potential of nature. Evolution has forced organisms to be highly efficient.
Fig 1: Aqua Tower, Chicago, USA, Studio Gang Architects, 2009
Opportunities
Patterning gives freedom to building design in the way that Form follows performance an inspiration is drawn from a particular form in nature but how the design achieves Patterning is a technique used performance is flexible to to achieve two things. First is performance , aligned with the idea executed. In Aqua Tower, although it mimics limestone in of biomimicry, such as structure, nature, the performance is not thermal and acoustics. restricted to how the structure The design of Aqua Tower was inspired by the striated limestone of limestone does the job. outcroppings common in the Great The architect is free to design Lakes area. But this sinuous shape how the pattern of limestone achieves performance. In this is not just a mere formal gesture, case, it is extending the views but it is also a strategy to extend and sun shading. the views and maximize solar shading. And by looking at the plans we see a rational structure, Fabrication concerns true to the Mies legacy in the city. 2 However, it also presents some problems in the realm of We can see how the building fabrication and construction. As mimics natural form of limestone the building is big in scale, how to achieve building performance. the building is assembled can be an issue.
produces affects and resonance. 4 In the p-wall project, Andrew Kudless used elastic fabric to cast a series of plaster panels, arranged in a large field. This project is based on a cloud points generated from the grayscale values of pixels in a digital image. The points are used to constrain the elastic fabric in the formwork, as it expands under the weight of poured plaster. It tries to resonate with the human body as it sags, expands and stretches in its own relationship with gravity and structure. The resulting supple surface invites visitors to touch it, to sense its smooth undulations. 5 Fig 3: P-wall, Columbus, Ohio, Andrew Kudless, 2006
It mimics the natural human body in the way the body ages and lose elasticity and forms this pattern. The fabrication involves fabric mould penetrated by rods and then liquid plaster is poured into the mould and left to set. Then, the tiles are assembled to form a wall according to a predetermined order and pattern. Thus, the fabrication process is simple. However, since it is assembled by hands, and it is not done by machines, such as a CNC machine, the accuracy of the location of the points may not be accurate . The process of letting the plaster set also incurs time. It can be a problem to mass produce the tiles to apply to a bigger scale for larger effect.
Design implications
The sinuously curved concrete Patterning as a technique to mimic decks on each floor assume different configurations where nature allows maximized floor Biomimicry balconies extend anywhere space and easy to construct to from 2 to 12 feet. Although achieve the effect. If we look at Biomimicry is can be the driving force the architects used computer the typical floor plan, only where behind generative architectural design modeling to create the rippling the peripheral of the building is in the contemporary architecture. 1 contours, the fact that each occurring change. Basically, all This is because building design look floor slab is unique in shape floors are identical. Not only does for inspiration in nature to respond meant calculations had to be this means the use of space is dynamically to changing environmental maximized, the construction of the done separately for each floor. conditions, just like organisms do, pattern is also made easier, as only An edge-form steel plate was since nature optimize by achieving reused to guide the concrete the balconies are changed. highest efficiency with minimal means. pour: The steel form would bend In addition to mimicking complex for a pour and then spring back Fabrication can be made easier appearance, organization of patterned into a straight line, ready to be because of the repeating skins and structures in nature, their components of the whole structure bent again for another curve. 3 behavior is also investigated for as illustrated in P-wall later, where possible new ideas about performance Aligning different floor slabs to the wall is divided into repeating of building skins and structures. The be precise to follow the curved modules and assembled. impulse is to harness the generative
The sensate affect it creates also attracts audience and they relate themselves to the p-wall project. Patterning ornaments are not just superficial but carries a sensual meaning.
Fig 2: Typical floor plan of Aqua Tower
1 Kolarevic, Branko and Kevin R. Klinger, eds (2008). Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture (New York; London: Routledge), pp. 10 2 See http://www.archdaily.com/42694/aqua-tower-studio-gang-architects/
Patterning opens up opportunities for designers to create interesting, efficient structures that achieve both environmental and societal goals. Fig 4: Algorithmic patterning
Conceptual limitations
form can be difficult due to the number of slabs in this scale, but not impossible. Due to the fact that patterning relies on a system of repetitive elements, the form must evolve by a set of rules, be it Ornament inspired by nature to geometrical or not, that limit the freedom of its form creation. Also, some forms that derive from patterning are just made of create affect geometrical patterns such as triangular grids, that the form is too simple and not surprising, and therefore, not completely The second function of patterning ornaments making use of the potential of parametric design, to create is to create sensate affect to the building. It spectacular effects. is through ornament that material transmits affects. Ornament is therefore necessary and inseparable from the architecture. It is capable of generating an unlimited number of resonances. Ornament is necessary and 3 See http://greensource.construction.com/green_building_projects/2010/1001_Aqua-Tower.asp 4 Moussavi, Farshid and Michael Kubo, eds (2006). The Function of Ornament (Barcelona: Actar), pp. 8 5 Kolarevic, Branko and Kevin R. Klinger, eds (2008). Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture (New York; London: Routledge), pp. 18
B2 Case Study 1.0 Spanish Pavilion
B3 Case Study 2.0 Iwamoto Scott - MoMA/Ps1 Reef