DESIGN STUDIO J O U R N A L D A M I E N
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. INTRODUCING MYSELF
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. A.1: DESIGN FUTURING
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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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3 . B.1: RESEARCH FIELD
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. B.2: CASE STUDY 1.0
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. B.3: CASE STUDY 2.0
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. B.4: TECHNIQUE DEVELOPMENT
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. B.5+6: PROTOTYPES
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. B.7: LEARNING OUTCOMES
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. : REFERENCE LISTS
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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
9 Fig 2: a future citizen harvests nutrients from a tree
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 : D E S I G N C O M P U TAT I O N
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
14 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 : C O M P U TAT I O N / G E N E R AT I O N
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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Fig. 12
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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 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.
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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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B
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. B.1: RESEARCH FIELD Looking at precedents, designing a tessellated surface poses some constraints on the potential outcomes of your work. Whilst some have very practical uses and play interesting roles such as I.M.A.D.E’s dynamic Transformer sunshade petals, it seems that tessellated surfaces in current practice are predominantly used only for facades, and in the examples of the Iwamoto’s Voussoir Cloud and Skylar Tibbits Voltadom, for pavilion-like artistic installations. This is not to say that further exploration shouldn’t be done into the potential aspects for tessellation to be used as a form finding method for structure, but the resulting undulating surfaces would be expensive to install services into, for example if these types of parametric structures were used for residential construction. However, as this is purely theoretical exercise, I will try not to let the dismal prospects of my precedents daunt me. Exploring conceptually, tessellation poses an interesting facet to design. Intrinsically, tessellation
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Fig. 17-19: Voussoir Cloud by IWAMOTOSCOTT
is the result of combining a number of individual components to create a whole. This allows for a varying amount of freedom. For example in the Voussoir Cloud each individual component was crafted differently in context, and some were simply omitted from the structure altogether. Comparing this example to Decoi’s HypoSurface where each individual component of the tessellation was identical shows that there is a spectrum of individuality that can be played with within the design.
In fabricating a tessellated surface, we are essentially creating a multitude of connected smaller parts. Dependent on the desired effect, the material(s) of each component should be aesthetically pleasing and mass-producible. Materials should be strong enough to support its own tensile or compressive strength and must be able to withstand stress-connections at points of joinery.
Fig. 20-21: HYPOSURFACE by Decoi
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Fig. 22-23: Transformer by I.M.A.D.E
Fig. 24-25: Voltadom by Skylar Tibbits
. B.2: CASE STUDY 1.0
- TRIANGULATED MESH FACE BOUNDARIES
- RAN KANGAROO
- MADE AREA AT BASE OF COLUMNS SMALL - MADE RESTING LENGTH OF SPRINGS SMALLER, THEREFORE TIGHTER
- MADE AREA AT BASE OF COLUMNS LARGER
- OFFSET MESH BOUNDARIES - MESHED OFFSETS
- RAN KANGAROO
- MADE AREA AT BASE OF COLUMNS SMALL - MADE RESTING LENGTH OF SPRINGS SMALLER, THEREFORE TIGHTER
- MADE AREA AT BASE OF COLUMNS LARGER
- CREATED HORIZONTAL CON- RAN KANGAROO TOURS THROUGH GEOMETRY -OFFSET CONTOURS AND LOFTED
- MADE AREA AT BASE OF COLUMNS SMALL - MADE RESTING LENGTH OF SPRINGS SMALLER, THEREFORE TIGHTER
- MADE AREA AT BASE OF COLUMNS LARGER
- CREATED POLYGONAL FACES FOR MESH - RAN CULL PATTERN THAT ONLY KEPT EVERY FOURTH FACE
- OFFSET FACE BOUNDARY - PROJECTED BOUNDARIES ONTO XY PLANE - LOFTED BETWEEN OFFSET AND PROJECTION
SPECIES I
CONTROL
voussoir cloud iterations
MISC SPECIES
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- CREATED SPHERES AT EACH VERTEX - CREATED CIRCLES ALONG EACH FACE BOUNDARY - LOFTED BETWEEN CIRCLES
SPECIES III
- DIVIDED MESH BOUNDARY CURVES INTO POINTS -RAN OCTREE COMPONENT
- RAN KANGAROO COMPONENT - BAKED RESULTING OCTREE SHAPES
- CHANGED 3 VAULT BOTTOMS TO ONE - MOVED POINT TO BE ABOVE GEOMETRY
- DIVIDED APEX INTO THREE ACUTE POINTS - MESHED FACES
- DIVIDED APEX INTO 3 OBTUSE POINTS -MESHED FACES
- SET LOW RESTING POINT ON SINGLE APEX SHAPE
- MADE RESTING LENGTH ABOVE - CREATED MORE MESHES ONE - ANCHORED ONLY A FEW POINTS - APPLIED FORCE ON THE Y AXIS AT BASE CIRCLE
SPECIES IV
- RE-SHAPED DEFINITION
SPECIES V
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- SET RESTING POINT AS LARGER - MADE CIRCLE AT APEX MUCH THAN 1 LARGER THAN CIRCLE AT BASE - CIRCLE AT TOP HAS TINY RADIUS - APPLIED NEGATIVE FORCE ON Z AXIS
- APPLIED FORCE FROM THE Y AXIS
- CHANGED APEX TO CIRCULAR SHAPE WITH SMALL RADIUS
- EXPERMENTED WITH RELEASING SPECIFIC ANCHOR POINTS
. B.2: CASE STUDY 1.0 renders
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. B.3: CASE STUDY 2.0 Achim Menges’ 2010 Research Pavilion with the Institute of Computational Design (ICD) and Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) was a project which set out to test the potential of a material that is generally not used for structure. The Pavilion is comprised of 6.5mm strips of timber. Each strip is bent into an arch, and then bent furthermore in three different places, with notches cut into the strip so that it each strip can slot into the next strip until a full circular structure is obtained. The idea being that these bends, whilst
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structurally weak on their own, undertake a strong composition once interlocked with its neighbours. The structure shows success like a lot of the Achim Menges and a lot of the Serpentine pavilions show success; they are excellent examples of experimenting with pavilion architecture, and only pavilion architecture. Projects like this are exciting and excellent, but so far parametricism falls short of being installed into mainstream architecture at a level greater than facades, shad-
ing screens or temporary installations. Perhaps I’m too cynical in the same way, and I use this, example again, that his contemporaries may have critiqued Bruno Taut’s Glass Pavilion (1914) saying that it was just experimental garbage without having the bravery to take his ideas and see where they could excel, such as in high-rise buildings. Perhaps the potential strength of this sort of parametric design lies in megastructures, or maybe shelters for societies who, unlike ours, don’t have to have their houses coated in
Damp-Proof Membrane or have the inside of their double glazed windows coated in Low-E.
Despite my cynicism, I think it’s exciting being able to witness these explorative forms of spatial design, and I think that the pavilion of 2010 generates some very interesting formal concepts in that regard.
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Fig. 26: 2010 ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion by Achim Menges
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. B.3: CASE STUDY 2.0 stages
i BEGIN WITH A CIRCLE - ON THE XY PLANE, CENTERED AT 0,0
ii OFFSET TWO CIRCLES - ELIMINATE EVERY SECOND SEG MENT OF THE ARC - CREATE A NEW ARC WHERE THE SEGMENT WAS, THAT BEGINS AT THE PREVIOUS SEGMENT AND ENDS AT THE NEXT SEGMENT - THE ARC’S CURVE IS DICTATED BY THE VECTOR OF THE PRECEDING SEGMENT -JOIN THE SEGMENTS BACK TOGETHER SO THEY FORM ONE ARC AGAIN
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v FRACTURE ARCS - BREAK ARCS INTO 6 STRAIGHT SEGMENTS
vi CREATE BENDS - ELIMINATE EVERY SECOND SEG MENT OF THE ARC - CREATE A NEW ARC WHERE THE SEGMENT WAS, THAT BEGINS AT THE PREVIOUS SEGMENT AND ENDS AT THE NEXT SEGMENT - THE ARC’S CURVE IS DICTATED BY THE VECTOR OF THE PRECEDING SEGMENT -JOIN THE SEGMENTS BACK TOGETHER SO THEY FORM ONE ARC AGAIN
iii CREATE ARCS - CREATE AN EVEN AMOUNT OF POINTS ON ALL THREE CIRCLES - GENERATE ARCS THROUGH A POINT IN EACH CIRCLE
iv SEPARATE ARCS - TAKE EVERY SECOND ONE TO WORK ON - LEAVE THE REST FOR LATER
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vii ARRAY AND LOFT - RADIALLY ARRAY YOUR SEGMENTS AROUND THE CENTER, THE ANGLE OF YOUR ARRAY WILL DETERMINE HOW THICK YOUR “STRIPS” ARE - CREATE A SURFACE BETWEEN THE ARRAYED CURVE AND THE ORIGINAL ARCS
viii REPEAT AND INVERT - APPLY THE SAME PROCESS TO THE ARCS WE PUT AWAY BEFORE, EXCEPT INVERT THE BENDS SO THAT WHERE ORIGINALLY WE MADE THE FIRST SEGMENT OF THE ARC CURVED, INSTEAD THE SECOND SEGMENTS WILL BE CURVED
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. B.3: CASE STUDY 2.0 renders My reconstruction of Achim Menges was relatively successful in that appears aesthetically similar to the pavilion.
The similarities include: • the circular form • the interlocking strips • the bends in those strips • the opening on one side
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The crucial differences are: • the algorithmic lack of physically testable bending • the wavering points of interlocking (these were utilised in the original design to provide lateral strength) • the differences in height as a result of this • the inset of the stem so that it is lower than the height of the outer perimetre
Overall, considering the difficulty of reverse engineering the project I think my definition was relatively successful, even though there left much to be desired at the prospect of applying physics to the model. If I were to take my algorithm further I would potentially incorporate physical simulations, or maybe look out how I could utilise these strips into creating different form.
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SPECIES I
. B.4: TECHNIQUE: DEVELOPMENT
- DIVIDE MESH SURFACE INTO MANY POINTS - PROPEL LINE OUT OF POINTS
- DELAUNEY MESH - PIPE THE RESULTING CURVES
- LUNCHBOX - CHANGE GEOMETRY
- LUNCHBOX - INCREASE THICKNESS OF MESH
- LUNCHBOX SMOOTH OVER MESH
SPECIES II
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- FLATTEN GEOMETRY
- EXTEND LENGTH OF GEOMETRY’S ORIGINAL STRIPS - SELECT ONLY 4
- CULL PATTERN CURVES - EVERY FIRST CURVE ANGLES DOWNWARD - EVERY SECOND CURVE ANGLES UPWARD
- EXTRUDE GEOMETRY’S ORIGINAL STRIPS - SELECT ONLY 4
- FLATTEN GEOMETRY - CURVES CLOSER TO POINT ARE LONGER
- EXTRUDE GEOMETRY’S ORIGINAL STRIPS BY HUGE AMOUNT
- FLATTEN GEOMETRY - CURVES CLOSER TO POINT ARE LONGER
- SHIFT ARCS ACROSS GEOMETRY - POLAR ARRAY ARCS SO EACH HAS A ‘BUDDY’ - LOFT BETWEEN
SPECIES III SPECIES IV
- USE STRIPS IN 3D POINT CHARGE FIELD
- USE STRIPS IN 3D POINT CHARGE FIELD x2
- USE STRIPS IN 2D POINT CHARGE FIELD - RAISE POINTS - APPLY SPIN FORCE AROUND POINTS
- APPLY SPIN FORCE AROUND POINTS - APPLY SPIN FORCE AROUND POINTS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTION
- MAKE ORIGINAL ARC GEOMETRY INTO FRACTAL PATTERN
- SCALE UP BY 1000
- INCREASE WIDTH OF STRIP GEOMETRY
- MAKE POINT CHARGE FIELD 2D - APPLY GEOMETRY TO POINTS
- MAKE SPUN STRIPS VERY WIDE - TRIM THEM UPON REACHING XY PLANE
- NEW GEOMETRY IN FRACTAL PATTERN
- MAKE POINT CHARGE FIELD 2D - APPLY STRIPS TO LINEWORK
- MAKE SPUN STRIPS VERY WIDE - TRIM THEM UPON REACHING 3D REGION
- APPLY STRIP OFFSET
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SPECIES VII SPECIES V 40
- GRADIENT DESCENT ON ORIGINAL GEOMETRY SURFACE
-CONVERT FRAGMENTS OF ORIGINAL ARC INTO LARGE PIPE -DIVIDE END OF PIPE INTO POINTS - DRAW LINES BETWEEN DIVIDED POINTS
- CHANGE GEOMETRY TO ACHIEVE DIFFERENT LENGTHS OF DESCENT
- USING FEWER SEGMENTS - REDUCE PIPE WIDTH
- CHANGE GEOMETRY TO ACHIEVE DIFFERENT LENGTHS OF DESCENT
- USING FEWER SEGMENTS - INCREASE PIPE WIDTH
SPECIES VII
- LOFT BETWEEN DRAWN LINES
- SHIFT ORIGINAL STRIPS - MAKE THINNER - SHIFT ORIGINAL GEOMETRY
- SHIFT ORIGINAL STRIPS - MAKE THINNER - SHIFT ORIGINAL GEOMETRY - MIRROR
- SHIFT ORIGINAL STRIPS - MAKE THINNER - SHIFT ORIGINAL GEOMETRY - FORGET TO FLATTEN DATUM
- CREATE PENTAGONAL POINTS AROUND GEOMETRY - DRAW LINES FROM POINTS TO DIVIDED LINES
SPECIES VI - DIVIDE ORIGINAL ARCS INTO POINTS - DRAW LINE FROM POINT PERPENDICULAR TO ARC - INCREASE LENGTH OF LINE FURTHER IT IS FROM CENTER
- LENGTH OF LINE AT 1 - MOVE LINE ON Z AXIS - LOFT BETWEEN TWO LINES
- POPULATE ORIGINAL CIRCLE GEOMETRY WITH RANDOM POINTS - DISTANCE TO CLOSEST POINT DICTATES HEIGHT OF LOFT
- ROTATE LOFTS - DISTANCE TO CLOSEST POINT DICTATES ROTATION ANGLE
- MAKE CENTERPOINT OF THE TOP OF EACH LOFT SPHERE - DISTANCE TO CENTER OF CIRCLE DICTATES SIZE OF SPHERE
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. B . 4 : I T E R AT I O N R E N D E R S
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This iteration intrigued me because of the form that it took. It seemed very solid - like Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘mushroom columns’ in the Johnson and Son Administration Building (1939). It looks like you could take this form, create a cast for it and set it with concrete to instantly create a shelter, shade, support for a larger structure. Fabricating this object however, would therefore require formworking or 3D printing - both of these methods not practical at the scale which it would require.
This iteration reminded my of Herzog de Meuron’s Beijing National Stadium a little bit, but I chose it because of its seeming ability to be made out of strips of wood. After conceiving of the idea for my Prototype 2 I wanted to manufacture an iteration whose fabrication would parallel the connection joints used there.
This render shows long, wide strips that create a seemingly rigid yet wavy form. I liked to think that fabricating this you would use hard felt pinned down, or another sturdy-yet-malleable material.
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In a similar vein to the selection of the iteration opposite the page, I chose this because it seemed like you would be able to find a material that would be able to be woven into forms that resembled these. I also like the idea of creating these ‘hives’ to define little segments in a space.
. B.5+B.6: PROTOTYPES
M AT E R I A L T E S T I N G
1mm steel rod
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3mm plywood
3mm mdf
results Overall, steel rods were lightweight, easily malleable, and very strong. The properties of this material meant that it was able to be put under surprisingly high amounts of pressure and still function as intended. It would bounce back from being curved without holding on to much of a residual arc, and therefore was a very versatile material in that regard. The 3mm plywood sheets disappointingly under-performed. They bent nicely but were not strong enough to hold their shape for very long, and broke easily as the sheets were quite brittle. In the end they could reach the same level of curvature as the MDF, but could not sustain that curve for longer than few seconds without shattering. The fallibility of this material may have been due to the low quality of the ply, as a higher quality ply should theoretically out-perform the fibreboard. Therefore, the 3mm MDF was chosen for the task of making the wooden strips. It had a better strength ratio that the plywood, and whilst it still snapped at around the same curvature as the ply, its strength up until that point was satisfactory for my purpose. MDF held a small residual curve post-bending, and would be subsequently weaker if bent in the other direction.
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PROTOTYPE 1.0 BUILDING THE PROTOTYPE Prototype 1 was my first look at creating a single unit and seeing how it performed when acted on by several forces from many different angles. The idea was conceived when I tried to imagine a joining element/connecter that could house the most units. The shape that I came up with was chosen as it was more elaborate than just a sphere, yet still simplistic. The steel rods were used as they were sturdy enough to apply strength against one another without breaking, and malleable enough to achieve curvature between the unit and the base.
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The structure was easy to assemble with simplistic connection joints, and after testing was found to be surprisingly strong considering the small scale at which it was built. This prototype only had one connecting unit, but the design that could be built around this idea would have may, many more, arranged in such a way that their forces would interact upon each other, creating unique curvature as the steel rods bent under the forces created by their locations.
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C O N C E P T As a potential generative impetus for this work, I wanted to utilise the spatial coordinates of stars in dictating where the joining components in this structure would be positioned. To determine this, I chose a constellation in the centre of Melbourne’s night sky at around 9pm and recorded the brightness of each star. I then used this brightness to determine the proximity of that star to earth, and therefore could map a three-dimensional reference of where these stars were located. I would then import these points into an algorithm and use that as the basis for where the joining components would sit. Constructing these joining elements out of a glowing or somehow luminous material would be critical to this concept. The ultimate goal of this prototype would be to give users the feeling that they were standing amongst the stars at night.
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Although whilst this is a neat-o reference to astronomy, I don’t think this astral connection holds much depth or meaning beyond that.
S I T E In thinking about how this prototype could be applied to the site, I imagined that it could be utilised to create form that, at various scales, could be used both as shelter, benches, bike racks, or as an alternative to a light post. I envisioned that the units would be fabricated out of a translucent material, which would then house lighting which would attract users at night. If I chose my clients to be possums, then this structure would be easily able to interact with them as they could climb up and into the thicket of intertwining rods.
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PROTOTYPE 2.0
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BUILDING THE POTOTYPE Similar to the 2010 Achim Menges Pavilion, Prototype 2 was designed to create form by bending multiple strips of wood, and experimenting with the structural capabilities of these forms. The strips are standardised lengths of wood and the connectors are laser cut pieces of mdf. After testing the applied bending strengths of two materials, MDF and plywood, I found that MDF provided the strength that through bending would allow the material to find its curve at which it was strongest. I feel this prototype was the least experimental or exciting, as the generated form is pretty easy to estimate based on the nature of the material. I do however, think that the concept of bending strips of wood in this manner could be expanded on exponentially to create some actually exciting forms, be it a type of tunnel, archway, or a 2010 ICD/ITKE Achim Menges Research Pavilion.
S I T E In applying this to the site, it is hard to imagine that this prototype wouldn’t be utilised to span over some walkway or seating area. Trying to break from this mould could be interesting, however. You could identify this span to be able to span the river, allowing possums (yet again as the potential client) another opportunity to cross without fear of being hit by traffic. You could invert the structure to form some hanging grid which might act as a bridge. You could change the straight frame in which the strips are housed to any shape to change the overall geometry of the structure. Because this prototype is so basic it lends itself to being able to manipulated easily, a strength which I think would necessarily be employed if I was to take it further.
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PROTOTYPE 3.0 BUILDING THE PROTOTYPE After the relatively simple joinery used in Prototype 2, I wanted to create a joining component that was slightly more complex to achieve a form that was slightly more complex. For Prototype 3 I changed the joining component to slits in a hexagonal shape, which allowed me to change the direction of the strips and subsequently the location of their receiving connectors. The resulting four sided polyhedron, self-contained in tension, would be able to act as a single unit in a theoretical infinite structure. The connections make extrapolation easy, and one can easily foresee a structure or serpentine-like pavilion being able to be built out of thousands of these units. The strength of each unit is determined by the relationship between the length and width of the strips you use, as they are forced to brace against each other. Wider-than-longer strips would be more rigid and hold more tension when bent, whereas Longer-than-wider strips will bend easily and not hold much tensile strength. I determined the length and width of the strips in this prototype was intuitively somewhere in the middle.
S I T E Applying this prototype to Merri Creek is again, something that can be expected as a default. You can easily imagine large “clunky” structures formed out of these single units creating light shelters or benches (though to take any force from above, the unit would have to be made out of a stronger material). Compared to the other prototypes, the potential for its exploration seems hindered in its potential to create unexpected form. I feel as though the possum, as our client, would not be too dissatisfied with the form. Structures built out of these units would be climbable and traversable, and such you could again imagine a bridge or a hanging “cloud” of this unit repeated amongst the treetops.
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PROTOTYPE CONCLUSIONS Of the three prototypes all of them, though at varying degrees, could be expanded on and explored further.
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Prototype 1 has its appeal in being able to create exciting and dramatic lines to dictate space, whilst also being the strongest prototype of the three. It is also the only prototype which I have conceived of a potential conceptual idea for. Its drawbacks though, are that it may be overly-simplistic in its joinery. Apart from 3D printing the connecting unit, you couldn’t really digitally fabricate any other part of the structure, as it is essentially just steel rods cut to different shapes and jammed into holes. Prototype 2 has the most potential for exploration, in my opinion. As you can manipulate the housing of the strips very easily, you could theoretically build any curvature from that that you would like, and then just secure it all with the small joining components. The joining component could even be manipulated so that you had to twist
the strips to create even more complex shapes. Prototype 3 has the best base geometry, and is the most complex out of the three. It was the most exciting form to create because of this, and further exploration of this prototype would be to see how many other forms you could make out of the joining component and strips, or even create more complex joining components and see which forms they could create. For the project as a whole, however, it does seem the most dead-end-ish in that any structure made out of this theory would just be a chunky 8-bit installation with this unit as the pixel. I would write about which prototype was the most successful and which I would be determined to pursue further, but I’m not wholly convinced on one. All have their merits and drawbacks, and the potential for exploration on each part to become a more intricate, successful design, which makes choosing just one difficult.
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. LEARNING OUTCOMES In Part B I have gained a fundamental understand ing of how algorithmic processes are used to achieve and discover aesthetic goals and design solutions. Using Grasshopper has allowed me to discover techniques of form finding that I could not have previously conceived, and allowed me to watch as a design can evolve from start to finish. By witnessing and deconstructing each stage in an algorithm I believe that you can formally explore new and exciting shapes, and learning that being able to so easily capture each iteration of the design process as a tool that also influences future designs, rather than a mere recording of progress.
Despite my algorithmic exercises and prototypes still being detached, in that I have not been able to accurately design an algorithm which behaved exactly the same as my physical prototype, the process of prototyping and creating real, physical models was immensely rewarding for my learning. I was continuously pleasantly surprised by the behaviours of my finished prototypes, and I believe this helped me to be optimistic about the ease and feasibility of practical designs. The next stage of this course will be learning how to take outside, real world parametres and learning how to integrate those within an algorithm to achieve real-world results. I am excited to work with my team to be able to discover algorithmic solutions to our conceptual problems, to create physical prototypes based on these algorithmic discoveries, and to conceive, realistically, of actual solutions to our design intent.
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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. 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
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. : image list 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 Fig. 17-19: http://www.iwamotoscott.com/VOUSSOIR-CLOUD Fig. 20: https://www.upf.edu/pdi/dcom/xavierberenguer/recursos/ima_dig/_2_/ig/hy posurface.jpg Fig 21: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aFx-PowwU7E/RyBkKOj3fGI/AAAAAAAAADg/GPFDX Hgh8vo/s320/assembly%2Baxon.jpg Fig. 22-23: http://designplaygrounds.com/deviants/transformers-by-i-m-a-d-e/ Fig. 24-25: http://designplaygrounds.com/deviants/voltadom-by-skylar-tibbits/ Fig. 26: http://i.vimeocdn.com/video/406233481_1280x720.jpg
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