Largest open dataset of apartment models ever got published
zenodo.org
zenodo.org
I downloaded both CSV files (geometry and simulations) and built a couple relational tables with them in a few minutes. I am confused by a few things. There are 42,207 unique values in the 'apartment_id' column. The most common one is d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e which is referenced 1451 times. At first I thought that it might actually be some kind of 'plan_id' where the same plan was used to build multiple apartments (this id is associated with 13 different 'building_id' values) but drilling down to each one reveals some very different features.
It is certainly possible that the same plan could be used with slight variations (e.g. one has a tub in the bathroom while another had a shower installed), but some of the features were very unique. For example there are 26 different KITCHEN areas associated with the id, but only 21 LIVING_DINING areas.
My tool is great for finding and fixing anomalies in data sets if they exist. This one is a bit confusing about what some elements mean and the site doesn't explain them very well.
If the same plan is being used across multiple buildings, it might be interesting to see how the amount of light entering the building differs based on if the same plan was used to build an apartment on the north side of a building vs the south side.
(granted this is entirely without looking at the data) but my guess is that they MD5 hashed whatever was in that apartment_id column and if it was empty it spat out d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e
touch null ~ md5sum null d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e null
Excellent, I certainly know I am reading HN.
But good showing nonetheless.
We will also include a plan_id field that allows to identify which floors of a building are repeated (the apartment_ids differ already though).
Just imagine being able to input a geolocation and automatically receiving insight about construction that optimizes for usable space, energy efficiency, or even the prospective homeowner's lifestyle (an AI that recommends different layout options for a family of 5, lifelong bachelor, and non-family roommates on identical quarter-acre plots)
On a slightly more disruptive angle, imagine an AI that could understand a municipality's building code and optimize the space while complying with the literal requirements. Your town has banned finished attics without two methods of egress? Here is an ideal renovation that will provide that necessary balcony while maintaining budget (and here are 4 other buildings in the town that were approved with the same design).
otherwise most genetic algorithms essentially boil down to calculating local minima and maxima of stresses and strains, and optimizes accordingly. The resulting geometry is generally fine for a manufacturing technique such as 3d printing.
Otherwise, despite the material efficiency the labor involved might explode exponentially.
I'm pretty sure I've seen urban planning software that use building codes / parametric parameters to to do this. But architecture / construction has poor history of adopting leading edge tech (constructionphysics.substack.com has great dives into history).
One thing i'm excited for is AI generating ornamentation combined with additive/subtractive manufacturing and we might finally get relatively budget revival of a bunch of more craft based aethetics. Even though we can (relatively) cheaply create detailed geometry now, it's still cost prohibitive to design said details.
They have identified an area where they can clearly add significant value and the analysis their software runs on a dwelling is robustly built and incredibly thorough. I wish them well with their expansion beyond Switzerland!
Denser housing could solve a lot of housing issues. The problem is getting denser housing built, especially in not-so-dense neighborhoods. This could be for any number of reasons - the accusatory voice in my head likes to think it's mostly due to NIMBYs ("not in my backyard!" or folks that don't want to live in higher density neighborhoods) because of their warped perception of these spaces: higher crime, higher traffic, unsafe for children, etc. Some of these views may be true, but it's not a given in every high density neighborhood. Safe, walkable, dense neighborhoods exist in many places already.
Another issue can be policy, and specifically zoning, which a lot of NIMBYs fight very hard to control. I'm no expert on zoning, but the general consensus among architects and pro-housing people is that it's holding back a lot of potential homes from being constructed. Check this out for some opinions on zoning: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/can-the-us-ho...]
In my previous city there's a popular type of "middle housing" (not high end single-family, and not small apartments) called a dingbat. They at one point in time were crucial for filling the gap in housing but have now been regulated away. Check this out for info on dingbats: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlWvcsGlHA4]
For your neighborhood in particular, zoning regulations have likely limited height to 5 floors. Maybe folks in the community lobbied for this regulation to keep density down, or maybe your towns infrastructure can't support a higher density of cars (and this brings up building code and parking requirements that we have in America) - there could be many combinations of reasons for this density limit, but you should look into it! A city's history of zoning policy can be very interesting, as they oftentimes stem from decades old regulations or segregation.
Your optimism is valid - optimism is incredibly important for solving problems like these, especially when so many solutions exist! Implementing those solutions is usually the toughest part.
I've also heard arguments for an urban model that focuses on smaller, more community-centric cities instead of huge urban centers like New York or LA. I don't have any primary sources for this, but I think the idea is to keep density low-ish, and increase the distribution of these urban nodes evenly across a region [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_village]. To me this sounds similar to the mundane suburban towns I grew up around.
Urbanity/density is likely the easiest[2] solution, but I'm sure it's not the only one. There are likely many thoughtful solutions that don't rely on density - I may look around to see if I can find any.
[1] I guess this issue applies across the entire spectrum of housing, which is why there's a housing crisis
[2] Easy is relative - obviously, this is has proven to be a very difficult problem to solve.
i get the impression dense urban environments are ripe for various types of capture not to mention the variety of competing interests that end up diluting the effectiveness of policy to address these issues.
also, i get the impression incentives for housing developers aren't aligned to addressing this problem because in the end it would mean lower margins and a smaller pipeline of future housing development projects effectively putting them out of business.
Developers will happily undercut each other to steal their competitors’ lunch.
The current model actually promotes cartel behavior; there is so little developable land that it is possible for a few people to hoard the small supply of land.
In practice this just means that instead of commuting in long distances in one direction, you do it in every direction. People just tend not to live that close to work due to different desirability characteristics for jobs vs homes. And for multiple income households this is even more difficult, because how often do all the people in a single house work or go to school in the same neighborhood?
San Francisco's housing element should fall out of compliance in early 2023, making it possible to build things without dealing with the local housing cartel.
https://twitter.com/emily_sawicki/status/1580360066300928002 Discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33186186
"We’re already, to put it lightly, 12 projects in the hole,"
https://smmirror.com/2022/10/nearly-4000-units-coming-to-san...
There are some interesting articles on the design choice, but it's a bit sad that we've gelled on this design.
The thing that sucks about the current model is that everybody seems to be making retail spaces designed for chain tenants which small businesses don’t need and can’t afford.
If it wouldn't be for political opposition most cities, undoubtedly, would upzone (permit higher density) areas near downtown and other hubs, but even in "progressive" cities progress is slow because of opposition of the people who currently live there (commonly called NIMBY's)
In a way we are different people in different rooms. The transitions could be interesting to explore. For example toilet > kitchen is not done or even illegal. A toilet in the garden on the other hand seems fun.
Maybe hybrid rooms build an interesting character. Say a bath in the middle of the living room next to the fire place. A kitchen library also seems fascinating.
Some say that it's more economical to build this way, and that it causes less problems with aligning furniture to the wall.
But that doesn't explain billionaire houses. They certainly love spending money on them, yet despite all kinds of extravaganza, the rooms are also mostly square.
So i think it's something deeper, I think it's just too suspicious that across most modern cultures rooms are square. My theory is that it's related to the fact that we have 4 sides, so it's kind of symmetrical that we prefer to live in 4-sided things too.
Round and triangular rooms are not practical for obvious reasons.
Square or close to square is thus optimal.
If you spend much time looking at high-end real estate, you’ll encounter much more than just the standard square rooms you would see in the average house, but ultimately, they’re still square(ish) because straight walls are convenient and practical.
Ultimately, not only is furniture designed for right angles, but so are all the construction materials and equipment. Doing anything else is custom and more expensive but also not usable because of the furniture limitations.
The best you can get without going into custom stuff il are those bay windows that pop out.