Brzezicki Marcin

• PhD, habilitation
• Professor (Associate) at Wrocław University of Science and Technology

This study investigates the effectiveness of sloped horizontal shading fins in enhancing visual comfort, electricity generation, and acoustic attenuation in a south-facing office room in Wrocław, Poland (51° latitude). A simulation-based approach combined Radiance daylight simulations, PV energy modeling, and graphical acoustic analysis. Four fin c...

The growing need to mitigate the environmental impact of human activities has underscored the importance of biomaterials in sustainable architecture and construction. In this systematic review, advancements in bio-composite materials are consolidated and critically evaluated, emphasizing their thermal insulation properties and broader applications...

This study employs both simulation and experimental methodologies to evaluate the effectiveness of bi-sectional horizontal kinetic shading systems (KSS) with horizontal fins in enhancing daylight comfort across various climates. It emphasizes the importance of optimizing daylight levels while minimizing solar heat gain, particularly in the context...

This study uses simulation and experimental methodologies to explore the efficacy of bi-sectional horizontal kinetic shading systems (KSS) featuring horizontal fins in enhancing daylight comfort across various climates. Given the increasing energy demands and shifting climatic patterns, optimizing daylight levels while minimizing solar heat gain is...

In the context of sustainability and ambitious goals for reducing CO2 emissions, modifying transparency in architecture becomes a crucial tool for managing energy flow into buildings. Kinetic shading systems (KSSs) regulate light and heat entry into a room, thereby reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions and improving daylight comfort. Recent...

This study aims to develop and evaluate a vertically rotated fin shading system for an energy-efficient, user-friendly office space. The system was designed to protect a 4 × 8 m office room with a south-facing facade from excessive solar radiation and glare. The shading system was modelled and simulated using Rhino/Ladybug 1.6.0 software with Radia...

A building’s facade is its main interface with the external environment, as it controls almost all energy flows in the building—losses and gains. In this context, the most recent invention of adaptive façades allows for the introduction of an optimized system for both daylight management and electrical energy production. The authors of the presente...

Transparency is no longer limited to specific functions (e.g. illumination of the interior) but has become a tool of formal expression itself. Apart from the standard understanding of transparency as the use of light-permeable materials in facade design, one can find other innovative and creative interpretations. Usually, technical solutions have p...

The present study investigates the issue of computer-aided daylight evaluation in an office room with a light shelf and dropped translucent ceiling. In this type of room, daylight is admitted from two sources: (i) a standard window in the wall and (ii) via a light shelf and clerestory window, which illuminate the plenum located above the working sp...

The presented article is a review of building envelope designs where paper-based products are used as the main material. Paper-based products, especially honeycomb panels and corrugated cardboard provide good thermal insulation properties, affordable prices, and relatively low environmental impact. Paper as a building material has been occasionally...

Sustainability is currently one of the biggest concerns in the field of architecture and civil engineering. The presented study elaborates on the students’ expectations vs. experience of sustainable and ecological design in their architectural education. Students were surveyed after the interdisciplinary Hybrid Factory Design (HFD) course carried o...

In the context of sustainability and in the face of ambitious goals towards the reduction of CO2 emission, the modification of transparency in architecture becomes an important tool of energy flow management into the building. Windows that dim to stop the energy transfer reduce the cooling load in the building. Recently, however, the latest achieve...

Paper and cardboard elements can be used as a pro-ecological building material. To meet the safety and usage requirements paper elements need to be impregnated, however, most impregnation methods have a negative impact on the environmental performance of the elements. This article describes research that was conducted in order to determine the most...

Abstract: The current study investigates the issue of computer-aided daylight evaluation in a museum room with a dropped translucent ceiling. In this type of room, daylight is admitted through classic windows located in the facade and then distributed in the plenum, which is located above the exhibition space and transmitted through the translucent...

This chapter presents a study of the perceptual processes that condition the parallel processing of visual data, and thus could become a design tool to manage the transfer of information. This allows the designers to analyze and consciously plan this process, taking into the account the perceptual mechanisms involved. The chapter combines knowledge...

Over the last two decades, new trends have emerged in the design of translucent facades. Those trends result from the dynamic technological progress and achievements in material engineering. The trends that are associated with the use of envelopes that interfere with the transmission of light through the façade are particularly interesting. This is...

A building’s façade is its main interface with the external environment. Adaptive façade, one recent invention in the façade industry, has the capability to change its behaviour in real-time to respond to internal and/or external parameters, by means of materials, components, and systems. Among these, the adaptive shading and the façade glazing are...

This paper concentrates on the issues of daylight optimization in an office building using external shading fins/panels. Vertical shading elements are seen as an important tool of daylight management in buildings, especially when the façade is fully glazed. This enables guiding daylight deep into the room, simultaneously reducing the impact of dire...

Artykuł ma na celu przedstawienie dynamicznych zmian w technologii fasad betonowych GRC, zachodzących w okresie dwóch pierwszych dekad XXI w. W tekście zawarto zarówno informacje na temat początkowych etapów rozwoju technologii betonu zbrojonego włóknem szklanym, jak i reprezentatywne przykłady zastosowań tego materiału budowlanego skategoryzowane...

Due to the substantial need for energy efficiency, the daylight performance of building envelopes is a key issue in sustainable architecture. A frequently used shading system consists on static expanded metal meshes (EM). As a very prominent textural facade element, expanded metal is widely used as both a cladding and static shading device. One fi...

The spatial modification of the glazed façade is a part of the overall façade’s creation scheme. Despite the important aesthetical function, serrated and finned facades are also seen as an important tool of daylight management in buildings, especially when façade is partially glazed and partially opaque. This allows guiding scattered daylight deep...

Contemporary architectural transparency, understood as the optical property of the construction material, is constantly being redefined and, over the last two decades, new design trends have developed. These trends are the result of: (i) dynamic technological progress; (ii) advancement in the field of materials science; (iii) changes in the attitud...

The use of glass fins constitutes a recently emerging trend in the façade industry. Fins (ribs) could be defined as long glass strips mounted perpendicularly to the surface of the façade. Fins are used as (i) decorative (aesthetical enrichment of the facade), (ii) functional (sunshade) and (iii) structural (stiffening and load-bearing) elements of...

Jak wynika z uzyskanych danych, aktualnie zamieszkiwane przez człowieka strefy klimatyczne będą cechowały coraz bardziej skrajne warunki pogodowe, do życia w których ludzie będą musieli się zaadaptować. Uwaga naukowców skupia się więc na środowiskach ekstremalnych, które zwykle nie zapewniają ludziom odpowiednich do funkcjonowania warunków, ale mog...

Bio-based materials are considered a promising resource for buildings in the twenty-first century due to their sustainability and versatility. They can be produced locally, with minimum transportation costs and in an ecological manner. This chapter describes the potential of biomaterials for use in façades. It presents several examples of natural r...

This chapter presents several successful examples of biomaterial façade design. It discusses façade function from aesthetical, functional, and safety perspectives. Special focus is directed on novel concepts for adaptation and special functionalities of façades. Analysis of the structure morphologies and aesthetic impressions related to the bio-bas...

A special focus of this chapter is directed into assessing the performance of façades along the service life of the building. Influence of biotic and abiotic factors and their effect on materials physical and aesthetical properties are discussed. Principles of protection by design and their role in building performance during use phase are briefly...

This chapter presents a portfolio of building materials suitable for façades. It describes the relationship between material type, building element, façade, and the entire building structure. Traditional façades based on static components, as well as adaptive concepts able to interact with changing environmental conditions, are briefly described an...

This chapter presents a selection of biomaterials identified by industry and academia as superior for building façades. Time series of photographs demonstrating changes of material appearance during use phase are provided for each case. In addition, selected technical characteristic, durability, recyclability potential as well as costing estimates...

This chapter concludes the overall content of this book. The key challenges regarding possible innovations in the building sector are presented from the perspective of the development in materials science, design concepts, as well as tools and services for improved façade management.

This chapter presents examples of innovative and sustainable use of bio-based products in building façades. Selected cases represent best practices implemented all over the world are presented from the perspective of art and innovation. Cases and examples incorporated in this chapter are indexed and summarized in a form of portfolio. Short descript...

This book provides a compendium of material properties, demonstrates several successful examples of bio-based materials’ application in building facades, and offers ideas for new designs and novel solutions. It features a state-of-the-art review, addresses the latest trends in material selection, assembling systems, and innovative functions of faca...

“Case Studies – Adaptive Facade Network” concentrates on the definition and classification of adaptive facades by describing the state-of-the-art of materials, components and systems for adaptive facades, as well as future trends for products and systems. It also provides information about a database that is published on COST TU 1403 website.

The paper presents the first results of research that was partly conducted within the framework of European COST Action TU1403-Adaptive Façades Network, on the development of an adaptive BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic) solution able to change its curvature in relation to the external environmental conditions, orientating itself in order to...

The wealth of geometrical variations of glass facades calls for a thorough study of glass facade morphology. The term ‘morphology’, which is typically associated with biological sciences, is also commonly used in urban and architectural design to describe the appearance and physical structure of the building's volume and its envelope. In many cases...

Energy-harvesting systems installed on facades have an immense influence on the perception of architecture. Technologies at various stages of advancement are currently used. Apparent (clearly visible) PV elements (e.g. old-generation applied solar panels) are being replaced by technologies that integrate those systems into the building’s envelope u...

Serrated building envelopes are a very eye-catching element of contemporary architecture. This type of façade in plan resembles the edges of a serrated blade, hence the name. Serrated facades substantially influence the building’s tectonics understood as the relationship between the structural and the artistic form. They also have a major impact bo...

Current strategies for facades envelopes are determined by a static response defined by a single prescriptive value. This code requirement diminishes the ability of a façade to interact with the environment by constant readjustment of functional performance. This is the knowledge gap between present code compliant facades, based on measures in the...

The possibility to change light transmission properties of glass has been of interest to architects and engineers not only because it can be used for microclimate control, but also because it helps to achieve a variety of visual, formal and architectural expression. In this process, the optical transparency can be altered qualitatively or quantitat...

Transparency has become a new division of architectural theory and practice and has created a new kind of aesthetic sensibility, opening up a wealth of possibilities for visual expression The growing importance of the visual aspects in architecture is obvious, especially with respect to façades. Transparency is no longer limited to specific functio...

Transparency has become a new division of architectural theory and practice and has created a new kind of aesthetic sensibility, opening up a wealth of possibilities for visual expression The growing importance of the visual aspects in architecture is obvious, especially with respect to façades. Transparency is no longer limited to specific functio...

Today’s facades are mostly passive systems and are largely exhausted from an energetic point of view. They can neither adapt to changing environmental conditions related to daily and annual cycles nor to changing user requirements. Multifunctional, adaptive and dynamic facades can be considered the next big milestone in facade technology. Adaptive...

Adaptive facades provide opportunities for significant reductions in building energy use and CO2 emissions, while at the same time having a positive impact on the quality of the indoor environment. Many different types of adaptive façade concepts (materials, components and systems) have already been developed, and an increase in emerging, innovativ...

Light-permeable materials are widely available, well marketed, and very durable. This last feature in particular explains their frequent usage as the sole cladding material on building facades, most commonly in lacquered, painted, or screen-printed versions that block the transmission of images from inside. This paper describes the newly emerging c...

Summary Perception of transparency in contemporary architecture. Visual and cognitive aspects The book presents a study of the perceptual processes that determine the perception (recognition) of smooth transparent surfaces, which are frequently used in contemporary architecture. In order to model and explain the mechanisms involved in such percepti...

The perception of transparency in architecture poses a major cognitive challenge due to the nearly faultless quality of large-scale light-permeable materials. Previous experiments demonstrated the significance of the virtual image in the perception of light-permeable materials. The separation of this image in photographs of architecture proved cruc...

This paper examines the issue of transparency recognition in architecture from a dynamically changing point of view. A simple and intuitive pictorial model of the transparent surface appearance is presented, followed by a discussion of the transparency processing (mid- or high-level). Two zones of perception that determine the proper perception of...

The perception of transparency in human's build environment constitutes a significant cognitive challenge, also affecting the user's safety. It is supposed that, apart from the mid-level vision transparency cues, specular reflection is also a key feature of the perceived image taken into consideration by the visual system. In the paper, this optica...

Issues of transparency perception are addressed from an architectural perspective, pointing out previously neglected factors that greatly influence this phenomenon in the scale of a building. The simplified perforated model of a transparent surface presented in the paper has been based on previously developed theories and involves the balance of li...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of glare reflection on the surroundings from differently shaped glossy façades. The first stage of the research involved studying various forms of building façades, including rectangular and angular as well as concave and convex shapes. For the second stage, concave façades were selected, as t...