The Project

Esercitazione 3: Solar Radiation Analysis

Part 1: Location

The project is located in via del Porto Fluviale, very close to the river, we should consider this as whether will be consistently more humid. Another element we'll have to look at a tall building just south of our area that will shade part of it for most of the day. 

Part 2: Shadow Analysis

Vasari is mainly used to study which design option is best for our building based on it's location and orientation, design options can concern a number of choices like shading, materials and slight changes of shape. We'll now run shadow and solar analysis on two design options we considered, the first option is a 5 floors building that shades itself in many parts, while the latter is a much simpler and taller shape (10 floors high) which mainly faces south and north.

Shadow analysis of first option

Shadow analysis of second option

As we can see the central part of our area is very shaded, expecially in winter, this is why we concentrated most of the buildings in non-shaded areas. We can also notice how option A shades itself in many parts, expecially under the bridge-buildings. 

Part 3: Solar Radiation Analysis

We'll now perform a radiation analysis with the same sun settings to check whether or not the shadow can reduce solar radiation at dangerous level (considering the humidity of the area) and to determine where to shade the warmest walls. 

Solar radiation analysis of first option

We can notice how very few solar radiation hits the lower part of the west building, probably it would be a nice disign option to enlarge the hole of entrance to the building's courtyard (roadside). Luckly the shape we chose has many wind-tunnels that will probably prevent the structure from being affected by bio-natural agents.

Solar radiation analysis of second option