School of Architecture Symposia

Series

School of Architecture Symposia

Permanent Link

https://hdl.handle.net/1853/70955

Series Type

Event Series

Associated Organization(s)

Organizational Unit

College of Design

Organizational Unit

School of Architecture

Full item page

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 91

Grey-box Modeling to Evaluate Heat Loss in Mongolian Ger

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03) Hakkarainen, Max

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, is currently facing an unprecedented air pollution crisis. The main cause of this is residents of ger (or “yurt” in Russian) burning solid fuels for domestic heating during the winter. To combat this problem, the Ger of the 21st Century project was launched with the goal of decreasing the amount of energy required for domestic heating in ger. As part of that project, several interventions were designed to target the specific pathways of heat loss in ger. In the fall of 2018, six unoccupied test ger were constructed on a ranch near Ulaanbaatar to test these interventions. Each of these ger was fitted with a package of thermal monitoring equipment and heated for the 2018–2019 winter heating season. A lumped-sum thermal model was developed to describe the anticipated pathways of heat loss within ger, namely conduction through the building envelope, air infiltration, conduction through the edge of the floor, and conduction to the ground. The log-normalized extended Kalman filter (LNEKF) was then used to simultaneously estimate the thermal state of the ger and the parameters of the thermal model. The converged parameters were used to estimate the heat loss to each of the previously mentioned pathways. Based on this analysis, it was concluded that conduction through the building envelope accounted for 53.9 percent of all heat loss in ger and adding an additional layer of horsehair felt insulation to the ger envelope was shown to decrease the thermal transmittance of the ger envelope by 43 percent. Additionally, conduction at the floor edge accounted for 26.6 percent of all heat loss in the ger. None of the tested interventions targeted that pathway of heat loss. While conduction from the floor to the ground accounted for 16.7 percent of the heat loss in the ger, the four types of floor interventions tested in this study did not appear to have a meaningful impact on the thermal transmittance between the floor and the ground. Finally, air infiltration accounted for a negligible amount of heat loss in the ger (0.183 percent), and the interventions to decrease air infiltration appear to have been ineffective. However, there still appears to be significant amounts of unaccounted for heat loss in the model for some of the ger. Future development of these models could yield higher fidelity results.
Building Belonging: Archives and Architecture as Means for Black Reparation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03) Lubitz, Adam

The photograph and the drawn map as media offer us an ability to travel through time: by their very nature as objects that look into history, but also as a means for informing the future. While typically employed as a before-and-after comparative tool, even as a triumphalist statement of how the present is built from what was previously mere speculative design, a photograph can also capture a fleeting, exact moment of disaster or immediate change, and in doing so provide evidence of a specific and systemic crime thats been committed. Using an analysis of the photograph and the map as “tangible” heritage objects, or remnants in lieu of extant, let alone in-situ built fabric, this paper seeks to examine the various means of telling the more complete story of the mid-20th century Black beach communities in Santa Monica, California, as a means toward potential reparations. Taken as an initial case study, this location has been selected because of contemporary conversation regarding Black reparations in California. In doing so, this paper contests conventional heritage practices with regards to the necessity of these long-overdue reparations for displaced communities. By using some of the few documents available to overcome the deficiency of the archive in such histories, this paper sheds light on these communities who lost their homes during what was claimed to be a slum clearance.
"Fellow Travelers": Professionals, Surveillance, and Social Architecture in Postwar America

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03) Giannakopoulou Karamouzi, Iris

This paper examines the surveillance of architectural professionals during the McCarthy era in the United States and explores how the heightened political suspicion of the period influenced their lives and architectural endeavors. In the late 1940s and 1950s, a political consensus that equated Americanism with militant anti-communism dominated all aspects of American life. Amidst this climate, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) intensified its investigation of American citizens involved in what the agency considered “subversive activities,” including many prominent figures of mid-century Southern Californian modernism, such as Gregory Ain, Rudolph Schindler, Richard Neutra, Robert Evans Alexander, and Garett Eckbo. Focusing on the experiences of Gregory Ain, this paper raises critical questions about the classification of these architects as subversive, extending beyond their political activism. Drawing from declassified FBI files and other historical archives, such as the California House Un-American Activities Committee records, this paper reveals discernible patterns among these professionals. Architects under surveillance were more than “fellow travelers” in political terms; they were interconnected through professional associations, shared architectural interests and concerns, and mutual attitudes toward architecture’s social significance. This paper also investigates the Community Homes project, a cooperative housing initiative designed by Ain that advocated racial integration and progressive design principles, which drew the attention of the FBI. Relevant records indicate concerns about the political nature of the project and its allegedly communist connections. The implications of this research extend beyond the specific architects under surveillance. It argues that their surveillance served as a form of censorship, stifling their socially conscious voices and progressive architectural visions, with enduring repercussions that shaped the history of urban and housing development in Southern California. Understanding the complete scope of the perceived risks associated with these professionals is indispensable for a comprehensive grasp of the intricate interplay between architecture and politics in the early Cold War.
Impacts of Mobile Computing on Construction Management: A Comprehensive Exploration

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03) Olaonipekun Toyin, James

Two decades ago, technologies that promoted information management and communication in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry started receiving significant attention and improvement. Evidence for the impact of this improved management system was seen in the transformed design approach, coordination among the stakeholders, redefined construction cost, and timely project delivery by using building information modeling (BIM), cloud computing, and robotics, among others, as compared to the traditional method of design and construction. Recently, there has been high interest in the adoption of mobile computing in the construction industry. Although there is abundant empirical literature on mobile computing adoption in construction, a critical research gap exists regarding the current trend and impact of this state-of-the-art technology in the construction phase. This study addresses this gap by investigating how mobile computing, as part of information and communication technologies (ICTs), is revolutionizing construction site management by drawing insights from published empirical studies and conducting bibliometric analyses from 2005 to 2023. We found that there have been various attempts to develop models and road maps to select the right mobile app for construction management. The major focus was on the use of mobile computing for construction worker safety, material monitoring, and quality control. This study adds valuable insights to the understanding of the evolving dynamics between mobile computing and construction management and proposes an improved framework for mobile application selection in the construction industry. These findings provide broader insight into the evolutionary trends of mobile computing in the construction industry. In addition, the findings will inform researchers, academia, and developers of the latest updates on mobile computing capacity for the AEC industry and the importance of adopting mobile computing in construction management.
Divergence in Architectural Research: Proceeding Book of ConCave Ph.D. Symposium 2024

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03)

This third volume of Divergence in Architectural Research brings together twenty-three illuminating papers from the latest international ConCave Ph.D. Symposium. This symposium was organized by the ConCave Ph.D. student group with the support of the School of Architecture and the College of Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology and took place in Atlanta on April 4th and 5th, 2024. The third ConCave Ph.D. Symposium “Divergence in Architectural Research” aimed to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration among students and disciplines. It invited scholars and doctoral students from architecture and related fields to share their pioneering research. It aimed to create a supportive environment conducive to constructive feedback which would provide participants with valuable insights to refine their ideas and advance their doctoral research. Ideas discussed during the ConCave symposium focused on the concept of divergence in architectural research. This concept represents the agency for expanding the disciplinary boundaries of architecture and cultivating new fields of knowledge emerging from within the architectural domain. We argue that architecture serves as a nexus of various fields and that acknowledging its inherent ambiguity allows for transformative connections between different epistemological frameworks. Embracing diverse methodologies and learning to read different perspectives prepare scholars to contribute richly across a spectrum of intellectual landscapes.
Biophilic Tactical Urbanism: Experiments Between Temporary Architecture And Multispecies Design

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03) Barnes, James

Tactical urbanism, the activation of public space through temporary interventions, has emerged as a common design strategy to promote longer-term positive shifts in the planning and formation of public spaces. The practice is typically positioned toward improving the human condition. This paper investigates how tactical urbanism might be expanded to a multispecies, “more-than-human” lens. How might tactical urbanism intersect with biodiversity in novel, scalable, and measurable ways to promote more sustainable, multispecies futures in the built environment? The term biophilic tactical urbanism is proposed as a design strategy and explored through 1:1 scale investigations and research experiments using a design science framework. This culminated in the development of a tactical urbanism system for plant ecologies: a low-cost, mobile, modular planter system for rapid deployment of biodiversity into new contexts. Five different design geometry/plant ecology concepts were developed, representing a range of biodiversity and programmatic opportunities. The intervention was deployed in the context of a public elementary school parking lot in the Mid-Atlantic US. This paper describes the results of this work on surrounding ecological systems, including invertebrates like bees and butterflies, as a metric of multispecies impact. Additionally, the intervention’s effect on urban heat were examined. Results indicate that temporary ecology can have a significant effect on the broader nature of public spaces, even at small spatial and temporal scales.
Assessing Affordable Housing Adequacy on the Atlanta Beltline

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03) Ahn, Jungho

The Atlanta BeltLine has attracted public concern over gentrification. The City of Atlanta plans to mitigate gentrification and displacement of low-income population with affordable housing. One of Atlanta’s policies is an inclusionary zoning ordinance. This study aims to identify the adequacy of inclusionary zoning to add new affordable housing in Atlanta. The study is based on the proposition that it is preferable for affordable housing to be located near neighborhoods that are gentrifying or vulnerable to gentrification to reduce the social cost of relocation. To understand the relationship between gentrification and affordable housing in Atlanta, we developed a system to identify the gentrification stage using the ordinary least squares regression analysis. The results showed that the number of census tracts under influence of gentrification increased over time. This aligned with results of previous studies and the public concern over the expansion and intensification of gentrification in Atlanta in recent years. The BeltLine has played a critical role for this change. Moreover, the location of city’s affordable housing did not show any significant relationship with neighborhoods that are gentrifying or vulnerable to gentrification, demonstrating in turn that Atlanta’s policy to add new affordable housing fails to pursue the public good and mitigate gentrification by reducing the cost of relocation for displaced populations. The study concludes that supplementary policies are required to protect susceptible populations from gentrification.
Food Access and Urban Rights in Us Cities: Implications on Urban Design and Planning

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03) Sanyal, Tithi

For decades, US cities have been characterized by uneven access to physical and social infrastructures. These issues raise questions about the rights to urban life for people living, working, and commuting in these cities. Consequently, the fields of Urban Design and Urban and Environmental Planning have debated the ideas of “access” and “rights.” These terms are often used to validate design proposals, zoning laws, building codes, and policies. The meanings and implications of these terms have often remained unstated or elusive in these undertakings. This article parses the differences between access and rights in relation to urban food access and rights to food. By analyzing these terms, this article questions the complex notion of “The Right to the City” and its implications for urban design and planning research. This article demonstrates that the study of food access and rights is about addressing questions of exclusions rather than inclusion, deciphering the role of urban design and planning to address access, and speculating on how rights to quality urban life can be advanced. This article argues that urban design and planning as fields of knowledge have surpassed interdisciplinarity and are transitioning into transdisciplinary fields of knowledge.
Picturing Iranian Modernity: A Modernist Architecture Journal of the Pahlavi Dynasty

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03) Jorshari, Houman Riazi

Following the modernization process in Iran started by Reza Shah (1925–1941), Mohammad Reza Shah (1941–1979), his reformist son, began institutionalizing professions and establishing associations, including the Association of Iranian Graduate Architects (AIGA) in 1945 and the Association of Iranian Architects (AIA) circa 1968. The desire for mass communication and administrative organization on a national level led each association to publish its architectural journal. Considering this historical background and looking at the reciprocal relationship between the colonizer and the colonized, this paper takes up the notion of reciprocal gaze in colonial studies to better understand the role of modernity in the architectural context of Iran during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah. Starting with problematizing the notion of the World Picture and taking distance from Edward Said’s East-West binary, this paper focuses instead on the heterogeneity of the spectrum between these binary models rather than the oversimplified and generalized categorization of the colonizer as the dominant and the colonized as the passive subject. In this way, the in-betweenness acknowledges the complexities of power dynamics and makes it possible to think about other forms of power. Following this line of thought, this paper invites a close reading of the only all-English issue of the architecture journal Honar va Me’māri, published in 1973, to demonstrate the double concern of Iranian architects about seeing and being seen on the international stage. More than just a publication, Honar va Me’māri, a journal established by young architects, became the site for exploring the space between tradition and modernity, old and new, and the state’s ideology of making a new nation and their own avant-garde practice.
Deep Neural Archives: Artificially Augmented Design in Historic Environments

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2025-03) Katsangelou, Smaro

Physical architecture archives have been an integral part of architectural practice since the nineteenth century. In Northern Greece, the historic center of Thessaloniki was destroyed by a fire in 1917. This event resulted in a vast urban regeneration plan and process that called for quick and efficient reconstruction of the city. The architecture archive left behind documenting the dynamic and rapid development of the city has been explored and analyzed by architecture historians for many decades. Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, and specifically in deep neural networks, have paved the way for exploring this data under a new, artificially augmented light. One can theorize that archives constitute the predecessors of big data, as they were used by humans to store and safeguard information of importance. The architecture archive of Thessaloniki’s historic center is used in this research as a dataset for generative AI algorithms to explore the latent space of the city’s architectural style and vocabulary. Urban design policies and legislation introduced in the 1960s enabled the demolition of many historic buildings in favor of greater residential density and higher buildings. Ultimately, the image of the city appears fragmented and incoherent due to consecutive urban transformation plans. An artificially augmented approach to redesigning parts of the city can bridge the city’s Ottoman, eclectic, and Art Deco heritage with the demands of contemporary urban life. The research explores the city’s mid-war architecture archive as the primary dataset to assess how new technologies and different deep neural networks can reinterpret architectural heritage. The experiments conducted with the mid-war archive of Thessaloniki can possibly serve as the training dataset for a pre-trained model, which can then be used with different architectural archives as potential datasets.