MEASURABLE AMBIENCE - An integrated design method explored

Abstract

Design for sustainable building implies a diverse number of factors and dependencies to consider, making the design process complex. This complexity may result in designs consisting of accumulated sub-optimizations rather than integrated unities. The challenge is therefore to make design considerations where building components perform both technically and poetically simultaneously; design at its full potential. This challenge is also evident in more general terms in design processes, from the micro to macro scale of built environment. Initial considerations, as well as assessments of sustainability indicators or analyses, need to be integrated with desired design aims and outcomes. This calls for design methods that cohesively combine measurable with unmeasurable qualities of the speci c project. The integrated design process explored in this thesis is a method that aims to unify architectural and engineering competences in a collaborative and iterative design process. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how simulation-based support of energy loads and daylight metrics can be integrated with an artistic approach. It does so in a delimited building project by encompassing the common ground between spatial atmospheric ambiance and indoor climate analysis. Through the design of a room for rest in the city, elements of design have been explored analogically and digitally in parallel. The focus has been on daylight and thermal energy load balance interlinked with design ideas from phenomenology. The result is a fragment of a schematic design phase, where an integrated method and its process has been explored, to show the interconnection of measurable qualities and desires for the spatial ambience.