Polychronaki Eleni Selected Works.
Polychronaki Eleni Architect | Computational Designer el.polychronaki@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/eleana-polychronaki +44 [0] 7732860939
Areas of Interest Architectural Design, Urban Design, VR/AR platforms, complex geometries, agent-based systems, genetic algorithms, data analysis, structural analysis, 3D scanning, 3D printing, CNC milling
A few words I consider myself primarily a designer and a spatial thinker. Feeling mesmerized by the different ways people perceive and experience space, I have always found myself challenged to create that space for them, as well as with them. I firmly believe in the anthropocentric character of architecture and the social interactions that should emerge and thrive through it. Coming from an extensive architectural education in Athens and Paris, I have a deep appreciation for beauty and specialize in creating elegant forms in multiple scales and contexts, that simultaneously maintain a high level of functionality. Durning my master in the Emergent Technologies and Design cluster of the Architectural Association, I experimented with various computational tools and learned to maintain a state of alertness for new opportunities in using them as design assets. This notion has driven me to explore and research multiple software and methods, both practically and in theory, covering domains from complex geometries and novel material systems approaches, to multifaceted agent-based simulations, interactive structures and immersive spatial experiences. My master thesis, focused on utilizing virtual reality as a new means of communication between architects and users explored, beyond the passive context of representation, as a tool of active engagement from both parties. The notion of formulating the ground towards the use of new technologies as such, in architectural design, is a task I find highly motivating as well as a personal aspiration for my professional career. Having worked within various design teams over the years, I have learned both to co-exist, as well as to appreciate and value the skills and opinions of others. In my perspective, the success in addressing highly complex design tasks, relies on a fine-tuned collaboration among skilled individuals.
Education Architectural Association School of Architecture [AA] Emergent Technologies and Design Master of Science (MSc) 2016-2017 Awarded with Distinction
National Technical University of Athens. Greece [NTUA] Diploma / Integrated Master of Architecture & Engineering (MArch) 2009-2016 GPA: 8,13/10 [Very Good]
École Nationale Supérieure d’architecture Paris-Malaquais [ENSAPM] Erasmus ( 2 semesters) 2013-2014
Software Skills 3D modelling / CAD Rhinoceros, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Grasshopper, Autocad, Google Sketchup
Adobe Creative Suite Illustrator, Indesign, Photoshop, Premier
Analysis Ecotect, Karamba, Millipede
Programming Python, C#, Processing (Java), Arduino (C)
Game Engines Unity
Photogrammetry/Mesh editing Reality Capture, Instant Meshes, Blender
Render Engines Arnold Solid Angle, Cinema 4D
Languages Greek
native language
English
full professional proficiency [C2]
French
full working proficiency
[B2]
German
elementary Proficiency
[B1]
Work Experience Assistant, AA Digital Prototyping Lab [DPL] Laser-cutting, CNC-milling, 3D Printing (PLA, Powder), January - June 2017
Internship, Ministry of environment and energy of Greece, via National Technical University of Athens Systematic analysis of Vernacular buildings and settlements in Mani Peloponese Greece, October 2011- February 2012
Teaching Experience Visiting Tutor, AA Emergent Technologies and Design VR / AR Workshop - Unity [C#], October 2017
“The Spark” Athens | A node in the city’s startup hub [NTUA Master Thesis] Modeled in Rhino and Cinema 4D, Rendered with Arnold for Cinema 4D, Image post-processing in Photoshop
“The Spark� was designed as a building/node in the Athens startup network aiming to promote the community and accelarate its evolution towards the european/US standards. The building is located in Kerameikos, Gazi, one of the most central and influential areas of the city and has a dual use: a co-working space/fab-lab for entrepreneurs and makers and a library for the public. The glass facade towards Pireos street and the 2-storey high stands promote the inviting and transparent character that identifies the startup community . The octahedric prism enables the visual stimulation among different floors while at the same time ensuring an additional light source with rays entering in multiple variations during the day.
Perspective view from Pireos Street | image rendered with Arnold in cinema 4D, post-processed in photoshop.
A glimpse into the building’s 4-storey interior | image rendered with Arnold in cinema 4D, post-processed in photoshop.
Library interior, second floor | image rendered with Arnold in cinema 4D, post-processed in photoshop.
Section A
Section B
Lifeguard Tower | Wood & Metal small scale structure Modeled in Rhino, Rendered with Arnold, Image post-processing in Photoshop | collaborators: D. Badounas, X. Alygizou.
St. Isidoros Beach, Viotia | image rendered with Arnold in cinema 4D, post-processed in photoshop.
A study on the design and construction process of small-structures made of metal and wooden components, focusing on the different interlocking systems between such parts, as well as their corresponding cross-sections.
4. Roof connections detail
4
3. Railing detail
3
2
2. Floorboard detail
1
1. Foundation detail
Structural details | exploded 3D in cinema 4D, axonometric details in Autocad.
Entwine | Tensegrity-based Pavilion Materials: 4mm plywood sheets & cotton thread | EmTech class of 2016-18
The designed pavilion was the result of an 18-people team work that extended from architectural design to structural simulations, fabrication techniques and multiscale physical prototyping. The pavilion was built on-site and exhibited in the 2017 Timber Expo in Birmingham.
Conceptual Render | The Pavilion is here portrayed as a spatial artifact in front of the AA in Bedford Square | image rendered with V-ray, post-processed in photoshop.
1:10 Physical prototype | Investigation on the volumetric qualities of the proposal as they emerge through the threaded surfaces and the wooden strips.
Entwine | Fabrication Structural simulations in Karamba and Strand 7, physical prototypes with laser-cutting & CNC milling A | Strip Splicing based on the available plywood sheet dimensions
C | Structural Testing A set of computational simulations aimed to give insight in the pavilion’s structural behaviour
2 1 4 3
B | Double Scooping upper scoop
base strip
Global Model
lower scoop
Displacement simulation
First Prototype | The initial 1:1 physical model was constructed in May in the workshop of the AA Hooke Park
Tension & compression | cable testing
Entwine VR |
Mobile App
Modeled in Cinema 4D, Coded in C# within Unity , Compiled with Xcode
AA Project’s Review 2017 | Instructions & Google Cardboards.
AA Project’s Review 2017 | Image from the use of Entwine VR
This application was created for the 2017 projects review exhibition in the Architectural Association. It was a digital extension of the partial physical model portrayed as an exhibit. “Entwine VR”, available for both Android and iOS users, enables a real-time navigation of the pavilion in a dreamy landscape, through a mobile virtual reality experience aided by Google cardboard. Entwine VR | Screenshot from the application’s environment, Built in Unity
Folding Systems | Global and local control in folded surfaces Simulated with Grasshopper and Kangaroo Physics | collaborator: Sara Shalaby
Physical Prorotype | Final ribbed geometry made out of corrugated cardboard.
LOCKING SYSTEM & FINAL ASSEMBLY DIGITAL SIMULATIONS | Local/Global control
Unfolded paper mountains & valleys
folding simulation with Kangaroo Physics
1. PULL TO SURFACE - global control
2. ATTRACTOR POINT(S) - local control
3. SELECTIVE FOLDING - local on mesh
During this research the rectangle based Ron Resch folding pattern was studied and simulated in both local and global scale. The next step included trials to satisfy geometric constraints of folding angle limitation (corrugated cardboard), and devise an appropriate locking system to achieve a self-supported form. Three separate methods of digitally simulating the deriving ribbed geometry, provided significant insight on global and local levels of control over the final geometry and pointed out the gaps between simulation and fabrication.
Fabric Casting | Material properties and mesh relaxation Simulated with Kangaroo Physics in Grasshopper | collaborator: Itamar Amrany
Physical Prorotype | Final model, cast after several digital simulations.
Physical Experiment | Setup FALSEWORK
CASTING MIX
Metal nuts The casting simulation included as constants, the force of gravity as well as hydrostatic pressure. The stiffness of the fabric as well as the stiffness of the stitches were introduced as variables of the simulation.
Metal rods
Fabric formwork (lycra) Through the initial experiments, the parameters of control were extracted and applied into a cast artifact of larger scale. The shift in scale held a significant role in the complexity, evolution and sucess of the process.
Water
Plaster
Wooden frame
Digital Simulation | Parameters of Control
1. STRETCHING Global control
2. RESIZE Regional control
3. STITCHING Local control
FINAL FORMWORK
Digital Simulation | Results
1
2
3
4
5
Urban Glitch | Participatory design in Vitual Reality [EmTech Master Thesis] VR Application programmed in C# within unity, 3D scans reconstructed with Reality Capture, Mesh polygon reduction with Instant meshes, Additional Remodelling in Cinema 4D, Data post-processing in Grasshopper
The ambition behind this project was to map and animate the individual spatial desires of users in order to utilize them towards architectural design proposals for public/semi-public space. Virtual Reality and serious games were merged into the proposed platform and explored as alternative means of performing participatory design. -65 users partcipated in the experiments that were conducted. A proposals landscape representing all design solutions given by the users | rendered in Cinema 4D
A. PLAYER NAVIGATION front X
Y A
B
back
B. CUBE INSERTION
Ray-casting
C. LIVE INFORMATION
Custom mode Gametime
7:16
Cubes used
125
Seating surface Shaded area
View 1 | Standard UI during runtime
D. VISUALIZATIONS
1. Pedestrian flow visualization
X
seat View 2 | Seating visualization, activated with button pressed
non-seat
Y A
B
2. Seating surface visualization
Urban Glitch | Computational infrastructure & data storage Thesis collaborators: Maria Aceytuno, Maria-Christina Manousaki, Carolina Perea
Image Rendered in Cinema 4D.
cube pivot grid point
Detail
An underlying 3D grid stores the cube positions during runtime by adding values to the grid’s points.
Detail: assign values to the 3D grid points after cube placement.
Point A Value: 4 4 users Point B Value: 2 2 users Point C Value: 1 1 user
VALUE ASSIGNEMENT
EMPTY 3D GRID
VALUED 3D GRID
An underlying 50x50x50 3D grid is responsible to record the player data. The grid points get valued through the placement of cubes. The temporary grid stores realtime individual information for each player, whereas the main grid stores the accumulated information from all players.
TEMP GRID
Greenery Building adds Streeet furniture Custom
point i [9,0,1] individual values Gi [0] Bi [1] Fi [1] Ci [0]
The temporary grid points enclose information for the point’s coordinates as well as 4 data holders for each program category: greenery, building additions, street furniture and custom. MAIN GRID
The main grid points carry information for each point’s coordinates as well as the summation of values for all four categories.
The temporary values are added to the main values at the end of each player’s turn to update the main grid.
point i [9,0,1] total values Greenery Building adds Streeet furniture Custom
Gi Bi Fi Ci
MAIN GRID
TEMP GRID
UPDATED GRID
point i [9,0,1]
point i [9,0,1]
point i [9,0,1]
total values
individual values
updated values
Gi Bi Fi Ci
[4] [0] [5] [2]
+
Gi Bi Fi Ci
[0] [1] [1] [0]
Gi Bi Fi Ci
[4] [1] [6] [2]
[4] [0] [5] [2]
Water Flow | Multi-agent simulation coded in Processing, data post-analysis in Grasshopper
Still image of the simulation in progress.
Depth Analysis lower than -2.60m from -2.60m to 0.00m from 0.00m to +2.60m higher than +2.60m
This simulation aimed to give insight in the water flow and tides of Hoo Peninsula in the Isle of Grain while at the same time extract the phenomenon’s data in order to be used as a starting point for a sustainable design proposal.
Direction Analysis Four seperate vector fields were weighted and combined to build the agents’ moving ground: a wind vector field, a slope vector field, an obstacle vector field and a turbulance vector field.
After the simulation was calibrated, the deriving data were extracted from Processing back to Grasshopper where they were analyzed in terms of speed, and direction per 5x5 square meter units.
Speed Analysis from 0.45 m/s to 0.50 m/s from 0.35 m/s to 0.45 m/s from 0.20 m/s to 0.35 m/s lower than 0.20 m/s
The deriving maps and wetland compartmentalization were used as a design starting point.
LoneR | A solitary robot that wants no friends Coded in C within the Arduino IDE | collaborators: Eleni Skevaki, Antonis Staikos
Physical Prorotype | Final model
1. Arduino connections The project is programmed in the Arduino platform. Hardware: Arduino UNO microcontroller , Adafruit 16-channer servo driver, 8 x micro servo mg 90, 4 x ultrasonic distance sensors.
2. Assembly components LoneR is made entirely out of plexiglass whereas the box/ residence is made of wood and semi-transparent membrane.
3. Final model | Description LoneR lives inside a box and loves loneliness. He responds to the detection of motion in his immediate surrounding by kicking the visitors away.