Architecture Portfolio - Selected works 2011-19

SELECTED WORKS

2011 - 19

BHAVATARINI KUMARAVEL

About

Hello. My name is Bhavatarini Kumaravel. I am an Architectural Researcher from India and I currently live in Chennai. I gained my Bachelors in Architecture from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, and pretty much towards the end of it I realized research is what I am interested in and I decided to pursue it more seriously. Now with a Masters degree from the Design Research Lab at the Architectural Association, London, it’s safe to say I am officially at the start of my Research career.

I am fascinated by the doors of oppurtunities that Research opens up in Design, and how it benefits the community by offering solutions that are efficient, inclusive and sustainable.

The works that follow are my research projects that I have undertaken during my course of study.

EDUCATION Bachelor of Architecture Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai IN 2011 - 16 Master of Architecture Architectural Association Design Research Lab, London UK 2017 - 19

WORK EXPERIENCE Intern Architect Tapasya Design Studio, Auroville IN Jun - Nov 2014 Intern Architect Ramy Associates, Madurai IN Jan - Apr 2015

PUBLICATIONS ‘Fear and the Urban Realm’ STUDIO Architecture and Urbanism Magazine Issue 11 ‘Terrific’ 2016

WORKSHOPS International Symposium on ‘Urbanisation, Ecology and Community Development’ with Columbia University GSAPP at Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai IN Jan 2015 + Dec 2015 Prototyping Workshop as part of the Masters Thesis at Autodesk BUILD Space, Boston US Jul 2018 Machine Learning Workshop with Cristóbal Valenzuela at Autodesk BUILD Space, Boston US July 2018

LANGUAGES Tamil Native English CEFR Level C1

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SOFTWARE SKILLS

AUTODESK AUTOCAD AUTODESK REVIT AUTODESK MAYA AUTODESK 3DS MAX RHINOCEROS + GRASSHOPPER ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR ADOBE INDESIGN ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS ADOBE PREMIER PRO ADOBE LIGHTROOM ADOBE XD

UNITY 3D GAME ENGINE ABB ROBOTSTUDIO ARDUINO CITY ENGINE PROCESSING

C C++ C# JAVA JAVASCRIPT PYTHON

ABOUT / 5

Cont 42

58

ADAPTIVE HOMEOMORPHIC SURFACE DESIGN

THE QUESTION Critical Response Essay Jan 2018

Research Essay Jan 2018 - Mar 2018

08

BLOCK PARTY Masters Thesis Jan 2018 - Jan 2019

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46

DISCRETE ELEMENT ASSEMBLIES Research Cluster Oct 2017 - Nov 2017

72

VOX NEIGHBOU

Research Nov 2017 -

tents

72

XEL URHOODS

h Cluster Dec 2017

88

110

UNDERWATER TOURIST CENTRE

INFRASTRUCTURE ALONG RIVER VAIGAI

Bachelors Thesis Jan 2016 - May 2016

International Research Symposium Jun 2015

100

116

FEAR AND THE URBAN REALM

PUBLIC RESTROOM MODULE

Bachelors Dissertation Jun 2015 - Nov 2015

Industrial Design Project Nov 2013 - Jan 2014

CONTENTS / 7

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Block Party

TYPE Academic Research

TERM Jan 2018 - Jan 2019

COURSE Thesis Module M Arch AADRL

LOCATION Architectural Association Design Research Lab, London UK + Autodesk BUILD Space, Boston MA

TEAM Bhavatarini Kumaravel Taeyoon Kim Atahan Topcu

GUIDE Shajay Bhooshan Alicia Nahmad Vasquez

As part of the Nahmad Bhooshan Studio at AADRL, we research ways to re-establish the connection between urban planning and housing which has been lost in modern cities for decades, if not centuries. We propose a co-living system where users negotiate their boundaries through a game. The dynamic user interactions shape the house, which shape each block, and block by block reshape the entire city. Home becomes a micro-city, and city becomes a huge house.

A user can enter the game to generate and manipulate his/her own surrounding. The user gets to make his/her own decisions about what space to share, who to share with, or not to share at all. The users will get to make decisions for the composition of their own house as well as negotiate their boundary within the network, both physically and socially.

These units accumulate to form an entire block. Hence, the block is no longer a static entity, but one

which keeps evolving dynamically, growing or shrinking according to the input of the users. This process will bridge the gap between mass customisation of the block and the user, making each block unique and dynamic. Extending this framework, the house to urban block relationship is re-defined in a way that units of individuals or families come together to form a community, which will shape the block, and ultimately reshape the city. Ultimately, we try to discover a healthy balance of topdown regulation and bottom-up approach. In order to make this vision feasible, we are researching masonry construction with selfregistration characteristics. These brick units can be assembled by mobile robotic arms or by human labour. By having bricks which can corbel and drystack, the whole structure can be assembled with little to no formwork on site, thus saving time, effort, material involved in construction, and labour cost.

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DESIGNING THE GAME

We investigated in game precedents that had simple rules but lead to complex organizations on play. We studied both board games and online games, that involved both simultaneous and turn-based interactions.

Among those we explored, we identified the mobile game called Chain reaction to be the most promising because, through a set of simple local state changes it resulted in unpredictable global behaviour. The game has a regular rectangular grid. It is a turn based game where two to eight players can play at a time. At each turn, a player places a sphere in any of the cells in the grid. The sphere is colored uniquely for each player.

A player is allowed to place a sphere in an empty cell, or a cell that contains his/her spheres and not in other players' cells. Each cell has a specific amount of spheres it can hold. Beyond this threshold, it explodes its spheres to its neighboring cells. This threshold value equates to one less that the number of neighbours a cell has. This leads to a corner cell having a threshold of 1, a edge cell 2 and an inner cell 3. When a cell explodes into it's adjacent cells, it turns the spheres in the adjacent cells into the color of the exploding cell's spheres. Thus finally the player with the most spheres conquers the board and wins. The game is constantly in search of the state of equilibrium, trying to maintain all of its cells within their threshold. This leads to multiple explosions and unpredicted global behaviour. We found this to highly applicable to a housing situation, where when a house becomes overcrowded, it needs to expand to accommodate more users and how that leads to different patterns of development and global organization.

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To play the game out in a context of housing, the grid is first decided upon. It is a three dimensional grid based on a primitive shape. We have narrowed down the grid types to three - a rectangular grid, a triangular grid and a hexagonal grid. Each cell in the grid is a computational unit that can accommodate one or more spatial units. The size and configuration of the spatial units are decided based on Neufert standards. The gameplay proceeds in four steps. First, a suitable grid needs to be located in the block. Next, a cell needs to be built on it. The player who builds this cell is assigned to be the owner of this cell. Many players can collectively build and own cells too. After building the cell, a space can be created in it. Spaces can be chosen from the appropriate spatial catalogue.

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The last three steps of the gameplay incurs costs. First, when building a cell, a small portion of the cost goes towards purchasing the grid from its owner, and the larger goes towards its construction. A grid is owned by the household directly beneath it. This is due to the fact that the cell structure of the lower floors enables the grid to be available on the upper floor. The grids in the ground floor belong to the entire community of house owners in the block. The second step where the space is screated involves the cost of the space.

FInally the last step where the occupant is connected to the space, a monthly rent is incurred if the occupant doesn't own the space and shares it with someone else. Otherwise, if the occupant is the owner, no rent is incurred.

The whole objective of the game is to keep the inhabitants satisfied. This is measured with the satisfaction score. When a human gets connected to a space his satisfaction score gets updated. We have

classified spaces into two categories based on their need in a residential setup - primary and secondary.

Primary spaces include bedroom, restroom and kitchen spaces. Each of these spaces contribute 20% each to the satisfaction score and these needs must be satisfied for each member of the household. Hence each member needs to have a minimum satisfaction score of 20%. Every space other than these are secondary and they contribute 10% each to the satisfaction score if the primary needs are satusfied.

The average of the members' satisfaction scores leads to the household's satisfaction score and the average of satisfaction scores of all households leads to the block satisfaction score. Satisfaction score is a factor of the total occupied percentage of the space connected to. Each space has a unique number of people it can accommodate called its spatial capactiy. It is larger for shared spaces. When the total inhabitants exceed the spatial capacity, the satisfaction space derived out of the space becomes null.

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The game interface facilitates users to log in to the game, enter their details, connect with other players and build their homes and communities. The initial sections of the game gather information about the household, and later the home building begins. The goal of the game being building houses along with building the community, it is important to take into account the interrelationships existing among people. Rather than explicitly collecting them, it is easier to set up a Social Network login for the game. Most social networks and Web domains offer Login APIs which can be used, and user profiles and data can be accessed at their permission.

We chose Facebook because, it is the most famous social network at the moment, and it has facilities to access the user’s connections.

Also, the persons’ interests and friends’ compatibilities can be used to identify their housing and community preferences.

APP DEVELOPMENT AND AUGMENTED REALITY IMPLEMENTATION

From the Facebook profile, the user’s name, date of birth, gender and friends’ list are collected. The first section following the login collects the household details of the user. The primary member would be the user who logged in and he/she is allowed to add more members. Occupation of the users are loosely classified into three categories - Employed, Student and Stay at Home. Users are given avatars to associate themselves with and they change with their age group and gender.

Since the game dwells on the creation of shared spaces between inhabitants, by means of matching interests, we have framed the interface to ask of the users’ interests right after they finalize their household setup. However, the interests that we inquire about

cannot be arbitrary, and need to have spatial implications. Referring the book ‘Living Closer’ by Studio Weave, we came across several case studies of co-housing setups in the UK and the various shared social spaces they offered. We analysed the personal interests that lead upto the development and functioning of those social spaces. Rather than explicitly offering these social spaces, by a top-down planning, it is better if they are created by the users themselves by mutual sharing.

For that to happen, it is important that users with similar interests get together. More than just grouping them with their already existing friends and acquaintances, the game needs to have the sufficient intelligence to suggest users with the same interests and sharing preferences. Hence, we plan on deploying machine learning algorithms, to compute and locate users with similar interests. Since, this would involve trying to group users with similar interests, we use clustering algorithms like Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and t-distributed Stochastic Neighbour Embedding (t-SNE) clustering.

After collecting the details, the game interface proceeds to locate the household in the locality of their choice. By using the open source WRLD plugin for Unity3D, we could bring in the entire city of London in the game in 3D. Users could navigate through the city and choose the block they'd prefer to build their house in. The WRLD plugin used to bring London into the game also supports ARKIT. To relate it more to the physical world, we built a physical model of the site located at Jeffrey street, Camden, at 1:750 scale and super imposed the AR game onto it.

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Block level iterations are conducted on the site at Jeffrey Street, Camden. At every iteration we assume an initial set of rules, frame a set of households and play the game out. We then analyse the outcomes and fine tune the rules that we used to make the iteration.

This is how we find the right balance of the top-down rule system and bottom-up community building in the game space. The variables in the gameplay include the kind of households considered for the players, the type of grid and the imposed layout or rule. These variables are changed and compared to the outcomes. The iterations are carried out in two grid types. The first type has a rectangular grid, with cells of size 1m x 1m. This grid can accommodate computational units of 5 sizes - from 1m x 1m to 5m x 5m. The second grid type has a triangular grid on the ground floor and a hexagonal grid on the upper floors. For each of the grid types, we tried different grid layouts and rules and weighed their results against each other.

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GAME PLAY ITERATIONS

45.50 m

35.80 m

AREA - 1587.99 sqm

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ITERATION 1 START CONDITION

ITERATION 1 END CONDITION

ITERATION 2 START CONDITION

ITERATION 2 END CONDITION

ITERATION 3 START CONDITION

ITERATION 3 END CONDITION

ITERATION 4 START CONDITION

ITERATION 4 END CONDITION

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ITERATION 5 START CONDITION

ITERATION 5 END CONDITION

ITERATION 6 START CONDITION

ITERATION 6 END CONDITION

ITERATION 7 START CONDITION

ITERATION 7 END CONDITION

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The cost transactions in the game including all cell building, space building and monthly rents. All these transactions are recorded during the gameplay and exported as a csv file. The csv file is transcribed into a chord diagram, where the transactions towards the communal investment are represented in black and transactions between the families are represented in color. The width of the arcs are relative to one another and to the whole revenue during the state in time. It is clear as the block layouts are fixed in later iterations and social corners are established, the families exchange revenue within each other creating an

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economically self sustaining neighborhood.

The spaces to be placed in the social corners are based on the collective interests of the community around the corner. To guide and ease the residents through this process, t-SNE data analysis is used to collect data from the residents and visualise what programs the communal areas should house. Hence the program of these communal areas are parametric, and the residents are the flexible parameters that shift the outcome. This framework enables the communal areas to stay relevant to the group of residents that will benefit from these communal spaces.

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BLOCK LAYOUTS

We have looked at Cerda’s L’eixample extensively to analyse what makes this urban fabric flexible and so successful. By extracting a simple set of rules, we translate the process of creating these block presets into a parametric process. Existing regulations and conditions in London’s urban planning, such as the 13 vistas of Central London, have been researched and implemented in the process. After analysing Barcelona and London, a set of simple rules were extracted. First, each block’s corners are reserved for communal space, including commercial activity. Next steps include the block’s neighbour conditions. If the block is next to a public space block (parks, plazas etc.), then the block building mass has to open up towards that block(illustrated in the pseudocode diagram). Then it is checked if the block is in the way of London’s 13 vistas in the city. If it is, then the block preset volume has to be cut to make way for the vista. Then it is checked to see whether it is within zone 1 of London or not. If it is, then it becomes an extreme density, high-rise block. Outside Central London, each block is checked to see if all of the surrounding blocks are closed off (disconnected courtyard type) blocks in 1 mile radius. If they are, then the block turns into a public space, which will trigger adjacent neighbouring blocks to open up to it, and give the neighbourhood a public space. If other blocks already satisfy these conditions, then the block becomes a courtyard block typology. After applying all of these rules, the block is then assessed in inter-connectivity among its neighbours. Each block must be connected with inter-ways to at least one neighbour. If it isn’t then inter-way with the width of at least eight meters is established.

When applying these set of rules to the Camden town neighbourhood as illustrated in the renders, the blocks’ original openings, connectivity, and their environmental factors (canals, railways and such) are considered and reflected. The public buildings which will be untouched (church, schools, train stations, tube stations, community centres and such) are taken into consideration. The height of the maximum building volumes will be lowered to match the elevation of the public buildings, so that public buildings are not surrounded by giant building masses that block the view.

Finally, a 45 degree sunlight rule is applied, so that if any portion of the building volume is in the way of another volume’s sunlight trajectory, it is subtracted.

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Having studied the Caitlin-Mueller bricks from the research project by UCL and MIT, we began to investigate how we can create a brick that can be stacked using a robotic arm or a drone. The error tolerance of both methods are more than 5mm, and so we had to introduce slopes into the geometry.

This is so that even when the robotic arm places the brick slightly off the coordinate, it will slide into place and stack properly. The brick was also designed for corbelling, allowing more flexibility in assembly.

Due to the intricate geometry of brick, the mould is to be designed in a way that makes the demoulding process easy and repeatable. Likewise, the material study also played a crucial role in achieving the desired geometry as designed digitally. Through iterations an optimal mixture was found. 7 different mixtures were tested with different ratios of cement, sand, nylon fibre and water. It has been seen that all these mixtures have a direct impact on bricks strength, colour, texture and geometry. Likewise, evaluation criteria of the mixtures were based on the physical features on the resultant bricks. By including superplasticizers and nylon fibres as ingredients of the mixture, we avoided cracks being formed in the bricks during curing.

During the exploration of bricks that can be assembled by robots, another aim was to make bricks light enough for the robot to pick and place with ease.

First iterations of casting bricks resulted in excessively heavy bricks that were hard to be picked up by the robot. Therefore, lighter bricks in same shape and volume were sought in further iterations. In this regard, lightweight foam block material was added into the mould during casting process. This method resulted in an effective 20-30 percent decrease in the brick weight.

We tested some fabrication techniques to find out the optimum process of producing these components such as paper folded moulds, CNC milled moulds and rubber moulds. We discovered that paper moulds are more efficient in terms of production rate, cost and enabling flexibility in brick geometries.

BRICK A

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BRICK B

BRICK C

BRICK D

STACKED VERTICAL

CORBELLING

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We attempted to leverage the potential of industrial robotic arms to assemble our brick system. Hence our brick design and gripper studies were focussed on facilitiating easier robotic pick and place.

At the Autodesk BUILD Space, Boston, we used a ABB IRB 4600 and at the AA Digital Prototyping Lab, we used a KUKA KR30. We use pneumatic grippers to lift the bricks. At Autodesk BUILD Space, we used a grasshopper algorithm version of Ex-machina, a plugin developed by the resident researcher Jose Luis GarcĂ­a del Castillo.

Ex-machina acts as a bridge between the rhino platform and the RobotStudio software, translating the travel path into appropriate data input according to the model of the robotic arm. It also enables a feedback loop from the RobotStudio software, so that travel path can be adjusted accordingly. Here, we prepare an algorithm in Grasshopper to pick-up the brick from the brick-feed shelf and place it at a designated coordinate. To make sure the brick assembly is stable after each turn of pick and place, the order of assembly is crucial. Hence, the brick place locations are sequenced in this order and fed into the grasshopper logic. Then we feed the prepared data through Ex-machina to RobotStudio, where we simulate the whole routine and check for errors. Once the travel path is confirmed, we transfer the data to the computation component of the ABB IRB4600, and execute it in real-life.

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The order of stacking comes down to the idea of corbelling. Two bricks in the lower level, placed adjacent to one another can hold a third brick stacked diagonally on top of them. We tested out these corbelling conditions by manually stacking the bricks, then testing out with the robot in jog mode and then embedded the order in the grasshopper logic.

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ARCHITECTURAL MANIFESTATION

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After the game is played, the game units are translated into rooms and shared areas. Then they are organized into their respective sharing groups with better circulation and access, Each group node becomes a unit volume, and arches become the bay for each unit, allowing stacking and hanging of unit structures. Like this each floor is built, and the shared volume in the corner of the block becomes the communal volume of space. The communal area is programmed according to the user profile information in the game system. t-SNE machine learning algorithm clusters data and provides dimensionality. We utilize this information to determine what kind of shared programmes are demanded by the residents.

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First, at grid intervals, the structural bases are constructed as anchor weights. By drystacking the flatbricks, each arch bay is constructed according to unit volume. Then column structures using corbelling method are constructed for structural strength and enhanced load capacity. When the upper living units are hung from the arches, while the lower units are stacked on top of them, it enables structural independency of living units – allowing any of them to be removed or added without affecting the other.

This enables a flexible response to the gameplay result which can constantly shift boundaries over years.

Each living module unit is assembled to reflect the spatial programme and sharing choices of the players.

Bedrooms, bathrooms, and living rooms are installed into a bigger timber frame with detachable terraces.

These frames come together to reflect the sharing choices between the players.

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‘Technology is the answer, but what was the question?’

THE QUESTION A CRITICAL RESPONSE ESSAY TO THE ARTICLE ‘COMPUTING WITHOUT COMPUTERS’

BY JOHN FRAZER

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‘Technology is the answer – but what was the question?’

With these last spoken words to Cedric Price, John Frazer ends his article ‘Computing without Computers’ in the Architectural Design Magazine (Volume 75 Issue 2), leaving readers with the intriguing thought as to how sometimes, the question is more significant than the answer. The post-world war breakout of computer technology saw the emergence of pioneers in architecture trying to champion the use of computation in the building industry. Beginning in the 1960s, till 2004 when the article was written, Frazer gives a succinct personal account of the chronological history of computational thought entering the architectural discourse – the enthusiastic early years and what happened later. More important than the star figures themselves, is perhaps the purpose that led them into believing computational design is the solution. Augmenting the article’s content with insight from Frazer’s latest writing for Parametricism 2.0 in 2016, this essay critically responds to the question of computation’s stand in architecture and how far, it is yet in answering the main question.

TYPE Academic Research Essay

TERM Jan 2018

COURSE Research Writing Module M Arch AADRL

LOCATION Architectural Association Design Research Lab, London UK

GUIDE Theodore Spyropoulos Alexandra Vougia Klaus Platzgummer

Through simple honest writing, Frazer contextualizes two contrasting technological periods that happened within a span of forty years – from the 1960s where plotting drawings on paper seemed impossible to the early 2000s where being connected globally on a mobile laptop was a reality. Beginning with the former, he reminisces the works of Buckminster Fuller, Cedric Price, the Archigram group, Gordon Pask and of himself in exploring cybernetics in the design stream.

The mood changes as he speaks of the ‘diluters’ that emerged in the mid-1970s and diminished the fervour. Extensively examining the stagnant political, economic and social systems that contributed to it, he quite interestingly notes how technology continued to advance, leaving behind the status of its end-users. The final reason he sets out is the ‘single-dimensionality’ of the technological optimism of the early 1960s and 70s, that consisted purely of speculations that were far ahead of their time and lacked a minimum viable design addressal that would have ensured the conversation running. The mood elevates again as he speaks of the millennium era, where computers have finally become ubiquitous, and hence he believes the only focus now is to solve the real world problems at hand. However, he ends in a sceptic tone questioning the future, if history would repeat itself and the same mistakes would be made again.

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‘Are we in danger of again seeing the solution out of context of the problem?’

Now in 2018, more than a decade later, with technological innovation happening exponentially, the question still holds true. The age has saw the birth of the Neo-futuristic architectural style inspired by Dame Zaha Hadid, Santiago Calatrava and path-breaking architects of the like. Through the availability of extensive computational tools and power, and subsequent material and geometrical research, megastructures in inconceivable forms have been made possible.

The style gets the name of ‘Parametricism’ from Patrik Schumacher1 and with architects of the like of HOWEVER, THE MOTIVE OF THE Zaha Hadid exploring geometric ability2, Achim USAGE OF COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS Menges performing material studies3, AND RESPONSIVE TECHNOLOGY HAS Robert Stuart Smith extending fabrication YET REMAINED TO THE BOUNDS OF techniques4 and Theodore Spyropoulos OPTIMIZATION AND SUSTAINABILITY. researching generative design5, the discipline NOT TO UNDERWHELM THE EFFORT, has clearly escaped its one-dimensionality.

BUT THE QUESTION OF WHETHER

Frazer while he appreciates the new style of Parametricism, ALL THESE EXPLOIT THE FULLER doesn’t fully agree on algorithmic processes POTENTIAL OF COMPUTATION AS AN being the entire notion of cybernetics. He writes, ACTIVE DESIGN TOOL AND WHETHER ‘If all we have achieved is to replace drawing DESIGNS OF TODAY COME CLOSE TO with typing then we have achieved nothing!’6.

AVANT-GARDE IDEAS SUCH AS THE Although there still exists a technological gap to FUN PALACE BY CEDRIC PRICE, STILL be bridged between material intelligence and STANDS. computer intelligence as Sanford Kwinter quotes7, adaptive architecture that learns and responds, and that which was originally conceived to be the product of cybernetic influence in architecture, needs a bold effort in design and execution. With exhaustive research that is put into the discipline, it might be prudent to believe to expect a revolution in the near future, but as of now, Frazer’s question of whether Cybernetics has made architecture responsive to the needs of the people and the environment still remains unanswered.

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GORDON PASK WITH THE 'UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR' AT THE AA LONDON8

1 Patrik Schumacher, “Patrik Schumacher on parametricism - ‘Let the style wars begin’”, The Architects’ Journal, May 6, 2010, https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/ patrik-schumacher-on-parametricism-let-the-style-wars-begin/5217211.fullarticle 2 Patrik Schumacher et al, “Parametricism 2.0: Rethinking Architecture’s Agenda for the 21st Century”, Architectural Design (March/April 2016): 44-53 3 Ibid., 76-83 4 Ibid., 54-59 5 Ibid., 36-43 6 Ibid., 18-23 7 Sanford Kwinter, “The Computational Fallacy”, AD Computational Design Thinking, edited by Achim Menges and Seal Ahlquist, John Wiley & Sons, 2011: 211-215 8 John Frazer, "Computing without Computers", Architectural Design, Volume 75 Issue 2 (March/April 2005): 41

THE QUESTION / 45

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Discrete Element Assemblies The objective of the workshop is to make a structure that spans, covers and uses dry stacking of bricks. The dry staking is purely relied on friction. The principle is to harness the strength of the material by altering the individual and collective geometry. The end product will have to be a system of components that tolerates reasonable amount of loads.

TYPE Academic Research

TERM Oct 2017 - Nov 2017

COURSE Design Research Workshop M Arch AADRL

LOCATION Architectural Association Design Research Lab, London UK

TEAM Bhavatarini Kumaravel Pendar Golfeshan Atahan Topcu Xiujing Wang

GUIDE Shajay Bhooshan

The initial sets of exploration are more concerned with identifying an element that works well in spanning when dry-stacked.

The elements considered are rectangular foam blocks, triangular paper blocks, spring blocks, pringle blocks and stick blocks.

The test to deem an element fit is to test the ability to arch or span between two points. After creating an arch, third point is connected to the arch. Rectangular foam blocks work well in compression but fail at spanning. Triangular paper blocks span as domes when supported at the centre, but on their own, they fail to stand. Pringle blocks allow arching upwards due to their hyperbolic paraboloid geometry but arching downwards as means of spanning is difficult.

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Stick blocks made of three sticks tied at the centre such that each is perpendicular to the other, are stacked to test. They form masses easily as each block allows the other to fit into the gaps between its arms. Spanning works when formworks are used. By successfully connecting three points, the blocks pass both tests and are chosen to be prototyped and studied.

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ELEMENT DESIGN ITERATIONS

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Prototypes of the stick modules are built from 3 mm thick Medium Density Fibreboard sheets that have been laser-cut to shape and interlock. The prototypes built have a maximum arm of 80 mm. Prototypes are tested initially of their ability to work with prototypes of their own kind and of other kinds.It is inferred that an easily approachable centre and far reaching arms are the two essential properties of a successful prototype.

The successful prototype has a centre that accommodates the arms of other prototypes. With sixteen arms spanning along all axes, the prototype offers design flexibility and impressive strength. Hence, it is finalized and employed in further research.

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Stacking the prototypes, one over the other such that one leg of the upper module and one upright arm of the lower module fit in each other’s centers, results in chains of incredible flexibility. These chains are engaged in tests for strength.

STACKING STRATEGIES

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The prototype is made in eight different sizes and studied for behaviour as components under forces of pushing, twisting and looping, in varied arrangements. Under pushing forces, the chains stand when arched downwards but fail when arched upwards. While twisting is involved in pushing, the chains work along both directions.

Hence, twisting is seen to improve the strength of the component.

Behaviour studies involving modules of different sizes reveal that smaller modules work well in bonding but offer less curvature while larger modules offer greater curvature but less bonding. Also, modules with size intervals greater than two, when placed adjacent in strands tend to fail by breaking the link. Hence, a gradual transition of module size in chains is required to ensure consistency. Surfaces are created by weaving together similar chains that maintain a perpendicular grain between one another. The weaving will create strong connection between the modules. The final system includes all successful findings from the studies. It contains an infinity loop and asymmetrical loops made up of surfaces.

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Adaptive homeomorphic surface design

TYPE Academic Research Essay

TERM Jan 2018 - Mar 2018

COURSE Constructed Histories Module M Arch AADRL

LOCATION Architectural Association Design

With advanced computational phenomena like Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence entering the field of Architecture, the physical morphology of the discipline needs to be revised to adapt to change.

Continuous experiments have been performed in taking architecture from being a static non-responsive environment to an interactive and adaptive life-like entity. One prominent direction of experimentation among them is Interactive Surfaces. This paper seeks to enhance the potentials of Interactive Surfaces from being installations to complete spatial enclosures using the techniques of homeomorphism stated in the mathematical field of Algebraic topology. Envisioning the Architectural surface as a topological entity, the concepts of homeomorphism that deal with surface deformations are explored. The explorations are substantiated by making studies of the structural and computational frameworks that could support homeomorphic transformations. Interactive architectural projects like the Eco-29 by FoxLin and Brahma Architects and Alloplastic Architecture

by Behnaz Farahi are taken as precedents to understand the structural, mechanical and computational frameworks to support adaptivity.

Learning from them, the structural criteria to support homeomorphism are deduced. These criteria are applied to the list of Deployable structures furnished by Hanaor and Levy, to find suitable structures to complement the design. Computationally, how the sensors and software interface could communicate between the user and the system and how processes like the Genetic Algorithm can support in making spatial decisions are discussed.

Research Lab, London UK

GUIDE Shajay Bhooshan Alicia Nahmad Vasquez Alexandra Vougia Klaus Platzgummer

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ABSTRACT

The marks of technology are felt in every field we come across.

Bill Gates’s prediction that by the end of the twenty-first century, there wouldn’t be anything left untouched by the digital1, is being realized. Like every other discipline, the field of Architecture saw the inception of computation and digital technology in the early 1960s2. Alongside the development of CAD (Computer-Aided Design) tools, the discourse on Cybernetics was also initiated. Cybernetics is an inter-disciplinary domain exploring systems based on regulation, control, and learning.

In Architecture, it institutes the idea of perceiving buildings as environmental, social and cultural systems that adapt and selforganize taking feedback from their inhabitant3. Thus, began the thought of Adaptive Architecture.

Now in the early twenty-first century, almost sixty years later, commendable progress has been made in making architecture intelligent and adaptive. One obvious example is the development of building automation. Although automation is a form of intelligence, its response cannot be tangibly perceived.

Humans perceive movement to be a characteristic of life4, and this Aristotelian thought led to the widespread experimentation with moving adaptive architecture. One vastly researched stream in that spectrum is Interactive Surfaces.

Initially envisioned as installations, surfaces that react and respond to human behaviour are increasingly being experimented with.

However, the spatial influence of a surface being an installation is quite limited. What can be done to push them beyond the bounds of being mere planar elements?

How can they be made to enclose volumes? This leads to imagine if a space can be transformed as easy as stretching a rubber balloon or moulding a piece of clay - a space that is wrapped by a singular surface that is everchanging. Curiously, this is the definition of a mathematic field of study called Algebraic topology, and the surfaces that undergo deformation are said be exhibit homeomorphism. A hypothesis is framed if the principles of homeomorphism can lead to a more nuanced understanding of adaptive surfaces, and thus bridge the gap between responsive surfaces and responsive volumes in architecture. The paper seeks to build on this hypothesis by exploring the mathematical side of thought and substantiating it with technological backing.

1 Fox, “Introduction: Catalyst Design in a Connected World,” 9.

2 Frazer, “Computing without Computers,” 37.

3 Pask, “The Architectural Relevance of Cybernetics,” 68.

4 Glynn, “Foreword,” 7.

ADAPTIVE HOMEOMORPHIC SURFACE DESIGN / 59

Q: What is a topologist?

A: Someone who cannot distinguish between a doughnut and a coffee cup. 5

Topology in general, refers to the mathematical study of the properties of a geometric object that are preserved through deformations, twistings and stretchings. This makes a circle topologically equivalent to an ellipse6. When extended in three dimensions, it refers to a sphere being equivalent to an ellipsoid. Such topological equivalence is what is termed as homeomorphism. Algebraic topology is one branch of topology that focusses on homeomorphic transformations between spatial objects7. In this field, the surfaces making up the spatial objects are seen as topological spaces. A topological space is merely a set of points, with a set of neighbourhood conditions for each point, that satisfy a set of axioms relating to points and neighbourhood8. Hence homeomorphism can be simplified to the idea of a set of points that maintain their neighbourhood conditions under deformation.

To empirically determine homeomorphism, we compare the Euler Characteristics of the two objects. The Euler Characteristic is an inherent property of an object computed using the polyhedral formula: Euler Characteristic = Vertices – Edges + Faces

5 Renteln and Dundes, “Foolproof,” 25 6 Weisstein, “Topology.”

7 Weisstein, “Algebraic Topology.”

THE TOPOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

8 Schubert, “Topology.”

9 Zeeman, “An Introduction to Topology,” 14.

10 Mathematics People Pages, “Classification of Surfaces.”

11 Weisstein, “Hole.”

12 Weisstein, “Genus.”

IMG http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/583886/when-is-a-coffee-mug-adonut-topology-explains-it/story/

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Objects having the same Euler Characteristic are said to be topologically equivalent to one another. For example, considering a cube, the number of vertices is 8, the number of edges is 12 and the number of faces is 6. Hence the Euler Characteristic of a cube is 8 – 12 + 6, which is 2. Thus, a cube can be homeomorphically transformed to any other object having the same Euler Characteristic of 2. The question then will be to determine the Euler Characteristic of objects that lack vertices, edges and faces, like a sphere. This is where the neighbourhood conditions in the topological space come to play.

By means of triangulating the surface, connecting each point to its neighbours, the surface’s count of vertices, edges and faces are determined, leading up to its Euler Characteristic. The Euler Characteristic is independent of the resolution of the triangulation9. For instance, a sphere in its minimum resolution of triangulation, may resemble a tetrahedron with an Euler Characteristic of 2, and in a higher resolution may resemble a dodecohedron with the same Euler Characteristic of 2. Thus, a tetrahedron, a cube, a sphere and a dodecohedron are equivalent in the terms of algebraic topology and one can easily deform into the other without the need for cutting and glueing.

This paves way for a grouping of surfaces based on their Euler Characteristic, such that one only needs to know the topology of one generic object per group, to learn about the rest. This led to the development of the Classification Theorem.

The Euler Characteristic of a sphere is 2, a single torus is 0, a double torus is -2 and it goes on. It is well evident that the Euler Characteristic is directly related to the number of holes in the object. Mathematically, a hole is a topological structure which prevents the object from being continuously shrunk to a point11.

The number of holes in an object is called the genus of the object. The Euler Characteristic(X) is related to the genus(g) by the expression12, X(g) = 2 – 2g Thus, the topological studies and the classification theorem lay foundations to believe, any complex volumetric enclosure can be derived out of such simple objects through a finite number of transformations.

THE

CLASSIFICATION

STATES THAT

THEOREM

‘ANY CONNECTED

CLOSED TRIANGULABLE SURFACE IS HOMEOMORPHIC TO EITHER A SPHERE OR A TORUS WITH A FINITE NUMBER OF HOLES’ 10

ADAPTIVE HOMEOMORPHIC SURFACE DESIGN / 61

When trying to bring abstract mathematical concepts into a physical discipline like Architecture, materiality and fabrication are often the primary concerns. It is hence important to identify structural and technological systems that support homeomorphic transformations.

While looking through precedents for real-world manipulatable surfaces, we come across the project Eco-29

by FoxLin and Brahma Architects. It is a building at Israel to host wedding ceremonies and the concept was to transform the interior space suiting different occassions. The solution was to have mechanized walls and ceilings that could be controlled by motors to change the spatial layouts.

An effective means to realize the solution was to surround the interior with a moveable fabric supported by vertical and horizontal ribs with motors for actuation. The two ends of ribs are fixed to the floor and are telescoping at the joints to expand and contract the spatial volume.

The entire electronic framework is controlled by a custom-made software that choreographs the overall setup by controlling the range of motion, maximum speed and acceleration for each motor.13 This project reinstates the idea of how a singular transforming surface can efficiently alter an interior environment. Although the project

TOPOLOGIZING THE ARCHITECTURAL SURFACE

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doesn’t have an adaptive learning system, it’s structural system offers much helpful insights in understanding adaptive structures.

The ribs are the primary structural elements and they have motors with differing rotational constraints to control their profile. One huge drawback however is the ribs being fixed. It limits the transformational ability of the structure. Also, the ribs have only few control points operated by the motor, hindering nuanced local transformations.

Hence, it is crucial for the structural supports to award complete flexibility to the system. Looking back to the concept of topological spaces, it is the localised translations of points in space maintain neighbourhood connections that led to a holistic deformation. Embedding the same idea in the physical sense, it is vital for the system to have nodes that transform and rotate while remaining connected to all its immediate neighbours. Thus, two general criteria for deciding on a suitable structural system to employ in homeomorphic surfaces are devised: a. The system should allow for the construction of nodes through triangulation, b. The system should allow its nodes to have threedimensional freedom of movement and rotation.

13 FoxLin and Brahma Architects, “ECO-29,” 106-109.

IMG 1 FoxLin and Brahma Architects, “ECO-29,” 106-109.

IMG 2 http://foxlin.com/portfolio-item/eco-29-interactive-wedding-hall/

ADAPTIVE HOMEOMORPHIC SURFACE DESIGN / 63

The detailed catalogue of Deployable structures listed by Hanaor and Levy in the paper ‘Evaluation of Deployable Structures for Space Enclosures’ is used, and the structures mentioned in it are compared to the above-mentioned criteria to make judgements14. Membrane structures are neglected because the nodes, even if identified, are not rigid and hence controlled transformations are not possible. Pantographic systems are structures with scissor-like elements15. The nodes in the system function like hinges. Although this system supports rigid nodes, the nodes are only connected alone one dimension, allowing only single dimensional transformation.

14 Hanaor and Levy, “Evaluation of Deployable Structures for Space Enclosures.”

15 Doroftei, “Deployable Structures for Architectural Applications – A Short Review,” 234 IMG Hanaor and Levy, “Evaluation of Deployable Structures for Space Enclosures.”

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ADAPTIVE HOMEOMORPHIC SURFACE DESIGN / 65

Tensegrity structures are an unconventional way of seeing truss structures. In place of the usual bars and joints, the system has bars suspended by tendons from other bars. Hence the entire structure is a set of discontinuous compressive components suspended with a set of tensile components to define a stable volume in space16, Nodes in this setup might be considered to be at the edges of the bars where the tendons are connected. The structure can be mobilized by varying the tension in the strings by means of motor action at the nodes.

Hence for one node to move, other nodes surrounding it need to carry of a specific set of transformations.

The transformation matrices need to be replaces with these set of neighbourhood transformations, computed by researching the system, to make it function.

16 Pugh, “Background, Definitions, and General Characteristics,� 3.

IMG http://www-civ.eng.cam.ac.uk/dsl/publications/TibertDocThesis.pdf

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Variable Geometric Trusses are conventional space frames some bars made telescopic with linear displacement actuators.

These systems allow for efficient triangulation and nodes and bars generation. The bars that are replaced with actuators efficiently transform the node’s position17. But the rotation is dependent on the axis on which it operates. When it operates around a truss member, the rotation is unidirectional. An example would be two tetrahedral truss units sharing one of the truss members of their triangular bases.

When the shared truss member acts as the axis of rotation, the deformation occurs in one direction.

Such structures are called linear morphing hinged truss systems18.

To make three-dimensional rotation possible, the rotation should be carried out around a node. The node should allow for rotational freedom along all axes without any physical hinderance. For this we use hexa-pivotal joints that consist of concentric spherical shell-like elements orbiting around the pivot without interfering with the others19. Trusses formed with such joints are called planar morphic hinged truss systems20. These are most suited in supporting and allowing homeomorphic surface transformations.

17 Sofla et al, “Shape Morphing Hinged Truss Structures,” 1.

18 Ibid., 2.

19 Sofla et al, “A Rotational Joint for Shape Morphing Space Truss Structures,” 1279.

20 Sofla et al, “Shape Morphing Hinged Truss Structures,” 3.

IMG Sofla et al, “Shape Morphing Hinged Truss Structures”

ADAPTIVE HOMEOMORPHIC SURFACE DESIGN / 67

IMPARTING INTELLIGENCE

Seeing as we now have a transformational concept called homeomorphism and a structural system that caters to it, the last step is to impart the system a behaviour by awarding it an Intelligence system. ‘Intelligence is the ability to make decisions based on experiences,’ Jeff Hawkins mentions21. The system must have the ability to understand stimulus from its environment, make decisions as to how to react to them, gain feedback from its inhabitants on its transformation, store them as experiences / memories, and use them to make better decisions should the same stimuli be encountered again.

Stimuli may be given by the users in the environment. They might be in the form of speech, gestures or movement. Stimuli can also come from the external environment, like climatic changes. The systems

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needs to possess the required agency to cater to the both of these.

Hence the system is provided with sensors to receive input and feedback and a computational brain to make decisions. The decisions are then translated to transformational commands and fed to the structural system.

The research project Alloplastic Architecture by Behnaz Farahi is an example of tensegrity structures used in creating an adaptive system that responds to the kinetic gestures of a human.

The design takes gestural inputs from the user and transforms itself accordingly. It is based on the principle that the human body itself is a form of tensegrity structure with bones and rigid elements being held in place and operated by muscles and flexible tissues; hence for the system to

respond to the movement of a human, it should operate with the same structural logic. The system consists of three struts tensegrity units that get repeated over and over again. The three struts are made of wood and are connected by four springs made of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA)22. SMA is a material that retains memory of its original form before deformation and have a tendency to return to it after deformation, when subject to thermodynamic or mechanical conditions23.

To understand the users’ behaviour, the system employs the Kinect Motion sensor, that besides recognizing the movement, distance and depth of the users, also has the ability to learn from them and adapt itself over time.

The software captures the bodily movement of the human in terms

of Cartesian coordinates of his/her joints in space. This information is processed by the software called Processing and fed as transformational data derived out of it are fed to the structure by an Arduino microcontroller. The structure thus bends towards or away from the user. There is a reciprocal transformation between the system and the user where both equally influence one another24.

This project quite efficiently depicts how the Kinect sensor and the softwares Processing and Arduino help serve the bridging link between the user and the system. Extending this knowledge into the homeomorphic discourse, it is understood that the homeomorphic system has more potential than reciprocating an user’s movement. Being a spatial

enclosure, it has the capability to change its entire spatial volume, making decisions out of collective inputs from multiple different users.

Hence, complex algorithms need to be utilized in making decisions at a larger scale. Since the system needs to evolve and adapt by taking input from its environment like a natural system25, a genetic algorithm could be used in choosing the best spatial decision.

The structure only has a finite number of nodes and links and has a fixed Euler Characteristic and hence, although extensive, it only has a finite number of structurally optimized spatial configurations it could adopt. Out of these the configuration that seems to be the best fit for the changing circumstances can be decided on. The fitness criteria can support a mix of both experiences learnt from the inhabitants and

overruling input given by the architects and spatial curators of the system. Hence, at a macro level, the system engenders the possibility of accepting and utilizing a healthy mix of top-down and bottom-up design strategies.

21 Hawkins, “How brain science will change computing.”

22 Farahi, “Alloplastic Architecture,” 164-166.

23 Jani et al, “A review of shape memory alloy research, applications and opportunities,” 1078.

24 Farahi, “Alloplastic Architecture,” 166.

25 Frazer, “Creative Design and the Generative Evolutionary Paradigm,” 255.

IMG Farahi, “Alloplastic Architecture”

ADAPTIVE HOMEOMORPHIC SURFACE DESIGN / 69

The mathematical, structural and computational possibilities discussed together try answering the question of what more architecture could be. In specific, adaptive and interactive architecture has a touch of life, making the relationship between the user and the space more profound. The discourse of homeomorphism seeks to extend the relationship to a huge volumetric scale, so buildings are no longer THIS RESONATES WITH WHAT designed, but merely initiated. It will then be only GORDON PASK STATES IN HIS the inhabitants who will passively design the space FOREWORD TO AN EVOLUTIONARY by means of their actions and responses.

ARCHITECTURE: ‘THE ROLE OF THE

ARCHITECT HERE, I THINK, IS NOT SO MUCH TO DESIGN A BUILDING OR CITY AS TO CATALYSE: BUT TO ACT THAT THEY MAY EVOLVE.’

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

ADAPTIVE HOMEOMORPHIC SURFACE DESIGN / 71

TYPE Academic Research

TERM Nov 2017 - Dec 2017

COURSE Design Research Workshop M Arch AADRL

LOCATION Architectural Association Design Research Lab, London UK

TEAM Bhavatarini Kumaravel Xiujing Wang Lara Niovi Vartziotis Irfan Bhakrani

GUIDE Mustafa El Sayed Octavian Gheorghiu

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Voxel Neighbourhoods

The workshop explores the generative potential of self-regulating neighbourhoods of voxels that interact through simple local rule sets and result in complex organisations across large populations. Experimenting through explicit models of interactions and observable patterns of agency the workshop explores the capacity for these systems to evolve structural elements with the capacity to self-structure. The research seeks to evaluate a voxel neighbourhood system through stability. The inherent stability of the system is analysed and strategies to enhance it are evolved. The local rules and the initializing seed of the cellular automata voxel neighbourhood are rated in terms of their stability quotients across iterations and the best rules and seeds deduced out of them are employed in an attempt to building systems of increased heights, employing the stabilizing strategies discovered.

VOXEL NEIGHBOURHOODS / 73

Cellular automata is a grid of cells that exist in one of a finite number of states, where a new generation is born by the application of a fixed rule on the grid, and the states redetermined. A voxel is a unit value on a regular three dimensional grid. The Game of life is a model of cellular automata devised by British mathematician John Conway in 1970. The voxels in the model exist in either of two states – life or death.

The state of a voxel is determined by the states of its eight neighbouring cells in two dimensions, in terms of ‘population’. An alive voxel dies if it is surrounded by less than two voxels, due to ‘loneliness’. Also, if an alive voxel is surrounded by more than three alive neighbours, it dies of ‘overcrowding’. Hence for an alive voxel to stay alive, it must have two

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to three alive neighbours around.

This is termed as the ‘Environment range‘. Similarly for a dead voxel to come alive, it needs to have three neighbours around it. This is called the ‘Fertility range’. Thus, a ruleset is a combination of four integers, the first two of which define the limit of the environment range and the later two of the fertility range. The game of life is essentially a zeroplayer game, where the ruleset acts on an initializing pattern called the seed. The game can be extended in three dimensions, by stacking the generations of voxels formed after every single application of the ruleset, one over the other. This adds the attribute of age to the voxels, where voxels that stay alive for more generations get ‘older’ and those newly made alive are ‘younger’.

VOXEL NEIGHBOURHOODS / 75

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SEED RESOLUTION - 50X50 PIXELS AGE - BLACK (YOUNG) TO RED (OLD) A - ALIVE; D - DEAD; T - TOTAL VOXELS GENERATED

VOXEL NEIGHBOURHOODS / 77

THE GAME OF STABILITY

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The voxel system is created using the Unity3D Game Engine scripted through C-Sharp programming language.

Using the Gravity Engine by Unity, the system is tested of its stability by assigning masses to individual voxels.

A voxel is considered stable if its displacement after the application of the Gravity Engine does not exceed a constant called the Stability tolerance.

Thus, voxels are classified as stable and unstable and the counts are measured as percentages of the total alive population for further analysis.

The relationship between the stability of the system and its voxel density is speculated. Hence, the average twodimensional and three-dimensional density of the system are computed and employed in analysis to check relatable figures. The initial set of test records are performed on three seeds operating at three different resolutions ranging from 25 x 25 to 100 x 100. The rule applied in Conway’s original rule of 2333 and two heights – 15 and 30 – are tried. For every seed index and ruleset combination, the total number of voxels, the number of voxels alive, the number dead, the average 3D density, the average 2D density, the stability tolerance and the percentage of stability after turning on the gravity engine are recorded.

SEED RESOLUTION - 25X25 TO 100X100 PIXELS AGE - BLACK (YOUNG) TO RED (OLD) DENSITY - BLACK (SPARSE) TO VIOLET (DENSE) STABILITY - GREY (STABLE) TO VIOLET (UNSTABLE)

VOXEL NEIGHBOURHOODS / 79

Due to the poor stability observed in a system of fragmented voxels, it is essential to include parameters of aggregation within the system.

In this case parameters are set to initiate face to face linkages in between voxels to create connected clusters on respective axes to improve the global stability of the system. The first parameter of aggregation is created by creating linkages in between voxels that are unsupported from beneath, this forms a system of local cantilevers where unsupported fragments are connected to a supported whole whereas if there is no possibility of a face-toface connection, the voxel dies.

Also, the voxels supported from beneath form connections with the voxels beneath them resulting in vertical aggregation aiding in

INDUCING STABILITY

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stability. Horizontal aggregation involves voxels in one layer getting connected to one another through face-to-face connections.

They have a wider load-bearing area and hence work better in models with heights exceeding the base dimensions. Vertical aggregation involves voxels getting connected to the voxels beneath them through face-toface aggregation. The aggregation leads to stranding with low loadbearing area and hence, buckling occurs at increasing heights.

Differential massing involves reducing the masses of specific voxels - depending either on their position vertically, higher voxels being lighters, or on their position in a cantilver wherein the farthest voxel from the supporting voxel is lighter.

VOXEL NEIGHBOURHOODS / 81

The strategies of aggregation discussed are put to test with four seeds in three simple resolutions of 10x10, 20x20 and 30x30, for a height of 8 layers, across a vast set of rulesets. For every seed and ruleset combination, the total population, the number alive, the average 3D density and the stability percentage are recorded before aggregation. After performing aggregation, the number of cantilver voxels found, the number fixed , the number killed and the subsequent percentage of stability are recorded. The data recorded are represented in graphs that are seed based and resolution specific; rules are taken along the

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X Axis and the percentage scale is laid out along the Y Axis. The plot area has four lines, each of which represent the percentage of life, the percentage density, the percentage of stability before aggregation and the percentage of stability after aggregation respectively. The graphs help to visulize the relationship between the four parameters across various ruleset and seed combinatons.

In the results, four kind of growth patterns were observed - point growth, arching, uniform growth and inverted growth. Point growth shows a non-uniform growth pattern which may result in stunted or sparce growth in some

conditions. A growth pattern that exhibits on its peripheral faces, staggered stacking of cantilevered voxels one above the other is termed as arching. Uniform growth shows columner growth patterns which are stable at lower layers but fail at higher layers due to the action of buckling.

Inverted growth pattern shows an increasing number of voxels with increase in generations . This pattern can be distinctly observed in rulesets where the fertility range exceeds the environment range.

This system invariably fails for all applied strategies due insufficient voxels at its base.

VOXEL NEIGHBOURHOODS / 83

The seeds in 10x10 resolutions didn‘t offer much growth and hence are eliminated. Also rulesets like Rule(3344), that have no alive population are eliminated. Hence, rulesets and seeds with active growths are consolidated and put for a clarified data graphing. The consolidated data are then plotted in graphs that are rule-based with the seeds along X-axis and the percentage scale set along Y-axis. The plot are has three lines representing the average 3D density, the percentage stability without aggregation and the percentage stability after aggregation. The relationship betweent the three parameters for each ruleset seed combination are studied and the combinations are chosen for further iterations. Through the analyzed graphs an inference is drawn upon the performance of voxel systems through multiple rule sets and seeds. The combinations showing consistently low figures of stability through various tests of aggregation are eliminated (Rule 1211, 2211, 3411, 5511, 7711). The preferred combinations selected to carry out further tests show high figures of stability and are highly receptive to aggregation, although combinations that are absolutely stable are eliminated as well. The chosen ruleset seed combinations are posed with additional strategies

of aggregation and the results are graphed and studied. Analyzing the selected seed and rule combinations through specific tests of aggregation yields three distinct form and growth observations with a significant impact to its stability counts. A selection process is further carried out where new peaks and lows are observed and unresponsive systems are eliminated. Systems showing insufficient growth patters are eliminated due to low figures of development. These systems show inadequate voxels for carrying out stability tests. Seeds developing in a columner fashion show uniform vertical growth with high stability counts, although these are eliminated from further consideration due to structural monotony and uninteresting growth patterns. The seeds exhibit a development pattern with consistent layer growth and adjescent layery patterns dissimilar to one and other, this growth system is carried forward for further examination due to its organic growth pattern. The four ruleset seed combinations with consistent non-uniform growth patterns are tested for their stability at increased heights, such as 100 layers. Extensive aggregation strategies and their combinations are put into aid for stabilization, and their subsequent effects and behaviour are studied.

ANALYIZING ITERATIONS

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VOXEL NEIGHBOURHOODS / 85

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Through this research and its multiple iterations, the rules and seeds in the cellular automaton Game of Life that have the inherent ability to produce sufficiently stable systems and are also positively receptive to further stabilization strategies are discovered.

FINAL MODELS OF STABILITY

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Underwater Tourist Centre

TYPE Academic Design

TERM Jan 2016 - May 2016

COURSE Thesis Module B Arch

LOCATION Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai IN.

GUIDE Subhashini Selvaraj

The thesis is based in the town of Dwarka located on the west coast of India in the state of Gujarat. The place is known to have mythological connections to the Hindu God called Lord Krishna and is known to be his kingdom through scriptures and therefore is an important pilgrimage site. Proving the scriptures right, recent underwater explorations along its coast have revealed interesting archaeological discoveries aging 5000 back. Hence, a tourist centre to better understand this is planned to be developed. The objectives of the thesis include - to understand the significance of archaeological tourism and its underlying guidelines, to study regarding planning and designing tourist interpretation centres, to perform case study regarding Archaeological Tourist Centres, to bring out the spatial requirements and the corresponding area for each space, to arrive at the concept and to evolve the design accordingly and to produce detailed plans, sections, elevations and views to explain the design. The design potentials in the project would be to explore and promote the underwater archaeological ruins, to connect Bet Dwarka and other tourist sites via sea routes and to streamline tourism in Dwarka.

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STRENGTH

WEAKNESS

OPPURTUNITY

THREAT

The town has a high inflow of both domestic and international tourists.

Hence, the proposed development could ensure high returns and enhance tourism in the entire Okhamandal peninsula.

However, a higher proportion of the tourists are not quite affluent and so high fares couldnt be charged. Thus the project budget should be kept as minimal as possible.

The development is the first of its kind in the world and could attract tourists from all over the world for its exotic nature.

Also, it could trigger future reseach in underwater archaeology.

The development is prone to seismic attack, erratic ocean currents and fatal errors if not properly monitored.

Also, it would disturb the local marine ecosystem and the underwater archaeological ruins

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OFFSHORE DESIGN CONCEPT

Since the threats outweigh the strengths and oppurtunities, to build a permanent structure underwater is neglected. Also, the archaeological norms of India do not permit construction very close to the ruins. Hence, the design is confined to an offshore tourists’ centre featuring the museum and archaeology department and a submarine terminal that allows tourists to go underwater and observe the ruins. The terminal also supports ferries that connect Dwarka to the nearby tourist sites and also provides for the SCUBA diving service and the further archaeological excavation procedures.

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SITE PLAN

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FERRY TERMINAL

ENTRANCE BRIDGE

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TOURIST CENTRE - GROUND FLOOR PLAN

TOURIST CENTRE - FIRST FLOOR PLAN

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RESEARCH CENTRE

BUILDING SECTIONS

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Fear and the urban realm

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FEAR, YET ANOTHER RESPONSE OF THE HUMAN PSYCHE, HAS TERRIFICALLY MANIFESTED OVER THE AGES FROM AN INSTINCT THAT AIDED THE SURVIVAL OF THE ENTIRE RACE, TO A GLOBAL PHENOMENON GRIPPING THE USERS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, AND ENDANGERING THEIR SENSE OF SECURITY.

TYPE Academic Research

TERM Jun 2015 - Dec 2015

COURSE Dissertation Module B Arch

LOCATION Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai IN.

GUIDE Jinu Louishidha Kitchley

PUBLICATION Published in STUDIO - Architecture and Urbanism Magazine - Issue #11 dt Nov 2016 Runner up in research Category, Star Student Awards 2019, India

With the modern age set in, cities are booming and bustling with life than never before. Ironically, the negative side of the development is also being increasingly felt, with the plummeting crime scenes and anti-social activities in the urban realm. One such city is Madurai, which is located in the southern part of India.

Being a settlement with a rich historical background aging unto two millennia, Madurai draws tourists from all parts of the world owing to the famous Meenakshi Amman temple, it holds at its heart.

Located on the banks of river Vaigai, the ancient city evolved around the temple.

After the British rule in India, the modern city developed rapidly around the core city, sprawling in all directions. The city now presents a juxtaposition of its ancient and modern self at every twist and turn, with people transcending varied cultures and economic strata, who experience all attributes of the city life, including the fear it imposes. Although efforts are being made politically and judicially to bring down the figures, the psychological sense of security being restored in the citizens, is still in question. Nevertheless, good urban design can cater to this, if

only the anatomy of urban fear could be unveiled. Fear, being a highly intangible human emotion, couldn’t be tracked down individually but on a social scale, common factors could be identified and set right. For this purpose, two mixeduse developments containing both commercial and residential streets of distinct characteristics are identified in Madurai – one being Town Hall road and its neighbourhood from the organically evolved heritage core city and the other being Anna Nagar 80 feet road and its neighbourhood, a planned development within the modern city.

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FACTORIZING FEAR

If fear is being inflicted by the urban environment, it is obvious that its factors should also be located within the environment itself. These factors need to be identified and mathematically evaluated, to objectify and model fear.

For this reason, the nature of each factor needs to be carefully documented. Each factor is unique. Some are dominant, while some stay submissive. Some remain constant, while others vary with time, like the changing time of the day or the day of the week. Also some factors evoke the same response from all users while others perform differently among people of different sexes and age groups.

These need to be ascertained through observation and reviews, to further process them.

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Visibility is often associated with the feeling of safety. It is of the general opinion that the more one can see, the more one tends to feel safe. This is better advanced by the ‘Prospect refuge theory’ stated by Appleton. This theory offers two factors of relevance to the study – Prospect and Refuge. Prospect decides

how far ahead and how wide one can view from a point on the street. Refuge denotes the potential hiding places there are from which attackers can jump. These factors do not vary with time and they mostly evoke the same response from all users.

PROSPECT-REFUGE THEORY REFERS TO THE PRIMITIVE AND ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOUR STILL PREVALENT IN HUMAN BEINGS, NAMELY, “TO SEE WITHOUT BEING SEEN”.

However, indigenous reviews revealed that, just as being able to see, being seen is also quite important. It is believed that regions which healthy people activity are relatively safer. The factor of surveillance is seen to play its part here. Surveillance can come from a variety of sources.

Policemen patrolling the region and guards appointed for security, account to formal surveillance. On the other hand, the passers-by provide informal surveillance.

In addition to them, the surrounding buildings too contribute a great deal to the informal surveillance factor. It is the reason why commercial lanes are felt safer in India. To understand this factor of buildings-offering-surveillance better, their facades are classified into four classes based on their “eyes on the street”.

Small shops with open facades that offer the shopkeeper direct physical and visual access onto the street comprise Class I since they escalate the sense of security. Residences without compound walls, that begin directly from the street line form Class II since their inhabitants have ample access to the street if a mishap should occur. Class III consists of the showrooms and retail shops that don’t have direct physical access but maintain moderate visual surveillance on the streets. Compounded residences that remain visually and physically detached from the streetscape are included in the Class IV since they don’t contribute much to the sense of security in the streets.

However, surveillance factor varies with time just as people activity and buildings’

functioning change. Due to this, a street that is safe on weekdays, turns unsafe on weekends. Hence, the streets need to be studied at multiple time periods to understand these variations. Anyway, not all kinds of surveillance prove beneficial.

For instance, a girl walking alone doesn’t feel comfortable when being surveilled by a group of young men. Hence, informal surveillance is seen to vary with the individual differences of the users.

Therefore, the many kinds of people groups need to be surveyed among the locals, to be rated.

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The physical environment that composes the street setting is greatly responsible for urban safety. When the surrounding environment seems pleasing and amiable, a user feels safe, and inversely, when the setting looks eerie or ill-maintained, the user feels uncomfortable. This is propagated by the theory of ‘Broken Windows’ devised by Wilson and Kelling:

CONSIDER A BUILDING WITH A FEW BROKEN WINDOWS. IF THE WINDOWS

ARE

NOT

REPAIRED,

THE TENDENCY IS FOR VANDALS TO BREAK A FEW MORE WINDOWS. EVENTUALLY,

THEY

MAY

EVEN

BREAK INTO THE BUILDING, AND IF

IT’S

UNOCCUPIED,

SQUATTERS

MAY

PERHAPS

LIGHT

FIRES

INSIDE. OR CONSIDER A SIDEWALK. SOME LITTER ACCUMULATES. SOON, MORE

LITTER

ACCUMULATES.

EVENTUALLY, PEOPLE EVEN START LEAVING BAGS OF TRASH FROM TAKE-OUT RESTAURANTS THERE OR BREAKING INTO CARS.

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Hence, the status of the street elements are essential in determining the street’s safety. On site observation, the elements that composed the regions studied were identified to be the surrounding buildings, roads, pavements, sewers, manholes, trash cans and dumps, vegetation and street lights. Since vehicular traffic congestion occurred in almost all streets considered, it is also considered part of the street setting. The influence of these factors varies with the nature of the user.

Hence these also, were presented for survey among the locals.

From the surveys, it was evident that zones surveilled by women groups of any age were considered safe.

Hence they made Class I. Surveillance by middle aged and older men composed Class II, while that by young men were pushed to Class III by most women responses, citing possible eve-teasing or harassment as reasons. However, almost all users rated drunk men negative for the social disturbance they create, thereby grouping them under Class IV. All modes of traffic and the resulting congestion were graded into Classes III and IV, since they impeded movement. But speeding vehicles were rated very perilous, placing them in Class V. As for the street elements, buildings in demolished or unused states were mostly rated neutral since the people of India have grown tolerant to ill-maintained surrounding conditions. Still, buildings like bars were scored into Class V owing to the havoc they create in the neighbourhood. Trashcans and dumps, open sewers, dense vegetation and pits on the road were rated Class IV as they might cause accidents and detest. Comparatively, broken pavements and uncovered manholes fared worse, for the chances of people getting hurt, even fatally, were higher.

Finally, regions devoid of proper street lighting were ranked the most unsafe, naturally, categorising them into Class V.

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The factors thus arrived have to be scored all along the public domain in the region studied, to model fear. For this purpose, the public domain is gridded with equidistant pedestrian points, for each of which, an isovist is constructed. Isovist is the volume of space visible from a point. All factors that lie within an isovist of a point contribute scores to the Street Environment Index (SEI) value of that point in relation to the proximity to it.

That is, closer the factor is to the point, more is its effect, and vice versa. Since all factors are perceived visually, this method of using isovists proves appropriate. The SEI values, when colour-coded and represented in the map of the region, help arrive at the Fear model of the zone.

The model of Town Hall road and its surroundings reveals major green patches, indicating that most parts of the region are safe. Reviews and testimonies gathered regarding the safety of this region validate these results. This area, located within the core city, is known for the many electronic shops it holds. Also, this is the shortest route connecting the temple with the major transit points. Hence this region is always active with local people intending to buy goods and tourists in pursuit of the temple. This people activity is the major reason for such high scores of safety.

On the contrary, the planned development around Anna Nagar 80 feet road is seen to have fared low on the safety scales. This is, again, validated by the reviews of the locals.

This neighbourhood is rather filled with either people living within their own walls or people who commute. The street life, but for some main junctions, is not quite rich. This lack of people activity and the impending surveillance has cost the region of its safety.

MODELLING FEAR

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THE FACTORS OF PEOPLE ACTIVITY AND SURVEILLANCE HAVE WIDELY BEEN STATED AS REASONS FOR THE SENSE OF SAFETY IN THESE REGIONS. MORE THAN JUST IMPROVING THE SAFETY INDICES, THESE FACTORS ALSO HAVE THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE OTHER FACTORS SUCH

AS

PROSPECT-REFUGE

AND

STREET ELEMENTS. To better illustrate this, the narrow residential lanes in the neighbourhood of Town Hall road are considered. Although they have very low prospect values, they are seen to be marked safe, since they have high levels of surveillance. On the other hand, the cardinal 80 feet road in Anna Nagar has lower safety scores even though it possesses high prospect values. This is due to the fact that the people activity on most areas along the road except near its junctions is less. Thus, surveillance and people activity are seen to outweigh the effect of the prospect factor. Similarly, the streets with bars in the Town Hall road region are marked relatively safer owing to the healthy people groups that outnumber the drunk men. Whereas in Anna Nagar, the street with a bar is ranked very low by reviews because of its unhealthy people groups. Though the street has people who pass by, not much of them stay long enough to witness the happenings on the street and curtail mayhem. This denotes the effect of surveillance on the faulty street elements. Healthy surveillance and people activity, in the Indian context, help maintain urban safety. This is seen to be encouraged by streets with open commercial shops and markets by enhancing the retention period of people on streets. Hence, planning such features along the urban fabric, that promote beneficial surveillance could help solve the fear issue in Madurai. Similarly, by employing these strategies, the factors that fuel fear in any city can be identified and evaluated, to mitigate the notoriously terrific phenomenon of urban fear.

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Infrastructure along River Vaigai

TYPE Academic Research

TERM Jun 2015

COURSE Joint Studio Module with Columbia GSAPP B Arch

LOCATION Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai IN.

TEAM Bhavatarini Kumaravel Abinaya Thendral Arul Robinson Dharshini Padmanabhan Eanthizai Mohan Lauren Miyata Prabhuram RVS Prathiba Kumar Raja Nikitha Sambavi Sambasivam Tamil Priya Krishnan

The aim of the joint studio programme with Columbia Unviersity helf in June 2015 was to identify the issues pertaining to River Vaigai and its surroundings in Madurai, India and to try and offer design solutions to them.

The studio was split into teams each bearing one member from Columbia University to study one issue and cater to it. My group consisted of 11 members and was focussed on the Infrastructure along River Vaigai. The categories of study were - water supply, sanitation, waste management, electicity, gas supply, bridges and roads and social infrastructure.

They needed to be studied of their adequecy, misuse, malfunctioning, usability and design potential.

Each of us documented one criteria and designed solutions for them together. I documented the issues related to water supply and gas supply. I also coordinated the documentation process and unified the presentation at the end. By the end of the study, the key issues

that were sought to address are as follows: Solid waste dumping, sewers opening into the river, open sewer channels, sanitation, activity under the bridges, washing areas and lacking social spaces aroung handpumps and water sources.

The main design intervention was the “walks” designed along the river bunds. The walks served more than just aesthetic functions.

The walks were designed to define the territory of the river, and to prevent the dumping of solid waste into the river. The walks also embodied the characteristic “wetlands” which recharge the water from sewers and render them harmless into the river. Plants are beign used for this process of purification. The wetlands and the walks were designed in a very pleasing fashion to attract users and to promote the relationship with the river, thereby creating social interaction spaces favoring economy generation and safety.

The walks featured tensile roofs and stone slabs for seating.

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Public Restroom Module

TYPE Competition entry

TERM Nov 2013 - Jan 2014

COURSE B Arch

LOCATION Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai IN.

TEAM Bhavatarini Kumaravel Elangovan Sankaralingom

Indian cities are well known to perform notoriously poor in terms of hygience and sanitation. About 683 million of the 1.1 billion people who defecate in the open worldwide, are Indians (60%). 68 million Indians live in slums. Out of these 34% have no toilets at all. One in three women risk shame, disease, harassment and even attack as they have no safe toilets.

The lack of proper public toilets accounts greatly to this issue. The design brief requires the design of a public restroom module to suit the Indian context. The design needs to cater to various urban environments and challenges. Hence, the design was based on the concept of modularity by designing modules of its parts which can be assembled in numerous ways to serve various purposes with ease and efficiency. The designed modules has the features of easy expansion, easy dismantling and reassembling, accommodating changing styles, easy replacement of faulty parts and vandal resistance. The demand of increasing population is offered an elegant solution of expansion via simple addition without disturbing the existing features. Space constraints and road expansions are no longer threats, for dismantling and reassembling have become easy with simple yet durable joineries. With the test of time and changing lifestyles, the design proves its versatility by allowing of the concerned fixtures and its host component. Replacement of dysfuntional fixtures and components is easy and doesn’t affect the functioning of adjacent modules. All damage prone plumbing systems are concealed and all surfaces are well treated promising certified vandal resistance.

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MAIN PLUMBING WALL

SIDE PLUMBING WALL

FOUNDATION BOLT

INDIAN STYLE FLOOR PLATE

WESTERN STYLE FLOOR PLATE

DOOR

BLANK WALL

ROOF

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CONTACT / 121

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