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    <title>Demi Fang</title>
    <description>Researcher working at the intersection of structural, architectural, and computational design; passionate about cultivating a more sustainable built environment.
</description>
    <link>demifang21.github.io</link>
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    <pubDate>Fri, 11 Oct 2024 15:10:32 -0400</pubDate>
    <lastBuildDate>Fri, 11 Oct 2024 15:10:32 -0400</lastBuildDate>
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      <item>
        <title>System-level design of low-carbon structures</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;“What is more likely to be associated with a reduction in emissions: switching from concrete to timber, or shortening the spans throughout the building?” While such insights are valuable for mitigating emissions from structural systems during early stages of design, it is difficult to answer these types of questions in current paradigms of performance-driven design. This dissertation makes several original contributions to the system-level design of low-carbon structures.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;First, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://demifang.github.io/2023/07/06/Low-EC-Strategies/&quot;&gt;literature-supported network of strategies available to reduce emissions during early-stage structural design&lt;/a&gt; is established and evaluated on the bases of literature availability, impact, implementability, and compatibility. Material efficiency and material choice represent two key levers for reducing emissions in structural design, but it is difficult to navigate trade-offs between these strategies at a system level of structural design. Holistic design strategies can help achieve this, but these current paradigms of performance-driven design (e.g. deploying rules of thumb, comparing a few design options, and optimization) are limited in their capacity to inform decision-making towards higher performing designs. There is a particular opportunity to produce these insights using data-driven approaches given the growing quality and quantity of data in the field of low-carbon structural design.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In response, this dissertation analyzes both types of data that are available in the field: wild data (measured from the industry) and synthetic data (produced from bottom-up parametric structural models). Data from over 200 fully designed structural systems from a structural engineering firm are analyzed. This analysis is the first to 1) provide empirical evidence for floors and foundations representing the largest opportunities for carbon reductions and 2) evaluate the relationship between structural material quantities and embodied carbon in structural systems (many analyses evaluate the latter without the former). In a field where material choice is a predominant impression for reducing emissions, these new insights importantly affirm the prominent role of material efficiency in reducing a structural system’s emissions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;While the design space of wild data includes a diverse variety of projects, leveraging a synthetic dataset computed from a bottom-up parametric model helps produce insights specific to the design problem at hand. The final contribution of this dissertation is to propose &lt;a href=&quot;https://demifang.github.io/2023/10/10/cvae-gridshell-influence/&quot;&gt;a computational framework that leverages data to empower decision-making in design&lt;/a&gt;. The framework addresses two challenges: 1) the challenge of extracting decision-making insights from design data, and 2) the challenge of comparing decision-making across continuous (numerical) and categorical variables, which are typical in most design problems. In this framework, a machine learning model is trained on a provided set of design data to compute gradients across the design space. These gradients are distilled into “influence metrics”, which offer a novel, accessible way to build and supplement intuition on low-carbon design decisions. A few case studies in low-carbon structural design are presented to demonstrate the use of the proposed method with synthetic datasets. By striking a meaningful balance between applying rules of thumb and optimization, the method empowers a paradigm shift from performance-driven design to performance-informed, human-driven design.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/defense/methodology_fig-02.png&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;THESIS COMMITTEE&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Caitlin T. Mueller, MIT (advisor)&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Josephine V. Carstensen, MIT&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;John A. Ochsendorf, MIT&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Kate Simonen, University of Washington&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/defense/graphical abstract - Gauch crop smaller.png&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fang, Demi&lt;/b&gt;. “System-Level Design of Low-Carbon Structures.” PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2024.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2024/04/08/System-Level-PhD/</link>
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        <category>sustainability</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>optimization</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Trans-typology design space exploration using gradients</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/spanning-typs/sample7-designs-animate.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Does a timber beam or a steel truss result in a lighter structure? Between shortening the span and decreasing the load demand, which results in a more efficient structure?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Structural designers pursuing high-performance design must typically make decisions based on perceived tradeoffs. As an alternative to the extreme paradigms of deploying rules of thumb and blackbox optimization, a new paradigm of “performance-informed, human-driven design” is proposed in which designers extract data-driven insights from a provided design space to inform decision-making. The four-step computational framework entails selecting a sample representative of the design space of interest, training a machine learning model, computing gradients of the model, and computing influence metrics. Applied to the case study of a long-span structure, this paper demonstrates how this gradient-based approach can offer a data-driven way to support and augment intuitions about performance-driven design. Choice of structural typology is demonstrated to be most associated with large changes of GWP. While this insight is specific to this particular long-span design problem, its significance lies in showcasing how decision-making insights tailored to specific problems can be derived from intricate mixed-variable design domains. This outcome underscores the potency of such approaches in informing system-level design processes for low-carbon structures.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/defense/methodology_fig-02.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Related publications:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fang, Demi&lt;/b&gt;, Peter Wang, Sophia V. Kuhn, Michael A. Kraus, and Caitlin Mueller. “Trans-Typology Design Space Exploration: Using Gradients to Inform Decision-Making in the Design of Spanning Structures.” In Proceedings of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) Symposium. Zurich, Switzerland, 2024. &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://app.iass2024.org/files/IASS_2024_Paper_613.pdf&quot;&gt;https://app.iass2024.org/files/IASS_2024_Paper_613.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fang, Demi&lt;/b&gt;. “System-Level Design of Low-Carbon Structures.” PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2024.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/spanning-typs-2024&quot;&gt;Digital appendix&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Sat, 30 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2024/03/30/Spanning-typologies/</link>
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        <category>sustainability</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>optimization</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Quantifying the influence of continuous and discrete design decisions using sensitivities</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;Early-stage design decisions have a large impact on the performance of buildings. Especially the case of mixed (continuous and discrete) design variables can complicate human and computer understandings of how individual choices contribute to performance, in both direction and intensity. We propose a new approach upon conditional variational autoencoders and sensitivity analysis for assessing the influence of mixed variables on performance and test in on a gridshell design problem.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In response, we propose a new approach for assessing the influence of mixed variables on performance based on variable sensitivities, with a focus on architectural applications… Both local and global insights are attainable: 1) the method computes the influence of design decisions at a design instance of interest, and 2) local results can be aggregated to summarize variable influence in the global design space. The method is demonstrated on gridshell structures parameterized with continuous and discrete variables and assessed in terms of embodied carbon.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/AAG2023&quot;&gt;Appendix&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Related publications:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;D. Fang, S. V. Kuhn, W. Kaufmann, M. A. Kraus, and C. Mueller, “Quantifying the influence of continuous and discrete design decisions using sensitivities,” in Advances in Architectural Geometry 2023, Stuttgart, Germany, Oct. 2023. &lt;a href=&quot;https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111162683-031&quot;&gt;https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111162683-031&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2023/10/10/cvae-gridshell-influence/</link>
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        <category>sustainability</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>The Chair Laboratory: A case study on structural reuse</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;“As consumers, we practice reuse in everyday life, often as a means of wasting less. When it comes to buildings, the environmental and economic stakes are much higher, and yet reuse is rare at the architectural scale. If it sounds like a daunting feat to ‘recycle a building,’ that’s because it is. If the building can’t be reused where it stands, countless logistics are required to deconstruct, store, and transport it; so much so that in most cases people opt to demolish instead.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But once in a while, someone pulls off a great example of so-called ‘structural reuse’. This one is nestled into the mountainous terrain near Mt. Fuji.”&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Chair-Lab/Picture21e.JPG&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Chair-Lab/Picture2.JPG&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Chair-Lab/model-fade.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
Photos by Dylan Iwakuni, graphic by Demi Fang&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A case study of disassembling, repairing, transporting, and re-assembling a 93-year-old Japanese house into a chair museum was documented in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://medium.com/@demifang21/a-new-home-for-an-old-home-a-story-of-structural-reuse-2b55d5c1d4c9&quot;&gt;narrative essay&lt;/a&gt; supported by interviews with the team involved and on-the-ground images. A technical analysis of the case study found a 46-71% reduction in embodied carbon due to reuse, at the expense of a 39% increase in cost.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Related publications:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fang, Demi&lt;/b&gt;, Juliana Berglund-Brown, Dylan Iwakuni, and Caitlin Mueller. 2023. “Carbon and craft: Learning from the deconstruction, relocation, and reuse of a traditional Japanese house’s timber structure.” In &lt;i&gt;Journal of Physics: Conference Series&lt;/i&gt;. Lausanne, Switzerland.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://medium.com/@demifang21/a-new-home-for-an-old-home-a-story-of-structural-reuse-2b55d5c1d4c9&quot;&gt;A new home for an old home: a story of structural reuse&lt;/a&gt;, self-published on Medium, August 2023&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Press:&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://sap.mit.edu/news/exploring-traditional-japanese-woodworking-building-sustainability&quot;&gt;Exploring traditional Japanese woodworking for building sustainability&lt;/a&gt;, MIT School of Architecture + Planning 2023&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Sun, 10 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2023/09/10/Chair-Laboratory/</link>
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        <category>sustainability</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        <category>timber</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Strategies to reduce embodied carbon in early-stage structural design</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;While many strategies have been identified and proposed for reducing embodied carbon in early-stage structural design, they are rarely synthesized to discuss their relative effectiveness and compatibility. Discussing the strategies together rather than individually is important because not all strategies are equally effective or can be implemented simultaneously.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This paper presents a synthesized discussion by clarifying a network of design strategies for reducing embodied carbon in structural systems, supported by a literature review. Existing guides for embodied carbon reduction are typically written by practitioners; this paper enhances them by examining patterns in academic literature to both support the plurality of known strategies and identify those that are overlooked or underutilized. Using quantitative meta-analyses and qualitative assessments of the literature, the strategies are evaluated for literature prevalence and origins, advantages and limitations, novelty, and compatibility. The results help designers understand which strategies can be immediately prioritized for reducing the adverse environmental effects of building structures, while documenting state-of-the-art research of each strategy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/low-EC-strategies/graphical abstract.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Parallel to preparing the review paper, contributions to a a practitioner-centric guide were made through involvement in the SE2050 subcommittee.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Related publications:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;D. Fang, N. Brown, C. De Wolf, and C. Mueller, “Reducing embodied carbon in structural systems: A review of early-stage design strategies,” &lt;i&gt;Journal of Building Engineering&lt;/i&gt;, vol. 76, p. 107054, Oct. 2023, doi: &lt;a href=&quot;https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2023.107054&quot;&gt;10.1016/j.jobe.2023.107054&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;b&gt;Available free before August 25, 2023 at the following link: &lt;a href=&quot;https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1hNBa8MyS96Y7g&quot;&gt;https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1hNBa8MyS96Y7g&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;SE 2050 Subcommittee, “Design Guidance for Reducing Embodied Carbon in Structural Systems,” July 2023. &lt;a href=&quot;https://se2050.org/resources-overview/structural-materials/lean-design-guidance/&quot;&gt;https://se2050.org/resources-overview/structural-materials/lean-design-guidance/&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 06 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2023/07/06/Low-EC-Strategies/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2023/07/06/Low-EC-Strategies/</guid>
        
        <category>sustainability</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Sustainability of joinery in modern timber construction</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;What quantifiable benefits might be associated with switching from metallic fastener connections to all-timber joinery connections in modern timber construction?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Timber-Joinery/beam analysis_02.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Related publications:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Fang, Demi L., and Caitlin Mueller. 2021. “Mortise-and-tenon joinery for modern timber construction: Quantifying the embodied carbon of an alternative structural connection.” &lt;i&gt;Architecture, Structures and Construction&lt;/i&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;https://doi.org/10.1007/s44150-021-00018-5&quot;&gt;https://doi.org/10.1007/s44150-021-00018-5&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Fang, Demi L. 2020. “Timber Joinery in Modern Construction: Mechanical Behavior of Wood-Wood Connections.” M.S., Cambridge, MA, USA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. &lt;a href=&quot;https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/127868&quot;&gt;https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/127868&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2021 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2021/12/21/Timber-Joinery-Sust/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2021/12/21/Timber-Joinery-Sust/</guid>
        
        <category>timber</category>
        
        <category>sustainability</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Flow-informed topology design</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;An alternate geometric method to facilitate designing with “force flow”.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Principles and precedents in efficient structural design demonstrate the advantage of designing topologies that align well with an underlying vector field, such as principal stress or principal bending moment (Allen and Zalewski 2010; Gatti Wool Factory, 1953, by Pier Luigi Nervi).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;While there now exist methods and mature research fields for generating topologies from those underlying vector fields, an alternate approach is proposed where the designer receives visual feedback on a topology’s geometric conformity with the vector field of interest during the design process.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The calculation of a conformity heuristic is proposed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/TopEval/formulation diagram_formulation2_portrait.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The conformity heuristic is compared to the actual structural performance of topologies in a variety of structural design problems. The results demonstrate a general correlation between the conformity heuristic and structural efficiency.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/TopEval/results_overview_animate.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/TopEval/results_gridshell2.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Presented use cases demonstrate the value of the conformity heuristic over finite element analysis in evaluating intermediate design steps. The interactive and visual feedback provided by conformity make it a valuable new concept to harness the structural intuition of designing with force flow in early-stage conceptual design.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;iframe width=&quot;560&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; src=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/embed/noUUy6er3Iw&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allow=&quot;accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;iframe width=&quot;560&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; src=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/embed/oBamVxZ_2dE&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allow=&quot;accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;!-- &lt;iframe width=&quot;1680&quot; height=&quot;945&quot; src=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/embed/Efycc0QJvV8&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt; --&gt;

&lt;!-- ![](/assets/images/TopEval/1_concept-02-small.png) --&gt;

&lt;!--![](/assets/images/TopEval/1_concept-03-small.png) --&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Parts of the algorithm and visualization were developed as a final project for &lt;a href=&quot;https://gsd6338.org/fall2020/projects/topeval/index.html&quot;&gt;GSD6338 Introduction to Computational Design, Fall 2020&lt;/a&gt;, taught by Jose Luis Garcia del Castillo Lopez.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Related publications:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fang, Demi&lt;/b&gt;, and Caitlin Mueller. 2021. “Flow-Informed Topology Design: Evaluating the Conformity of Structural Topologies with Vector Fields.” In &lt;i&gt;Proceedings of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) Symposium&lt;/i&gt;. Surrey, UK.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 12 Jul 2021 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2021/07/12/Flow-topology/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2021/07/12/Flow-topology/</guid>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Variations on a quadratic function: dimensionality reduction</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;Tasked with producing a design space of mathematical functions that are smooth, differentiable, and concave down on the x-y domain, a 9-dimensional variable space of transformations on a paraboloid is constructed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/quadratic/transformations-animate.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A sample is produced from the 9-dimensional variable space, and t-SNE is applied to produce a 2-dimensional embedding of the space.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/quadratic/tSNE-3-bubbles-01.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/quadratic/tSNE-3-bubbles-03.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Final project for 4.453 Creative Machine Learning for Design, Spring 2020.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2020 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2020/08/31/Quadratic/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2020/08/31/Quadratic/</guid>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>machine learning</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Mechanical behavior of timber joinery</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;Conventional connections for timber structural systems typically use metallic fasteners rather than all-timber interlocking joinery connections as seen in historic timber construction. What is the potential to re-apply joinery to modern timber construction, given modern fabrication and analysis techniques?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Timber-Joinery/Timber-joinery.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
Image composed by collaborators Aliz Fischer and Jan Brütting.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Timber-Joinery/Nuki_glulam_1in.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Team collaborators: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.epfl.ch/labs/sxl/&quot;&gt;Structural Xploration Lab&lt;/a&gt; at EPFL (Jan Brütting, Prof. Corentin Fivet), &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.arup.com/expertise/services/technical-consulting/advanced-technology-and-research&quot;&gt;AT+R&lt;/a&gt; at Arup San Francisco (Aliz Fischer, Benshun Shao, Nick Sherrow-Groves, Julieta Moradei), &lt;a href=&quot;digitalstructures.mit.edu&quot;&gt;Digital Structures&lt;/a&gt; at MIT (Demi Fang, Prof. Caitlin Mueller, Daniel Landez)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Timber-Joinery/Nuki_lateral_cropped.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Related publications:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;D. Fang, “Timber joinery in modern construction: Mechanical behavior of wood-wood connections,” M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2020.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;D. L. Fang and C. Mueller, “&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326674720_Joinery_connections_in_timber_frames_analytical_and_experimental_explorations_of_structural_behavior&quot;&gt;Joinery connections in timber frames: analytical and experimental explorations of structural behavior&lt;/a&gt;,” in Proceedings of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) Symposium, Cambridge, MA, USA, July 2018.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;D. L. Fang, J. Brütting, J. Moradei, C. Fivet, and C. T. Mueller, “Rotational stiffness in timber joinery connections: analytical and experimental characterizations of the Nuki joint,” in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Structures and Architecture, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;D. L. Fang, J. Moradei, J. Brütting, A. Fischer, D. K. Landez, B. Shao, N. Sherrow-Groves, C. Fivet, and C. T. Mueller, “&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336474081_Modern_timber_design_approaches_for_traditional_Japanese_architecture_analytical_experimental_and_numerical_approaches_for_the_Nuki_joint&quot;&gt;Modern timber design approaches for traditional Japanese architecture: analytical, experimental, and numerical approaches for the Nuki joint&lt;/a&gt;,” in Proceedings of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) Symposium, Barcelona, Spain, October 2019.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2020 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2020/05/08/Timber-Joinery-Mech/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2020/05/08/Timber-Joinery-Mech/</guid>
        
        <category>timber</category>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        <category>optimization</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Pluma</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;With a design framework applicable to any site in the world, the Pluma installation envisions a lightweight future where structures generate more energy than they embody. Earned &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/pluma-structure-receives-commendation-spatial-structures-design-competition&quot;&gt;honorable mention at the IASS 2020 Design Competition&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Pluma/Render2.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
Render by collaborator Mohamed Ismail.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Pluma demonstrates how form can follow function across disciplines and performance metrics. The design features photovoltaic membranes suspended in a lightweight cable system, resembling a flock of birds in flight.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The shape and orientation of the membrane ensemble is precisely tuned by an optimization algorithm to maximize solar radiation exposure and power generation on the site in Surrey.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Pluma/animation.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Pluma/Design_Space.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
Images by Demi Fang and Caitlin Mueller.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Its supporting frame consists of standard timber elements assembled into cruciform sections, with simple, repeated connection details that are cost-effective. The foundation is a concrete slab hollowed out with compressed sawdust blocks as lost formwork, reducing the embodied energy compared to a typical slab by half.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Pluma/Details.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
Drawings by collaborators Eduardo Gascon and Paul Mayencourt.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Team collaborators:&lt;/b&gt; Demi Fang, Eduardo Gascon, Mohamed Ismail, Paul Mayencourt, Prof. Caitlin Mueller, Ramon Weber (&lt;a href=&quot;digitalstructures.mit.edu&quot;&gt;Digital Structures&lt;/a&gt; at MIT)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Pluma/Render1.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Pluma/Render3.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
Renders by collaborator Mohamed Ismail.&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 28 Feb 2020 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2020/02/28/Pluma/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2020/02/28/Pluma/</guid>
        
        <category>timber</category>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        <category>optimization</category>
        
        <category>design space</category>
        
        <category>sustainability</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>The Conversation Bench</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/conversation-bench/IMG_9096.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/conversation-bench/190910-animation-accel.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;On the design team at SOM Chicago for the design of a seat fabricated with one sweep of a robotic arm. Demonstration of no-waste manufacture of formwork for the Stereoform Slab. Fabricated by Bridgewater Studio and installed in the Drawing Room of the Chicago Athletic Association, September 2019 for the Chicago Architecture Biennial.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/conversation-bench/SOM Formwork CAA Postcard_6x4_Page_1.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/conversation-bench/SOM Formwork CAA Postcard_6x4_Page_2.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;External links:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.som.com/news/explore_the_future_of_building_design_and_technology_with_som_at_the_2019_chicago_architecture_biennial&quot;&gt;SOM News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://chicagoathleticevents.com/tc-events/conversation-bench/&quot;&gt;Chicago Athletic Association&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Sun, 01 Sep 2019 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2019/09/01/Conversation-bench/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2019/09/01/Conversation-bench/</guid>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Timber-concrete composite floor systems</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;Vibration analysis models for the timber-concrete composite floor system.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;More information on the system available at &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/som-tests-a-mass-timber-composite-system-for-high-rise-construction-and-explores-a-steel-option_o&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; and at the &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.som.com/ideas/research/timber_tower_research_project&quot;&gt;SOM Timber Tower Research Project&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;. Image by SOM.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2019 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2019/05/01/TMBR/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2019/05/01/TMBR/</guid>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        <category>timber</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Parametric model of bracing and node geometry</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;This mid-rise office building features SOM’s signature high-waisted brace for its lateral system, with its center node lifted vertically to achieve efficiency in load path. This project features an additional geometric feature: the center nodes kink out of plane, with a hinge detail to enable breathing under undesired symmetric load. A detailed parametric model of the bracing geometry and its nodes was developed to keep up with architectural and structural design changes throughout design development. The model was also used to generate detail drawings for steel fabrication.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;More information available at &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.som.com/projects/800_west_fulton_market&quot;&gt;SOM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;. Image by SOM.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Apr 2019 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2019/04/01/800WFM/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2019/04/01/800WFM/</guid>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Structural systems for the Charenton-Bercy tower</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;Early-stage evaluation of several options for structural systems for a skyscraper. Effects on material weight and embodied carbon were studied. More information available at &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.som.com/news/in_paris_an_international_team_will_lead_the_charenton-bercy_redevelopment_project&quot;&gt;SOM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;. Image by SOM.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2019 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2019/02/01/Charenton-Bercy/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2019/02/01/Charenton-Bercy/</guid>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Multi-objective greenhouse design</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;We were tasked with designing a greenhouse for hobby-level vegetable gardening in Portola Valley, CA that would be as passive as possible.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Greenhouse/geomvars_designspace.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Geometric variables&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Modern greenhouse design involves the alignment of several objectives to ensure plant comfort, not unlike multi-objective high-performance building design for human comfort. How do we navigate the complex design space of the greenhouse with modern computational tools?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Greenhouse/WWRvars_designspace.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;WWR variables&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Selected for poster competition at C3E Women in Clean Energy Symposium 2018, Stanford University.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Related publication:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;D. L. Fang, A. Arsano, N. Brown, C. Reinhart, C. Mueller, “&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336473989_Design_space_exploration_for_high-performance_greenhouse_design&quot;&gt;Design space exploration for high-performance greenhouse design&lt;/a&gt;,” in Proceedings of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) Symposium, Barcelona, Spain, October 2019.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Oct 2018 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2018/10/01/Greenhouse/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2018/10/01/Greenhouse/</guid>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>optimization</category>
        
        <category>design space</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>formfound</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;“formfound” is a competition entry for Design Museum Portland’s 2018 Street Seats challenge.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;iframe width=&quot;1680&quot; height=&quot;945&quot; src=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/embed/h43u9ma_2tM&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Contributed video editing, drawings, and renderings.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/formfound/STS_formfound_IMAGE1_18_05_12-SMALL.png&quot; alt=&quot;Rendering&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;External: &lt;a href=&quot;http://edwardmsegal.com/formfound/&quot;&gt;Segal Structures Group&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Tue, 01 May 2018 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2018/05/01/formfound/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2018/05/01/formfound/</guid>
        
        <category>visuals</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Mass Timber Longhouse</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;The Longhouse was developed by a cross-disciplinary team in Mass Timber Design, a design workshop in MIT Architecture that explores the future of sustainable buildings at the intersection of architecture and technology.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;iframe src=&quot;https://player.vimeo.com/video/275865964&quot; width=&quot;1680&quot; height=&quot;945&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; webkitallowfullscreen=&quot;&quot; mozallowfullscreen=&quot;&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Structural feedback was incorporated into the design of the portal frame sections.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;iframe width=&quot;1680&quot; height=&quot;1260&quot; src=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/embed/R8WcOyy6tZg&quot; frameborder=&quot;&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Project credits include: (Research Scientist) John Klein, (Design-Engineering Team) John Fechtel, Paul Short, Demi Fang, Andrew Brose, Hyerin Lee, Alexandre Beaudouin-Mackay. MIT Mass Timber Design was generously supported by MIT’s Department of Architecture, BuroHappold Engineering and Nova Concepts.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 01 Dec 2017 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2017/12/01/Mass-Timber/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2017/12/01/Mass-Timber/</guid>
        
        <category>timber</category>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Masonry stability</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;Discrete element modeling (DEM) is a numerical analysis method only recently applied to assessing the stability of masonry structures, where each masonry element is represented by a discrete element. How do DEM results compare to thrust line analysis, a more traditional analysis method?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Masonry-Stability/testStabilityGroin012.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;D. L. Fang, R. K. Napolitano, T. L. Michiels, and S. M. Adriaenssens, “&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15583058.2018.1463413&quot;&gt;Assessing the stability of unreinforced masonry arches and vaults: a comparison of analytical and numerical strategies&lt;/a&gt;,” International Journal of Architectural Heritage, pp. 1–15, May 2018.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Senior thesis work at Princeton University in partial fulfillment of the Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering. Physical modeling and international collaboration funded by the Lidow Fund, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Princeton University.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Co-advised by Sigrid Adriaenssens (Associate Professor, CEE) and Axel Kilian (Assistant Professor, ARC)
Additional contributions from Rebecca Napolitano and Tim Michiels (PhD candidates, CEE).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Awards:&lt;/b&gt;
The Calvin Dodd MacCracken Senior Thesis/Project Award, Princeton SEAS (&lt;a href=&quot;https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2017/06/06/class-day-celebrates-graduates-innovation-inspiration-and-service&quot;&gt;news&lt;/a&gt;)
David W. Carmichael Prize, Princeton CEE&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 01 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2017/06/01/Masonry-Stability/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2017/06/01/Masonry-Stability/</guid>
        
        <category>masonry</category>
        
        <category>thrust line analysis</category>
        
        <category>DEM</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Folded plate structures</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;What is the potential for folded plate structures to serve as a structurally optimized architectural typology?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Get the Grasshopper definition on &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/demifang/Folded-Plate-Structures&quot;&gt;Github&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;iframe width=&quot;1680&quot; height=&quot;1260&quot; src=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/embed?listType=playlist&amp;amp;list=PLFUmSw9DCqjkGawR3IGcWffEFolHncN_U&amp;amp;loop=1&amp;amp;autoplay=1&amp;amp;rel=0&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Folded-Plates/poster-small.png&quot; alt=&quot;MSRP 2016 Poster&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Completed during my research internship at MIT’s &lt;a href=&quot;http://digitalstructures.mit.edu&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Digital Structures&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; research group during the summer of 2016 under the supervision of Prof. Caitlin Mueller. Poster presented at the 30th Annual MIT Summer Research Poster Session.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;!--![3d-printed models](/assets/images/Folded-Plates/3dp1.jpg)--&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Folded-Plates/3dp2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;3d-printed models&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Folded-Plates/3dp3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;3d-printed models&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;3D-printed models made by Lisbeth Acevedo Ogando, MIT ‘19.&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2016/08/01/Folded-Plate-Structures/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2016/08/01/Folded-Plate-Structures/</guid>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        <category>optimization</category>
        
        <category>design space</category>
        
        <category>structural performance</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Foliage Pavilion</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Foliage-Pavilion/ss5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Inspired by the beautiful phenomenon of sunlight shining through shifting leaves, the Foliage Pavilion model is designed to mimic foliage’s play of light in its interior at all times of day.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Foliage-Pavilion/render-approach1.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Foliage-Pavilion/render-approach7.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The springs attached just below the panels allow the panels to bobble in the wind. The effect of springs combined with the disparity in hole size, hole arrangement, and panel arrangement allow for a more unpredictable light phenomenon based on sun and wind conditions. Circles of light shift, blink, and overlap as the sun shines through the naturally dynamic porous layers.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;iframe width=&quot;840&quot; height=&quot;630&quot; src=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/embed/z5DuuBdCIIw&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Foliage-Pavilion/ss4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Foliage-Pavilion/diagram-pieces.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/assets/images/Foliage-Pavilion/ss1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;!--The model is also equipped with several LEDs at the front of its top layers; at night, these lights mimic the phenomenon at the entrance of the structure, filling the void of the freeform. The lights are programmed to gradually dim and fade according to the brightness outdoors as detected by the photocell installed elsewhere in the structure.--&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Dec 2014 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
        <link>demifang21.github.io/2014/12/01/Foliage-Pavilion/</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">demifang21.github.io/2014/12/01/Foliage-Pavilion/</guid>
        
        <category>computational design</category>
        
        
      </item>
    
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