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Shibo Ren

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Multi-disciplinary and multi-objective optimization problem re-formulation in computational design exploration

A case of conceptual sports building design

Journal article - D. Yang, D. Yang, Shibo Ren, M. Turrin, I.S. Sariyildiz, Y. Sun

The benefits of applying multi-objective optimization (MOO) in building design have been increasingly recognized in recent decades. The existing or traditional computational design optimization (CDO) approaches mostly focus on optimization problem solving (OPS), as they often conduct optimizations directly by assuming the optimization problems in question are good enough. In contrast, the computational design exploration (CDE) approaches defined in this research mainly focus on optimization problem formulation (OPF), which are considered more essential and aim to achieve or ensure appropriate optimization problems before conducting optimizations. However, the application of the CDE is very limited especially in conceptual architectural design. The necessity of re-formulating original optimization problems and its potential impacts on optimization results are often overlooked or not emphasized enough. This paper proposes a new CDE approach that highlights the knowledge-supported re-formulation of a changeable initial optimization problem. It improves upon the traditional CDO approach by introducing a changeable initial OPF and inserting a CDE module. The changeable initial OPF allows expanding the dimensionality of an objective space and design space being investigated, and the CDE module can re-formulate the changeable optimization problem using the information and knowledge extracted from statistical analyses. To facilitate designers in achieving the proposed approach, an improved computational platform is used which combines parametric modeling software (including simulation plug-ins) and design optimization software. Assisted by the platform, the proposed approach is applied to the conceptual design of an indoor sports building that considers multi-disciplinary performance criteria (including architecture-, climate- and structure-related criteria) and a wide range of geometric variations. Through the case study, this paper demonstrates the use of the proposed approach, verifies its benefits over the traditional method, and unveils the factors that may affect the behaviour of the proposed approach. Besides, it also shows the suitability of the computational platform used.@en

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Integral Design Process of CLT Structures and Robotic Fabrication

An integral workflow for the preliminary structural design of CLT connection panels with the use of customized robotic fabrication

Master thesis - G. Veldhuis, R. Nijsse, Shibo Ren, L.P.L. van der Linden, Léon Spikker, M. Turrin

Timber and complex designs are making a move in the building industry, as the building industry is on the brink of a significant change toward a 100% customized, more sustainable architecture. Robotic fabrication and Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) can play an important role in this change, but there is a lot of uncertainty and ignorance about the design process of robotically fabricated CLT elements. This uncertainty is primarily caused by the application of linear workflows instead of integral ones. Within the fields of robotic fabrication and CLT, the research narrows down to the robotic milling process of CLT connection panels. Therefore, this research intends to answer the following question by means of four different parts: What does an integral workflow for robotically fabricated customized CLT connection panels look like, that promote exploration of the structural performance of CLT structures in the preliminary design phase? Part I Literature Study Part II Pilot Study Part III Integral Workflow Development Part IV Discussions The Literature Study focusses on two fields, namely the field of CLT and the field of robotic fabrication. In the final chapter of this part, the mutual affordances and constraints of these fields are discussed as these significantly influence the design space of the integral workflow. The second part concerns the production of a small mock-up to explore the process of robotic fabrication. The literature and pilot study together serve as input for the development of the integral workflow in the third part of the research. This workflow is developed in the parametric environment of Grasshopper and is divided in three modules: Global Structure, Joint Design, Robotic Fabrication. For the Joint Design, focus is laid on CLT connection panels of which the principle is derived from a reference project in Alblasserdam (NL). The main conclusions on the research question consist of the relationships and (in)dependencies between the different modules. Another important conclusion is that one cannot apply CLT in the outdoor environment without applying shedding to ensure complete moisture control. To increase the integrality of the workflow as developed in this research, more feedback loops across the three modules should be integrated. For instance, the affordances and constraints of the robotic fabrication process should be integrated within the relationships between the three modules. Hence, if doing so, this information was available in an early stage of the design process and would decrease the uncertainty of it. This implementation could be investigated by producing a mock-up study along the integral workflow.