AA EmTech Studio 2: Systems of Organization
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
In order to address the restructuring of this neighborhood and its resulting urban fabric, we developed a set of systems that have sets of independent data as well as overlapping/shared data. These data are used to create semi-autonomus systems that, when overlaid, result in a coherent urban tissue. We have used two separate but related styles of achieving this tissue. The first, and more elementary style, is diagramed to the right. This method was executed in three overlaying layers. We analyzed the current transportation layout, network & infrastructure, and growth & density plans. These three layers were superimposed and placed on site. Any discrepancies that arose were worked out in small and specific codes. This method proved useful in getting ideas into our heads, but exposed a lack of intelligence and specificity. The layers were operating independently of each other, and of the site. Most of our work went into resolving conflicts rather than adding intelligence or designing.
Transportation
Network/ Infrastructure
Growth & Density
wind sculpted city
Test Site
The second method we developed proved to be not only more successful but easily expandable as well. This method uses a series of related toggle switches loosely grouped into categories (derived from the layers of the previous method). These switches form what we call a ‘Logic Diagram’. They can be flipped on and off in any manor to create inter-related systems that, when applied to a test site, produce a nearly infinite variety of urban tissues. The Logic diagram we are presenting at this point (pictured left) is broken into three categories. This portfolio will cover
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
each of the three in detail and then show a few of the urban results that were created from the outlined processes. While we have a lot of the pieces within the logic diagram working in a coded behavior, the full functionality of the logic diagram method has not yet been achieved. Most of the toggles have been developed but they do not affect each other, as we have indicated we would like them to, in our later studies. Please keep in mind, as your read this portfolio, that this a method of urban design and not the urban design itself. Thank you
Removal
The given test site is composed of primarily industrial spaces from the past few decades. The area has historically been an impoverished neighborhood but as of late, it seems to be a up and coming district. With a healthy amount of gentrification and a growing number of young professional inhabitants, the area is ripe for change and a new way of organization. There is a working canal that cuts the site in half from east to west. The canal used to be a direct route from Rony Ghadban Cesar Martinez the river Thames to this neighborhood, but that Mavra Lazari industry Andy VanMater Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
purpose has ceased and the canal is primarily used as a recreational pathway. Most of the site is composed of a mix between what used to be industrial spaces and housing, with few exceptions to note. There are two landmarks we chose to remove: the gas works just to the south of the canal and the bus depot to the north. The most influential part of the site is on the northwest edge; it is occupied by the Broadway market,
which bring business to the entire area. The small street with a high concentration of thin low rise buildings is built very much in accordance with a lot of central London’s outlying areas. Other than the perimeter of the site and a few of the newest housing projects we have chosen to remove nearly all of the built space which we plan to re-distribute in our new plans.
Section 1:
SPAWN pOINTS
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Case Studies Key Design Features: • • • •
Stepped Podium Central Court Yard Integration of Garden areas Circulation Distribution
The images above embody the philosophy of Projective Cities: a new programme of study at the Architectural Association. The programme recognizes the City as a new contemporary field, area of study, design and research agenda, and pursues through architectural experimentation and speculation the meaningful production of new Ideas for the City.
Architect: BIG Bjarke Ingels Group Project: World Village of Women Sports.
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
The WVWS will be a multifunctional neighborhood comprising a range of physical activities, sports, fitness and wellness. This case study was chosen because of its open geometry, sloping roofscapes, central courtyard, and effective pedestrian circulation.
The dwelling terraces are lined with front yard gardens that host native plants varying in color and texture, while backyard gardens emphasize the ends of the terraces.
Standard Architects Competition entry for re:vision Dallas, a net zero energy sustainable city block.
30ft = 9 meters to mill rotor
t
e fe 00
Tallest obstacle
5
Tallest Obstacle Windmill
H
Plan View - Windmill Clearance Location
Design by: Others Sustainable Architecture
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
153 meters = 500 feet ideal distance between windmill and talletst obstacle
Diagram showing the ideal location for wind turbines in order to generate energy (rule of thumb)
Definitions: Urban Canopy Layer: The very lowest part of the urban atmosphere is the urban canopy layer which extends from ground level to the height of buildings, trees and other objects. Its climate is dominated by micro scale processes due to the complex array of surfaces (their orientation, albedo, emissivity, thermal properties, wetness, etc.) Surface Layer: It is only within this layer that a) the vertical profile of wind speed follows a systematic logarithmic curve and b) the vertical exchange of energy between the urban surface and the atmosphere is homogeneous, allowing turbulent fluxes of heat (and pollutants) to be measured at any point above the surface.
Roughness Layer: This is the surface layer’s lower boundary and it is typically found at a height of at least twice the average building height. Below this level is a highly variable roughness sub layer, in which air flow consists of interacting wakes and plumes introduced by individual roughness elements. This zone is also known as a layer of transition between the homogeneous surface layer above, and the highly variegated urban surface itself - which is typically comprised of buildings of different heights, vegetation and open spaces of various dimensions. Urban Heat Island: An urban heat island is an urban area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas.
Schematic section of the urban atmosphere, showing the development of the urban boundary layer (UBL) relative to the urban canopy layer (UCL), which reaches the average building height (top), and the distinction between the homogenous surface layer above the city and the heterogeneous urban canopy (bottom). The mixed layer and roughness sub layer are transition zones above and below the surface layer, respectively.
New Roughness Layer X Introducing New Canopy Layer 2h Existing Canopy Layer h Existing Ground Level PROPOSED BOUNDARY OF INTERVANTION Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Air Circulation Exercises Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Software: ANSYS
Underpressure Zone
Overpressure Zone
Underpressure
Overpressure
s
e gre
on
cti
ire
D nd Wi
es gre
30
30
de
de
ion
nd Wi
Aerial view of proposed site
wind direction WIND
ect Dir
Cross ventilation: Ideal geometry Configuration = 30 degrees
Testing air flow. When orienting geometry at an angle of 30 degrees from wind direction, air circulation tends to flow more efficiently than from a perpendicular orientation. Thus, minimizing sings of vortex and wind nuisance.
2h
Disturbed Area
h
20h
2h
Diagram showing the disturbed area once wind encounters a building or obstacle.
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Granted that the stepped podium geometry is ideal to efficient air flow, we compare two similar geometries. One rectangular and one oval form. While the oval form shows aggressive signs of vortex in its interior space, the rectangular shape proves to be a better fit for air circulation. However, an angled sectional cut to both geometries, greatly improves air flow that makes both shapes equally fit.
Surface Layer Wind
Environmental Factor
4h or 5h Roughness Sub-layer solar
Ra
diu
s
Urban Canopy
wind
heat
vegetation
fauna
2h
50
0m
h
Geometric Responses
3
shape
1 1
Test area with proposed demolition
2
Standard wind
location
Programatic Responses
Standard Air Flow Behavior
interface with environment
around a building
3
Urban Canopy showing boundry layer dimensions
4
Model for CFD of site
Each part of the Logic Diagram has a series of decision trees. Depending on the users intentions for the project, the trees will change. Our intention for this project is to increase the interface between an areas occupants and the local environment. Due to this intention the Spawn points are going to be heavily influenced by an environmental factor. Keeping this intention in mind the resulting decision tree is (partially) shown top right. Each of the levels of the tree can use one or more of the listed items to create an equal number of smaller trees stemming from them. Rony Ghadban Cesar Martinez By choosing the wind we have determined a small Mavra Lazari Andy VanMater
orientation
2
Ground Level - Wind Flow
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
water
Constant Vortex
nd Wi
15m.
4
number of factors that we can use to create rules for the systems we are designing. From CFD tests we have determined that the orientation is the most important geometric response to the wind. We have also tested a variety generic and designed shapes which we will place on all of the spawn points as large scale buildings that will be the primary presence of the neighborhood. All of the CFD tests are attempting to alter the current roughness layer of the area by dramatically changing the scale of the neighborhood. The project outlined in this portfolio uses the wind as the sole environmental factor with which we will shape this proposal.
Poor air flow
15m.
Optimum Oudoor air flow
Indoor Micro Climate
use of factor
Location method
to eachother
to transportation
Number of people
of programs
The location of the spawn points is done in multiple stages and can take on a variety of methods. There is a portion of the spawn point placement that has to do with the transportation network. Both bus and train routes are considered in the placement of potential spawn points. The bus routes are outlined in red above with a high level of transparency. As the routes overlap the red becomes more vibrant. This diagram shows how redundant the bus routes are. A simple relaxation algorithm has been applied to more evenly distribute the bus routes along potential streets within the network. The train routes have a few more options. There are two over arching theories in large scale transportation networks. The first Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
area
is that of clustering. Provide small pockets of extreme connectivity and fast, reliable links in between them. The second is a networking theory. Evenly distributed stations throughout the entire network. The image series to the right shows both stances. The top left image shows the existing network. The top right, and bottom left images show a network distribution with station additions (shown with concentric circles). Notice in the bottom left image a station has been added to our test site. This Spawn point is an option that can be used at the designers discretion. The final image in the series show the clustered method. This method, or simply leaving the current network unchanged, is the counter-argument to placing a station on our site.
100m
We first begin by determining the eligible placement of nodes. The transportation node is a simple toggle on, or off, and is therefore not represented here.
By removing all of the sharp edges and offsetting the curve inward, kinks reappear. These kinks will always be at points of change in the sites boundary condition and therefore become eligible spawn point locations.
Starting at the top, each kink gets a spawn point and 100m radius in which no other spawn point can be present. The 100 meters represents a safe distance between nodes to prevent intersections in the upper terraces.
Moving clockwise we eliminate other potential spawn points.
Once the perimeter had been filled the optional train station has been added.
The process of filling the center starts by connecting nodes from furthest left to furthest right. A point at the midpoint of that is line is checked with the same criteria as before.
Then we check from the highest to the lowest. In the circumstance which results in a failure, like this one, we check the next lowest node.
and the next.
and the next.
Once all of the eligible options have been exhausted, the spawn points have been placed.
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Density surrounding sur su rro
added
cations
Data Mapping color
intensity
method
Conversion area
Program P rogram surrounding
Once the location of the nodes has been determined the program and concentration of programs has to be delegated. The density of east London has been cataloged at 12 people per 100 sq. meters and that number is used as a baseline for our manipulations. The program of the site was ambiguous and relatively homogeneous in its original state. That pattern can easily be changed with this system, but in all reality there is no problem with either of those qualities. We have chosen to keep a lot of the spaces industrial qualities but we have added a large dose of the cyan color in order to create a higher concentration of residential space in the area. In both of the color maps above, the spawn points sample the color they rest on. In the case of density its merely a matter of the K value in CMYK (blue is meaningless). The Program map on the other hand samples the CMYK values of the color and each part of the CMYK makeup represents a program. While this is limiting to four generic values and therefore generic programs, the exercise remains versatile and useful. Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
added d
cations i
Data Mapping color
intensity
method
Conversion area
use
The panel on the left shows the extracted values from the color maps via this script. The points go into the image samplers and gather the CMYK values from the color then the scripts determines the percentage of program each node will receive. That number is split into its various CMYK values and returned. On this page you’ll also see the decision trees for the program and density. Notice the only difference in the trees is the word at the top.
use
There were several methods in altering the stepped podium design. Applying an angled sectional cut resulting in efficient air flow. Changing the height and depth of each of the terraces allowed for a greater umbrella effect over the city below. Increasing the “roughness� of the terraces as they increased in height caused the micro climate of each terrace to be relatively equal even though their surrounding environment could be wildly different. Each level requires a high amount of permeability. The street continues up the inside of each of these spaces and possibly in a continuously spiraling ramp. Once the end of the path is reached each of these node buildings would be visually linked through framed views oriented to connected nodes. In some of our schemes the nodes are connected directly with sky bridges. These pathways would become the streets and by enclosing retail and whatever other program was deemed appropriate by its inhabitants, the bridges are a direct extension of the node and its spaces causing a seamless transition from each building to the next. The central space is mean to be a park area complete with whatever vegetation its users decide. The sliced portions of the building would also be covered in vegetation.
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Proposed Design
Section 2:
Network
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Type Nodes and Lines
Grid
Radial
Application pattern
origins
heirarchies Types of Urban Development
Connection
New York City USA to existing streets
from existing
elevated
Amsterdam NL Athens GR
Each of the urban networks have a unique formation strategy, which can be observed in the urban results section. The grid formation is achieved through marking all of the perimeter streets and finding their minimum bounding box. The orientation of the box is used to determine the highest and lowest, and most left and right points. Those points are used as the main streets that will be continuous throughout. Once those streets are drawn all of the other streets are connected to each of the main streets. This method allows for a rigid grid system to be applicable to any site conditions. It also creates a variety of block sizes which can prove useful when considering programmatic spatial requirements. Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Grid Type
Radial Type
Nodes and Lines
The three cities shown are considered archetypes for their respective road network types. We have not designed hybrid systems at this point but according to the logic diagram there is no reason that the archetypes could not be combined. On the contrary, the combination would likely produce more appropriate results than the implementation of any single system.
We begin my indicating all of According to the script, each the perimeter streets that have node gets a weight and a been severed by our removal. corresponding radius. This small Grasshopper definition performs three tasks. The first is to assign each point with random values of people, vehicles, bus stops, and train stops within specified radii. These random values are used as construction tools for the system, not as values for our design. The real numbers would be gathered from the intended place of intervention. This is not to say, however, that the random numbers couldn’t be
The street points are paired and the intersection of their radii are tested for potential spawn point placement. used if the intent is to change the way the neighborhood currently functions. According to our method, random numbers are just as good as any. The next thing this script does is place the spawn points we’ve discussed previously using the method described 0 above. Lastly the script completes the 3 road network. The sliders you see alter the outcome but the process remains.
Once the spawn points have been determined, streets with a ‘3’ rating connect directly to the node.
3
The streets with a ‘2’ follow the The nodes are then connected direction of their closest street and the ‘0’ weight streets for half of its distance then connect to their closest street. they connect perpendicular.
3
2
3
1
1 3
1 3
0 3
2
2 0
2
3
0
-L-
2. Number of Vehicles per hour
Value of 2
-L/M-
3. Bus Stops per 100M
Value of 1
-M/S-
4. Train Stations per 1km
Value of 0
-S-
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Important
3
0
1
3
0
2
2
3
0 1 2
2 Minor
2
2
2 Value of 3
3
1
0
1. Number of People per hour
2
3
0
3
0
Section 3:
the rest
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
The Rest infill
in street
designed
specified
What about the rest of the city? As far as we are concered the success or failure of urban tissue is not dependant on the field. Therefore, the rest of the city is allowed to grow naturally in the infrastructure its been given.
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Section 4: Results
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
Once the logic diagram has its various toggles activated in a user designated pattern, the resulting urban tissue can be formed. In accordance with the diagram, there is a hierarchy in which the adjacent toggle columns are related. As the toggle columns move from left to right, in sequence, they affect each other in a direct way. In a secondary and less defined way, each of the active toggles affects every other active toggle on the board. This means that somehow “Elevated Streets” would behave differently with a “Train Station” than they would without one. While this behavior is not explicitly coded and/or working autonomously at the moment, the designs that we have represented here were created with these
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
ancillary effects in mind. This particular urban result was interesting to us in a few different ways. The most notable being the way that the node buildings fit in their surroundings. While all of the nodes were created the same way and have the same method of infill around them, nearly all of them behave differently. Take the lowest left node for example. The Building occupies a corner and has eight incoming streets around it which makes it very prominent in the city-scape. The node just to the right, on the other hand, is smaller and cut off from its surroundings on two sides. This makes this particular node a perfect candidate for industrial use; with a yard and plenty of space for lorries to boot.
As you can see here, a different method of spawn point placement has resulted in fewer node buildings and as a result the tissue seems to have a much larger ratio of “normal” urban fabric than the previous example. One of the most interesting things about this urban result is that the entire network of streets and buildings seems to operate independently from its surrounding context. The thing that makes this observation so interesting is the “Connect to Street” toggle being active. All of the streets in this new grid have been formed from the perimeter streets which means that this urban result is among the highest connected that we’ve tested. Another thing that makes this example interesting is the way that the
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
node buildings exist in their blocks. Sometimes the building is large enough, or the block is small enough, that the entire block is a single building mass. On other occasions, the block can share two or more streets of their hosting block with the rest of the urban infill. In this way the node buildings gain a hierarchy independent of the method in which they were created or the designers original intent (again). Sometimes in the upper regions of the node buildings, there is an intersection with a neighboring structure. As a result a second connection is made over streets and buildings that was found independent of the users intentions.
This urban result was more of an experimental piece than we had originally intended. As we were creating the logic diagram’s toggles we noticed that our cities were almost always consisting of these very highly specified node buildings but the rest of the city was largely left alone. In an attempt to test an opposing theory we tried to superimpose a design onto the site and understand the results. The radial street formation is a very rigid system which we created apart from the site at first and simply adjusted the edges to their surrounding context. Whereas before we were using context sensitive means of organizing and placing nodes and streets, we now had a (nearly) blank slate to begin designing.
30 DEGREES
76 DEGREES
PRIMARY RADIAL PATH
PRIMARY RADIAL PATH
Instead of using the rules we derived from the site we had to make our own. We started by selecting a natural system of growth which had specific rules that we could implement: phyllotaxis. Proving more extensive than we thought, this method required several toggles and means of its own in order to create something with a similar behavior to our previous context sensitive results. As you can see in the plan, the relative size and importance of the nodes are determined by the amount of space they have to grow and how many incoming streets they have. The rest of the city fabric was also specifically designed in a direct relationship with their ‘parent’ node.
PRIMARY CONCENTRIC PATH
SECONDARY PATH
LOGARITHMIC SPIRAL PATTERN
PRIMARY PATH / LOGARITHMIC SPIRALS
SECONDADRY PATH / LOGARITHMIC SPIRALS
RADIAL PATTERN
PRIMARY RADIAL PATH
EXPANSION TYPE 1
EXPANSION TYPE 2
Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
As an exercise, the logic diagram could take on any form with any combination of toggles. The idea is that somehow the results could be tested and cataloged for any number of criteria; southern exposer, amount of shadow, efficiency of the road network, program distribution, FAR, pollutant disbursement, etc. This exercise would be significantly more empowering to a governing body trying to implement urban plans than standard practice. The scale at which most urban projects take place make them difficult candidates for any kind of iterative process. With this method, however, differences in urban morphologies could be cycled through and combined as if in a catalog. Another benefit of the system is how it could be edited in pieces. If technology or something else changes the entire system does not have to be scrapped and redesigned. A simple replacement of a toggle or two with whatever encoded logic is required, could keep the ever growing system fully operational. Rony Ghadban Mavra Lazari
Cesar Martinez Andy VanMater
Emergent Technology - Studio2 - 2011
The evaluation of these cities is the most difficult part of the experiment. At present our only evaluation is one of opinion or aesthetics. We have all had our share of opinions on the appropriate use of this project as some of them are as follows:
conditions to adapt to its surroundings. Thus, it has the potential to become independent of time and place. In turn, the toggle system provides a platform enabling designers and users to take control of their built environment.”
“The way the multi layered systems of parameters and data work in our project create a dynamic urban “morpheme” well defined with its own identity but embedded in the same time in the character of the city and able to activate the urban tissue in alternative options. The toggle process emphasizes the system flexibility and adaptability according to the ambient conditions and the users’ choices. As a next step, the final multi-system could enrich its efficiency, optimizing the degree of precision that the parameters are taken into account. As an example the growth density and the local network characteristics could affect not only the sizes of the node buildings but also their height, the local “domination details” to their neighbor buildings and finally the qualities of the human occupancy in the different instances.”
“The Logic Diagram clearly has potential in creating a large variety of urban scenarios. Some of them are more clearly seated in reality than others but in some sense, the point was achieved. We created a system for designing. All of the technical behavior aside, the schemes are relatively meaningless. While they are thought provoking they do not prove themselves worth of being considered against the status quo. The point of taking an EmTech approach to urbanism is to make progress. Progress, after all, is one of the over arching principles of the entire program. Without the proof that this city does, x, y, and z better than all of the other urban experiments in the history, the project is simply a game. It is not to say that urban creation is a formula that should steadily get better over time by adopting the current “best” strategy, but there has to be some way to quantify the data that a city requires to function and make the designs adapt to said data. This system has the flexibility to do that type of adaptation based on its small and relatively autonomous pieces. If there were a clear way to gather the data and use it within the framework that we have set up I firmly believe that it could be better than the status quo. Not that such an achievement would be too difficult...”
“Taking into consideration the duration of the course, we chose to carry on an exercise looking at 4 urban categories; transportation, infrastructure, growth/density and one environmental factor (wind). In addition, each one of these categories not only carries a series of toggles that provides versatility within the system itself, but it is also a system mostly defined through VB scripts that enable us to analyze various urban conditions and scenarios in a timely manner. The toggle system has been equipped with several Architectural characteristics and in the case of transportation, growth and density, it has been designed to analyze existing