Papers by Dhuha Al-kazzaz
Design Guidelines and Standards for Iraqi Schools - The Future Prospects
International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning
Educational facilities are among the critical functional types because of their role in preparing... more Educational facilities are among the critical functional types because of their role in preparing future generations to advance the wheel of progress. If these facilities are not qualified to perform their functions, then the educational process is negatively affected. Schools in Iraq suffer from many problems due to the inadequacy of educational facilities to meet the student’s needs as a result of the absence of comprehensive standards and guidelines for school designs. According to that, this paper aims to identify the deficiencies in the Iraqi standards of public schools. The paper relied in its methodology on a comprehensive comparison between Iraqi standards and a number of international standards and guidance of schools, then the analyses and assessment of some design criteria in a sample of Iraqi schools to show their compatibility with both Iraqi and international standards. The results of comparative analyses between global and local standards and guidelines revealed the l...
CAADRIA proceedings
Al-kazzaz et al (2010) described hybrid adaption technique to generate innovative designs from he... more Al-kazzaz et al (2010) described hybrid adaption technique to generate innovative designs from heterogeneous precedents using shape grammars. An evaluation of the degree of innovation in the hybrid designs gave feedback to grammar users before and after applying a rule. Innovation was assessed using variables derived from the internal structure of the grammar such as: the number of antecedents in the corpus having the same rule; the number of rules in a subclass rule set having the same geometry; etc. However, the validity of the innovation assessment was unclear and the use of the feedback measures was not demonstrated. Accordingly, this study aims to verify the credibility of the innovation measures and to identify the independent variables that a user can control to achieve a significant impact on each innovation measure as a dependent variable.
eCAADe proceedings
This paper describes a new methodology of deriving innovative hybrid designs using shape grammars... more This paper describes a new methodology of deriving innovative hybrid designs using shape grammars of heterogeneous designs. The method is detailed within three phases of shape grammars: analysis, synthesis and evaluation. In the analysis phase, the research suggests that original rules of each design component are grouped in subclass rule sets to facilitate rule choices. Additionally, adding new hybrid rules to original rules expands the options available to the grammar user. In the synthesis phase, the research adopts state labels and markers to drive the design generation. The former is implemented with a user guide grammar to ensure hybridity in the generated design, while the latter aims to ensure feasible designs. Lastly evaluation criteria are added to measure the degree of innovation of the hybrid designs. This paper describes the derivation of hybrid minaret designs from a corpus of heterogeneous traditional minaret designs.
International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics, Apr 27, 2022
The use of constraint-based knowledge assists designers in making well-informed decisions at diff... more The use of constraint-based knowledge assists designers in making well-informed decisions at different stages of digital design process. A constraint is conceived as a direct control on design formation, or as a filter which does not impose a control over a formation process. The paper aims to gain insights into the ways the designers manipulate constraints in the digital design process. It investigated whether the same type of buildings, designed by the same or different architects, presents different approaches to deal with the same constraint. Scenarios of handling a constraint using shaping and validation processes were identified before initial modelling, through modelling, and after modelling. Constraints can effectively participate in design formation by proposing a new shape or a typical shape at pre-modelling. They are refining or developing the initial design through modelling, and optimizing or enhancing the design after modelling. Furthermore, constraints play significant roles in the feasibility study of design solutions. This is done by evaluating the initial forms and selecting the fittest through modelling, in addition to testing and filtering the solution space after modelling, and approving the final design. The paper examined the impact of wind on the morphology of twelve contemporary tower designs. The findings support the opinion that constraints may not restrict the designer's free will, inspiration, and creativity. They revealed that different scenarios of wind-driven processes had implemented at different design stages even by the same designer. The wind constraint had a substantial impact on the derivation of new morphologies. Through modelling, it had an active role in the refinement of the initial architectural and structural design. Constraint-based design was handled in iterative processes of evaluating and developing or refining the initial forms through modelling; and optimizing or enhancing, testing, and approving the final forms after modelling.
This thesis develops a methodology for deriving novel hybrid component-based designs using a shap... more This thesis develops a methodology for deriving novel hybrid component-based designs using a shape grammar of heterogeneous antecedents. The grammar is used as both an interpolation and extrapolation tool with the results lying within or outside the range of their antecedents. An evaluation method is incorporated in the grammar rules to give feedback to the degree of innovation in a hybrid design enabling the shape grammar to be used as an assessment tool in addition to its use as an analytical and generative tool. Analyzing antecedents is based on a grouping of the grammar rules of each component in a sub-class set to represent the different configurations of the same component among the heterogeneous designs in the corpus. Additionally, adding new hybrid rules to the original grammar rules increases the different options available to the grammar user and enhances the individuality of the generated hybrid design. ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to express sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Alan Bridges at the department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde, for his guidance, invaluable encouragement and help at every step of my research. His careful reading of my drafts and perceptive comments helped in giving a final form to this thesis. I am also grateful to Dr. Scott Chase for his supervision and advice throughout the first year of my research. I am heartily thankful to my sponsor, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Iraq and the Cultural Attaché staff at the Iraqi Embassy in London. Without their support, it is impossible for me to study in the United Kingdom. I gratefully thank my parents, sisters and brothers for their continual encouragement and prayers. A special thank to my friends Janan Abdulsattar, Nada Al-Naemyi and Dr. Ahmed Alomary for their kind help and support. Finally, I would like to thank everybody who was directly or indirectly contributed in completing my thesis. I have achieved my dream and it will never end here because learning is a never ending process. iii
Historic buildings are fruitful sources of architectural concepts which can be used to generate n... more Historic buildings are fruitful sources of architectural concepts which can be used to generate new designs characterized by authenticity and originality. Design computing methods have used varied techniques of knowledge representation in deriving new designs from architectural precedents such as: case-based design and genetic algorithms. This research has adopted genetic algorithms, a simulation of biological evolution to generate new plans from old ones belonging to the Islamic historical schools. The implemented method represents architectural knowledge in a simple schema (chromosome) and allows it to be modified easily using crossover operation to generate new plans with high fitness value. The research considered the fitness function as a measure of differences among the design characteristics of the sample of the Islamic schools. The results show the effectiveness of genetic algorithms in both analyzing past precedents and synthesizing their characteristics to produce new desi...
The architectural projects in Iraq, designed according to the traditional method, face problems o... more The architectural projects in Iraq, designed according to the traditional method, face problems of the delay in the completion of work and the increase in the cost. The paper adopts the implementation of BIM system in the field of architectural design as one of the leading digital systems for estimating project scheduling accurately. The research problem was to identify the requirements for applying BIM 4D (one of the BIM tasks) in architectural projects in Iraq. The research goal was to determine the requirements of applying BIM 4D in public sector projects in Iraq. The research identified the most important prerequisites, for examples: the adoption of Iraqi codes in defining the libraries of components involved in the design, the definition of the detailed components of building to take into account the local market such as manufacturers, setting determinants that require cooperation and communication between the relevant government agencies and the diverse design teams during the design phase to avoid future conflicts, and ensuring early participation of the contractor in the design stages.
Al-Rafidain Engineering Journal (AREJ), 2021
The advent of digital architecture, including parametric design, enabled the customization in hou... more The advent of digital architecture, including parametric design, enabled the customization in housing design. The parametric typological design allowed diversity, difference, and individuality with the same ease of mass-standardized production. Accordingly, the paper investigated the customization of housing components to satisfy the customer's options and in response to different local conditions. The research problem was the application of customization in parametric typological design to generate prototypes for single-family houses of Ain Al Iraq project in Mosul city. The research aims were to identify the customization methodology and to apply it in a case study. The previous studies put forward different approaches combining generative systems controlled by a set of parameters, constraints and rules developed by the designer, and the interactive customized systems that allow customers to participate in the design process. In the light of these studies, the paper presented a theoretical framework to define the methodology of applying the customization in the parametric typological design process using four vocabularies to identify the types of customization, the methods of standardization, and the roles of a designer and a customer. In the practical study, the approach was applied to create a parametric model using (Grasshopper) software, in order to generate initial plans for single-family houses that were customized according to the customer's need. The user interface was also designed by the researchers to provide direct interaction and ease of use by regular customers. The results showed the generation of initial plans having varied parameters according to the customer's options.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2021
Architectural projects, carried out by the public sector in Iraq using traditional methods suffer... more Architectural projects, carried out by the public sector in Iraq using traditional methods suffer from lots of problems such as the inaccurate estimation of time and cost, and the poor cooperation among project team members. To tackle these problems, it is important to benefit from the experiences of the pioneering countries in this field such as the UK and USA. These countries kept pace with digital development and established new systems in construction, namely Building Information Modelling (BIM). This paper investigates the similarities and differences between the BIM standards and guidelines in the UK and USA. The findings of this comparative analysis can build a knowledge base for establishing BIM standards in Iraq. The paper identified the similar aspects to be adopted in the Iraqi standard of BIM, such as the design techniques, the designers’ roles and responsibilities, and some aspects in the information management. In addition, their differences are distinguished, which in...
Al-Rafidain Engineering Journal (AREJ), 2020
The paper deals with digital generative algorithmic systems. Its aim is to investigate the extent... more The paper deals with digital generative algorithmic systems. Its aim is to investigate the extent to which the difference between rule-based algorithmic systems affects the definition of rules themselves. To achieve this aim, the paper put forward a theoretical framework of rule-based systems including the characteristics of rules, and the way they work. The framework was adopted as a basis for the comparison of four common rule-based algorithmic design approaches in architecture. They are Shape Grammars, L-systems, Cellular Automata, and Swarm Intelligence Algorithm. The results showed that the differences between the rule-based algorithmic systems are slightly reflected in their rules. The similarities are identified in many rule's properties and their way of work such as: using symbols in the representation of rules, using substitution rules in the generation process, using the same procedures included in rules, the possibility of rule's repetition and rule's termination. However, shape grammars showed some individuality, especially in the reference of rules to architectural precedents.
AL-Rafdain Engineering Journal (AREJ), 2013
In recent decades, new design methods have emerged in architectural domain depending on the compu... more In recent decades, new design methods have emerged in architectural domain depending on the computer as a design tool. The ill-defined nature of architectural problem and the designer subjective preferences have required the use of objective methods of knowledge analysis such as exploration. Previous studies on design computing have described exploration in relation to varied design operations; the most important of them are the search and evaluation processes. The paper puts forward a theoretical framework for exploration in design computing which is able to differentiate the use of exploration among various computational tools. It defines the aims of exploration, the roles of exploration in a design process, the sequence of exploration activities in a design process, and the executor of exploration. The roles of exploration include searching both the design problem space and design solution space; whereas in the latter, exploration is a tool of generating and evaluating design alternatives. The framework is used to identify the tasks of exploration in some design computing tools.
AL-Rafdain Engineering Journal (AREJ), 2014
In the last decade, the value of freehand drawing as a design tool in both education and practice... more In the last decade, the value of freehand drawing as a design tool in both education and practice is open to debate as a result of the accessibility of digitised drawing tools such as CAD systems and the relative ease with which a design can be presented and realised using computerised techniques such as parametric modelling and rapid prototyping. The conceptual design stage is the most critical in the design process. Despite the fact that most of the widespread computer aided design systems (such as AutoCAD and 3DSMax) are primarily directed towards the more detailed stage of design process. Even so, there are architects today who have abandoned the use of a pencil and paper, turning to the computer during the creation of their design concepts. The paper investigates the limitations of Computer Aided Drawing (CAD) systems which make them unable to satisfy what freehand drawings are doing for the initial design phase. To achieve this aim, the first section of this paper puts forward a framework for the main roles of freehand drawings through the conceptual design process. The second section investigates the capabilities of computer aided drawing tools to achieve these roles by depending on the theory and practice of the use of CAD tools at the initial design stage. The third section concludes the weakness and strength of computer aided drawing systems in the conceptual design phase. The paper ends with recommendations.
Journal of University of Babylon for Engineering Sciences, 2018
The construction of parametric model is an important stage in the digital design process in gener... more The construction of parametric model is an important stage in the digital design process in general and in the parametric design process in particular. The parametric model allows the designer to make changes and reshape the geometry without erasing and redrawing. It also helps to explore design alternatives as it provides a level of flexibility to be continuously evaluated, revised and updated when adding or altering different components within the same parametric model structure. The research problem has been identified, as there is no clear definition of the specifications of constructing a parametric model in the contemporary digital architectural designs. Therefore, the objective of the research is to put forward a theoretical framework that defines clearly the specifications of building a parametric model. The framework describes the specifications using the following issues: the timing of constructing the parametric model, the knowledge employed in the construction of paramet...
Design Studies, 2012
Adapting precedents to generate novel designs is a common procedure in architectural design. In d... more Adapting precedents to generate novel designs is a common procedure in architectural design. In design computing, three techniques of adaptation are characterised as transformation, substitution and hybridisation. This paper discusses the application of these techniques in shape grammar theory and practice. A framework for an adaptation method is identified which elaborates its techniques, strategies and tools and distinguishes the different outputs of grammars and their generated designs.
Al-Rafidain Engineering Journal (AREJ), 2021
In the era of digital architecture, parametric design plays a fundamental role in the generative ... more In the era of digital architecture, parametric design plays a fundamental role in the generative architectural design process. The most important of its benefits are that it allows a visual representation of the design process, a designer interaction during the construction of the parametric model using visual codes, the representation of steps sequentially and logically, in addition to the ability to adapt the model according to the client's requirements and the designer's wishes, and to generate various design solutions and alternatives for the same model. Parametric Typology is an approach that combines typological design with computational parametric techniques in order to produce various designs that belong to a specific building type. The research problem revolves around the application of parametric Typology to generat initial designs for local housing. Previous studies have proposed different approaches in the implementation of parametric typology to designs ranging from urban scale, individual buildings, to building elements. The research presented a theoretical framework, drawn from previous studies, to clarify the concepts and techniques of parametric typology method. The methodology was applied to build parametric model using a visual algorithm in grasshopper software. Prototypes for single-family housing had been generated as a functional type that occupies the largest space in cities; in addition there is a huge demand for it. As a result of the study, initial models were implemented with variety of parametric in terms of the placement of activities and the number of spaces.
Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning, Dec 15, 2018
Performance-based architectural design is an approach to consider building performance as a key e... more Performance-based architectural design is an approach to consider building performance as a key element in its generation and formation. This trend has become possible due to the development of digital technologies which enabled the designer to simulate the building performance digitally in different areas of design such as constructional, environmental, etc. In this approach, the performance assessment is an essential facility in the derivation of architectural form. Previous studies showed different opinions about where, when and how to apply evaluation criteria. Consequently, the research problem has been identified as: there is no clear understanding of the effect of different methods of assessing performance criteria (simultaneous and sequential) on the formal diversity of design alternatives. Accordingly, the paper adopts a computerized design strategy based on specific performance criteria and using commercial CAD software to explore the impact of changing the sequence of performance criteria on the formal diversity of design alternatives. The results show that the best designs resulting from the simultaneous evaluation differ from those resulting from the sequential evaluation. In addition, designs resulting from the sequential evaluation process vary when the sequence of performance criteria adopted in the evaluation is changed.
Shape Grammars for Innovative Hybrid Typological Design
Shape Grammars for Innovative Hybrid Typological Design Dhuha Al-kazzaz 1, Alan Bridges2, Scott C... more Shape Grammars for Innovative Hybrid Typological Design Dhuha Al-kazzaz 1, Alan Bridges2, Scott Chase3 1, 2Department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom, 3Department of Architecture, Design & Media Technology, University of ...
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Papers by Dhuha Al-kazzaz