Resch, G. Thesis Document USF SACD MV

BAKU 2042: AERODYNAMIC EFFECTS AND THE INFLUENCE OF WIND ON VERTICAL FORMS, THEIR CONNECTIONS, AND THE LOCAL HISTORIC CONTEXT

By GREYSON ALEXANDER RESCH

A TERMINAL PROJECT PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

2022

Copyright 2022

By Greyson Alexander Resch

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all those who have offered their support, encouragement, and guidance throughout the course of my research and the writing of this terminal project.

Professor Levent Kara, Department of Architecture, University of South Florida, served as chairman of my thesis committee. His knowledge, thoroughness, and spirit of dedication has certainly been an inspiration to me throughout the efforts of my terminal project.

Professor Tara Dozark and Professor Mark Weston, Department of Architecture, University of South Florida, both served as terminal project committee members. Their architectural backgrounds and their many helpful suggestions were of great contribution to my project. I hope that I may live up to the tradition of enthusiasm and innovation typified by these professors.

Remy Mermelstein, Department of Architecture + Environmental Systems Lab, Cornell University, generously gave his time and expertise throughout the entirety of the project, providing unprecedented guidance while learning a new program. He is one of the talented people responsible for creating the CFD program framework I used to in the testing my designs, and is working to further building performance simulation capabilites within the field.

I would especially like to thank my parents, Denise and Robert, for believing in me and offering their continued encouragement and understanding.

ABSTRACT

This Master’s Project seeks to test the feasibility of automotive [aerodynamic] design facia, form, and evaluation procedures, transcribed into an architectural vernacular in Baku, Azerbaijan. This, in an effort to take advantage of the unique aerodynamic properties present in the urban environment of Baku, through the use of non-traditional building skins and mechanical technologies adapted from modern high-perfomance automobile design.

Even simple building geometries can result in complex aerodynamic flows through the urban context. There is a great margin for improvement through reinterpreting, analyzing, and applying technologies that have been previously pioneered in the automotive industry.

Transcribing aerodynamic design techniques into a dialect of potential future building technologies forces the architecture itself to transform. This Master’s Project seeks to influence how we as designers view the potential of Architecture going forward. Means and methods from other disciplines, when thoughtfully implemented within the architectural framework, have the ability to conjure a new architectural language, a new lens of understanding and testing to be put forward within the field.

Using computational methods and illustrative techniques [CFD / Computerized Fluid Dynamics] to accurately measure air movement through the urban density, allows all aerodynamic factors to be thoroughly considered within the design. This presents an opportunity to respond to localized wind patterns as a primary design driver for the proposed development.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ...........................................................................

Abstract .............................................................................................

Introduction .......................................................................................

Problem Statement ................................................................

Project Goals .........................................................................

Basics of Aerodynamic Effect on Buildings ...........................

Precedent Research ..............................................................

Case Studies ..........................................................................

Project Concept .................................................................................

Site Analysis ...........................................................................

Research + Design Methods ..................................................

Form-Finding / Process Work .................................................

Initial Testing ...........................................................................

Presentation of Forms .......................................................................

Testing of Forms .....................................................................

Conclusion .........................................................................................

Program Analysis ...............................................................................

Bibliography .......................................................................................

INTRODUCTION

Wind Conditions in Baku

Fundamentally, buildings act as bluff obstacles, forcing wind to flow around them in a rather undesirable interaction. Even simple building geometries can result in complex aerodynamic flow throughout the urban context. My project site is within the city of Baku, Azerbaijan. Baku has unique aerodynamic properties that are rarely found in other urban environments. The city is renowned for its harsh winds, with the ancient Persian name of this locality translating to Bādkube, or “pounding winds”. Baku often sees wind speeds [not gusts] nearing 25mph at 10m (32.8’) above ground, and wind speeds [not gusts] nearing 40mph at 128m (420’) above ground.

These dramatic conditions are mainly a result of Baku’s positioning on a peninsula, and further this peninsula’s positioning in relation to local wind-flow patterns. As ocean winds commonly travel parallel to this western coast of the Caspian Sea [predominantly northward], the peninsula becomes an obstruction in its path, causing air to speed up as it rolls over and around the land mass. This is our first example of the Bernoulli Effect, which states that wind speed increases in areas of reduced pressure ie. the leeward side of the peninsula.

This geographical phenomenon further solidifies the prevailing winds for the region and means Baku, unlike other notably windy places in the world, sees its harshest, most substantial winds from only one direction. Viewed on a wind rose, this heading would lie somewhere evenly between NW and NNW, simplified as 33.75 degrees left of north for testing purposes [an average of the two]. Subsequent prevailing winds are many magnitudes less, and exist to the SSE on average, nearly 180 degrees from said dominant winds. This is desirable, as it means less variations in wind direction need to be accounted for within the design, again a result of unique geographic conditions.

The nation of Azerbaijan lies to the west of the Caspian Sea, South of Russia, East of Armenia, and to the North of Iran. Baku is the nation’s capital. The economic hub of Azerbaijan, Baku is the country’s lowestlying city at 92ft below sea level on average. Baku is famed for its medieval-walled old city. This inner city of Baku, being named a World Heritage site in 2000, has attracted many modern and uniquely designed architectural works to its outskirts in recent years.

Figure 1 Map of Azerbaijan

Figure 2 Satellite Image of World Heritage Site, Baku

Figure 3 Wind Rose, Baku (MeteoBlue, 2022)

Historical Significance, Venue, Narrative

Azerbaijan became independent from the Soviet Union after its eventual collapse in 1991. Having been one of the largest producers of oil for the union pre-collapse (dating back originally to 1859), the country would experience great wealth in the years to follow. For this very reason, Baku would begin to expand as an economic hub, as a modern city, and in recent years as a venue to many international events. Of these internationally significant events that Baku serves host to today, one event in particular fluently ties this historically meaningful narrative of wind, oil, and historic site together in perfect manner - this event being the Azerbaijan Grand Prix of Formula 1. With an inaugural debut just recently, in 2016, this race takes place over a 3.7mile course: the “Baku City Circuit”. The track makes its way through the downtown metropolitan area and around the World Heritage site spoken on before.

So why is this race, this event, significant to our narrative? if we look at the stars of the show, the formula cars themselves, they very much epitomize the essence of these broader concepts. The design of the cars, a pure function of their forms, is in strict response to exceedingly high, unidirectional, wind speeds. Each and every component of the car is subjected to conditions far beyond that experienced by normal road-going vehicles, in the same way wind speeds in Baku far exceed that found in other urban densities. In terms of the automotive industry, these unique conditions presented led to an acceleration of aerodynamic design understanding that might not have been pioneered otherwise. Baku has the potential to serve a similar purpose, as an accelerated testing ground for our understanding of aerodynamic design in Architecture.

Furthermore, 67% of global oil produced is consumed by the automotive sector, forming a tight bond between the symbol of the automobile and the economic success of Baku. While normal road-going vehicles consume oil at a relatively low rate in comparison, This is one reason why Formula cars, through their exorbitant rate of oil consumption and consequential high-performance, mirror a narrative of Azerbaijan’s exorbitant oil production and consequential high-wealth. So, given our understanding of the unique conditions present in Baku, and the relevance of this event - these machines - culturally, and internationally, as a larger symbol of Azerbaijan - we can hopefully see why the automotive form, and the aerodynamic principles they’re founded on, will serve as the design inspiration for the proposed Architectural work.

Figure 4 Baku City Circuit Track Layout, Spectator Areas

Figure 5 Aerodynamic Implementation in Racing Cars (Higgins, 2018)

PROBLEM STATEMENT

This Master’s Project seeks to test the feasibility of aerodynamics-based, automotive inspired, design facia, form, and evaluation procedures, transcribed into an architectural vernacular in Baku, Azerbaijan. Using computational methods and illustrative techniques [CFD] to more accurately measure air movement through an urban density, allows all aerodynamic factors to be thoroughly considered throughout the design phase. How can the unique aerodynamic properties present in the urban environment of Baku be taken advantage of, through the use of non-traditional building skins, forms, and mechanical technologies, adapted from modern high-performance automobile design?

Conceptual Challenges:

+ How to respond to harsh localized winds in Baku, Azerbaijan.

+ How to create something beautiful with wind as the generator of idea, and automotive aerodynamics as the primary design factor.

+ Using the architectural form to harness/manipulate wind - testing design modality.

+ How to author a narrative of Baku’s culture and rich history, through an architectural work.

+ Fluidity of Nature deserves emphasis, static vs exertive design

+ A philosophy taken on by other recent projects in Baku, how can the architectural design be pushed to an extent so progressive / future-forward, that it takes on a new language entirely? Thus disbanding any competition between its historic surroundings.

+ Most efficient design solution is often boring, the solution must rely on aesthetic qualities.

Practical Challenges:

+ How to respect and compliment the historic site location.

+ How to manipulate the wind while maintaining structural feasibility.

+ How to use the Architectural form to minimize inhabitant disturbances.

+ Necessity to understand problems that similar projects have faced.

+ How to offer function and utility for local population:

Architectural Interaction / Spectacle

Walkability + Green Space

Vertical Integration

+ How to provide an increased vertical density given location value

+ Necessity for increased spectator access for Formula 1 events.

PROJECT GOALS

The general nature of this Architectural project stems from the idea that aerodynamic concepts, understanding, developments, and refinement procedures, pioneered in fields external to Architecture, can in some way influence, and be transcribed into, an architectural language. In an urban environment, buildings often have simple geometrical shapes. While this is ideal and traditional in a normal design sense, when introduced to win load, these blunt objects do not fare well in terms of their consequential effects on the local atmospheric surroundings.

An automobile for example, travels at such substantial speeds, that one of their main considerations for design must always be [above other considerations: power,weight, weight distribution, etc.] the aerodynamic efficiency of the form itself. Air is forced to travel a path of least resistance around the automobile, and its ability to rejoin with existing streamlines is indicative of the vehicle’s aerodynamic efficiency. As an automobile’s speed increases, the frictional forces exerted from the fluid increase exponentially. These frictional forces of a fluid are referred to as a drag force, and in automotive design they are represented in the form of a drag coefficient for the vehicle. Buildings, commonly existing as buff obstacles, create considerable high pressure zones (drag forces) on their wind-ward facade, and turbulent and unpredictable low-pressure zones on their leeward side.

The goal of this project is to suggest or introduce a new design language for your consideration. How can this idea of automotive design modality, introduce us to new possibilities and potential within the architectural field? This Master’s project seeks to influence how we as designers view the potential of architecture to date. To breathe new breath into a discipline that often propagates standardization and replication of form. When means and methods from other disciplines are eloquently transplanted into architectural study, they can often introduce a new art form and language entirely. This transcribing of aerodynamic design techniques, into a dialect of potential future building technologies, forces the architecture itself to transform.

BASICS OF AERODYNAMIC EFFECT WITHIN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

All urban environments in one form or another have an effect on airflow

If I was to show you wind through a level plain for example, it would look something like this. When buildings are introduced however, conditions are influenced drastically. So what are the fundamental behaviors of aerodynamic flow, and which can we control as a designer?

As a rule, air naturally attempts to move from a zone of higherpressure to that of a lower-pressure one.

Pressure Around Building: (Standardized Shape)

When wind hits a building, it creates areas of low-pressure parallel to the flow, on the building sides, and behind the building (referred to as the leeward side). This is due to the high-pressure zone formed on the windward facing facade, and the subsequent wake pattern formed in this interaction.

Bernoulli’s Principle: (Airfoil to Demonstrate)

Reduction of pressure when speed increases. An airfoil, for example, forces the air above it to move in a longer path, [this similar to the peninsula Baku resides on] resulting in a greater speed than that of the airflow below (Mazzon, 2017). The pressure at the top is now lower in comparison to the bottom, and this results in the forces of lift seen within aerodynamics. In automobile racing, designers utilize an inverted airfoil, producing the opposite force referred to as downforce.

Two Types of Airflow:

Laminar Air Flow:

Air flow is considered laminar when streamlines move in parallel and when speed differentials are small (Mazzon, 2017).

Turbulent Airflow:

Turbulent flow is when fluid streamlines cease to move in parallel, showing pronounced changes in directions. Speed differentials rise and vortices can form (Mazzon, 2017).

Figure 6 Pressure Around Building (Mazzon, 2017)

Figure 7 Bernoulli’s Principle (Mazzon, 2017)

Figure 8 Laminar Flow (Mazzon, 2017)

Figure 9 Turbulent Airflow (Mazzon, 2017)

Street Canyon Effect:

Large buildings redirect air down their facades, which effectively act as walls and funnel it down the urban corridor. As the flow passes by a mid-rise building and is directed over the top of lower height corridors, it creates a negative byproduct in the form of street canyon vortices and corner vortices (BME, 2018).

Downwash Effect:

The building facade exposed to prevailing winds generates a stag nation point [at approx. 70% of building height], an occurrence where the airflow moves both up and over the front facade, as well as moving down the facade towards the ground level (BME, 2018).

Venturi (Channeling) Effect:

Strong wind and high turbulence present as wind speeds up in between two or more objects (Rheologic, 2016).

Downwind Eddy Effect (Counter-Currents):

When fast moving, high altitude air meets the tallest point of the building, top separation occurs, where some of the flow deforms as it passes over the top edge, leading to a separation bubble [of very turbulent flow] and the formation of vortices. These vortices can create unwanted vibration and sway in buildings within the localized region (Rheologic, 2016).

Corner Vortex Effect:

When wind accelerates around a sharp corner of a bluff obstacle. This sheering effect creates disruptive, turbulent flow in its wake (Mills, 2018).

Height/Speed Effect (Urban Roughness):

With an increase in height, air moves much faster than at ground level (Mills, 2018).

Figure 10 Downwash Effect (Rheologic, 2016)

Figure 11 Venturi Effect (Rheologic, 2016)

Figure 12 Downwind Counter-Currents (Rheologic, 2016)

Figure 13 Urban Roughness (Ng. E, 2011)

PRECEDENT RESEARCH

Podium:

Technique referring to an overhang or step-out that occurs near the bottom of a mid- to high-rise building to protect pedestrians at street level from the effects of downwash off the front facade. By having an architectural element protruding off of the building facade, it works to redivert the air flow upwards (Nanowski 2019).

Corner Softening:

Technique involving rounding and smoothing the corners of the building structure, in hopes of minimizing vortices and preventing vibrational frequencies from occurring. This style of building often tapers in as it rises in height, to become increasingly more aerodynamic and less affected by wind loads towards the top (Mills 2018).

Stilts:

Leeward pressure is reduced, and in correspondence, wind speed significantly increases (Mazzon 2017)

Cut-out Floors:

Technique allowing the wind/air flow to pass through the building structure at certain increments, in the form of open floors, consequently reducing the difference in local wind speed and reducing vortices (Mills 2018).

Figure 14 Street Canyon Effect (Mazzon, 2017)

Figure 15 Podium Technique (Thomann, 1975)

Figure 16 Building on Stilts (Mazzon, 2017)

Figure 17 Pearl River Tower (Hassam, 2014)

Figure 18 Bahrain World Trade Center (Hassam, 2014)

Figure 19

Hess Tower (Hassam, 2014)

Figure 20 Strata SE1 (Hassam, 2014)

PROJECT CONCEPT

The conceptual basis of this project is that aerodynamic considerations and wind load design, found in traditional mid-rise (to high-rise) architecture, is at its best an attempt to mask a design flaw that affects these developments. When looking at Baku as a city, it has unique environmental qualities that require special considerations in terms of an aerodynamically responsive design. Due to Baku’s singular predominant wind direction, consistently high wind speed, and rich narrative surrounding wind. Baku becomes a prime location to relay this interwoven nature of form and site. When we observe the formula cars themselves, they represent an ultimatum in response to environmental conditions. They far surpass commercial qualities of standardized design, and strive for the highest level of performance out of competitive necessity. These automotive forms bring a sense of awe and wonder to those viewing them, through their unique response to the complexities and principles inherent in aerodynamic design.

The underlying architectural solution to this problem is similar to the solution required from an automobile. The considered form must be streamlined in such a way that it minimizes high pressure zones, minimizes turbulence in low pressure zones, and works to create a smooth transition between these two. Not only must laminar flow be pursued (streamlined), but also the building should explore further into potential ways of harnessing and reflecting this fast-moving air. This could be for many reasons, such as for the generation of electricity, for the cooling of mechanical equipment, or for the experience of the user itself, but for this project it will primarily be reflected in the potential for the building to communicate and display (in a reactionary manner) the variances of wind speed in the city, and how the building specifically reacts to respond to those forces. This further solidifies the local narrative of Good and Evil, seen in the forces of wind, and shows how considerate design can serve host to these harsh negative environmental forces. The building fostering a reactionary nature, can create a newfound sense of integration within the urban density.

These buildings, through recent and future technological advancements, can become autonomous artworks of a sort. Not only making evident the forces they responds to, but actively adapting themselves in cooperation. The scope of our project will be three mid-rise towers located just beyond the border of the world heritage site and the nearby Azerbaijani University. These buildings are foremost a study of form - the aerodynamic effects of form, and the program here follows only by necessity. Programmatics are guided by vertical expansions in density, reliant mainly on existing site program. As the project finds its place across from the heritage site, and on the edge of the Formula 1 track, my concept strives to reflect the larger narrative of historical significance found within the inner city of Baku, Azerbaijan.

Figure 21 Wind Speeds 10m above ground (Windy, 2022)

Figure 22 Wind Speeds 28m above ground (Windy, 2022)

Figure 3 Wind Rose, Baku (MeteoBlue, 2022)

Figure A Existing Site + Green Space

Figure B Existing Programmatic Mix

RESEARCH AND DESIGN METHODS

This subject matter has historical precedence, in regards to Architecture, in that mid-rise and high-rise buildings have had to consider the increasing atmospheric effects of wind load, as they strived for higher heights and greater densities throughout the past century. These prior studies have fleshed out what basics of aerodynamics exist, and how these can inform standardized building forms. These studies in the past were conducted via wind tunnel testing, in which air circulates through a chamber - the object just within this chamber receiving the unidirectional flow. To visualize the airflow, either strings were placed on to the objects to better understand directional changes at the surface. Additionally, smoke will be released from a nozzle in that the viewer can actively see the full path airflow in a specific region of the model.

While this was my initial plan for testing, I quickly realized that these methods did not provide easily quantifiable or easily conveyable data, in the ways that modern Computational Fluid Dynamics [CFD] programs are now able to. In our case a virtual domain is created, populated with thousands of points, and ran through the program in question over many hundreds, if not thousands of iterations. Not only does this provide us with more data points, testability, and easy visualization, but it also provides us with an averaged output that is more likely in line with what is to be expected at the site. By using these tools throughout the design process, any negative aerodynamic effect can be seen early on, allowing for modification of the parts, and a deeper understanding of why these effects are happening. These programs, beyond showing overall magnitude of air through an environment, can also show pressure, velocity, and specific directional changes that may have otherwise been challenging and costly before such technologies.

Offering validation for this Architectural solution, the form and its effectiveness must be tested and verified. This can be accomplished, through the implementation of these programs, via side-by-side comparison with our proposed form and a comparable basic massing. Through testing digitally, we again minimize the requirement of resources, the costs of testing, and the time associated with physical modeling. These limitations associated with past aspects of aerodynamic testing are becoming inferior as these programs advance in their computational abilities. For our testing purposes the simulation program used was Eddy3D. This program was developed by team members of the Environmental Systems Lab at Cornell University. Used as a Grasshopper Plugin, via Rhino, it is one of the only professional-quality simulation programs available in an open-beta.

Figure 23

Building Mesh and Probing Points Utilized

Figure 24

Simulations of Existing Site Conditions

FORM-FINDING + PROCESS

Figure 25 Early Design Ideas and Massings

Figure 26 Initial Testing of Implemented Forms

Figure 27 SW Axonometric of Full Site

Tower one features repeating airfoils reminiscent of a splitter design. Wrapping around the tower mass, they work to guide air moving out and around of the mass, minimizing aerodynamic disruptions noticeable to the occupant (fast-moving air/oscillation). To further elaborate, these airfoils direct air separating off the building face (seen in plan view), and attempt to further stabilize a zone of low pressure where desirable. Balconies help maintain clean lateral flow. A deviation in the angle of the foils, near the base of the tower, directs fast moving air up and over the public domain. When integrated with the existing hospital tower, through a screen-in structure, the negative effects of the aforementioned effects are greatly reduced. This structure, when extended upwards along with a redeveloped medical tower, introduces an interstitial outdoors space, with countless potential recreational uses. The west side of this residential tower houses the primary circulation, with a private entry at each floor. These common spaces within the floor plan act as a buffer for the exterior lighting, and limit outdoor access as wind speeds are highest parallel to this facade. The east side of the bulding sees slower winds, and contains the bedrooms within plan. For these reasons, the ability for residents to open thir windows was considered. The vertical airfoils here are our first example of active-aero design, opening and closing in direct relation to the measured speed of the wind. When wind speeds are at their highest, and as a result of this intuitive deflection of airflow, inhabitants will be able to enjoy access to the outdoors as they would at any other time.

Figure 31 Tower One NW Axonometric

Figure 30 Tower One SW Axonometric

Figure 32 Tower One East Elevation

Figure 33 Tower One West Elevation

Tower two utilizes cut-out floors in response to expected high-pressure winds on the building facade. This is critical due to the positioning of the tower within the urban framework, evident that negative effects of downwash, street canyon effect, or other comparable disruptions in this region could be detrimental. Floor-ceiling spaces are artificially canted to further exacerbate the movement of air through these spaces. Channels utilized on this windward facade attempt to further direct airflow cleanly around the mass, preventing the outwash of turbulent, fast-moving air as is typically present. This is similar to the concept of the endplate in racing cars.

This all works to minimize the buildings windward downwash and leeward wake. There is also a notion of pushing air up and over the public domain (wing/cant), similar to the first tower. As the fastest-moving winds are what we are accounting for in these designs, we have little desire to experiment with directing airflow downwards. Since The horizontal airfoils act as active-aero components similar to those found in the briding section. As wind speeds increase, the airfoils will automatically adjust to direct airflow upwards.

Figure 34 Tower Two NE Axonometric

Figure 36 Tower Two South Elevation

Figure 37 Tower Two North Elevation

Tower three features a fluidly-shaped structural facade that extends off of the building in the windward direction. This facade system is reminiscent of a formula car’s cockpit, or main structural hull [oriented vertically], and encloses several floors of green space, recreational use areas, and balconies. In this test of aerodynamic effect, wind forces are capitalized on by means of suction, constantly evacuating stagnant air from the space.

Air is siphoned through these vents on the east of the facade system, where it otherwise meets little resistance. It is evacuated either to the west side of the building or upwards [through a series of openings] where it eventually rejoins the high-pressure air rushing past. This constantly oscillating area of low pressure forms a sort of bubble, hypothetically reducing some drag and suction forces on the structure itself (East vs. West). Here on the west, a pronounced edge, similar in concept to a gurney flap in racing cars, mitigates the speed of the suction effect and diverts air upwards.

Figure 38 Tower Three SW Axonometric

Figure 39 Tower Three NW Axonometric

Figure 40 Tower Three South Elevation

Figure 41 Tower Three North Elevation

Figure 42

View Perpendicular to Wind Flow Tower One

Figure 43 Tower One Facade Test 1

Figure 44 Tower One Facade Test 2

Figure 45 Tower One Mid-Section Test

Figure 46 Cut Though Average Floor Tower One

Figure 47 Cut Through Spectator Experience Floor Tower One

Figure 48

View Perpendicular to Wind Flow Tower Two

Figure 49 Tower Two Facade Test 1

Figure 50 Tower Two Facade Test 2

Figure 51 Tower Two Mid-Section Test

Figure 52 Cut Through Average Floor Tower Two

Figure 53 Cut Through Wind Dissipation Channel Tower Two

Figure 54 View Perpendicular to Wind Flow Tower Three

Figure 55 Tower Three Facade Test 1

Figure 56 Tower Three Facade Test 2

Figure 57 Tower Three Mid-Section Test

Figure 58 Cut Through Average Floor Tower Three

Figure 59 Cut Through Outdoor-Prominant Floor Tower Three

CONCLUSION

This terminal project was filled with many learning opportunities, moments of trial, and was an overall exploration into aerodynamic form, functionality, and relative programmatic utility. In an ideal world, more simulations could have been conducted throughout the entirety of the design phase, thus providing constant insight into potential necessary project refinements. When learning a new tool and framework, sometimes the greatest takeaways are within the learning moments. This project, in demonstrating a fulfillment of the initial requirements placed on it, achieved many of the goals it first set out to.

As stated earlier, this project sought to test the feasibility of aerodynamic design solutions, transcripted onto a building form. When observing our final testing results, we can notice immediately a cooperation between built form and environment that is otherwise uncommon within the field. The towers are effective in reducing what would otherwise be impactful and/or turbulent winds throughout the local urban framework. In seeking to approach Architecture in this light, we introduce new considerations towards form-making, experiential quality, urban interaction, and Architectural possibility. This project further presented learning opportunities in that aerodynamics is a very complicated topic of research within any field, especially within our field, and as such requires more investigation. While these forms merely brush the surface of what potential lies in this direction of experimentation, I hope that in whole, these forms serve to influence other designers in how one is able to translate influence and study from other fields into their design work. While research and literature will always be crucial aspects of Architectural study, a keen understanding of the tools that designers have available to them, and a subsequent development of their craft with such tools, remains key. Exploration [within the field of Architecture] remains key.

In bringing together the automotive form and aerodynamic considerations found within the formula car narrative within this site, this project becomes a testament to the knowledge learned and deployed within another field, as well as reflects the culture and larger trajectory of Baku, Azerbaijan as a city and venue in whole. I hope to be able to further my research in this field going forward (as I continue to refine my understanding of the intricacies and nature of the programs utilized), having for now introduced merely an idea, a concept, a language: a new precedence of form within Architecture, presented in these writings: for your consideration.

Tower One is a high-density residential tower that shares outdoor enclosure with a nearby existing Medical Tower. At certain sections within the residential tower, public access to the bridging portions are available for spectatorship, walkability, and the enjoyment of green space. Tying into this narrative of directly witnessing local environmental conditions, cut out floors accessible on one level - off of the spectator level, allow the public to experience firsthand the effects of wind speed on a building, at the the now-highest public access point in the city.

Predominant Use Type: Residential

Number of Floors: 42

Average Floor Area: 2,000 sq.ft.

Programmatic Mix: 60% / 40%

Total Area: 88,000 sq.ft.

Tower Two, providing connection via this bridging section as well, works to reinvigorate a local government embassy, while introducing a state building with certain levels of Public Access. All seemingly floating above an already existing city block. The building has a sense of transparency facing the historic heritage site, the track, conveying ideals of government and state, but is of an opaque, form on the windward north facade that overlooks a nearby schoolyard for both privacy purposes and aerodynamic intent.

Predominant Use Type: Municipal

Number of Floors: 38

Average Floor Area: 2,763 sq.ft.

Programmatic Mix: 90% / 10%

Total Area: 105,000 sq.ft.

Tower 3 is a commercial space, providing large square footage of screen-enclosed, daylight, outdoor spaces. These predominant outdoor spaces exist at the bottom half of the tower, with larger square footages of air-conditioned space as the tower rises in height. Similar to the other two towers, the building and its moments of overlook provide ample space for spectatorship during events. All of these towers, heavily influenced by the wind, can be imparted with Technologies capable of actively measuring the wind, and all of these buildings in some way (whether through lighting or physical changes in form) can immediately react to changing environmental conditions. In this way the building itself becomes an autonomous system of purpose, giving a new life to the urban context.

Predominant Use Type: Commercial

Number of Floors: 36

Average Floor Area: 1850 sq.ft.

Programmatic Mix: 50% / 50%

Total Area: 66,600 sq.ft.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allegrini. J, Lopez. B, The Influence of Angular Configuration of Two Buildings on the Local Wind Climate, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Volume 156, 2016. pp. 50-61.

Ansley. R, Wind Effects, 1998.

Hassam, Nasarullah, Chaudhry et al. / American Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 2014. pp. 355-365.

Kastner, P., & Dogan, T. (2021). Eddy3D: A Toolkit for Decoupled Outdoor Thermal Comfort Simulations in Urban Areas. Building and Environment, 108639.

Kim. H, Wind Resource Assessment for High-Rise BIWT Using RS-NWP-CFD. Remote Sens, 2016. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8121019

Mazzon. M, Air Movements Inside and Around Buildings, Polimi OpenKnowledge, 2017.

Ng. E, Yuan. C, Chen. L, Ren. C, Fung. JCH, Improving the Wind Environment in High-Density Cities by Understanding Urban Morphology and Surface Roughness: A Study in Hong Kong. Landsc Urban Plan. May 15th 2011. pp. 59-74.

Rheologic, Basic Urban Wind Effects. June 17th 2019.

Thomann. H, “Wind Effects on Buildings and Structures: Damage Caused by Wind Can Be Minimized If the Principles of Fluid Mechanics Are Applied at the Design Stage.” American Scientist, vol. 63, no. 3, 1975. pp. 278–287. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27845463.

Windy App, Windy Weather World Inc, 2022.

I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a terminal project for the degree of Master of Architecture.

Levent Kara Professor of Architecture

This terminal project was submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the College of Architecture and was accepted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture.

Dean, College of Architecture

December, 2022