Design of Adaptive Shading Device with Rigid Origami Technique: Improving Outdoor Thermal Comfort on Pathways of University Campus

Abstract

Since urbanization emerged with consequences for the built environment, shadows have played a key role in outdoor comfort. In hot climates, shadow has become a vital element in public spaces as it significantly affects social interaction on various occasions, such as university campus areas. The current state of the art shows that the role of shadings in outdoor environments is crucial to increasing pedestrian comfort and supporting overall well-being. While trees and canopies are commonly used for shading, their applicability is sometimes limited in pedestrian pathways. For example, the Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH) campus copes with outdoor discomfort during the extremely hot summer days. Due to the changing environmental conditions, static shading devices offer effective shadows only at specific times. This creates a necessity to design shading devices that can rotate and fold to mitigate temperatures more effectively and increase outdoor thermal comfort. A parametric shading model was developed using Grasshopper and Kangaroo Physics®, and its effectiveness was analyzed using Building Performance Simulation (BPS) tools. The research integrates heuristic optimization techniques to enhance shading performance, including Galapagos (Genetic Algorithm) and Opossum (RBF-opt and CMA-ES). Results indicate that the proposed kinetic shading devices reduced the universal thermal climate index (UTCI) by approximately 20% during peak sunlight hours. These findings suggest that adaptive shading strategies efficiently improve outdoor thermal comfort in urban public spaces. © 2025 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.