ARCH 8833

Summary

This research elective is designed for students interested in deepening their understanding of data-driven methods in architecture with an emphasis on sustainability. The course blends seminar and workshop formats, featuring input lectures from guest speakers in academia and industry. The topics range from environmental performance to augmented intelligence in design.

Deliverables

Students will work on a hands-on project to analyze complex sustainability-related phenomena, such as energy consumption, mobility patterns, thermal comfort, daylighting, well-being, and quality of space. Students will develop an individual research question that they will answer with a data-driven approach, developed over the semester. The final deliverables are:

1. An implementation of their approach (using Rhino, Grasshopper, C#, Python, JavaScript)
2. A conference-ready manuscript and a slide deck documenting processes, findings, and conclusions.

Prerequisites

Students should have intermediate to advanced digital skills and prior experience in environmental systems and computational design, as the course skips introductory workshops in favor of a more technical focus. Experience with Python/C# will be advantageous, but is not required. The teaching methodology will use existing and custom-built computational tools to emphasize evidence-based design, variant testing, and evaluation. The course fosters a collaborative learning environment, encouraging students to work with curiosity and rigor as they develop new tools and insights collectively.

Student Work

Spring 2025

End of the Year Showcase Spring 2025

Logo	Project Title	GitHub Handle(s)	LinkedIn	GitHub Repo	Description
	Text-to-IFC Playground	jma1999, sdebnath34	Joseph M. Aerathu, Sharmista Debnath	repo	Generates 3D BIM models in IFC format from plain‑language instructions using an LLM, a lightweight mesh parser, and IfcOpenShell.
	Environmental Adequacy in Modern South American Collective Housing	jalmeida32	João V. Navarrete de Almeida	repo	Simulation analyses evaluating environmental performance of a modern collective housing project in South America.
	Optimizing Modular Construction Design for Post‑Disaster Housing	dnguyen458	Tran Duong Nguyen	repo	Energy‑efficient, resilient, and sustainable modular housing solutions for post‑disaster contexts.
	Urban Microclimate Prediction (Hybrid LSTM–Transformer–Kriging)	hshih38, tchangnawa3	Han‑Syun Shih, Thanasarn Changnawa	repo	Combines LSTM/Transformer time‑series forecasting with Kriging spatial interpolation to predict urban microclimates.
	Assessing and Calibrating Simulation Parameters for the UMCF Plugin	alvarezdmarch	Marcelo Álvarez	repo	Compares and calibrates UMCF plugin simulation parameters against ENVI‑met results for improved accuracy.
	AHP Façade Ranking Tool	mhassen9, klayam3	Mohammed Hassen, Kiana‑Karla Layam	repo repo-2	Rank façade design alternatives with interactive AHP logic using data from Google Sheets and visualize results with Streamlit.

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.