Geometries of light

Abstract

This research aims to create architectural geometries that are driven by performance -- in light, energy, and structure. Given a new relationship between building matter and environment, built artifacts and envelopes no longer act as passive shells, but actively shape and interact with their surroundings. Our built environment is one of the main contributors to climate change. Tackling this global challenge requires rethinking current design methodologies and workflows. How can we create buildings of the future that work together with their environment and embody a new design paradigm where architectural geometry works together with the forces of nature, using material and light as design drivers? Proposing a new design framework for the human habitat, this thesis investigates building envelopes of the future. For this, photon mapping is evaluated as an advanced lighting simulation method for optically complex structures on an architectural scale. We investigate workflows driven by artificial intelligence (AI) to open new ways for design space exploration and generation that map geometric data to light behavior. Furthermore, we see how building scale illuminance and structural performance can be combined to unlock design potential and create a new architectural vocabulary.