Panagiotidou, V; Körner, A; (2022) From Intricate to Coarse and Back A voxel-based workflow to approximate high-res geometries for digital environmental simulations. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe. (pp. pp. 491-500). eCAADe

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Abstract

Digital environmental simulations can present a computational bottleneck concerning the complexity of geometry. Therefore, a series of workarounds, ranging from cloud-based solutions to machine learning simulations as surrogate simulations are conventionally applied in practice. Concurrently, contemporary advances in procedural modelling in architecture result in design concepts with high polygon counts. This leads to an everincreasing resolution discrepancy between design and analysis models. Responding to this problem, this research presents a step-by-step approximation workflow for handling and transferring high-resolution geometries between procedural modelling and environmental simulation software. The workflow is intended to allow designers to quickly assess a design’s interaction with environmental parameters such as airflow and solar radiation and further articulate them. A controllable voxelization procedure is applied to approximate the original geometry and therefore reduce the resolution. Controllable in this context refers to the user’s ability to locally adjust the voxel resolution to fit design needs. After export and simulation, 3d results are imported back into the design environment. The colour properties are re-mapped onto the original highresolution geometry following a weighted proximity technique. The developed data transfer pipeline allows designers to integrate environmental analysis during initial design steps, which is essential for accessibility in the design profession. This can help to environmentally inform generative designs as well as to make simulation workflows more accessible when working with a wider range of geometries. In this, it reduces the perceived discrepancy between the concept and simulation model. This eases the use and allows a wider audience of users to develop co-creation processes between computation, architecture, and environment.

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