Aesthetic Evaluation of Interior Design Based on Visual Features

In the modern context, interior design has inevitably become a part of social culture. All kinds of modeling, decoration and furnishings in modern interior space show people's pursuit and desire for a better life. These different styles of modern interior design rely on science and technology, utilize culture and art as the connotation. Its development often reflects the cultural spirit of a nation. The aesthetic evaluation plays an important role in the modern interior design. With development of derivative digital devices, a large number of digital images have been emerged. The rapid development of computer vision and artificial intelligence makes aesthetic evaluation for interior design become automatic. This paper implements an intelligent aesthetic evaluation of interior design framework to help people choose the appropriate and effective interior design from collected images or mobile digital devices.

Effect of Variable Conditions of Exposure on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Blockboards

The growing demand for wood and the continued increase of the raw material price have resulted in companies using more efficient wood resources in wood-based products such as blockboard. These boards are used in the field of interior design, especially. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of variable environmental conditions on the physical and mechanical properties of blockboard (BK). Two types of commercial BK were exposed in variable environmental conditions (kitchen, bathroom and climatic chamber) for three months. The BK structures were composed of veneer (V) and high-density fibreboards (HDF) for the face sheets and glued, solid wood, resinous strips for the core. The temperature and relative humidity of the air (RH) ranged from 18 °C to 25 °C and from 25% to 90%, respectively. In the climatic chamber (CC), the dynamics of the parameter variations were different than in the other two exposure climates, being determined by the programmed cyclic changes in RH. The changes observed on physical and mechanical properties were more extreme for the blockboards tested in the CC than in the kitchen (K) and bathroom (Ba). After 3 months of exposure in the CC, the thickness and weight of the boards increased by 1.8 and 1.1 times, respectively, for veneered BK, and by 4.4 and 0.4 times, for BK with HDF faces, compared to values recorded in the kitchen. The panels exposed in the CC exhibited the highest increase in moisture content (MC): 41% for veneered BK and 82% for BK with HDF faces after three months of exposure, followed by those exposed in the bathroom and kitchen. Increases in MC determined decreases of flexural properties and soundness surfaces, more evident for HDF face structures compared to V ones.

Natural Fibre Insulation Materials: Use of Textile and Agri-food Waste in a Circular Economy Perspective

Fibrous materials are among those most used for the thermal and acoustic insulation of building envelopes and are also suitable for a wide range of applications. In building construction, the demand for products with low environmental impact — in line with the Green Deal challenge of the European Community — is growing, but the building market is still mostly oriented towards traditional products, missing the many opportunities for using waste materials from existing industrial production. The paper presents the experimental results of new thermal and acoustic insulation products for building construction and interior design, based on previous experiences of the research group. They are produced entirely using waste sheep’s wool as a “matrix” and other waste fibres as “fillers”. The materials proposed originate from textile and agri-industrial chains in the Piedmont region and have no uses other than waste-to-heat biomass. The panels have characteristics of rigidity, workability, and thermal conductivity that make them suitable for building envelope insulation.

The impact of independent campus learning program (MBKM) through matching fund program for lecturers, students and partners in Minggirsari Village, Blitar

One of the activities in the implementation of the Independent Campus Learning Program (MBKM) has been implemented through the Matching Fund program which was held in Minggirsari Village, Blitar. This activity has succeeded in establishing the Creative Economy and Tourism Research Center. The potential of Minggirsari village is divided into 17 sub-sectors based on creative economy sub sector, namely game development, architecture, interior design, music, fine arts, product design, fashion, culinary, film-animation-video, photography, visual communication design, TV-radio, crafts, advertising, performing arts, publishing and applications. The synergy between intellectuals, business, and government is the main actor driving the birth of creativity, ideas, science and technology that are vital for the growth of creative industries in Indonesia. Based on the existing potential, this activity provides the widest possible learning space to improve students' ability in creative thinking and critical thinking to enter the business world. In addition, this activity is also a forum for lecturers to develop research results on the creative economy. This activity also facilitates village residents to get provisions in developing their potential to help build Minggirsari village into a creative economy village. For this reason, this research is expected to be able to measure the impact resulting from learning activities that have been carried out through the matching fund program for lecturers, students and partners. This research uses a quantitative approach with a survey method. Data analysis in this study used descriptive data analysis methods.

Research on Optimization of Climate Responsive Indoor Space Design in Residential Buildings

This paper first analyzes the climate characteristics of five typical cities in China, including Harbin, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Kunming. Then, based on Grasshopper, Ladybug and Honeybee analysis software, according to the indoor layout of typical residential buildings, this research extracts design parameters such as the depth and width of different rooms and their window-to-wall ratios etc., to establish a climate responsive optimization design process with indoor lighting environment comfort, with heating and cooling demand as the objective functions. Meanwhile, based on Monte Carlo simulation data, ANN (Artificial Neural Network) is used to establish a prediction model to analyze the sensitivity of interior design parameters under different typical cities’ climatic conditions. The study results show that the recommended values for the total width and total depth of indoor units under the climatic conditions of each city are both approximately 14.97 m and 7.88 m. Among them, under the climatic conditions of Harbin and Shenzhen, the design parameters of residential interiors can take the recommended value of UDI optimal or nZEB optimal. While the recommended values of window-to-wall ratios for the north bedroom, master bedroom and living room in Shanghai residential interiors are 0.26, 0.32 and 0.33, respectively. The recommended value of the window-to-wall ratio of the master bedroom in Kunming residences is 0.36, and that of the remaining rooms is between 0.15 and 0.18. The recommended values of window-to-wall ratios for the master bedroom and living room in Beijing residences are 0.41 and 0.59, respectively, and that for the remaining rooms are 0.15. The multi-objective optimization process based on parametric performance simulation used in the study can effectively assist architects in making energy-saving design decisions in the preliminary stage, allowing architects to have a case to follow in the actual design operation process.

A review of research in activity-based working over the last ten years: lessons for the post-COVID workplace

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to map and describe findings from research conducted in workspaces designed to support activity-based working (ABW) over the past 10 years (2010–2020) with a view of informing post-COVID workplaces of the positive and negative attributes of ABW. Design/methodology/approach Scopus was used as the search engine for this review. Papers which reported findings related to ABW and performed field study in ABW workspaces with adult occupants were included. Out of the 442 initial papers, 40 papers were included following iterative title and abstract and full text review process and consideration of inclusion and exclusion criteria. These papers were divided into three groupings (organizational, human and physical environment) based on their major focus. Positive and negative effects of ABW environments on occupants are discussed within these three topics in consideration of the implications for the post-COVID workplace. Findings Although the included studies were inclined to be either more positive (i.e. interior design) or negative (i.e. indoor environmental quality, productivity, distraction and privacy) in relation to various attributes of ABW, no single effect of ABW environments on occupants was in full agreement between the studies. The shortcomings of ABW environments are more related to how this way of working is implemented and how occupants use it, rather than the concept itself. A partial uptake of ABW leads to occupants’ dissatisfaction, lower productivity and lower well-being, while a holistic approach increases the chance of success. It is hypothesised that many currently reported negative aspects of the ABW concept might diminish overtime as ABW evolves and as new challenges arise. A continuous post-occupancy evaluation after relocation to an ABW-supportive environment can inform the organization about the changing needs and preference of the occupants; hence, the organization can tailor the ABW solution to the arising needs. The inter-connection between the three key ABW pillars (organizational, human and physical environment) is crucial to the success of this concept specifically in the context of the post-COVID-19 workplace. Originality/value This paper highlights the key shortcomings and limitations of studies produced over the past decade and identifies keys gaps in the current body of literature. It provides a new insight on how findings related to open-plan offices designed to support ABW can be categorized on the three big heading of organizational, physical and human-related aspects, and further investigates the positive and negatives outcomes reported on ABW under these headings. It also discusses how the findings arising from this literature review can inform the post-COVID workplace.

A Pedagogical Model to Integrate Computational Thinking Logic to First Year Design Studio

Today, computational thinking and computational design approaches transform almost all stages of architectural practice and education. In this context, since students are most likely to encounter computers, in this study, the approach of teaching students computational design logic is adopted instead of teaching how to use computers only as a drafting or representation tool. This study focuses on developing a pedagogical model that aims to teach computational thinking logic and analog computing through a design process. The proposed model consists of four modules as follows: abstraction of music and text (Module 1), decomposition of buildings (Module 2), analysis of body-space (Module 3), design of a space by the help of spatial patterns (Module 4). The proposed model is applied to first-year students in Interior Design Studio in the 2019-2020 fall semester. As a result of Module 4, students designed both anticipated and unanticipated spaces in an algorithmic way.