Wolfgang E. Lorenz

TU Wien | TU Wien · Institute of Architectural Sciences, Department of Digital Architecture and Planning

In this paper, a new box-counting method to achieve a highly specific topological fingerprinting of architecture in relation to the position of the observer and in the context of its surroundings is proposed. Central to this method is the use of 360-degree spherical panoramas as a basis for fractal measurement. Thus, a number of problems of the com...

This paper describes the concept of integrating several complexity evaluation methods, previously developed and tested by the authors, into one product configurator through a technical prototype. In this case variations of an online configurator for design products based on a choice of these digital complexity evaluation methods developed between 2...

In most cities, cars remain the dominant mode of transport. This is a huge problem not only because of obvious effects such as congestion and pollution, but also because it causes health issues for commuters themselves which lead to further costs for the community. In our work, we have developed an agent-based simulation which offers mitigation str...

The design studio "designing a dynamic hospital for pandemics" took place in the winter term 2020/2021 at TU Wien, during the 2nd wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Its goal was to establish novel ways in which hospital architecture can react to a pandemic crisis, mostly in a permanent (built) manner rather than by using temporary measures. As such,...

This article contributes to clarifying the questions of whether and how fractal geometry, i.e., some of its main properties, are suitable to characterize architectural designs. This is done in reference to complexity‐related aesthetic qualities in architecture, taking advantage of the measurability of one of them; the fractal dimension. Research in...

European cities like Vienna are characterized by strong growth and, as a result, by high demand for living space. Extending the attic is one way of meeting this demand. However, there is a lack of data to know which roofs are already expanded and to what extent. The city is interested in the data in two ways: firstly, in relation to the distributio...

Fractal analysis helps explaining and understanding architectural quality, e.g., regarding visual complexity described by fractal (box counting) dimension. FRACAM, a cell phone application, uses fractal image analysis methods and takes into account the specific requirements of architectural purposes at the same time. It was developed by the authors...

If we strive for a decarbonized future, we need to think of buildings within a city as resources that can be re-used rather than being disposed of. Together with considerations on refurbishment options and future building materials, this gives a decision field for stakeholders which depends on the current``building stock''-the set of pre-existing b...

The rezoning process primarily deals with proposed changes on land-use and zoning plans. More and more often, the public is asked for its opinion and feedback. However, there are two main obstacles in today's practice: On the one hand land-use and zoning plans, in general, only define the potential of areas and so do proposed draft plans; they usua...

Das Buch beschreibt in einzelnen Kapiteln die vom Institut Architekturwissenschaften, Digitale Architektur und Raumplanung, organisierte Exkursion nach Chicago aus dem Jahr 2019. Die einzelnen Abschnitte behandeln folgende architektonisch und raumplanerisch relevanten Themen: "Geschichte von Chicago", "Identitäten der Stadt", "Stadtplanung in den U...

The prediction of microclimate effects within an urban context through simulations has previously been done through elaborate software packages that offer accurate results but require extensive domain knowledge and time for the preparation of a model. In day-today policymaking, however, these efforts may turn out to be a major limiting factor: Poli...

This paper is based on the assumption that a key challenge of good design is spatial organisation as a result of functional requirements. The authors present a new NetLogo application that assists designers to understand the proposed functional relationships (of spaces) by visualizing them graphically. In more detail, the tool translates adjacency...

As in a play, the name of the program already hints at its content (or: purpose). Likewise, the names used in a program should point at their role in the now beginning chain of events. Introducing proper names may be difficult at start. It requires a clear concept of what a program should do and in which steps it is going arrive at its solution. Ar...

Algorithms and programming are getting more and more important in the field of architecture and planning. As consequence, many students are already familiar with visual programming languages such as Grasshopper for Rhino. However, architects and computer scientists still speak a different language (solution oriented versus problem oriented). To tea...

Hospital refurbishments often take place in parallel to regular operation, resulting in a scheduling problem: Construction activities must located such as they do not clash with daily work activities and vice versa. To be able to see this mutual influence, we have devised a tool in which we are able to visualize the adverse effects of construction...

Die zentrale Idee eines algorithmischen Entwerfens liegt in der Möglichkeit den Entwurfsprozess in einzelne Problemstellungen zu zerlegen. Diese können in weiterer Folge durch Algorithmen, d.h. Handlungsanweisungen, sinnvoll und zielführend gelöst werden. Augenmerk bezüglich der Umsetzung als Computerprogramm wird vor allem auf jene Bereiche gelegt...

WEB Application: https://www.pro-meidling.at/bkl/bkl.html (Stand 27-11-2018) https://www.data.gv.at/anwendungen/studie-zur-visualisierung-von-planaenderungen-des-flaechenwidmungs-und-bebauungsplanes/ (Stand 27-11-2018) Änderungen im Flächenwidmungs- und Bebauungsplan sind für die Betroffenen, d.h. die Anrainer, aber auch für die Entscheidungsträge...

How can we teach programming (scripting) to architects? Where do we start, and how deep should we go? In this scientific report we demonstrate how to teach both knowledge about programming as well as a basic understanding on how to model and structure problems. The report is mainly based on the experience of the past five years teaching programming...

Das Buch beschreibt in einzelnen Kapiteln die vom Institut Architekturwissenschaften, Digitale Architektur und Raumplanung, organisierte Exkursion nach Japan aus dem Jahr 2016. Der Titel beinhaltet auch vorangegangene Exkursionen, die als Recherchegrundlagen in die finale Arbeit mit einflossen. Das Buch selbst ist in zwei Hauptteile gegliedert. Der...

This paper explores the differences between`designbetween`design' and`scienceand`science' papers published at eCAADe conferences through use of automatic classification. The latter is conducted using a set of differentiating criteria (e.g. number of figures determines a paper to be either`designeither`design' or`scienceor`science') which are calibr...

The paper describes and discusses the possible integration of gradient analysis into the learning environment, as a tool to optimize design-objects in regards to their proportion-complexity. To create a responsive system to be used within a design- or learning process the gradient analysis has been integrated in an interactive genetic algorithm (IG...

Hospital refurbishments often take place in parallel to regular operation, resulting in a scheduling problem: Construction activities must be located such as they do not clash with daily work activities and vice versa. To be able to see this mutual influence, we have devised a tool in which we are able to visualize the adverse effects of constructi...

This paper deals with fractal aesthetics and proposes a new fractal analysis method for the perceptual study of architecture. The authors believe in the universality of formulas and aim to complement the architectural description in terms of proportion. Although a well established fractal analysis method to describe the complexity of facades across...

Obtaining spatial representations of existing buildings for use in simulation is challenging: To begin with, getting permission to access submitted construction plans can take a long time. Then these might only be available in analog form, making it necessary to scan and vectorize them at the regulations office. The resulting representation might s...

There are two kinds of algorithms: those that are 'better' with respect to accuracy and those that are 'faster'. In the past, fractal analysis by means of box-counting-including both, binary and greyscale analysis-has been focused on the former. In our work, however, we want to aim at the second category: algorithms that are fast and easy to use, w...

Der Einsatz von Fertigteilen aus Stahlbeton stellt in der Architektur ein komplexes Thema dar. Diese sind aus der heutigen europäischen Baukultur nicht mehr wegzudenken. Dabei liegen die Vorteile auf der Hand: verkürzte Bauzeiten aufgrund der Vorproduktion (Serienanfertigung), geringere Kosten, höhere Terminsicherheiten (geringere Witterungsabhängi...

This contribution focuses on recent efforts towards coupling building morphology optimization and energy efficiency computation in the context of early stage hospital planning. In more detail, a Netlogo model was conceived to generate typological design variations based on a grid grammar. Each resulting design was subjected to a fitness test based...

The paper describes and discusses the possible integration of gradient analysis, as a method and tool for architects and designers to analyze the degree of proportion-complexity of a design, into the process of designing an object utilizing interactive genetic algorithms (IGA). A VBA implementation for AutoCAD has been developed by the authors, ena...

The design studio 'Flying Bricks' was held during the summer semester 2015. Its main objective was to redesign an existing building with the use of facing bricks algorithmically, utilizing algorithmic thinking and programming as a means for form generation. The purpose of having students express their designs in terms of code was to emphasize probl...

In this paper, we have adopted methods from Social Network Analysis in order to analyze adjacency graphs. Our intent was to uncover as much hidden structures as possible so as to improve adjacency requirements before they are used further on during the design process. To that end, we have conducted a case study using two readily available software...

Since Benoît Mandelbrot raised the question about the length of Brit-ain's coastline in 1967, it has become obvious that fractal geometry is appropriate for describing irregular forms. In 1996 Carl Bovill applied box-counting, a fractal analysis method, for the first time to architecture in order to quantify the characteristic visual complexity of...

Discrete-event simulation of hospitals typically specifies flow by means of a process graph through which patients are routed. While this is generally fine for models in which processes are clearly defined, e.g. smaller units such as emergency departments, it falls short of capturing the fact that a patient can in principle go from one unit to any...

Adjacencies stand at the beginning of a multitude of planning tasks. Especially in hospital planning they are essential for describing relationships between different organizational units - e.g. ‘close’, ‘distant’ or ‘neutral’. Mathematically, these terms map to relative weights between each pair of units in the range [-1, 1] which are put into a (...

Kuba, Ziel der von der Abteilung Digitale Architektur und Raumplanung des Instituts für Architekturwissenschaften organisierten Exkursion, ist ein im Wandel begriffener Inselstaat: Zwischen kolonialem Erbe, amerikanischem und russischem Einfluss, gebeutelt durch seine geopolitische Lage in einer sich stetig verändernden Welt. Die Abteilung hat die...

Kuba ist einem politischen und wirtschaftlichen Wandel unterworfen. Die Lockerung des US amerikanischen Embargos wird zwangsweise die derzeitig anzutreffende Improvisationskunst beeinflussen. Sowohl der Zugang zu einer größeren Palette an Ressourcen aber auch ausländische Interventionen werden Neuanschaffungen an die Stelle des allgegenwärtigen Bew...

The aim of the research presented in this paper is to provide an additional method and tool for architects and designers as well as students and scholars to analyze the degree of complexity of a design. Fractal analysis (box counting) e.g. is one of these methods already used in architecture to measure the degree of complexity of an architectural d...

Die Gestaltung von Fassaden mit Sichtmauerwerk ist in der Architektur ein komplexes Thema. Diese ist und war in vielen Staaten der Europäischen Union seit Jahren ein fixer Bestandteil der architektonischen Form (siehe Niederlande, Belgien, Deutschland, Italien usw.). In Österreich dagegen verlor diese Technik seit der Epoche des Historismus kontinu...

Ziel der Lehrveranstaltung flying bricks war es das Verständnis und den Einsatz algorithmischen Denkens in der Architekturpraxis zu fördern. Die vorangestellte Analyse bestehender Strukturen und deren rhythmische Wiederholung wurden am Beispiel der Konstruktion von Sichtmauerwerk zur Grundlage für die Entwicklung eines eigenen gestalterischen Ausdr...

Der Entwurf resultiert ausschließlich aus dem Algorithmus selbst, der das Versetzen der einzelnen Ziegelsteine definiert. Demzufolge verschiebt sich zunächst jeder nachfolgende Ziegelstein um einen definierten Wert aus der Fassadenachse nach außen in Richtung Straßenraum, bis entweder eine bestimmte Anzahl von Schritten erreicht wurde oder der Zieg...

Der Entwurf ergibt sich wie schon bei Move in and out ausschließlich aus dem Algorithmus, der bestimmt, wie die einzelnen Ziegelsteine gesetzt werden. Beim Programm Sine Curve folgt die Spur der Ziegelsteine nunmehr einer Sinuskurve, wobei der Benutzer den Faktor für die Amplitude einstellt und den Ausschlag der Kurve dadurch direkt beeinflusst. Wä...

Bei der Verwendung von NetLogo, einer Multi-Agenten-Programmiersprache, zur Erstellung von Sichtziegelmauerwerken bedarf es der Klärung einiger Fragestellung. Diese werden in einzelnen Abschnitten erörtert: Agenten zur Entwurfsfindung (welche Grundvoraussetzung sind notwendig, wie wird die Denkweise beeinflusst), Importieren und Voxelisierung (nach...

The paper asks whether there is a connection between quality in architecture and the characteristics of form that can be described by means of fractal geometry. Taking up Carl Bovill’s ideas, the question will be dealt with in two respects. First the existence of fractal characteristics (self-similarity, ruggedness and iteration) is studied in work...

Adjacencies stand at the beginning of a multitude of planning tasks. Especially in hospital planning they are essential for describing relationships between different organizational units – e.g. ‘close’, ‘distant’ or ‘neutral’. Mathematically, these terms map to relative weights between each pair of units in the range [-1, 1] which are put into a (...

Health trusts are aiming to consolidate the clinical landscape: The provision of medical services, now handled by individual clinics, is to be transformed such that the patient volume can be redirected between different specialized service providers. As implication, hospital planning needs to embrace the subject of cross-clinical development rather...

As evidence from recent years has demonstrated, box-counting provides an objective fractal analytical method to evaluate the visual complexity of architecture. This paper for the first time explores the potential of box-counting with regard to the work of the Viennese architect Adolf Loos (1870-1933). Loos is seen as the pioneer of modern architect...

Auf dem Standort der sogenannten "Ziegelhäuser" (1869-70) des Architekten Wilhelm Flattich - dem Gebäudekomplex in der Eichenstraße Nr. 13-23 - sollte ein Kulturzentrum entworfen werden. Am Beginn des Entwurfsprozesses stand die kritische Auseinandersetzung mit der von den Studierenden selbst gewählten Nutzung (aus einem Pool an Möglichkeiten), um...

Brickster style ist der prägnante Titel eines im Sommersemester 2014 durchgeführten generativen Entwerfens der Abteilung Digitale Architektur und Raumplanung des Instituts für Architekturwissenschaften. Der Name Brickster style setzt sich aus dem englischen Wort für Ziegel und dem Ausdruck eines Jugendtrends („Hipster“) zusammen.

Ein Algorithmus lässt sich am einfachsten mit einem Kochrezept vergleichen. Jede Zeile in einem Kochbuch beschreibt eine genaue Handlungsanweisung. Das Kochrezept beschreibt einen Vorgang bei dem eine Person zur schrittweisen Befolgung von Anweisungen aufgefordert wird. Diese Schritte müssen im Sinne eines Algorithmus abgeschlossen und durchführbar...

The operation of complex buildings (e.g. airports, hospitals, industrial facilities, penitentiaries) is commonly simulated forward in time: Agents arrive and perform their prescribed tasks, utilizing resources and space as required. When trying to understand the model's state at a certain point in time, say, "why is this resource over-utilized", on...

This thesis investigates to what extent the fractal geometry is suitable for characterizing architecture. It describes the benefits of such an approach as opposed to a description by means of Euclidean geometry (which we have been familiar with for more than two thousand years). In this context, buildings of different epochs are examined to determi...

Design can be seen as a flow problem. The architects´ hand produces an initial sketch by traveling through an information space containing, for each cell, the qualities that have been established during the initial analysis. The architect can either pick up some of these qualities in his design (i.e. requirement-driven design) or ignore them and pr...

The operation of complex buildings (e.g., airports, hospitals, industrial facilities, penitentiaries) is commonly simulated forward in time: agents arrive and perform their prescribed tasks, utilizing resources and space as required. When trying to understand the model's state at a certain point in time, say, "why is this resource over-utilized?”,...

Simulation in early stages of hospital planning might not live up to its full potential: Results come as quantitative (crisp) values, whereas early conception specifies requirements in a more qualitative (think: linguistic) fashion. Because of this gap, it is no wonder when planners cannot easily interpret what is computed. In our most recent work...

When Benoît Mandelbrot raised the question about the length of Britain's coastline in 1967, this was a major step towards formulating the theory of fractals, which also led to a new understanding of irregularity in nature. Since then it has become obvious that fractal geometry is more appropriate for describing complex forms than traditional Euclid...

Hospital simulation has so-far concentrated on late phases of architectural planning, in which the design is already fully formulated and undergoes optimization. This paper moves into the exactly opposite direction - it tries to embed simulation into the earliest phase imaginable, which, interestingly, is well before any architectural planning occu...

During early-stage planning, numerous design decisions are taken in an argumentative manner, based on occupation with the building site according to the different influencing aspects (e.g. topology, wind, visibility, circulation, activities etc.). In this context, sketches, diagrams and spreadsheets are the workhorses for elaboration. However, some...

About this article:

Computer programming in architecture seems to be commonplace throughout the eCAADe Community. Yet, a critical evaluation of a programming course as seen from a student's side is still missing. During a week-long programming workshop in a fellow university, we have been assessing subjective parameters such as mood, quality of presentation and compre...

The book presents an outline of current activities in the field of biomimetics and integrates a variety of applications comprising biophysics, surface sciences, architecture and medicine. Biomimetics as innovation method is characterised by interdisciplinary information transfer from the life sciences to technical application fields aiming at incre...

In Fractals smaller parts and the whole are linked together. Fractals are self-similar, as those parts are, at least approximately, scaled-down copies of the rough whole. In architecture, such a concept has also been known for a long time. Not only architects of the twentieth century called for an overall idea that is mirrored in every single detai...

This workshop focuses on the automatization of daily work routines in Architecture by the use of programming.

The author describes the basic principles for measuring architecture from the point of view of Fractal Geometry outlining the principle connections between Fractal Geometry and architecture, giving some examples and explaining the Box-Counting Method, which is an easily manageable method that can be applied to elevations. The paper not only deals w...

The paper asks whether there is a connection between quality in architecture and the characteristics of form that can be described by means of fractal geometry. Taking up Carl Bovill's ideas, the question will be dealt with in two respects. First the existence of fractal characteristics (self-similarity, ruggedness and iteration) is studied in work...

If architecture stands for continuing the development from the protecting caves over the fallen down tree as a first shelter to buildings made of timber or stones and up to modern interpretations of nature like Frank Lloyd Wright’s examples, then architecture, natural materials, time and the structure of nature may still be an unity. In this way, n...

Der Neubau der Pfarrkirche Maria Lourdes im 12. Wiener Gemeindebezirk wurde notwendig, als der Vorgängerbau, eine Notkirche aus dem Jahr 1933, den Gläubigen nicht mehr genügend Platz bot. Die Weihe erfolgte im Jahr 1958 und somit stammte das Kirchengebäude noch aus einer Zeit in der Kirchenneubauten als Bauaufgabe in Österreich keine von vielen Arc...