Axiom 2017 by TAMU AIAS: AXIOM

Texas A&M University

AXIOM

6 Integrated Sections YSAAC BUSTAMANTE + BOBBY NOLEN HANNAH GALBRAITH + CHRISTIAN STILES LANDON BROWN + AARON ROSAS BETTY ORDORICA + MAURA PEREZ JAYSON KIM + JUSTIN ZUMEL

18 Articles ROHIT KUMAR ............................................................................................. COMFORT FROM THE IMPOSING GEORGE LOPEZ ......................................................................................................................... CITY + DESIGN CHESLI LOBUE ........................................................................................... HISTORIC DIGITAL PRESERVATION JEREMY HARRIENGER .............................................................................................. HIVE MINDS THINK ALIKE LUIS MUNOZ ............................................................................................................... PURSUING PERFECTION

30 Sophomore Drawings NICK HOUSER ........................................................................................... FUTURE NOSTALGIA OF THE OOO EMILY MAJORS .................................................................................................................................... SCRATCH HANS STEFFES ................................................................................................................................ RETAIL RUN AUSTIN MADRIGALE ................................................................................................................. DIGITAL MISFIT MARIANA ECHANOVE ................................................................................................................. UNDRESSING

EDITOR’S

BRIEF

As architecture students, it could be argued that the way we represent our work is equally important — if not more important — than the work itself. It’s not just about the content of the work, it’s about how we represent and showcase our work. Within our generation, new ways of representation seem to spring up every day. One moment it’s all about hand drawing, then about the render, and now technical advancements have caused architectural drawings to push rendering out of the spotlight. Where do we as students fit into this paradigm? With only four years to perfect multitudes of continually changing softwares, it’s easy to grow frustrated with our own abilities. It’s important to remember though that while technology is always changing, good design shows through any medium. This issue of Axiom is dedicated to showcasing the best architectural representations produced by students of Texas A&M University in the past semester. Tomorrow it may be irrelevant, but today we are interested, engaged, and suspending our disbelief in order to pursue this fickle passion of architecture.

Hannah Galbraith, Co-editor

Sydney Farris, Co-editor

Luis Muñoz + Julia Peña Bubbles

section

Ysaac Bustamante Bobby Nolen

Hannah Galbraith Christian Stiles

Landon Brown Aaron Rosas

Betty Ordorica Maura Perez

Jayson Kim Justin Zumel

COLLEGE STATION

WE LISTEN WE LEAD WE DELIVER

DALLAS HOUSTON SAN FRANCISCO

AWARD WINNING FIRM

WWW.BRWARCH.COM

comfort from the

IMPOSING

Rohit Kunar // Phd. Student If I were to ask you about the one place on campus where you are the most at ease, which space comes to your mind? If we observe some of the classical movies, the role of the actors is usually obvious. The contradiction between good and evil is clear based on appearance, behavior and the manner of the actors. There are certain actors who we know play the ‘hero’ even before we watch the movie. Perhaps it is for the better that media has evolved. In the same manner architecture evokes similar sentiments. In our media, we have tales of oppressive emperors who live in high fortresses and subjugate their subjects (i,e. Game of Thrones, Braveheart). There are the feudal lords who act similarly. Of course many of us are familiar with haunted mansions inhabited by murderous ghosts. Vampires are expected to be powerful castle lords or simply influential as seen in Dracula, Twilight and Underworld. Darth Vader commands from his pristine and intimidating Death Star. Even communism, Nazism and Fascism are associated with certain built forms. The coats-of-arms of our day are to be found on billboards and in the ads of popular magazines. -Francisco d’Anconia. In Atlas Shrugged, one of the protagonists, discusses the importance of corporations to human progress. But the media or even the layperson views them in contradiction. Corporate authority, an advancement of technology and a disregard for ethics are some typical traits of the evil

A World of Architectural Knowledge at Your Finger Tips mega corporations who are the epitome of Capitalism. Their activities are usually the backdrop of late modernist structures such as hi-tech, brutalist, structuralist and this backdrop has been consistent over time. The Dallas City Hall, a late modern building by Pei was portrayed as the headquarters of Omni Consumer Products in Robocop. Even the stereotypical Bond villain has not been spared from such architecture. Schools serve the same social functions as prison and mental institutions- to define, classify, control and regulate people. -Michel Foucault So how should we react when fact becomes stranger than fiction? Privacy and information security is a major concern of the present age and the government is regarded as the villain working in ‘sinister’ buildings. There was an uproar when it was found out that the AT&T Long Lines Building in New York has been a center of the National Security Agency. This is highly ironic, as it is logical to assume such buildings are supposed to be bland in order to be unnoticeable. Considering that it is a Brutalist building, it is a Hollywood movie director’s dream come true where his antagonists operate from such structures. The related movie in this case is the Schaefer Building in Captain America 2 (2014). Another real life example is the FBI headquarters Hoover building in Washington, D.C. These cases are very reminiscent of Michel Foucault’s views on the Panopticon. Panopticon was an institutional building designed by Jeremy Bentham which became the basis of prison design. The design facilitates the monitoring of all the cells by a single guard at the center.

The design was heavily criticized for its inhumane approach to the inmates. Foucault believed that it is human laws which create criminals and that we live in a society of constant surveillance. The world is simply waiting for us to commit a crime and punish us for it. Like a police car passing by causing anxiety rather than assurance. Or the comfort of living alone rather than living with family, away from their judgmental eyes. Since Brutalist buildings have been mentioned, let us ponder on our beloved Langford. The building was designed by Harwood K. Smith and Partners and it was completed in 1977 at an estimated $8 million. Occupying an area of 115,000 square feet, the building has received awards such as the Texas Engineering Excellence Award. It was cited for its interior courtyard, skylights, bridges and cantilevered stairs and it is definitely an architecture purist utopia. The text below the second image says that an amateur architecture critic hung the sign. Complaints about the building followed soon after its occupation. Quantitatively, the problems were shortage of windows, noise, lack of privacy, reverberations and roof leaks. The acclaimed skylights were sealed soon after as they were ineffective. The $110,000 allocated to repair the building was insufficient and more was needed. Qualitatively, the building has been criticized for appearing unwelcoming and unforgiving. Concrete is not readily accepted as an exterior finish and looks cold, a folly even Le Corbusier is guilty of. Comfort, reassurance, and familiarity are not the traits one associates with such structures. At present, one may question the deficiency of windows on certain parts but that was the requirement at the time when

computers were rudimentary and their monitors were dim, which necessitated dark rooms. An opportunistic journalist could easily vilify the structure and its residents for its authoritative and austere stance. Therein lies the problem. It is the dream of an aspiring architect to one day design an iconic building. But if such designs are shunned by the client then the architect’s scope becomes very limited indeed. Yes, it requires a tremendous amount of effort to come up with an original concept, but it is also vital for such concepts to be understood rather than be misunderstood. It is human nature to fear the unknown and the same applies to architecture as well. So how to induce comfort into the theatrical? This has been discussed before but let’s take a leaf from Langford. Lighting can utterly modify the ambiance, as seen in the soft lighting in the architecture department. The bustle, the activities and the academic environment, all of which lend the human touch. This is where the relation to human scale becomes crucial. One more way is to incorporate nature into such designs. As Wilson believed, it is a human instinct to be drawn towards nature such as trees, water cascades and so on. Such monumental structures appear withdrawn and unattainable and their connection to an organic form is not apparent. If Wright had not integrated nature in his designs, perhaps his story might have been different. This idea of ‘Organic Architecture’, devised by Wright from the philosophies of his mentor Sullivan, has only gained relevance over time as we come across buildings built around trees and even biomimetic architecture. If the above are not applicable, then the design should be portrayed as an acquired taste in order to facilitate acceptability — just like relishing fish. Even the media has certain instances which appreciate such designs. Such as the words of the High Sparrow in Game of Thrones when he was appreciating the Great Sept (their religious center)“Strip away the gold and the ornaments, knock down the statues and the pillars, and this what remains: something simple… solid… and true.”

TRC Archives Sketch by author

A clip about the new Langford Architecture Building in local newspaper, The Eagle.

AT&T Long Lines Building, New York.

TRC Archives

Wikipedia Commons

IMDB

The sacred and the profane?

A panopticon.

city design “We shape cities, and cities shape us”

- Jan Ghel

George Lopez // Senior

he principles of design operate on a myriad of scales; on a spectrum ranging from the macro (large, or global scale), to the meso (medium, or individual scale), to the micro (small, or minute scale). A holistic form of design assimilates all of these scales together, all the while taking into consideration the human element. In most cases, design is introduced to us at the “meso” scale, because this is the type of design that most directly affects us as individuals. However, we have to consider the fact that there is not simply one individual but many, and these many individuals experience a multitude of environments simultaneously. This is where the importance of macro-design comes from. The greatest example of macrodesign is the city. Cities are living organisms which, at their best, serve as a critical mass of a culture. However, it’s taken for granted that cities have always been designed for people. For thousands of years, the “design” of cities has been more of a reactionary composition of experiences, often creating a haphazard organic form. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, many have tried to define what the ideal city form ought

to be. However, there was far too much attention paid to how to cater to the masses rather than designing around the individual. The individual serves as the universal starting point for any successful urban design. So knowing this, we can view the city as an assemblage of many individuals, rather than one large population. Thankfully, in the past 50 years, a great deal of knowledge has been gained on the close relationship between physical form and human behavior. Using the different scales of design, as well as the human dimension, we

Life in a thriving city has as much to do with what happens in between buildings as it does with what happens inside them.

as designers can create spaces that can be translated to the individual; designing spaces that are safe, healthy, and diverse. It is important, however to differentiate the human dimension from the human scale. The human scale is a concept that can be used as a tool to create spaces that respond to proportions of a human. And although this tool is useful when designing spaces, the composition of a city require the consolidation of multiple scales which respond to different conditions. This brings us back to the concepts of macro, meso, and micro, and how a holistic design incorporates each of them where they’re needed.

The scale of spaces throughout an urban environment deal directly with how people are intended to move in and experience their surroundings. By briefly looking at the disparity between the built environments of Venice and Dubai, we can clearly see how scaled design can be used as a tool. Venice has an average building height of approximately 4 stories, with narrow adjoining walkways dotted with various attractions. These walkways are separated by a web of canals, which serves to give the individual a wealth of sensory impressions in a visually contained space without making one claustrophobic. Furthermore, being made up of a series of islands, Venice’s districts are separated by a network of much larger canals, with this greater scale stimulating our broader horizontal field of vision. Dubai, on the other hand, is a quite young city, but lacks a real sense of walkability or cohesive urban design. The “theme” of Dubai is build it bigger, with massive high rises, large multi-lane highways, and huge open spaces. This is a city designed to be seen at high speeds from a car, and while the building themselves may be new and opulent, there is no tangible thought given to where people fit into the spaces between them. Life in a thriving city has as much to do with what happens in between buildings as it does with what happens inside them. Dubai is not alone in terms of designing around the automobile. Most major American cities have succumb to the syndrome of car culture. The automobile has certainly stood out as one of the most important inventions of the 19th century, and its effects have had an extremely profound impact on the post industrial world.

Another one of the greatest fundamentals of a successful city design is encouraging mobility and connectivity. Unfortunately, most cities in the United States attempt to create this connectivity through an extensive road and highway system. Designing around the automobile serves as a limited solution in achieving the goal of mobility, and comes with its own set of consequences. Beginning in the 20th century, automobile corporations such as GM began buying up much of the railway and public transit systems in most of the major cities in the United States. Once acquired, these corporations systematically dismantled these public transit systems, ensuring the necessity of the automobile in the everyday life of most Americans. Simultaneously, the United States government began investing billions of dollars in the most extensive highway and roadway system in the world, perpetuating the now rampant car culture throughout the country. When these major highways pass through a city, they create a formal and hostile barrier which severs the urban fabric of a given area. This hostile barrier discourages a diverse street environment, and poses a threat to the safety of pedestrians. Maintaining a feeling of safety is vital in ensuring that people interact with city spaces. As we generate more and more automobile users, politicians and city planners have consistently allocated more space and resources to roadways and parking. This has led to the deterioration of spaces for both pedestrians and cyclists in many cities throughout the world. The future of cities must, once again, be designed around the individual. The designers of tomorrow’s urban environments must be able to distinguish mobility from the automobile, and create a safer and more sustainable city for people. There are cities around the world which exhibit signs of progress, and are beginning to alter the dynamic between the city and the automobile. Barcelona is famous for its gridded city plan, which was first implemented in the late 19th century. The pragmatic layout allowed for rapid yet controlled urban growth. Today, the orthogonal street grid is choked with cars, and noise and air pollution levels are higher than they have ever been. In recent years,

PC — Paul McCoy Barcelona’s Eixample District manages to create both a lively, pedestrian-friendly and vehiclefriendly city.

the city has taken ambitious steps to eliminate the use of automobiles in entire areas of the city. This plan is being implemented in the famous Eixample neighborhood of Barcelona. The Catalan capitol is using the idea of the Superielles (superblocks), where vehicular traffic is restricted to the perimeter of a 9 block area, reserving the once busy and polluted streets for exclusively pedestrian activity. This urban overhaul in Barcelona shows how the streetscape is being treated as an extension of living space, not merely a pathway for cars. This ultimately shows a prime example of how design flows through one scale to another. The formation of these Superielles displays a city design initiative at the macro scale, which subsequently allows for spaces to be designed on the meso scale, and therein encouraging opportunity for objects and experiences to form at the micro scale. So, let’s consider that a city is designed keeping all the aforementioned issues in mind. Is the city walkable? Check. Is the city nice to look at? Check. Is the city safe? Check. Is the air breathable? Check… These factors alone may not create a successful and lively city. The city is not (to quote Field of Dreams) a “build it and they will come” kind of concept. The liveliness of a city can oftentimes be a moving target, and what works

for one city may not necessarily work in another city’s context. The one common denominator in all successful city spaces around the globe is people. There is a Scandinavian saying: “People come where people are”. There is a certain pack mentality that humans have always had, where we want to be where others are and do what others are doing. When a small group of people stop to watch a street artist perform, other groups of people flock to see what’s they’re watching. If a tourist sees someone taking a picture of something, they’ll probably stop and glance at what the other person is looking at (and perhaps take a picture of it as well). For unsuccessful city spaces, another way of looking at the Scandinavian saying is: nothing is happening because nothing is happening. A good urban designer cannot simply offer an aesthetically pleasing design, they have to offer an invitation. The more scales this invitation occurs at, the more successful a city becomes. People want to live in cities that beautiful, and live in spaces that are engaging, and have experiences that are memorable; all of this going back to executing design at the macro, meso, and micro scales. There are many ways that we can achieve this quality of design, but there is one clear objective for the city and urban designers of tomorrow: create cities for people.

HISTORIC

DIGITAL PRESERVATION

A World of Architectural Knowledge at Your Finger Tips

Chesli Lobue // Sophomore Every architecture student dreams of the day when he or she can study abroad. They finally leave the endless nights of studio work to see the world. Studying abroad is the one time where a student can break out of the classroom setting and actually experience what they have been learning about for years. Visiting different countries teaches more than one could ever learn about architecture from merely looking at color pictures or reading snippets from others who either worked on or experienced the work themselves. Of course, not everyone is able to experience this, and, if they are able to, won’t be able to see everything to the fullest extent or recall every detail post visit. The solution is simple: digital preservation. With historic digital preservation, every architectural work can be preserved and/or restored to its original splendor; this enables anyone to be anywhere with a simple download of a file or click of a mouse. While virtual historic preservation is only in its fledgling form, seeing historical preservation take the digital route is not surprising because of the rise of programs such as Revit, Rhino, 123 Design, and other CAD software. Most students are familiar with the creative power of these platforms but are not as keen to use them as tools for architectural note taking; however, documentation plays a crucial role in a project’s timeline despite the age of said project. By simply scanning each building’s components or by working from technical documents drafted for the project, a digital model could be rendered from the virtual ground up. This process has been implemented to capture and preserve popular artifacts, cultural sites, and historical structures. For example, archaeologists have implemented 3D scanning

Source: Architectkidd The Bridgestone Pavilion for Thailand’s Board of Investment Fair showcased unique technology to demonstrate the company’s commitment to flood recovery.

to preserve ongoing excavations in Crete. In 2008, UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism worked in tandem with their School of Architecture to recreate Oakland’s 7th Street which would enable viewers to walk the street and experience it in its prime during the 1940’s and 1950’s. Many popular museums (including the Smithsonian, the Louvre, and the V&A Museum of Childhood) have implemented digital documentation to give panoramic virtual tours of their exhibit halls. 3D documentation has a variety of uses, can be completed through various methods, and is compatible with various software platforms. Now, one could ask the questions: what are the benefits to 3D digital documentation? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to put time and money into preserving the building as it is in reality? The answers are relatively simple. There are many benefits to 3D digital documentation. For one, rendering and “constructing” a building in virtual reality is easier compared to construction in the real world. While different problems arise with virtual construction (i.e. the computer’s processing power, having the correct programs and texture packs, having

the correct technical references, etc.), these are often less time consuming and cumbersome compared to the processes of real world construction which deals with building permits, bidders, and the errors and speed of human fabricators. In addition to being a more efficient method to display great architecture from past to the present, these techniques could also aid in restoration and construction processes by serving as a testing ground for new techniques and aesthetic choices. This allows time and money to be more efficiently allocated and spent when it comes to a restoration effort. Lastly, these digital archives would be crucial to developing students, teachers, and working professionals. By having a record of architectural buildings and cultural artifacts in virtual environments, anyone with access to a computer would be able to visit these places and gain an understanding of cultures and techniques not common to where he or she currently resides. These virtual travels are also easier to arrange and cost less compared to organizing efforts to see structures from around the globe in person. Students in today’s classroom setting also benefit more from digital learning. Because

Timelooper is a virtual reality app that lets you explore historic cities.

the upcoming generations of children have an early exposure to technology via cell phones, tablets, or computers, it is important the teaching methods follow and mimic how the children are most accustomed to receiving information. 3D documents would definitely aid the classroom setting from small one-on-one sessions to larger lecture halls containing hundreds of students. Overall, virtual efforts towards historic digital preservation and even reconstruction of more modern projects prove valuable in terms of reduced construction and time costs, aiding projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s construction schedules, and giving a wealth of knowledge and experience to those otherwise unable to experience these opportunities. With this being said, it is wise to be cautious as the world keeps shifting towards a more digital reality. Finding a balance between digital and physical fabrication is key so we do not lose what people have already put in a great amount of time and effort to preserve. While it is necessary to adapt current processes of preservation to the more digital ways of the present day and of the future, historic digital preservation is not meant to replace all efforts of historical preservation. It is merely there

to supplement records and aid in restoration projects. Means should still be made to protect buildings from the natural elements as well as other events which pose as threats to the buildings and artifacts within them. Digital models, while useful and easy to maintain, cannot replace buildings one would be able to see and walk through. Also, these virtual models should not discourage students from seeking study abroad experiences. Yes, the cost may be an issue; however, study abroad offers many other opportunities aside from being able to experience great architecture from different time periods and countries. The unique act of immersing oneself in a different culture -essentially a different world- is missed when looking at other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s architecture and world through a screen. The virtual world can only take one so far. Efforts for historic preservation have been slowly shifting towards the digital medium in recent years. These virtual platforms do offer a variety of possibilities for the designer, architect, and/or archeologist. One not only

Source: Timelooper

can reconstruct the work as is, but also make plans for the future by either simulating different events the building would go through or by demonstrating different additions and restoration projects to help gauge cost, efficiency, and aesthetic. They also enable anyone to have access to all documented parts of the globe with the simple click of a button. There is, of course, the statement that efforts of historic digital preservation are not meant to replace efforts for historic preservation and restoration in real life; they are instead meant to aid efforts and supplement the overall goal of preservation by keeping records and exposing more people to these efforts and structures. As the current methods of preservation change and adapt to the constantly developing technological world, future prospects of historic digital preservation will hopefully bring new methods and newfound exposure towards the neverending work of historic digital preservationists.

Hive Minds Are Better Than One How Digital Thinking and AI Will Reshape Architectural Practice

Jeremy Harrienger // Senior

hat do computers know? What do they understand? And, most importantly, how can we use this knowledge base in design? Let’s start with Facebook for an easy example. Specifically, notice all those constantly refreshing ads on your side bar, or the way your news feed subtly makes suggestions of current events you might be interested in, or even how Facebook predicts your political inclination. As casual as such things might appear, they are the tip of the iceberg of a massive process of data monitoring and analysis. Weeks and even months of such services monitoring which pages you visit/like/follow, refining commonalities of the things you seem engaged with, and selecting relevant content all go into that insignificant little “trending” box. The importance of such programs is not that we now have unprecedented access to the Kardashians’ every move, but that such data-intense ad tailoring would not be possible without computers to crunch the numbers. The same is true of almost every industry involving some form of computation. The same is especially true of design. The future of practice has already intertwined itself inseparably with computer programs such as Revit or Rhino for design and rendering, but as we have seen in the past decade, this is just the beginning for digitally-enhanced architecture. In the coming era, we may see everything including the design process, physical fabrication, and user interaction with built objects change as digital intelligence opens up new modes of practice. The area that has already undergone the most change is the drafting and rendering process. From design development to construction documents, the

Source: Block Research Group

HiLo - a research & innovation unit for NEST, Dübendorf, Switzerland by Dave Pigram.

entire procedure now takes place on the computer. However, even as sophisticated as the approach already is, there are further depths to be plumbed. The limitation of all such programs you may be familiar with (think Maya, Rhino, SolidWorks, etc.) are their need to be purely user-driven. However, programs like Grasshopper and Dynamo are beginning to breach this human-only design divide. These more fluid modelling processes allow for the computer to streamline the architect’s modelling procedure, or even generate entirely new geometries based on input parameters. These augmented approaches combine many aspects from the entire design process, like structural or environmental analysis, and bring them together simultaneously. The feedback loops of increased understanding created, then give the designer a far superior knowledge base than could have been achieved alone. In turn, this opens up entirely new construction modes for practice

that would be impossible to calculate, let alone build, without the help of machine learning and data crunching. Block Research Group has been conducting experiments with highly complex catenary shell geometry. Their projects encompass experiments with new materiality, form-finding, and structural potential of shells – all of which would be impossible (or at least pointlessly difficult) without digital intelligence. Groups like ZHACODE (Zaha Hadid Architects Computation and Design Group) are also expanding the realm of digitally-driven design. Their research focuses on the manipulation of physical forces to create new geometry that is both biologically sensible and structurally optimal. Work on their 3D-printed chair prototype clearly show the way geometry is optimized to deliver an aesthetically unique as well as functionally ideal final product. While these programs are pushing the bounds of design, they are still primarily user-operated – this is not as far as machines can take us. As computers have been gradually

Source: THEVERYMANY

The “Situation Room” by Storefront Art + Architecture.

integrated into the design process, so have they been incorporated into the fabrication environment as well. Mark Fornes’ studio THEVERYMAN has inhabited the new “space created between design research and fullscale realization”. The studio’s projects focus around the computation and production of wildly organic, completely self-supporting installation structures. Driven by protocols to play with ideas such as structure, enclosure, or porosity, the installations are created by milling thousands of uniquely shaped plates that simply attach and rely on each previous plate for support. To create stable structures in this way requires each piece to play a specific role in relation to its neighbors. All this can be calculated using recursive analysis code, and optimized to create an unprecedented marriage between form and functionality. Further advances in on-site construction methods have been achieved by firms like Studio Robert Stuart-Smith using robots to replace human labor. The team seeks not only to offset the demand for human workers, but also to synthesize entirely new construction techniques based around robotic capabilities. A project with the AA school design and research lab used flying drones to weave tensile

Source: Achim Menges

A temporary research pavilion by the Institute for Computational Design and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design, 2010.

web structure out of nylon thread strands. The drones are equipped with general instructions for construction but given flexibility by a set of decisionmaking protocols that allow them to adapt their production methods in real time. This allows for the drones to adapt the same structural logic (tensile framework) to any site or to update the

“From smart phones to smart homes, computer-augmented existence is no longer only the subject of science fiction...”

design to take into account unforeseen forces like wind or terrain type that might have been overlooked in design. Beyond the manipulation of materials, this new frontier even begins to question the fundamental hierarchy or materials used – opening new avenues of use. The work of Achim Menges at the Institute for Computational Design

embraces this with projects like the 2010 Research Pavilion. This sinuous lamella structure explores the characteristic of elastic deformation and uses this bending to establish structural stability as well as aesthetic characteristic. The wood joints are mechanically deformed in construction, each locking into the next, to produce a stable network. The residual stresses that are accrued during construction ultimately become the chief source of steadiness, warping the fabrication process from a mere execution of design to an act of design in and of itself. All these bases of current technology begin to estrange from the familiar when we project what will become of them in the future. Minimaforms, Theodore Spyropolos’ wildly imaginative futurist design firm, often speculates on this future. Spyropolos theorizes that the increase in “smart” technology will produce a built environment that adapts to and with its users, creating a purely democratic and flexible space for society. The firm’s Brunel Gateway project examines such a changeable object and its ramifications for user experience. The structure is an operable “seeing machine,” with concave and convex cells which magnify

or diminish views and relation to the site’s context based on human interaction and use of the space. This human-machine interface also appears in their Petting Zoo installation. A series of invertebrate artificial intelligence creatures interact with human visitors, learning and adapting based on learned human characteristics. Resulting traits of the machines are unpredicted and beyond what could have been programmed or intended by designers. Such projects open a whole new discussion on the future of built environments and the role computer intelligence will play. While projects like the Petting Zoo, which encourage the notion of human-machine interaction and even machine-machine interaction, may seem far-fetched, it’s important to realize how much these practices are already woven into our lives. but an inescapable facet of our lives. Some may view the growing dependence on AI as the diminishing of humanity, or perhaps the coming of Skynet, but this does not have to be so. The integration of emergent tech into fields like design will have a monumental effect on what we can create. From more informed design processes to new modes of interaction with our surroundings, the field is opening up in a way not seen before. While these innovations are far from applicable in all scenarios, they offer an alternative way of designing. Whether machines are augmenting the process of creation or generating it on their own, the time has come to embrace the possibilities of the new media and the diversification of architectural practice.

Source: New York Times

Digital Revolution, a showcase held at the Barbican Center in London, 2014.

Source: Minimaforms

The new gateway structure for Brunel University, by Minimaforms.

“Aerial Floss” by Kai-Jui Tsao, Patchara Ruentongdee, Qiao Zhang, and Yuan Liu at the Architectural Association School of Architecture.

PROJECTING PERFECTION Student searches for balance between emotional health and peak performance Luis Muñoz // Junior

e constantly want to be seen as whole and put together. We show up in black to be neutral, when we really want to stand out. We are inherently masochists, and we are programmed to be so since the beginning of architecture school. We are on a constant quest to be the greatest, but should it be that way? There is a fine line between architecture being your life and your life being architecture. Passion in our discipline is what is needed. If I had a hundred lifetimes I would choose to study architecture in every single one of them. The love for the subject, comes with heavy baggage. A second eye is developed and a new desire for everything in your life to be perfect and designed starts to develop from the very beginning. A taste and style starts being developed, as do the standards you hold yourself to. We begin to care more of what people think about us than what we think of ourselves, and at

the same time we have this ego, that tells us we are the greatest. Though, the fear of someone being better is constantly haunting you. Does it even matter? Should one even care? There are so many designers in the world, all with different strengths and weaknesses, and striving to be better than all of them is toxic. Dealing with design is never black and white. We are constantly

“We do not have to be perfect. We have to be magicians.” oscillating between different realms, personalities, and thoughts, at some point it all gets lost. You get lost, trying to find “perfection” you lose yourself and that is okay. The point where you realize that perfection is impossible, is when you have hit rock bottom. You need to do what you love. Follow your passions. Exploit your talents. That is what will allow you to stand out amongst a crowd. My first two years of architecture

Julia Peña and Luis Muñoz present their final ARCH 305 project, “Bubbles.”

school I put a constant internal pressure on myself to be the best I could possibly be, no matter what it took. Sleepless nights added up and started taking a toll on my physical and mental health, and as the critiques would never go as I expected, I would start being harder and harder on myself, and I started losing hope wondering if I was even good enough. Until one day I realized, it does not matter, as long as you love what you are doing, you do not have to be the best, you just have to do your best. We do not have to be perfect. We have to be magicians. We put on the illusion of perfection everyday. From the way we carry ourselves, to the way we present our projects. It is all about the image, and what people see. The computer is our smoke and mirrors which we use to create this illusion. It is not a bad thing to take on the role of a magician as a designer. It is great to make people be in awe and wonder of what you do and ask how you did it. There is more to life than architecture, and it is impossible to be perfect. The only thing that you should always strive for is to be completely and unapologetically yourself in every aspect of your life.

STUNT GLIDER

A LITTLE PAPER AIRPLANE FUN BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

BRAZOS 1. Start with an 8.5 x 11 longways. Make a center crease and fold the top corners in to meet it. Next crease it where indicated in my illustration. (You know, at this point, if I have to explain my drawing then you should consider your choice of profession.)

2. Now this is tough... I’m sorry to say some of you won’t make it. Read “The Origin of the Species” by Darwin and face the tough realities. Fold along all the creases simultaneously. You’ll end up with something akin to step 3.

3. Congrats for making it. Forget those other chumps. Fold along the dashed lines.

4. Now tuck the corners of the side folds into the flaps of the top folds and fold it in half so the plane looks like step 5.

5. Fold along the dashed lines to create wings and tips. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Nick Houser Future Nostalgia of the OOO

Emily Majors Scratch

Hans Steffes Retail Run

Austin Madrigale Digital Misfit

Mariana Echanove Undressing