component 2 by Danielius Grabliauskas

Component 2 Danielius Grabliauskas

• Page 3-4 Brief • Page 5-12 Secondary design research • Page 13-16 Primary design research • Page 17-24 Linear parametric development • Page 25-29 Normal distribution development

Contents

• Page 30-32 Linear normal distribution • Page 33-34 Topography • Page 35-38 Centre plan development • Page 39-44 Cad for final design • Page 45-53 Final physical model • Page 54- Evaluation

Brief + Specification Similarity and variations of planets. Our green little planet is a perfect shell for life, but yet we needy humans want to venture out and explore different corners of our solar system. The reason being so that we expand out horizons and increase the chances of survival of human beings. The problem is, is that we never sent humans to another planet. The problem is if humans could stay there for long periods of time of isolation. Lucky enough we have a similar terrain that we could simulate on earth and test these experiments. We can use the deserts of earth and simulate the dry Martian environment. In collaboration with scientists and Universities all over the world I have a task of making a Martian research center to simulate the Martian environment and have laboratories to test any samples brought back from Mars and test any materials that could be produced on the Martian surface. Location wise I would have to build my research centre either in the desert to simulate the Martian soil or build in the arctic to simulate the cold temperatures on Mars. I believe it would be most sensible to build in the desert as it is easier to construct and deliver materials to the place and would also be more comfortable for researchers to travel to. The desert location could be placed in the United States which will be close to Nasa research facilities and be more closer to all the universities in America, as suppose to build a research centre in the Arctic were it is difficult for people to get there.

Specification The research centre must include laboratories, offices, toilets, cafeteria and a central Martian facility where people will be living in a closed environment. There will be a main area in the centre were there will be a test subject of people in a closed area that will live under similar conditions as people would live on mars for a long period of time. The people would be monitored and many simulations and experiments will be conducted in order to prepare for future Mars missions The Research facility will be named as Mars Research Centre (MRC) • Laboratories • Offices • Toilets • Central Mars Chamber • Open spaces • Cafeteria

Location

The location (marked with a red dot) I chose is in the Mojave desert. I chose this location as it is close to Los Angeles and the Jet propulsion lab in Los Angeles. This is key so that the two centres and commute comfortably to each other and work on different projects together. JPL would build any necessary equipment and export it to MRC. My main inspiration will be coming from Zaha Hadid and her exploration of Parametric Architecture. Her unique style has motivated me to create buildings with flow and dynamic. I want to create something people usually do not create. My other sources of inspiration will be an Instagram page called Parametric. Architecture

Design Brief The style of Architecture I want to be achieving is Parametric architecture. Parametric design is a paradigm in design where the relationship between elements is used to manipulate and inform the design of complex geometries and structures. In other words itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the use of mathematics and algorithmic thinking that allows people to create this type of design. I specifically chose this design style as it is a challenging thing to grasp. It also resembles the future, its sleek organic forms that give it a dynamic look makes it look like things from a sci-fi movie.

Gehryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s building features distinct curves and geometry. This unique style encompasses all the light around it dues to its metallic and shinny surface. This building has no systematic pattern nor symmetry which is why it makes it so unique. The irrational chaotic design is something to look up to and possibly use in my designs.

Buildings such as the Guggenheim by Frank Gehry, Birds nest by Herzog & De Meuron and the Heydar Aliyev Centre by Zaha Hadid are preliminary Buildings that have influenced Parametric architecture to progress forward.

The birds nest is a perfect example of parametric design. Its torus structure emphasises the curved geometry of parametric architecture, but what makes this building more interesting is the nest structure placed on top of the torus. Even though it looks linear it is moulded around a curved solid which consequently makes it look parametric. Adding linear shapes and moulding/ fusing them with curved objects is a really interesting thing to explore for a final design of this projects

Design Research

All the images here are taken from @Parametric. Architecture Instagram page and these buildings are going to be my main source of inspiration when it comes to parametric architecture. The top right photo shows how you can linearise a topography and create a roof structure that could be used as a final design. The white images shows a mathematical relationship of a damped wave. The wave starts of with a higher amplitude and starts damping down with lower amplitudes until the roof becomes virtually flat. The rest of the building is nested underneath of the damped wave. The hexagonal shape was used as a ceiling design for an interior design, these hexagonal shapes can be used to create diverse shapes and depths for a new building design. Finally the helix structure/ skyscraper shows how parametric design can be simplified into more linear design. The building uses rectangular blocks and stacks them on top of each other with a small rotation. The stacked blocks ends up with a blocky helix.

Design Research sketch ideas The main idea here is to represent solid shapes as a linear approximation to that shape. Its like when in mathematics we use rectangles under a graph to approximate the area under the graph.

Metropol parasol I love how the parasol is made up of 2D sheets which are all stacked, consequently creating a 3D design out of it. It gives it an unfinished look, but it is a good look non the less. What I can deduce from this building is the for a building â&#x20AC;&#x153;less is moreâ&#x20AC;? the more simpler the building looks the more it will express. Another thing about this structure is how it connects people from around the world. It has become a tourist attraction due to its simplistic and interesting architecture. It helps bring society together and help people connect. This contour shape is something I would like to explore in my project towards a final outcome of my research centre.

Contour lines

I started of with a basic sine wave on a flat vertical plane. Then I added several contour lines that will give an approximation of what the shape would look like. Finally I filled in the gaps and created a 3d drawing of the sine wave as a parametric feature. This feature could either be used as a roof design of a structure or a sealing feature for the interior or even a wall pattern on the exterior of the building. what I have seen this type of structure being used as is a painting/ prop which is displayed on a flat wall. Instead of doing that I could make the whole wall look like that. I could do this by creating a tile that would follow this shape and would be extended through out the whole wall, as shown on the image to the left. 7

Contour lines building idea

Now that I have explored a out contour lines and the real life applications when I would use them, I will now try and create this as a model and illustrate how it would look like. I started of by making a parametric shape like the one from the previous slide in SketchUp and sliced it up in equally spaced slices and layered each slide on the floor. Then I took some tracing paper and traced around the structure so I can draw it on balsa wood and then cut it out. when I traced the shapes I must have traced them inaccurately as they did not line up nicely. I stacked them and glued them together anyway. To resolve the irregularities I took some sand paper and tried to smoothen out the shape and create a nice curve. This can be seen on the right. 8

Zaha Hadid Window inspirations

• The Heydar Aliyev Centre is arguably Hadid’s best work out there. The interesting parametric shapes and beautiful window design is something I would like to add into my work. • The glass is something I want to add in particular because of its unique shape. Each pane is separated by a step which flows across the whole building. • The parametric shape is something I inspire to use, it has natural organic shapes and geometry, blending with the surroundings, environment and society. • What I also like about the geometry of this building is that it can be described in mathematical equations which can be manipulated and used to create new structures

Exploring mathematical Equations to create Parametric shapes Using complex mathematical equations allows me to expand my horizons into parametric geometries. Using parametric equations I could create complex structures just like the butterfly displayed bellow. I can simulate real life geometry with a bunch of numbers and functions. This is important as nature is governed by the laws of mathematics. Parametric equations can get even more complicated with an extra (z) dimension which ultimately allows to create complex 3d structures like the wave pattern as shown. What I have done on the left is a series of normal polynomial equations and drew them on a 2d graph. This allowed me to create a faĂ§ade of a building which can further allow me to create more interesting 3d structures. Whilst doing this I realized I almost re created Zaha Hadidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Heydar Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijan. Seeing that this technique allowed me to achieve a style similar to arguably the most creative architect in the world shows I am going in the right path with my project.

Oscillation ideas The idea I had here was thinking about ripples in a water. I take the whole circular shape of the ripples and quarter it as shown in the plan sketch whilst conserving the rippling effect of the wave. Its like taking a section of a rippling wave on water.

Oscillation Building This idea on the left came from visualizing half an oscillation. Like from the previous slide there is a building which has 4 of the wave patterns, I decided to use only one of them. I did this just to simplify the model a it. I also left a small gap in between the two sides of the building. When i started to visualize the building in three dimensions I realized that I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to look like an extended prism where it would be the same view from the south and north faĂ§ade. Instead I decided to split the shape in half and have one of them curving out and the other curving into. This does not change the buildings shape in the elevation plane, but it will in the three dimensional plane.

This structure on the right was inspired by the oscillations I did on the previous slide. The structure on the left is also an oscillation inspired from the previous slide but its just a visual representation of how such a structure could be created in a hand held model. It was made from different oval shaped wood glued together and sanded to make it a smooth curve

Sinusoidal waves

As I am using all sorts of mathematical properties I decided to use a simple and easy to use graph (sin wave). I bent out a sine wave from a strip of aluminium and elevated it above the surface of some mdf. I was thinking of how to create a nice curved structure and the idea that came to my head was to use fabric. I layered the fabric over the metal frame and stretched it over until i was happy with the look of it. To hold it in place I stapled the fabric to the mdf. The inspiration I gathered from this idea was a waving wall pattern. The drawing on the top left was inspired my the image on the bottom right. I was trying to illustrate how a curved/ parametric structure could be used as a design feature for the exterior of the building. the second image above also was trying to show the same thing. Instead I took a linear building design and added the sinusoidal pattern in the faรงade of the building

Water drop building ideas â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Primary source.

To study dynamics and organic architecture, the most obvious thing to explore was water. I decide to take pictures of water drops. I took a high speed camera, a bowl of water and a pipette. The process was to position the camera so it is aiming at the right direction of where the water will drop and getting the focus on the same plane as the water will be dropping. After all of that was configured it was all trial and error. I would drop water where I caught focus on the camera and as soon as it is about to hit the surface I would release the shutter and hope that I have captured the right image. After a set of 200 images these are the two I have selected. From the water drop I had two ideas that I explored.

The SketchUp model was taken from the water drop and the image to the left. I used the structure of the rippling of the water and used the opening from the image on the left.

This set of drawings on the right was taken as a progression from the idea from the left. Looking at the openings I thought to extend them more to the top of the structure and keep the openings as a social space. The stems going from the base of the building to the top of the building would have the main structure and where all facilities and labs would be. Then from that I developed a possible plan structure for the building. as the whole structure is circular, to maintain a symmetrical look the walls would have to be pointing towards the centre of the building. I placed the Martian simlauted are in the middle so it would be easy to monitor and take data from. All labs will be an equal distance from the centre.

Uniform Torus shape

Extending from the water droplet I had the idea to create a torus shaped structure. To create the structure I made the above pieces in 2d design and laser cut them out. After I slotted the circular discs into the circular plane. Then I had a torus structure. The problem was that the structure was circular all the way around. To avoid this I sawed one half of the torus so I am left with a flat circular base. To show the structures parametric shape I used the same technique as I did for the sinusoidal wave. I layered a piece of fabric over the structure and pinned down the corners to stretch the fabric and hence create a parametric shape. The problem with this design is that it is fixed and if one of the pins comes out it would all fall apart. To avoid this problem I tired adding some pva glue and solidifying the fabric, but I will not show the results as it was embarrassingly horrible. This technique might work for other structures.

Asymmetrical Torus shape

As an extended version of the uniform torus design, I changed the circular disks that slotted into the base and made them more oval shaped and irregular. I arranged them in a way that it would create a sinusoidal wave which travels in a circular path and connects back to itself. To experiment further I tried to use the fabric method. I like how the structure looked when the fabric was layered over the top, but when I applied the pva glue over the fabric it all crumpled and destroyed the parametric geometry.

Whilst exploring the rotating spirals, I reminded myself of an interesting mathematical geometry. Its called a Mรถbius strip which I could use to create an interesting building.

Parametric Model design

Creating Helixes

Combining 3 Helixes

Rotating Helix

Developing rotating helix design.

Combining clockwise and anticlockwise Helixes

Developing Normal distribution design.

What I like about the normal distribution design is how the edges curve out in a smooth and seamless way, whereas the parabolic design would stop at a halt where the edges would end. For me this tiny feature allows it to have a minimal design where it is not chaotic and is kept clean, but still maintain a very interesting parametric shape. This SketchUp model was created with the intention of developing the normal distribution design. With the aid of plugins I was able to create this parametric shape which closely illustrates the sketches I made of the same design 27

Developing Normal distribution design.

Here I was exploring the normal distribution design and seeing how I can evolve it more. My ideas where to extend the edges of the design and carry on the distribution as shown in the top left. From there I had the idea of making it more square. I made the base into a square and added a squared version of my design. What I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like about this design is that it would follow more of a parabolic shape rather than the normal distribution design and it would look to tall for what it looks wide. After that I decided to take the SketchUp model of the normal distribution design and duplicate it. Because of the shapes symmetrical properties I was able to align both structures together seamlessly and created a whole new design. In the top right I was showing how the floors would look due to the shape of the structure.

Using Fabric and PVA glue

This model was originally created from the combination of clockwise and anticlockwise helixes. How I decided to develop this model was to create a metal frame of the shape and layer a piece of fabric over the top, this can be seen on the image on the left. After that was complete I layered PVA glue over the surface of the fabric and waited for it to dry. After that was dried I cut out the fabric from the base and left it with the metal frame so it would keep its original form and stability. Then I took the excess fabric and tucked it underneath and around the metal frame to keep the metal unexposed. Finally I took a few layers of paint and added it to the surface of the fabric, the final result can be seen on the series of images on the right. This was an exploration of both shape and material to see what would be suitable to use as a final solution. 29

Taking a Parametric design and linearising it

After creating the fabric model and the combined helix model I found that they are surprisingly similar. They follow the same structure and geometry. What I decided to do was use this structure and make a more proportional shape. What I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like about these two models was that the where either too tall or narrow or just to plain to look at. After a series of trial and error I found a nice fit for the model. Displayed on the right is the outcome I came up with. It has 17, 2 by 5 mm sticks that are glued in a way that it would make that pattern. I ended up making the model more shallower and longer. This to me gave it a more proportional look and looks like a more final product. The material I used was balsa wood and I used hot glue to connect the pieces together. This was the best way to create this model because balsa wood is very light and easy to work with and hot glue dries up very quickly.

Taking linear design and adding the normal distribution Design + changing material

What I have been doing all this time is to make my design curved and look parametric. What I forgot was that a linear design can also look parametric. What I did here was applied my normal distribution design and added to the linear model of what I have been recently exploring. Previously I used balsa wood, which was a good material but it was too soft and light to be built as a final model, so I used bass wood instead. Bass wood is much more dense than balsa and has less chips when is cut, this ultimately allows me to have a more cleaner finish and a more stable and rigid model. 31

Using normal distribution design and cutting it in half

To get another idea progressing from the normal distribution design I thought about manipulating that design. The idea I had was to cut it in half and hopefully get a good looking design. What I like about this design is that it is a further simplification of the normal distribution. It looks more cleaner and less complicated when it comes to make a model for it. The roof follows the same curved shape and the glass design is unchanged. I do prefer the normal distribution just because it looks more interesting in my opinion.

Creating topography from the Mojave desert for final model On this and the next slide I have made a series of topography work using SketchUp and a few plugins. These terrains are all taken from my chosen location from the brief. I chose a nice suitable location from Mojave desert and explored with different layers and thicknesses. Whilst playing around with it I started to think about what materials to use and how I would cut these out. Thankfully what SketchUp does is uses the terrain from the inbuilt SketchUp feature and using some additional plugins such as slicer, the program slices the shape into the allocated dimensions I put and will layer each slice as a flay piece next to the 3d model. This is good because if I wanted to cut these out by hand I could print out an image of the sliced layers and use that as a template, but what I believe would be more efficient is to export the SketchUp file as a dxf file into 2d design and the laser cut all the layers.

When laser cutting I need to consider what materials to use, because not all materials can be laser cut. The materials I could use are: mdf, grey board, card, acrylic and basswood. Thinking about supply and cost it came down to either mdf or grey board. The problem with the mdf supply is that they have a thickness of 6mm which means that the model would be extremely tall if I used something like 20 layers. That means I would have to condense the amount of layers in SketchUp and use that as my new layers. What I also found out is that the more layers the topography has the more it will look to the original terrain and the better it will look. So my best option would be to use grey board as there is a large supply of them and they are all 2.5mm thick.

This topography is an example of using 6mm thickness mdf sheets. What is good about it is that I would not use as much mdf as lets say I used 3mm thickness. The drawback is that it just does not not nearly look as good as thin sheets. It looks bulky and there is just not enough layers. Also with this terrain there is a really limited amount of flat space to put my scaled model on top of.

This topography is an example of using 3mm sheets. Drawback is obviously that it uses more material to make, but the good thing is that it looks so much better than using thicker sheets. The image shows a rectangle on the top of the topography which indicates the proportion of my model that would sit on top of the topography. As you can tell there isn't that much space to add any extra features like car parks and other things that a research center might have. Looking back at the previous slide I like the bottom topography as it has many layers and has sufficient space of the top layer to place my model and other miscellaneous things.

Planning the final model

Here is a set of plan layouts for my final model. I first drew the plan view of the building to show the beams are all parallel to each other. Then I started playing around with the layout and came to a possible conclusion for each floor.

After more development and planning, I ended up making the floor plans on SketchUp as it is much easier to precisely draw wall lengths. I did this so when it comes to creating the final model I can put the floor plans on 2d design and laser cut them.

Martian simulated area. In this area people will be living under Martian conditions. The place will be sealed off and contain a non breathable atmosphere which is also cooled down to -60 degrees Celsius.

This area is the stairs that comes from the ground floor.

Basement

This is the developing centre or DC. In this area many projects would take place. From building new rovers on mars to building sustainable bases for future generations on mars. This place is to research possible materials to use for structures on Mars

The rooms around the Martian simulated area are labs that will be monitoring the People in the area, checking there health and planning for real life situations. 36

This is the same Developing center as from the basement floor. The extra head room is for any extra tall projects like a Martian house/ base

This is the same DC as the ones in the basement and the ground floor. Extending across all floors.

This will be the stairs going up to the 1st floor. The same thing applies to the other shape on the other side of the DC

Ground Floor

These labs are still part of Martian simulated are, but not necessarily monitoring the people in the area. These labs can be used for other purposeful Mars research such as Botany or radiation shielding etc.

These are offices and labs that will be used for research but not necessarily for Mars. This could range from experiments for the ISS or astronomical labs and analyzing telescope data.

1st Floor

Here would be a cafeteria for the researches to eat and socialize. I chose this location as there is no limitation to ceiling height and it would be surrounded by two adjacent glass walls for natural light

More empty space, but this one will have a huge glass opening for a nice view of the Mojave dessert

Here is an empty space for people to eat and socializing. There was not rooms placed here as the ceiling would be too low at the centre of the building 37

As I drew all the Plans on SketchUp I also drew the walls and stacked them all together as they should be in the final model . Instead I decided to show the plans in an Axonometry perspective. I blew out all the Levels and walls and left them hanging above each other.

I added colour to each floor to represent depth. The deeper and richer the colour the more bellow it is. The lighter the colour the higher above the base it is. Glass that surrounds the building

1st Floor: Unrelated labs to Mars + DC

Ground Floor: DC + Cafeteria Basement: Martian simulated area +DC

The final one is similar to the first one but it shows the depth of the walls and the Martian simulated area a bit clearer. 38

Sketchup model and elevations

This is what the final model should look like apart from the fact that the roof will have a linear parametric design to it. I made it curved on SketchUp just because it was easier to do with a quick plugin rather than to do 25 consecutive beams. I have added people and a car park to show the grand scale of the building. The building will be on top of a mountain as there will be a telescope present next to the structure which will be part of the Event Horizon telescope. On the Right is a set of elevations of the building showing the height of the structure compared to the people and cars. I used parallel projection to mitigate any perspective for a true elevation drawing. On the next slide I have illustrated some Section elevations and 3d sections of the structure. This is to show the structure of the interior of the space as well as to show the true scale of the Developing centre. I made the whole building with no thickness just to make measuring the walls much easier. I would take in account the thickness when I will be importing the plans and walls into 2d design. If this building were to be built In real life this is an accurate representation of how it would look. 39

Taking SketchUp model and rendering in ArchiCAD Now I imported the Sketchup model into ArchiCAD so I could do some renders. The bottom image is the building without the roof in a dark environment. I was not able to import the roof from SketchUp into ArchiCAD so I represented the renders without the roof. The image on the left is the same image as the one on the bottom, but in a more daylight scenario. And the final sketch shows how natural ventilation can be used to cool down a structure so large in a hot environment. The north side of the building, which is the glass that has the normal distribution shape will have openings at the top of the frame and the air will flow inside the building along the ceiling which will cover most of the space of the building and the warmer air will escape from the south side into the cooler atmosphere.

Evaluation

During the process of designing the Mars Research Centre (MRC) I have learnt many new things and faced new challenges. I have gained new experiences with exploring the mathematics of architectural design through the means of parametric architecture. Thanks to Zaha Hadid (the queen of curves) for giving me the right insight and trajectory into producing the project I have produced. Her work has greatly inspired me through out the project and was a useful guide when developing parametric shapes. Whilst developing my designs through mathematical graphs I saw how some of her work could be modelled through those graphs, so I used that to create my own project. During my research phase I stumbled across a building that looked parametric but followed a linear design, this building was the high rise building that would be twisting as it increases with elevation, but instead of a smooth and subtle curves the building uses Jenga block structures to increase in altitude and horizontal rotation (page 17). Using the Jenga blocks idea, I then started exploring with that form and discovered that it looks similar to a helix. I then explored different forms and structures until I reached a conclusion which was my final idea. After exploring with different variations of the helix structures I decided to stick with my original idea which was the normal distribution design (page 26). Then came in the material choices as well as the topography and environment which led to CAD models and the final physical model. This new style of architecture is greatly expanding and becoming more popular. I took the challenge to explore this type of architecture and jump on the new trend of architecture. Using the similarities and variations of mathematical equations I was able to successfully create a parametric design. I particularly like the curved roof and the depth of my model. I am hugely satisfied with the quality of the model.

I believe the function of the building is well thought out and Is a sensible solution to a real life research centre. Starting with the basement the main attraction is the MSA (Martian Simulated Area) It is what the name suggests. A place where Martian environment is simulated to investigate experiments and test real life situations. The area is surrounded by labs so monitoring the area is quick and easy. The DC (Developing Centre) is equipped with a lot of headroom, so possible buildings could be mocked up, which could be built on Mars. The ground floor is equipped with more labs and open spaces. The labs can be used for experiments related to Mars but not necessarily from the MSA. The ground floor has an abundance of open space which can be used for a canteen and a social space for the researchers to discuss any projects they are on. Finally the 1st floor is filled with labs which will have more labs focused with the telescope that is placed outside the building. Data will be travelling through optic fiber cables from the telescope to the 1st floor of the building. The first floor is also equipped with open space for more social areas and meeting locations. All floors are equipped with restrooms. The telescope is part of the EHT (Event horizon telescope) which will gather data about quasars in our universe. The research centre has a carpark fit for all workers and enough space for everyone with roads connecting to the main road which leads to Las Vegas, Phoenix and LA. The whole structure is naturally ventilated which makes cooling down the place less of a hassle and more energy efficient. As the structure is located in the Mojave Desert the research centre could also install solar panels everywhere, to supply more energy and not rely on the national grid. For people working in this place I believe it would be a nice and open space to work in. the space is fully functional with facilities and equipment which is perfect for scientific research. The functionality of the developing centre is a huge factor for creating new ideas and inventions for future generations on Mars. The Martian simulated area is perfect for research and preparation of any missions that may take place on Mars. Adding other facilities such as a telescope and extra labs will give more opportunities for scientists and will create a more diverse place to be in. To make the whole project better I could have added more primary resources, I could have gone to central London and searched around for parametric architecture. Zaha Hadidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Garden would be a perfect example to explore as parametric architecture. I could have went to the location and took pictures of any interesting forms I saw. I should have also explored more on the interior space and developed the Martian simulated area and showed more details on how the mechanics of the structure works. In conclusion I am very satisfied with the 54 design and I believe I have shown a good use of parametric architecture combined with the functionality of a research centre.