STUDIO AIR 2015, SEMESTER 1, TUTOR: CAITLYN PERRY HARRIET CRAIG PART A
Table of Contents
STUDIO AIR
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4 A.0 Introduction 6 A.01 Design Futuring 6 MRQT Boutique by ROK (Rippmann Oesterle Knauss) 8 Mercedes-Benz Museum by Ben van Berkel (Studio) and Werner Sobek 10 A.1 Design Computation 10 Las Piedras del Ciel by the Scarcity and Creativity Studio 12 Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la création by Gehry Partners 14 A.2 Composition and Generation 14 National Bank of Kuwait Headquarters by Foster and Partners 16 Free by Museo Soumaya 18 A.3 Conclusion 19 A.4 Learning Outcomes 20 A.5 Appendix - Algorithmic Sketches 22 A.5 Appendix - Algorithmic Sketches 23 A.6 References
A.0 Introduction
I believe that digital architecture in the future can help the human race to progress into the unknown and to test what we already know. ‘Design Futuring’ by Tony Fry helped me to get an insight into the real possibilites of digital design. It has the means to help design work towards sustainability and also create design tools to imagine things that were never possible before.1 In my own learning I have used Rhino 3D and its rendering plug-ins such as V-Ray as well as AutoCAD. I have found that AutoCAD helps me to draft my designs in a really accurate way, I am able to look at any problems in great detail and immediately change them. Rhino is the same in this way, I can see a threedimensional object and thus see its limitations. One of the projects were I have applied my digital knowledge was my Design Studio Water project. I used V-Ray to render my model in Rhino. I then used these renders in conjunction with photos I had taken from the site to create a photo montage. The overall effect was one that I had no expected, the perspectives appeared more realistic than they were originally. I’m Harriet Craig, a student at the University of Melbourne, currently studying an undergraduate degree, majoring in architecture. In the past I’ve been interested in interior spaces, the way that they can shape our moods and how they can evoke a response from us.
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I am looking forward to this semester ahead and learning parametric modelling. However, I am most excited to see and track my journey in the future. 1 Fry, Tony (2008). Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg), pp. 1–16
Fig.1: DESIGN STUDIO WATER PROJECT, HARRIET CRAIG
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A.01 Design Futuring
MRQT Boutique by ROK (Rippmann Oesterle Knauss) ROK is a Swiss based architecture firm that that focuses on interior designs and retail architecture. The design of this built mensware boutique by ROK utilised computer aided design and CNC tools in order to achieve a seamless, refined project. I am interested by the smooth and organic flow that design technology can produce in projects, like this one. The overall mass of the wall is individually sized wooden rods. In order to achieve the final result, customised digital tools were used. CNC drilled holes help to define and locate the position and angle of each of the wooden rods in the wall. The overall result is refined and is a realisation of the architect’s vision. Automated fabrication also played a major role in the overall execution of this design. The process became much more streamlined and effective due to the resources available to the architects.1 I think that this project is an excellent representation of the possibilities that digital design tools can offer small spaces. Although this retail project is not revolutionary, this project encompases the vision that digital fabrication can be used in every type of setting.
1 ROK Architecture, ‘MRQT Boutique’ <http://www.rokoffice.com/projects/suppa-store-1027/> [accessed 12 March 2015].
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fig 2: mrqt boutique
The digital in architecture is focused around responding to materials and understanding that digital design is bound by materiality.1 This project responds to the materiality and limitations of timber by not trying to distort its shape to create their vision, instead using a large mass of timber to create a smooth and organic form. The future possibilities for this type of design are endless. We, can use the theory that you can be bound by materiality yet reuse and refocuse your attention to overall shape and design. 1 Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman, Theories Of The Digital In Architecture (London; New York: Routledge, 2014).
fig 3: mrqt boutique
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Mercedes-Benz Museum by Ben van Berkel (Studio) and Werner Sobek
The museum is still used for its original purpose, it’s interestign lines and curves help set the scene for the interesting designs of the car manufacturer.
This museum is a revolutionary project as it was planned completley in threedimensions.1 There are almost no right angles or plane surfaces in the entire structure, making conventional planning extremley difficult.
I believe that this building will continue to be appreciated into the future, not only for its revolutionary design process but how the architects were able to seamlessly link their vision with a realistic project.
In the future, of architecture, BIM (building information modelling) will become commonplace in architectural design. Technology in design is one answer to the common problem of human error2, BIM can rectifying this.
Design is sometimes as seen as the fufillment of dreams, and this can’t be more correct with this building. Using the technology of today, design’s “inherant optimisim” allows architects to design what they may have once appeared impossible.1
In order to develop a structure with such strong logic, the designers materialised the three-demensional, understanding all of the conditions that are integral in developing such a complex building system. 3
What the architects have done in this buliding is to expand the future posisbilities for smaller projects. Although we can’t imagine modelling all projects (such as a small refurbishment) at a large scale at this moment, it is the intent and the asspirations that will drive technology development.
By materialising the three-dimensional, designers are able to perfectly design various forces that are at play. 1 Klaus Bollinger, Manfred Grohmann and Oliver Tessmann, ‘Structured Becoming: Evolutionary Processes In Design Engineering’, Architectural Design, 80 (2010), 34. 2 Yehuda E Kalay, Architecture’s New Media (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2004). 3 Klaus Bollinger, Manfred Grohmann and Oliver Tessmann, ‘Structured Becoming: Evolutionary Processes In Design Engineering’, Architectural Design, 80 (2010), 34.
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1 Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything (MIT Press, 2013).
fig 4: MERCEDES-BENZ MUSEUM, STUTTGART
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A.1 Design Computation
Las Piedras del Ciel by the Scarcity and Creativity Studio
Las Piedras del Cielo in Chile was designed whilst considering various temperature data and the landscape around the site.
Digital tools can help bridge the gap between the beginning of the design process and the architects themselves. Computing can enhance the design process.
The data collected helped the design team to explore the various iterations that can occur between the design and the analsysis itself.1
Digital architecture is a way of collating the information of materials and design at the same time.1 We are constantly informed during the designing of a building or an object as we can better model the materiality of our chosen building.
Local weather data was collected by small sttions that fed back directly into the computional data model. 2 Designers are not only able to use realtime dta in their models but they can track and undersatnd how it is affecting their design.
Although we are defined by materiality, computation can also help us realise the vast range of conceivable and achievable geometries.
This high level of data analysis can redefine architectural practice.
As well as materiality, computional design can also incorporate the surrounding nature of a built project. Including elements such as these at the early stages of design can vastly benefit the overall end product - it will be better equiped for any future changes in the environment.
1 Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman, Theories Of The Digital In Architecture (London; New York: Routledge, 2014).
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By looking at external but local factors such as materiality, or in this case, weather specific data, architects can form close bonds with their design and mould it how they wish throughout the entire design process.
1 Michael Hensel, ‘Auxiliary Architectures: Augmenting Existing Architectures With Performative Capacities’, Architectural Design, 85 (2015), 119. 2 Michael Hensel, ‘Auxiliary Architectures: Augmenting Existing Architectures With Performative Capacities’, Architectural Design, 85 (2015), 119.
fig 5: Las Piedras del Cielo, Chile
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Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la création by Gehry Partners Gehry Partners’ Louis Vitton art museum used computional tools at the design and construction stage in order to coordinate hunderds of participants in the design and make of the buidling.1 This enabled the design to follow strict detailling and understand the materiality constraints set upon it. Through the use of simulation tools, the designer can collaborate with others and also see their design intent in front of them. Contemporary computional techniques also allowed for the examination of glass and concrete panels at before unseen scales. 2 The curved glass was created using a parametric mould that enabled the glass to be bent into cylindrical geometries.
1 Tobias Nolte and Andrew Witt, ‘Gehry Partners’ Fondation Louis Vuitton: Crowdsourcing Embedded Intelligence’, Architectural Design, 84 (2014), 82. 2 Tobias Nolte and Andrew Witt, ‘Gehry Partners’ Fondation Louis Vuitton: Crowdsourcing Embedded Intelligence’, Architectural Design, 84 (2014), 82.
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Such design feats would not be possible without the engineering and logical powers that computional design allows for. Computation not only impacts the way that designers can forsee their project but also the designers’ imagination. Unconceivable and most-likely unachievable geometries become possibilities. Not onyl are they possibilities on a computer screen but also they can be constructed how they are imagined. I find this very liberating, materiality no longer defines people’s designs but instead we can imagine and then create. Gehry Partners have created an unique opportunity for themselves and the multiple people that worked on this project. They have distilled a large, complicated architecture into more achievable sized pieces.
fig 6: Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la création, paris
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A.2 Composition and Generation
National Bank of Kuwait Headquarters by Foster and Partners Foster and Partners used parametric modelling in their design of the National Bank to give them various options for their final design and it also enabled them to engage with local parameters and data. Foster and Partners is a ‘Specialist Modelling Group’ or a SMG and it and other groups like it are becoming essential in the design process in architectural practice.1 In the early stages of this design, the parametric moelling software called Bently Systems’ GenerativeComponetns was used to quickly create options for the architectural design team to run with. 2 The beginnigns of what may have been an irrelevant design moved towards a more comprehensive and evolved piece of architecture due to the fact that this type of software was applied.
1 Brady Peters, ‘Computation Works: The Building Of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 08-15. 2 Dusanka Popovska, ‘Integrated Computational Design: National Bank Of Kuwait Headquarters’, Architectural Journal, 83 (2013), 34.
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In my own explorations of Grasshopper and NURBS modelling, I am interested and inspired by the shapes that I create using parametric modelling. Like Foster and Partners, I will use parametric modelling as a tool to influence designers (myself in this case). Computation can be used as a tool to generate modes and visual inspiration. Although this is important when trying to understand rational behind aesthetics, sometimes your inspriation can be too limited to computation and its rules. Dr Dominique Hes, in her lecture for Design Studio Air, warns that we as a human race must not only explore what we can build but what is already surrounding us in the ecological world. I may draw inspiration from nature and then recreate it using parametric modelling, however I must make sure to still feel a connection to the world whilst I design.
fig 7: National Bank of Kuwait HEADQUARTERS, KUWAIT
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Free by Museo Soumaya
Free by Museo Soumaya architects is an art gallery in Mexico City, Mexico. The architects explored and morphed the exterior surface of their building during the design process to enable them the greatest design freedom. This was donethrough the study of physical models which were then scanned to create further digital models.1 The digital model was used to ensure greater structural stability as well. Using a Gaussian analysis of the intented hexagonal exterior surface helped to highlight the areas where there would be the most curvature. 2 Using this analysis, the design team was able to divide the exterior surface and further explore how they would create the ideal hexagonal pattern.
surface, it also ensured that the designers would be constantly striving for perfection. This is something that I would wish to explore in my own designs, the benefits of being particular and precise with my surfaces and spaces.
Another element of this project that contributed to its success was the fact that the entire project team collaborated together on the digital 3D model until the construction phase was complete.3 This type of work ensures that design work can be done simultaneously and architects, manufactures, engineers can communicate effectively. This particular type of design work is extremley important in the future of architectural practice. Being able to talk with people from all aspects of a project and for everyone to communicate effectively is a huge step towards perfection in architectural building.
At the design stage, algorithims were essential to assuring a cohesive project. Not only did analysis help to create a smooth exterior
Today, some architectural practices will feel disjointed due to the fact that computation is only used as a means to an end. Instead, computation and computerisation are integral parts of any design idea.
1 Fernando Romero and Armando Ramos, ‘Bridging A Culture: The Design Of Museo Soumaya’, Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 67-69. 2 Fernando Romero and Armando Ramos, ‘Bridging A Culture: The Design Of Museo Soumaya’, Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 67-69.
3 Fernando Romero and Armando Ramos, ‘Bridging A Culture: The Design Of Museo Soumaya’, Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 67-69.
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fig 8: FREE, MEXICO CITy
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A.3 Conclusion
My own design journey in Design Studio Air will be one filled with understanding and knowledge accumulation. I will look at the surrounding landscape and try and model data that I find around me. I am excited by the precedents that I have studied and their ability to react to what perhaps I may have not looked at before. Dr Dominique Hes stated this phenomenon perfectly in her lecture for Desgin Studio Air, the fact that we are accustomed to not looking at the beauty around us. I wish to not only recognise this beauty in one moment but to study it in the longer term to truly appreaciate it. This idea of thinking is innovative, not many architectural practices model data that they find in their sites, nor to them use parametric modelling or algorithmic modelling. My designs can benefit from these computational tools as I will be able to track my progress and understand it at the design imagination stage and through to fabrication. Like the precedents I have studied, I will be able to inspire my designs using parametric modelling to achieve the best and most informed result possible.
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I believe that it is not only myself that will benefit from this particular type of parametric modelling and design outlook. Others will be begin to appreciate nature and the built environment that surrounds us everyday like I will begin to. Designing will cease to happen in the classroom or my bedroom at home. Although I will take my research back to one of these places I will start to engage more with my environment and will hopefully take others along on the journey with me.
A.4 Learning Outcomes
After studying the precedents in this first module for Design Studio Air, I have a greater appreciation for the design computational tools that are (and were always) available to me. These tools have such a broad range of uses and before now I never knew in such depth how they were applied in the architectural world. In my first and second years of university, I was used to hearing about parametric modelling and algorithims but I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t realise that the knowledge we learnt was used at such a high level of design practice. Now I look at complex buildilngs I can see how BIM or other computation devices have helped make confusing projects easier to understand. Or sometimes I look at projects with random geometries and patterns and see how parametric modelling has been applied. The rest of the semester will have many challenges, including applying my knowledge of what really can be achieved with computional design.
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A.5 Appendix - Algorithmic Sketches
The image above is an exploration of lofting four curves. Below is an image of my exploration of the voronoi triangulation component.
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Above is an exploration of the box-morph component.
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A.5 Appendix - Algorithmic Sketches
The research from my journal has crossed over into my exploration of the tasks set it tutorials as I have begun to understand how components could be used in the future for architectural uses. I have selected three sketches to include as I believe they best show my learning curve. The last sketch shows how I have begun to use multiple components at once and my final product is more complicated that my first attempt. These algorithmic sketches explore mathematical algorithims and reflect how components can make up a larger object. I believe that components like what I have begun to explore will help me to model natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s patterns. But what I have already studied will help me to imagine, design and fabricate what currently isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t reality.
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A.6 References
Reference List Bollinger, Klaus, Manfred Grohmann, and Oliver Tessmann, ‘Structured Becoming: Evolutionary Processes In Design Engineering’, Architectural Design, 80 (2010), 34 Dunne, Anthony, and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything (MIT Press, 2013) Hensel, Michael, ‘Auxiliary Architectures: Augmenting Existing Architectures With Performative Capacities’, Architectural Design, 85 (2015), 119 Kalay, Yehuda E, Architecture’s New Media (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2004) Nolte, Tobias, and Andrew Witt, ‘Gehry Partners’ Fondation Louis Vuitton: Crowdsourcing Embedded Intelligence’, Architectural Design, 84 (2014), 82 Oxman, Rivka, and Robert Oxman, Theories Of The Digital In Architecture (London; New York: Routledge, 2014) Peters, Brady, ‘Computation Works: The Building Of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 08-15 Popovska, Dusanka, ‘Integrated Computational Design: National Bank Of Kuwait Headquarters’, Architectural Journal, 83 (2013), 34 ROK Architecture, ‘MRQT Boutique’ <http://www.rok-office.com/projects/suppa-store-1027/> [accessed 12 March 2015] Romero, Fernando, and Armando Ramos, ‘Bridging A Culture: The Design Of Museo Soumaya’, Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 67-69 Images List Figure 1: Harriet Craig, Student, University of Melbourne, 2014 Figure 2: Interior Of MRQT Boutique <http://www.dezeen.com/2013/10/10/mrqt-boutique-by-rok/> [accessed 12 March 2015] Figure 3: Interior Of MRQT Boutique <http://www.dezeen.com/2013/10/10/mrqt-boutique-by-rok/> [accessed 12 March 2015] Figure 4: Mercedes Benz Museum, 2010 <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ad.1103/epdf> [accessed 12 March 2015] Figure 5: Las Piedras Del Cielo, 2015 <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ad.1885/epdf> [accessed 17 March 2015] Figure 6: Fondation Louis Vuitton Pour La Création,, 2014 <http://aasarchitecture.com/2014/01/fondation-louis-vuittonpour-la-creation-by-frank-gehry.html/fondation-louis-vuitton-pour-la-creation-by-frank-gehry-05> [accessed 18 March 2015] Figure 7: National Bank Of Kuwait, 2013 <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ad.1550/epdf> [accessed 18 March 2015] Figure 8: Free, 2013 <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ad.1556/epdf> [accessed 20 March 2015]
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