AIR JOURNAL
STUDIO AIR
NAME Hao Lin --------------------------------------------------------
2016 Semester 2 Tutorial 7
TUTOR Caitlyn -------------------------------------------------------STUDENT NUMBER 715958 --------------------------------------------------------
CONCEPTUALISATION 1
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CONCEPTUALISATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUC TION
PART A CONCEPTUALISATION A.1 DESIGN FUTURING A.2 DESIGN COMPUTATION A.3 COMPOSITION/GENER ATION A.4 CONCLUSION A.5 LEARNING OUTCOMES A.6 APPENDIX A.7 BIBLIOGR APHY
INTRODUCTION My name is Hao, currently a third year Bachelor of Environment student majoring in Architecture. I grew up in Xiamen which is a major city on the southeast coast of China. Having attended several summer camps in Europe and the US during junior school and high school, various designs of contemporary and historical architecture have been my first impressions of the world. My interest in architectural design was therefore established in a young age.
4 INTRODUCTION
In my opinion, architectural design is associated with technical progress just like any other industries. With the invention of paper architectural designs were hand-drawn on paper. Since the invention of various computer programs such as CAD and Rhinoceros, they have became necessities in architectural design. Now I am going to renew my tool sets with parametric software like grasshopper. It is not merely for increasing efficiency, but also affecting the visual and conceptual design itself.
INTRODUCTION 5
PL AN VOISIN, LE CORBUSIER, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://CHUM338.BLOGS.WESLEYAN. EDU/PARKCHESTER-APARTMENTS-3/>.
DESIGN FUTURING Our lifestyles that are dependent on this designed world continued to consume excessively until we see the possible end of the world. As the voice of sustainable development has became prevailing, people seem to stop dreaming about ideal futures in their minds. The mere hopes are to survive or to slow the rate of defuturing. This should not however be the focus of design.
As mentioned by Dunne, a good design should be critical and it is the design's role to offer an alternative to the current mode.1 A good design welcomes pluralism in terms of ideology and values rather than defines a good future, while being critical at the fascination of technology or the politics. This kind of design creates alternative ways towards the ideal future and allows people to dream about it with their own methods.
1. Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything: Design Fiction, and Social Dreaming (MIT Press, 2013), pp. 1-9, 33-45
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CONCEPTUALISATION 7
TIMES COVER JAN 1964, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://CONTENT.TIME.COM/TIME/ COVERS/0,16641,19640110,00.HTML>.
CASE STUDY 1 Buckminster Fuller in his book Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth, published in 1968, refer Earth to a spaceship, where human are the passengers.1 Although he was among the earliest environmental activists who were aware of the finity of resources on Earth, he was optimistic about the future. He believed that through good designs and maintenance the spaceship would be capable to continue functioning and supporting us.
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FLICKR USER EHSAN, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://IMAGES.ADST TC.COM/MEDIA/ IMAGES/546A/754D/E58E/CE7D/2500/0036/ L ARGE_JPG/RODRIGO_MAIA.JPG?1416262985>.
His exploration on such good design was focusing on material efficiency, structural integrity and modularity. The most spectacular one is the Montreal Biosphere, which has a diameter of 76 metres and contained whithin it a 7-story building. The dome is an icosahedron formed by pentagons into a hexagonal grid. The structure is created by steel tubes welded at the joints and the forces are distributed throught the whole structure.
FLICKR USER EHSAN, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP:// IMAGES.ADST TC.COM/MEDIA/IMAGES/546A/7542/E58E/ CEA7/5A00/0030/L ARGE_JPG/EHSAN_2.JPG?1416262972>.
The dome expand future possibilities through the material, structural and constructive efficiency. It provided people with the promise of technology through which we could expect the ideal scenarios of everlasting 'spaceship'. The modular geometric structures are widely used today. However the ideology and values behind the sphere are even appreciated more than the actual architecture.2 Fuller not only inspired designers today with the efficient structure of the dome, but also offered a way towards a sustainable and better future through design.
FLICKR USER ABDALL AHH, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP:// IMAGES.ADST TC.COM/MEDIA/IMAGES/547C/765B/E58E/ CECB/BA00/00C4/L ARGE_JPG/ABDALL AHH.JPG?1417442903>.
1. Richard Buckminster Fuller, 'Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth', <http://designsciencelab.com/ resources/OperatingManual_BF.pdf> 2. Anthony Vidler, 'What Happened to Ecology? John McHale and the Bucky Fuller Revival' Architectural Design, 80 (2010), 24-33
CONCEPTUALISATION 9
SHIGERUBAN ARCHITECTS, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP:// WWW.SHIGERUBANARCHITECTS.COM/WORKS/2000_ JAPAN-PAVILION-HANNOVER-EXPO/INDEX.HTML>.
CASE STUDY 2 Shigeru Ban's works are famous for the adventurous materials such as paper tubing. The experimental development of paper tubing structuers is however not Ban's biggest interet, but rather served as the expression of his ideology. Ban seeks to protect the environment by designing with recyclable materials that minise waste. One of his experiment with paper tubing is The Japanese Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hanover. It was a grid structure made of recyclable paper tubes and only took 3 weeks to assemble. The structure was 72 metres long and 35 metres wide. The pavilion was dismantled and the paper tubes were recycled after the exhibition.1
SHIGERUBAN ARCHITECTS, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP:// WWW.SHIGERUBANARCHITECTS.COM/WORKS/2000_ JAPAN-PAVILION-HANNOVER-EXPO/INDEX.HTML>.
The pavilion itself symbolized the process of constructing, demolishing and recycling designed by Ban. His experiments with paper tubes are trying to achieve sustainability through reducing waste in architecture. As an experiment, it certainly has shorcomings and requires highly professional structural design. Anyhow it is the design we need as it offers an alternative to the current mode.
1. Sarah Chaplin, 'Makeshift: Some Reflections on Japanese Design Sensibility' Architectural Design, 75 (2005), 78-85 (p.81).
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JULIAN WORRALL, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://WWW. JAPANTIMES.CO.JP/CULTURE/2013/04/23/ARTS/SHIGERUBAN-BETWEEN-FUNCTION-AND-BEAUT Y/#.V61MZFL96UK>.
HOUSES OF CARD: MODEL OF THE JAPAN PAVILION AT EXPO 2000 IN HANNOVER, SHIGERU BAN'S L ARGEST STRUCTURE MADE FROM PAPER TUBES
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DESIGN COMPUTATION Design computation, distinguished from design computerization which is just manipulating the preexisting concepts with computers, is a practice that engages computing in every process from researching, generating forms, materialization and to frabrication. Computation has allowed a digital continuum of form generation, performative design, tectonic models and digital materiality in design processes.1 The benefits of computational design techniques are revealed by many contemporary projects during the last 10 years. 1. Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;10.
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ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION 2010, ICD, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://ICD.UNI-STUT TGART.DE/?P=4458>.
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IROL AND HALBE VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP:// ICD.UNI-STUT TGART.DE/?P=11187>.
CASE STUDY 1 The ICD/ITKE team transferred principles of biological composite structures that revealed the morphology of beetles to the design of the ICD/ ITKE Research Pavilion 2013-14. Besides the novel approach to material and structural design, the pavilion also featured the practice of robotic fabrication which required minimum formwork. The components were computationally generated according to morphological principles and robotically produced.1 Computation was the foundamental technique of the redefine of design process. Firstly design computation allowed collaboration of a multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, and biologists. As mentioned by Kalay, communication as one of the four steps of design phases is benefiting 14
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ICD/ITKE UNIVERSIT Y STUT TGART , VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://ICD.UNI-STUT TGART.DE/?P=11187>.
from the recent addition of computers. Access to information has been expanded and more people were able to become involved in design process.2 Secondly, the use of computation design in the pavilion was related to the theory of digital morphogenesis and could be an example of "fabrication design in which contextual forces and material attributes combine to generate form". The unique opportunity here presented by computation we can potentially create a second nature. 1. Moritz Doerstelmann, with Jan Knippers and others, 'ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2013-14: Modular Coreless Filament Winding Based on Beetle Elytra' Architectural Design, 85 (2015), 5459 2.Kalay Yehuda E, Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of ComputerAided
Design
(Cambridge,
MA:
MIT
Press,
IROL AND HALBE VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP:// ICD.UNI-STUT TGART.DE/?P=11187>.
CONCEPTUALISATION 15
FOSTER + PARTNERS, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://WWW.FOSTERANDPARTNERS.COM/ PROJECTS/NATIONAL-BANK-OF-KUWAIT/>.
CASE STUDY 2 The National Bank of Kuwait Headquarters features the geometric design responding to the local climate. The design of vertical structural shading fins on the western facades contrasts with the open north facade that introduce light and views. Design Computation in this case was involved in early to final stages of the design. Foster + Partner's Specialist Modeling Group (SMG) developed a parametric model that identified the problems raised mainly by local climate and explored solutions for the building. Various solutions were produced and performance was simulated by computing.1 The variations of creation was enabled through parametric models that were fully adjustable.
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The generation of satisfying geometry in the extremely extended range could not be done without the rules and algorithmic procedures of parametric systems. This capability has been defined by Patrick Schumacher as a distinguishing characteristic of contemporary digital architectural form that he designated by the term, parametricism.2
1.
Dusanka Popovska, 'Integrated Computational
Design:
National
Bank
of
Kuwait
Headquarters'
Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 34-35 (p.35). 2. John Frazer, 'Parametric Computation: History and Future' Architectural Design, 86 (2016), 18-23 (p.21).
FOSTER + PARTNERS, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://WWW.FOSTERANDPARTNERS.COM/ PROJECTS/NATIONAL-BANK-OF-KUWAIT/>.
The ability of rapid prototyping of the building has shaped the design process to performance-oriented. This is also fulfilled with simulation software for energy and structural calculations. The computational simulation tools 'can create more responsive designs, allowing architects to explore new design options and to analyse architectural decisions during the design process'.1
1. Brady Peters, 'Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought' Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 8-15.
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WATSON AND CRICKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 3D MODEL OF DNA, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://WWW. THEHISTORYBLOG.COM/ARCHIVES/25193>.
COMPOSITION/ GENERATION As mentioned previously the new trend is that designers are moving from computerization to computation. Therefore architectural literature and practice are moving to an era of generation instead of composition due to computational design. Topics including algorithmic thinking, parametric modelling and scripting are closely related to the shift. The practice of generative computation is becoming normal in the design process although the practice of purely digital generated forms remains controversial sometimes and has yet became a universal method. parametricism.
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ICD/ITKE UNIVERSIT Y STUT TGART, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP://ICD.UNI-STUT TGART.DE/?P=12965>.
CASE STUDY 1 ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion of 2015 was similar to the 2013-14 one in terms of its biomimetics focuses, fibre structure and programmed-based robotic fabrication. The pavilion was inspired by the structure of the nest of diving bell water spider and its fibrelaying behaviours. Computational tools were developed to simulate the performance of these fibre-laying behaviours and form the fibre-laying paths. What is different for this project was that the fibre layers were generated along with the construction progress. This was allowing the generative model to recieve feedback from the fabrication process.1 The unique form generative approach of the pavilion was enabled through computational tools.
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Designers could have came up with the overall shape of the pavilion without computation and simply with observation and analysis of the nest. However, the complexity of the fibre paths that has such good structural performance would not be generated without the advanced computation and simulation. One thing to critisize is that the project seems to focus mainly on bionics, materials and structural performances instead of user experience.
1. Moritz Doerstelmann, with Jan Knippers and others, 'ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2014-15: Fibre Placement on a Pneumatic Body Based on a Water Spider Web' Architectural Design, 85 (2015), 60-65
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IROL AND HALBE VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP:// ICD.UNI-STUT TGART.DE/?P=12965>.
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A SERIES OF PHYSICAL MODELS WAS USED TO DEVELOP THE STRUCTURE FOR THE CABLE NET, EXPLORING VARIOUS CABLE ARRANGEMENTS
AD JOURNAL, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP:// ONLINELIBRARY.WILEY.COM.EZP.LIB.UNIMELB. EDU.AU/DOI/10.1002/AD.1104/EPDF>.
CASE STUDY 2 The larg-scale Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre was designed by Foster + Partners and Buro Happold by using a form-finding algotithm at the early stage to quickly generate the coneshaped cable-net structure and at later stages parametric models that refined the selected generated form. The form-finding process was based on Algorithmic thinking, which according to Peters, means ‘taking on an interpretive role to understand the results of the generating code, knowing how to modify the code to explore new options, and speculating on further design potentials’.
Critique: As I mentioned previously one thing to critisize about computational form generation is that it either focus mainly on performances or on aesthetics. In my opinion form generation should not be an isolated style or skill, but a natural, integrated approach in architectural design.
1.
Wolf
Mangelsdorf,
'Structuring
Strategies
for
Complex Geometries' Architectural Design, 80 (2010), 40-45 2.Brady Peters, 'Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought' Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 8-15 (p.10).
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FOSTER + PARTNERS, VIEWED AUGUST 2016, <HT TP:// WWW.FOSTERANDPARTNERS.COM/PROJECTS/ KHAN-SHAT YR-ENTERTAINMENT-CENTRE/>.
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CONCLUSION Part A was exploring how designers are able to provide human alternative futures that we once dreamed about through innovative designs and advancing techniques. The development of computational design is one of the techniques that allow designers to achieve those dreams that were seemingly inconceivable. It allows us to deal with complex and boring works and goes beyond data calculating to providing inspirations or generating unexpected results. Since the realization of computational design, there have been new techniques such as parametric modeling, performance simulation and digital fabrication. These practices are integrated in every stages of design and promote the collaborative work in multi-disciplinary teams. 24
CONCEPTUALISATION
The Digital Continuum of form generation, performative design, tectonic models, materialization and frabrication that achieved through computational design was brought forward by Oxman I am particularly interested in parametric design as it is not only a design technology but also a new way of digital design thinking. By changing values of parametres I could quickly and easily generate new models while keep track with the modification. As Patrick Schumacher defined, the capability to created modulate differentiation in various scales 'as a distinguishing characteristic of contemporary digital architectural form'.
1. John Frazer, 'Parametric Computation: History and Future' Architectural Design, 86 (2016), 18-23
LEARNING OUTCOMES Through exploration during the three weeks I have been familliarized with the concepts and practice related to computational design. I realised my lack of design computation skills such as parametric design and fail to implement algorithmic thinking. I am completely new to Grasshopper3D. I could have used my new knowledge gained these weeks, such as using Grasshopper3D to enrich past designs.
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APPENDIX ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES
IT WAS FUN USING METABALL TOOL TO CREATE SOMETHING LIKE A PL AN OF A BUILDING COMPLEX
PUZZLE-LIKE FORM WAS GENERATED USING 3D POPUL ATION TOOL AND OCTREE.
THIS ONE LOOKS LIKE A WOOD BENCH. IT WAS GENERATED THROUGH OCTREE TOOL
USING CONTOUR TOOL AND ORIENT TOOL TO CREATE INTERESTING PAT TERNS ON A SURFACE
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything: Design Fiction, and Social Dreaming (MIT Press, 2013), pp. 1-9, 33-45 Anthony Vidler, 'What Happened to Ecology? John McHale and the Bucky Fuller Revival' Architectural Design, 80 (2010), 24-33 Brady Peters, 'Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought' Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 8-15 (p.10). Dusanka Popovska, 'Integrated Computational Design: National Bank of Kuwait Headquarters' Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 34-35 (p.35). John Frazer, 'Parametric Computation: History and Future' Architectural Design , 86 (2016), 18-23 (p.21). Kalay Yehuda E, Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of ComputerAided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, Moritz Doerstelmann, with Jan Knippers and others, 'ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2014-15: Fibre Placement on a Pneumatic Body Based on a Water Spider Web' Architectural Design, 85 (2015), 60-65 Richard Buckminster Fuller, 'Operating Manual For Spaceship designsciencelab.com/resources/OperatingManual_BF.pdf>
Earth',
<http://
Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;10. Sarah Chaplin, 'Makeshift: Some Reflections on Japanese Design Sensibility' Architectural Design, 75 (2005), 78-85 (p.81). Wolf Mangelsdorf, 'Structuring Strategies for Complex Geometries' Architectural Design, 80 (2010), 40-45
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