Integrating Scientific Visualization with Studio Education – Developing Design Options by Applying CFD

Abstract

To meet the urgent need of education in environmentally responsive architecture , the Architecture Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong has organized lectures and studios to provide students with knowledge and hands-on experience in environmental design strategies. Considering the context of Hong Kong with a hot-humid subtropical climate and hyper-dense urban environment, the current approach in the design studio education has been mainly based on intuition with very limited supports in terms of technical know-how and scientific evidence. Many students of architecture tend to follow established paradigms that have evolved through experience with similar projects. In this paper, we report the research findings of a pilot study that applied advanced scientific simulation skills in studio education designed to help students explore environmental design strategies during early stages of project design development.