INVERSE SIMULATION OF SUNSHINE, VISIBILITY AND REFLECTION IN ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN SPACES

Sylvain HOUPERT

CERMA laboratory, Ecole d'Architecture de Nantes,
Rue Massenet, 44300 Nantes, France
houpert@cerma.archi.fr
http://www.cerma.archi.fr

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an "inverse" reasoning to solve problems of sunlighting, visibility and solar reflection in architectural and urban spaces. We propose a numerical model which enables to mix these parameters. Inverse simulation considers the relation between a given observer or an area and environmental elements. This relation represents a volumetric constraint. The CAD tool which is developed (SVR software), helps the designers to display architectural and urban constraints and also better take into account solar and visual impact of urban projects. Our model enables to find solutions in order to satisfy these solar and visual constraints and to manipulate geometrical volumes.

Keywords : inverse simulation, CAD tools, visibility, sunlight, solar reflection.