para[termite]
by: alfonso_sepulveda javier_ismar_nava salvador_botello
.INDEX_
.conceptual_idea_ .site_analysis足_ .research_ .research_parameters_ .algorithm_process_ .master_plan_ .area_ .landscape_ .mound_gh_def_ .system_iteration_7_ .typological_iterations_ .diagrams_ .structural _logic_ .floor_plans_ .interior_renders_ .exterior_renders_ .conclusion_
dedicated to our tutor, M. Arch Alex Rdz.
.conceptual_idea_
Generate a mixed land use district with commercial, residential and office complexes. It’s thought to supply the needs of it’s present and future inhabitants. para[termite] seeks to achieve an urban regeneration by the application of termite-mound construction parameters, which are transmitted in the form. These architectonic parameters generate complex structure forms that contain habitable spaces, also functioning as inner circulations and ventilation systems, seeking to regenerate Centrito Valle and the city. itself.
Biomimethic architecture is inspired by nature to create new forms of structures, spaces and tipologies. We then traduce nature’s systems to an architectural language. para[termite] uses the termites alternative construction system to create architecture. These architectonic principles have inspired the construction of structurally stronger buildings.
.site_analysis_
The intervention site is located in Centrito del Valle in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, México. By making a site analysis, we observe that this part of the city has a bunch of commerce, where the night life is a must-see activity during the weekend nights at Centrito. Also, there’s a lot of restaurants, drug-stores and other kinds of business around the area. Another quality of Centrito, is that this commercial precinct works within a residential area, where there’s also appartment towers. Centrito has a green walking annex, called the Calzada San Pedro, where people go to work out on the weekend mornings and late afternoons. Unfortunately, there is a car privilege in Centrito, where the parking areas and circulations for cars are bigger than usual, giving another aspect to Centrito. para[termite] seeks to create a much more green environment, where the commercial/residential sides of Centrito get redeveloped and exploded to it’s maximum by creating these complex forms and big green areas where people can coexist in an area where the pedestrians abound, stepping them aside from the vehicle circulations.
.research_
NATURAL SYSTEM Macrotermes Michaelsini termite Attributes Termite mounds are one of the most efficient habitats in nature. They have the ability to fluctuate it’s temperature almost the same all year long thanks to its ventilation and insulation. Community organized by stygmergy, which is a method of collective intelligence. Intelligence Macrotermes Michaelsini have a collective intelligence. Their intelligence is driven by stygmergy organization. Termites can’t think or make decisions by themselves, it depends on the action of a termite, which encourages a subsequential action by another termite. Thus, allowing construction of the mound, and the feeding of the colony. Symbiotic relation Termites hold a symbiotic relationship with the Basidiomycota fungi, which helps to keep the temperature and moisture controlled in the mound, and also helps with their digestion of plants.
.research_parameters_
Approximately, in a normal mound we have an average of 1,000,000 of termites, that carry in a day, 8.2 kilograms into the mound for creation and repairing issues, also making the mound stronger. We decided to use this parameter for our project since it gives a number of mass in a day. After getting this value, we obtained the number of kilograms that a single termite could carry into the mound, giving us the small quantity of 0.0000082 kg/ day. Since we are working in a human scale, we converted this value into a human scale. The average macrotermes has a length of 0.02 m, and the average human length is of 1.70 m, by dividing these values we obtained a scale factor, which is 85, that we used to multiply it by the amount of kilograms of a termite, to convert it into a human scale, giving us the result of 0.000697 kg; since its also a very small amount, we took it to the next level and multiply it by years, so that we could obtain more mass and a much more solid quantity per person. Meaning that, our main iterator are the “years� that we are going to use in our system, by applying a bigger factor of years, we obtain more mass; if we obtain more mass, we get more structure.
.algorithm_process_
We first started by using the basidiomycota fungus into our system, to create a grid. Since it’s an L-System we used the L-System component from Grasshopper with the help of another one called Turtle to implement our fungus into our system. Later, we used the “L-System Grid Deformation” definition by Kurt Marsh to create a grid that could be deformed by our fungus by simply iterating its longitude.
After getting a fully deformed grid, we followed to the selection of lines by longitude, by these to create our circulations, for pedestrians and vehicles. After this, we defined our construction footprints, and used the lines of the deformed grid in them to create the landscape in them. Coming next, we shall present step by step our iterations and how it affected our system grid by simply changing the longitude parameter.
.master_plan_
master plan - top view - render
.landscape_ After choosing our construction footprints, we took them and mixed them with our previous grid lines, to obtain the landscape beneath our buildings. We chose the Bermuda grass, Anaqua and Anacahuite as our vegetation.
.area_
.mound_gh_def_
.grasshopper_definition
Our iterations length are YEARS. ://creation of mud-balls algorithm explanation: 1. Choose the construction site to work on. 2. Use the area and divide it by 8 (average square meters) to obtain the number of persons that can use this space. 3. This value is then multiplied by 0.000697 kg to obtain the mass per day. 4. The result is then multiplied by 365 (being the days in a year), this component is connected to our main year slider to easily obtain the numeric value of mass within the years of iteration. 5. The kilograms per year are then multiplied by the specific value of concrete to obtain a volume value, which is divided by 10 to reduce the value so we can then produce random points (mud-balls) out of this result,replicatting the behavior of the termites and their construction of mounds. :// height algorithm explanation: 1. The year iteration is multiplied by 0.035 (which is 3, being the height that we initially gave between the floor plans, divided by the 85 previously established factor). 2. The result is then multiplied by 85, to obtain the final height. 3. The previous operation result is then filtered by an evaluation component, where we defined 50 m as our constraint height.
After establishing our values, these are filtered through established definitions, the first one is our structure + circulation, which was made by the skeletal mesh definition by Daniel Piker. Our glass cells, were defined by voronois and then we defined the ones that were close to each other, establishing a 2 m radio criteria and the ones of the exterior of our structure, by leaving the center for the structure and circulations. Our framing system is defined by the GH Shelling definition by Luis Fraguada. Last, our floors were defined by a pop geometry for creation of random points in a 2D surface (our construction site footprint) to create a voronoi planar surface, then we established the 8 square meter domain so that we could obtain only the ones that were bigger than this value.
.system_iteration_7_
.typology_
.diagrams_
.structural_logic_
.floor_plans_
.interior_renders_
.exterior_renders_ .interior_renders_
.conclusion_ By applying the parameters obtained by the termites constructive system and their symbiotic relationship with the fungi Basidiomycota family, we designed a better alternative than what is currently in Centrito del Valle. Achieving a more efficient organization and optimization of traffic flow and pedestrian walkways, thus shorten walking distances and attract more movement from outside to inside the site reviving the area. We’ve generated two types of land use, commercial / residential and commercial / office. Vertical growth has promoted not only housing, but also commercial and office considering that in a near future, these will be the best alternative for therms of densification. It was possible to implement the termite construction system in the site, in a sustainable way and thus, creating complex structures and at the same time very resistant capable of sustaining large cantilevers.