Structural fire safety is crucial for building design and construction. Fires in buildings can affect strength and stability of structures and cause devastating consequences on human life and property.

This chapter discusses the detection of damages in railway bridges based on vibration responses induced by traffic and using bridge health monitoring systems. To achieve this goal, an innovative data-driven Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based methodology is proposed, consisting of a combination of time series analysis and advanced multivariate statistical techniques for an unsupervised learning approach. Different combinations of techniques are implemented and tested to achieve the most robust, generic, and effective one. Damage sensitive features of train induced responses are extracted and allow taking advantage, not only of the repeatability of the loading, but also, and more importantly, of its great magnitude, thus enhancing the sensitivity to small-magnitude structural changes. A comparison between the performance obtained from AutoRegressive (AR) and AutoRegressive Exogenous (ARX) models as feature extractors is conducted. The use of a regression-based method such as Multivariate Linear Regression (MLR) or a latent variable method such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) grants the strategy the ability to remove environmental and operational effects and proves the importance of feature modelling. Feature discrimination is addressed by evaluating the performance of outlier analysis and clustering algorithms. The efficiency of the proposed methodology is verified on a complex bowstring-arch railway bridge. A digital twin of the bridge is used to simulate baseline and damage conditions by performing finite element time-history analysis using as input measurements of real temperatures, noise effects, train speeds, and loads. The methodology proved to be highly robust to false detections and sensitive to early damage by automatically identifying small stiffness reductions in the concrete slab, diaphragms, and arches, as well as friction increase in the bearing devices.

Railway infrastructures degrade due to numerous factors, leading to malfunctions, track irregularities and other faults that negatively impact the running behavior of trains and the normal railway operation. Railway infrastructure managers traditionally conduct visual inspections and use dedicated inspection vehicles for track monitoring, which are expensive and disruptive to railway traffic. To address this issue and following the recent advances in the capabilities of mobile devices, new approaches for railway track monitoring using low-cost systems have been proposed to assess and characterize the railway infrastructure. Low-cost solutions, such as smart mobile devices with embedded IMUs, can revolutionize railway monitoring and maintenance by reducing costs and improving efficiency. A short literature review on various low-cost and smart mobile applications for railway transport performance assessment and characterization is presented, mainly focusing of the use of low-cost and/or mobile IMUs as condition monitoring systems. A case study is also presented on measurements from a smartphone to evaluate accelerations inside a passenger train on an 11 km stretch. Among other aspects, the results evidence the strong correlation between the vertical accelerations and the longitudinal level of the track, particularly in terms of the standard deviation. These approaches have the potential to complement or replace dedicated inspection vehicles and provide early detection of track faults, leading to cost savings and improved safety and ride comfort for passengers. Such approaches can be integrated in monitoring systems to optimize railway operation and maintenance procedures with the use of big data, IoT applications, and AI techniques.

The increasing use of condition monitoring of the railway infrastructure has led railway companies to take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The main goal of this research is to provide an unsupervised method for identifying railway wheel flats. The two-step procedure based on the automatic damage identification algorithm evaluates the acceleration on rails during the passage of traffic loads. The first step consists of assessing baseline responses from the rail to create a confidence boundary, while the second step involves evaluating damages according to their severity levels. The proposed procedure is based on a machine learning methodology and involves the following steps: (i) data acquisition from sensors, (ii) feature extraction from acquired responses using an AR (Auto Regressive) model, (iii) feature normalization using principal component analysis, (iv) data fusion and (v) unsupervised feature classification by implementing outlier and cluster analyses. This research shows that the proposed method is reliable and cost-effective and can successfully identify wheel flats considering different train speeds.

The growing importance of the railway sector demands efficient inspection and maintenance. Traditional methods are labor-intensive and costly, causing operational disruptions. Advancements in computer vision and deep learning offer transformative potential for railway infrastructure management. This involves integrating remote inspection with reality capture models, envisaging the Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) and Digital Twins (DT), promising improved precision, efficiency, and safety in railway operations. The paper explores the evolution of railway inspection, remote inspection, and reality capture technologies, addressing challenges and charting future research. This holistic approach caters to the railway sector's expanding needs, ensuring safe and effective infrastructure management.

This paper proposes a methodology based on the concept of morphological region and the method of morphological regionalization. The concept has been proposed by M.R.G. Conzen in the early 1960s, and promoted by J.W.R. Whitehand and his colleagues at the University of Birmingham mainly from the late 1980s. A morphological region is an area that has unity in respect of its form that distinguishes it from surrounding areas, based on a combination of town-plan, building fabric, and land and building utilization (Conzen’s tripartite division of the urban landscape). The methodology is based on a set of criteria considering the tripartite division of the urban landscape. Age of streets, streets geometry, plot layout, and building coverage are four criteria offered on the basis of the town-plan. Architectural style, building material, and height are proposed on the basis of the building fabric. Finally, land and building utilization is used to design the methodology. The methodology is applied to the Fatih District, the historical core of Istanbul. A four-tier hierarchy of regions is identified. The map of first-order morphological regions can offer the basis to produce a map of planning zones—a key tool to guide urban landscape management. Lower order regions can support the formulation of regulations for each planning zone, framing the design of new forms, assuring a strong relationship with extant urban forms. These ideas, detailed in the paper, are of great relevance for spatial planning, particularly for Turkish planning, where regulations are very generic and do not acknowledge the specific character of each urban landscape.

The imagery of sub—Saharan African cities often depicts challenges of infrastructural deficiencies and the prevalence of informal settlements. However, that setup does not represent the entirety of these cities, as is the case of Luanda in Angola. Although the city presents a formal and informal urban settlements duality and extensive urban sprawl, public open spaces in the city centre of Luanda offer few opportunities for trivial encounters and socialisation. The Bay of Luanda is the largest and widely recognized option for a public open space providing opportunities for social interaction. The revitalisation of formal, preserved but underutilised or privatised public open spaces in Luanda sets the starting point of this paper, which looks at urban revitalisation at a micro-scale where communities and the private sector may contribute. Although it is vital to pursue urban infrastructural improvements, it is also important to cater for the preservation of historic urban centres, which have challenges of their own and have the potential to promote inclusive public life through vibrant public spaces. Furthermore, Public Open Spaces (POSs) are essential in promoting social interactions and walkability, thus generating vibrant public life, which is the core objective of an urban revitalisation strategy. Moreover, local cultural, social and economic dynamics are crucial in urban revitalisation. Although space syntax is a valuable tool for urban design and interventions, it is not a substitute for public participation. The historical backgrounds of the locale, and the cultural richness of the community embedded in the built environment, encapsulate de poetic complexity and layers of the architectural and urban design of the place through time. Although the process cannot be entirely perceptive to the eye, it is from POSs that we see it best. This paper aims to present an overview of the urban revitalisation background and the importance of built fabric configuration for urban vitality as theoretical frameworks for an urban revitalisation strategy. It then introduces the usefulness of Space Syntax as a tool to anticipate human spatial behaviours and aid in locating different activities to enhance public life by taking advantage of the space syntax methodology. Finally, a speculative analysis of the configuration-function relationship employing space syntax methods was applied to understand how the urban system functions and bring analytical, evidence-based rigour. Preliminary conclusions suggest that since one of the challenges of urban revitalisation is the unpredictability of the outcome and the heavy upfront financial burden, space syntax represents a valuable tool of predictability for these interventions. Furthermore, the research underpins the importance of POSs for city branding and tourism, to promote the micro-economy, and essentially promote social interaction and inclusion, which is the focus of this paper.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to carry out a project of analysis of municipal intervention in the public space of the city of Porto, it was possible to test and disseminate a set of formal and digital methodologies, comparing them with more traditional methodologies.

Formal Methods is a designation that has its origin in the computer sciences, where it is widely used. Due to the increasing importance of computer systems, and their growth in scope and complexity, formal methods are expanding within these disciplines.

Architecture has always explored the latest technological advances both in terms of building design and fabrication. Among the recently adopted computational design approaches, Algorithmic Design (AD) shows great potential for the conception, analysis, and production of architecture, due to automating repetitive and time-consuming design tasks, facilitating design changes, increasing design freedom, and facilitating the search for better-performing solutions. These advantages are particularly important for the design of building facades, providing the flexibility needed to deal with the design complexity of this architectural element. However, AD is an abstract formal method that requires programming skills, which explains its still shy adoption in the field. Despite the AD tools released to smooth its learning curve, few successfully combine creative tasks with the need to respond to multiple requirements and almost none simplify the algorithmic task, forcing architects to build the necessary functionalities from scratch. This research addresses these problems by structuring an architectural-oriented theory considering the variability and context-specificity of architectural design practice and responding to its different esthetic, performance, and construction requirements. To make it useful for architects, the theory is implemented in an AD framework, whose application promises to decrease the time and effort needed to geometrically explore, analyze, and materialize new facade designs, while smoothing the transition between design stages and their different tools. In this paper, we focus on the mathematical implementation of three-dimensional unconventional facade elements, assessing the ability of the resulting formalisms to generate, transform, and materialize the produced solutions.

This study analyzes the performance of urban spaces from the qualitative assessment of morphological attributes. It is intended to demonstrate that the performative quality is a factor that finds its opportunity in the attributes of the urban form and spatial configuration. The goal is to find whether some attributes play or not a determinant role in establishing the conditions of urbanity. The term urbanity here is used as the characteristics of the “urbis” that promote civility, human presence, and the natural appropriation of spaces for different types of open space activities. This definition of urbanity is assumed to describe a “positive” dynamic use of urban space, promoting social interaction, security, economic activities, and pleasant spaces for walking. The underlying hypothesis is that urbanity (or positive urban condition) can occur only when specific attributes meet within a specific urban area. These attributes are mainly of morphological and configurational nature, and therefore, they may inform us on how to design better public spaces and cities in general. Thus, we propose a methodology that studies socio-spatial relationships in confrontation with morphological characteristics, seeking to establish relationships between them. The methodology proposes to confront an automated morphological-type description with a set of performance metrics (or measures), calculated using indicators based on the concepts and principles of contemporary urbanism found in the recent scientific literature in this area of knowledge and consensually considered qualifying factors of urban space. The chosen indicators express the accessibility of the network, the compactness of the urban model, the participation of facades in activating the sociable urban space, and the safety of its use. We calculate these measures through a semi-automated modeling of all information and use a statistical approach to enable the classification of type-morphological characteristics as adequate or inadequate. The research is organized into four fundamental steps. The first identifies the set of performance measures or attributes capable of qualifying urban space and urbanity. The selection of attributes is based on a critical assessment of indicators employing a literature review. The second step identifies the range of variation of attributes that correspond to positive performance based on either reference cases or previous research found in the literature review, pointing towards specific systems of value that can be used for qualitative interpretation of measures that we shall call reference parameters or performance indicators. In the third step, we develop a morphological classification of urban samples based on their morphological attributes. In the last step, we search for correlations between morphological attributes and reference parameters to identify which ones are more prone to develop positive qualities in terms of a possible capacity of inducing urbanity. We analyzed two sets of urban fabric samples: one set taken from reference cases in Lisbon, Portugal, and a second set from Recife, Brazil. Morphological attributes and reference performance indicators are calculated for all samples and analyzed through a correlation matrix from which we can extract the correlation values between morphological attributes and performance indicators. The correlation analysis opens a new vision towards what morphological features may induce better urbanity. This paper focuses on the first two steps, i.e., the definition of the system of values that provides the interpretation of measurements. The following paper will complete the conclusions of the fourth step of this research.

Over the last decade, robotics applied to the Architecture and Construction sector has evolved through the support of new programming tools. The possibility of controlling robotic arms through visual programming languages has emerged as an opportunity to program industrial robots effectively, taking advantage of their multiple capabilities. This type of control turns the use of robotics accessible to non-specialists in the field of computation and robotics such as the generality of the construction professionals like architects, designers, and engineers. This paper presents the use, improvement, and programming of a small-scale robotic arm, based on the Arduino Tinker Kit Braccio with hardware modifications and software implementations that enable a workflow similar to a full-scale industrial robotic arm, aiming to broaden the access to practical applications by non-experts in teaching and research contexts. The use of an Arduino-controlled mini robotic arm is justified by the fact that not all academic institutions have industrial robots for practice and research, namely due to their high cost and maintenance. This paper is focused on strategies for controlling robotic manufacturing methods in Architecture through visual programming languages and analyzing the several problems and challenges in that process.

This paper addresses one fundamental challenge, how to strengthen the relation between morphological research and professional practice. Drawing on the acknowledgment of several weaknesses in the physical form of contemporary urban landscapes—with consequent impacts on the socioeconomic and environmental dimensions of cities—it is argued that effective change can take place through the improvement of knowledge and action of professionals in planning, urban design, and architecture. Furthermore, the paper sustains that the most effective ways of doing this are through the construction of effective processes (as opposed to single events of collaboration) and through education. After a brief literature review, the core of the paper is made of the presentation and discussion of an on-going research project, the Knowledge Alliance for Evidence Based Urban Practices (KAEBUP). The project includes eight European partners from academia and practice. The main objective of KAEBUP is to create an educational process offering participants the opportunity to engage with professional environments, learning how research can be the basis for innovative professional practices, and what enterprises in planning, urban design and architecture require from academia. KAEBUP pedagogic strategy is designed to achieve this main objective. The paper stresses one of its fundamental paths—to co-create urban knowledge through multiple modes of exchange and involvement of students, teaching and company staff in teaching, research, and practice. Particular attention is devoted to one of these activities, one of three Intensive Training Workshops.

The urban space has been recognised, worldwide, as one of the main factors affecting the spread of infectious diseases. Severe acute respiratory syndrome Sars-Cov-2, which causes COVID-19, is much more transmissible than the respiratory viruses already known from previous pandemics. The role the urban space configuration played in the COVID-19 dissemination is highlighted, due to the social dynamics and physical contacts happening within it. In order to understand the configurational influence in the infection propagation process, this study used morphological analysis techniques derived from Space Syntax. As such, the research focussed on the urban space and the spatial spread of COVID-19 cases in Viçosa-MG (Brazil). A dataset of confirmed cases and corresponding locations were collected. Considering Space Syntax, Choice and Integration measures were selected as quantitative indicators for the urban space configuration. In addition, it was developed an overlapping process of syntactic analyses with the Kernel Density Estimator (also called Kernel Map), to estimate the density and concentration of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the urban space. As a result, it was possible to reveal a strong relationship between the urban space configuration and the spread of COVID-19.

The management of building maintenance has changed significantly since the advent of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in architecture, engineering, construction, and operations. However, developing and managing predictive maintenance plans that rely on software remains a difficult and time-consuming task. Therefore, the objective of this work is to demonstrate the advantages of the BIM method for maintaining the condition of buildings during their life cycle. To this end, the methodology developed aims to implement the BIM method in maintenance management by exploring the interoperability between the Revit software and the Excel database, which allows the synchronisation of preventive maintenance plans between these two platforms. The methodology developed and applied to a case study consists of modelling the case study in Revit and introducing the corresponding parametric information. Then, Table 13 of the Omniclass standard was applied, which classifies spaces according to their use. Then, a maintenance plan was developed for some elements of the case study. Finally, a bidirectional interaction between Revit and Excel was established through a Dynamo routine for Revit and through a commercial add-in. This work demonstrates a method to avoid fragmentation of information during the life cycle of a building. This allows for efficient management and thus cost reduction in future interventions. This work summarises all building information in a unified model and aims to develop a methodology that can be applied to other building typologies.

The distributed ledger is an immutable record for data stored inside it. This technology can be helpful for construction project events and communication recording. This article investigates the Hyperledger project, a modular enterprise Blockchain with pluggable products to create a construction communication and data exchange ledger. Hyperledger is an open-source modular Blockchain architecture designed to help enterprises run distributed ledgers to benefit from the technological advancement provided by Blockchain technology. These ledgers are immutable, distributed, and trustless. These features allow for transparent communication between stakeholders, which could positively impact construction project workflow and the participation of projects actors. The article uses Hyperledger products Fabric and Composer to showcase a hypothetical Blockchain to exchange project metadata and communication between construction project participants. The article presents an example of using Blockchain for the construction project process by designing a Blockchain to handle the Request for Information (RFI) process.

While design management is advancing in construction management research and professional practice, various questions were raised on the interactions between social and technical dimensions. The technical dimension provided prescriptions and standard methods to manage design workflows using BIM methodologies and linked digital tools. The social dimension streamlines basis for collaborative information production and identifies the relationship between the involved parties during developing and exchanging the digital asset. Hence, the concepts of waste and value are the basis for current guidelines to improve design productivity and information reliability. Therefore, this paper reviews the theories of lean design management and lean practice in information production management using communication tools for BIM workflows. The paper qualitatively analyzed lean design methods at directive and operational levels during planning for digital asset production. Finally, the paper explores the connections between lean design and BIM Execution Plan (BEP) and Level of Development (LOD) communication tools. A thorough literature review is applied to the current standards of construction information management and lean design management in the same field. The study found that lean construction concepts are implicitly applied in the current information management standards, but the social dimensions were rarely captured, and the existing task management software is external to BIM standards and functionalities. The study provides a general understanding of waste in information and production, and it explains the shortcomings of the current information management practices using traditional methods.

The interest in studying the energy performance of existing buildings has increased. Therefore, the integration of relevant information into BIM (Building Information Modelling) and BEM (Building Energy Modelling) is beneficial for energy information management and task automation. For an appropriate analysis of an existing building (“as-is”), it is possible to collect data on its 3D geometric properties and measure the thermal conditions of the building envelope to perform an energy analysis. The use of UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems)/drones has become a popular method for collecting building data because it offers advantages such as reduced labour, low cost, and easy access to locations that could not otherwise be reached. In addition, with the advancement of infrared (IR) sensors, which are getting smaller even smaller, it is possible to integrate them into drones. The IR data can be used to study building behaviour and pathologies, as different surface temperatures can be detected. Existing methods focus on fusing RGB (red–green–blue) and IR images, typically merging IR data with 3D geometry in a process that can later be integrated into BIM models. However, they do not achieve the advantages offered by this method with UAS and require additional equipment to perform the surveys. This paper presents a method for integrating building data obtained by photogrammetry and thermography into BIM environment, using only a UAS. In addition to this qualitative approach, a quantitative approach was developed using data collected by photogrammetry with the drone to perform an energy analysis of building envelopes.

The occupational risk assessment method adapted to building works called Level of Preventive Action (Lpac) has been implemented in three construction sites in three different countries: Brazil, Spain, and Portugal. The works have different characteristics, covering different construction phases. From all of them, technical data related to occupational health and safety were taken, and psychosociological data related to workers and their perception of risk in the work environment. The results were transferred to “MS-Excel” tables adapted to the characteristics of each of the construction projects. In the procedure, photographs were taken of the different work units evaluated, showing the work carried out, the health and safety teams, the workers, and the organization. The evaluation method can generate a wide spectrum of results from the large number of graphs, including those related to the total “Level of Preventive Action” and its corresponding parameters related to the construction system. The graphic results also determine the evaluation of the preventive action of the risks in the construction systems; results based on risk management techniques; including the personal perception of risky environments, the social behaviour of workers; and the evaluation of preventive action in work environments (absolute, documentary, constructive and social). Despite the great diversity of results, Lpac makes it possible to visually interpret the risk situation and decide so that the control of preventive action is the most effective.

The Construction Industry (CI) is characterised by a low-skilled workforce and a low level of digitalization and information integration. Compared to similar industries, it suffers from low productivity and low efficiency. This paper explores alternative ways of collecting data at the construction site to improve on-site production management through workforce control, taking into account the technical skills of on-site workers. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to identify the main trends and research tools. The main objective of this research is to propose solutions for the digitalization of worksite processes. The use of technologies, especially mobile applications, accelerates the transmission of productivity information and allows management to make informed decisions and reduce the burden of the control process. This paper presents a case study demonstrating that mobile applications can bridge the gap between the workplace and the office and fit into the context of geographic dispersion. Although mobile applications are beneficial for managing production in the field, a system that integrates all software and data storage in a single location is required to achieve lasting results in efficiently transferring information from the field to the office. This research argues for a gradual adoption of these technologies in construction companies. Further study of the transition between different levels of digitization is essential to determine the true impact on a company's productivity.

The potential of combining Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Augmented Reality (AR) has proven beneficial in various Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operations (AECO) sectors. Despite the gradual adoption of BIM, there is a need for integrative and coordinated interfaces that can leverage the different academic backgrounds, profiles, and tacit knowledge of stakeholders in the AECO sector. As one of the most important research areas related to BIM, AR provides the necessary functionality to improve access to BIM information. This paper describes the early development phases of a BIM-based AR interface for semantic enrichment of BIM models for the HoloLens head-mounted display (HMD). Specifically, the interface provides more natural access to BIM information, even for users with no prior experience or knowledge of BIM tools. Initial lab tests have been conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using voice and gesture interactions to link semantic data to physical objects, which are then transformed into BIM information.

This text outlines some considerations on the use of drawing and its diverse capabilities as a tool for thinking, in the context of a university education. We present a case study from the University of Porto, focusing particularly on the study of engineering and its direct involvement with drawing issues. We discuss the concept of drawing and the respective mechanisms of divergence and convergence that are enmeshed in the methodologies used in projectual processes and in which drawing is an instrument of conception and mediation, a tool, and a means of graphic communication. We analyse the importance of the use of digital technologies in the processes of construction/representation of drawing images, assess their impact on teaching methods, and insist on the teaching of drawing as formative discipline. We outline the development of drawing from an artistic activity to a synthetic knowledge organizing tool that brought us to the functional separation between artistic and technical drawing, to understand its capabilities as a teaching tool in the classroom both as a creative and as a synthetic instrument.

Construction projects are increasingly complex endeavours. New building systems, components and materials are available, while market and legal requirements have evolved, requiring interdisciplinary teams throughout the construction lifecycle. In the design process, Architects and Engineers must work together from the beginning of the process to sustain each other decisions, responding to various project assets, the Integrated Project Design (IPD). Post-graduate education in both areas must give students tools to capacitate them to work in interdisciplinary teams. Adequate methods, tools, and languages must be learned at the Higher Education level to capacitate them in professional life to support the inevitable interactions between the two complementary disciplines and to answer to the real needs of the Construction Industry (CI) stakeholders. This paper presents an example of implementing Integrated Project Design methodology in a project-based learning approach to a three-year Master's in Integrated Building Design and Construction (MPRINCE) in the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. An overall description of the degree and case studies are presented, where students with different academic backgrounds worked collaboratively on real projects with the participation of companies and other stakeholders. The best proposals are implemented within the thesis research at the end of each academic year.

As society (never-ending) progress advances, the search for a growing optimization of the whole building project lifespan (design, construction, and maintenance) has, somehow, been placing digitally-driven technologies evolution as prime-keystone actors in design and construction fields. However, if the advantages that these (always evolving) developments, machineries and softwares bring to building research-practice remain indisputable—namely regarding production, coordination and communication processes –, the (often widespread) notion that these new tools and procedures constitute, “per se”, the core-driving elements in fostering a well-designed project, (still) seems fairly questionable. Based on these indications, this article focuses on the mid-twentieth century British architects Alison and Peter Smithson, to discuss a different perspective: in short, shouldn’t the quest for an optimized ‘integrated design’ rely, firstly, mostly and inevitably, on the designers’ correct conception-approach? Long before the (currently trendy) ‘Industry 4.0’, this article argues that, in establishing the right fundamental principles from the very first level of the design-process (such as building rationalization, or sustainable concerns, among others), the Smithsons may be regarded as a past-historical model of tackling the ‘integrated’ philosophy in the proper way—it is the designers accurate purpose-intentions which (first) model appropriate ‘integrated’ methodologies and instruments, and not the other way around. By driving attention to their thinking-practice, and critically surveying their archives, two of their most renowned works (the Economist, and Robin Hood Gardens) are (predominantly) addressed, essaying that their “project-theory” may constitute a true cornerstone disciplinary source for a correct ‘integrated project design’ approach, which is still valuable today.