This issue of Perkins and Will Research Journal includes four articles that focus on different research topics, such as relationships between interactive urban mapping and community health, robotic fabrication, relationships between perception and space, and impacts of climate change on energy and thermal performance of facade systems.

“Health Indicator Mapping: A Methodology for Visualizing Community Health” presents use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for visualizing urban context indicators that influence community healthcare practices. The article presents literature review, determines factors that relate to the built environment and healthcare practice, and shows how GIS can be used to visualize these factors and their effects on community health. The article presents a specific case study, a public hospital in Atlanta, and how interactive mapping has been used to determine factors that influence performance of this healthcare facility.

“Automated Robotic Fabrication for Temporary Architecture: Rethinking Plastics” discusses digital fabrication processes for temporary structures, composed of biodegradable plastics. The objective of the research was to investigate robotic fabrication methods, specifically targeting bioplastics. The article discusses material properties, fabrication techniques, structural properties, and a case study. The case study presents design and robotic fabrication methods for temporary pavilions in London.

“Crafting Architectural Experiences: Exploring Memory Places” discusses the importance of imaginative perception in architecture, and relationships between quality of space and human experiences. It is grounded in theoretical explorations, and extensive literature reviews. It also presents four specific case studies, which discuss design strategies, spatial qualities and human experiences of these buildings. It concludes with suggestions for translating ideas into creation of impressive architectural spaces.

“Climate Change and Performance of Facade Systems: Analysis of Thermal Behavior and Energy Consumption in Different Climate Types” presents thermal and energy performance of various facade systems under current and future climate conditions. The study utilized thermal and energy modeling of conventional and thermally improved facades. Thermal modeling was used to compare relative thermal performance of investigated facades, and energy modeling was used to simulate energy consumption of an office space in fifteen different climate types. Current and future climate conditions were considered. Results show the impacts of climate change on energy performance, and show that the energy usage is increased for all exterior wall types and almost in all climates.