STUDIO AIR
2015, SEMESTER 2 Arthur Zhang
Table of Contents
A.1 Design Futuring
Design of Robotic Fabricated High Rises (2012–13) by Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler
A.1 Design Futuring YAN ZHANG I was kind of born in to a more or less geeky family, with my father being a radar engineer and mother being a doctor. Natually, growing up i am inevitabley familiarised with computation and rendered with the view that techonlogies are constantly opeing up exciting scopes of opportunities, that is also prabably the reason i choose architecutre as my major and keep coding as a hobby.
Under Tomorrow’s Sky is a fictional future city, Liam Youn.
A.2 Design Computation
FRAMEWORKS FOR COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN OF TEXTILE MICRO-ARCHITECTURES AND MATERIAL BEHAVIOR IN FORMING COMPLEX FORCE-ACTIVE STRUCTURES
A.2 Design Computation Reserch Pavillion 2010, ICD/ITKE
A.3 Composition and Generation
ActionScript simulation of flocking and steering 2014
A.3 Composition and Generation A.4 Conclusion Minimaforms, Archigram Revisited, ‘Mega-Structures Reloaded’, Berlin, 2008
A.5 Learning Outcomes A.6 Appendix
A.1 Design Futuring
As the reading this week Design Futuring is concerned, we humans, whether indiviwdually or colletively are at ‘a critical moment in our existence’ that we are confronted with the unsustainable status quo, and that defuring trend is going to continue even if we do survive with current conditions. And that essential in solving this issue is the question that we need to ask our self, how can a future be improved, and secured by the practice of designs, how can we improve the underlying methodology of design which has been labeled problematic because of its predominantly professional and academic orientation tendency of being territorial and reductive
I think the point is valid, ae have long assumed that architecture should just be ‘for the clients’ sake ’ rather than ’for the architect himself’s sake’, bacuase it is the clients/ the mass’s needs that our design is centred around, and our minds preoccupied with. In that way we are inclined to view the world in a humancentric position which compromises sustainability and inhibits creativity. And i also believe architecture in the first place is supposed to consider a bit beyond just coming up with solutions, and the practice itself should be regard as part of the course of evolution of architecture, that should not be achieved by following conclusions and conventions made by previous generations but in a more adaptive manner that takes current conditions into account.
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Therefore while the traditional approach to create and alter built environment is to transform elements into collectively into other forms, i envision a future that is less definite and full of possibilities with the aid of new advancements of technology, and this should be encompassing all stages and aspects of architectural practice.
A.1 Design Futuring
Design of Robotic Fabricated High Rises (2012–13) by Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler
This is an experimental research project exploring high-rise buidling typology for the possiblity of vertical cities, seeking to liberate high-rise buildings from massve seria. The project revolves around the revolutionary potentials of robotic construction process with an presumption that robotics can, in conjuction with computational technologies , empancipate the high-rise building construction form the limitations of massive and serial production, as that would likely significatly accelerate the workflow and facilitate construction as well. The experiment was succesful but the project was not built mass application of the technology are yet to be seen and if it could architects will be brought ever closer to the construction process.
The thesis of the design research studio is to reposition the physical model as a critical explorative tool in conjunction with computational design, whereby robotic technology is used for its fabrication.
1. Generation of outer volume and inner voids
2. Creation of primary wall system
3. Generation of secondary wall system CONCEPTUALISATION 5
A.1 Design Futuring
Under Tomorrow’s Sky is a fictional future city, Liam Youn.
The project is completely fictional one but has its metaphorical association with the reality with Liam Young working with his team of speculative deisgn which consists of scientists, technologists, futurists, illustrators and sciencefiction authors to imagine collectively and develop an alternative world in the future, and the things that inhabit in the imagained place, the terrians, climats and even the plots going to unfold. The city then, becomes essentially a stage for possible plots of fictions, and imaginary deisgn proposals. Altough it is probably never going to be built but the multidiciplanary speculative method it uses will encouge deisgners to creativey confront with social and environmental issues that we are tackling with nowadays.
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A.2 Design Computation
As is maintained by Jacob Bronowski , ‘Design is the epitome of intelligent behaviour, it is also the single most important ability that distinguished humans from other animals’, designers utilise both rationality and creativilty as well to aid the practice. Traditionally, architecture in it self span across rational and creative apronaches as designers are trained and equiped with techniques to use and convensions to follow, however occasionally we have to fall back on imagination which is an ability arguably limited to humans. That does not mean the two are strictly separable. Because firstly, intuiton on its own rarely leads to perfection in terms of artworks and even more so when it comes to architecture. Secondly, while reality in every case will invariably confront us with various constraints that question rationality and equally creativity. To overcome the limitations, pragmatic response alone are not sufficient without creativity. With the advent of computational techonogies, creativity and rationality are ever more fused toghether, not only by simulating alternative realities and possibities and subsequently generating and eventually selecting out the optimal outcome, but also by the shift in deisnger’s thinking adpated to a new world accustomed to the notion ‘what is you see is what you get‘.
In this age, what we imagine and simulate in digital world can be easily translated to reality. Also we are now emancipated from the limited scope of applicable Eclypean geometries and enabled to operate with much more complicated forms thanks to tools like editable NUBRBS CURVES. A spillover of this development is that, as XXX puts it, ‘NEW CONTINUITY TRANSCENDS THE MERELY INSTRUMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE MAN-MACHINE RELATIONSHIP TO PRAXIS AND HAS BEGUN TO EVOLVE AS A MEDIUM THAT SUPPORTS A CONTINUOUS LOGIC OF DESIGN THINKING AND MAKING. This, once again, equipt the architcect with neceserray toolkits and also allows architect to relaim their overarching role to be involved in the comlete architectural practice, fomr inception to construction and even well into maintainance stage by simulating and monitoring the building performance as is encouraged by vetruvius
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A.2 Design Computation
FRAMEWORKS FOR COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN OF TEXTILE MICRO-ARCHITECTURES AND MATERIAL BEHAVIOR IN FORMING COMPLEX FORCE-ACTIVE STRUCTURES
Material behaviour is a discipline where rules of mechanics, pressures, material properties converge toghether and thus can be conceptulised into a simulated model and calculated using computational programmes, in other words, it can be parameterized as a set of relatinoships of topologies, forces and materiality and those entities themselves. This design starts with focusing on the the individual method of morphgenesis and then develop a series of complex structures that comprise of the minor ones, however the word comprise does not mean they are simple assemblied, but rather eventually the hybrid struture is produced through intergration of the subsystems and encompassing all the parameters input, and a and continous structure.
(a) Simulation of textile hybrid cell in springs-based modeling and simulation environment in Processing (Java) developed by the author. (b) Physical prototype of textile hybrid with bending-active GFRP rod and elastan/polyester textile. (c) Volumetric textile hybrid cell insulated with shredded PVC material.
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(a) Warp knitting. (b) Weft knitting and alterations in knit logics.
The research treats the tensile structure as an object rather a parameter determinning the outcome, thus the structure can be manuplated and explpred in the simulatiowith weft-knitting technologies, and the kniting logic is instrumentalised to constitute the overall structure. These relationships can be seen in the picture of the installation below.
Manipulation of behavior from simple tensile structure to hybrid form- and bending-active system during
Textile Hybrid installation at ggggallery in Denmark, Copenhagen.
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A.2 Design Computation Reserch Pavillion 2010, ICD/ITKE
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n 2010, the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) designed and constructed a temporary research pavilion. The innovative structure demonstrates the latest developments in materialoriented computational design, simulation, and production processes in architecture. The result is a bending-active structure made entirely of extremely thin, elastically-bent plywood strips.
A
s material construct are resultant from a structual and mechanical system with the internal and exteral forces being the main parameters., the material’s form is caused by the pressure. And once the systems can be conceptualised into the computer, the overall form can be divided into simpler and more calculatable geometry and simulated with the forces and the timer member’s properties having been input into the computer. The computing involved can actually alter and redefine the practice, beacause no calculation and modeling will be made by hand during the simulation, which otherwise has to be manually archieved.
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A.3 Composition and Generation
(historically, xx th centuries, renalssance, as we can find traces in 建筑十书 an architecture was already a comprehensive skill but more craft than practice with designs from scratch) but the historical accumulation of masterpieces and codified theories in the architectural world has created conventions to follow ever since the age when the first humans set up their first tent,
potentially handing over much of our original creativity to computers that could be explored further otherwise after all computation at this stage is most likely only able to generate an outcome with a pre-written script with the designer positively getting involved and taking the the interpretive role, it has of course no desires, emotions, purposes. (having said that it’s possible in the future)
the practice has being involving into an professional process that attach great importance to details negotiated with careful iteration so as to generate the untilmiatse desirable outcome. This could be tedious and has rendered architects very easy to be distracted by triviaries. as the ultimate outcome of a satisfactory design is often, a complicated compromise that takes everything into account
personally i am quite optimistic in that regard as that might ange as at present architectural practice is turning increasingly digital at a not rapid but steady pace, the development of approaches such as parametrisation, enables users to genreate outcomes far beyond compositions of euclidean geometries and with sound logic and understanding of the very algorithm in mind.
The advent of computational design, which may very well originates before first computer and dates back to Alan Turing’s time, does not really eliminate vital negotiations of details and iterations of that process, , it instead rather accelerates the process and (量变导致质变) when the graphic hardwares are fast enough, an single act of simulation of a possibility coulee be initiated and fninshed just in a flash. while this could also lead to problems….. It is now ever-easier to come up with increasingly complex and elaborate structures. some of us might argue that we are
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A.3 Composition and Generation
ActionScript simulation of flocking and steering
This is actually a purely simulated but very inspirational ActionScript® project i’ve come across a few weeks ago which imitates the flocking and steering behaviour of birds with the author’s Boid source code. The codes generally encompasses functions(behaviours) including Chase, Flock, Graphics(customisation of Boid instance), Seek(seek the mouse location) and Wander. It can be seen quite straightfoward from the main programme to the right, that the programmes are created in a object-oriented manner and thus divided into classes, and the classes are called individually when the main programme is implemented. Therefore any modifications occured in a specific class would not change other classes. It also demostrates the relationship of the main programme upon subclasses, reflecting one of the essential charateristics of generative programming, the dependency.
The snapshop to the left bottom corner is of the resultant flash animation, the 6 functions can be played and once the parameters are modified, the course of birds will consuequently alter. In terms of the design and the development of the project, the ‘divide and conquer’ method keeps a minimalist style of algorithm, which is a virtue worthing learning and can be applied to other types of generative design, as on the one hand, this approach accelrates the design and implemaentation, reduce the risk of crash if one class is problematic, on the other hand , its logic is also more legible.
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A.3 Composition and Generation Minimaforms, Archigram Revisited, ‘Mega-Structures Reloaded’, Berlin, 2008
Generative development of Phyllotaxis form
The project ‘living pod’ and ‘high-rise tower’, is an ephemeral installation that is made up of individual ‘organs‘ grown out of interactive and evolutionary algorithmic processes and construction of a series of physical models, and then eventually the assembly. The ultimate outcome of the deisgn gives an impression of dynamic and also animalistic organisation. The advantage of the approach is very obvious that the algorithms is quite efficient in terms of morphgenesis and genertes inspirational individual outcome respectively that takes on the character of its inhabitants, however there is a lack of interrelation between the ‘organs’ which renders the overall work illegible and to some extent compositional.
Generative development of the organs.
The finshed installation
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A.4+5 Conclusion and Learning Outcomes In this section of the course we have seen how algorithms can be utilised the medium between digitalised design intent and final architectural works in a computational or generative manner. In design suturing, we reflect upon design that it should no longer be simply compositional or reduce the definition of the practice into just transforming some existing forms into another. In design computation, we’ve experienced the virtues of application of computation in design. This method allows us to produce an relatively optimal outcome out of algorithms and logical dependencies of all the parameters input beforehand. In generative design, it is clear shown that generative design has made us unprecedendly prepared to attend to details and their dependencies and drastically shortened the time needed for iteration. However, at current stages computers lack the ability of imagination and of course intuition as it only implements commands and programs that it’s meant to. Hopefully that might change in the future if one day we can write programs or root code that develops consciousness for the computers and can in turn produce programs it self, or once we can embed artificial intelligence in our human brain ………..
The 21st-century digital and non-linear world building design process will substitute the linear practice model and allows for multidisciplinary collaboration.
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A.6 Appendix 1. Design of Robotic Fabricated High Rises, Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler, Architectural Design,16 APR 2014 2. UNDER TOMORROWS SKY, http://undertomorrowssky.liamyoung.org/2012/10/under-tomorrows-sky-concept-art-bydaniel-dociu/ ,retrieved 13th August 3. Frameworks for Computational Design of Textile Micro-Architectures and Material Behavior in Forming Complex ForceActive Structures , Ahlquist, Sean; Menges, Achim ,2013 4. 2010 Stuttgart University, ICD (A. Menges) & ITKE (J. Knippers) Stuttgart University,http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=4443, , retrieved 13th August 5. ActionScript simulation of flocking and steering , http://blog.soulwire.co.uk/laboratory/flash/as3-flocking-steeringbehaviors, retrieved 13th August 6. EvolvingPatterns, Architectural Design , 6 NOV 2009
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