Integrating Sociological Survey and Algorithmic Modelling for Low-Cost Housing

Abstract

This paper presents a study developed in the scope of an ongoing research about the creation of an architectural design system of low-cost housing in Portugal's context. Its goal is to present the survey, analysis and digitization work of a research carried out in the 1960s by Portuguese architect Nuno Portas, with the help of architect Alexandre Alves Costa. The method was to convert mathematical information contained in Portas` and Alves Costa's report from Lisbon's National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC) into an algorithmic model with Rhinoceros® and Grasshopper® software. Besides revealing for the first time a comprehensive study of this pioneering work, this paper will set the foundations to propose the adaptation of its process into low-cost housing design. The result presented here is an algorithm for selecting the best architectural type from a database of housing floor plans, analyzed by a questionnaire regarding the inhabitants' needs and satisfactions.