Generating form is one of the most fundamental aspects of architectural education and practice. While new computational tools are enabling ever more unpredictable forms, critics argue that this leads to a disconnection between architectural output and its context. This attractive, pocket-sized book uses 11 different architectural projects to explore how generative design processes can integrate digital as well as physical design tools and techniques to produce innovative forms that cohere with structural and material principles, performance and context. Illustrated with drawings, computer images and models, this stimulating, accessible handbook of ideas provides a guide for students as well as an inspiration for practising architects.

*** Featuring a foreword by Pritzker Prize Winner Shigeru Ban *** Bringing together experts from research and practice, Shell Structures for Architecture: Form Finding and Optimization presents contemporary design methods for shell and gridshell structures, covering form-finding and structural optimization techniques. It introduces architecture and engineering practitioners and students to structural shells and provides computational techniques to develop complex curved structural surfaces, in the form of mathematics, computer algorithms, and design case studies. • Part I introduces the topic of shells, tracing the ancient relationship between structural form and forces, the basics of shell behaviour, and the evolution of form-finding and structural optimization techniques. • Part II familiarizes the reader with form-finding techniques to explore expressive structural geometries, covering the force density method, thrust network analysis, dynamic relaxation and particle-spring systems. • Part III focuses on shell shape and topology optimization, and provides a deeper understanding of gradient-based methods and meta-heuristic techniques. • Part IV contains precedent studies of realised shells and gridshells describing their innovative design and construction methods.

Fabric-cast concrete involves casting concrete in forms made with flexible formwork. This provides the potential to produce forms that are both structurally efficient and architecturally exciting in a relatively inexpensive and practical manner. By careful shaping of the fabric it is possible to produce complex shapes that would otherwise be difficult and expensive to produce using conventional formwork systems. This book contains six essays that describe the collaboration between the Universities of Edinburgh and East London, together with the Centre for Architectural and Structural Technology (CAST) at the University of Manitoba, in their detailed and practical research into concrete casting and formwork. Richly illustrated with photographs and diagrams and containing new and innovative research this book offers the architect, engineer and student inspiration and technical guidance in this re-emerging material.

The “2019 DigitalFUTURES — The 1st International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF 2019)” provides an international platform for advanced scientific research papers on the digital technology of architectural design and construction. The themes of the papers include, but are not limited to, architectural theories, tools, methods and procedures in material intelligence, data intelligence; computational intelligence, and robotic intelligence.

To the uninformed, surveys appear to be an easy type of research to design and conduct, but when students and professionals delve deeper, they encounter the vast complexities that the range and practice of survey methods present. To complicate matters, technology has rapidly affected the way surveys can be conducted; today, surveys are conducted via cell phone, the Internet, email, interactive voice response, and other technology-based modes. Thus, students, researchers, and professionals need both a comprehensive understanding of these complexities and a revised set of tools to meet the challenges. In conjunction with top survey researchers around the world and with Nielsen Media Research serving as the corporate sponsor, the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods presents state-of-the-art information and methodological examples from the field of survey research. Although there are other "how-to" guides and references texts on survey research, none is as comprehensive as this Encyclopedia, and none presents the material in such a focused and approachable manner. With more than 600 entries, this resource uses a Total Survey Error perspective that considers all aspects of possible survey error from a cost-benefit standpoint. Key Features Covers all major facets of survey research methodology, from selecting the sample design and the sampling frame, designing and pretesting the questionnaire, data collection, and data coding, to the thorny issues surrounding diminishing response rates, confidentiality, privacy, informed consent and other ethical issues, data weighting, and data analyses Presents a Reader′s Guide to organize entries around themes or specific topics and easily guide users to areas of interest Offers cross-referenced terms, a brief listing of Further Readings, and stable Web site URLs following most entries The Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods is specifically written to appeal to beginning, intermediate, and advanced students, practitioners, researchers, consultants, and consumers of survey-based information.

This book discusses analytical tools for designing energy efficient and lightweight structures that embody the concept of tensegrity. The book provides both static and dynamic analysis of special tensegrity structural concepts, which are motivated by biological material architecture. This is the first book written to attempt to integrate structure and control design.