Brydie Singleton Studio Air Final Journal by Brydie Singleton

STUDIO AIR JOURNAL

Br ydie Singleton Semester 1 // 2016 Tutor : Finn War nock

TABLE OF CONTENTS Part A : CONCEPTUALISATION

A1. Design Futuing

A2. Design Computation

A3. Composition / Generation

A4. Conclusion

A5. Learning Outcomes

A6. Apprendix - Algorithmic Sketches

Part B : CRITERIA DESIGN

B1. Research Field

B2. Case Study 1.0

B3. Case Study 2.0

B4. Technique : Development

B5. Technique : Prototypes

B6. Technique : Proposal

B7. Learning Objectives and Outcomes

B8. Apprendix - Algorithmic Sketches

Part C : DETAILED DESIGN

C1. Design Concept

C2. Tectonic Elements & Prototypes

100

C3. Final Detail Model

116

C4. Learning Objectives and Outcomes

124

A CONCEPTUALISATION

INTRODUCTION My name is Brydie and I am studying in my third year of the Bachelor of Environments, majoring in Architecture. Art has always played a large role in my life. My family have and continue to be influential figures in my life, and many of them practise in creative fields. As such, I have been lucky enough to be continually exposed to artwork and a descriptive language that complements that. In my second year at Melbourne I undertook the subject Digital Design + Fabrication in which I had the opportunity to be introduced to and engage with parametric modeling, through the means of Rhinoceros. This project allowed my to develop skills and an understanding surrounding the computerisation of architectural volumes. Being able to translate an idea into a digital platform, which could then be digitally fabricated in such a meticulous manner through the means of technology such as Laser Cutting, was the basis of a very exciting studio. Images from this project can be seen on the adjacent page. The substance of studio air however, presents the next level of interaction with digital design; computation. Parting from computerisation as merely a means of form representation, the application of Grasshopper allows the computer to be an active agent in form conceptualisation. This elevated level of engagement with the computer is an extremely exciting prospect, and I look forward to learning a new language of form finding and optimisation.

CONCEPTUALISATION

An interior photograph of the final 1:1 physical model

Overlay images of vector linework from the digital design, over a photograph of the final physical model, representing the direct translation of digital design to fabrication. CONCEPTUALISATION 7

A1. DESIGN FUTURING

“Design’s importance is continually growing as a decisive factor in our future having a future” 1 Humans’ anthropocentric attitude towards existence, has lead to today’s gave situation in which we find ourselves participating in destabilising conduct. Human centeredness has adopted the attitude that the planet is an infinite resource at our disposal. However here lies no truth, and as such, we are taking the future away from ourselves and other living species.2 It is now integral to engage the complexity of design as world shaping force. New and comprehensive assemblages of architectural theories are born from this necessity, concurrently with the evolution of digital design.3 In which we find a continuum from design production, to form generation, to fabrication design. This changing of design thinking and logical pertains to the emerging technologies, and ultimately the symbiotic relationship between the man and the machine. Compositional scripting to create a digital linkage to form generation and performative form finding, is now a discourse evolving from the simply digitised representational application. It is the parametric design and its disciplinary knowledge that will be explored and attained throughout this studio.

Fry, Tony (2008). Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg)

Oxman, Rivka and Robert Oxman, eds (2014). Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York: Routledge),

Fry, Tony (2008). Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg)

CONCEPTUALISATION

Metropol Parasol, Seville, Spain, by J. Mayer H. architects Realized as one of the largest and most innovative bonded timberconstructions with a polyurethane coating. The winding canopy of assembled timber grid plates has become the biggest landmark for Seville. CONCEPTUALISATION 9

PRECEDENT 0.1

One Main dECOi architects One Main was a project realised to occupy the internal area of a penthouse office. Comprised of articulated timber members, the undulating form celebrates the technology of the CNC milling. The curvilinearity of the sustainably-forested spruce plywood expresses both the pertinence of digital generation and the transitional proficiency into fabrication. Once the scheme was conceived, dECOi architects created automated algorithms for generating milling files. These algorithms possessed high tolerances and extremely low percentages of error, proving to be an efficient and secure method of production.1 The applications of parametric design enabled the architects to nuance the refined design, accomodating the complexity of the form to the CNC machine implementation. The 1200 plywood sheets were milled using a 3-axis CNC router, which was driven by the prescribed ‘weeping’ tool paths.2 This process was reported to have been carried out without problem; a testimony to the applications of algorithmic scripting. It was there highly abstracted machine instructions that enabled this architectural accuracy.

Ceiling milling file generation before nesting router process.

The contoured profile consists of responsive deflections responding directly to the work spaces below, the allowance of light or to accomodate services situated above it. These site contextual attributes of the form is what allows it to flourish successfully in its environment. The achievements of this project proved to be at both macro and micro scales, with the form being able to cator for specific detailing in the geometry while maintaining a high level of design cohesion. The suspended typology saw the incorperation of rigorous system of steel cable fixtures to essentially hang the timber memebers in allignment, consummating the curvilinear figures. The applications of algorithmic design, and in this case its output to CNC routering revoluntionises the potential for work spaces, and contests the way we concieve the traditional office environment. One Main, encapsulates in its entirity, the potential for precision and accuracy born from parametric design and fabrication.

Assemblage of the ceiling components

1 “One Main”, dECOi architects, 2016 <http://www.decoi-architects. org/2011/10/onemain/> [accessed 8 March 2016]

2 “One Main”, dECOi architects, 2016 <http://www.decoi-architects. org/2011/10/onemain/> [accessed 8 March 2016] 10

CONCEPTUALISATION

Positioning the plywood members on site

Photograph of the completed installation of the curvilinear plywood One Main project. all images obtained from http://www.decoi-architects.org/2011/10/onemain/ CONCEPTUALISATION 11

PRECEDENT 0.2

Research Pavilion 2010 ICD and ITKE The Research Pavilion created in 2010 at The Institude for Computational Design (ICD) and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) showcases a new technical workflow in the domain of computation scripting. The temporary pavilion investigated the material properties of thin, plywood strips. The project utilised the applications of computational design in an alternate way, as the inputs were directly based on the material qualities. Numerous experiments on timber ply were carried out, in which their results were then converted into algorithms. This meant that a system of internal and external pressures and constraints on the timber could be simulated.1 With this material simulating design process, the team actively investigated the bending of the pavilions’ strips, exploring and pushing its elastic properties. In this instance, generative form computation is directly driven and informed by physical behaviours exhibited by timber ply.2 Such material advancement and engagement with computation, inspires designers to delve further into the varying applications of algorithmic thinking, aiming to expand future possibilities. The structural analysis, along with the precise digital fabrication of the strips, enabled exact measurements of the geometry to be assembled. The success of the integration of tectonic and material simulation, with materialisation, earns an important position in the contemporary computational realm.

1 “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010”, Institute for Computational Design (ICD), 2016 <http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458> [accessed 6 March 2016] 2 “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010”, Institute for Computational Design (ICD), 2016 <http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458> [accessed 6 March 2016] 12

CONCEPTUALISATION

Bending elasticity of timber ply. Pavilion in full and details. All images sourced from http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458

CONCEPTUALISATION 13

A2. DESIGN COMPUTATION

The evolution of design computation has allowed for the conception and realisation of a constantly expanding repertoire of geometries. Not only can algorithms be used to enhance and augment the types of design resolutions, it enables a new way of thinking for emerging designers and architects, changing the way traditional design process transpires. 1 Computational technology is shifting the design paradigm, to an environment where we can feed in environmental analysis to synthesis and predict the outcome of our designs. A more active and intertwined engagement with algorithmic technology throughout the design process is revolutionising contemporary architectural practice.

1 Kalay, Yehuda E. (2004). Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press) 14

CONCEPTUALISATION

UK Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010, “The Seed Cathedral”, by Heatherwick Studio http://wordlesstech.com/designer-for-2012-olympic-cauldron-is-thomas-heatherwick/ CONCEPTUALISATION 15

PRECEDENT 0.1

14 store front Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY The discipline of prototyping is becoming an increasingly important component in computation and fabrication research in our shifting design paradigm. It is through installation pieces such as 14 store front by Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY that experimentation within scripting geometries, material systems and their potentials is able to occur. The design process in this project and others by Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY, consists of generating morphologies from operational algorithm carried out within a computational environment. Numerically controlled parameters define the system, in which hundreds of iterations are produced.1 Here in lies the beauty of design computation; the discovery of complex and inconceivable geometries that can be translated into an architectural design. Anticipation of resulting spatial forms is virtually impossible due to the algorithmic possibilities, and as such the design constantly includes a factor of the unknown. Such prototypical architecture is therefore playing a role in redefining architectural practice, as many design resolutions are able to be realised, with the potential for further scalability. The hyper-thin self-supported structures are achieved through a two layered aluminium planar mesh system, allowing the extensive curvatures to be realised through its developable planarity.2 The evolving transition from computation to digital fabrication sees a seamless passage into the final full scaled prototype. It is through designers like Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY that generate and create complex spatial structures, that computation will continue to alter architectural workflow.

1 Fornes, Mark, “The Art Of The Prototypical”, Architectural Design, 86 (2016), 60-67 2 Fornes, Mark, “The Art Of The Prototypical”, Architectural Design, 86 (2016), 60-67 16

CONCEPTUALISATION

http://theverymany.com/14-storefront/ CONCEPTUALISATION 17

PRECEDENT 0.2

Ripple Wall Archi Union Architects Inc 2012 With the development of computation re-defining the contemporary design process, threat is posed on the human’s role and interaction in the design and production process, specifically that of skilled manual labour which is seeing to become more and more easily replaced by digital fabrications.1 This precedent demonstrates how the role of algorithmic design, can still be incorporated without placing a strain on human jobs, a contemporary issue concerning the design industry as we now know it. The Ripple Wall is designed in a technologically advanced computational interface, acquired from a digital interpretation of water. The flexible and natural motions that pertain to the properties of water, was developed into an algorithm, a script that then became the informing constituent of the design.2 Iterations were produced capturing specific moments in the ripple, and although the final iteration chosen was realised as a static structure, a sense of fluidity was divulged. The outcome was the mimicking the behaviour of water through digitally derived technical arrangement.

Regulatory wave pattern

http://arquitectura.estudioquagliata.com/tag/archi-union-architects

1 Agkathidis, Asterios, and Brian Manning-Spindt, “High-Tech / Low-Tech: Computational Design And Fabrication In The Chinese Context”, Academia.edu, 2016 <http://www.academia.edu/5375762/High-tech_Lowtech_Computational_design_and_fabrication_in_the_Chinese_context> [accessed 13 March 2016]

2 “The Lanxi Curtilage / Archi Union Architects”, Estudio Quagliata Arquitectura, 2012 <http://arquitectura.estudioquagliata.com/socializarq/thelanxi-curtilage-archi-union-architects> [accessed 13 March 2016] 18

CONCEPTUALISATION

Ripple Wall facade

http://arquitectura.estudioquagliata.com/tag/archi-union-architects

Five varieties of concrete blocks were incorporated as components in the grasshopper script, allowing the materialisation to express the rippled movement. The final masonry was constructed through manual labor and craftsmanship, denoting considering between the digital-analogue discourse in contemporary China. Advanced computational design methodology and its relationship with manual fabrication techniques, is an integral dialogue of the emerging implications of computation evolution within the design and construction industry.

Fluidity and motion through a static structure

http://www.archi-union.com/project_view.asp?id=35 (Above alike) CONCEPTUALISATION 19

A3. COMPOSITION / GENERATION

“We are moving away from an era where architects use software, to one where they create software”. Computation is reshaping the way in which architectural practice is carried out.1 Not only are the implications changing the structure of the design workplace, but they are transforming the way the we generate and test design, fabricate and construct it. Computation is becoming more and more an integrated art form amalgamating these stages of design and implementation. It is in this way, that computation can be said to be redefining the way in which designers work, in a homogenised manner. This is where computational design is leveraging from computerisation. Generative architecture thorough algorithmic scripting, allows us to achieve complex iterations, without traditional design composition.2 Advancing from computerisation as merely a tool for representation of a preconceived design concept, computation is playing an active and integrated role in the actual generation of design forms and outcomes. However, it is at this point where the divergence of views on computation adding to the profession emerge. It is the view held by some that computation and generative design is in fact taking away from the formal human artistic integrity and input, and as such some architects have distanced themselves from such techniques. Although one must consider, that engaging with computational design can generate forms that previously, one wouldn’t be able to even conceive. It is through this algorithmic thinking, that these inconceivable ideas can be explored, and the capacity to solve complex problems augments.3

1 Brady Peters, “Computation Works : The Building Of Algorithmic Thought.”, Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 08-13. 2 Brad Elias, Lecture week three; Composition / Generation, The University of Melbourne (2016)

3 Brady Peters, “Computation Works : The Building Of Algorithmic Thought.”, Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 08-13.

CONCEPTUALISATION

Furthermore, with the increasing design parameters and computational resources such as performance analysis, closed loop environmental feedback, and simulated user experience, more responsive design resolutions are being able to be achieved. Hence the applications of algorithmic design are becoming exceedingly competent. As computation is still an emerging skill itself, the ways in which it is employed within practices are vastly different. The organisational structure of firms are shifting to cater for this evolution, through internal specialised groups, engaging external consultants or more hybrid and integrated practices. It is not only until all designers are competent in computation, that full potentials will be able to be realised. With computer languages advancing and the continual amelioration of computational programs, it is without doubt that algorithmic thinking is becoming an increasingly pivotal entity within architectural design. To disregard these shifting dynamics would be a hindrance to oneself.

Art Basel Miami, 2011, designed by MARC FORNES & THEVERYMANY. An example of generative design through computation http://theverymany.com/constructs/11-art-basel-miami/ CONCEPTUALISATION 21

PRECEDENT 0.1

The Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la création Frank Gehry Partner’s 2014 Gehry Partner’s Louis Vuitton art museum employed high technological simulation techniques and embedded intelligence in order to engineer and construct the geometrically complex building.1 Pushing the materials and load tolerances of the buildings to novel extremes. The mass-customised folded glass and curved concrete panels are characteristic of the complex geometry achieved at an unprecedented scale. It’s success may be attributed to the scope of collaboration and the organisational complexity that transpired throughout the project. Gehry Partner’s engaged with engineering, construction and fabrication specialists, all necessary to achieve the large scale curvatures and framework envisaged by Gehry. Computational applications were used heavily in the fabrication stage, for instance a large parametric glass mould allowed the glass sheets to be meticulously bent into the exact cylindrical geometry.2 Such accomplishments and construction magnitude would not have been possible without the engagement of this implicit material optimisation, and is a testimony to the place of computational design in the contemporary architectural and construction realm.

1 Tobias Nolte and Andrew Witt, ‘Gehry Partners’ Foundation Louis Vuitton: Crowdsourcing Embedded Intelligence’, Architectural Design, 84 (2014), 82-88.

CONCEPTUALISATION

The design of the Louis Vuitton museum occurred through formal human composition in which the design intent was preconceived outside parameters of the computer. It is in this way that the project didn’t focus on computation form finding or generation. Rather, it applied the capabilities of computational design, making it physically possible to construct such design intent, that wouldn’t have been possible in the absence of these computational tools. The merit of this building exists in the engineered realisation of Gehry’s composition, despite it remaining separate from generative form computation.

CONCEPTUALISATION 23

PRECEDENT 0.2

Research Pavilion 2012 ICD and ITKE The Institude for Computational Design (ICD) and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE). Generative computation is demonstrated highly through the ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion of 2012. The pavilion is fabricated from woven carbon and glass fibre composites, which was erected entirely by a robotically programmed machine. The shell thickness consisting of only four millimetres of composite laminate, is able to span eight metres,1 which is a testimony to reliance of the computational simulations methods undertaken. The project investigated biomimetic design strategies, focusing on the exploration of material and composition of arthropods’ exoskeletons. Design parameters were integrated with simulations of the materials, as an input to computational models. This generated numerous iterations, which after comparative analysis, highlighted the chosen design resolution.The system’s structural logic through the spatial arrangement of the carbon and glass fibres, means the materially can be employed efficient whilst remaining lightweight.2 The computer-based design and simulation processes are not the sole aspects of what brings this project to the forefront of digital computation. Mathematical coupling of the robot with a 3D axis was the result of generating the script for the code that controlled the robot. The synthesis of novel modes of computational and material design, digital simulation and robotic fabrication permits the environment whereby the development of computational possibilities can be explored. This project sets up a platform for investigation into an expanding repertoire of new computational scripting and their applications with robots.

1 “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2012”, Institute for Computational Design (ICD), 2016 <http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=8807> [accessed 16 March 2016] 2 “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2012”, Institute for Computational Design (ICD), 2016 <http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=8807> [accessed 16 March 2016]

CONCEPTUALISATION

All images sourced from http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=8807

CONCEPTUALISATION 25

A4. CONCLUSION

Throughout my journey through Design Studio Air I will endeavour to continue to accumulate and expand my knowledge on the contemporary environment in which computational design exists. Already I have acquired understandings of sources of design generation, that prior to the commencement of Part A I would have never even considered. I am particularly interested in exploring material properties, and they way in which they can be pushed to their full extent to achieve engaging results. Like the 2010 Research Pavilion by ICD/ITKE that pushed the elastic bending properties of ply to its maximum capacity, I am interested in analysing a material system and utilising this information to inform the expression of design. With the aim to create an intrinsic relationship between the characteristics the material matter and the arrangement of the design resolution. As our material is prescribed to us, I aim to focus in on this aspect and make it key to my design, using it as a platform to leverage my generative process. Our material, timber plywood, is a highly versatile engineered wood that has an aesthetic and natural warmth to it. Considering its relative thin and delicate profile, it possesses quite strong properties whilst remaining light weight. This can be attributed to its three layer makeup, and can be considered as a workable material. As studied in the One Main precedent by dEcOi Architects, and as is emerging application in computational design, the articulations of the curvatures were informed through environmental analysis. That is, the profiling above a designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desk was directly linked to the moods they displayed during the design process of the internal timber installation. Other environmental aspects such as positioning of lighting and ventilation systems were of course form defining factors. As our site is located in an architectural office, I would like to establish a link between the ceiling design and social interactions in the workplace. With the emerging and an increasingly important aspect of computational evolution, is the previously mentioned shifting of structural organisation in an architectural practice. I aim to make this contemporary issue the basis of my algorithmic exploration, in search for my design resolution. This may take many avenues such as the analysis of statistics pertaining to the reorganisation of architectural workplaces, emotional feedback felt by employees, or a holistic timeline of the evolution of computational design. Such approach would be responsive to not only a social workplace environment, but to an issue specifically relevant to the architectural workplace today.

CONCEPTUALISATION

A5. LEARNING OUTCOMES

After having studied the precedents, along with engaging with the prescribed readings and lectures from Part A in Studio Air, my understanding and appreciation of algorithmic design has drastically transformed. Prior to these last few weeks, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have an understanding of the basis behind what drives algorithmic scripting, what it can achieve, and how significant its importance is in the contemporary architectural context, and hence why it is so crucial to learn. I associated computer programs with simply form representation and fabrication, as that was the level at which I had previously engaged in. Rather than modelling with the final composition in mind, I am now beginning to think of computation as sets of parameters, lists of numbers and vectors, and interconnected actions that create a network of processes. It is through this workflow that a world of generative and responsive design outcomes can be explored and manipulated. It is certainly a novel way of thinking, but I am excited about the what I have already achieved in Grasshopper, and the possible outcomes I will be able to realise in the future. Grasshopper is not as intricately complex as what my preconceived notion of it was. Rather it consists of simple sets of rules, in which if we engage with them, complexity will naturally occur. Along side the technical components of algorithmic scripting, I have learnt about the way in which computation is redefining the dynamics of contemporary architectural practice and design.

CONCEPTUALISATION 27

A6. APPENDIX - ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES

Triangulation: Octree

Transform (Affine): Contouring

CONCEPTUALISATION

Transform (Eludian): Orient, Scale NU

Triangulation: Voronoi, Populate 3D, Facet dome

Transform (Eludian): Orient, Scale NU

Triangulation: Delaunday Edges, Metaball, Populate 2D

Transform (Affine): Contouring

CONCEPTUALISATION 29

REFERENCE LIST

Agkathidis, Asterios, and Brian Manning-Spindt, “High-Tech / Low-Tech: Computational Design And Fabrication In The Chinese Context”, Academia.edu, 2016 <http://www.academia. edu/5375762/High-tech_Low-tech_Computational_design_and_ fabrication_in_the_Chinese_context> [accessed 13 March 2016] Brady Peters, “Computation Works : The Building Of Algorithmic Thought.”, Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 08-13. Brad Elias, Lecture week three; Composition / Generation, The University of Melbourne (2016) Fornes, Mark, “The Art Of The Prototypical”, Architectural Design, 86 (2016), 60-67 Fry, Tony (2008). Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg) “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010”, Institute for Computational Design (ICD), 2016 <http://icd.unistuttgart.de/?p=4458> [accessed 6 March 2016] “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2012”, Institute for Computational Design (ICD), 2016 <http://icd.unistuttgart.de/?p=8807> [accessed 16 March 2016] Kalay, Yehuda E. (2004). Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of ComputerAided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press) “One Main”, dECOi architects, 2016 <http://www.decoiarchitects.org/2011/10/onemain/> [accessed 8 March 2016] Oxman, Rivka and Robert Oxman, eds (2014). Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York: Routledge), “The Lanxi Curtilage / Archi Union Architects”, Estudio Quagliata Arquitectura, 2012 <http://arquitectura. estudioquagliata.com/socializarq/the-lanxi-curtilagearchi-union-architects> [accessed 13 March 2016] Tobias Nolte and Andrew Witt, ‘Gehry Partners’ Foundation Louis Vuitton: Crowdsourcing Embedded Intelligence’, Architectural Design, 84 (2014), 82-88

CONCEPTUALISATION

CONCEPTUALISATION 31

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

B DESIGN CRITERIA

CONCEPTUALISATION 33 DESIGN CRITERIA 33

B1. RESEARCH FIELD

PAT TERNING Pattern and ornamentation holds a momentous place in design. Its integration and application into our environmental fabric is fundamental to engendering experiential qualities, and possesses the eminent ability to communicate with the user. Historically, its narrative has evolved over time, reconceptualising its application and ideological position throughout eras and movements. Architecture is undoubtedly connected to culture, being shaped by visible and invisible forces as it engages with the dynamic states of social circumstances.1 Evolving cultural and spiritual conditions manifest themselves into an architectural aesthetic that is pertinent to the time. Traditionally, the role of ornamentation is found in adorning buildings with religious and spiritual imagery and patterns. A long history of applied embellishment is intertwined in the fabric of churches, mosques and plazas around the world. The Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran (1629) is a pertinent example of this, with radiant tile mosaics adorning virtually all faces of the mosque. This high degree of symbolic motif complexity is an aesthetic value held highly in Islamic art and architecture. It is argued that the beauty of mosque interiors fulfils a psychological needs of human beings to engage in aesthetic ambience, and demonstrates the integral role pattern plays is engendering spiritual and other experiences. Gottfried Semper’s therory of ornamentation expresses it’s importance through the notion that functional and structural attributes of a building are subsidiary to the artistic goals of ornament.2 The antithesis to this idea is held by Adolf Loos, who banished ornament and defined ornamentation as crime.3 In his view, ornamentation was an expression of traditional society and hence in his pursuance of modernist architecture, ornamentation had lost its social function and become unnecessary. Whilst the ideals behind Loos’ ideology were attributed to distinguishing from the past, it can be argued that expelling ornamentation in its entirety is an irrational attempt at this. Pattern is an enduring theme throughout art and architecture, and is emerging as a significant subject in computational design.

1 Moussavi, Farshid and Michael Kubo, eds (2006). The Function of Ornament (Barcelona: Actar), pp. 5-14 2 Moussavi, Farshid and Michael Kubo, eds (2006). The Function of Ornament (Barcelona: Actar), pp. 5-14 3 1998) 34

Loos, Adolf, and Adolf Opel, Ornament And Crime (Riverside, Calif.: Ariadne Press, CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

Expressive ornamentation in The Shah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran. https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Shah_Mosque#/media/File:Imam_Mosque_3Daa.jpg CONCEPTUALISATION 35 DESIGN CRITERIA 35

PAT TERN IN CONTEMPORARY DIGITAL PRACTICES Patterns have long been associated with the natural motifs found in nature, with innate emergent arrangements serving as inspiration, translated into architectural geometry.1 Henri Poincaré once stated that we study nature because we delight in it, and we delight in it because it’s beautiful. “If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living. [It is the] profounder beauty which comes from the harmonious order of parts, and which a pure intelligence can grasp.”2 This earnest understanding of pattern in nature illuminates the gravity of natural ornamentation, and it’s application in design. Louis Sullivan presented the need for consistency and organicity in building expressions.3 His ideas described that ornament should grow naturally from the material organisation, making them inseparable components. The ornament is embedded within the material substrate, allowing for the succinct relationship between pattern and material. Sullivan’s notion resonates strongly with arguably the most momentous modernist architect, Frank Lloyd Wright’s, theory of organic architecture, in which ornamentation should no longer be a physically added decoration, rather the decoration should be derived from the natural textures and colours that material innately possesses.4 Contemporary digital practices enables the application of ornamentation to once again be reconfigured. Generation of complexly patterned surfaces and structures, and the increasing capacity to produce such complexity through digital fabrications, is redefining the position of ornamentation in architecture, which had been relinquished from modernism for much of the twentieth century.5 Computational design allows us to explore the extensive spans of patterning, nature inspired or otherwise. Such parametric sketching enables us to unlock the realm of digital iterations. Iterations pertain to a timely, inexpensive, plentiful, distinct and disposable exploration of ambiguous or well defined design intent. It sets in motion the beginning of a creative outburst of digital geometries with appropriate degree of ambiguity or refinement.6 The diversity in the expression of ornamentation has caused its definition to be fluid in nature, and as such is a fundamental field of investigation.

2 1998)

Brad Elias, Lecture week five; Ornamentation, The University of Melbourne (2016)

Flake, Gary William, The Computational Beauty Of Nature (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press,

3 Sullivan, Louis H, and Isabella Athey, Kindergarten Chats (Revised 1918) And Other Writings (New York: Wittenborn, Schultz, 1947) 4 1931)

Wright, Frank Lloyd, Modern Architecture ([Princeton, N.J.]: Princeton University Press,

5 Kolarevic, Branko and Kevin R. Klinger, eds (2008). Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture (New York; London: Routledge), pp. 6–24 6 Woodbury, Robert F. (2014). ‘How Designers Use Parameters’, in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, ed. by Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman (London; New York: Routledge), pp. 153–170

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

Casey Reas, Process 14 (Image 5), 2008 Drawing made using Java-based code. from Mike Silver, “Pattern Deposition: From Scripts to Applications”, Architectural Design, 78 (2009), 94-99.

Memory of Skin, parametric paper sculpture, Ann Sunwoo, http://www.annsunwoo.com/Memory-of-Skin-I

CONCEPTUALISATION 37 DESIGN CRITERIA 37

B2. CASE STUDY 1.0

de Young Museum by Herzog de Meuron 2002-2005

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hyfen/359190824 38

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

Herzog de Meuron is an award winning architecture practice based is Basle. Its Digital Technology team leads a prominent path in contemporary world of computational design. Their projects engage strongly with the conceptual, and explore a workflow approach defined by resolving the right tool and generating some artful scripting to make the concept work. The conceptual world we find in architectural design is balanced by the pragmatic world of construction, which in turn are both strongly influenced by technology.1 The de Young Museum is a testimony to these sentiments. Its architectural emphasis lies in the three layers of perforated copper sheet panels that form the skin of the building. In this perforated facade system, transparency of a surface in a traditionally solid material impenetrable to light, is challenged. Abstract patterns derived from images were developed into a finite set of depths or diameters in which the designers could explore myriad combinations of perforations, punctures and patterning. Resulting in the different patterning effects on each wall. Herzog de Meuron’s digital application of patterning allowed artistic freedom to be explored through an iterative process, unlocking hidden complexities found within the multilayered system. The computational software also served as the driving mechanism in the fabrication process. Automated engineering of flat-pattern processing enabled the transference to the perforated sheet-metal cladding at a large scale without compromising complexity or precision.

Peters, Brady. (2013) ‘Realising the Architectural Intent: Computation at Herzog & De Meuron’. Architectural Design, 83, 2, pp. 56-61.

http://www.arch2o.com/m-h-de-youngmuseum-herzog-de-meuron/

CONCEPTUALISATION 39 DESIGN CRITERIA 39

ITERATIONS Image Sampling 1.

Understanding the original

Increasing U count

10.

singular radia sample

17.

Image overlay, planarit y flat tened

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

Moved image with stepped series, ex truded in Z plane

equalizing U and V count

11.

18.

E x trude towards a point

Impor tation of image

12.

Impor t image, outline lof t joined

19.

manipulation of sur face plane with lof ted cur ves, ex trusion

image overlay, radia dif ferentiaton

20.

geometr y ex trusion image height mapping

Inver ting

Increasing radia expression

aligning t wo layer depth of image sample

impor t image, radia dif ferentiaton

Height Dif ferentiation ex trusions 13.

14.

Move image circles, inward of fset

21.

Patched sur face plane, image circle ex trusion

15.

Of fset circles in Z plane

22.

16.

Upward of fset cone

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flat terning in z plane

direction inver ted

24.

Lof t circles in strips

Lof t dif ferentiation

CONCEPTUALISATION 41 DESIGN CRITERIA 41

Geometr y dif ferentiation and orientation 25.

26.

circle cur ve centre found, manipulation to sphere

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

input planar quadrilateral

27.

scaled quadrilateral, lof ted

28.

quadrilateral ex truded

29.

z direction manipulation equalized

30.

31.

sphere alteration

circle cur ve kaleidoscope run one

32.

circle cur ve kaleidoscope mirrored

CONCEPTUALISATION 43 DESIGN CRITERIA 43

Successful species

Grasshopper provides a platform for a new design work flow, in which the iterative computational process lies. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flexible toolset of a librar y of components, allows for a large scope of geometries to be generation, which can then be applied in an architectural space. This process indisputably brings to light the emerging method of ideation and generation in contemporar y architectural practice, and is an attestation to the expansive geometries it is capable of producing. Af ter downloading and understanding Herzog de Meuronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definition, various species were created through a main initial alteration, in which many iterations were then born. The interconnectivity of components and an understanding of their inputs and outputs is undoubtably the key to producing a multiplitude of iterations, successful or other wise. In order to analyse and interpret the results from the experimental iterations, I developed a selection criteria. The brief denotes the design of a ceiling installation, to which is to be fabricated out timber veneer. The design would be suspended from the ceiling of a room with the approximate dimensions of 4 x 6 metres, which would function as a meeting / board room in an architects firm. It would provide the assembly space for in house meetings whilst also acting as a space to receive and host clients. The walls would consist of glass, encapsulating essentially a long table in the middle surrounded by chairs. The installation would be the centre piece for the room, however due to the transparent nature of the walls, the installation would also be appreciated from a wider of fice contex t. Given the nature of a suspending ceiling installation, its presence would exist closely with the lighting system. It would have the ability to filter and disperse a cer tain luminosity into the room, lending itself to engendering a cer tain ambience. While analysing this brief, three values and characteristics that the ceiling installation should possess naturally presented themselves. Within the broader bench mark of the form and geometr y lending itself in such a way as to be used as a suspended ceiling installation in a commercial of fice, the following criteria were identified. - As the centre piece for the room and potentially the of fice, do the aesthetics found in the geometr y and patterning express the characteristics of slenderness, elegance and fluidity. - Through its per forations and patterning, would it of fer desirable lighting ef fects, still allowing the piece to per form regarding usability requirements (ie. not too dark or with distracting shadows). - In the given medium of timber veneer, does the geometr y lend itself to makability and constructibility. These criteria were considered when assessing the iterative outcomes, all whilst examining their ar ticulation of patterning and per forations.

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

7. This iteration despite it being planar linework has the potential to be applied to the design of my ceiling istallation. This sampling of this image is more successful than other images due to the elongated and slender form it implies. The complexit y in itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pat terned qualities could engener a beatiful filtered lighting environment, with the least amount of dappled lighting occuring through the strip in the middle, where the table underneath would sit, hence addhearing to user requirments. It represents somewhat linear proper ties that would respond naturally to the meeting roomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long table. The potential for this per forated pat tern to be ex truded down or suspended from the ceiling, could see it forming a design that sits in and responds naturally to itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s site, in a cur vacious and sof t manner.

14. This iterations presents the potential for timber veneer to be flexed into cur ved forms, that interlock through a system of slits. It presents a somewhat floral and cur vacious form that sit sof tly within one another. It could fluidly cur ve around the area of the ceiling. The cur vatures found in the circles are a lot more welcoming and elegant than some of the cone or sharper iterations that were produced. In terms of constructabilit y, curling strips of timber veneer in this way would need to be tested, however there is potential assuming they are bent in the correct way in regards to the direction of the grain.

21.

27.

The sur faces produced here read as undulating pockets of cur ved veneer. The potential in its cur ving profile due to its height dif ferentiation makes this species successful. Dipping up and down along the ceiling creates a fluid ef fect that may be more successful than iterations that remain in the same plane. humanistic cur ves create a level of relatabilit y that has the potential to engender comfor table psyche. The ex trusions would filter light through to the space below.

The geometr y of rectangles take on the wave in the profile. The panels could be suspended down to communicate this cur ve. Similar qualities of an undualting cur ve, although this iteration would allow more light to be let through. With the rectangular panels dif ferentiating in size, however remaining relatively small regardless, a sense of delicacy is achieved. The pat tern composed by the repeated geometr y engenders a level of intricacy that could easily be fabricated.

CONCEPTUALISATION 45 DESIGN CRITERIA 45

B3.

FreelandBuck are a design firm based in computational pattern. Their work attem

CASE STUDY 2.0

Technicolour Bloom by FreelandBuck 2008

Technicolour bloom is a kaleidoscopic in the intricately patterned double skin inst pattern was easily applied to a curved s The seamless transition from digital des panels. Some areas were laced with a c Technicolour bloom is a testimony to the architectural space in which light is filtrat

1 http://www.freelandbuck.com/projects/t

http://www.freelandbuck.com/projects/technicolor-bloom/

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

n New York and Los Angeles that focus on atmospheric and structural potential of mpts to intertwine architecture with innovation and digital form.

nstallation that explores the intricacy in pattern, light and shadow. First installed at Sliver Gallery in Vienna, the design of tallation was generated through computational design.1 Through the use of parametric design, the seemingly complex urface. The polarisation of the surface fuses together a system of repeated motifs through a set of digital parameters. sign to digital fabrication allowed the compositional organisation to then be cut out of 1400 unique flat plywood coloured offset layer of the digitally cut pattern and then assembled to form an integrated twisted multi tinted form. e capabilities of digital architecture and its execution of increasingly complex geometries. The design evoke a vibrant ted and cascaded, allowing users can move through and experience an engaging sense of patterned space.

technicolor-bloom/

http://www.freelandbuck.com/projects/technicolor-bloom/ CONCEPTUALISATION 47 DESIGN CRITERIA 47

REVERSE ENGINEERING

Curves for lofted overhanging surface

LOFT

Surface

TRIANGLE PANELS B

CONSTANT QUAD SUBDIVIDE

Brep Edges

Subdivide : 2

Curves for lofted underneath surface

1. Two different sets of curves to loft the surfaces for the underneath and overhanging surfaces.

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

LOFT

REPEAT

2. Through the use of grasshopper pluggin LunchBox, triangulate panels are created on a rectangular surface.

3. The component constant quad enable the subdividision of the triangular panels into quadrangular cells, emulating the underlying interconnected pattern.

4. The input altered in or the previous allowing the cellular patt curvatures o

Curve

t surface is then rder to panelize sly lofted surfaces, e quadrangular tern to take the of the lofted surface.

Flatten Tree

Graft Tree

XY Plane

OFFSET

Path Mapper

LOFT

Baked

White

Baked

Pink

{A;B;C} --> {A;B}

REPEAT Baked and scaled

5. A thickness is then added to the linework by offsetting the curves. This is only achieved however, after flatterning and grafting these lists of curves. This is required so that their data structure matches, enabling the two lists of curves to then be lofted. This has the effect of turning the curves into flat frames like presented in Technicolour Bloom.

White

6. The frame of the underneath layer is baked twice, with the inside copy scaled down slightly creating a double skin. The overhanging layer is then positioned.

CONCEPTUALISATION 49 DESIGN CRITERIA 49

1. The detailed complexity of the pattern is born through the intricacy in the overlapping. The laced effects is visually enhanced through the projects sense of kaleidoscopic colour. The internal layer is therefore given the colour pink to emulate the vivacity yielded in the design.

It is through the up close and detailed analysis of pattern that one can truly begin to appreciate the complex aesthetic exhibited in Technicolour Bloom. 2.

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CONCEPTUALISATION 51 DESIGN CRITERIA 51

THE OUTCOME

The final outcome produced through the reverse engineering exercises emulates the essence and characteristics of Technicolour Bloom. It is successful in achieving the design intent of the polerisation of a surface through the repeated laced motifs. The exercise pushed me to actively put into practice my understanding of parametric design. With the aim now of producing pre-established form, rather than simply maniputlating and playing around with paramaters generate iterations, I was enabled to think in a more pragmatic manner. I also developed a deeper appreciation for the advantages of having interconnected components, in that changing the parameter of one input, enabled the entire form to be updated due to the relationships held between components. For example, while I endeavoured to achieve the ratio of the pattern size to the surface area that was accurate to that of Technicolour Bloomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. I was able to increase and decrease the U and V values of the quadrangular subdivisions in order to visually achieve a more accurate representation of the pattern. Equally, whilst manipulating the intial curves that created the lofted surface, the pattern would immediately update itself to stretch over this newly mainpulated surface. This demonstrates the fluid nature and the explicit memory of parametric definitions and the consequently advantageous streamlining of the design process, compared to that of a more tradition computerisation approach where you are required to manually update the design everywhere else should you make one change.

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

Although I did learn a lot through reverse engineering, I did find it challenging to completely copy the pattern found in Technicolour Bloom. The original pattern consist of more curved lines than the patterning system I was able to create, resulting in some dissimilarities. This can be attributed to the sharper nature of quadrilangles and triangulating panels, restricting the initial capabilites of a curvilinear pattern. I can also now see that the pattern becomes denser in some areas more than others. I could have therefore improved accuracy of the pattern by breaking the overhanging layer into smaller parts, and subdividing the quadrilangles again by running the component one more time. I am very interested in the capabilities of algorithmic patterning and pushing my knowledge further. I believe the possibilites to create a poetic lattice of interconnecting curves could form the strong basis of a ceiling installation, and I aim to develop these potentials.

CONCEPTUALISATION 53 DESIGN CRITERIA 53

B4. TECHNIQUE DEVELOPMENT

lof ted triangulated quad divided panels

10.

sur face t wist

17.

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

increase in U and V values to intensif y pat tern

decrease in U and V values

11.

sur face t wist manipulation

18.

random quad panels

orientation manipulation

sur face height map increased

19.

qual panels run t wice

12.

subdivision of quad panels into self similar cells

shadowing

20.

triangulation panels into panel frame

lof ted panels into pipe

intensification of pat tern

13.

14.

fur ther sur face manipualtion

hexagonal cells on sur face

21.

22.

hexagonal and triangualtion cell grid overlay

sur face manipulation

15.

16.

manipulation of U and V values

23.

quad subdivision of diamond panels

multiplication and overlay

manipulation of U and V values

tuncated piping

24.

quad subdivision of diamond panels frame

CONCEPTUALISATION 55 DESIGN CRITERIA 55

FORMATION OF GROUPS It was during this stage of Part B that groups were formed. My group consisted of Hugh Goad and Jacob Komarzynski. Hughâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research field also consisted of patterning, with his primary focus on the Hanging Mobile projects by Alexander Calder. These projects investigate the compositional overlapping of silhouettes and the forms that are created in between such overlapping panels. Due to the nature of suspending mobiles, their pivot points serve as a source of dynamism. These movable kinetic planes engender moving patterns in their compositional geometry, and consequently in the shadows they cast. Hugh was able to produce an array of iterations that explored dynamic arrangements born from points of axis. Jacobâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research field was looking at material performance through the physics simulator plugin Kangaroo. This live physics engine allows for an interactive investigation, optimisation and form-finding directly within Grasshopper. By experimenting with anchor points, reaction times, and mesh grids, Jacob was able to generative an iterative investigation from his reverse engineer project of the Voussoir Cloud by IwamotoScott. These sets of iterations, in conjunction with my own, formed the basis in which we proceeded with the prototyping and design proposal stage.

25.

26.

33.

34.

41.

42.

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

27.

28.

35.

43.

36.

44.

Using the selection criteria applied in Case Study 1.0 as a basis to our ongoing investigation of the brief, various iterations which we deemed successful and having application potential were selected. The aim of this exercise was narrow the focus of the project, and arrive at a more succinct and concentrated goal to pursue.

29.

37.

45.

Selection Criteria Elegant aesthetics

Do the aesthetics found in the geometry and patterning express the characteristics of slenderness, elegance and fluidity.

Lighting effects

Through its perforations and patterning, would it offer desirable lighting effects, still allowing the piece to perform regarding usability requirements (ie. not too dark or with distracting shadows).

Constructibility

In the given medium of timber veneer, does the geometry lend itself to makability and constructibility.

30.

38.

46.

31.

39.

47.

32.

40.

48.

CONCEPTUALISATION 57 DESIGN CRITERIA 57

49.

50.

51.

52.

57.

58.

59.

60.

65.

66.

67.

68.

73.

74.

75.

76.

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53.

54.

55.

56.

61.

62.

63.

64.

69.

70.

71.

72.

77.

78.

79.

80.

CONCEPTUALISATION 59 DESIGN CRITERIA 59

Successful species 3. This iteration draws upon the fundamental principles that underpin the pat tern in technicolour bloom. This pat tern, although requiring fur ther refining, has the potential to be applied to timber veneer on a small scale through per forating panels, or to be emulated at a larger scale using thin planes that t wist and connect to ressemble the pat tern, lending itself to t wo options of constructabilit y if simplified.

The sur face manipulation presented in this iteration is both fluid and elegant. The profile of the geometr y cer tainly presents architectural application of a suspended slings. It is possible to envisage a structure similar to this sit ting coherently in the space of a rectangular meeting room. Its slender qualities respond to the linear nature of the table that would sit beneath it.

10.

16.

The hexagonal grid, although sharp, is sof tened by the cur vacious profile it takes one, thereby satisf ying a selection criteria. Its honecomb qualities lend itself to constructabilit y of planar strips. The openness of the per forations means that it wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t obstruct too much light, allowing the installation to adhere its functional requirements.

34. This dynamic composition represents the richness in pat terning through layering our group is aiming to engender. Although slightly too busy, this iteration represents the principle of suspending elements at dif ferent levels to create a rising and falling ef fect. Its current depiction as flat panels may not show of f the beautiful bending capacities of timber veneer, however it would be successful in other areas such as acoustics.

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

50. Having limited anchor points compared to other kangaroo iterations , this iteration allows the form to billow down in a more fluid and less spik y manner. The sof t cur ves ar ticulated in the sur face are panelised in a multifaceted way. Filling in these panels in a solid manner would not be appropriate given the contex t of a ceiling installation as it would block too much light, however this geometr y presents the potential application through connecting strips of veneer to create the net like structure.

76.

Triangulation is an amenable method of panelising a sur face. Giving it such treatment makes it developable, however runs the risk of becoming visually harsh due to the sharp edges created. Hence if we were to futher investigate this iteration, in order for it to suf fice the fluidit y criteria, the sur face would require smoothing in some manner. Placing the iteration inside a bounding box allows us to envisage it in the contex t of the meeting room. The way in which the geometr y meanders down the wall from the ceiling has an enticing and exciting qualit y. In this way, it somewhat breaks the brief to create a more engaging space underneath it.

CONCEPTUALISATION 61 DESIGN CRITERIA 61

B5. TECHNIQUE : PROTOT YPES It is through the making of physical prototypes that design can be refined. The importance of prototyping is particularly crucial when working with computational design, in which immensely complex geometries can be created without the necessary concept of gravitation, and may not even be at all developable. Most design paradigms are located within a realistic framework; whether it can be built. Materialisation brings to light fabrication and assembly issues, and in turns allows you to overcome them through testing different solutions.

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CONCEPTUALISATION 63 DESIGN CRITERIA 63

INITIAL MATERIAL INVESTIGATION As the prescribed material in which to fabricate our ceiling installation is timber veneer, the prototyping process begun through the initial exploration of the properties of timber veneer. Timber veneer is a material of soft texture, warmth and fibrous. Analysis primarily highlighted the detail of the grain. This natural growth characteristic is not only an aesthetic component, but lends itself to the fundamental structural elements of timber. The physiology of timber means that the cells grows in rings, resulting in the formation of the grain. Testing illuminates the fact that veneer is stronger against the grain. The consequences of this in fabrication pertain to art of bending, and ensuring the material is bent against the grain for maximum deflection to occur prior to the material giving way and snapping.

In reference to images on the right hand page. Timber veneer requires being sourced from an external wholesaler in order to receive a sheet amount adequate in size to use for fabrication. Therefore, prior to receiving actually timber veneer product to test and prototype with, plywood was investigated as a temporary replacement to explore the essence of a material sourced from wood. Using the laser cutting, various patterns generated parametrically using components such as metaball, boxmorph and attractor points were both cut and etched into plysheet. The investigation of perforations had already been established in my mind due to my interest in the De Young Musuem (Herzog de Meuron in Case Study 1.0). The outcomes of these were immensely more effective when the pattern was articulated through a full cut rather than just an etch. Shadows and dappled light become apparent through these protoypes, and I was able to better envisage the effects patterning may have as a ceiling installation.

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CONCEPTUALISATION 65 DESIGN CRITERIA 65

These timber prototypes aimed to envestigate possible connection types. Pin axis proved to be a simple jointing system, however it was only tested in conjunction with planar panels, and therefore doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t demonstrate capacities to adhere to a curvacious system.

The prototyping process undoubtably brought to light many fabricating factors pertinent to the material qualities of timber veneer. After having developed the hexagonal prototype, we realised that this geometry would not be possible when using actual timber veneer due to its lack of folding properties.

The bending tolerance of timber veneer is such that once it reaches its maximum bending potential, it promptly snaps. We were not able to test for such attributes while working with the clear polypropylene.

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

Therefore, once actual timber veneer was obtained, I tried to replicate the same cell like geometry portrayed in the polypropylene prototype. Discrepencies occured due to the bending nature of the veneer. Neighbouring interconnectivity wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t able to be fully achieved as the faces connecting to one another were not flat against each other. The consequence of this were inbetween spaces. However after further reflection, this aspect links back to Hughâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earlier concept of the compositional inbetween spaces created when overlapping elements. This adds a level of richness and complexity. This prototype should definietly be developed further moving into Part C as it has the potential to create soft and elegant curves through the simple repetition of bending moment.

CONCEPTUALISATION 67 DESIGN CRITERIA 67

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

B6. TECHNIQUE : PROPOSAL Conceptualising the site contex t within the design. Integrity in form is found in the components in which its comprised of, much like a studio or firm based environment. Architecture firms are based on studio environments, with members sharing and learning information with each other in a symbiotic and collaborative way. The outcome of combined minds is more of ten that not, more advantageous than with one singular mind. It is this fluid and dynamic group composition that adds richness to a firm, group or project. Members in a design team suppor t each other symbiotically, to create an integrated entity with more complexity and depth. This has been the conceptual basis behind our project. Each individual unit is sustained by its relationship with its neighbouring cell, creating a dialogue between adjacent segments. Utilising the tools in grasshopper and physics simulator kangaroo, we have explored this relationship based composition. The repeating incremental units create a system, that expands and grows as the form undulates under the ceiling. Together they come together as a team, composing an holistic integrated form.

CONCEPTUALISATION 69 DESIGN CRITERIA 69

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

ANALYSING THE PROPOSAL

The proposed installation represents a fluid form that meanders down the wall from the ceiling. Its soft approach aims to incorporate curvaceous properties that would be appropriate for the context of meeting room in an architecture firm. Conceptually, it represents a harmonious abstraction of the importance of neighbouring interaction with studio members. The formâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rounded panels are developable and applicable to the real world. However it can be stated that a focus on the form being developable compromised the intricacy of the design and a varying pattern. The repeated panels vary in size only slightly, and could therefore be improved by allowing greater variety to run through the geometry. This could be applied through the use of components such as attractor points, or working more closely with laced paneling. In terms of scale, the panels could be reduced in size to give a finer and more detailed aesthetic to the panelisation of the surface. Rather than filling in these panels, they could be left open to allow perforations to detail the design, and allow more light to penetrate through. There is also the possibility for the structure to give the appearance that it is suspended from the ceiling, rather than attaching directly to it. This would give a quality of weightlessness, lending the form more elegance. The proposed design has areas of improvement that I look forward to working with and overcoming throughout the course of Part C.

CONCEPTUALISATION 71 DESIGN CRITERIA 71

B7. LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

My learning objectives within Studio Air have been to push myself to extend my knowledge and appreciation of computational design. Getting to know grasshopper better as the semester has progressed has been an ongoing and worthwhile process, that has been immensely rewarding. Throughout Part B, my research into patterning through algorithmic sketching and generating can undoubtably be summed up through the phrase â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;learning through doingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. As much as I have experienced successes in grasshopper, I have equally encountered many challenges as I endeavoured to overcome technical issues. Manipulating and incorporating new components allowed me to produce a large body of work with a diverse array of outcomes. The scope and expanse of design possibilities that can be born from visual programming is truly remarkable and is becoming more and more apparent as the course continues. I have developed a more detailed understanding for the workflow of grasshopper through the functionality of data structures and relatable inputs and outputs. The skill set I have come to obtain through visual scripting and computational modelling has also assisted in my personal development as a designer. I have been able to explore and understand how to incorporate into my individual technical repertoire, the advantages of explicit designing. However it is not simply the capacity to create forms in a digital space that is so pertinent to Studio Air, it is their application. The relationship between digital inception and its articulation in an architectural space is integral. Being able to think critically and analytically in regards to the forms that are produced in algorithmic sketching is undoubtably one of the most important lessons to be learned in this subject. I look forward to the next stage of Studio Air in engaging with a detailed design process, aiming to further advance my understanding of algorithmic design.

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CONCEPTUALISATION 73 DESIGN CRITERIA 73

B8. APPENDIX - ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES

Boxmorph

Demonstrating Controllers, Samplers and Fields through Evaluating Fields and Spin Force

CONCEPTUALISATION DESIGN CRITERIA

Controlling lists and data flow through geodesic shells

CONCEPTUALISATION 75 DESIGN CRITERIA 75

REFERENCE LIST

Brad Elias, Lecture week five; Ornamentation, The University of Melbourne (2016) Flake, Gary William, The Computational Beauty Of Nature (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1998) Kolarevic, Branko and Kevin R. Klinger, eds (2008). Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture (New York; London: Routledge), pp. 6–24 Loos, Adolf, and Adolf Opel, Ornament And Crime (Riverside, Calif.: Ariadne Press, 1998) Moussavi, Farshid and Michael Kubo, eds (2006). The Function of Ornament (Barcelona: Actar), pp. 5-14 Peters, Brady. (2013) ‘Realising the Architectural Intent: Computation at Herzog & De Meuron’. Architectural Design, 83, 2, pp. 56-61. Sullivan, Louis H, and Isabella Athey, Kindergarten Chats (Revised 1918) And Other Writings (New York: Wittenborn, Schultz, 1947) Woodbury, Robert F. (2014). ‘How Designers Use Parameters’, in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, ed. by Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman (London; New York: Routledge), pp. 153–170 Wright, Frank Lloyd, Modern Architecture ([Princeton, N.J.]: Princeton University Press, 1931)

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CONCEPTUALISATION 77 DESIGN CRITERIA 77

C 78

CONCEPTUALISATION DETAILED DESIGN

c DETAILED DESIGN

CONCEPTUALISATION 79 DETAILED DESIGN C

C1. DESIGN CONCEPT

Chosing the class direction After the completion of Part B, our class decided to amalgamate into a wholistic class project, venturing into a 13 membered group detailed design. After voting, a single project proposed during Part B was chosen as the design to be further explored, investigated and refined. This is where Part C began. The conceptual basis of this design revolves around the ideas of flow and growth. The design embodies the values that are core to the space of a meeting room, as an area that facilitates discussion, creativity, conceptualisation, the expansion and development of ideas, and the growth of relationships between clients and amongst designers. The design proposal for the ceiling installation strives therefore to engender a physical expression of flow. It is in this way the design is reminiscent of, and interconnected with, its context. The natural system of flow is also encapsulated in biomimicry. There is an organic flow and organisation that governs the actions found in nature, and learning from such system allows for the inference of arrangements. This research field was therefore simultaneously the source of conception for the design proposal.

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CONCEPTUALISATION DETAILED DESIGN

Chosen design created by Chen, Danny & Kat

This expression is achieved through the pairing of the fabrication system of strips and folding. The elongagation of thin strips provide the means to communicate a fluid and elegant aesthetic, a criteria intrinsic to the desired feel of the meeting room. Feedback received by the group during the interim presentation outlined the fluidity as an area of improvement. The edges as the tubes meandered across the ceiling were somewhat sharp, and could therefore be soften to encourage a more flowing composition. Another area of feedback consisted of the way in which the tubes interact with each, that is, how they move together and closer apart, seemed somewhat random. Improving this aspect could therefore be done through the investigation of a systematic organisation of rules found in natural systems as the author of the pathways the tubes take, rather than simply grid pinching and spreading. Similarly, the placement of lights in the room could influence where the geometry opens and closes.

CONCEPTUALISATION 81 DETAILED DESIGN C

FLOW, BIOMIMICRY + PARAMETRIC DESIGN The flow and emergence of ideas is not a new concept, rather its inherent embodiment can be found in nature. Biomimetic architecture is an innovative approach to design that emulates the systems and logic that underpin naturally derived arrangement. The contemporary method allows us to learn from and immitate the complex organisations that form the fundamental basis of how elements tanspire in nature. These systems can be applied to human scenarios, and indeed design, as a means to problem solve. It is in this way that investigation of biomimicry is undoubtably a valuable undertaking throughout refining our design. Projects such as the Research Pavilion 2013-14 by ICD-ITKE demonstrate the integration of biomimicry with parametric design. The interweaving design of pavilion is informed by the computational synthesis of biological structural principles found in the the beetle elytra.1 Similarly, the HydroScope project by Achim Menges is a parametrically designed sculpture based on the biological system that responds to humidity.2 The timber panels deform as they respond to the change in climate, demonstrating a morphological transformation inherent in the material. Both precedents demonstrate the application of biomimetic exploration with computation design, to produce an design outcome rich with complexity.

1 Marco Rinaldi and Marco Rinaldi, “Research Pavilion 2013-14 By ICD-ITKE”, A As Architecture, 2014 <http://aasarchitecture.com/2014/07/research-pavilion-2013-14 -icd-itke.html> [accessed 1 June 2016]. 2 Achim Menges, “Achim Menges Design Research Architecture Product Design”, Achimmenges.net, 2016 <http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=5083> [accessed 1 June 2016].

HydroScope: Meteorosensitive Morphology. Achim Menges in collaboration with S design, 2012. http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670629/a-no-tech-ventilation-system

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Steffen Reichert.Institute of Computational m-that-changes-with-humidity

Research Pavilion 2013-14 by ICD-ITKE http://aasarchitecture.com/2014/07/research-pavilion-2013-14-icd-itke.html

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C 84

CONCEPTUALISATION DETAILED DESIGN

SYSTEMATIC GROW TH + MOTION The exploration of Boids Algorithim and L Systems were therefore looked towards as a guiding influence in exploring the articualtion of the curves, the interstices, and the separations of the tubes throughout the design. The artificial life program of Boids simulates the flocking behaviours of birds, demonstrating the underlying principles that dictate flying movement amongst birds.1 This framework of aligment, cohesion and separation allowed agent based design studies to be carried out to inform the visual flow the tubes should take. Similarly, L systems consist of a collection of rules that generate as they flow strings that can be translated into geometric structures. Specifically, they narrate the behaviour of plant cells and the growth processes within them. Being so, L systems are intrinsically linked to our design concept of flow and growth and should assit in creating a liaison between the form the ceiling installation takes. The studies on the left consist of L systems, wheras the ones above consist of Boids Algorithm, both carried out by Kat.

1 Cui, Xiaohui, Jinzhu Gao, and Thomas E. Potok. (2006). â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A flocking based algorithm for document clustering analysisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Journal of systems architecture, 52(8), pp. 505-515. CONCEPTUALISATION 85 DETAILED DESIGN C

EXPLORATION OF THE DESIGN PARAMETERS Further investigation of the design composition and extrapolation of the tubesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; representation was conducted by Hugh Goad. His research was based on the previously conceived definition, aiming to push the boundaries in search of any underlying potential in the definition that could further unlock the concept of flow. The complex geometries created by Hugh are a testimony to the myriad ways geometry can insinuate a sense of sweeping and interractive movement.

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EXPLORING DESIGN POSSIBILITIES ITERATION POSSIBILITIES After having explored growth agents and investigation of tube composition, Ed and Chen produced myriad iterations possibilities of 3D forms that have a developable quality. These flowing tree like structures curved and twisted in diverse arrangments, manipulating the potential fabric of the installation. Throughout this process, individual iterations were highlighted as successful as the development of the form progressed.

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ITERATION CONTINUED...

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REFINING THE GEOMETRY HIGHLIGHTED ITERATIONS

The articulation of the curves in this iteration is such that the negative spaces created are highly complex and somewhat acute. The sharper bends in the geometry results in the form being engaging to look to at, however its playfulness brings down the level of refined elegance required in the space of the meeting room.

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The expression of curves in this iteration have a graceful aesthetic to it, although overal its design is too flat as undulating curves delving down into the below space are not expressed enough. In addition, the differentiation between bulbous and more narrow components are not disctinct enough. That divergence is required in order to engender nuance throughout the installation. A sense of flow is achieved but it seems a bit disjointed.

The linear qualities of this iteration are too standardised and requires more divergence to run throughout it, however this brings a quality of lightness to it. A greater interaction with neighbouring strands could create a denser level of interplay and heterogeneity throughout the design.

The flow of the curves in this iteration cascade across the ceiling, interacting in a manner that feels natural and innate. This balance between interaction and autonomy is achieved as the curves weave amongst themselves, and ressemble that of the pathways of agents previously explored. The bulbous portions are balanced by the slender articulations, producing an engaging interplay between forms. This iteration aesthetically embodies the conceptual design intent of and carries a more refined sensibility.

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FINAL GEOMETRY

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Feedback from the final refining stages of the geometr y highlighted finalising the way in which the ends of the stips finish. In previous versions, the ends had flared out almost as if they were going to continue, or as if they had been simply chopped of f. The ressolution to this saw the fining out of the ends, attenuating the ex tremities until they meet at a finalised focal point. The smooth diminishment of the ends respond to the feedback and demonstrates a refined level of interaction to the site in which it is suspended. The fine manipulation of the geometr y by Ed and Chen resulted in a resolved and complexly cur vacious design. The breakdown of the bulbs into strips, and the ar ticulation of the linear patterns within them, demonstrate the complex hierarchy that work in a holistic manner to conceptually enunciate the notion core to the design; flow.

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OPTIMISATION LIGHT E XPOSURE E VALUTATION Ladybug is an environmental analysis platform that creates a closed feedback loop, allowing for exploration into the design to delve deeper by interacting with real-world parameters. In particular, Ladybug is a workflow that explores light exposure and distribution. It narrows the gap between digital modelling and real life effect, thereby permitting design potentials to reach more advantageous and refined outcomes. This investigation was undertaken by Nick. APPLICATION TO OUR DESIGN Despite Ladybug existing in the framework of exposure and distribution from the sun, the high level of control within its components allows the user to pin-point exact locations for the sun. These locations acted as lights within the meeting room, with 4 different locations as input into the ‘Sunpath’ component. The ‘Radiation Analysis’ component was used in order to analyse the distribution of light within the meeting room. The areas where the most light exposure were located, and a point was set at each of these positions. These points then served as Attractor Points in order to vary the thickness of the strips throughout the geometry. The closer the attractor point, the thinner the surrounding strips would be.

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The inclusion of this performance based platform contributes towards creating context depending parameters, thereby enabling the design to be taylored meticulously to the specifications of the meeting room. Fabrication limitations unfortunately restricted the overt expression of the findings from Ladybug. As the strips required overlap for the provision of connection points, the strips werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t able to perform around the bulb in the precise manner the lighting analysis had established. In a broader sense however, working with Ladybug establishes a workflow that draws upon both generative design and analysis, and is undoutably an advantageous platform to explore.

Diagrams created by Nick CONCEPTUALISATION 97 DETAILED DESIGN C

OPTIMISATION STRIP EXPRESSION Various manners of weaving strips to comprise the bulbous shape were explored with the aim of adding density and complexity, whilst simultaneously providing a platform for fabricating the bulbs. The results produced by Nick range from fringed effects to more streamlined motions.

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STRIP PATTERNING The strip configuration chosen (seen on the right hand page) has an aerodynamic and linear quality that exists in harmony with the overal geometry. The simplicity of this option enables a realistic fabrication, and further patterning articulation on the strips. Two options explored bellow by Windy bellow demonstrate linear patterns differentiated by direction change.

Small linear perforations are located running perpendicular to the linear lengths of the strips. This iteration allows for smaller repeated incision to pattern the strip, and would engender more dappled lighting effects into the meeting room. Although it can be argued that this would be aesthetically pleasing, strong lighting effects may detract away from the functionality of the meeting room, thereby not fulfilling the design critera.

The thinner more minimal perforations in this iteration lie in a much more coherent manner to the rest of the design, running parallel with the strips. This responding directly to the long linear qualities displayed in the geometry and in turn engenders a more consistent design. This chosen pattern also responds to the practical needs of suspending the installation, with the thin continuous perforations providing areas where suspension wires could inconspicuously penetrate to fix to the internal jointing system.

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C2. TECTONIC ELEMENTS + PROTOT YPES

STRIPS After being manipulating in detail, the final geometry was reached and various tectonics in order to successfully construct the design were conceived. The finalised geometry resulted in complex curves and twists and volumes of spaces that buldged outwards and back in. It is all very well to create such serpentine forms in parametric space, but to translate that into real space in which forces acton apon it, requires the evaluation of structural systems. The construction of various prototypes and tests generated a multiplitude of results that directly influenced and informed changes made in the design.

Diagram created by Clinton

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PROTOTYPE 1 Firstly, the bulb areas were segmented into elongated strips around the central curve axis, that once assembled would yeild the specific shape of that bulb. The strips were required to overlap at some points in order to enable a fixing, and hence a weaving algorithim developed by Clinton was applied along the edges of the stips. This prototype was fabricated in polypropylene by the laser cutter, the results of which highlighted some areas of improvement. First of all, the amplitude of the weave appeared to be unnecessarily high, resulting in the wave occuring too frequently. The high number of waves were not necessary in order to achieve its function, hence decreasing the amplitude would result in a more streamlined aesthetic which would be in keeping with the rest of the design. Additionally, the volumes of the bulbs were not keeping their shape as well as they could have been. This may be attributed to the fact that the provision of holes at the edges of the waves were not included, hence the means of fixing the strips together was minimal. Furthermore, the overal volume and form of the bulbs could be optimised and stiffened through the means of an internal rib-like structure, enabling the bulbs to better hold their shape. This aspect would also ameliorate naturally with the changing of material to timber veneer.

Images taken and edited by me

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PROTOTYPE 2 Changes were made according to the critique of the first prototype previously outlined. The number of waves were significantly reduce, the provision of holes for rivet fixings were inclduded, and it was now fabricated with a laminate-backed timber veneer. This variety of timber veneer was chosen due to its ability to override the direction of the grain, as opposed to a paper-backed veneer that still carries the delicateness of the grain. The complex doubly-curved design requires the form to curve and twist in more than one direction. Due to the nature of the material required in the brief being prone to bending in on direction and failing in the other, it was decided that the laminate-backed material would be optimal to prototype. Fabrication was streamlined through the use of an unrolling definition created in Grasshopper by Jacob. Number tagging system was able to be applied for ease of assembly. This prototype was fabricated by the laser cutter at 1:2 scale, which certainly allowed Jacob and I to better comprehend the form we were working with. Rivets as a jointing system worked well in terms of the speed of execution, however overal the holes were placed too close to the edges of the strips, and due to the minimum tollerance of the laser cutter, some holes ended up breaking through. The provision of only one hole was provided where the stips connected as they rotated around the bulb. This proved to be too minimal as it placed all the stress to one point, and after a period of time, one of the connections at the rivet failed and the structure unrolled.

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This prototype proved that a laminate-backed material was not fully suitable to our curvacious design. Although intitially thought it would be the optimal type of veneer due to its ablitiy to negate the grain of the timber, it was found that its properties were to rigid and didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow the form to bend around the bulb as much as was needed. Therefore another variety of timber veneer was needed to be investigated.

All images taken and edited by me

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TECTONIC ELEMENTS + PROTOT YPES

RIBS Another tectonic devised for the construction of the design was the internal structural support of ribs, the area of which I individually focused on. The strips in isolation proved to not be adequate enough to maintain the volume of the bulbs, hence the design of the ribs became core to supporting the form. To ensure the elegant wholistic coherence of the design, the ribs required a detailed design superior to simply a flat hollow circle, and due to the scope of students working in the project, such detail was enabled. I researched the South Pond Pavilion designed by Studio Gang Architects as a precedent study due to the soft eyelet shape that is repeated throughout the pavilion. The thin timber members weave in and out, interacting with their neighbouring members to produce rows of frames reminiscent of the sleek shape of an almond. This pattern is continued around the shape of an arch and repeated to create a sheltered space.

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I believed similar principles could be applied to the tectonic of the rib, however running around the entirety of a circle rather than simply an arch. Using the c-section of the bulb as the baseline curve, a second curve was developed in which every second point was shifted outwards so that when interpolated, the ribboned wave of the stip could be achieved. This was then mirrored to create the undulating curves of which the rib constituted. Designing this parametrically gave many advantages, and the manipulations of various factors including the number of waves, the amplitude of the waves and the thickness of the stips. It was therefore possible to investigate the optimal levels of these factors in terms of aesthetics and structure. Where the stips came together, a hole was parametrically placed for the insertion of a fixing, in which rivets were used.

Within each bulb, the placement of ribs were mapped out, with the structural principle of the largest in the middle, and two intermediate ones on either side to continue the form down to the tips. The ribs would also serve the dual function of connecting the installation to the ceiling. Due to their form being the most rigid and providing the most strength throughout the design, suspension cables would be fixed to the installation via detailed connections which woudl fix the top of each rib.

South Pond Pavilion, Chicago 2010 by Studio Gang Architects http://inhabitat.com/curvaceious-wood-pavilion-at-chicagos-lincoln-park-zoo/

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RIB ALGORITHM

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Move

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RIB PROTOT YPES PROTOTYPE 1 The first prototype of the rib was fabricated from the laminatebacked timber veneer. The first couple of rivets fixed in place worked perfectly well, and the almond shapes began to appear. Gentle curves were materalising and the structure was extremely rigid. It was only once the final two rivets were being fixed into place, that the rigidity of the laminate-backed material reached its maximum point of deflection, and one of the strips snapped at the rivet. So despite the majority of the waves within the rib having a successful outcome, the failure due to the lack of flexibility in the material rendered this prototype not adequate. The prototype did prove however that the contours of the waves, and the positions of the holes, were translatable from the parametric model.

PROTOTYPE 2 The second prototype therefore took the form in another material; this time in a white box board. White box board was chosen due to its fibrous make-up, thereby not having a tendency to be weaker in either direction, resulting in more flexible properties. Despite the desired material being one derived from timber, I wanted to investigate various mediums to ensure the issue wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stemming from the design, rather it stemming from the constituent expressing the design. I believe this to be the case, as the waves took shape relatively successfully, although the propensity for box board to crease resulted in a few crinkles.

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All images taken and edited by me CONCEPTUALISATION 109 DETAILED DESIGN C

PROTOTYPE 3 The third material examined was a white polypropylene. This thin synthetic plastic has the advantages of being highly flexible and versatile, and this was evident in the prototype. The amplitude of the waves was the most evenly expressed throughout the circumference of the rib compared to the previous prototypes. Its synthetic flexibility also resulted in the incredibly smooth articulation of the waves, and hence the almond shape. Although the almond shapes were the most successfully and curvaciously pronounced prototype so far, the floppy properties of a polypropylene this thin, meant the rib wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t able to provide the rigidity required for a structural tectonic, a characteristic pivitol to the function of the rib. In addition, the white colour would create a stark constrast to the bulbs, highlighting it as a structural component rather than seamlessly integrating it into the design. This would subtract from the homogeneity of the overal design, thereby not fulfilling its functional critera.

PROTOTYPE 4 The fourth exploration delved back into timber product; a paper-backed timber veneer. The properties of the paperbacked act similarly to that of the laminate-backed in that the grain of the timber is overriden. However paper is a much more flexible material to back onto, compared to the laminate. This resulted in the curvacious pronouncement of the waves, without it failing and snapping at the final rivet. The material was able to balance enough flexibility to not fail, while exerting enough rigidity to comprise a structural interior. The ressolution of paper-backed timber veneer allowed the advantageous balancing of the three characteristics integral to the successful functioning of the ribs ; - the design intent of the waves are efficiently articulated - it is expressed in a material that does not compromise the ribsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ability to act as a structural tectonic - the chosen material is a timber product, ensuring an aesthetic homogeneity of the ribs within the bulbs, thereby engendering a holistic and harmonious design. These characteristics enabled me to come to the conclusion that the paper-backed veneer was the most advantageous material for the fabrication of the rib tectonic.

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All images taken and edited by me CONCEPTUALISATION 111 DETAILED DESIGN C

TECTONIC ELEMENTS + PROTOT YPES

CANE EXPRESSION OF GEOMETRY Another tectonic devised for the expression of the narrow areas of the geometry, were 3D printed joints in which strands of cane would flow through. The sections where the bulbs tappered were too slender to be developable by strips of timber veneer, hence the employment of cane was a resolution developed by Hugh and Brendan.

The below image shows how the narrow parts (strands) in the geometry have been broken down into long slender pipes, representing the cane flowing through parametric space. The cane twists and turns responding to the curvatures in the defined geometry, being guided by the 3D printed joints. Designing this relationship parametrically meant Brendan and Hugh had control over how many canes ran through the joints, how many joints encompassed and guided a strand in the geometry, and the placements of such joints along the strand. a delicate aesthetic in parametric space, that was somewhat difficult to translate into reality due to material limitations. One particular limitation that hindered the accuracy of the twists and turns was the fact that the bought cane had been stored coiled up. The caneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s slender structure was already prone to bending in a certain direction, resulting in the cane somewhat resisting the curvatures set out in the geometry. From a personal standpoint, a greater number canes could have engendered more density, allowing for a smoother transition from the canes into the veneer constructed model. It still however, communicated the essence of the slender portions of the design through its thin and lightweight appearance.

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Images taken by Hugh, edited by me

The circular aesthetic of the joints respond coherently to the soft edges throughout the geometry. The diagram demonstrates the positioning of the joints in the cane situated surrounding two bublous areas. The size of each joint, and the number of holes it encompasses is individual to its positioning within the geometry. These interconnected relationships mean that no two joints are the same. This creates the potential to precisely guide each member of cane, highlighting the advantageous of a computation workflow.

Diagrams by Hugh and Brendan CONCEPTUALISATION 113 DETAILED DESIGN C

TECTONIC ELEMENTS + PROTOT YPES

JOINTS Ceiling connection Due to the typology of a ceiling installation, tectonics that suspend the design from the ceiling are required. Jia focused on this area, generating a variety of jointing options. She positioned the joint to slide neatly around the upmost part of the rib, due to their function as the interior structural support.

The iteration Jia chose as the most successful was slender, elegant and minimal. Its rounded body of the joint mimics the bulbous portions of the geometry, creating a harmonious link at a micro scale. The slim nature of the height of the joint means this portion would fit through the linear perforation in the strips that lines up above it when fabricated. The provision of holes allows a suspension wire to run through the joint and fix to the ceiling. The repetition of this joint on the ribs throughout the geometry, would result in the even suspension of the installation.

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Jintao devised a series of other joints that explore connections between rib to rib, cane to cane and cane to ribs. Although ribs do not ineract with one another in this way in the design, nor do ribs connect directly to cane, these joint prototypes display connection techniques that have the potential to be applied to the design in a general sense.

Rib to rib joint

Cane to cane joint

Cane to rib joint

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C3. FINAL DETAILED MODEL

FABRICATION : CONNECTIONS

The fabrication of the laminate-backed prototype highlighted a connection detail that could be improved. In this prototype, the strips were connected around the bulb by a singular rivet. This placed too much strain on the singular rivet, and resulted in damage during the fabrication process. Feedback by the tutor suggested we investigate sewing the strips together with thread, changing the connection from a pin pointed compressive joint, to an elongated tensile tendril. The resolution of this method resulted in a much more successful outcome. As the connection continues along the length of the overlapped areas, the load is diffused across a larger surface area, and a more sturdy fastening was ensured. The flow on effect of this meant that the strips curved in a more even manner around the bulb. Aesthetically, it creates an intricate detail to tie the whole design together. So, although it was more time consuming, the result was undoutably superior.

Laminate-backed prototype

Final detailed model

Transition of the large bulb areas as they progress into narrow strands and hence cane, required a connection point. Jacob devised a parametric prototype that would be 3D printed to serve such purpose. The joint is concealed by the ends of the strips of veneer that wrap around it. These are fixed into place by a small screw that goes through a hole provided in the veneer, into the small receiving hole in the joint. At the exposed end of the joint, cylindric holes receive the cane, giving the impression cane flows seamlessly out of the veneer. The size and position of the holes in the joint are dependent on the parametric input data of the cane. C 116

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A connection detail was also required in order to fasten the ribs to the interior of the bulb. It is this final connection point that enables the ribs to function in their desired capacity. The point in which the rib sat directly underneath each strip was obtained in grasshopper, and a hole was booleaned accordingly. Likewise for the rib, with the hole being placed in the interior layer of the rib in order to conceal the thread. The pliable properties of the veneer strips meant they easily came together around the rib, and were attached by a simple threaded connection.

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FINAL DETAILED MODEL

FABRICATION : SEQUENCE The fabrication sequence carried out by Jacob and myself of the final paper-backed veneer followed one not too disimilar to our laminate-backed prototype. The por tion of the overal geometr y chosen for fabricating consisted of two of the bulbs (illustratored in the diagram to the right). The same algorithms were able to be used in oder to unroll the geometr y and add reference numbering. Nesting the design for the laser cutter was more simplifed and streamlined due to the change in scale from 1:2 to 1:3 for the final model. The main dif ference resided in the alteration of connection technique; thread. This more consuming jointing method resulted in a greater level of detail while maintaining an aesthetically minimal result.

Two smaller models fabricated by Danny allow us to understand the flow of the geometr y in dif ferent ways. The 1:10 scaled card cutter model expresses the full length of a bulb in a similar material to the final model, while the 3D printed model shows of f the cur vacious qualities of the geometr y.

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All images taken and edited by me CONCEPTUALISATION 119 DETAILED DESIGN C

RESOLUTION OF DETAIL MODEL

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Images taken and edited by me CONCEPTUALISATION 121 DETAILED DESIGN C

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Renders created by Ed and Nick

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REFERENCE LIST Cui, Xiaohui, Jinzhu Gao, and Thomas E. Potok. (2006). ‘A flocking based algorithm for document clustering analysis’. Journal of systems architecture, 52(8), pp. 505-515. Menges, Achim, “Achim Menges Design Research Architecture Product Design”, Achimmenges.net, 2016 <http://www. achimmenges.net/?p=5083> [accessed 1 June 2016] Rinaldi, Marco and Marco Rinaldi, “Research Pavilion 2013-14 By ICD-ITKE”, A As Architecture, 2014 <http:// aasarchitecture.com/2014/07/research-pavilion2013-14-icd-itke.html> [accessed 1 June 2016]

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C4. LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES The complexity in the geometr y, and my individual input into this system is quite inspiring and shows me how far I have come since the first week of Studio Air. Specifically, I feel my computational abilities have strengthened in regards to data structures and using list analysis to pin point cer tain positions within a pre-defined geometr y. Previously in Par t A and B the computational designs and iterations I generated sat freely in parametric space. However as the parameters of the ribs were born directly from the geometr y finalised by Ed and Chen, I was required to engage with list and data components to ex tract the concise data to create a framework for the ribs to be created within. This pushed my knowledge and demanded me to work in a more complex workspace than I had previously explored. The consequence of this however, meant that I was able to create an organisation of ribs that sat per fectly within the interior of the bulbs, that is, they share the circumference of the interior space they are sitting within. I was able to take a complex algorithm that initially seemed ver y daunting, break it down to understand it, conver t the components per tinent per tinent to my work, conver t their data structure where needed, so that I was able to use it as input data for my rib algorithm. I am proud of my per formance and how far i’ve come since the star t of the semester, and Studio Air definitely encourages me to continue exploring computational frameworks. I was initially hesitant during the first week of semester due to the seemingly complex inter face of Grasshopper, but af ter gaining an understanding and a level of competency, the advantages of an explicit memor y based technology seems the logical way for ward. I feel Studio Air has armed me with skills and equipped to move for ward with algorithm based design. In the contex t of professional practice, computational design is a rapidly emerging technology. The dynamic work flow, the per formance-based technologies, and the shear quantity of possiblities generated throughout iterative processes, are undoubtably changing contemporar y architectural practice. I feel I now have a valuable skill set of algorithmic design to of fer, that I may not have had without this studio.

Fur thermore, the dynamic of coming together as a whole class project has definitely highlighted the impor tance of interdisciplinar y and interpersonal collaborarion. Engaging in clear communication and interacting in a manner that is suppor tive to ever yone is key to the successful functioning of a group of 13 people. The entire studio approach was an invaluable insight into how real life projects may transpire. The downfall of such a large group however, is that ever yone is required to contribute, resulting in the feedback that the project was almost ‘over’ designed. I believe the integration of ever yones dif ferent elements into what was already a complex geometr y was done in a consisten aesthetic, demonstrating how we worked together as a whole entitiy. However, I feel that overal the outcome could have been more simply ar ticulated, to achieve a more refined result However this is the nature of working in a group of 13 people, and I believe a job of high quality was achieved in the parameters we were working within. Engaging with Studio Air’s brief throughout Par t C was a stimulating process. What I have found truly captivating is the ability to draw from innate organisational systems found in nature, and translate them parametrically into a physical architecture. Conceptually and aesthetically expressing underlying principles of what governs systematic grow th like seen in L systems, allowed the notion of flow to cascade through our design. The application such intangible contemporar y theor y to the computational design of a ceiling installation, demonstrates the evolutionar y design capacities of visual programming. Moreover, concisely representing such designs through physical models in real atmosphere, are a testimony to the applications of digital fabrication. Algorithmic technologies of unrolling designs, coupled with laser cutting automations, is an inspiring process that I look for ward to continue to engaging with throughout my architectural education.

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