Degitalisation design through making print by Demetra Voskou

Digitalisation: Design through making

By Demetra Voskou 1

"I hereby declare that, I have consulted and understood the information provided in the University of Brighton's Plagiarism Awareness Pack and the information on academic standards and conventions for referencing given in the Short Guide. I know that plagiarism means passing off someone else's writings or ideas for my own, whether deliberately or inadvertently. I understand that doing so constitutes academic misconduct and may lead to exclusion from the University. I have therefore taken every care in the work submitted here to accurately reference all writings and ideas that are not my own, whether from printed, online, or any other sources."

Digitalisation: Design through making

Name: Demetra Voskou Student Number: 10832475 Module: AIM:708 Professional Studies / Speculation Word Count: 3456 Date of Submission: 12/4/2016 Tutor: Alessandro Zambelli

CONTENTS

List of illustrations ...................................................................................................................9 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................10 Digital Architecture ...............................................................................................................12 Design through making (Sixteen* Makers)............................................................................16 Architecture and Craftsmanship ...........................................................................................20 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................24 Bibliography .........................................................................................................................27

List of illustrations Figure 1: Campus Restaurant / Barkow Leibinger "Campus Restaurant And Event Space / Barkow Leibinger", ArchDaily, 2008 <http://www.archdaily.com/9165/campus-restaurant-and-event-space-barkow-leibinger-architects> [accessed 2 April 2016] Figure 2: Structural Analysis, Hand drawing / Felix Candela Garlock, Maria E. Moreyra., and David P. Billington. FĂŠlix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2008. Figure 3: Structural Analysis, CAM Software Garlock, Maria E. Moreyra., and David P. Billington. FĂŠlix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2008. Figure 4: Interactive Grillage Analysis Georgiou, Odysseas, "Computation", Odysseasgeorgiou.com, 2011 <http://www.odysseasgeorgiou.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Digital-Portfolio_Page_02.jpg> [accessed 2 April 2016] Figure 5: The project in the factory / sixteen* makers Stacey, Michael, "Steel Shelter Folds Into The Northumberland Landscape", Building, 2009 <http://www.building.co.uk/steel-shelter-folds-into-the-northumberland-landscape/3146714.article> [accessed 2 April 2016] Figure 6: Johnson Wax Building Column / Frank Lloyd Wright "Johnson Wax Building Column", Sweetpics.site, 2013 <http://sweetpics.site/j/johnson-wax-buildingcolumn.html> [accessed 2 April 2016]

Introduction Digital tools have become part of almost any architectural practice. Hand-drawings have been replaced by Computer-Aided-Drawing software (CAD) and physical model-making by ComputerAided-Modelling software (CAM). Working with digital tools has enabled the architectural practicing to become more efficient in such economically demanded era. Drawings are now produced quicker and more accurate which also assists the construction process. In addition, the development of such technologies has changed not only the design process but also the characteristics of the building itself including its appearance and its structural behaviour. More specifically, CAM software enables architects to develop complex forms easily, something which was not possible some years ago when forms were mathematically resolved manually – by hand-drawn calculations using tools such as compass and square triangle. Instead, CAM software is programmed with the required algorithms that enable complex forms to be created by simple functions such as “click and drag”. Leon Battista Alberti thought that the building should be composed first in the mind and then on the paper. Following this idea and based on one of the author’s previous research called Hand-drawing: a thinking tool, hand-drawing is considered as the most suitable tool to translate the image in the mind into a piece. 1 This is happening because of a hand-eye-brain coordination system that allows the pen to draw freely and unconsciously. Drawing directly on the computer has created a distance between the architect and the design since there is an indirect communication between the two. This is mentioned to clarify that CAD/CAM software, should be used after the translation of the image in the mind, in order to maximize their advantages. One of the main benefits is time efficiency which will be explained in the following chapters. Modelling machines such as Laser Cutter, 3D-printer and CNC (computer numerical control) are directly connected with CAD/CAM files and therefore able to translate the digital into physical with ease. This is important since it gives the opportunity to the 1

Robin Evans, Translations from Drawing to Building and other essays (London: Architectural Association, 1997), p. 9 10

practitioner to be brought back to the art of the craft and the bespoke. Consequently this allows the reconnection between one and oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design through a manufacturing process. This essay is divided in three sections in order to speculate the role of digital technologies into architectural practice. The first chapter focuses on how the design and the design process have been affected since the existence of digital drawing and modelling. The second chapter expands the idea of making as a design method with the use of computer-aided machine tools, focusing on specific work by Sixteen*(makers), a practice whose design is approached through making. Finally, the third chapter investigates the relationship between architecture and craftsmanship.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Have digital tools and methods provided us with too many choices and capabilitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that benefit architectural practice, or turn architects into digital slaves?

Figure 1: Campus Restaurant / Barkow Leibinger The honeycomb roof consists of individual polygonal boxes of different dimensions, designed in Rhino/ Grasshopper software and cut in CNC machine.

Digital Architecture The digital turn in Architecture started during the 1990s when new electronic technologies were introduced. Cyberspace replaces the physical space of design and the ink of the mechanical pen 0.35 becomes bits and bytes. Such change causes advantages and disadvantages, some of which will be explored in this section. Possibly one of the main visual changes is the emergence of complex forms – both symmetrical and asymmetrical – such as, curving folds. 2 CAD software allow the ‘manipulation of curved lines directly on the screen’ 3 by the interference of control points and vectors. Synthesized forms, such as parabolic curves have become very famous since they can be manipulated with ease in such programmed software. However, in most cases the user – architect – has no knowledge about the amount and function of the algorithms and mathematics required to achieve an either simple or complex curve. Felix Candela, for instance, was one of the innovative leaders in the field of concrete shell structures. He had to spend many hours in order to achieve the right dimensions of a parabolic geometry that would be structurally and visually suitable for his designs. Points were calculated individually to define their coordinates. On the contrary, nowadays one draws and individual points can be coordinated automatically by the computer. As a result, architects are challenged and inspired from the diversity of parabolic – and not only – forms. The fact that the line variations can be applied with ease (click and drag with the mice), benefits not only the variety of the form of the building but also its construction.

Mario Carpo, The Digital Turn In Architecture 1992-2012 (Chichester: Wiley, 2013). p. 9

Ibid p. 8 12

Figure 2: Structural Analysis, Hand Drawing / Felix Candela

Figure 3: Structural Analysis / CAM Software Colours indicate the weak points of the surface

Structural analysis software (SAS/STAT) are programmed to identify the structural performance of the building through the three-dimensional digital model and immediately adapt the outcome values when its form is manipulated. This is extremely important since architects can apply these information during the design stage and be advantaged of time efficiency. To explain this further, ‘premium structural analysis software is programmed with building codes’ 4 from all over the world, including EuroCode. Consequently, it is less likely for the architects and builders to come across with unexpected structural errors or failures during construction or after completion. This has a great advantage on keeping up with the contractor’s schedule and therefore the project budget. Using SAS is mainly useful for complex designs but it also helpful for simpler projects as well. Apart from the structural performance, such analysis calculates the material quantities and costs since it can automatically estimate the thickness of the structural elements such as columns and beams for maximum load potential. In addition, the software calculates the required distance between the elements and thus the amount beams and columns needed to achieve maximum structural performance. Economical and aesthetic properties are evaluated during this procedure, since additional elements – especially columns – can be very annoying for architects who are seeking continuity with column-free buildings. Column-free buildings have aesthetic and functional advantages which will not however be explored in this essay. Architects manage to develop their structural knowledge by using SAS software that can be applied instantly during design process without having endless arguments with civil engineers. Another benefit, is the flexibility of forms that can be structurally resolved with accuracy, that would be impossible to be calculated otherwise. Therefore, architects are given a variety of solutions that can be applied to the design brief. ‘BIM software is increasingly fostering and facilitating collaborative and even collective decision-making strategies.’ 5 This is an economical benefit but it also inspires for the exploration of innovative, meaningful, unprecedented buildings. According to Mario Carpo, ‘a meaningful building of the digital age, is not just any building that was designed and built using digital tools: it is one that could not have been either designed or built without them.’6

"The Advantages Of Using Structural Analysis Software » Strucalc™", Strucalc.com, 2008 <http://www.strucalc.com/general-

engineering/the-advantages-of-using-structural-analysis-software/> [accessed 18 February 2016]. 5

Carpo, The Digital Turn In Architecture 1992-2012, p. 9

Ibid p. 9 14

Figure 4: Interactive Grillage Analysis Point Tracking. A process of plotting Principal Stress Trajectories on a continuous surface. Individual points are plotted and changed using Grasshoper (bottom left) and the result is shown on the screen. From that, the structural performance of the surface is analysed pointing out the weakest areas.

Design through making (Sixteen* Makers) ‘The role of the architect may have been in danger of being pared right down to the concept sketch, whether the conventional Modernist signature napkin drawing jotted down in a moment of inspiration, or a silky presented computer-generated blob.’ 7

The need of the development of new technologies, professions and procurement methods (e.g. Design & Build), has drawn a ‘distance between the architect and the fabrication [of the building] on site’ 8. The ‘master-builder’ 9 who once had the power over the whole project, has now a vague relationship through the computer screen and the mice. Technology might be the reason of that situation. However technology with its inventions of the past few years can bring back the control to the architect. To explain, this can be achieved due to the direct physical manufacture of the digital drawings through machines such as CNC, laser cutter and 3D-printer.

Architecture students – who have the control of the project during University studies– learn to use such machines not only for the representation of the drawing, but also for the project development itself. Similarly, practitioners – who have access to these machines – are given the opportunity to control both the manufacture and the creative aspect (design) of a project. It is important to clarify that machines are to be used for material testing and joint investigation. Through this procedure the team collaborates on understanding the material properties through which the limits and possibilities of the design are redefined. ‘But design through making fundamentally questions the basis of the architect’s status and practice because it includes manual as well as intellectual labour, and pulls the architect closer to construction.’ 10 Machine tools reconnect the architect with one’s project since through

Bob Sheil, Design Through Making (Chichester: Wiley, 2005). P. 5-12

Ibid, p. 4

Ibid, p.16 16

making one is equipped with a critical understanding about the potential of one’s design. Similar to the BIM software, making becomes part of the design process – design through making. In addition, this method also benefits the time-efficiency of the project since errors can be identified during the design stage and therefore are avoided in later stages that would cost both money and time.

In his article Design through Making: An Introduction11, Bob Sheil – architect, lecturer and practitioner – argues that ‘most architects do not make buildings – they make information for buildings. They turn ideas into drawings, models, texts and data, where many results inform the production of buildings and others do not.’12 Is it now the time, when a variety of tools are available, physical and digital, to reconsider the role of the drawing, but also the role of the designer in general? For Sheil, designers should be makers, and he researches how this new role could emerge to a new approach to making architecture.’ 13

Digital fabrication technology, Sheil argues, in combination with physical model making, is the redefinition of the key role between designers and makers. 14 Tailors, for instance, unlike architects, are the ones who make their designs. In Manufacturing the bespoke, Bob Sheil analyses the term bespoke, and compares the design methods of a tailor to that of an architect' s. Bespoke, derived by the English word bespeak meaning 'to order', is usually referred to the tailors of London's Savile Row 15. Bespoke architecture, has associations with craft, ornamentation, materiality, fit, uniqueness and the unrepeated. 16 But it is not only that. For me, bespoke is something that is measured to get its form and shape, and it cannot be otherwise. It is something that is specialised made for that and only specific reason. It is a glove for one and only hand. Additionally, when the product is to be repeated, it will not be the same as it will follow new measurements to fit to its new purpose. Bespoke design requires intimate knowledge of material and scale.17

Bob Sheil, 'Design Through Making: An Introduction', Architectural Design, 75.4, (2005), 5-12

Ibid, p. 6

Bob Sheil, Manufacturing The Bespoke (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2012), p. 6

Bob Sheil, 'Introduction’, From Making the Bespoke to Manufacturing the Bespoke', in Manufacturing the Bespoke, p.6

Charlotte Charke, A Narrative Of The Life Of Mrs. Charlotte Charke (London: Printed for W. Reeve, 1755). (1755)

Bob Sheil, 'Introduction, in Manufacturing the Bespoke,, p.7

Ibid p.9 17

Sixteen*makers is a researched based architectural practise, founded in 1994. 18 Their first project, a chair (1995), but also one of their latest, 55/02 (2009), are based on the methodology of bespoke architecture. In both projects, only few drawings were produced, not only prior to the first physical model, but also afterwards. It is a research on the transformation of the purpose and property of the drawing as an instruction to make,19 instead of a thinking tool towards design. There was an elimination of instructional drawings because the designers were also the makers, who developed their tacit skills (of making and assembly) as drawing makers directly in the medium their drawings would have produced. 20 The chair was designed based on a set of specific movements (client's brief) and dimensions of the client and changes were made based on a tailoring method. The designer becomes the tailor, and the product becomes the suit; the client remains the client.

Fifteen years later, when the sixteen*makers participated in a competition for a shelter in the Kielder Water Forest park, CAD/CAM design tools were further developed, and therefore used during design process. However, according to Sheil, despite all the tools available to the designer, there is nothing that can fully prepare the author for results at 1:121 The design research begins on site, not only in terms of weather, plantation, obstacles, key views and sunlight, but also by getting information on the local context background. Sixteen*makers collaborated with steel specialist, Stahlbogen (in Germany), who by that time was producing 1:1 prototypes on a CNC machine.

Design process includes hand-drawing sketches, 1:1 physical models, 3D drawings and 3D prints and in order to achieve the desired result there was a constant shuffling between fabrication, drawing, animation and assembly. 22 Drawings as a thinking tool were similarly eliminated, and changes on the design occurred until last minute during construction. After installation, the shelter was captured with a 3D scanner to trace and record decisions that had not been developed through drawing. 23

"Sixteen*(Makers): Architecture + Research", Sixteenmakers.org, 2015 <http://www.sixteenmakers.org/index.htm> [accessed

14 February 2016]. 19

Bob Sheil, 'Introduction, in Manufacturing the Bespokeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, p.14

Ibid, p.14

Ibid, p.21

Ibid, p.24

Ibid, p.26 18

Finally, although sixteen*makers prefer making design decisions on model making instead of drawing, Bob Sheil is arguing that drawing, whether digital or analogue, is without a doubt an essential process and tool in the production of architecture and we need to find the right way to ensure their best intentions are fulfilled.

Figure 5: The project in the factory / sixteen* makers Building the shelter in the factory in order to speculate the material characteristics and joints 1:1. The prototypeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pieces are cut on a CNC machine.

Bob Sheil, 'Introduction, in Manufacturing the Bespoke, p. 26 19

Architecture and Craftsmanship ‘The danger is that computer power triumphs over design and takes away the need to simplify, rationalise and understand the material. Structural engineers have been concerned for some time that reliance on computers by young engineers can impede the development of their understanding of some aspects of structural behaviour.’25

Craftsmanship is the ability of creating items (crafts) that are either decorative or functional. Architecture and craftsmanship have basic similarities, such as the way they are being taught. Both professions ‘rely [mainly] on tacit forms of knowledge’

which means that are being taught through

practicing and exercising rather than reading. ‘Secondly, the erection of built architecture can be seen as a system of distributed knowledge where the transfer of knowledge from the architect towards the craftspeople is crucial for the successful implementation of an architectural concept into physical space.’ 27 According to Robin Evans, hand-drawing has the power to translate the image from the mind into a tactile and visual piece.28 ‘To translate, is to convey something from one form to another with minimum loss,’ 29 which is what it should be happening in the translation of the conceptual drawing into a buildable structure. It is therefore, the architect’s duty to have the suitable knowledge to create an instructional annotated drawing for the craftsman to follow. This is important for two main reasons. Firstly, so that the outcome work matches the architect’s proposal both visually and functionally. Secondly, for cost and time efficiency which are crucial for keeping up with the contract.

Bob Sheil, 'Design Through Making’, p.103.

Uli Matthias Herres, "Craftsmanship In Architecture" (unpublished Dipl. Ing. Architekt SIA, Lucerne University, 2014).p.139

Ibid, p.139

Robin Evans, Translations from Drawing to Building and other essays (London: Architectural Association, 1997), p. 9

Demetra Voskou, "Hand Drawing: A Thinking Tool" (unpublished RIBA Part One, University of Brighton, 2015), p. 31 20

Another similarity between architecture and craftsmanship is that they have both been affected by digitalisation. Carpentry for example used to be ‘a craftsmanship tradition with traditional techniques’30. However, this has changed in the past few years with the introduction of digitally controlled milling machines. Crafts are not only characterised by the sophisticated material understanding of the creator but also for their uniqueness and precision. Opposed to technology – which turns scientific knowledge intro practical products – craft is all about having skills for making. Therefore, architects – and designers in general – need to make in order to be able to create construction (craft) drawings. Although digital drawing and modelling tools are very beneficial for the design, ‘it is important for architects and engineers to remain grounded by physical reality’. 31 Physical reality in terms of structure and aesthetics. One should not dispute the powers of the eye and its links with hand and brain and their ability ‘to control the physical outcome.’32 The word design derives from the Italian word disegno which means ‘to draw’, therefore, to design is to draw.

However, it is one thing to draw and design, yet another thing to construct. According to

John Thornton, ‘the best designers know how things work, how they are made, how materials behave and their qualities’. 34 Successful design is defined through its elegance and harmony. It has details which expose the qualities of the materials used. Successful architecture is built by people who understand the materials – like craftsmen and tailors. It is unique and bespoke and blends with the landscape. The building fits within its location not only material-wise but also form-wise; a form that has derived through making and material testing. Making is also a source of confidence for the architect who sees a cladding system, a joint or a span ‘surviving the loads and the weather tests’35 such as wind and rain. The proposal is neither theoretical nor debatable anymore. A great example is the Johnson Wax Building by Frank Lloyd Wright. Based on the engineers’ calculations the columns where considered unsuitable and a new design was demanded. 36 Instead, the architect decided to construct a mock-up of the column in order to make a 30

Herres, “Craftsmanship in Architecture”, p.195

Bob Sheil, 'Design Through Making’, p. 41.

Ibid, p. 39.

Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000),p. 136

Bob Sheil, 'Design Through Making’, p. 101.

Ibid, p. 41.

Andres Garcia, "1936: Johnson Wax Building", History of Innovation, 1936

<https://aehistory.wordpress.com/1936/10/08/1936-johnson-wax-building/> [accessed 28 March 2016]. 21

load test. Surprisingly, the column started crashing after the load was five times greater than the required and therefore proved Wright right. The building is still standing almost eighty years after its completion. Full-scale models can be considered expensive and time consuming and therefore few are the clients who support the idea of research and design. For that reason, engineers test material properties with coupon tests. Crafts and architecture are related in two ways, one of which is looking at the building as the resulted product of a physical process (testing) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which has been explained in the above paragraphs (design through making). The second way is to address the process of construction (on site) as a crafting process (design through building). This suggests an architecture which is constructed using craftsmanship techniques; crafting becomes a method of constructing rather than a method of designing. This suggests that architects become the builders who redesign the building during construction. This method makes the architect one with the construction process and therefore have control over almost the whole project.

Figure 6: Johnson Wax Building Column / Frank Lloyd Wright

Conclusion Buildings are being designed and built everyday in almost every part of the world with, however, a high percentage of repetition. Each building should be unique and adapt to the needs of individual site context, use, client, etc. The process of designing a building should be also unique. In my opinion, designing a building gives the opportunity to the architect to explore and test different possibilities, One way of doing this, is through making by testing material properties, joints variety and more. For architecture to evolve, designing a building should be a research project through which specific things are investigated. Failures are part of the process through which design creativity evolves. Failing is actually better than making it right; because one is not able to know for how long it is going to be right.

Digitalisation has changed the profession and life in general. Drawing directly on the computer has created a distance between the architect/designer and the building. However, with the development of machine tools such as CNC machine, 3D-printers and laser cutters, this distance is decreasing. The tools are not replacing the hand-drawing. Instead, there is an evolution of the profession: architecture through making. In this essay, the benefits of making have been explored in order to understand whether or not architects have become slaves of digitalisation. In my opinion, architects should not respond to new technologies as if they are tools for hand-drawing. Hand-drawing and sketching should be used for creating the idea, the design concept. Digital drawing should be used to develop this idea further and explore different possibilities while considering structural strength, aesthetics and economics. These drawings can be then translated into physical pieces with ease using the machine tools mentioned above. Architects can assemble the individual pieces and test the materials strength and joints. Through this process the architect comes closer on really understanding how materials function and how they are connected. This is important for two main reasons. Firstly, so that the architect has also the control of manufacturing features and not only of the conceptual sketch. Secondly, architects have fundamental effect on the health and safety aspects of the project, during

construction, use and maintenance and through this process (of designing through making), many of these issues can be resolved during design stages.

Finally, it is explored that architecture is related with craftsmanship as a method of designing through constructing. Architects would be therefore defined as designers who are also builders. As seen, it is capable for architects to build a small scale project, such as a pavilion. However, builders and contractors will be needed on buildings of larger scale. There are few architects who design and construct houses which they become bespoke crafts. Constructing a house requires skills, time, effort and money.

To conclude, architecture should be a profession that combines crafts, arts, and construction skills. Architects should not become the builders of their projects but they should have the required skills to understand how materials and structures function in order to improve the design of the building. Architects should take advantage of the ease to translate the digital drawing into a physical piece and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t underestimate the power of the brain-eye-hand coordination system. As long as this power exists architects can have control over the design without turning into computer slaves; because otherwise it could be said that anyone can design a building and be called architect. Through digitalisation, a new era for architectural design, process and construction methods has been evolved and continue to get evolved.

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