Tag Archives: design research

library, new books

New Arrival: Flexible Composite Materials

In our flurry of interior design-centric posts these past few weeks, we lost sight of one of the coolest features of  the Architecture & Planning Library: the NEW BOOKS TABLE! As someone who frequently makes impulse purchases of books over fashion (seriously – my roommate was totally confused by the three boxes of books that arrived in one week, and equally confused by my uncontrollable excitement), few things make me happier than a table full of new opportunities for discovery.

In one of my courses, we’ve spent a number of weeks documenting campus buildings and figuring out exactly how their components work together to form a both a functional and beautiful architectural system. This has rekindled my awareness of one of the reasons architecture fascinates me so much: how in the world does it work?

In a new book called Flexible Composite Materials in Architecture, Construction and Interiors, the behind-the-scenes is revealed for built projects around the globe that employ complex textile membranes as major design features. The book is divided into three sections: textile materials and their properties; materials and their uses in architecture, interior design, solar protection, and facade treatments; and various examples of applications with a series of select projects in countries ranging from Switzerland to Saudi Arabia.

This book starts by addressing exactly how textile membranes are engineered, delving into fiber recycling and the principles of load analysis, cable tension, curvature, and more. The steps involved in realizing intended forms are explained with a high degree of clarity, boiling down the processes of solving complex equations and making underlying concepts accessible by anyone. (I sent a few snippets of text to a friend who works as a structural engineer, and even he said that the descriptions were more clear than some of his former textbooks; I’ll take his word on that!). I especially appreciate this insight into manufacturing details, as many texts that highlight architecture projects tend to pass the early phases up in favor of more impressive photographs of the end result. In my opinion, the design process is just as interesting as the final product.

Featured applications include bicycle shelters, major athletic stadiums, pop-up exhibition and performance spaces, building cladding, external branding, solar protection through translucent panels, and much more. The text mentions that textile research closely observes our natural environment, and has the opportunity to evolve from being our second skin to “our building’s second skin”, all while being protective AND visually inspiring. This concept lines up with architecturally-related sustainability ventures that are consistently being pursued around the world today.

If you’re like me and easily fascinated by feats of architecture and construction, or interested in the research of new materials that contribute to breakthroughs in the fields of sustainability or structural engineering, I highly recommend immersing yourself in the processes and results outlined in this book. If anything, it will really make you want to attend a major European soccer game – those stadiums are out of control!

Call Number: NA 4160 F59 2013

Check out more new available books on our Recent Arrivals Feed.

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Interior Design Research Tools: Research Design Connections Archive

For part three of our installment of interior design research tools, we’re highlighting the incredible ease of use of the Research Design Connections Archive (RDC), one of the many paid subscriptions that UT Libraries maintains on behalf of University of Texas students, faculty and staff. Containing over 1,800 archived articles and blog posts, RDC offers a wide array of search tools that you can utilize to craft even the most specific results possible.

Unique to this database is its attention to these combination options. A special emphasis is put on behavior and special populations, two factors that are seminal to the design experience, but are sometimes overlooked in favor of trends or stylistic features. A specific setting is also offered as an option to narrow your search, which presents monumental ease if you’re zooming into a specific category of design.

Perhaps my favorite trait about this database are the links under the search bar. Instead of simply stating the titles of articles as their headline, they pose the question they explored in order to facilitate a design conversation. I am continuously thinking in questions: what is the most suitable material for a bar countertop in a high-traffic restaurant? How much energy goes into maintaining a temperature-controlled art gallery? How much pattern is too much pattern? I truly appreciate RDC’s database organization, which grasps exactly how designers are thinking whilst performing research.

Though there are hundreds of electronic research tools available for designers, we hope that our assessment of three that we find especially helpful: IIDA Knowledge Center, InformeDesign, and Research Design Connections Archive – helps you in navigating the endless foray of knowledge that can sometimes complicate or hinder the research process.

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Interior Design Research Tools: InformeDesign

The 101 Years of Interior Design celebration at UTSOA is only a week away! To keep up with our October interior design focus here on our blog, we’ve selected InformeDesign as another research tool to showcase the importance of research in the design world.

Last week we featured IIDA’s Knowledge Center, a phenomenal tool to quickly access case studies, conference papers, theses, and more. InformeDesign is a similar format, and is also FREE!

InformeDesign, developed by the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, has a clear-stated mission statement to facilitate the integration of research and design practice through an easy-to-access, easy-to-read website. Here at the library, we think that’s an essentiality, which is why we’re so thrilled about this database!

Although the website is currently idle and unable to add new content, a wealth of previously uploaded scholarly journals are accessible. The search box is simple, and accommodates various terms and of levels of complexity. I started with a generic search in ‘sustainability’ and moved to ‘sustainable lighting’ – both with results that were both broad and specific, but all within relevancy.

When you click on a link of interest, InformeDesign offers a clear, organized, and concise page highlighting the essential elements of an article. Perhaps the most useful are the Design Criteria and Key Concepts categories, which outline the purpose of the study and the factual results. Though the results do not link you directly to an article, they give you all of the bibliographic information at the bottom if you choose to access the research in its entirety. For those that are seeking quick results with actual data and conclusive summaries, InformeDesign is perfect for you!

You can also create a free InformeDesign account to save articles and add commentary. All things considered, InformeDesign is a wonderful research tool for quick access to a staggering amount of useful design studies.

Happy researching, designers!