Design Portfolio-Omar Mowafy

Design Portfolio

Omar Mowafy

Dear reader, I hope this portfolio serves as a reflection of my view on architecture. My goal is to reach a design method where environmental aspects serve as an essential reference in the design process, rather than an accessory/revision to be made at the end of it.

With the world of AEC more attentive to climate issues, a set of skills in building science is now more relavent to the industry than ever, my aim is to prove it’s a must and not a bonus. After this brief introduction, we start the portfolio.

Hello.

omar.mowafy@outlook.com +491781321992 12049 Berlin, Germany

PROFESSIONAL Computational Design Assistant at BIG in Copenhagen. The role included concept/schematic-stage studies 06.2020-12.2020 related to radiation, daylighting, in addition to energy modelling, mainly usign Rhino Grasshopper.

Working student “Werkstudent” at HENN design systems team in Berlin. The role included BIM and Revit 12.2019-06.2020 related tasks, including but not limited to handling Revit famelies and templates, developing workflows for Rhino Inside Revit, as well as providing Revit assistance and tutorials to project development teams.

Part-time Design Architect at LDP+Partners. The role included design/performance assesment tasks, as well 07.2018-10.2018 as introducing members of the design team to Rhino Grasshopper as well as Diva/Ladybug+Honeybee.

Architect/Analyst at mostadahm Architects and Planners. The role included architectural design and energy 06.2017-07.2018 consultancy in the form of performative design, redesign projects, and performance assessment projects.

01.2017-06.2017

Coordinator between the main contractors joint venture (TCAJV), the subcontractor responsible for internal glazing scope, and the BIM teams working on the project in UAE, Egypt, and Greece.

04.2016-01.2017

BIM J. Engineer at CCC Abu Dhabi/ Dubai, working on the interior glazing scope for the ADIA. The role included modeling & multi-disciplinary coordination of airport interior glazing scope.

01.2015-03.2016 Obligatory Military Service.

10.2014-01.2015

BIM Junior Engineer at CCC (Consolidated Contractors Company) BIM department BIM office in Egypt.

Contributed to ADIA (Abu Dhabi International Airport) project.

ACADEMIC 04.2021 Master of arts in architecture student at Hochschule Anhalt DIA (Dessau International Architecture) program.

Acceptance for publishing to the Buildining Simulation and Optimization conference at University of 09.2018 Cambridge for the research paper “Shape Memory Alloy Shading Systems, An Optimization Model” (second author).

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11.2017

LEED Green Associate. Acquired LEED accreditation with a score of 191 out of 200.

06.2014

Bachelor Degree from Cairo University | Faculty of Engineering | Credit Hour System | AET (Architectural Engineering and Building Technology Department) with a GPA of 3.153/4.00.

06.2014

Grade A (94%) for graduation project “Dabaa Institute of Nuclear Technology”, third place award.

07.2012

Lincoln School of Architecture and Design summer workshop “Architecture in a changing environment”.

Arabic English German Japanese A1

A2

B1

B2

C1

C2

Parametric Octopus Grasshopper

Wallacei

Dynamo Ladybug+ Honeybee

Excel

Rhino

Archicad

BIM

Daylight Visualizer

Diva/Archsim

Energy

AutoCAD

Revit Insights SketchUp

3ds Max

VRay AECOsim

Photoshop

InDesign

Illustrator

Visualisation

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Suwa no Mori Tiny House Year Location Focus

2019 (HS-Anhalt Sem.2) Osaka, Japan Economic Design

With a client with a clear vision of wanting a tiny, short-term, yet environmentally friendly house, a module lead by Prof. Peter Ruge had the objective of turning this close to 30 m2 land-plot into a tiny, family friendly home.

A house that serves as a sanctuary for its inhabitants, by grasping the spirits of effectiveness, purposefulness, and inner peace to flow within the design. This not so tiny house was designed with the flexibility of multiple possible buyers in mind, a design that responds to the user.

Google street view

FORM GENERATION The massing of this project emerges from contextual and climatic constraints, with few client requests.

Extracting the whole outline (6mx4m).

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Entrance and parking (req. by client).

Maintaining existing tree.

Added screen to living room.

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Space allocation

Ground Floor with Traditional Guest/Tea Room

Second Floor with Sleeping Quarters 5

First Floor with Flexible Living Space

Accessible Roof with wind catchers & washing machine

p was to carve a small niche into the same elevation placement of an external shading screen to further e solar loads on the building.

d s n d e s

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

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Technical aspects As structure and economics were both two of the client’s main concerns, it was important to integrate both in a system that is feasible yet durable, with the building being a short-term structure while remaining resistant to earthquakes in mind.

A structure of 2x6 timber frame system was selected, having been included in Japan’s list of earthquake resistant structures for small houses.

“My goal is to try and reach a state of maturity in design where environmental design aspects serve as an essential reference in my design process, rather than an addition/ revision to be made at the end of it.”

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BAUAKADEMIE Year Location Focus

2018/2019 (HS-Anhalt Sem.1) Berlin, Germany Experience Design

Although the “Academy of Fine Arts and Mechanical Sciences” which was responsible for training “Master Builders” had already existed for almost a hundred years, the Bauakademie was founded in 1799 to be a truer academy of architecture, giving more weight to the technical aspects of buildings, rather than blindly aiming for the aesthetics while omitting the functional.

This studio project with professor Martin Rein-Cano was aimed at finding our own definition of how we see the Bauakademie should be rebuilt.

Google street view

Form Generation The intention behind the design was to create a modernised version of social condensers, between students and practitioners of arts and architecture as a co-working and co-living space, while also integrating the public by having an open 3D space on both the horizontal and vertical planes.

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

The design draws its inspiration from the original Bauakademie building, as well as Cedric Prince’s “Fun Palace” and Le Corbusier’s “Sainte-Marie de la Tourette”.

level 1

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

level 0

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

5m

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

5m

level 5 PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

5m

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

level 3

5m

level 0

level 1

level 2

level 4

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KVP Year Location Focus

2018 (LDP + Partners) Kuwait City, Kuwait Performative Design

With a client desire to have a residence that “stands out” from the already luxurious villas of Kuwait, it was exhilarating to explore the outcome of combining building science with design innovation. Two alternative designs were presented with the movable spaces in each alternative, resulting in two scenarios presenting themselves in each alternative.

Daylight simulation To insure the quality of spaces in the designs, it was important to perform daylight autonomy studies for all floors in both alternatives.

A required level of 300 Lux was the benchmark for the study, with the illustration showing the percentage of time throughout the year when the natural daylight exceeds the stated benchmark during the day.

It was also important to study Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE) to avoid the possibility of over exposure to daylight.

Alternative 1 Basement

100%

0%

Alternative 2 Basement 17

Alternative 1 Ground Floor

Alternative 1 First Floor

Alternative 1 Roof

Alternative 2 Ground Floor

Alternative 2 First Floor

Alternative 2 Roof 18

Thermal energy simulation Due to the harsh environment of Kuwait, buildings rely on natural ventilation for interior spaces. A state that demands heavy reliance on air conditioning for cooling and occasional heating.

It was therefore essential to run floor normalized thermal energy consumption simulations for our designs throughout the year, with a base-case of basic walls and 25% WWR as reference.

KWh/m2 500 <=

<= 100

Base-Case

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Alternative 1 Scenario A

Alternative 2 Scenario A

Alternative 1 Scenario B

Alternative 2 Scenario B

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GPM Year Location Focus

2018 (LDP + Partners) Mecca, Saudi Arabia Facade Design

Located in the heart of the city of Mecca, this project was a proposal made upon the client’s request to reimagine the building’s facades and envelope without much rework. The goal of the design was to represent traditional Islamic features in a contemporary design.

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Form Generation The idea behind the added screen is simple, taking an Islamic pattern as a reference for screen openings. A screen of identical openings size is most feasible, but is not the most functional when it comes to interior natural light, in addition to not being aesthetically pleasing due to its monotonicity. A screen of varying openings sizes is much more dynamic and interesting, but was deemed too expensive and impractical in construction.

The task therefore was to create a screen that is parametrically varying in openings sizes, while having this variance in constant number to ease its construction.

The first step was to choose the pattern to be implemented, the pattern was selected and drawn in a method that ensured its continuity upon repetition.

One of the objectives was varying the pattern size, but doing so would disjoin the infinitely interlacing pattern. The solution was thus to invert the pattern to be the opening cut in the screen, using the void to shape it instead of the solid.

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The pattern was then arrayed to cover the required area, while identifying the points were a bigger/ smaller opening would be needed.

The idea to parametrize the scaling factor while maintaining control over its outcomes was to use a simple series of if/else definitions based on distance between centroids and the preselected points, resulting in 3 possible scaling factors that could simply be cast in GRC/GRG. 24

Form Generation Form generation was focused on decreasing thermal loads on the building, solar radiation simulations were run for comparison, first with a base-case straight elevation, then after adjusting the massing, and finally after adding shading screens.

External Screen added to all win prevent un excess solar radia

Ou vide to e er i

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ns were ndows to nwanted ation.

A wind catcher oriented to prevailing winds was added to improve natural ventilation.

Light wells were added to ensure natural light availability throughout the whole building.

In addition to the wind catcher, a solar chimney was added to create a buoyancy effect and further improve air circulation within the building.

utdoor balconies proed users the chance enjoy outdoor weathin controlled spaces.

Recessions made to the ground floor provided self shading, decreasing solar loads on walls.

Parametrized shading screen with openings of varying sizes in relation to fenestration.

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Thermal Simulation

In addition to solar radiation simulation, it was necessary to perform a multi-zone thermal simulation run to evaluate the thermal performance of the building.

Due to the amount of passive cooling techniques applied to the building (shading screens, self shading masses, clerestory windows for cross ventilation, wind catcher and solar chimney for buoyancy effect, outdoor pockets) it was found that the mean temperature inside the building during hottest months (June, July, August) are generally lower than the outside temperature with a difference reaching up to 4 degrees in some locations.

First floor temperatures were higher than those of the ground floor due to their thermal contact with the outside environment through the roof.

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Role and Contribution The Participatory Development program in Urban Areas (PDP), is an Egyptian-German development measure implemented in cooperation between the Egyptian Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities (MOHUUC) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. In Collaboration with the PDP, mostadahm was assigned a task to conduct a study on the micro-climatic effect of micro-scaled architectural measures on both indoor and outdoor conditions of selected informal settlements in the Greater Cairo Region.

My involvement in the project began at a meeting held with the PDP, to discuss the approaches to be taken and evaluation techniques to be followed. The following stage was leading a team on site visits, to interview the residents, as well as taking site measurements and verifying the suitability of implemented measures.

Measurements taken included outside and inside surface temperatures, operative temperature, relative humidity, and illuminance taken also on the outside and the inside. thermal images were taken as a means of illustration.

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Role and Contribution The simulation phase was started by settling on the unimplemented alternatives to be assessed in addition to the baseline case (base case) and the measure under study (study case). The table shows some of the alternatives that were studied during the project.

My role was studying the effect of changing the glazing type and the building envelope finish on the thermal comfort within a chosen single zone in both settlements.

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Role and Contribution As a junior BIM Engineer working at CCC BIM department, I was asked in April 2016 to travel to Abu Dhabi as a part of a team of four, the first wave of teams sent by our BIM department, to assist the subcontractor responsible for the interior glazing scope in completing the tasks required by the main contractors (TAV-CCC-Arabtech), since all contributors to the project had to work within the BIM excution plan set by the main contractors JV. The task was to assist the subctractor’s engineers in design coordination between their scope and ongoing scopes of other subcontractors, as well as the JV. Assisting the subcontractor came in the form of modelling LOD 400 models of their scope, wich involved clash detection, coordination meetings to resolve clashes found during modelling, and later complete model tagging and MTO reports.

On October 2016, the existing BIM coordinator between the subcontractor and the JV (a junior engineer responsible for coordinating between the subcontractors engineers, the BIM department engineers working offshore, and the JV) resigned, I was then asked to take his place from October 2016 till I resigned in June 2017.

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