How Big Data Affect the Architecture Design

孙靖茹

Introduction

Today， one of the application of Big Data is architecture design.There has been a large amount of evidences discovered through the human history that Big Data has been closely related to architecture design. In the ancient time， the Egyptians used murals to collect and record information which enabled their descendants to benefit from their ancestors achievements and wisdom. Invaluable information has been found from those murals about one of the biggest architectural miracles in human civilization： the pyramid. Many modem architects and scholars who are interested in ancient Egyptian have found the records from the murals very useful when studying the detail of the pyramid. Hence， a database which contains all the findings of the pyramid was built for artists， developers and architects to extract information that are useful to their designs （Boja et al. 120）. The pyramid is just one of the countless examples that can show the link between data and architecture. This paper will discuss the impact of Big Data on the architecture design and the role it plays in the evolution of architecture.

What the definitions of Big Datainthe field of architecture design？

Dan Kusnetzky defined Big Data in his article “What is ‘Big Data.'”， and said： “In simplest terms， the phrase refers to the tools， processes， and procedures allowing an organization to create， manipulate， and manage extensive data sets and storage facilities” （Dan 1）. In his article， he thinks Big Data as a toolof collecting a large amount of datathat helps users to analyze data collected from different areas. With the support of the database， users can get the result that are needed to finish their jobs in a timely manner with a high level of accuracy.

In the field of architecture design， Big Data can help designers fully understand all information about the buildingsand their surrounding environments， it can even help collecting the information about weather， geographic structure， light， raw material， space， demography and so on （Lee et al. 40）. “Architecture Design refers to the actual design and layout of spaces.” said Wise Geek who pointed out the importance of the information about space in the design of architecture which includes as many different elements asthe look of inside and outside of the building， space， construction， light， and shadow. A good design should consider many domains （Segaran & Hammerbacher 50）， so it is essential for the designers to obtain the data from different areas across the network of database to gather all the elements mentioned above.

Four ways about how Big Data affect architecture design？

You must be wondering how Big Data can affect the field of architecture design. In this section， I want to explore the impact of data on architecture，and how Big Data changes the way of architecture design. Moreover， I will be sharing with you my personal opinion on the possibility of extensive use of Big Data in Architecture field. I would also like to target different audiences such as architects， users， and scholars who study Data Science and Architecture.

There are four main ways that the Big Data is changing the architecture design. Firstly， the architectural clients are demanding for data from the architects （Brumfiel 283）. In this regard， most of the customers at the moment are asking for the architectures to deliver more than just the drawing sets and this is the essence of the Big Data in this field of profession.

Secondly， architectural projects clients continuously demand data from the buildings； customers are interested in the Big Data that is being generated by the buildings； everything in the modern structures is connected to the internet， so that it can broadcast its use （LHeureux 78）.

Thirdly， in architecture， the data is having a significant impact on the process just as it has on the output of the process.

Finally， in architecture design field， data-driven design can help forms a project plan.

Defects of Big Data usage in architecture design field.

The Big Data can be a potent tool which can bring convenience to architecture design field， but it many has some defects that might affect architecture design. However， it is only an inevitable part of the development process of Big Data in the field of architecture. The fundamental purpose is to make Big Data better and better. There are some scholar and researcher who think Big Data has some defects in architectural area. Jianye Li as a professor who work in the China Academy of Building Research（CABR） show three defects of Big Data usage in architectural area： “the repetition of experimental data”“waste of experimental data” “the waste of architectural structure design and construction data”（Jianye Li 100）. However， I believe “defects” about Big Data in architecture field only means evolution and perfection.

First of all， architectural design and Big Data belong to the practice-oriented disciplines， only repeated practice and experiment could help designers gets the most valuable results. Secondly， there are so many companies， and organizations see Big Data as their main development direction， then with that help， Big Data can be more and more fruitful and influential in the future. Finally， In the design phase， the study of factors other than the building itself can greatly reduce the errors in the construction phase.

Conclusion

In summary， Big Data is like a paddle that drives the development of architecture forward. It saves architecture designer lots of time in data collection； It allows an architect to create a customized living plan for end users who can enjoy not only the inside of the property but also the surrounding environment. Data is quite useful in measuring the performance of the building and its structures.I encourage all of you to embrace the increasing use of Big Data in all different fields and to help make it bigger， better and safer.

作者簡介：孫靖茹（1992.2-）女，汉族，籍贯：山东德州，齐鲁工业大学，15级在读研究生，硕士学位，研究方向：陶瓷美术。