Shany Barath

Technion - Israel Institute of Technology | technion · Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning

With the increasing need for architectural sustainability, biodesign offers a new approach to incorporating living organisms in building materials. Bacteria hold a range of biological activities that impact their environment, and which could enable the solidification of inorganic materials; this has already been seen with microbially-induced carbon...

With the increasing need for architectural sustainability, biodesign offers a new approach to incorporating living organisms in building materials. Bacteria hold a range of biological activities that impact their environment, and which could enable the solidification of inorganic materials; this has already been seen with microbially-induced carbon...

In interior space planning, the furnishing stage usually entails manual iterative processes, including meeting design objectives, incorporating professional input, and optimizing design performance. Machine learning has the potential to automate and improve interior design processes while maintaining creativity and quality. The aim of this study wa...

As sustainability awareness is increasing within architecture, we witness the emergence of new design approaches seeking to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and production of waste. Biodesign addresses such challenges by integrating living organisms within processes of design and manufacturing harnessing their natural performances. This pape...

The paper focuses on several systemic research-by-design case studies relating ecological, technological and social systems with a more-than-human perspective. The complexity of the real requires methods that leverage digital tools and processes proposed to enable the design of more ecological, dynamic, interrelated posthuman environments. We argue...

Anthropic activities negatively impact natural and artificial ecosystems, necessitating interdisciplinary mitigation strategies such as multi-species building envelope designs. This paper introduces a computational multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology to support these envelope designs. We also propose a nested set strategy for key perf...

Emerging regulations in the context of sustainability have placed renewed attention on construction protocols, including consideration of end-of-life, waste reduction and a shift to bioplastics. However, much research is required on the integration and compatibility of bioplastic materials and their performance concerning construction industry stan...

Cement and concrete production are responsible for nearly 8% of the world's annual emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Biodesign can potentially address this challenge in architecture by integrating living materials in design processes and enhancing the ecological performance of materials. As part of an interdisciplinary approach between ar...

Rapid urbanization negatively affects the built and biotic environment, necessitating interdisciplinary mitigation strategies. Current nature-based solutions that are integrated into building envelope design have proved to be beneficial. These solutions, however, are primarily anthropocentric and often overlook the potential to support other living...

Research is revealing an increasing number of positive effects of nature for humans. At the same time, biodiversity in cities, where most humans live, is often low or in decline. Tangible solutions are needed to increase urban biodiversity. Architecture is a key discipline that has considerable influence on the built‐up area of cities, thereby infl...

Urbanisation, due to its contribution to climate change and loss of biodiversity, damages ecosystems, thereby affecting human health and well-being. Current urban and architectural design approaches, that aim to reduce the environmental impact of buildings, include, among other strategies, the integration of greening systems but focusing primarily...

Sustainability rating systems (SRS) aim to guide decision-makers in the planning process by defining clear guidelines and metrics. Nowadays, this process usually requires further tasks and the involvement of multiple professional advisors that eventually increase planning complexity and lead to lower SRS implementation. In this paper, we explore ge...

Urban areas are facing significant challenges regarding degradation of environments and ecosystems, species loss, and increased vulnerability to climate hazards, all of which impact negatively upon human health and well-being.Focusing on building envelopes can offer an effective approach to the regeneration of urban ecosystems, by providing new spa...

Taking a cue from research at the crossroads between chemistry, material science, and nanotechnology this paper examines the role of material-driven fabrication methods that enable the integration of pre-programmed geometrical expression onto customized thin-film composites from within a design mindset. Recent developments in electrothermal actuato...