns at the individual level. How information about collaboration networks can be utilized for space planning and flexible work arrangement policy-making is also discussed, in light of the changes that the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered.
Social Network Analysis: Studying Social Interactions and Relations in the Workplace
Zhou, Yaoyi (Routledge, 2023-09-14)
Sensation and the Sublime: Revisiting the physiological basis of aesthetic encounter
Rosier, Shaun (University of Wisconsin Press, 2024)
The sublime has always been a part of Western landscape architectural discourse and design technique. Both emerged in tandem as entwined forms of experimentation with the world in 18th and 19th-century Europe. Encounters with the sublime were subjects of intense interrogation through oration, prose, poetry, philosophical inquiry, and design itself. Even though landscape architecture is deeply enmeshed with the sublime and other aesthetic encounters, the overall understanding and engagement with these notions have become hindered by cliché, generalities, and a socio-cultural trend toward the technoscientific. The reliance on Immanuel Kant’s theories of the ‘mathematical’ and ‘dynamic’ sublime has reduced the sublime to little more than Reason rescuing the subject from a failure in aesthetic synthesis or an expression of natural power. Here, aesthetic encounters are relegated to an interior subjectivity reinforced by Descartes’ dualism. This is problematic in the sense that it relegates the sublime to something that can be written off as ‘merely subjective'. Yet this is not how it was understood by the early writers on the matter, some of whom developed their thoughts from designing. This paper argues that the sublime is a physiological force as opposed to the generally held, and clichéd, psychological modality. By returning to the work of Edmund Burke, Thomas Whately, Uvedale Price, and Frederick Law Olmsted we can see that those looking at this problem afresh saw it markedly different than the contemporary canon. Here we will see that the sublime affirms the power of landscape illuminating what escapes reason’s grasp.
A Study Of Dynamic Forces Due To Human Movement On Stairs
Baishya, Ronit; Setareh, Mehdi (2022-12-30)
In recent times there has been an improvement in computerized analysis and design of structures which have resulted in longer span and lightweight structures. The structures are strong enough to carry loads but due to their lightness and slenderness, they are more susceptible to vibration due to human movements. Structural engineers need to address the vibration issue and find the underlying reason and to solve or reduce the issue with knowledge and experience. The main objective of this research is to define the dynamic forces due to human movement on stairs. The data was the measurements of ground reaction forces (GRF) from several individuals ascending and descending a prototype rigid stair located at the Virginia Tech Vibration Testing Laboratory using an instrumented force plate to measure the exerted forces. The weight of each individual was also measured by the same force plate. Considering the periodicity of human excitation force, the Fourier Series parameters (Fourier Coefficients or Dynamic Load Factor (DLF) and corresponding phase angles) of the measured forcing functions were computed. Relationships between the DLFs and their associated phase angles as a function of the step frequencies were established.
Understanding product hibernation periods with children's products and exploring motivations for product care to encourage their reuse
Choi, Yoon Jung; Kennedy, Brook (Aalto University, 2023-10-02)
The phenomenon of product hibernation, namely the process by which end-of-use products are kept but no longer used is a common and significant barrier to prolonging product lifespans within a circular economy. Obsolete products challenge users' decision-making process for the after-use phase and are often discarded despite being perfectly functional. Especially in households with growing children, where children’s products are outgrown but not discarded, product hibernation is the result. This paper presents the survey findings of 157 hibernating children’s products, and interviews with ten families with growing children in the UK who have moved house, exploring product ownership, reasons for product hibernation, and the various barriers for their reuse. Understanding owners’ product care motivation for re-recognizing their value and providing choices to reuse the children’s products is vital to reduce product hibernation. Further, a workshop was conducted to explore the owners’ reuse experience of with their children’s products and the factors affecting their consistent caring process which aim to encourage people to reuse these products more. Through an idea generation process, nine influential factors were identified that suggest opportunities to change users' perception of the value of the end-of-use and care for these products. This paper makes an original contribution to product reuse knowledge with the development of a framework for understanding reuse motivations and barriers through the lens of care.
Effects of Air Exchange Rate on VOCs and Odor Emission from PVC Veneered Plywood Used in Indoor Built Environment
Ge, Mengting; Zheng, Yongli; Zhu, Yifanzi; Ge, Jintian; Zhang, Qin (MDPI, 2023-09-14)
As people spend more than 80% of the day in an indoor built environment, indoor air quality pollution caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from wood-based panels has attracted attention. PVC veneered plywood used in the indoor built environment and relevant VOCs and odor emission under different air exchange rates were studied in this research. Microcell thermal extraction technology was used to sample under the conditions of three different air exchange rates and loading factors: 0.2 m³·h⁻¹·m⁻², 0.5 m³·h⁻¹·m⁻², and 1.0 m³·h⁻¹·m⁻², respectively. Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS-O) was used to analyze VOCs and their odor release characteristics. The key odor characteristic compounds were analyzed by subjective and objective methods, and the main sources of odor release from the board were analyzed. In this experiment, the time-intensity method is mainly used to analyze the mass concentration of VOCs released from plywood. By comparing the mass concentration and odor intensity of VOCs released from plywood and its components under different air exchange rates and loading factors, the influence of the ratio of air exchange rate to loading factor on plywood is judged. The results show that with three different ratios of air exchange rate to loading factor, the VOCs emission concentration and odor intensity of plywood can be affected greatly and are the highest at 0.2 m³·h⁻¹·m⁻². The components released by PVC veneered plywood are mainly aromatic compounds, alkanes and aldehydes. The research findings can guide the indoor built environment design and construction process to control the emission of VOCs by adjusting the air exchange rate, which helps build more healthy and sustainable living environments for humans.
Quantifying Sustainability and Landscape Performance: A Smart Devices Assisted Alternative Framework
Shen, Zhongzhe; Peng, Xingjian; Du, Chenlong; Kim, Mintai (MDPI, 2023-09-04)
This research investigates gaps in current methods and tools in landscape performance research and presents a smart device-assisted alternative framework for performance assessment. Against the background of increasing attention to sustainability, landscape performance has emerged as a novel research focus on sustainability, with the objective of precisely quantifying sustainable performance. However, certain shortcomings persist within this field. This research conducts a comprehensive review of pertinent literature and analyzes deeply the performance metrics and case studies cataloged by the Landscape Performance Series (LPS). Additionally, an examination of quantitative tools is undertaken by surveys. The study finds several issues in current landscape performance research: imbalance development, inconsistent methods, one-time measurement, insufficient tools, and inaccurate and unreliable quantified results. Based on the advantages of smart devices in gathering sustainable data and previous research results, this research presents an alternate framework for conducting landscape performance research, which incorporates smart devices. In addition, it presents a set of recommendations for advancing research on landscape performance. This study could contribute to improving the diversity and accuracy of landscape performance quantification and contribute to future performance research. It assists in the refinement of landscape performance research and the achievement of sustainable development goals.
Identifying Factors for Designing a Successful Interactive Telemedical Training System for Remote Pediatric Physical Exams
Morshedzadeh, Elham; Muelenaer, Andre; Morris, Michelle; Werlich, Dana; Nelson, Margaret (Cumulus Association, 2021)
During the 2020 pandemic, telemedical consultation became a core tool for continuous access to healthcare. However, the skills required of medical teams to provide pediatric healthcare through telehealth are new and undeveloped. To address these issues, our pilot study focused on the interaction between the nurse, patient, and provider with telehealth technology. This study sought to provide evidence that training protocols for operation of a telemedicine system such as a telemedicine cart and its corresponding attachments are highly effective. Based on our results, users (nurse and provider) need to be familiar with the functions of the cart and its components. This suggests that an interactive training system consisting of hands-on learning and augmented reality can elevate a pediatric telemedicine visit, from a video call to a comprehensive physical exam. This research received a “Pilot Translational and Clinical Studies Program” grant from the US National Institutes of Health in October 2020.
Examining the Microclimate Pattern and Related Spatial Perception of the Urban Stormwater Management Landscape: The Case of Rain Gardens
Ge, Mengting; Huang, Yang; Zhu, Yifanzi; Kim, Mintai; Cui, Xiaolei (MDPI, 2023-07-12)
This study examines the microclimate pattern and related spatial perception of urban green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and the stormwater management landscape, using rain gardens as a case study. It investigates the relationship between different rain garden design factors, such as scale, depth, and planting design, and their effects on microclimate patterns and human spatial perception. Taking an area in Blacksburg, Virginia, as the study site, twelve rain garden design scenarios are generated by combining different design factors. The potential air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed/direction are analyzed through computational simulation. Additionally, feelings of comfort, the visual beauty of the landscape, and the overall favorite are used as an evaluation index to investigate people’s perception of various rain garden design options. The study found that a multilayer and complex planting design can add more areas with moderate temperature and higher humidity. It also significantly improves people’s subjective perception of a rain garden. Furthermore, a larger scale rain garden can make people feel more comfortable and improve the visual beauty of the landscape, highlighting the importance of designing larger and recreational bioretention cells in GSI systems. Regarding depth, a relatively flatter rain garden with a complex planting design can bring stronger air flow and achieve better visual comfort and visual beauty. Overall, by examining the microclimate pattern and related perception of rain gardens, this study provides insight into better rain garden design strategies for the urban stormwater management landscape. It explores the potential of rain garden design in urban GSI and responds to climate change.
Examine an Intelligence Education Framework of Landscape Architecture (EFLA) Based on Network Model of Technology in Landscape Architecture (NMTLA)
Ge, Mengting; Kong, Jie; Yang, Qiuyi; Chen, Mingze; Wang, Wenji (MDPI, 2023-07-19)
The discipline of Landscape Architecture (LA) is currently expanding its disciplinary boundary. The supporting Technology in LA (TLA) is always evolving and optimized to solve environmental problems. Considering the uncertain classification of the current LA knowledge for education and the importance of technology in LA education, a refined education framework of LA is needed. This research first established a Network Model of Technology in LA (NMTLA) using Network Analysis (NA) and expert interviews. Then, this research proposed an Education Framework of LA (EFLA) based on the NMTLA. To build the NMTLA, this research identified 23 key categories of TLA through content analysis of secondary research. Then, the expert interview and network theory were used to analyze and visualize the relationships among the categories. By examining the degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality of different TLA, this study developed an EFLA which summarizes the twenty-three categories of TLA into four domains: core techniques, applied technologies, integrated technologies, and specific technologies. This study also proposes a series of suggestions for how to apply different categories of TLA in today’s and future LA education. The proposed NMTLA and EFLA in this research can contribute to the development of future LA higher education. They also can potentially address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in LA education and industry. However, the scope of this study is currently limited to LA education in the USA, which could be expanded to include a worldwide perspective in future research. To enhance the validity of the conclusions, a larger sample size for interviews should be employed in further studies.
A Discrete Choice Experiment to Elicit People’s Preferences for Semi-Arid Riparian Corridors: A Multinomial Logit Model
Bogis, Abdulmueen; Kim, Mintai (2023-05)
The aim of this study is to examine public preferences for urban riparian corridors in arid regions using simulation and visual quality analysis scenarios. Ecological landscapes are often subject to trade-offs with aesthetic landscapes that include micro and macro environmental factors such as manicured landscapes. It is suggested that there is a preference for aesthetics in landscape design; however, it is unclear how laypeople prioritize aesthetics over different ecological factors in landscape scenes. This study uses a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) to elicit the preferences of current or former residents of Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia, for multiple landscape scenes. The method combines ecological landscape characteristics (adopted from the QBR index) found in the study area in Jeddah and aesthetic characteristics commonly suggested in landscape design projects. Participants in this study were exposed to a set of illustrated landscape scenes, including various aesthetic and ecological elements configurations. Participants’ choices revealed the influence of their ecological and aesthetic values. Results show that people may prefer unmaintained ecological landscapes if minimal design interventions were provided. This will prevent trading off the ecological unmaintained landscape with aesthetically maintained landscapes within the study area. This study will help researchers and landscape architects advance visual preference research further into the domain of empirical studies. It presents a new powerful technique to elicit the preference of an individual element in landscape scenes, which improves the precision of community-based decision-making.
How Virtual Reality Renderings Impact Scale and Distance Perception Compared to Traditional Representation
Ge, Mengting; Huang, Yang; Kim, Mintai (Wichmann Verlag, 2023-05)
Spatial scale and distance are essential attributes of physical space in landscape design. Individuals’ perceptions of spatial scale and distance reflect how well they understand a space, and decides how they design the space. This research studies how scale and distance perception in landscape design projects using Virtual Reality (VR) renderings can differ from traditional design representations. This study examines perception of space using three design representation methods: VR simple 3D model, VR realistic rendered model, and traditional representation with the illustrative plan. Fifty-four individuals with design education and practice experience participate in this research. Participants were divided into 3 groups, and every group used one design representation method to estimate the spatial scale of selected space and distance to selected objects. Participants’ perceptions are investigated through survey and statistically analysed. This research enriches VR-related studies from the perspective of spatial perception and awareness. It inspires diverse possibilities of future design representation in the design industry and education.
Longitudinal Water Pollution Monitoring and Retention Pond Capacity Assessment Using Smart Devices
Shen, Zhongzhe; Kim, Mintai (Wichmann Verlag, 2023-05)
This study experiment uses low-cost smart devices to longitudinally monitor the level of common water pollutants, such as electrical conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS), in a retention pond, and assess and quantify a retention pond's capacity for pollution reduction. Landscape performance (LAP) is an important and emerging topic that quantifies the impacts of design practices and helps to improve future designs. Although previous research has suggested that retention ponds can aid in cleaning surface runoff before water is discharged into downstream systems, most of this research has been theoretical, with few studies measuring the water cleaning capacity of retention ponds. In this study, the research team installs several smart devices with various sensors at each inlet and outlet of the retention pond water system. Environmental data is collected continuously and can be accessed by researchers at any time through an SD storage card. This research presents an alternative way for professionals to evaluate water quality and provides a method for quantifying a retention pond's pollution reduction ability. The results of this study can potentially improve the existing environmental performance monitoring system, provide evidence-based data to guide future retention pond projects, and serve as a reference for landscape teaching to enhance the competence of future environmental professionals.
Hierarchical Structures, Computational Design, and Digital 3D Printing
Borunda, Luis R.; Anaya, Jesús (International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, 2022-12)
Current advances in construction automation, especially in large-scale additive manufacturing, highlight the vast potential for robots in architecture. Robotic construction is unique in its potential to reproduce highly complex structures. To advance the question of how rapid prototyping techniques are adopted in large-scale 3D printing of forms and structures, this paper presents computational methods for the design and robotic construction of cellular membranes. This research presents a comprehensive morphological model of structurally differentiated cellular membranes based on the theoretical biology model of hierarchical structures found in natural cellular solids, and, more specifically, in trabecular bone. The morphological model originates from a system of forces in equilibrium; therefore, it presents the geometric homology of a static tensional system. This research offers a methodology for the design and manufacture of meso- to large-scale triangulated geometric configurations by discrete design methods that are suitable for the robotic fused deposition of lattices and their architectural implementation in the automated manufacturing of shell structures. First, this paper explores how a form can be digitally created by geometrically emulating a given static system of forces in space. Second, inspired by the complex mechanical behavior of cancellous bone, we apply hierarchical principles found in bone remodeling to characterize discrete units that conform to continuous trabecular-like lattices. We study the geometry, limitations, opportunities for optimization, and mechanical characteristics of the lattice. The computational design methods and additive manufacturing techniques are tested in the design and construction hierarchical structures.
Geppetteau: Enabling haptic perceptions of virtual fluids in various vessel profiles using a string-driven haptic interface
Sagheb, Shahabedin; Liu, Frank Wencheng; Vuong, Alex; Dai, Shiling; Wirjadi, Ryan; Bao, Yueming; Likamwa, Robert (ACM, 2023-02-26)
What we feel from handling liquids in vessels produces unmistakably fuid tactile sensations. These stimulate essential perceptions in home, laboratory, or industrial contexts. Feeling fuid interactions from virtual fuids would similarly enrich experiences in virtual reality. We introduce Geppetteau, a novel string-driven weight shifting mechanism capable of providing perceivable tactile sensations of handling virtual liquids within a variety of vessel shapes. These mechanisms widen the range of augmentable shapes beyond the state-of-the-art of existing mechanical systems. In this work, Geppetteau is integrated into conical, spherical, cylindrical, and cuboid shaped vessels. Variations of these shapes are often used for fuid containers in our day-to-day. We studied the efectiveness of Geppetteau in simulating fne and coarse-grained tactile sensations of virtual liquids across three user studies. Participants found Geppetteau successful in providing congruent physical sensations of handling virtual liquids in a variety of physical vessel shapes and virtual liquid volumes and viscosities.

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