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  |  Channel: Design Process

Generalizable surrogate model features to approximate stress in 3D trusses

As computational design space exploration methods become more common, designers need increasingly faster ways to accurately explore increasing vaster design spaces. Surrogate models, often constructed with Neural Networks (NN) are statistical approximations of domains that can return accurate enough answers at a fraction of the time needed to run simulation models. However, existing neural network... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Innovation Incubator, Research Journals

LEARNING THROUGH OSMOSIS: A Report on the Seattle Mentorship Program’s Pilot Session

Traditional mentorship can bridge the gap between industry experts and newcomers, however, time and commitment can be barriers to forming these relationships. In this article, we introduce an alternative approach to mentorship that links growing professionals with firm leaders for short-term shadowing opportunities that occur on an ongoing basis. Through observing the mentors’ actions, thought processes and decisions... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Innovation Incubator, Research Journals, Workplace

OUTSIDE IN: Influences of Indoor Plants on Psychological Well-Being and Memory Task Performance in a Workplace Setting

Although the benefits of nature exposure to human health are well documented, less is known about the psychological benefits of exposure to nature indoors. This study observed whether the addition of greenery to a workplace setting improved psychological well-being and performance of employees. A crossover study among 63 adults examined perceived psychological well-being and objective memory task performance... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Innovation Incubator, Material Performance, Research Journals

MATERIAL HEALTH AND TRANSPARENCY: Methods for Improved Integration with Design Process

Material health is important for every designer, no matter if we specify construction and building materials, finishes for interiors, or ancillary items like furniture and equipment. Information about products and various types of material properties, including their impacts on health, is becoming more prominent. However, lack of guidelines and potential tools that could help us access this... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Research Journals, Workplace

ACTIVATING THE WORKPLACE: The Impact of Active Workstations on Employee Effectiveness

Today’s workforce understands that sitting all day is not healthy. As a result, employees are increasingly requesting more opportunities for movement throughout the workday. Workplace design has evolved to address sedentary behavior through active workstations, which allow individuals to experience the benefits of movement and posture change while engaging in productive work. Research on the health impacts of... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Building Technology

White Paper: “Concrete apartment tower in Los Angeles reimagined in mass timber”

Article Published: Citation: Matthew Timmers, Andrew Tsay Jacobs, Concrete apartment tower in Los Angeles reimagined in mass timber, Engineering Structures, Available online 6 December 2017, ISSN 0141-0296, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2017.11.047. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141029617305497) Abstract: This study explores the seismic performance advantages and disadvantages of mass timber construction over reinforced concrete construction for high-rise buildings in high seismic regions. In... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Building Technology, Material Performance

Curbed: “Proposed 80-story wooden skyscraper may be a preview of tall timber future”

From Curbed’s article, “Proposed 80-story wooden skyscraper may be a preview of tall timber future”: “In a city lined with pathbreaking towers and skyscrapers, the River Beech project, if it comes to fruition, may earn its own chapter in the history of Chicago architectural marvels. That’s because this proposed 80-story tower, a joint research project between Cambridge... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Building Technology, Material Performance

Construction Dive: Interview with Andrew Tsay Jacobs

To learn more about how mass-timber construction will scale up, as well as to define what’s currently included in the purview of mass-timber construction for low-, mid- and high-rise projects, Construction Dive spoke with Andrew Tsay Jacobs, director of the Building Technology Lab at Perkins+Will and a member of the International Code Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Tall... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Design Process

Drylands Resilience Initiative (DRI)

FINAL_Latrobe Report_2017_opt Led by the Arid Lands Institute (ALI), the Drylands Resilience Initiative [DRI] brings together collaborators from design, science, and policy to envision and realize an abundant future in drylands. Our goal is to accelerate planning, design, and development that results in local, low-carbon water reserves in dry cities in the US West and around the world. With the support of the AIA College of Fellows 2015-2017 Latrobe Research Prize, DRI collaborators honed and tested Hazel, a powerful new digital design tool for optimizing the capture and reuse of stormwater.

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  |  Channel: Building Technology

Engineered Wood Construction: Using Robotic Fabrication Techniques to Create Carbon Negative and Low Embodied Energy Composite Wood Structural Elements

The 2017 Spring Perkins+Will Innovation Incubator project proposed to develop the next generation of net carbon negative, low embodied energy wood composite structural elements. The team created composite fibers composed of a bio-based thermosetting plastic and fiber additives (carbon, aramid, and two types of wood fiber), and evaluated their sustainability and began the process of... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Building Technology

Robotics for Thermoplastics

P+W researchers partnered with Autodesk BUILDSpace to use robot arms to stretch and manipulate molten plastic.  This project was a continuation of research performed at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London.   PROJECT TEAM: Soulaf Aburas, Phillip Ewing PROJECT DATE  December 2016   :