This study investigates how housing can become more affordable and environmentally sustainable by applying circularity principles through mass-customized prefabricated construction. The study proposes that, by using mass-customized concepts and practices and offering buyers interior choices that suit their needs, homes can be made more affordable and sustainable. Sustainability would be achieved through circularity and waste reduction. The discussion of the underlying topic uses a nonreactive desk research methodology. The review of scientific articles and studies covered the following issues: (i) the definition of circularity in housing, (ii) the mass-customized concept in building, and (iii) 3D printing prefabricated home construction. The second stage of evaluating the Affordable Prefab Home project involves examining customized internal modular partitions and prefabricated exterior wall designs. In the discussion, the research identified several barriers to the efficient mass customization of prefabricated housing in the construction industry. Conclusions highlight the importance of adopting mass-customized prefabricated concepts in residential construction.
As dense urban environments evolve, the built fabric is becoming increasingly interconnected, linking underground transit networks, elevated walkways, and interior public spaces into seamless pedestrian systems. This study investigates the temporal dynamics of pedestrian density distribution across such integrated multilevel public spaces using Spatial Network Analysis. Combining an exploratory preliminary study and a detailed principal investigation, the research focuses on the Jurong Gateway district and Westgate development in Singapore. By correlating modeled spatial connectivity with empirical pedestrian counts obtained through sensors and video mapping, the study demonstrates how spatial configuration and temporal programming jointly influence movement patterns over time. The result is a novel, evidence-based framework for understanding and designing volumetric public realms as dynamic temporal-spatial systems.
Architectural education was blurred by the technological turn in the twentieth century, leading to a confrontational 'design-versus-technology' mindset among architects. To date, there have been few approaches that properly investigate how to integrate technology into the design process in early BSc education. Through a case study analysis of the first-year BSc architecture studio at ETH Z & uuml;rich, this paper reveals two successful technological approaches to design teaching, with mappings of concise workflows to close the gap between design and technology. This shows promising results, not only supporting learning but also offering students critical thinking opportunities when reflecting on their design process. These workflows demonstrate potential for application in architectural practice.
Buildings and their supply chains are among the most significant drivers of climate change and the deterioration of ecosystem health. Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a framework for quantifying environmental impacts, now commonly used for buildings and recently implemented in EU and UK legislation for Whole Life Carbon (WLC) analyses. The regulatory focus on carbon reflects the narrow focus governing the area of sustainability and the difficulty in obtaining reliable and realistic LCA results for impacts beyond carbon (i.e., all remaining impacts of the LCA protocol, such as land use, eutrophication, and water use) that make sense when benchmarked against other studies. This study identifies knowledge gaps by comparing both carbon and beyond-carbon results of case studies obtained through a systematic approach. The innovative aspect of this study is twofold. Firstly, it analyzes the magnitude of environmental impacts in previously published studies. Secondly, it identifies the key challenges in benchmarking that arise from the principle that most impacts beyond carbon are calculated for specific geographical zones.Results identified a strong focus on carbon, indicating that impacts beyond carbon are significantly underexplored. This might become problematic, as evidence shows intensifying pressure on impacts beyond carbon when decisions are taken solely on the basis of carbon. Statistical analyses support that embodied modules are significant contributors to life-cycle Ozone Depletion (OD), Terrestrial Acidification (TA), Marine Eutrophication (MEU), and Photochemical Oxidant Formation (POF). Still, operational modules contribute more to life-cycle carbon. Although previous research emphasized that differences in scope, system boundaries, life-cycle modules, and lifespans affect the potential for benchmarking, this study proposes two more aspects that make benchmarking challenging. These are (a) regionalized Characterization Factors (CFs) and (b) localized manufacturing processes that lead to results that are reflective of specific geographical zones. Therefore, selecting the appropriate candidates for comparison from a pool of studies is essential, as similarities must be satisfied not only at the building level but also at the level of localized processes and regionalized CFs. Finally, the identified knowledge gaps warrant further research to determine whether benchmarking remains valid in the context of regionalized impacts.
