STUDIO AIR
Sleeping Pod, Digital Design and Fabrication, Diana Ong, Malak Nourderine El Moussaoui and Emily Thomas, 2016
INTRODUCTION at university, I have thought up wider concepts and narratives to fit with the brief. I love manipulating restrictions and limitations to form something completely different from what was My name is Emily and I am currently completing my third year of undergraduate studies, majoring in architecture. I’ve always had a passion for creating things, ever since I was little and was known for my overactive imagination. In year six, however, our assignment was to draw a plan view of our backyards that is where my passion for architecture stems from. You could say my way of designing is a bit quirky and experimental, probably due to my
expected from the beginning of the assignment. My designs are often also very dramatic and I often weave complex narratives to denote the human experience within my architecture. Perhaps in line with my own design thinking, I find I am inspired by the work of Oscar Niemeyer. While he is known for his sensual curves and focus on human experience, I know him for a quote I found in my first year: “The rule is the worst thing. You just want to break it.”
love for writing and narrative which is still a huge part of my life. From my first assignment
So I do
A1. Design Futuring Design Futuring denotes an attempt to create sustainable and facilitative architecture, rather than design that inhibits the natural world1. 1. Fry, Tony. Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford:Berg, 2008), p. 1-16
Zaha Hadid, City of Dreams Hotel Tower, 2014 < http://www.designboom.com/architecture/ zaha-hadid-fifth-hotel-tower-city-of-dreams-macau-03-28-2014/> [accessed: 09/03/2017]
Nex Architecture, Times Eureka Pavilion, 2011 < http://www.archilovers.com/projects/54312/times-eureka-pavilion.html> [accessed: 05/03/2017]
A1.1 TIMES EUREKA PAVILION design one that enables sustainability; the pavilion is made from sustainable timber and recycled plasNex Architecture, Times Eureka Pavilion, 2011 < http://www.archdaily.com/142509/ times-eureka-pavilion-nex-architecture> [accessed: 05/03/2017]
ARCHITECTS: Nex Architecture LOCATION: Westminster, London, UK YEAR: 2011 While the project does not exactly blend into the landscape in which it sits, the pavilion does draw inspiration from the cellular structure of the plants in the garden. This is, however, not what makes the
tic. The plastic cells also direct water into channels to utilise any run off in the surrounding garden. In terms of computational design, the cellular model was created using complex computer algorithms which depicted the overall form within the cuboid geometry. The panels and plastic were pre-fabricated and assembled quickly on site, creating a design which reflected and enabled nature as well its human visitors.
Markus Schietsch Architekten,Elephant House, 2014 < http://www.archdaily.com/770772/elephant-house-zoo-zurich-markus-schietsch-architekten> [accessed: 05/03/2017]
A1.2 ELEPHANT HOUSE nature, the shape and the effect are influenced by tree canopies, successfulMarkus Schietsch Architekten,Elephant House, 2014 < http://www.swiss-architects. com/en/projects/45697_Elephant_House_Zurich_Zoo> [accessed: 05/03/2017]
Yet, the design also bene-
Schietsch Architekten
fits the human users (visi-
LOCATION:
tors of the zoo) by providing
Zürichbergstrasse 221,
portals in which they can
8044 Zürich
view the animals through.
YEAR: 2014
The pre-fabricated triple
This project does not only emphasise how computational design can be used to create complex, yet simply constructed Gridshell, also
elucidates
how
architecture can be something
to
natural habitat while providing shelter and shade.
ARCHITECT: Markus
but
ly mimicking the elephants’
facilitate
the
natural world. Although the shell does not appear to be something sourced from
layer panels were cut and shaped on site and span the entirety of the structure in one continuous surface. Furthermore, the shape and flow of the building follow the landscape, creating a sense that even though this is built work, it has a direct symbiotic relationship with nature itself.
A2. Design Computation Computing manipulates a human only process2 (design) by altering it into something that works much faster and expands what is possible in the built world. There is a human/computer symbiotic relationship3 which exists wherein the two work together to create something entirely impossible with only one or the other. Humans lack the accuracy and fast processing of computers, while computers lack the design thinking skills human possess4. Therefore, computation rather than analogue design (designing without using the inherent qualities of a computer) and computerisation (transferring pre-designed objects into the computer interface) is beneficial to the architectural design process. 2. Kalay, Yehuda. Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new media: principles, theories, and methods of computer-aided design (Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 2004), p.1 Oxman, Rivka and Robert Oxman. Theories of the digital in architecture (London; New York: Routledge, 2014), p.1 4. Kalay. Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new media. p 2
ICD, Base Assembly, 2012 < https://medium.com/design-manifestos/design-manifestos-oliver-david-krieg-of-the-institute-for-computational-design-icd-5e8a5ea1ce76#.ykiwo5tac> [accessed: 09/03/2017]
Michael Hansmayer,The Sixth Order, 2011 < http://dandyvonnuetzen.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/ art-of-computational-architecture.html> [accessed: 09/03/2017]
A2.1 THE SIXTH ORDER computer in order to design. In the case of his installation â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Sixth Orderâ&#x20AC;?, Hansmayer developed the baMichael Hansmayer,The Sixth Order, 2011 < http://dandyvonnuetzen.blogspot.com. au/2013/01/art-of-computational-architecture.html> [accessed: 09/03/2017]
sic concept (use and manipulation of the doric column)
and
programmed
the
ARCHITECT: Michael
computer to generate re-
Hansmayer
sults for the geometry of
LOCATION:
Gwangju
Design
the columns based on his in-
Biennale (Exhibition)
put parameters5. This cre-
YEAR: 2011
ates a unique opportunity to develop something that
Computational
archi-
Hansmayer may not have been
tecture redefines the de-
able to develop himself and
sign process as designers
instead, he took advantage
such as Michael Hansmayer
of the mathematical preci-
discard the basic analogue
sion of technology.
procedure to work with the
5. Von Nutzen, Dandy. Art of the computational architecture [online blog] < http:// dandyvonnuetzen.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/art-of-computational-architecture.html> [Accessed: 9 March 2017
Renzo Piano,Tjibaou Cultural Centre, 1998 <https://au.pinterest.com/trixvandermark/cultural-center-jean-marie-tjibaou/> [accessed: 09/03/2017]
A2.2 Tjibaou Cultural Centre demonstrates
a
performa-
tive aspect as well6. With use of the precise mathematics and processing of Renzo Piano,Tjibaou Cultural Centre, 1998 < https://arkhitekton.net/2012/12/31/interstitial/tjibaou-cultural-centre/> [accessed: 09/03/2017]
ARCHITECT: Renzo Piano LOCATION: Noumea, New Caledonia YEAR: 1998
technology, Piano’s design emulates the patterns of the surrounding trees to create is
architecture
culturally
that
reflective
as well as imitative of nature. However, it can be
Renzo Piano is another architect whom took advantage of computational design in order to create his Tjibaou Cultural Center which
said that while utilising the technological advances and a computational design process takes away from the cultural impact the building can serve7.
6. Kolaveric, Branco. “Computing the Performative in Architecture” in Proceedings of the 21th eCAADe Conference: Digital Design. (Graz: Austria, 2003) pp. 457-463 7. David Langdon, “AD Classics: Centre Culturel Jean-Marie Tjibaou / Renzo Piano”, ArchDaily (2015) < http://www.archdaily.com/600641/ad-classics-centre-culturel-jeanmarie-tjibaou-renzo-piano> [Accessed: 9 March 2017]