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Rabee M . Reffat

Assiut University, Architectural Engineering, Faculty Member

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Dr. Reffat is specialising in teaching and researching architectural design and creativity, computing in architecture, smart buildings, data mining, intelligent virtual environments, and artificial intelligence and intelligent agents in architecture. Dr. Reffat has a substantial professional experience in architectural design acquired in Australia and the Middle East.

Dr. Reffat's research work has been published at various international refereed journals and international refereed conferences held at more than 20 countries worldwide. Dr. Reffat has published 1 edited book, 3 book chapters and 59 refereed journal and conference papers. Dr. Reffat has successfully managed and completed research projects funded by Australian Research Council, University of Sydney and the CRC (Cooperative Research Centres) in Australia; and KFUPM and KACST in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Reffat joined the Architecture Department, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia since September 2004. Prior to joining KFUPM he held a tenure faculty position at the Faculty of Architecture, Design & Planning, University of Sydney, Australia.

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Papers by Rabee M . Reffat

Impacts of design configurations and movements of PV attached to building facades on increasing generated renewable energy

Solar Energy

Semantic-based Design Agents in Virtual Environments

California Polytechnic State University, 2008

Situated Tangible Gamification of Heritage for Supporting Collaborative Learning of Young Museum Visitors

Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 2020

Museums offer an ideal environment for informal cultural learning on heritage artifacts, where vi... more Museums offer an ideal environment for informal cultural learning on heritage artifacts, where visitors get engaged in learning due to an intrinsic motivation. Sharing the museum space among visitors allows for collective learning experiences and socializing with each other. Museums aim to design and deploy Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) in order to embrace the physical materialities of artifacts in the visiting experience. TUIs are believed to be more collaborative, attract more visitors, and persuade them to explore further. Cultural learning on heritage artifacts is particularly meaningful from the early age when opinions and attitudes are shaped. Museums accordingly follow a gamification approach (i.e., using game elements in a non-game context) to provide a collaborative and entertaining learning experience to young visitors. In this study, we investigate the implications of merging these two approaches in order to take advantage of the qualities of both TUIs and gamification ...

Phygital Museum Experience: A Communication Medium of Heritage Museums’ Collections in the Gulf

Museums in Arabia 2017, Date: 2017/10/11 - 2017/10/13, Location: Manama, Bahrain, Oct 1, 2017

Situatedness: A New Dimension for Learning Systems in Design

eCAADe proceedings

Impact analysis of digital-based architecture curriculum on students’ learning

CAADRIA proceedings

Workshop on P2P Computing and Autonomous Agents (P2P 2008) WI-IAT Workshops 2008

Technological and behavioral aspects of perforated building envelope in the Mediterranean region

Perforated building envelope presents a global contemporary architectural trend which is connecte... more Perforated building envelope presents a global contemporary architectural trend which is connected – in some circumstances – to the traditional perforated models, such as ‘Mashrabiyya’, ‘Takhtabush’, ‘Qmariyyah’, etc. This study focuses on perforated models that have archetypical perforated elements within buildings and have technological and behavioural functions reflecting socio-cultural values, economic situation, and environmental needs of the building’s users. An analytical comparison (technologically and behaviourally) has been conducted between the selected contemporary cases of perforated buildings and the traditional models, by considering various aspects of the building’s envelope, and taking into consideration the interaction between perforated envelopes and occupants. After discussing the global trend, an ultimate goal of this paper is to discuss the appropriateness and potentials of advanced solutions of contemporary perforated envelopes in the Mediterranean region in o...

Application of an Alternative Teaching Model in a Virtual Architectural Design Studio: Impacts and Constraints

Open House International, 2006

This paper introduces an alternative teaching model in a virtual architectural design studio, its... more This paper introduces an alternative teaching model in a virtual architectural design studio, its application, impacts and constraints. This model aims for achieving collaborative learning through facilitating students to Inhabit, Design, Construct and Evaluate (IDCE) their designs collaboratively in a multi-user real-time 3D virtual environment platform (Activeworlds). The application of this model in virtual design studio (VDS) teaching has favorably impacted students' motivation for active, creative and explorative learning, social dynamics between studio participants. It also fostered learning electronic communication, collaboration techniques and etiquette in addition to design technology. The model assisted in developing collaborative experience and shared responsibility. However, there are some drawbacks of the virtual environment platform that hindered having a responsive design environment to users' needs with especially in modeling and rate of viewing. The advantag...

Sustainable Development of Buildings and Environment

… and Environment, Assiut University, Egypt, 2004

Using data mining on building maintenance during the building life cycle

Proceedings of the 38th Australian & New Zealand Architectural Science Association (ANZASCA) Conference, 2004

ABSTRACT: The data generated within the construction industry has become increasingly overwhelmin... more ABSTRACT: The data generated within the construction industry has become increasingly overwhelming. Data mining technology presents an opportunity to increase significantly the rate at which the volumes of data generated through the maintenance process can be turned into useful information. This can be done using classification algorithms to discover patterns and correlations within a large volume of data. This paper investigates the potentials of applying data mining techniques on maintenance data of buildings to identify the ...

Phygital Heritage: an Approach for Heritage Communication

Physical heritage objects and assets are related to a vast amount of digital information of diffe... more Physical heritage objects and assets are related to a vast amount of digital information of different kinds, which are challenging to be communicated to visitors in understandable and engaging ways. Yet recent technological advances promise new opportunities to more tightly merge the digital with the physical world. This paper therefore introduces the concept of “phygital heritage”, the integration of digital technology ‘into’ physical reality, as a potential medium for more enriched and playful communication of heritage values and qualities. We propose that phygital heritage should enable the exploitation of typical advantages of both digital and physical reality, and that distinct categories of phygital can be recognized based on: 1) the level of physical affordance; and 2) in how far the technology is integrated into the physical reality. The paper also opens the discussion about the potential challenges and concerns which future explorations, scientific research and real-world a...

Communicating Built Heritage Information Using Tangible Interaction Approach

Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 2017

Built heritage objects possess multiple types of information, varying from simple, factual aspect... more Built heritage objects possess multiple types of information, varying from simple, factual aspects to more complex qualitative information and values, such as the architectural qualities, the construction techniques, or symbolic meanings of monuments. This qualitative information is relatively difficult to communicate using the conventional ways like museum labels or audio guides. Nonetheless, tangible interaction is a promising paradigm for communicating tacit information, its qualities have been demonstrated in a wide range of applications in different realms. Therefore, this study investigates how tangible interaction can enable the communication of qualitative information of built heritage to lay visitors. The main objectives of this study are communicating tacit and architectural qualities of built heritage in a physical form, investigating the effect of tangible interaction on social interaction among heritage visitors, and enhancing visitors' in-situ experience of built heritage or 1:1 replicas. Our early findings indicate the capability of tangible interaction for engaging museum visitors to accomplish additional endeavors, and facilitating their understanding of cultural values and architectural qualities of built heritage.

Effective Communication with Cultural Heritage Using Virtual Technologies

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2013

Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, pp. 55-68. INTELLIGENT AGENTS FOR CONCEPT INVENTION OF DESIGN FORMS

Abstract. Concept invention refers to the act of discovering new concepts for the first time. Con... more Abstract. Concept invention refers to the act of discovering new concepts for the first time. Concept invention may require a new interpretation that motivates new mappings of the situation prior to the discovery of a new concept. This paper is concerned with developing intelligent design agents that would be capable of inventing creative concepts of design forms, shapes and compositions while involved in the design process. A new approach of exploiting the old notion of “displacement of concepts ” with regard to concept invention in designing in the form of mobile design agents is adopted and utilised in developing the structure of intelligent mobile agent-based system. 1. Invention of Design Concepts Design concepts are composed of rich sets of categorised abstractions of the mutual relationships between observations and actions. This research adopts the view that the process of designing is situated (Reffat and Gero

1 A Framework of Semantic-based Agents to Support Designing in Virtual Environments

In order for a virtual environment to be effective as a designing platform for digital architectu... more In order for a virtual environment to be effective as a designing platform for digital architecture, it is not enough to focus on the precision of the renderings and the accuracy of simulated behaviours. The environment should provide appropriate design support to its users. Design objects are rarely isolated; they are always in the company of other objects. Design spaces are constructed from the relationships between these objects. This paper presents a framework of developing virtual environments in which design semantics (high level relationships between objects) are incorporated into intelligent agents. These agents monitor designers ’ actions and provide design guidance and assistance. The agents interact with objects in the environment and with designers. This paper describes the features of the proposed framework, design semantics and activities that agents are expected to support.

2000b) Towards active support systems for architectural designing

This paper proposes the application of a situated learning approach in designing integrated with ... more This paper proposes the application of a situated learning approach in designing integrated with a conventional CAD system. The approach is implemented in SLiDe (Situated Learning in Designing) and integrated as SLiDe-CAAD, to provide interactive support in designing exemplified within the composition of architectural shapes. SLiDe-CAAD is proposed to assist in exploring the design space for various alternatives of design compositions; recognising shape semantics from a design composition; and in maintaining the integrity of shape semantics or desired design concepts of interest in the design composition. SLiDe-CAAD is introduced to provide a collaboration between the designer and the computer during the process of designing. Key Words: CAAD systems, active designing support, situatedness, learning, artificial intelligence.

Life Cycle Modelling and Design Knowledge Development in Virtual Environments

The construction industry has been adapting information technology including virtual environments... more The construction industry has been adapting information technology including virtual environments in the life cycle of buildings in terms of design, construction, operation and maintenance. The data generated using information technology within the construction industry has become increasingly overwhelming. Data mining presents an opportunity to increase significantly the rate at which the volumes of data generated through the building life cycle can be turned into useful information. This can be done by discovering patterns and correlations within a large volume of data. This Chapter presents a virtual mining environment developed to provide dynamic decision support to improve building life-cycle modelling and management.. This virtual mining environment integrates data mining with agent-based technology, database management systems, object-based CAD systems, and 3D virtual environments. A system prototype has been developed and 2 implemented to support the automated feed back of k...

Computing in Architectural Design: A Reflective Perspective From Deadly Sins and Arguable Virtues to a New Generation of CAAD

This paper introduces a reflective perspective on the role of computing in architectural design o... more This paper introduces a reflective perspective on the role of computing in architectural design over the generations of computer aided architectural designs. Paradigms of the design process and computational models of designing are discussed. The evolution of computer aided architectural design is investigated. Both deadly sins and arguable virtues of computing in architecture and their implications are reviewed. The paper introduces an approach for the new generations of computer aided architectural design (CAAD) that has the potential to provide a better CAAD future for architectural researchers, educators and professionals 1.

Educational and Research Directions in Design Computing and Virtual Architecture Abstract

This paper describes research and educational paradigms of Design Computing and Virtual Architect... more This paper describes research and educational paradigms of Design Computing and Virtual Architecture. The paper provides examples of research projects and educational programs at the Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, along with preliminary results obtained through different paradigms. These paradigms include cognitive and computational models.

Impacts of design configurations and movements of PV attached to building facades on increasing generated renewable energy

Solar Energy

Semantic-based Design Agents in Virtual Environments

California Polytechnic State University, 2008

Situated Tangible Gamification of Heritage for Supporting Collaborative Learning of Young Museum Visitors

Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 2020

Museums offer an ideal environment for informal cultural learning on heritage artifacts, where vi... more Museums offer an ideal environment for informal cultural learning on heritage artifacts, where visitors get engaged in learning due to an intrinsic motivation. Sharing the museum space among visitors allows for collective learning experiences and socializing with each other. Museums aim to design and deploy Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) in order to embrace the physical materialities of artifacts in the visiting experience. TUIs are believed to be more collaborative, attract more visitors, and persuade them to explore further. Cultural learning on heritage artifacts is particularly meaningful from the early age when opinions and attitudes are shaped. Museums accordingly follow a gamification approach (i.e., using game elements in a non-game context) to provide a collaborative and entertaining learning experience to young visitors. In this study, we investigate the implications of merging these two approaches in order to take advantage of the qualities of both TUIs and gamification ...

Phygital Museum Experience: A Communication Medium of Heritage Museums’ Collections in the Gulf

Museums in Arabia 2017, Date: 2017/10/11 - 2017/10/13, Location: Manama, Bahrain, Oct 1, 2017

Situatedness: A New Dimension for Learning Systems in Design

eCAADe proceedings

Impact analysis of digital-based architecture curriculum on students’ learning

CAADRIA proceedings

Workshop on P2P Computing and Autonomous Agents (P2P 2008) WI-IAT Workshops 2008

Technological and behavioral aspects of perforated building envelope in the Mediterranean region

Perforated building envelope presents a global contemporary architectural trend which is connecte... more Perforated building envelope presents a global contemporary architectural trend which is connected – in some circumstances – to the traditional perforated models, such as ‘Mashrabiyya’, ‘Takhtabush’, ‘Qmariyyah’, etc. This study focuses on perforated models that have archetypical perforated elements within buildings and have technological and behavioural functions reflecting socio-cultural values, economic situation, and environmental needs of the building’s users. An analytical comparison (technologically and behaviourally) has been conducted between the selected contemporary cases of perforated buildings and the traditional models, by considering various aspects of the building’s envelope, and taking into consideration the interaction between perforated envelopes and occupants. After discussing the global trend, an ultimate goal of this paper is to discuss the appropriateness and potentials of advanced solutions of contemporary perforated envelopes in the Mediterranean region in o...

Application of an Alternative Teaching Model in a Virtual Architectural Design Studio: Impacts and Constraints

Open House International, 2006

This paper introduces an alternative teaching model in a virtual architectural design studio, its... more This paper introduces an alternative teaching model in a virtual architectural design studio, its application, impacts and constraints. This model aims for achieving collaborative learning through facilitating students to Inhabit, Design, Construct and Evaluate (IDCE) their designs collaboratively in a multi-user real-time 3D virtual environment platform (Activeworlds). The application of this model in virtual design studio (VDS) teaching has favorably impacted students' motivation for active, creative and explorative learning, social dynamics between studio participants. It also fostered learning electronic communication, collaboration techniques and etiquette in addition to design technology. The model assisted in developing collaborative experience and shared responsibility. However, there are some drawbacks of the virtual environment platform that hindered having a responsive design environment to users' needs with especially in modeling and rate of viewing. The advantag...

Sustainable Development of Buildings and Environment

… and Environment, Assiut University, Egypt, 2004

Using data mining on building maintenance during the building life cycle

Proceedings of the 38th Australian & New Zealand Architectural Science Association (ANZASCA) Conference, 2004

ABSTRACT: The data generated within the construction industry has become increasingly overwhelmin... more ABSTRACT: The data generated within the construction industry has become increasingly overwhelming. Data mining technology presents an opportunity to increase significantly the rate at which the volumes of data generated through the maintenance process can be turned into useful information. This can be done using classification algorithms to discover patterns and correlations within a large volume of data. This paper investigates the potentials of applying data mining techniques on maintenance data of buildings to identify the ...

Phygital Heritage: an Approach for Heritage Communication

Physical heritage objects and assets are related to a vast amount of digital information of diffe... more Physical heritage objects and assets are related to a vast amount of digital information of different kinds, which are challenging to be communicated to visitors in understandable and engaging ways. Yet recent technological advances promise new opportunities to more tightly merge the digital with the physical world. This paper therefore introduces the concept of “phygital heritage”, the integration of digital technology ‘into’ physical reality, as a potential medium for more enriched and playful communication of heritage values and qualities. We propose that phygital heritage should enable the exploitation of typical advantages of both digital and physical reality, and that distinct categories of phygital can be recognized based on: 1) the level of physical affordance; and 2) in how far the technology is integrated into the physical reality. The paper also opens the discussion about the potential challenges and concerns which future explorations, scientific research and real-world a...

Communicating Built Heritage Information Using Tangible Interaction Approach

Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 2017

Built heritage objects possess multiple types of information, varying from simple, factual aspect... more Built heritage objects possess multiple types of information, varying from simple, factual aspects to more complex qualitative information and values, such as the architectural qualities, the construction techniques, or symbolic meanings of monuments. This qualitative information is relatively difficult to communicate using the conventional ways like museum labels or audio guides. Nonetheless, tangible interaction is a promising paradigm for communicating tacit information, its qualities have been demonstrated in a wide range of applications in different realms. Therefore, this study investigates how tangible interaction can enable the communication of qualitative information of built heritage to lay visitors. The main objectives of this study are communicating tacit and architectural qualities of built heritage in a physical form, investigating the effect of tangible interaction on social interaction among heritage visitors, and enhancing visitors' in-situ experience of built heritage or 1:1 replicas. Our early findings indicate the capability of tangible interaction for engaging museum visitors to accomplish additional endeavors, and facilitating their understanding of cultural values and architectural qualities of built heritage.

Effective Communication with Cultural Heritage Using Virtual Technologies

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2013

Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, pp. 55-68. INTELLIGENT AGENTS FOR CONCEPT INVENTION OF DESIGN FORMS

Abstract. Concept invention refers to the act of discovering new concepts for the first time. Con... more Abstract. Concept invention refers to the act of discovering new concepts for the first time. Concept invention may require a new interpretation that motivates new mappings of the situation prior to the discovery of a new concept. This paper is concerned with developing intelligent design agents that would be capable of inventing creative concepts of design forms, shapes and compositions while involved in the design process. A new approach of exploiting the old notion of “displacement of concepts ” with regard to concept invention in designing in the form of mobile design agents is adopted and utilised in developing the structure of intelligent mobile agent-based system. 1. Invention of Design Concepts Design concepts are composed of rich sets of categorised abstractions of the mutual relationships between observations and actions. This research adopts the view that the process of designing is situated (Reffat and Gero

1 A Framework of Semantic-based Agents to Support Designing in Virtual Environments

In order for a virtual environment to be effective as a designing platform for digital architectu... more In order for a virtual environment to be effective as a designing platform for digital architecture, it is not enough to focus on the precision of the renderings and the accuracy of simulated behaviours. The environment should provide appropriate design support to its users. Design objects are rarely isolated; they are always in the company of other objects. Design spaces are constructed from the relationships between these objects. This paper presents a framework of developing virtual environments in which design semantics (high level relationships between objects) are incorporated into intelligent agents. These agents monitor designers ’ actions and provide design guidance and assistance. The agents interact with objects in the environment and with designers. This paper describes the features of the proposed framework, design semantics and activities that agents are expected to support.

2000b) Towards active support systems for architectural designing

This paper proposes the application of a situated learning approach in designing integrated with ... more This paper proposes the application of a situated learning approach in designing integrated with a conventional CAD system. The approach is implemented in SLiDe (Situated Learning in Designing) and integrated as SLiDe-CAAD, to provide interactive support in designing exemplified within the composition of architectural shapes. SLiDe-CAAD is proposed to assist in exploring the design space for various alternatives of design compositions; recognising shape semantics from a design composition; and in maintaining the integrity of shape semantics or desired design concepts of interest in the design composition. SLiDe-CAAD is introduced to provide a collaboration between the designer and the computer during the process of designing. Key Words: CAAD systems, active designing support, situatedness, learning, artificial intelligence.

Life Cycle Modelling and Design Knowledge Development in Virtual Environments

The construction industry has been adapting information technology including virtual environments... more The construction industry has been adapting information technology including virtual environments in the life cycle of buildings in terms of design, construction, operation and maintenance. The data generated using information technology within the construction industry has become increasingly overwhelming. Data mining presents an opportunity to increase significantly the rate at which the volumes of data generated through the building life cycle can be turned into useful information. This can be done by discovering patterns and correlations within a large volume of data. This Chapter presents a virtual mining environment developed to provide dynamic decision support to improve building life-cycle modelling and management.. This virtual mining environment integrates data mining with agent-based technology, database management systems, object-based CAD systems, and 3D virtual environments. A system prototype has been developed and 2 implemented to support the automated feed back of k...

Computing in Architectural Design: A Reflective Perspective From Deadly Sins and Arguable Virtues to a New Generation of CAAD

This paper introduces a reflective perspective on the role of computing in architectural design o... more This paper introduces a reflective perspective on the role of computing in architectural design over the generations of computer aided architectural designs. Paradigms of the design process and computational models of designing are discussed. The evolution of computer aided architectural design is investigated. Both deadly sins and arguable virtues of computing in architecture and their implications are reviewed. The paper introduces an approach for the new generations of computer aided architectural design (CAAD) that has the potential to provide a better CAAD future for architectural researchers, educators and professionals 1.

Educational and Research Directions in Design Computing and Virtual Architecture Abstract

This paper describes research and educational paradigms of Design Computing and Virtual Architect... more This paper describes research and educational paradigms of Design Computing and Virtual Architecture. The paper provides examples of research projects and educational programs at the Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, along with preliminary results obtained through different paradigms. These paradigms include cognitive and computational models.