We expound on the nature of collapse of one class of tall buildings (steel moment frame buildings) under earthquake excitation. Using a parametric analysis of a couple of index buildings subjected to idealized ground motion histories, we establish the ground motion features that cause collapse in these structures. Systematically mapping damage localization patterns, we track the evolution of th...

This paper proposes a method for buildings change detection. Vertical edges of buildings are extracted in pairs of aerial images respectively, taking advantage of the character that vertical edges intersect at their vanishing point without fail. The ground coordinates of the vertices on each vertical edge are calculated according to projection difference and the principle of frontage intersecti...

3D building data is needed in many application areas. Besides the geometric description an increasing number of applications also demand thematic information about acquired buildings. We present a concept for the automatic extraction of buildings from aerial images. In contrast to other approaches generic building structures both are geometrically reconstructed and semantically classified. A co...

Rapid texture mapping of buildings and other man-made objects is a key aspect for reconstruction of 3D city landscapes. An effective approach by the way of coarse-to-fine 3D city model generation based on digital photogrammetric theory is proposed. Three image sequences, two oblique photography to buildings’ walls and one vertical photography to building’s roof, acquired by digital video camera...

The fundamental periods of buildings are essential to calculate the design base shear and lateral forces. Most seismic codes specify empirical formulae to estimate the fundamental vibration period of buildings. These empirical formulae are used for both lowand mediumrise buildings. These formulae depend on the building materials (steel, reinforced concrete etc), building types (frame, shear wal...

The buildings are usually divided into two categories in light of whether obstacles exist: the large space with no obstacles (C-type buildings) and the complex buildings with lots of obstacles (L-type buildings). In this paper, considering the aisle region attraction factor, we proposed a revised model which is suitable to simulate the evacuation process in the L-type buildings (such as classro...

Despite some recent conceptual studies and a modicum of empirical evidence, urban models do not currently take into account the energy efficiency of buildings. This paper presents a framework for incorporating energy efficiency and energy use of buildings into urban models based on microeconomic theory and pricing mechanisms in real estate markets. Using the example of the IRPUD urban land use,...

Termites and the structures they build have been used as exemplars of biomimetic designs for climate control in buildings, like Zimbabwe’s Eastgate Centre, and various other “termite-inspired” buildings. Remarkably, these designs are based upon an erroneous conception of how termite mounds actually work. In this article, we review recent progress in the structure and function of termite mounds,...

This paper will examine the relationship between artistic intentions and structural constraints of materiality and form related to the work of Donald Judd’s ten concrete buildings at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. Although the project was designed to be an ambitious structural thin shell concrete buildings, only minimal documentation of the project was produced, and only portions of th...

InSAR data are used to recognise large industrial building complexes. Such buildings often show salient regular patterns of strong scatterers on their roofs. A previous segmentation which uses the intensity, height and coherence information extracts building cues. Strong scatterers are filtered by a spot detector and localised by a cluster formation. Strong scatterers are grouped in rows by a p...