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.
a1 design futuring
The way we approach design in our current society can hardly be considered as sustainable. With the constant rise in demand for materialistic resources and the growth in population, we, as designers, must develop new ways and attitude towards designing, and completely rethink our strategies. Tony Fry, in his writing Design Futuring, has addressed the issues that our society is cuttently facing and the devasting trajectory that our thirst for capital is driving us towards.
Hoever, Fry has suggested that we are approaching the dawn of digital age, and we have an abundance of tools to aid us and reshape the disatrous course that we are headed towards.
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he Walking city is vision created by Ron Herron, as he was part of the Archigram, in 1964, where this crazy idea of a moving city was designed to anticipate and accomodate the fast-paced and technologically advanced societies. Archigram was formed in the 60s they are a group of experimental architects whose ideas were radical and unorthodox at the time period. They came up with many different designs to challenge the conventional way of living, and this project Walking City has completely redefined what it a city is. The main idea of this design is to have a giant intelligent robotic building that is self contained and self sustainable and is able to roam across all terrain. Different other
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walking cities could come together and form a larger walk metropolis and move away at the will of the owner. Howeverr, it was the context which the city was designed under that I find most interesting. It was a post apoalypse scenario where most of the earth is contaminated and uninhabbitable. Tony Fry has drawn parallels to this kind of situation in the near future, when mankind has the “insatiable apetite” for extracting resources and the “propensity of human centredness” will lead out world onto an path of descruction because of our unsustainable way of life.
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The Green Frame Home
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.
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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b1 Geometry
G eometric design have always been a technique used by designers to calculate and control the
desired curvature or suface for geometry. The fundamental idea “may be to minimize or maximize an objective function without violating a set of constraints.� However, in oder to maximise the efficiency of a perticular geometry that we try to exploit, we must use parametric modelling tools to aid us in achieving the desired design or to optimise our goal. With the new age of parametric deisgn replacing the traditional way of from finding, architects have opened up a new gate to fully explore the experiment with different materials. Parametric design allows us to work within a set parameter and run simulated forces that replicates real life situation, like gravity and tensile forces. With this new information, architects are able to input rules into the algorithm in order to establish multiple relationship to optimise outcome.
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b2 Case study 1.0 lava green void
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he Green Void is a sculture installation suspended in the atrium of Sydney Customs House, it has a vertical span of 20m and uses lightweight lycra material and computational design to achieve this geometry. LAVA director Chris Bosse explained that, “the shape of the installation is not explicitly designed; it is rather the result of the most efficient connection of different boundaries in three-dimensional space, which can be found in nature in things like plants and corals. We only determined the connection points within the space and the rest is a mathematical formula, a minimal surface.� This form finding technique is becoming more and more popular because of the final geometry gives the users the feeling of being soothing, gentle, and one with nature.
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This is what I think my most successful itirations are, and I think the exoskeleton plugin combined with kangaroo simulations can create some interesting results and can be easily inplemented to a range of situations. Apart from being a form of decoration and ornament, it has the potential to be functional too. The tubes could be made of a strong enough material to connect closely spaced high rise buildings to allow movment of people.
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b3 Case Study 2.0 Softlab San gennaro north gate
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his installation is located in NYC built for the San Gennaro festival. It’s comprised of 4224 laser-cut Mylar panels arranged in a geometric pattern and over 6000 aluminium grommets are used as the joints between each panel, therefore, it is relatively light for its size. Although this geometry is achieved through parametic design of minimal surface, the final on-site form can only be determined once the right amount of tension is applied through the cables and attachments to surrounding buildings.
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b3
individual panel final form
Input mesh
This mesh will dictate the panels in each cell on the final geometry.
So I began by making a simple mesh to capture the rough shape of the geometry.
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Converted to mesh plane now I can plug that into kangaroo physics.
I then subdivided the mesh and used kangaroo to relax the mesh and smooth out the sharp naked edges.
The height count slider connecting MPlane reflects the number of vertices of each side.
I then deconstructed the mesh into individual blocks.
Now that the geometry is broken down into each indicidual panels and cells
When we increase that number we get a smoother edge.
This is the final geometry after surface morphing, panels in each cell is dictated by the single mesh above. CONCEPTUALISATION 25
b3 F rom this excercise, behind all the research and experimental work in Rhino and Grasshopper, I realised that there are more than one way to achieve a desired geometry. In this instance, the final geometry can only be determined once installed on site. This is the reason why Kangaroo Physics simulation allows for that flexibility to conpensate for real life forces and situations.
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b4 Technique: development
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b4 I
n the above iterations, a lot of the technique I used was derived straight from Case Study 1.0 and Case Study 2.0. From that point, I continued to explore and research the grasshopper forum to further develop my techniques and skills. For my iterations I began with basic form finding techniques using kangaroo physics and continued to alter and change inputs like the anchor points, spring rest length and positive and negative gravity to manipulate the form. I have a general idea of my design proposal for the Merri Creek installation. So my inistial idea is to intall a membrane structure along the creek using trees as my anchor points, covering a section of the river creating shelter for human and tree animals to get across the river. There will be curves and bends along the creek, so what if the piece was intalled around a bend? I then continued to explore the combination of the form finding technique and surface morphing to create individual panels for fabrication.
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b5 For a flexible yet strong material for my prototype and I sewed together each piece together, creating a small sample shown on the left.
technique: prototypes
For my prototype model, I will try to replicate the panel and their connections in case study 2.0
So for my prototype, I need to come up with a way to join the panels together, so at each corner I increased the surface area so the panels have area to join up.
With some “anchor points� created, and some forces applied, a parabolic curve can be seen created by the tention and the geometry.
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b5 technique: proposal
I have chosen a little wooden bridge on the Merri Creek trail as my taget location for my installation
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The membrane will stretch across the creek over the bridge, providing some natural light filter through the gaps.
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b6 Learning objectives and outcomes
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t the begining of Part B, I felt like I was thrown straigh away into the deep end of the pool where I really struggled more with the technicality of the course, the whole grasshopper thing was still a mystery to me and didn’t know how to do anything apart from blindly following the online tutorials and not knowing the reason why things are done and arranged in that particular way. However, in a way it is a good thing that we were thrown straight into action. I really uterlised all the availible materials that is provided and at my disposal. Once you start creating a bunch of iterations, you really start to explore a much wider range of techniques and resouces to create the desired geometry. Unlike part A, where it was relatively simple just to talk about the parametric rules and algorithms and how the design is based on that, but I never fully understood what I was talking about until Part B, where theory and practice slowly came together in my head and the relationship between algorithms became more clear and how it can be applied in real world situaltions. This was definitely a worthy learning experience.
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c1 design concept
The batcave The site chosen is a bridge crossing Merri Creek in Northcote. This site connects the urban streets to a large grassy opening through the Merri Creek trail. This transition from urban to natural presents good opportunities to explore the human / non-human aspect of the brief. The bridge can get quite busy at times due to its vicinity to the neighbouring urban areas. Our team plans to completely re-design the existing bridge to provide a unique experience for those crossing it. This is where the idea of the ‘bat cave’ comes in. A parametrically designed walkway will have a bamboo covering that allows bats to hang from it while they sleep. Because the bats found in this area are water-reliant, having a new sleeping area located above the water will attract them and allow for interaction between humans and bats at this urban/natural crossing. The design will also allow for interaction with other fauna such as the native birds who can perch on the top of the structure. The input data for the grasshopper algorithm includes the length and width of the current bridge, as well as a minimum height for foot and bicycle traffic to pass through the structure.
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c1 design concept Algorithmic approach
Each strip is connected to a handle which in turn controls the width of the ends and rotaing it changes the angle of the fixings. By manipulating the handles, and using Kangaroo Physics to run simulations, we were able to arrive with the following iterations. We also offset the strips to match the width of our timber strips which we plan to use for our model.
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c2 tectonic elements & prototypes So in this stage, we were testing the material performance of the bamboo strips with forced curvature, by placing the ends at different width to test the breaking point of the material. As it is clearly demonstrated in the pictures, the bamboo strips can hold a high amount of tension force. What was interesting was that as the fixed ends of the strips were placed closer, we start to observe a double curvature happening in the form. The first prototype explored the playfulness of balsa sheets and the tectonic details needed to bend balsa sheets. Sheets were bent and tied end to end with strings to maintain its curvature. One end of the next sheet were tied to the previous balsa and string were used in the same way to create tunnel-like form.
This shows the potential of using bamboo strips as it is highly flexible, and it is also a natural material that is unprocessed material.
This prototype has a very dynamic looking joining detail. The joining detail does result in the altered parts of the balsa wood becoming weaker, thus further tests would need to be done to establish the strength of the thin sheets of wood. The circumference of the peg slotted between the pieces of wood needs to be big enough to be pressed by each piece of balsa to ensure that it is locking them in place. Using the laser cutter for this prototype would ensure accuracy.
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c2 tectonic elements & prototypes The second material we tested was steel cable, we thought since steel has a high tensile strength so it’s be easier to form into our desired form. However, despite the high tensile strength of the steel rods, they were simply too hard to bend into shape with forced curvature, in order to bend them like the way the bamboo strips did, we had to use pliers to bend each individual one, thus defeating the idea of forced curvature in achieving the correct material performance.
Just to expend on the the use of the bamboo strips and refining the form and the techtonics. There fill be slots, cut into the base (bridge) at different agles which the bamboo strips will go in the slots and be fixed into place. The slots will be place at a range of different width to match the variation in our rhino model and the different angled slots will force the curvature of the bamboo strips.
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c3 final detail model
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c4 Learning objectives and outcome
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s time got closer to Part C, my team mates and I scrambled together all our skills which we have learnt throughout the semester and put it together for the final part of this course. It was a struggle to come up with a concept and dedicate a design to our site as we had many different ideas and view. However, I see this as a challenge to make things work in a group and extract the best qualities and skill from each member. So during the Part C, we dedicated each member to a specific area of their specialty, where Calvin took care of the visual aspect, Georgia stepped up to be the grass hopper expert, and I wanted to do model making and construction of the final model. This was definitely a fun and quite difficult experience for me, what I learnt from this class, from the design concepts to the use of parametric design skills, will definitely carry me into the future.
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