China-fir was a key building material used in Taiwan before 1894 and reached Taiwan by import from Fuzhou, China. However, at the start of the period of Japanese governance (beginning in 1895), the China-fir market in Taiwan appeared to gradually reduce as a result of an attempt by the Taiwanese Governor General′s Office (TGGO) to develop the market for Japanese timbers in Taiwan.
After an investigation of the Japanese consular office in Fuzhou, the anti-termite property of China-fir was announced in October 1916. Some former studies concluded that the report was one of the reasons for China-fir′s renewed dominance in the building material market in Taiwan from 1917 to 1925.
However, in contrast to the period before 1916, when the TGGO boycotted China-fir by every means, why did the TGGO announce news about China-fir as an anti-termite material, and allow it to overwhelm the market of Japanese cedar again? By reviewing the TGGO′s South China Policy and other historical materials, this paper shows that the 1916 report can be seen as encouragement for Japanese and Taiwanese merchants to invest in the China-fir market in Fuzhou, which would be of benefit to the colonial government by allowing it to develop economic and political power in South China.

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Malay houses have a great variation in construction systems despite their consistencies. With the coding method shown in this study, construction elements and their relations are presented in both words and symbols. In this study there are 95 house cases that have been coded and studied according to their construction processes. The study shows that the construction systems of Malay houses are composed of the house and its encroachment, and each house is composed of supports and a roof. The two major systems of support are the ″bridge″ and ″box″. Their roof variation generates five sub-systems of house construction. Encroachments can be divided into encroached semi-house (Es), encroached house (Eh), and encroached selang (Esg). There are 15 Es, 3 Eh, and 2 Esg in the 95 cases studied. The completion of house construction coding facilitates the description of the house construction, comprehension of uniqueness and limitation of house forms, along with the establishment of Malay house construction systems. The evolution and adaptability of the Malay house construction system can thus be understood more precisely.

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Architects Jose Luis Sert, Fumihiko Maki, and Kyu Seung Woo have more in common than that they came from the high-density cities of Barcelona, Tokyo, and Seoul, respectively. They were all involved in the Harvard Urban Design program: Sert as a teacher (1953~1969), Maki as a student (1953~1954), and Woo as a student (1967~1970) and as an architectural designer in Sert′s office (1971~1974). Their works and thoughts emphasize the enhancement of public space that is congenial to the existing urban structure. The problem they faced was the debacle of master planning practice, and the solution they offered was an alternative design solution to the existing gridiron pattern of cities. This paper will posit ″inner public space″ as an alternative to the failure of Corbusian master planning practice. The term ″inner space″ derives from Maki′s notion of deep space in traditional Japanese towns. According to him, an inner space does not show up obviously as a space with ample light, and is less visible than a central space. Rather than the unpopular center of town, the most visited entrance or deepest place could be an inner space that fosters a historical and symbolic narrative of a town. The location of inner space in a town could be unrecognizable from a geographical map, but show up in the minds of people, or through talks with people in town. Sert, Maki, and Woo pursued inner space in different ways, according to the site situation. Well-designed inner space sustains site use, and adds historical and symbolic narratives through generating culturally appropriate activities to a natural place. The best work of each architect, 44 Brattle Street Building by Sert in Cambridge, Hillside Terrace by Maki in Tokyo, and Olympic Town by Woo in Seoul, attest to the cultural sustainability made possible by the performance of inner space.

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Kiwarihou is a well-known traditional architectural design method for traditional Japanese wooden buildings. This article presents an investigation into the architectural design of a traditional Japanese wooden pagoda (three-storied pagoda in Joruriji temple) from the perspective of Kiwarihou. The pagoda in Joruriji temple was originally built around 1178, which was the right period for the emergence and development of Kiwarihou. Based on an extensive survey on the sizes of this pagoda, this paper explores the probable content of the Kiwarihou architectural design method. Investigative results showed that the sizes of nearly every aspect of this pagoda are either multiples or fractions of a specific length (the module). These encouraging results demonstrated that Kiwarihou had already been well developed during this three-storied pagoda period, and this three-storied pagoda is a typical example of Kiwarihou.

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The public housing policy in Taiwan can be traced back to the Japanese Colonial Period (1895-1945). In the 1920s, public housing was planned for Japanese migrants by the Governor-General′s Office, while the trend of modernism in the architectural field emerged and spread around the world at the same time. The concept of ″minimum habitable dwelling″, introduced in the 1929 International Congresses of Modern Architecture (CIAM), initiated a new era on housing construction through concepts of rationalization and standardization, which also influenced designers of public housing in Taiwan for generations. However, the interpretation and practice of the concept have evolved over different stages. Architectural professionals designed public housing from the 1920s to the 1960s, under the influences of Japanese Colonization, or the United States Aid and Military Assistance and Advisory Group. The concept of minimum habitable dwelling has been practiced and interpreted in different ways, transforming the cognition and experiences of modern houses and modern life for Taiwanese people.

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In the early 1920s, the first generation of Korean architects educated under the Japanese Government-General of Korea, emerged in the Korean colonial space. One of these architects, Kil-Ryong Park (1898-1943), being influenced by the theory of architectural evolutionism prevalent among contemporary Japanese architects residing in Korea as well as the environmental-determinism-influenced Japanese understanding of the development of Korean minka (vernacular housing), focused his attention on traditional Korean housing from the early 1920s. The paper analyzes how he came up with his own perspective on Korean housing reformation, which was strongly influenced by his experiential knowledge of Korean living customs and their regional characteristics, such as the effects of climate and natural environments. Following the Romantic sense of modernity, described by Octavio Paz as ″a tradition against itself″ (Paz, 1974)¹, the paper illustrates an alternative way to understand Korean architectural modernity during the colonial period, an understanding that differs from the current stylistic discussions on the subject.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify the spatial structure and its transitional process by focusing on 22 existing old settlements established before 1913 in downtown Cheongju, Korea. The results are as follows: First, the old settlements are classified into four types relating to their topographic features: the Sanrok and Gogae Types are located on hills and the Daegok and Sogok Types are located in valleys. Second, in traditional Korean villages, a road system is composed of outer roads, approach roads, inner roads, and side roads having different functions. An inner road among them is the most important element in spatial structure as the basic framework of the road system inside villages. Third, the preservation or division of settlements has been influenced by the transformation of inner roads during the urbanization process. When spatial structures of inner roads have been maintained, old settlements have tended to be preserved. In addition, when new roads have been built to pass near communal spaces, old settlements have been preserved in spite of the lack of connection to old inner roads. Fourth, the functions of communal spaces have been influenced by the changing of society over time. Some functions have been changed, lost, or have suffered reduction in importance due to changes in modern lifestyles, but the personality of communal space is lasting. Finally, when the characteristics of the old settlement and functions of old roads have been preserved, housing layout has had a tendency to follow the original orientation, courtyard location, gate location, and access route as can be seen in Topdong Yangdalmal.

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The aim of this study is to interpret the relationship between topography and architecture in the houses designed by the Korean architect, Kim Incheurl from the 2000s. Kim′s various types of single houses built on a range of sites can be seen as representing a typology that addresses the complementary relationship between architecture and topography. His interpretation of the site considered neither narrativity nor romantic association, and rather focused on the physical realities of the site. His houses complemented what was lacking on the sites by architectural framing that contains the practices of human life. The topography of the site was reconfigured using architectural framing and was thus rehabilitated through the performance of window-walls. However, Kim′s houses are limited in their reaction to the site, in terms of the consideration of site sustainability, plan type, material, and window-wall design. In order to suggest a productive criticism that can provide insight into the performative relationship between Kim′s houses and topography, this paper suggests three topics: 1) creating sustainable outdoor settings on the site, 2) creating a deep structure of interior space, and 3) developing performative window-walls through the variation of materials and opening operation.

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During the French colonial period in Lao PDR (from 1893-1953), France integrated its architectural elements into traditional Lao architecture and modified them to suit the climate. The French colonial style continues to make a modest impact in most major towns and cities. The harmonious combination of traditional Lao architecture and French colonial influences shows the true values and wealth of a city′s characteristics. These unique architectural styles and motifs are valuable to the area′s heritage; many of these styles are still conserved today, especially in Luang Prabang, which was designated as a World Heritage city in 1995. Some historical buildings have been adapted according to social and economic factors. However, as elsewhere in Indochinese countries, the provincial French design was modified to suit the hot and humid tropical climate. The design of colonial villas, in turn, began to influence subtle changes in the design of Lao urban dwellings. This paper discusses the development of traditional Lao architectural styles that have been experienced in Lao PDR, analyzes the process of change, emphasizes the importance of compatibility between traditional house form and the French colonial house, and studies the factors influencing the transformations of traditional housing.

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Luis Barragán House and Studio, designed by Barragán in 1947, is the architect′s most representative and significant work. In it, he first established his architectural language in terms of organizing the interaction between physical structure and surrounding nature. This paper focuses on the methodology of Barragán′s coordination of a sense of boundary as an intriguing factor in Barragán House. Representations of ambiguity in the house—which contains a sense of openness, extension, and combination—were analyzed, yielding three conclusions. First, overlapped, undefined thresholds and structural fluidity stimulate visual ambiguity by implying spatial integration. Second, the adjacent juxtaposition of functionally diverse spaces creates spatial tension and leads to the effect of a vanishing, filmy boundary. Third, spatial experience penetrates the distribution of invisible boundaries such as light, memory, and sensuous synthesis, which renders phenomenological diffusion as a temporary, but rather dominant, ambiguity. The paper concludes that Barragán′s spatial ambiguity does not represent disorder or confusion, but a methodology for the embodiment of his emotive architecture. It does so through still, simple, and minimal spatiality that refers to both tangible and invisible attributes and operates as a key factor in understanding the intrinsic quality of attraction and resonance in Barragán′s spaces.

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This paper discusses the fictive performance of architecture in reference to the re-description of human conditions. First, following Paul Ricoeur′s notion of the fictive, the paper illuminates one′s engagement with a setting from the perspective of dialectics between the subjectivity of the perceiver and the infinite potentials of the setting that can never be fully predicted by tools of architectural representations. What is real is not so much in the objective properties of the elements of a setting as in the elements′ mutual correspondence and reflectivity of which the perceiver is already part. Second, the paper takes as a case study Richard Neutra′s residential architecture to demonstrate the fictive nature of a setting that re-describes human conditions. Of particular interest is how Neutra established the relationship among fire, wind and water, and how he conjoined this dialectical ensemble of the primary elements of cosmos with a daybed operating dualistically both as the place of burning erotic love and the place of unperturbed death. The paper finally demonstrates how the significance of the setting was predicated upon the elements′ mutual correspondence in the process of which what Neutra called the primary Gestalt of human living, or life and death, is re-described.

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The mall, the commercial space that has existed since the mid-20th century, revealed an axis of transformation with the flow of time, and was a process of transformation from the centripetal to the centrifugal, parallel, and complex types. In other words, there was the initial phase from the enclosed centripetal malls planned by Gruen, to the open centrifugal malls with a shallow depth of space, followed by the process of transformation into juxtaposition and complex types with deeper space than open malls, and the characters of both open and enclosed malls in one space. This series of transformations shares similarities with the Roman forum, a historical commercial space, and this study discusses the process of transformation commonly found in the malls and in the Roman forums based on the concept of the true character of things of Karl Popper. Furthermore, the two-step concept of setting-into-work of Christian Norberg-Schulz was applied to clarify the meaning of transformation of malls.

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As house prices keep soaring in China, in 2006, the Chinese government issued a policy determining that 70% of newly built housing should be small apartments of no more than 90m². In order to optimize the floor plan design of apartments of such a limited size, it is essential to understand how people cognize different plans, as well as their prior concerns over distinct spatial demands. In this study, seven similar but distinguished 90m² apartment plans were made on the basis of the findings in past research, and a comparative study was thus carried out through a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire studied the respondents′ impressions of as well as preferences for the plans. The results suggested that people′s impressions of apartment floor plans were composed of four main factors—atmosphere, efficiency, pleasantness and design originality. Moreover, although the efficiency aspects contributed much to people′s overall judgment of the plans in general, respondents with different gender tended to have a distinct understanding of efficiency, while those of different age and occupation had disparate sensitivity to efficiency and pleasantness as well as the design originality of the plans.

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Green roofs have been considered as an alternative to providing green spaces in urban areas. Recently, many researchers have suggested that green roofs could contribute to urban flood mitigation by reducing the amount of stormwater runoff. However, the stormwater runoff reduction effect has not yet been fully understood. In this study, two analyses have been performed to investigate the stormwater runoff reduction effect and economic feasibility of green roofs. First, as simulated using PCSWMM, the stormwater runoff effect of green roofs was identified and then the rooftop attributes were considered to acquire results that are more precise. As a result, two of three scenarios demonstrated an average 20% reduction of runoff, which is comparatively smaller than the results of preceding studies. Second, benefit-cost analysis was performed to evaluate the economic feasibility of green roofs. Two of the three scenarios had a benefit-cost ratio narrowly above 1.0 over a period of 20 years. Our results seem to suggest that a green roof has benefits that surpass costs; yet it is insufficient to say that it is an economically sound approach. Overall, green roof does have some stormwater runoff reduction effects and economic effects, but these were not as significant as has been previously described.

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The project delivery method has a great impact on project performance and construction quality. The numerous studies on the project performance of the two project delivery methods, design-bid-build (DBB) and design-build (DB), have found differing results depending on the project locations, the project types, and the project sizes. Since no previous studies have been conducted with regard to large-sized apartment housing projects, this paper presents the comparative analysis results for the project performance of the DB and DBB methods, focusing on the large-sized public apartment housing projects built in Korea. The project performances considered include cost, cost growth, construction duration, construction duration growth, and quality performance. The cost and schedule performance analysis results show that the cost growth of the DB method is about 5% lower than that of the DBB method and the construction duration is shortened by twelve days per floor. The quality performance analysis results demonstrate that the satisfaction with the DB method is higher in terms of the construction quality and efficiency of the DB method. This paper contributes to the growing body of research into the efficiency of project delivery methods, expanding the body of knowledge for large-sized public apartment housing projects.

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One of the objectives of architectural design is to enrich the spatial experience within the restrictive confines of the architectural space. Various depth cues such as familiar size and linear perspective have been utilized in architectural design to create illusory spatial depth. Luminance contrast has also been identified as an effective depth cue; its effect in increasing depth perception was verified with perceptual studies using a computer-generated environment. However, previous studies have focused on methods for accurate simulation of the lighting distribution in a scene; they have not addressed visual perception with binocular vision. This study utilizes three-dimensional (3D) stereo display technologies to present a perceptually realistic and computer-generated environment. Psychophysical experiments were conducted to examine the impact of luminance contrast in creating illusory depth effects, with scenes presented on both conventional and 3D stereo displays. The objectives of this study are: first, to investigate the influence of binocular vision on the illusory depth effect of luminance contrast; and second, to verify whether a reliable computer-generated environment can be used to envision possible applications of luminance contrast in architectural design.

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Through colonization and modernization, the British introduced multi-racial immigrants into Malaysia, resulting in a plural society of people with unique social and cultural backgrounds. Kampong Bharu, located in central Kuala Lumpur, came into existence in 1899 as an enclave reserved for Malays only and their various sub-ethnic groups. Over time, urban growth resulted in the settlement losing its agricultural significance, and at present it is a uniquely preserved Malay community. Many vernacular Malay houses that were built in the 1900s still exist in Kampong Bharu. According to previous research by the author (Ju et al., 2012), there were four major types of vernacular houses that existed in Kampong Bharu: traditional vernacular houses type I - Bumbung Panjang, traditional vernacular houses type II - Bumbung Perak, colonial vernacular houses and modern vernacular houses.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify colonial vernacular houses among the four types which originated from the early period of colonization and later evolved into an eclectic style due to the social, ethnic and cultural changes occurring in colonial Malaysia. To achieve this, the paper conducts case studies on five colonial vernacular houses in Kampong Bharu.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate (1) whether housing conditions and environmental factors influence the occurrence of accidents, and (2) the level of intention to make modifications to housing for people who are visually impaired. Results from 148 questionnaires collected in Korea show a significant difference in the occurrence of accidents between those in the high environmental demand group (HED) and those in the low environmental demand group (LED), revealing that visually impaired people living in more difficult housing environments are likely to have more falls than people living in housing without as many obstructions. For the elderly, housing conditions have a greater influence on the probability of accidents. For respondents with low vision, housing conditions appeared to be a more significant factor than for people with no vision. People with good health and under LED rated their life satisfaction higher and modification intention lower than people under HED and with a bad health condition.

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This paper aims to formulate a quantitative method of evaluating accessibility to the various food facilities, which share the same purpose as meal suppliers but different characteristics, by a common index, for analysis of population distribution. In this study, food facilities are classified into Facility Group I where food facilities cook meals and provide customers with a space to eat meals and Facility Group II where food facilities cook meals but provide no space for eating.
By comparing the transportation and initial loads, this approach models the zone where residents find that one facility is more advantageous to the others. This article also compares the loads of facilities between the case where a user makes a round trip to a facility and the case where the user stops by a facility on the way from/to his/her home. The proposed model theoretically explains the zones obtained in the preceding empirical analysis. Analysis on the locations of facilities and the population distribution around a station shows that the facilities of low initial load were located near the station to promote users to stop by, and that areas with small loads tend to have a large share of single-person households.

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This study selected the Banqiao district of New Taipei City, Taiwan that is both an important transportation hub and diverse cultural area for tours as the place of study to explore the feasibility of promoting circuitous tourism through the recommendation of highly acclaimed tour routes. Both local residents and people who had never travelled to the Banqiao district were engaged in the study to determine their opinions on Banqiao tourist attractions, their tour route recommendations, and their participation in a travelling experiment in Banqiao. The results show that a map with a tour route recommendation could effectively reduce the frequency of tourists stopping temporarily to re-affirm their movement direction and the location of their destination. A map with a tour route recommendation also extends the time spent by visitors at the area, increases the number of tourist attractions visited and the distance they would travel, while retaining the same level of satisfaction as when they travel without the tour route recommendation. Participants who were using a map with a recommended tour route during their tour experiments created a more accurate hand-drawn cognitive map. Maps with tour route recommendations improved the participants′ spatial cognition of the region.

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This paper proposes a navigational pedestrian movement model based on vision-driven agents. In the paper, two different patterns of movement are discussed: natural movement and navigational movement. The natural movement model, which is based on Gibson′s ecological theory of perception and Hillier′s research, facilitates understanding of the relation between visual perception and movement; unfortunately, it has no origin-destination (OD) pairs. In contrast, the navigational movement model does not take the process of visual perception into account. The proposed navigational pedestrian movement model integrates these two movement models by replacing an attractive factor in the conventional natural movement model with a potential field of walls for navigational movement. Consequently, the results of simulations performed show that the proposed model generates a smoother and more plausible movement pattern that is affected by the visual field angle of agents. The problem and its solution according to visual field angle are also demonstrated through model tests. The proposed model demonstrates that an integrated approach can enrich pedestrian studies and enable understanding of the relation between visual perception and movement. It may also be developed as a simulation model for emergencies or wayfinding.

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Many studies related to discrete Time-Cost Trade-Off models have been conducted with the goal of optimizing the total construction cost. However, since the existing discrete Time-Cost Trade-Off models do not consider the sequence of the alternatives between activities, there are limitations concerning their practical applicability. Thus, this research develops a new Time-Cost Trade-Off model that considers the sequence of alternatives between activities. In addition, all of the possible relationships (FS, FF, SS, and SF) between activities are considered in the model to enhance its practicability. This new Time-Cost Trade-Off model is expected to make initial planning as efficient as possible.

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Within the context of high-speed urbanization and significant housing commercialization development in China, this research investigated the expansion of urban spatial form and the formation process of residential space, with a focus on the relationship between these concepts over the past 60 years. Nanjing, an important Chinese city in the Yangtze River Delta, is taken as the object of study. In this research, Arc GIS data analysis technology was used to construct and analyze a database. Moreover, the kernel density estimation method was introduced in the research on urban form. Through quantitative and superposed contrast analyses, this research aimed to determine the facts and objective laws behind the data and to prove the interaction between the urban area expansion and residential space formation through a precise example.

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This study is aimed at establishing a correlation between microscopic factors and pedestrian volume in the urban environment, focusing on microscopic factors that stimulate pedestrian volume, such as density, diversity, network structure, accessibility, the form of lots and buildings, and the form of building façades. In particular, factors already known to boost pedestrian volume include density, diversity and accessibility, which are three variables highly related to the concept of 3Ds (Density, Diversity, Design) proposed by Cervero and Kockelman (1997) and the additional 2Ds (Distance to Transit, Destination Accessibility) suggested by Ewing et al. (2008). The analysis in this study is based on the 2010 survey of the floating population in Seoul, particularly on the data from Seocho-gu in the Gangnam area. Data was established by analyzing microscopic factors within the 500m radius around each of the 616 spots from which the pedestrian volume in Seocho-gu was measured. This study compared and analyzed two methods: OLS, which is featured in multiple studies of pedestrian volume, and Poisson Regression, which is the most common statistical analysis method of abnormal count data such as pedestrian volume. The analysis results showed that density, diversity and accessibility, three factors that were already known to be effective in increasing pedestrian volume, also proved to have the same effect in the Gangnam area. Moreover, the form of the ground level and facade of buildings were found to have a significant effect on pedestrian volume. These findings are expected to serve as basic data for the development of sustainable and resilient cities through higher pedestrian volume.

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This study examines Zaha Hadid′s design methodology with a chronological assessment of her work and its roots in parametric design. Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher¹ pursue Parametricism, and have executed a series of projects that embody it. Her recent work however, does not show building geometry influenced by paintings that can be found in her early work. This study reinterprets the paintings of Malevich, an originator of Suprematism who is believed to inspire her early work from the perspective of Gestalt psychology with parametric observation within the discourse of Parametricism in order to discover consistent design approaches throughout her practice. By investigating her inspiration from Malevich in her early work to her more recent parametric design approach, Zaha Hadid′s consistent design methodology within the evolution of her work is investigated.

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This study aims to explore the relationship between physical environments and sense of community in high-rise and high-density apartment complexes in Seoul, Korea. This relationship in apartment complexes has not been adequately researched so far. To do this, this study compared a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood (PON) and an auto-oriented neighborhood (AON). Survey results showed that residents of PON were more likely to feel a sense of community in their neighborhood than were residents of AON. The results also revealed that social interaction factors and walkability among pedestrian environment factors positively influence a sense of community. In particular, the findings did support the hypothesis that a well-designed pedestrian environment in apartment complexes can contribute to the enhancement of a sense of community.

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This paper explores the functional pragmatism embedded in the transformation of feudal Seoul′s urban structure. Using historic maps drawn between 1751 and 1914 and an analytical method of space syntax, the paper documents changes in the distribution of major administrative buildings and streets in Seoul (″Hanseongbu″) during the Joseon Dynasty. The results indicate that administrative buildings such as palaces, royal villas, economic authority buildings, and military headquarters were relocated along major commercial corridors such as Jongro and Namdaemunro Boulevard during the period. Based on a geographical information analysis, Jongro showed the highest street integration value over time, followed by the southwestern part of the city, because of the overlap between commercial boulevards and administrative buildings. The results suggest that the principle of urban design in which government districts were separated from commercial areas was incrementally abandoned during the late Joseon Dynasty. This functional merging was encoded into the shaping of contemporary Seoul instead of following the old Chinese regulation of urban-form making.

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This study was conducted to clarify the cause of another transformation of the mall, as its transformation not only requires movement (rambling) or encounters of people, but it also requires various intelligent manipulations, and pursues space layout for amenity. In other words, the process of transformation of the mall involves transformation from a space that avoids encounters with social members and ritualizes movement (rambling), into the space of rambling (movement) that encourages encounters with different social members, and the purchase of goods while taking a walk. The second step of the transformation requires various intelligent manipulations, and creates amenity. Also, this process of transformation is interpreted using the concept of Romedi Passini′s Wayfinding Theory, Amos Rapoport′s Space Transformation Theory, Christian Norberg-Schulz′s Setting-into-work, and the Semiosis of C.S. Peirce or C. Morris.

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This paper includes a critical review and an exploration of changes in the urban tissue of Paris and the characteristics of architectural forms in collective housing based on discourses and projects of the 20th century. Such discourses have addressed openings and closures of systems created by relationships of basic urban tissue components such as streets, plots, blocks, and buildings. What is clear is that the residential courtyard as intermediate space contributes directly to establish and change the relations between architectural layout and urban context. Considering social, architectural and urban objectives about open space in urban residences and situation changes of the 20th century, the roles and features of courtyards are categorized into three axes — hygiene, community, and urbanity. The interconnection of hygiene, community, and urbanity resulted in the emergence of a new building type to define the role and value of the courtyard.

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The purpose of this study is to explore the possibilities of architectural typology as a design methodology in contemporary architecture. Thus far, type and typology has been considered purely theoretical or conventional methodology in practice. The use of ′type′ as a tool in the design process has led to ′typification′ of design that discourages the emergence of new formal structures. Despite the criticism of traditional typology, the works of FOA provide a clue to redefining and reinterpreting the subject of typology, which enables us to operate appropriately in constantly shifting environments. The transformations inherent in FOA′s works include the following features. Firstly, the concept of type as an imitable precedent was replaced by an abstract and topological structure of form. Secondly, repetition and reproduction of types were complemented by the protocol of evolution and proliferation. Lastly, the traditional classification system based on the relationships between specific form and function turned into a hierarchical classification system of spatial structure by which formal diversity can be acquired.

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Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) is a parametric analysis method based on nonlinear dynamic analysis. It involves performing nonlinear dynamic analysis of the structural model to a suite of ground motion records, each scaled to multiple levels of intensity (as measured by Intensity Measure, IM), and recording the responses (measured by Engineering Demand Parameter, EDP). An IDA curve combines the intensity measure of a site-specific ground motion with structural responses from nonlinear dynamic analysis of the given structure. It is thus an unavoidable fact that the IDA curves display large record-to-record variability. This observed dispersion relies closely on the IM used. In other words, different IMs can lead to various results from the IDA method. The aim of this paper is to find a proper IM with an advantage in efficiency for IDA analysis. An area-based IM, A(T₁), which considers the period elongation due to nonlinear deformation was proposed. A 6-story reinforced concrete frame was modeled to compare the efficiency of the proposed IM with existing IMs. It is concluded that IMs which consider the higher modes effect fail to perform well due to the domination of the first mode of the frame. Taking nonlinearity development into consideration, A(T₁) is more efficient than other existing IMs. Further research will focus on the area-based IM involving higher modes of the structures.

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After learning from several devastating earthquakes in China in recent years, stricter design criteria have been introduced in the current Chinese seismic design code. To investigate the reliability of the current seismic design code, seismic fragility analyses were performed for 45 10-story reinforced concrete (RC) frame-shear wall structures designed according to the current Chinese seismic design code by analytical methods, considering the uncertainty of earthquake ground motions. The plastic rotation at the ends of the structural component (or the total chord rotation) and the maximum inter-story drift were employed as damage identifiers to quantify the four performance levels, i.e., fully operational, operational, repairable and collapse prevention. Thus, seismic fragility curves corresponding to individual performance levels were developed on the basis of nonlinear time history analyses for the reference RC frame-shear wall structure. The influences of the site soil type, the seismic protection intensity and the performance index on the fragility curves were analyzed. The structural reliability of RC frame-shear wall structures was examined using the developed fragility curves. The results indicate that the seismic performance objectives of RC frame-shear wall structures designed according to the current Chinese seismic design code can be achieved with good reliability.

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The objective of this study was to propose a stratification control method for the minimum air flow of a variable air volume (VAV) terminal unit. The minimum air flow rate of the VAV terminal unit is the key factor affecting thermal comfort, indoor air quality (IAQ), stratification and energy consumption depending on the operating mode of the VAV system. Therefore, selecting the proper minimum air flow is very important. In this study, a building simulation was conducted to evaluate the indoor thermal comfort, stratification, IAQ and energy consumption according to the fixed minimum air flow rate of the VAV terminal units. In addition, an algorithm was proposed considering the stratification and variable minimum air flow rate depending on the indoor load. The results of the fixed minimum air flow rate simulation showed that the minimum air flow rate considering stratification satisfies all the conditions of indoor thermal comfort, IAQ and without stratification. The proposed method was found to be more effective than the existing control method. The energy comparison with the existing control method showed that the proposed method reduces the energy consumption.

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Financial problems are one of the major causes for sluggishness in realizing sustainable buildings. There is a pervasive perception among investors that an increase in the initial investment cost for building environmental improvement is financially denting. From the perspective of a building′s life cycle, building environmental improvement and economic effect have an integrated composition. This is because the building operating period is long and this results in huge operating costs. When ″green premium″ (initial investment cost increases with the use of technology necessary for sustainable buildings such as energy saving or CO₂ emissions reduction) is invested, a considerable decrease in operating cost is expected at the operation stage. As the oil price is continuously increasing and a carbon tax is very likely to be imposed, the effect of ″green premium″ is anticipated to a greater extent. In contrast, if there is no information on life cycle cost analysis at the initial design stage when deciding ″green premium″, the investment of stakeholders can hardly be expected. This is considered as the leading cause for failure to realize sustainable buildings throughout the world. In particular in Korea, analysis techniques and experts are considerably insufficient. Therefore, this paper proposes the development of a Decision Support Tool for evaluating the reduction effect of CO₂ emissions against the cost, which is available at the early design stage. For this, a program has been developed with a database after implementing a CO₂ emission evaluation module, life cycle cost evaluation module, and output module for cost-effectiveness.

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In 2002, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport in Korea jointly executed the Green Standard for Energy & Environmental Design of Korea (G-SEED) for apartment buildings for the first time. Recently, G-SEED certification performance has increased rapidly. However, despite the external growth of G-SEED, there is a need for improvements in both the application of the laws and policies related to the environmental performance of buildings and the certification system itself. These changes are required to resolve issues with the extended environmental performance of buildings related to the enhanced living standards and quality of life in Korea as well as the country′s rapid technological development.
This research is significant as a preliminary evaluation in preparation for G-SEED improvement. Ultimately, to ensure the program′s internal stability and to move forward, criteria and methods for evaluating the environmental performance of G-SEED were developed, and an incentive measure to encourage adoption of the policy was suggested.

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Roofs of large-span structures always cause severe building energy consumption as well as uncomfortable indoor environments, especially in hot climates. This paper presents the evaluation of a passive roof structure which is designed to significantly reduce roof heat conduction and consequently improve interior comfort. With its ventilating cavity, this roof structure can remove the residual heat between its outer and inner layers. As a case study, the recently built Shenzhen railway station hall and on-site measurement is used for method validation. 3D steady Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, as well as energy consumption simulations, of roof form comparison have been conducted under different conditions. The cross comparison shows that this structure is effective in providing a climatic buffer against hot weather and consequently reduces the enormous energy consumption in large-span structures.

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