Mennatallah Elgendy- AUC - ARCH 473/3522

Student Portfolio

The American University in Cairo (AUC)

School of Sciences and Engineering - Department of Architecture

ARCH 473/3522 - Digital Design Studio and Workshop (Fall 2022)

Student portfolio documenting samples of work submitted along the course, including research, experimentation, 3D modeling, digital fabrication, parametric design and modeling, physical model realisation and analysis.

Student name: Mennatallah Elgendy Student ID: 900151590

The American University in Cairo (AUC), December 2022

©

Mennatallah Elgendy Architecture Student

I am Mennatallah O. Elgendy. I am a senior majoring in architectural engineering. This is the story book for Digital Design Studio and Workshop (ARCH 473/3522) documenting my journey through the course exploring prametric design and computatio in architectural design.

The Target of this phase was to physically experimenting with materials, developing preliminary parametric models and fabricating projects using additive or subtractive manufacturing techniques.

Trials:

Trial # 1:

Materials used: 1. water 2.gypsum 3.piece of cloth

Gypsum/Water ratio: 1:2

Steps:

1.Mixing water and gypsum 2.Pouring the mixture on the piece of cloth 3.Trying to shape it to give the waves like shape shown.

Trial # 2:

Materials used: 1. water 2.gypsum 3.piece of cloth 4.plant pot

Gypsum/Water ratio: 1:3

Steps:

1.Mixing water and gypsum 2.Shaping the piece of cloth on the inverted pot. 3.Pouring the mixture on the piece of cloth.

Trial # 3:

Materials used: 1. water 2.gypsum 3.ice cubes mold 4.piece of cloth

Gypsum/Water ratio: 1:2 Steps:

1.Mixing water and gypsum 2.Placing the piece of cloth in the mold 3.Pouring the mixture into the mold

Trial # 4:

Materials used: 1. water 2.gypsum 3.water gallon (as a mold)

Gypsum/Water ratio: 1:2

Steps:

1.Mixing water and gypsum. 2.Pouring the mixture into the mold. 3.Trying to keep the center as a void.

Chosen trial to work on

Local Parameters:

1. The division of the surface into units forming the pannel.

2. Volume of each unit.

3. Solid vs void ratio in the pannel by subtracting units.

4. Keeping the area of the pannel constant.

Global Parameters:

1. The volume of the pannel within the cluster

2. Solid vs void ratio within the cluster (subtracting entire pannels not only units).

Sketch of the intended iteration for the cluster

Sketch of the intended iteration for the pannel

The Target of this phase was to physically experimenting with materials, developing preliminary parametric models and fabricating projects using additive or subtractive manufacturing techniques.

STEP 1

Workflow:

STEP 3

STEP 4

Step 5

Reflection: The process of forming the cluster was very inlighting in the terms of how subdividig a surface, concluding its parameters, then how changing in them would result in endless variations producing intersting surfaces.

Double Skin Facade consists of a dual pair of glass sheets that acts as the skin and are separated by an air pathway. One of the glass layers acts as an insulator along with the air corridor between glass layers to insulate extreme temperatures, winds and sound. One might define double skin as a traditional single facade that is doubled inside or outside by a second facade. The air corridor acts as a ventilating cavity between the two skins, and it can range from a few centimeters to several meters. Sun-shading devices are often located between the two skins. Automated equipment, such as shading devices, motorized openings or fans, are most often integrated into the facade.

Classification: Ventilation Modes:

Outdoor air curtain, In this ventilation mode, the air introduced into the cavity comes from the outside and is immediately rejected towards the outside. The ventilation of the cavity therefore forms an air curtain enveloping the outside facade.

A Research on Construction Systems of Double Skin Facades

Indoor air curtain, The air comes from the inside of the room and is returned to the inside of the room or via the ventilation system. The ventilation of the cavity therefore forms an air curtain enveloping the indoor facade.

A Research on Construction Systems of Double Skin Facades

Air supply, The ventilation of the facade is created with outdoor air. This air is then brought to the inside of the room or into the ventilation system. The ventilation of the facade thus makes it possible to supply the building with air.

A Research on Construction Systems of Double Skin Facades

Air exhaust, The air comes from the inside of the room and is evacuated towards the outside. The ventilation of the facade thus makes it possible to evacuate the air from the building.

A Research on Construction ` of Double Skin Facades

Classification: Partitioning of the Cavity:

In this facade system, the air cavity provided between exterior and internal skin horizontally and vertically has no cut. Passive heat gain is provided by means of solar power in the building-high cavity. In the ventilation cavity functioning as air well, dirty air warms and rises and is exhausted through the outlet on the top of the building. For the ventilation way in building-high facades, outdoor air curtain and buffer zone are generally preferred.

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/290213

This facade system, commonly used in double skin facade systems, is also called “corridor facades” in the literature. The story-high air cavity in the system is formed as an intermediate zone traveling around the building. Air ducts through which fresh air enters and dirty air goes out are placed on the wall near the ground floor and the ceiling so that all stories are ventilated separately.

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/290213

In this facade system, air cavity placed between exterior and interior skin is partitioned into horizontal modules at floor level and vertical modules at window level. Each story has its own outlet and inlet ducts that provide natural ventilation and are found in window modules.

As in story-high double skin facade systems, vertical-staggered duct installation is required in order to prevent dirty air that comes out from a story from entering through air ducts into another story.

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/290213

Operation principles of such facade systems are a combination of principles of building-high double skin facade systems and story-high double skin facade systems. Building-high air cavity is partitioned by a central vertical shaft that enables it to exhaust dirty air. There is a story-high cavity connected with the shaft and available on both sides of the vertical shaft.

Warming dirty air is transmitted into the central vertical shaft through the story-high cavity.

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/290213

Advantage and Disadvantages:

https://www.aivc.org/sites/default/files/members_area/medias/pdf/CR/CR03_Ventilated_Double_Facades.pdf

Taget of this phase was developing design explorations generating project variations and patterns using parametric modeling tools and performing appropriate analysis and evaluation of developed model.

Workflow:

Screenshots of the facade on the building

Post VR Evaluation:

The Extrior:

1. The triangular units are pointy, making the facade looks aggressive.

2. Some of the triangular units are overlaping.

3.Missing the entrances.

4. Need to reshink the unit size.

1

The Interior:

1. Some of the triangular units are overlaping.

2. The screen is directly on the building’s exsisting facade, not giving space to create areas for users to be experience the screen differently.

3.Missing structure

4. Need to introduce variations in the plans profile.

Grasshopper workflow:

STEP 9

STEP 10

STEP 11

In this part, the main focus was to avoit the over laping of the triangular units, reducing the aggressiveness of the facade (by reducing the extrusion height) and defining the pannel with a frame. So that is can be more realistic. Moreover, the orientation of the facade was change to be vertical, creating a gap between the main facade and the screen

Screenshots of the facade on the building

Reflection: The process of forming the screen required taking several variables in to concederation, because unlike the cluster, it will be affecting people’s behavior using the building itself. Also the performance of the building, that will concequently affect the environment. Like the amount of using air conditioners. It was a challenging yet intersting process,

Environmental Analysis:

Screenshots of the radiation analysis on the facade

The facade was divided of the analysis to run

Screenshot of the radiation analysis on the slab, show how the facade affects the interior environment

Fabrication:

8 hours and 15 minutes

No supporters were needed, which is a good thing as it will require less material and less time.

The red is an indication that the screen is thin for fabrication. However when the thickness was increase on Rhino the file crashed.

Screenshots of the facade in Ultimaker Cura

Screenshots of the slicing in Ultimaker Cura

Ground Floor

First Floor

Second Floor

Third Floor Roof

Fourth Floor

Fifth Floor

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