STUDIO AIR 2016, SEMESTER 2 DANIEL SUN
TABLE OF CONTENT introduction part a. conceptualisation a1. Design Futuring a2. design computing a3. composition/generation a4. conclusion a5. learning outcome a6. appendix - algorithmic sketches part b. CRITERIA DESIGN B1. RESEARCH FIELD B2. CASE STUDY 1.0 B3. CASE STUDY 2.0 B4. TECHNIQUE: DEVELOPMENT B5. TECHNIQUE: PROTOTYPES B6. TECHNIQUE PROPOSAL B7. LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES B8. APPENDIX - ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES PART C. DETAILED DESIGN C1. DESIGN CONCEPT C2. TECTONIC ELEMENTS & PROTOTYPES C3. FINAL DETAILED MODEL
INTRODUCTION Daniel Sun I came to Australia when I was very little, from a big city, Shanghai. Ever since I was a kid, I have always been into drawing and sketching. So some of the adults around me at the time suggested Architecture as a career to pursuit. When i was back in high school, my idea of being an architect was a job where one can let there imagination run free to create extraordinary projects, but in reality we were bound by rules and contraints and other social norms restricting the freedom. However, as time progressed through the course, I came to enjoy the process of designing, and realised that constraints do not limit ones imagination. One of my biggest weakness is the use of computer programs, like AutoCAD and Rhino etc, as I have always enjoyed doing things by hand like hand drawings and model making. Therefore I am hoping that through this subject I can gain a further understanding and new approaches towards creating a design.
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a1 design futuring
As more and more people are recognising the fact that our
world will run out of resources faster than it can replenish itself. Designers around the world are rethinking and rearranging the design heirachy with sustainability being one of the top priorities, and starts to explore sustainable architecture as the key to the future. This container house named The Green Frame House is designed by Studio Astori, it is two storey home composed of six recycled shipping containers placed in a staggered configuration. Astori aslo uterlises solar panels, a wind turbine and other energy efficient materials in an attempt to create a sustainable living space while keeping a low construction cost. This is the kind of thinking that sparks and inspire other architects to continue to explore similar ideas, which will eventually lead to a global scale and see the world change.
The Green Frame Home
A2 Design Computation
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eople often look into nature to find their inpiration during the design process to find a suitable solution. For the researchers at the Institude for Computational Design, this technique of biomimetric investigation into shell structures and micro organisms to replicated their form in 3D programs and uses robotic technology to produce the materials through to construction.
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Certainly with the help of computers becoming
the new media to aid the architects in their design process, it’s had a dramatic impact to the way we approach and think about the design process. Some might argue that the use of computer during design is merely another form of media like pencils and ruler. However, according to Kalay (2004), over the last five decades, the computational design could “provide varying level of assistance to the human designers”, they could aid us from drawing straight lines to proposing design solutions for us if enough data is inputted into the system or program. Oxman argues that with the power of computation and material fabrication, architects have been empowered and given the ability of a masterbuilder.
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With the help of computational design, we had the ability to explore and create radical geometries with algorithms that defies the traditional way of design process. The age of parametric design fully explores the relationship between design intent and design response beyond the high level of generative capability. Oxman (2014) stated that with this growing capability in computational design, ‘parametricism’ could also simulate for building performance and behaviors such as “energy and structural performance”. Meaning that the designer will have a dynamic model of the project, who can change the rules and algorithsms to fit a certain scenario in order to predict the building performance in the long run.
From design to production, it is all controlled digitally by the architects alone. With this use of computer, new opportunities could be explored and tested. The computer aided manufacturing allows for a more precise and complex contruction, whilst deleting the element of human error during construction stage.
However, the real world application of these type of computational design is limited, as they will not pass local councils’ rules and regulations for it to be a large scale projects as the current Australian’s standard building code is not keeping up with the exponential growth in the building technologies and computational way of design. Nevertheless, there are still projects that uterlizes computational process to design decorative ornaments like facades and interiors. For example like the Emerson college in Los Angeles designed my Morphosis Architects. The dynamic facade is definitely the highlight of the building and with such a complex geometry and composition, it can only be achieved through computational design.
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A3 composition/generation W
ith parametric design and modeling, there are often a pattern or a certain structural form that reflects a system, and in order for a system to work then there must be a fnite number of rules which the system must obey, an algorithm. How do we come up with a system then? Where do we turn our attention to in order to find the appropriate inspiration? What is a better place to look other than other very own mother earth? Like what Bradley Elias mentioned in week 3’s Studio Air lecture; for a few decades now, all kinds of 3D designers have been looking into nature for inspiration to find their prefered systems to model upon. However, we first have to define the system and set boundaries and limitations. In Wilson and Frank C’s “Definition of ‘Algorithm’, the elements in a system can transition to a certain state or can be probabalistic. So the solution synthesis is ever changing and the outcomes are unpredictable. If we had enough data and can account for every single molecule, we would able to simulate a system with such precision that we have the ability to accurately model the entire earth. However, this is beyond our current computer power and technology, therefore we look into a detailed system and define our boundaries to make things work. Some modelled the human skeletal bone structure by adding mass and density to the end points; while others look up at the sky and watch flocks of birds capturing their dynamic flying pattern. The formulation of the biomimetic principles is a major contribution to the design process, once the system is defined and the form is captured, the next step is to build upon the chosen system and structure to generate and establish a relationship between components and parts. Eventually, keep building upon the chosen form for the final result.
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A4.5 conclusion / learning outcome
Conclusion: Computation has certainly revolutioned the way contemporary architects approach a design problem, and changed the design process. It is innovative in the sense that parametric design has the ability to solve complex issues and can provide different levels of asistance according to the input data and the given rules that governs the outcome. We are able to create more extraordinary forms and geometries from the start of the design process down to the fabrication of materials and construction. This design process allows us to approach a design as a system thinking, taking the dynamic nature and the environment into thinking as part of the parametres or rules. This is a holistic approach to design and is the key to a sustainable future. Learning outcome: Throughout this chapter I have learnt a lot more on the theory behind the reason why we need programs to help us design. At the begining of the course I thought digital programming was just a fancy tool to replace the pencils and drawing boards for a faster design process. However, now I am aware of the power and benefits of computation in the design field. It forces us to have a grand view over the whole project in order to achieve the best possible deisgn solution.
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