ADS journal partially revised by Dhanika Kumaheri

DHANIKA KUMAHERI

ART IN PROGRESS

ADS AIR

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

We live in a very exciting time of change. As a young architecture student developing design thinking and design skills , this period in time offers us fantastic “adventures”, opportunities, dreams, visions and ideals. Essentially, the revolution of computational and digital tools has lured us down the rabbit hole, to the magnificent Wonderland, full of untapped resources and unexplored possibilities. It is also the cocaine of the self-proclained avantgarde architecture, so far pleasing only a significantly small portion of the international stage, but causing an ongoing addiction for research and progress for its cause. It is the purpose of this semester’s design studio to focus on, and contribute to, this ongoing architectural discourse, and to do so not only through meaningless form-finding, but more importantly in developing mastery in designing with these new tools where creaitivity is not “instant” but traceable and runs through the whole project. What this studio will not be, essentially, is “...an onanistic self indulgence in a cozy graphic environment. Endless repetition and variation on elaborate geometrical schemata with no apparent social environmental and technical purpose whatsoever.” -John Frazer, in M.Burry’s ‘Scripting Cultures’-

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RESEARCH PROJECT: CUT: DEVELOP

CASE FOR INNOVATION: PARAMETRIC DESIGN

CASE STUDY 1 INTEGRATION INTO EOI CASE STUDY 2 INTEGRATION INTO EOI CONCLUSION

week 01

EOI: CASE FOR INNOVATION: COMPUTATION IN ARCHITECTURE

CASE STUDIES AND PERSONAL PROJECT INTEGRATION INTO EOI

architecture as sign

architecture as art, SIGN AND URBAN EXPERIENCE

defining architecture AS A DISCOURSE

CASE FOR INNOVATION:ARCHITECTURE AS A DISCOURSE

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RESEARCH PROJECT: CUT: DEVELOP 07

E K W E

wk 01.01 case for innovation

DEFINING ARCHITECTURE AS A DISCOURSE

synthesis

revolutionary ideas

challenging

attracts scholarly attention and/or the general public

of existing ideas

challenging of existing

practices

in design or fabrication

attracts

discussions

all levels

methods

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

research

on new design or fabrication methods

Defining architecture has been a focus and rather, a hobby for many architects since it is so open ended and hard to define

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Ian McDougal, AND Lecture series 2012

something that offers something new and

exciting possibilities

debates from ongoing discussions

attracts the

replicable as a study

by other people also interested in the same interest

incorporation of methods ortools from other

disciplines

the goal It is the true aim of this design studio, in the use of new computational tools and design thinking, the Expression of Interest Document, and also the Wyndham City gateway project, that whatever results spring in the end - will contribute to the great and ongoing architectural discourse. A step forward.

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contribute to the ongoing

architectural ‘story’ in history by

contibuting as idea ‘bridges’ between one significant work and another

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2. A su adva mmary o nce arch f what it itect ural means to disc ours e.

DISCOURSE

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proliferation of ‘folllowers’ under their influence

diagram 2. The strife to advance architecure as a discourse: to push boundaries forward with individuals performing as a whole.

diagram 1 &2 summarized from lecture 1 : Understanding the Course : Architecture as Discourse Williams, Richard (2005). ‘Architecture and Visual Culture’, in Exploring Visual Culture: Definitions, Concepts, Contexts, ed. 8 Schumacher, Patrik (2011). The Autopoiesis of Architecture: A New Framework for Architecture (Chichester: Wiley), pp. 1-28 by Matthew Rampley (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press), pp. 102-116

wk 01.02 case for innovation

ARCHITECTURE AS ART How architecture as art has advanced the architectural discourse

Architecture as art, in this case - as an expression of a design intent that have the power to evoke a feeling, emotion or association, and produce significant effects to its consumers, has been an ongoing contribution to the architectural discourse. The pylons of the Karnak temple (figure 1.1)are seen as a canvas for artwork. It is adorned in hieroglyphs and represent a barier, a gate to the inside of the temple,which is a representation of the realm of the gods. The reason why they are so tall inheight is to intimidate the unworthy. The same idea of decoration to achieve an elevated ‘state’ of being, and the manipulation of height is later used, more than 1500 years later, by a British architect called Sir John Soane, in the adorning of the walls in his home. The towering height and the chaos of artworks were conceived to be a trick to overwhelm, and to cause a sense of reverity and vertigo. One can see that even though Sir John Soane borrowed a piece of an idea from Karnak temple, that he also duly added his own intake to it. fig 1.1 (top). Karnak Temple, Egypt. fig 1.2 (bottom). Sir John Soane’s House in London. (now Sir John Soane’s Museum).

And this is what it means to contribute to an architectural discourse. It is to look back upon what has already been done, reflect upon it, and reproduce it in a way that both reflects the zeitgeist of the time as well as offering something new that will broaden the meaning of architecture and give the opportunity for someone else in other parts of the architectural profession to replay the process.

The previous works shown earlier were great works of art. However, it is undeniable that they are also out of date. It is mandatory that architecture as art reflect the zeitgeist, the soul of the current age. And right now, the age demands for something contemporary, dynamic, a parametric manifesto.

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Architecture is the most dominant and prevalent form of art. However, there is something slightly problematic with this view. Reading architecture merely as a conception of a genius artist, an offspring of ideas that are aesthetically grand and pleasing is nothing but an incomplete view of architecture, even though this is the most common view of architecture from the general public. Architecture seen in this way also neglects the needs of the masses and becomes no more than a visually aesthetic privilege for a select people in the top architectural hierarchy (Williams, 2005: 105-107)

ARCHITECTURE AS SIGN How architecture as sign has advanced the architectural discourse Once we have established that architecture could be an artform, the question that follows is “Beacuse it is subjective, then how do we interpret it?” It is precisely this quality in architecture that allows it to be defined also as a sign.

”

wk 01.02 case for innovation

Architecture as a sign is highly related to its associative powers. Throughout history architecture has been used to show power, represent a political stance, represent a particular social group’s presence, ethnical identity, or cultural identity.

For example, skyscrapers have long since broke through from its initial meeting its space-cost efficiency. Different from its earliest predecessors of proto-skyscrapers like the Life Insurance Building in New York, built in the 1870s. They are now architectural signs of modern civilizations, a proof of technological and engineering superiority, financial power, design and cultural prowess and stature of a nation. This is what it means to look at architecture as signs. Looking at architecture as a sign means looking at architecture and its meaning and impact in the public’s eye. In order to properly interpret architecture and the meanings behind it, one must look at its context, its predecessors, its design drivers and constraints, and its designers and consumers.

This is how looking at architecture as a sign contributes to the architectural discourse. Interpretation of a single architectural entity will not be achieved without extensive discussion that will touch upon other ares in teh subject. It contributes to the discourse because interpretations of architecture rely on archietctural symbols and gestures, which have different meanings over time. Therefore, looking at architecture as a sign contributes to teh architectural disocurse because it is equivalent to iuterpretinga constantly changing language, that are influneced by the changing sociall, political, cultural, nd historical environment

Architecture has to have that capacity for people to project their own understandings and beliefs into them , in a sense, the public must be allowed to appropriate a bit of the ‘interpretattive’ aspect of architecture. If not, architecture is meaningless, if not architecture cannot communicate and therefore is deatched from its main consumers, rendering it disfunctional and unloved.

“

And like them, we are certain that architecture ought to function on the level of a sign, as well as anything, and actually- that as signs, they are open to multiple interpretatíons. The meaning of architecture was therefore not single, authoritarian and closed, but multiple, democratic and open.;

”

-Richard Williams, 2004-

ARCHITECTURE AS URBAN EXPERIENCE

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it describes the point at which debate cxpands from consideration of buildings alone, to consider the psychological (and indeed other) effects that an accumulation ofbuildings might have.

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Looking at architecture as an urban experienc does not subject buildings or any other architectural elements below the power of urban planners, or the city as a whole. It is mereley acknowledging the fact that architecture dissolves into nothing more but an accumulation of experiences, emotions, memories, activities, and necessities within an urban fabric. It is interesting to explore the situations when an individual stops perceiving the city as an agglommeration of buildigs, but instead as a series of experiences shaped and made by these precise arrangementm styles, ad design of buildings or other archietctural elements.

INTEGRATION TO EOI AND WYNDHAM CITY GATEWAY PROJECT With the interest of contributing to the architectural discourse, the proposal EOI and the final proposal for the Wyndham city gateway project should encompass all three defintions of architecture. The final proposal will present the gateway as art, sign, and urban experience. It must have a pleasing artistic appeal, be s vessel or machine of Wyndham city identity that people can interpret and appropriate with thir own interpretations and understandings, and most importantly stress the urban experience of driving through it.

conclusion Why contribute to the architectural discourse in the Wyndham city gateway project?

It enriches your project. It’s the most effective way to make your project be discussed and remembered. It gives your project a ‘timeless’ quality. It gives your project life beyond its intended time. We are taking a step to advance and influence the ideas and practice of others in the field of architecture, which in time, or in the future also may inform our work in return. Contributing to the ongoing 'idea machine' that has been a tradition for as long as architecture existed.

case study #1

The Blur Building Diller + Scofidio Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland - 2002 Progressive Architecture Design Award Featured in: Ted Talks http://www.ted.com/talks/liz_diller_plays_with_architecture.html

This building advances architectural discourse in art because it challenges the notion of immateriality and formlessness, something not discussed in architecture, but mostly in other forms of artworks, and challenges the basic concept of what can be seen as an architectural MASS. It made the real (the building) appear unreal.

The Blur Building by Diller + Scofidio, is almost literally no building at all. It was a temporary pavilion for the 2002 Swiss exposition, in the 3 lakes region of Switzerland. It was unique in that the primary material used in the building was water vapor, pumped up from its site, in the middle of Lake Neuchatel and shot out of 31500 water vaporizers so that the entire structure appeared as fog lifting off the lake or an impossibly low cloud. A smart weather system reads the shifting climactic conditions of temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and processes the data in a central computer that regulates water pressure. Upon entering the fog mass, visual and acoustic references are erased, leaving only an optical “white-out” and the “white-noise” of pulsing nozzles. Blur is an anti-spectacle. Contrary to immersive environments that strive for high-definition visual fidelity with evergreater technical virtuosity, Blur is decidedly low-definition: there is nothing to see but our dependence on vision itself.

This whole orchestrated effect creates architecture that fully and wholly immerses you. So much, in fact, that you forget where you are, what you are doing, and everything dissolves into emotions and feelings of apprehension and excitement.

Probably the single most compelling aspect of the project is its role as a changeling, and also the weightless aspect of it. The Building also provokes the consideration of the role of gravity, the weight of our buildings in teh distant future that begin to escape the bounds of the earth. B.W. Parker, pRACTICING ARCHITECT IN NEW YORK

perhaps one of the really interesting things about the building Is that it makes people think about environmental experiences and strategies, and maybe those sort of strategies will become fashionable.

MARY HANCOCK, COURSE CHAIR FROM OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY

THE BUILDING DOESN'T SUGGEST NEW CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES. IT PROPOSES NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE, OPENING UP OUR MINDS TO WHAT ARCHITECTURE CAN BE. MORE AND MORE, PEOPLE ARE REALIZING THAT ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN DOESN'T JUST IN� VOLVE JUST BRICKS AND STICKS AND STATIC FORMS, THAT IT DOESN'T NEED TO HAVE SPECIFIC BOUNDARIES. USMAN HAQUE. PRACTICING ARCHITECT, BRITISH ARCHITECTURAL INTERACTION DESIGN FIRM

IT ALSO MAKES US QUESTION WHERE LIES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE AND NON ARCHITECTURE. IT GIVES YOU THE FEELING OF BEING PART OF A CONSTANT METAMORPHOSIS.

EVA AFUHS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE 2002 SWISS EXPO

integration into EOI

One aspect that makes the blur building very forwardleaning and contribute immensely to the architectural discourse is that it CHALLENGES a widely held idea that have been taken for granted: what a normal building looks like and what constitutes an acceptable architectural mass. The EOI will note this idea of challenging and redefining a simple and widely known idea. I aim to redefine what can be architecture and what cannot be architecture into a simple gesture of what can lie in-between these widely understood labels: The concept of a built piece of architecture that does not look like a built piece of architecture. A more important design logic from the blur building is the notion of ARCHITECTURE AS AN EXPERIENCE that is immersive and dominant, and is strong enough to wipe out all preconceptions of space and common understandings of architecture. Like the blur building, this intention will have to be achieved visually, and also will employ materiality and theatricality that will be best achieved through the use of computational means.

connection to wyndham gateway broject brief A very crucial aspect of the blur building, which is directly relevant to the Wyndham Gateway Project Brief is the fact that it succesfully created an architectural effect that ripples even years after its completion date, where academics, the public, professional architects alike still continue to discuss these atmospherical achievements of the blur building. This is a true measure of contribution to the architectural discourse. , and also a design goal for both the Wyndham city council: to have a monument of their own which will be remembered as a significant contributor to teh architectural discourse, that will be remembered and discussed. The Blur building manifests that yearn from an archietctural piece that wants to be remembered forever, as a piece that has successfully pushed the boundaries of architecture forward.

case study #2

Brod / The Ship / La nave: A Floating Pavillion for Croatia at the Venice Biennale

a project of the Ministry of Culture, republic of Croatia

This architectural piece advances architectural discourse because it challenges the idea of what’s unreal by taking the concept of an illusion, that does not have mass or form, and translating it into actual built space. This approach, in a way is opposite to the Blur Building, but still has that same power to critique our mundane, everyday concepts. Again the meaning of architecture is pushed even further as these space-less concepts of illusion becomes an actual 3 dimensional space.

Architects: Saša Begović Marko daBrović igor Franić Tanja grozdanić peTar Mišković SiLvije novak veLjko oLuić heLena paver njirić Lea peLivan ToMa pLejić goran rako Saša randić idiS TuraTo pero vuković Tonči Žarnić

Exhibited at : 12th international architecture exhibition, Venice Bienalle 2010. “People Meet in Architecture, August 29 - November 2010, directed by Kazuyo Sejima Publications: An interview with Leo Modcrin, project comissioner

http://www.domusweb.it/en/video/leo-modrcin-croatian-pavilion-arsenale/

Videos of The Ship’s details, elements and construction http://www.veengle.com/s/Croatia%20Pavilion.html

Official website

http://www.pavilion.hr/index.php

Official Publication: http://www.pavilion.hr/download/book.pdf

Croatian participation at the 12th International architecture Exhibition at The Venice Bienalle were made up of three components, a floating pavillion sailing all the way across the Adriatic sea from Croatia to Venice, an exhibition detailing the design process of the collaboration between 15 internationally recognized Croatian archietects who designed it, and a oublication of the project distributed to visitors at the venue. +060

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image above. cad drawings of wire meshes that form the croatian pavillion, later on stacked on top of each other to create the illusion of a building. background image. interior view with a mesmerizing optical effect of the Croatian Pavillion

I wanted an exhibition and was proven wrong, I wanted the project to be named the ship, and was proven wrong. tis not about the ship, it is about the cargo. In every single step of this project I was proven wrong, and I think this is why this project is a complete success in the end. leo modrcin

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IT SHOULD NOT BE READ AS A BUILDING, IT HAS NO SCALE. THE PROJECT ATTEMPTS TO AVOID THE TERROR OF THE VISUAL, TO INCLUDE OTHER SENSES AND IN THAT WAY BRING ARCHITECTURAL SPACE TO RECOGNITION. SENSORY PROPERTIES LIKE THE SHARPNESS OF THE ELEMENTS THAT EMERGE BY CUTTING, THE WIND THAT YOU FEEL PENETRATING THE STRUCTURE – ALL THAT INTRODUCES YOU TO SOME FORM OF TOPOGRAPHY THAT IS NOT CREATED THROUGH THREE SPATIAL DIMENSIONS, BUT EMERGES ON THE COMPLEX SCALE OF WELDED WIRE MESH. T O N C I Ž A R N I CCROATIAN PAVILLION ARCHITECT

integration into EOI This effect of materializing the immaterial (the concept of illusion) could only be achieved by fabricating some form of VISUAL or OPTICAL effect. The Croatian pavillion is made from cheap building substance, it is accesible to everybody, and yet still manipulates the perception and world of the viewer into a new world where everything falls short of their expectations.Views will be altered, and unexpected experience will be made possible.

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sil ie

The purpose of this experimental work is to investigate alternatives to substantiate the capabilities and potentials of computational design into more meaningful levels through experimentation on high density redevelopment for transforming Tongzhou, a new suburban district in outside the 5th ring road of Beijing, into a new city center in order to release some of teh population burdens of the old city cenetr.

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The brief aims to challenge current urban design typologies are frequently conceived of as autonomous and static modules for living within the city, that are incapable of allowing change and adapting to change, dialogue, and response to shifting relaities and conditions over time. These models quickly become obsolete and ineffective. In contrast, cities not planned as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;one-offsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, but rather which grow organically in response to varying needs and invisble forces, demonstrate a richer urban outcome. Yet many of these systems still lack a level of organization, flexibility and adaptiveness. Cities, especially in China seem to be designed to continually become less valuable up until the time of demolition and rebuilding. By focusing on alternatives for high-density residential design this studio question whether urban design methodology can become 5-dimensional and address multiple parallel solutions e over time. Methodology

Through IRRESOLUTE DIAGRAMMING, invisible and visible forces or parameters occuring on the site th grams. These open ended, dynamic diagrams fluctuate in time and sdisplay ranges of possibilities, Their interactive and responsive indexing of open-ended parameters by using varying, imprecise, undetermine

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integration into EOI In this project where the outcome of the parametric model is not a built entity, but more like a designed system that is open ended and adapts to change, the interest that is relevant to be implemented to EOI would be the same use of computational tools to create a system of designing that is more resillient to different changes through time and will not be quickly rendered obsolete in comparison to other projects that will spring up in the future. This will be done in using computational tools to design an architectural spectacle that focuses more on the experience of driving through it, and not so much on the form on the outside.

CONNECTION TO THE WYNDHAM GATEWAY PROJECT Most of the comissioned built monuments that belong in the same category in Melbourne are sculptural pieces that are dependant on the impression of its exterior form. These outward getsure froim teh monument, relying much on its form and scultptural gesture quickly makes them obsolete and out of date within a short period of time. In relation to our EOI, it is therefore in our agenda and our goal to challenge what has already been done, and repackage the delivery of the proposal in a newer and provoking way that has never been done before: the committee will not get another monument. There are already so many monuments around Melbourne, they will get AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE as their new gateway.

E K W E

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We pursue the parametric design paradigm all the way... systematic, adaptive variation, and dynamic parametric figuration cocnerns all design tasks from urbanism to the level of tectonic detail, interior furnishings and the world of products... addressing the demand for an increased level of articulated complexity... parametricism is the great new style after modernism. Postmodernism and Deconstructivism have been transitional episodes that ushered in this new, long wave of research and innovation. -Patrik SchumacherParametricism as Style: Parametricist Manifesto

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week.02

COMPUTATIONAL INNOVATIONS

michael hansmeyer: a new order We are familiar with the use of generative grammars, L-sys-

tems or other recursive procedural frameworks, such as Roland Snook’s swarm based models that references natural processes or organic structures. What is extraordinary about the work of Michael Hansmeyer is the fact that Hansmeyer does not seek to reference the same processes as analytical tools to investigate nature. Instead, Hansmeyer is directly interested in creating an outcome purely for the purpose of synthesizing and producing ornamentation. One can argue that Hansmeyer is in fact taking a geometrical ornamentation path much like that of Islamic religious ornaments that defy any references back to nature, and derive its insipiration, beauty and complexity BAROQUE DETAILING: purely from geometrical forms. In his latest, and most famous work, his structures make reference to the foundational disREDEFINED A SEARCH FOR PURE course of the architectural order of columns, in which systems of dealing with issues of articulation and junction have been ORNAMENTATION negotiated from antiquity through to the architetcure of the Michael Hansmeyer. “A New Order”. early 20th century. And not just in Western cultures and archineo-baroque collumn prototype. 2010 tecture, but also seen in ither architecture cultures around the world. And yet, his approach is not intended to add criticisim Official Website: http://www.michael-hans- or to expand or modulate this discourse in any way - he does meyer.com/projects/columns. not intend to seek a modified new order, but rather is interhtml?screenSize=1&color=1 ested in something like the orderability, the ability to arrange Exhibitions: particular orders out of all potential ways of doing so. featured in Gwangju Design Bien

alle, Gwangju, 2.9 - 23.10.2011 Self-Structure: Column Protoype at Le Lieu du Design, Paris, 30.9 - 17.12.2011

How far is Hansmeyer’s work advancing the architectural discourse is rather debatable. While it is true that it is a brilliant innovation from the mundane types of traditional ornamentation, and offers a viewing experience and rich engagement with the viewer’s sense of touch in ways that could never have been achieved without computational tools, let us not forget the fact that it is, in fact, only a shell of fancy ‘clothing’ wrapping around a rather simple and traditional architectural column. A full-scale, 2.7-meter high variant of the columns was fabricated as a layered model using 1mm sheet.

week.02

COMPUTATIONAL INNOVATIONS Each sheet was individually cut using a laser cutter. Sheets are stacked and held together by poles that run through a common core. There is still an apparent disjunct between the column’s traditionality of functioning as a supporting structural element and its new state-of-the-art add-on ornamented function, and no effort, despite the advanced computational tool at hand, has been made to marry the two. On this note, Hansmeyer’s columns have failed to launch itself at a more futuristic projection. To a certain extent it has succeeded advancing the meaning, shape, form and feel of what architectural ornamentation in the digital age can potentially be in contrast with its Baroque predecessor. However, for it to really push the architectural discourse forward it needs to advance its attempt of merely ornamenting a structural entity and approach this high level of visual and textural complexity not merely from and aesthetics point of view but also from a structural standpoint. 1

"The shapes of Michael Hansmeyer present themselves, as ornamented columns, very self-confidently as the produces of artificiality - even though there is a strong touch of alien organicity proper to them.''- Vera Buhlmann Comprehended like this, as genuinely procedural shapes that articulate a certain figurality of the of the form, evoke a certain alien-like feeling - they indeed share some key features of Baroque rationality - namely the radically abstract interest in aesthetics by calculation. Apart from that, the same love for curvilinear decoration and the same effect of theatricality are achieved. 1. Michael Hansmeyer.“A New Order”. neobaroque collumn prototype. 2010 2. Michael Hansmeyer.“A New Order”. neobaroquecollumnprototype.Closeupzoom 9x. 2010. 3. Michael Hansmeyer.“A New Order”. neobaroquecollumnprototype.Tangibility.2010. 4. Michael Hansmeyer.“A New Order”. neobaroque collumn prototype, on display at Gwangju design Bienalle, 2011.

week.02

manufacturing

5. A new Order. Initial intersection with line segments 6. A new Order. Formation of Polygons 7. A new Order. Polygon Filtering and vertex adjustment 8. A new Order. Interior offset/ hollowing out

The calculation of the cutting path for each sheet takes place in several steps. First, the six million faces of the 3D model are intersected with a plane representing the sheet. This step generates individual line segments that are tested for self-intersection and subsequently combined to form polygons. Next, a polygon-in-polygon test deletes interior polygons. A series of filters then ensures that convex polygons with peninsulas maintain a mininimum isthmus width. In a final step, an interior offset is calculated with the aim of hollowing out the slice to reduce weight. While the mean diameter of the column is 50cm, the circumference as measured by the cutting path can reach up to 8 meters due to jaggedness and frequent reversals of curvature. The initial prototype uses 1mm grey board. Tests using ABS, wood, as well as metal are under way.

COMPUTATIONAL INNOVATIONS

conclusion

E K W E

wk contemporary scripting 03 design philosophy

A FROZEN PIECE OF MUSIC Anisotropia, the design for the new Busan Opera House

This project started with an interesting notion of music and architecture, and how similar they are to each other. However, unlike his earlier predecessor Iannis Xenakis, who composed music for pre-existing spaces and designed spaces to be integrated with specific music compositions and performances, Christoph Klemmt took this idea of merging architecture and music into a further level. With his design for the Busan Opera House, Klemmt reconfigured a musical piece that he wrote and through the use of computational tools, translated it into a faĂ§ade that wraps the entire opera house in a corresponding harmony of architectural and musical composition. Klemmt has once, and for all, frozen architecture. (top left) Busan Opera House. rendering of great hall. Cristoph Klemmt, 2011. (bottom left) Busan Opera House Rendering of main theatre hall. Cristoph Klemmt. 2011. (bottom right) Busan opera house floor plan. Cristoph Klemmt. 2011

music into

Klemmtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initial design philosophy revolved around the differences similarities between architecture and music and how he could merge the two. One of the most apparent differences between the two is that architecture eventually manifests itself in form and mass, whereas music is without mass. Despite these differences, he was interested in similar experiential qualities that music and architecture share. At a fundamental level, both architecture and music are art forms that have the capacity to evoke and express emotional response. From a technical perspective, they are both made up of technical or individual components or members that join together to make a coherent composition of elements.

wk contemporary scripting 03 design philosophy

Having been successful with transforming something that is intangible into something that is spatially tangible, Klemmt was then faced with the most important question in parametrics and computational architecture : “How does one incorporate one’s computational concept into built architecture?”. Klemmt does this in a sinuous, philosophical way. By wrapping this ‘frozen music’ around the building mass, Klemmt created a new symbol for art. He has managed to visualize music into built form, the equivalent to making ghosts visible to the naked eye before the age of computational tools. Klemmt hugged and dressed his building mass in this abstract, interweaving waves that not only just represented music, but embodies it. By doing this, he actually took the understanding and discourse of architectural symbolism further. With the help of computational tools, it is now possible to literally manifest a concept that is previously never possible. Klemmt achieved a literal representation of an abstract concept, music, in an elegant and not so mundane way.

However, architects still face a challenge in how architecture communicates to the general public. There has always been a gap between most building’s conceptual starting point, and the public apprehension of such concepts. The general public concensus is that architectural concept and the way public receives them are incongruent. While this incongruency is good in that it lets different interpretations and meaning be projected onto the built work, it also poses the question of whether or not an architectural concept behind the building needed to be communicated at all. Should it be an architect’s job to make sure that his concept, his personal message be communicated to the world? Or should it not concern the architect at all? Does it matter whether or not the public ‘gets it’? And most importantly, will the public ‘get’this piece of architecture?

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A building that is truly a work of art in its nature, essence, physical being an emotional expression. This being so, and I feel that this is so, it must have, almost literally, a life.

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They also share a similar way of design representation. Both of these disciplines rely on visual graphics, drawings and annotations to communicate, replicate, and visualize their design, and both have their own codes, systems and rules of representation. The last, and probably most important similarity that Klemmt explored was time. Klemmt was interested in how both disciplines occupy the dimension of time, and it was through this very method that he successfully translated sound into space. In a way, Klemmt transformed the time component in his music into an architectural space.

-Robert Seyfarth

The theme of ornamentation is central to this design. And it is important to approach the intention of this ornamental facade critically. The marriage between architecture and ornamentation has had its significant rise and falls. And the public view on how an ornamentation is received is always changing. Ornamentation also brings a central theme of identity, and with it, issues such as place making, or lack thereof.

KLAVIERSTĂ&#x153;CK The musical piece that is behind the conception of Busan opera house facade detail .

wk 03

It is curious to note that the architect composed a musical piece in German that isn’t an actual ‘music for the ears’. Instead, Klavierstück I is a piano composition written by Klemmt based on a twelve tone row which is repeated and altered, in order to create complex rhythmic patterns. One can say that this musical piece was created for the sake of how it is meant to appear as a the opera house’s ornament appearance. Once again, this feels unconvincing. Why not choose a musical piece related to Busan, South Korea, as an interdisciplinary twist on site-specificity? Why not take the wonderful concept and use it to enhance the cultural heritage, the cultural treasures and richness of the site and the people? Why not make this architectural concept a driver and beacon for cultural identity of the place? At least then the reasons for the origins of the design would fit with the location of the structure.

contemporary scripting design philosophy

Sure, beauty by itself can be wonderful to behold, but in the case of a purpose-built building—a cultural center no less—beauty with a reason is often more satisfying. This project manifests the very meaning of computational architecture and its power to visualize abstract concepts in a novel way. Through the use of computation, the design intent was carefully and beautifully executed: “ Translating and freezing music into built form”. It is successful in pushing boundaries of architecture as a literal means of representation, but a question remains unanswered. Will computational design contribute to a further death of site specific identity and richness? Will it promote site-specific solutions that are embedded within the heart and culture of the local people? Or will it simply be an empty cocoon of form, waiting for locals toi project a sense of identity to it?

Busan Opera house 3D rendering, perspective view, Cristoph Klemmt, 2011

wk contemporary scripting 03 design philosophy

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TD EFI NIT ION S

Looking for various interesting and viable outcomes from these ‘çut’ techniques is literally the same with Kalay’s ‘puzzle making’approach to design. Although at this stage, experimenting with cut techniques is more like trying to pick and choose some selective puzzle pieces that might create a more suitable bigger picture in design solving. The big question that is related to this design method is ‘how does one énd this search? What are the parameters affecting our choice of design solutions? A lot of factors have been identified: site, fabrication technology, stakeholders, but most importantly, it should also utilize, train and sharpen the designer’s intuition of art, form and composition.

W K. 0 4 RESEARCH PROJECT: CUT: DEVELOP

sets and types + voronoi 3D with planar suraface manipulation

W K. 0 4 RESEARCH PROJECT: CUT: DEVELOP

matrix wk.04

opportunity ARP BP CI EG OP SG SN ATP CA IS MF MMF ST US

arbitrary points boolean patterning curve intersections explicit grids overlapping patterns surface grids surface normals attractor point curve attractor image sampler maths function multiple maths function streaming text using sets

ddc ddr dde dds gm sm crl

data driven components data driven rotation data driven extrusion data driven shading grid manipulation surface manipulation cross-reference list

matrix presentation style : based on Yyehuda kalay’s search process : depth first - and then breadth wk.04

In every graphic presentation, the most important question is how to communicate graphically, in the most succinct, effective, elaborate when needed too, and non-ambiguosly. In this case, where the computational design process churns out multiple and seemingly open ended outcomes of candidates for optimal design, it is therefore necessary to lay them out in a structured way - not just for the benefit of whomever designers will present their information to, but also for the designer’s own benefit. Structuring the candidates of optimal design in a more structured way allows the designer to declutter his or her workspace and thinking space and allows him or her to ‘see’ emerging patterns or values in his or her many, many different candidates. It allows designers to effectively compare, cross check with the different methods he or she used, and make more informed decisions. The method of displaying information depth first was done as this was the primary method used when exploring grasshopper definitions. Each grasshopper definition had its possibilities and candidates exhausted before moving on to another candidate. Initially, all 49 possible options from the combinations of inputs and associations grasshopper definitions were explored, and then a few were chosen to be explored further according to a set of criterias,

preliminary criteria for matrix of output The pairs of inputs and associations that were chosen were chosen out of a pragmatic need to explore many multitudes of possibilities that can be generated from them. Selection of the 9 inputs and associations pairs were made by visual judgment. They were chosen for their eyecatching and dynamic composition, something that directly relates to the EOI and the Wyndham gateway project brief.

preliminary criteria for final wyndham gateway project design

Macro-scale instead of micro scale details Parts have to be movable/ interchangable All with same modular dimensions Be able to be supported by kinetic joints

Arbitrary Points

A S S O C I AT I O N S

Attractor Points

Curve Attractor

Image Sampler

Maths Functions

Multiple Maths Functions

Streaming Text Files

Using Sets

Boolean Patterning

Curve Intersections

INPUTS Explicit Grids

Overlapping Patterns

Surface Grids

Using Surface Normals

Comp tools n could you sc right w you t thinkin differe possib would would haustiv brainw

The m eters the m bilities up wit param consid script, verse outcom

ARP ATP DDc

ARP ATP DDR

ARP ATP DDR CRL

ARP ATP DDE

It is ea in the means got to or her when ploring to mak

putational never tire. And be creative if cript them the way. It gets the designer ng in so many ent ways and bilities that otherwise be too exve for human work to do.

more paramyou put in, more possis you end th. The more meters yous der in your the more diyour design mes could be.

asy to get lost e fun. This s designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s o know his r goals amd to stop exg possibilities ke a decision

bp us ddc

bp us ddr

bp us ddr crl

bp us dde

Maths function seem to be generating the most outcome, especially if combined with the rotation function

ci mf dde

ci mf dde sm

ci mf ddr

sg mf dde

sg mf ddr

sg mf ddr crl

sg mf dde gm

sg nf ddc

sn st ddr

sn st dde sm ddr

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De Young Museum [ Herzog & de Meuron ] Overall form gives an impression of a prehistoric monolithic structure, especially against the backdrop of the landscape. But on a closer look at the details, it boasts a modern, computationally designed and enabled facades. Technique: These facades were obviously designed with an image sampler as the association technique, and with circles as the outputs technique, which is then developed into perforations and bumps. Performance: The weathered effect, which had been unforeseen proves a nice addition to the whole design. Having experienced this unplanned quality in their work, the architects who made this building will have gained an incredible insight to their next design and these emergent qualities that might come up. It is precisely this that highlights the importance of research in the design methodology.

Hills Place [Amanda Levette Architects]

Overall form is pockets of lights. Having these openings ensures that light is, in fact, also a part of the buildi

Technique: A very successful technique would have to be in the way this cladding was fabricated. The joints b module are orchestrated in such a way Performance:

ing.

between each cladding