design studio: AIR damien
cresp
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. Introducing Myself
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. A.1: Design Ftuturing
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. A.2: Design Computation
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. A.3: Composition/Generation
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. A.4: Conclusion
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. A.5: Learning Outcomes
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. A.6: Algorithmic Sketches
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Hi, I’m Damien When I was a boy, I dug webs of tunnels in the sands at the Torquay beach. These mine shafts interlaced and writhed around one another, sometimes opening up to momentous chasms within which nestled great lakes. The tide would come in, and amid a chorus of shouts filled with both sadness and joy, the sides of the vaults would come crashing down like samson’s columns; a cataclysmic end to a tiny universe. When I was a teenager, I crafted online digital stages and battlegrounds, monumental arenas designed to challenge and confront. These colossal playgrounds were filled with bunkers, open spaces, long sight lines, and close corners. I would spend these halcyon days over-crafting them, finally unveiling them to friends to watch their gleeful deathmatch. Now I am a student of Architecture. I still design for the experience of a moment and I like to think I always design for one’s element of challenge and curiosity. I believe that new architecture should be inspired by not only our descendents but for a bigger picture, whether that means structures should be permanent or fleetingly temporary is dependent on context, though I think it would probably be the latter. Throughout this subject I hope to gain an insight into allowing computer generation algorithms to forge my ideas into installations, and alongside this I hope to acquire a firm grasp on the philosophical nuances of what it means to shape and change the environment around us.
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. A.1: Design Futuring ||
Dunne & Raby: Designs for an Overpopulated Planet In “Designs for an Overpopulated Planet” Dunne and Raby have created a prediction of how the masses would ‘eat’ when there are too many humans on Earth for the crop fields to yield enough food for everybody. Their futuristic, dystopian ideas look at an immense change to the culinary, going so far as to change the human digestive system in order to harvest nutrition from plants in the same way that some insects and fauna do.
The exhibitional piece pushes its audience to face the rapid decline of resources that society is expected to encounter in the ever-enclosing future. It proposes new ways of eating, such as harvesting the nutrients out of algae using a flotation device, or sucking the nutrients from grass by wearing the device in example 2. Through this work they have contributed an alternative and unattractive reality to consider. Whilst the work is posed as a solution, it is intended as deterrent to continuing current practices that would cause this future.
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Fig. 1: a future citizen harvests algae from the water’s edge
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Dunne and Raby’s thoughts are original and unique in the sense that they imagine a world that’s problems are solved from a bottom-up approach. This world, created as a direct response to the growing problems of overpopulation and human over-consumption, shows a societal switch from relying on the governing body which would accommodate for all, to a model where individuals would take the acquisition of their food into (literally) their own hands. According to Fry, the design of this exhibition would be considered intelligent, as it aims to provoke others into thinking about designing to increase the time we have as a species to survive on this planet.
in “Designs for an Overpopulated Planet” may give impetus to new scientific pursuits based on the hypothesis presented within it.
Dunne and Raby explore the potential for an entirely new, yet melancholy facet of human survivability. Their work might eventually be interpreted realisti cally in the sense that humans may actually resort to harvesting small molecules of nutrients to survive. Just like many fictions before them, the artistic ideas
This project continues Dunne and Raby’s principles dictated in their work titled, “Speculative Everything” inwhich they talk about design as a way of shocking an audience into a state of psuedo-reality where the work is considered real and is therefore taken seriously.
The idea of turning all forms of plant life into grazing fields raises some questions about nature of the community undertaking this task. How long does it take for someone to ingest enough nutrients before they become full? How long does it take a tree to re-grow these farmable nutrients before another person can harvest the same leaves? Does everyone share public flora or is plantlife to be divided by private and public access?
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Kenzo Tange: Tokyo Bay Project 1961 Helping to herald the Metabolist era into existence, Kenzo Tange’s works inspired an alternative way to think about the urban metropolis and how it should grow. Tange’s Tokyo Bay Project conceived in 1960 was a response to Tokyo’s booming population at the same time. Rather than continuing to grow radially and sprawl, Tange proposes that the urban can grow axially off a spine that spans over Tokyo’s bay, similar to how leaves would grow off a branch. With raised platforms to be individually utilised for vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic, and utilities, the idea was that every location would have equal
access to the central spine. Buildings (designed, you might notice, as a homage to the Japanese traditional vernacular) would float above the water, whilst the highways would be built on stilts. Tange’s megastructure proposed the idea that the city would adapt around this permanent megastructure (the axial highway) whilst having everchanging peripherals (the houses attached). His model suggests that transit to anywhere in the city should not be convoluted and confusing, but rather, linear.
The idea that a city should be built upon super structures was radical in the 60s, and the theory behind his work in that megastructure should copy ideas found in nature was at the begginning of the era where biomimicry became fashionable. In a sense Tange’s work sought to halt the sprawl over the land surrounding Tokyo but it’s unlikely he was doing this primarily to save the resources for agricultural or conservational use. Alternatively, the project allowed viewers to seriously consider a new side of tokyo that would change their ideas of how urbanism would work, much in the same way that Dunne and Ruby’s work aspires to create psuedo realities in the minds of their audience. Incorporating the idea that some elements would be permanent whilst others temporary was also another facet of this design, and one that would be repeated in future works, such as the Nakagin Capsule Tower by Kuro Kurokawa (1972), also in Tokyo. Tange’s work and the Metabolist movement inspired ‘Habitat’ by Moshe Safdie, a housing complex in Montreal. The Housing complex takes the ‘megastructure’ aspect in its inner structure and its organic additives as the small rooms branching outward to form a mound-like built form.
Fig. 4: Houses on the water resemble the Japanese Vernacular
Tange’s work was a part of a movement that introduced the idea of massive structures which would serve many people, as opposed to privately owned blocks of buildings in the city. The works in this era would inspire a naive idea of human connectedness through sharing massive geomorphic compounds, the size of which have not been realised of yet.
Tange’s futuristic design, whilst it incorporates many ideals of axial highways and segmented areas for separate purposes, but it is not without a few significant flaws. Of course the cost of every aspect of the project is inflated considering that the entire city would be built on bridges above the water. Any post-completion additions or renovations would again be made unnecessarily difficult by choosing to situate the city above the water. After these technicalities though, it is still another whole city designed by one architect. This attaches a negative stigma brought about by other architect’s dream cities not withstanding the test of time, such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s cities to be car centric (and LA’s current vehicular demise), and of course Corbusier’s high rise apartment scheme (and PruittIgoe’s demolition in 1968).
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. A.2: Design Computation ||
Jßrgen Mayer Metropol Parasol Computational design in Mayer’s Metropol Parasol was used to determine the globular shapes that stand tall over the Plaza de la Encarnacion. It allowed the team working on it to identify the forms that could be achieved in the specifically engineered wooden curves, and to utilise those to achieve their design goals.
The design process of this unique structure took a direction away from traditional practice in the conception of this form, setting a precedence for future architects to follow. In that sense it can be said that if
Fig. 5: The Metropol Parasol in Seville, Spain.
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inspiration can be taken from this form, then future architects would follow the same design process and that in itself will mean that this design has the capacity to change how designers pursue architecture. Metropol parasol was designed to achieve an overarching structure that would cast an interesting shadow and define the space underneath it, similar to Lissitzky’s Cloud Iron (Teyssot & Jacques 2010). Rhinoceros was used to define the latticed curves of this structure that would create those shadows, and it can be assumed the desired shadows would have been selected as the
best from a batch of quickly generated renders, similar to the process that Kalay talks about (Kalay 2004). In this instance computation provided the ability to engineer the wood in such a manner that it was able to be built strong enough to support a structure this size - hence why it is currently the largest wooden structure in the world. The architect analysed the amount of strength each wooden element contained and then using computers was able to determine the curves possible that are seen in the building, as well as where to situate the walkways, lifts, cafes et cetera.
Fig. 6: A render of the structure in Rhinoceros
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Fig. 7: An artist’s rendition of the completed Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain
12 Antoni Gaudi Sagrada Família
Gaudi’s famous Sagrada Familia is in its final stages of production and its completion is being lead by New Zealand Architect Mark Burry who is utilising parametric design to finish the job. As Burry explained in his lecture at the University of Melbourne on the 9th of June, 2016, Gaudi’s unique forms were achieved in the early 20th century by identifying the the most direct curvilinear arcs tensioned between several different points. The resulting smooth surfaces appear all over the building, but in particular in the interior framing of the stained glass windows.
Each surface is defined by a parameter; the planes next to the glass were defined identifying the tension between four vertices. Gaudi achieved these with string and plaster, but these same facades are now easily achieved using digital modelling programs such as Rhinoceros 5 (Burry & Burry 2006).
Fig. 8: Above, Gaudi’s original gypsum plaster casts and Below, the same casts digitally rendered
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Fig. 9: Recreations of Gaudi’s original casts on display in the vaults below the Sagrada Familia
For Burry, the help of using computer aided design converted months of work into weeks, and with the mathematical accuracy that Gaudi’s initial, albeit relatively primitive, calculation methods had intended. Gaudi’s methods were unique and are still on show today in the museum situated in the vault below the sagrada familia. Currently however, Rhinoceros is being used to redefine the way in which the whole team collaborates to decide how the building will be completed.
Parametric modelling in this case is not one of discovering new forms through algorithmic sketching, but rather to aid the discovery of Gaudi’s magnum opus.
. A.3: Computation/Generation ||
Beijing National Stadium Herzog & de Mueron Thrusting computational design unto a stage for the whole world to see, Herzog and de Mueron’s Beijing National Stadium built for the 2008 Olympics utilized a computer generated steel facade to achieve its design intent of the appearance of a bird’s nest. Although appearing tangled and messy, the facade of this stadium hides its ingenuity. The mangled curves had an intrinsic hierarchy, whereas the first to be added to the design were those that attached directly to the truss holding up the retractable roof, then diagonal curves which hid the staircases to the enclosed seats within, and the remainder were added to achieve visual continuity (Rogers, Yoon & Malek 2008, Lam & Lam 2010). Considering these constraints, the generation of the form became relatively simplistic for a computer based design program (one which was developed by the Arup Group specifically for this construction).
Herzog and de Mueron utilised parametric modelling effectively to achieve their design intent for the stadium, though of course this was backed by the budget of a global superpower with an intent to impress. An obvious advantage of the computational design in this project was its ability to create a pseudo-random latticework of steel whilst being able to maintain its structural purpose. A potential counter to this argument is that the design was taken away from human integrity, but of course in the drafting of the process any element that was deemed inappropriate or unattractive would have been removed. On top of all this, techniques utilised in the construction of this stadium do appear that they could be amalgamated into structures of any size, and hence the Beijing National Stadium is a positive advocate for contemporary parametric design.
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Fig. 10: Conceptual sketches outlining the parametres of the steel framework
Fig. 11: The Beijing Nation Stadium, in Beijing, China
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ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILLON 2014-15 Achim Menges The bulbous project lead by Achim Menges at Stuttgart University showcases the current leading edge of parametric rhetoric. The team focussed on emulating the air-sac woven by a water spider to survive underwater. Creating a theme of biomimicry fused with generative programming to articulate form is a very popular avenue amongst architects using this tool. The method used in creating this form was exceptional. Essentially, a robotic arm would press carbon fibres soaked in resin the inside of an inflated bulbous shape. The robotic arm had sensors indicating when its spool was to cross over another thread, which created a feedback loop, allowing the program controlling robotic arm to generate code in real-time during construction that would impact on the final construction. For simple projects such as a pavilion this method of not knowing the exact
ABOVE, Fig. 13: The Research Pavilion in Stuttgart
RIGHT, Fig. 14: The robotic arm laying the carbon fibre
final result of an installation until it is actually being installed may be acceptable, but there does remain some question for other uses which are not so experimental. Though despite this concern, the method does have validity in being at the forefront of real-time responsive programmatic construction, and the imagined result of having robots that could travel to a site and then build a homogenous structure around themselves before leaving is an interesting replacement of a contract worker. Considering the nature of the materials that this method would work with, it may be considered that a pseudo-random aesthetic may become generic and boring, and become the staple of this era in architectural discourse, much in the same way the stark white walls and machinic edges hark back to Corbusier’s modernism. It may be critiqued that it does seem that most of these new-age parametric constructions are predominantly pavilions, this would be in the same way that Bruno Taut’s Glashaus was an experimental product of glass and steel before the use of these materials in structure was commonplace.
Experimental pavilions such as these therefore exist as taste-testers of the future of computer generative design, a foreground which can be utilised to practice theoretical concepts as they exist in the imagination, ultimately benefitting the foundation of not only technologically augmented architecture, but the faculty of architecture as a whole.
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Fig. 15: Pavilion interior
Fig. 16: Development images showing the progression of the fibres being applied
. Conclusion ||
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When you want to draw a perfect circle, rather than tediously and precisely hand drawing the shape, you use a compass to quickly and accurately draw a circle. Similarly, albeit in a much more complex manner, when designing parametrically you imagine a shape or form that can exist within a certain set of rules, but rather than exploring this tediously by precisely mapping the mathematics of each structural element, you use a computer program to apply parametres and generate designs that are constrained within your algorithm. Being on the cusp of an era where computational design is peaking is exciting in much the same way that being on the cusp of the compass would have been exciting, all new types of circular drawings are emerging and it is exciting to witness the abilities of these new technologies, yet it is still a tool that is to fuel the ambitions and imaginations of our own creations.
Whilst I understand that computational design is the way of the future, just like nobody will go back to drawing circles without a compass after its invention, design still lies inherently in the decisions of the designer. It might alter the way we create geometry, for the better or the worse is dependent on your opinion, parading it as the be-all and end-all for originality is ill-conceived. Design is all about context. Good design fits into its context in the same way that good computation design will have good parameters. As humans decide what is good design, all design will still remain exposed to human excellence and flaws.
The argument for the dehumanisation of design through programs such as Rhinoceros and Grasshopper lies at a fallacy until it is also the computers that input the constraints of a problem, decide on the final form of the spaces we live in, and are ultimately responsible for implementing design solutions into the real world. Until a time comes such as that, and it may come sooner rather than later, design will still be inherently a human task.
. Learning Outcomes ||
Admittedly, I had very little experience with computational software in the practice of architecture, so what I’ve learned over the past three weeks has been very new to me. So far I’ve been impressed with how relatively simple it is to generate aesthetic form, and I actually get excited at the prospect of learning how to use Rhino well. Rather than that shallow appreciation, I find the concept of computational generation exciting, especially when fused with bio-mimicry. Like Gaudi, and probably too many others before me, I find learning from the artefacts which have been honed through literally millions of years of darwinism incredibly appealing, and to be able to recreate some of the principles found throughout nature in my work this semester is a goal of mine. Previous works of mine could have been made intrinsically more complex and perhaps more evocative had I been exposed to the techniques of parametric design earlier. In saying that, however, you have to learn to walk before you can determine the difference between flattening and grafting in the Rhinoceros 5 extension Grasshopper.
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. Algorithmic Sketches ||
Displayed here are two excerpts from my Algorithmic Sketchbook snapshotting my development over the first three weeks. In the exercise shown below we were tasked with creating a humanoid form and extrapolating that into a cubist sculpted shape. On the left is my initial form, and to the right of that are its cubist translation, the amount of cubes per figure decreasing with each increment. On the page opposite is an exercise where we were to experiment with an undulating form we had created, and then to overlay contours onto it, creating an abstract line art.
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. Reference List||
Rogers, A, Yoon, B, & Malek, C 2008, ‘Beijing Olympic Stadium 2008 as Biomimicry of a Bird’s Nest’ Available at http://www.cinearc.com. Kalay, Yehuda E 2004, ‘Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of ComputerAided Design’ MA: MIT Press, Cambridge, pp. 5-25 Lam, K & Lam, T 2010, ‘The Beijing National Stadium - Analysis and prototype testing’, Journal Of The Korean Association For Spatial Structures, 1, p. 27, KoreaScience, EBSCOhost, viewed 13 August 2016. Teyssot, G, & Jacques, O 2010. ‘Inhabiting a Spline: The Making of Metropol Parasol.’ Log, no. 19: 12736. http://www.jstor.org.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/stable/41765355.
. Image List ||
Burry, J, & Burry M 2006, ‘Gaudí and CAD’ ITcon Vol. 11, Special Issue The Effects of CAD on Building Form and Design Quality, pg. 437-446, http://www.itcon.org/2006/32
Fig. 1: http://www.dunneandraby.co.uk/img/projects/large/pond2.jpg Fig. 2: http://www.dunneandraby.co.uk/img/projects/large/treecutter.jpg Fig. 3: http://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/856/flashcards/749856/ png/tokyo_bay_plan1322588087010.png Fig. 4: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-umkG2VnJW2g/To8CKTKMFKI/AAAAAAAAN SA/CRaMPiBdRx4/s1600/tange%2Btokyo%2B4.jpg Fig. 5: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Espa cio_Parasol_Sevilla.jpg/2560px-Espacio_Parasol_Sevilla.jpg Fig. 6: Teyssot, G, and Jacques, O 2010. ‘Inhabiting a Spline: The Making of Metropol Parasol.’ Log, no. 19: 127-36. http://www.jstor.org.ezp.lib.unimelb. edu.au/stable/41765355. Fig. 7: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/10/01/article-2440014-186BB23C00000578- 629_964x541.jpg Fig. 8: Burry, J, and Burry M 2006, ‘Gaudí and CAD’ ITcon Vol. 11, Special Issue The Ef fects of CAD on Building Form and Design Quality, pg. 437-446, http://www. itcon.org/2006/32 Fig. 9: http://www.boomer-livingplus.com/assets/Plaster_models_of_Sagrada_Fa milia.jpg Fig. 10: Lam, K & Lam, T 2010, ‘The Beijing National Stadium - Analysis and prototype testing’, Journal Of The Korean Association For Spatial Structures, 1, p. 27, KoreaScience, EBSCOhost, viewed 13 August 2016. Fig. 11: http://gallardoarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/lubetkin_hdm_bei jing_stadium_02x.jpg Fig. 12: https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/07/national-stadium-in-beijing-wins- riba-lubetkin-prize-05.jpg Fig. 13-16: http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=5814
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