Gülen Çağdaş

A Shape Grammar: The Language of Traditional Turkish Houses

In this paper, a parametric shape grammar which can generate the plans of traditional Turkish houses is presented. The grammar is based on a corpus of traditional Turkish houses that have been built in Anatolia and Rumelia for the past five centuries. The shape rule schemata are used for characterizing formal compositional aspects of this historical style.

A Simulation Model to Predict the Emptying Times of Buildings

The efficiency of circulation systems is an important subject in public buildings; and circulation, access and egress activities constitute one of the most significant problems in these buildings. The egress problems within buildings are evaluated by means of analytical or simulation models. This paper introduces a simulation model which can be used to predict the emptying time and to spot the bottlenecks in a building on the analysis of occupant movements. The floor layout of the building is represented as a network flow model. This model consists of a descriptive sub-model and a predictive submodel. The model has been tested on a one-storey educational building, and the results obtained from the field study have been compared with predicted values from the theoretical model.

A new modeling approach for relief and emboss

In modeling software tools, which are specialized in relief and emboss modeling and manufacturing processes, relief and emboss models can be created using closed curve(s) as input. In this study, a software plug-in has been developed, which provides modelers to use this function in NURBS and to create relief and emboss models in Rhino3D modeling environment and Grasshopper3D parametric design environment, and a new modeling approach for relief and emboss design has been proposed.

A Model for Sustainable Site Layout Design of Social Housing with Pareto Genetic Algorithm: SSPM

Nowadays as the aim to reduce the environmental impact of buildings becomes more apparent, a new architectural design approach is gaining momentum called sustainable architectural design. Sustainable architectural design process includes some regulations itself, which requires calculations, comparisons and consists of several possible conflicting objectives that need to be considered together. A successful green building design can be performed by the creation of alternative designs generated according to all the sustainability parameters and local regulations in conceptual design stage. As there are conflicting criteria’s according to LEED and BREAM sustainable site parameters, local regulations and local climate conditions, an efficient decision support system can be developed by the help of Pareto based non-dominated genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) which is used for several possibly conflicting objectives that need to be considered together. In this paper, a model which aims to produce site layout alternatives according to sustainability criteria for cooperative apartment house complexes, will be mentioned.

Why Do We Need Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Conceptual Design Phase

Many researchers point out that, in conceptual design, many significant decisions are taken to directly affect functional qualities, the performance of the building, aesthetics, and the relationship of the building with the natural environment and climate, even if there is no certain and valid information to create and obtain satisfactory design solution. The focus of the study is to observe and explore how BIM can be used in conceptual design phase and also to investigate how and how effectively BIM can help architects during the process. To develop an understanding to these aims, a case study implementation within sketching and BIM environments which consists of three stages was carried out in an educational setting by three participants who are undergraduate degree students of Faculty of Architecture. Qualitative research methods were used as research methodology and the findings of the implementation were discussed with prominent related literature in the same context.

Occupants Emergency Behaviour in Turkey

The design of a building should protect occupants against attacks and other threats such as fires and earthquakes. In order to develop more effective designs, environmental factors and occupant characteristics should be examined thoroughly. Human populations have many differences in respect of physiologic, anatomic, behavioral and anthropometric factors, meaning that every society has its own characteristics. Those differences occur due to the interaction of genetic and environmental factors, and the cultural living standards of the society. A survey was conducted of the occupants of two different office buildings to determine the behavioural characteristics behavior and dispersion of Turkish occupants under emergency conditions. Survey responses were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The dispersion behaviour of Turkish participants was compared with data from the USA and UK, to understand cultural behavioral differences. This is significant as the first study of emergency human behavior in Turkey. However, many more building designs and occupant groups need to be analyzed to provide comprehensive guidelines.