The prevalence of contemporary architectural designs that feature inclined-form buildings continues to rise, propelled by advances in analytical and drawing techniques, material technology, and construction methods. When viewed from the outside, buildings that make a certain angle to the ground and whose floor plans are horizontally offset could be defined as inclined-form buildings. Although these buildings present unique design opportunities, they present considerable challenges. This study presents an overview of the geometric features and parameters that define inclined buildings, which explores their architectural merits and drawbacks. A thorough analysis of the impact of inclined forms on the structural system is conducted, which encompasses positive and negative effects. Various types of structural systems are exemplified by case studies that showcase buildings with inclined forms. This study delves into the challenges that are encountered during the design and construction of these buildings and scrutinizes the solutions that are devised and implemented by designers. The applicability and sustainability of inclined buildings are considered in compliance with contemporary regulations, which offer a comprehensive evaluation. Therefore, this study aims to provide valuable insights for architects, engineers, and contractors who are involved in the design and execution of inclined buildings, which examines the diverse aspects of their structural behavior and construction processes.

This study aims to assemble and present the status of the published information available regarding pedestrian safety near crosswalks and bus stops through a comprehensive search of various databases. It focuses on the influence of crossing environment and bus stops, underlining land-use components, crosswalk quality, traffic control, placement of facilities, and other aspects of pedestrian crossing safety. It also offers a detailed discussion of various study designs and statistical modeling techniques implemented in this context over the years, followed by the suggested interventions to improve safety at such high-risk locations. The existing literature elucidates that traffic management strategies and designs have often prioritized the movement of motorized vehicles, resulting in higher risk to pedestrians. This is especially true for low- and middle-income countries. Also, previous research is mostly aligned with offering solutions with limited reference to the reported crash data. Thus, a holistic approach is needed to identify the contributing factors associated with fatal crashes, assess the safety performance at such locations, and thereby offer sustainable planning and design for pedestrian facilities.

In the last century, a modern seismic design concept has emerged, which is based on different mechanisms, such as reducing and dispersing the seismic input concerning the building or active interaction with the movement of the building. From the past to the present, a wide variety of seismic control methods have been found and applied, together with the modern understanding of seismic design. Using seismic control in buildings increases the functionality of the building and prevents extra structural requirements. This philosophy constitutes an alternative to the conventional seismic design approach, which relies on consuming earthquake energy on its own. With the changing approach, the concepts of seismic design philosophy have changed, and architectural design has been affected from many points by these concepts. Therefore, architects/designers should examine how the decision to use seismic control methods that concern building design decisions from the preliminary design phase will affect the architecture. This study, starting from the historical development of base isolation and energy damping systems, which are widely used among seismic control methods, focuses on new buildings, and new concepts emerging with the modern seismic design approach and their effects on architectural design are discussed in detail. The study’s methodology involves evaluating data from existing literature works, building codes, professionals, and practices. As a result, the architectural design of new buildings in the context of base isolation and energy-damping systems is evaluated in terms of the seismic device–building form relationship, planning and location, architectural details, aesthetics, and user comfort, and knowledge and recommendations are presented to architects/professionals.

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry invests significant resources in executing construction projects. However, contractual construction disagreements (CCDs), such as conflicts, claims, and disputes, frequently arise between contractual parties, leading to additional costs, prolongation costs, liquidated damages, or extension of time, to name a few examples. Although prior studies offer some insights, there still needs to be a more comprehensive and systematic identification of different digital technologies useful to prevent, mitigate, or resolve CCDs. This study fills this gap by exploring two primary research questions: (1) What digital technologies have been identified to manage contractual disagreements in the AEC industry? (2) How might artificial intelligence (AI) facilitate the digitalization of contractual disagreement management in the AEC industry? This study followed a rigorous systematic review protocol and used the Transparent Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) framework to identify 82 peer-reviewed articles published from 2000 to 2023. The findings demonstrated that AI, distributed ledger technologies, and building information modeling are the most dominant digital technologies in managing CCDs in the AEC industry. The study presents a conceptual framework that maps the benefits of AI and other digital solutions in facilitating conflict prevention, claim mitigation, and dispute resolution. The findings have valuable benefits for industry practitioners seeking to enhance CCD management. Moreover, the identified research avenues pave the way for future exploration and advancement of digital solutions in managing CCDs.

Despite the evidence from past earthquakes and several numerical investigations demonstrating the detrimental impact of vertical ground motions (VGMs) on the integrity of bridge structures, incorporating their effects into seismic assessment and design procedures has traditionally been given limited consideration. Current codes utilize rather simplistic approaches to account for the concurrent effects of vertical and horizontal motions in structural performance evaluations, potentially leading to unconservative estimates of structural demands. This paper reviews the main features of VGMs and their effect on the seismic response of bridges. The methods and empirical models available to estimate vertical motions for design purposes are discussed, and research gaps and related research needs are identified. Finally, the emerging role of physics-based ground-motion simulations, as well as their limitations, in supporting future research and informing the development of simplified design procedures is examined. The main areas of interest for future research are identified in the need to carry out systematic sensitivity studies to gain insight into the main earthquake parameters that influence key VGMs features, understand the influence of soil nonlinearities on VGMs amplitude and frequency content, inform the development of empirical models that cover a range of site conditions and source-to-site distances where current models are poorly constrained, generate arrays of motions to update coherency models to properly inform the analysis of distributed infrastructure, investigate the impulsive character of VGMs, and assess the approximations made in estimating VGMs with 1D site response analyses. Specific focus is laid on large-magnitude earthquakes in the near-field.