Studio air final journal hao lin by HaoL

STUDIO AIR HAO LIN 2016 SEMESTER 2

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 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

TABLE OF CONTENT 2 INTRODUCTION 4 dESIGN fUTURING

4 PART A 10 dESIGN Computation 16 COMPOSITION/GENERATION 22 conclusion/lEARNING OUTCOME 23 appendix

24 PART b 26 research fIeld 28 case study 1 32 case study 2 38 TECHNIQUE DEVELOPMENT 40 prototypes 42 design proposal 44 learning objectives/outcomes 45 appendix

46 PART C 48 FINALISED CONCEPT 49 envisaged DESIGN 50 Design defnition 52 construction process 54 prototyping 62 ASSEMBLING 66 FINAL MODEL 68 Learning Objectives/Outcomes 70 References 3

PART A 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 4

Plan Voisin, Le Corbusier, viewed August 2016, <http://chum338.blogs. wesleyan.edu/parkchester-apartments-3/>.

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. 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. 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.

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, 6

80 (2010), 24-33

Flickr user abdallahh, viewed August 2016, <http://images.adsttc. com/media/images/547c/765b/e58e/cecb/ba00/00c4/large_jpg/

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 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),

shigeruban architects, viewed August 2016, <http://www. shigerubanarchitects.com/works/2000_japan-pavilionhannover-expo/index.html>.

dESIGN Computation

Design computation, distinguished from design computerization which is just manipulating the pre-existing 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. 10

ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010, ICD, viewed August 2016, <http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458>.

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 re-define 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 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), 54-59 2.Kalay Yehuda E, Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design 12

(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,78-85 (p.81).

IRoland Halbe viewed August 2016, <http://icd.uni-stuttgart. de/?p=11187>.

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. 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 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' 3

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). 14

3. Brady Peters, 'Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought' Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 8-15.

Foster + Partners, viewed August 2016, <http://www. fosterandpartners.com/projects/national-bank-of-kuwait/>.

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.

Watson and Crickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 3D Model of DNA, viewed August 2016, <http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/25193>.

case study 1 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. 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 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' 3

3. Brady Peters, 'Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought' Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 8-15.

Foster + Partners, viewed August 2016, <http://www. fosterandpartners.com/projects/national-bank-of-kuwait/>.

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 cone-shaped 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 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;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 potentialsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. 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 20

(p.10).

AD JOURNAL, viewed August 2016, <http://onlinelibrary.wiley. com.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/doi/10.1002/ad.1104/epdf>.

conclusion/lEARNING OUTCOME

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. 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'. 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.

1. John Frazer, 'Parametric Computation: History and Future' Architectural Design, 86 (2016), 18-23 22

appendix

PART b

research fIeld

Strip/folding is a mean of generating both aesthetic forms and structures. Through computational design, designers find ways to break away from the conventional dilemma of materials and structures. Strip/folding is one of the approaches to cross the boundaries. Forms can be decomposed into basic strip components while folding can add to the profiles. The forms can be manipulated through parameters and performance can be simulated. It simplified fabrication and construction process and maximize the potential of materials.

ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010 The innovative structure demonstrates the latest developments in material-oriented computational design, simulation, and production processes in architecture. The result is a bending-active structure made entirely of extremely thin, elastically-bent plywood strips. Traditionally in the virtual processes of computational design form and force are usually treated as separate entities, as they are divided into processes of geometric form generation and subsequent simulation based on specific material properties. The research pavilion uses an alternative approach: here, the computational generation of form is driven and informed by material characteristics and behaviours. The structure is entirely based on the elastic bending behavior of plywood strips. The strips are robotically manufactured as planar elements, and subsequently connected so that elastically bent and tensioned regions alternate along their length. The force that is locally stored in each bent region of the strip, and maintained by the corresponding tensioned region of the neighboring strip, greatly increases the structural capacity of the system. In order to prevent bending moments, 80 different strip patterns constructed from more than 500 geometrically unique parts were produced. The computational design model is based on embedding the relevant material behavioral features in parametric principles. These parametric dependencies were defined through physical experiments focusing on the measurement of deflections of elastically bent thin plywood strips.

case study 1 Biothing - Seroussi Pavilion With â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;biothingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the New York based architect Alisa Andrasek founded a trans-disciplinary lobratory that focuses on the generative potential of computational systems for design. The project explored in-between algorithmic states by trans-coding 3 different algorithms. Electro-Magnetic Field developed through Biothingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s custom written plug-in for Rhino was initially distributed in order to develop structural trajectories for the roof condition. Resonating pattern was imprinted into the ground creating emitters for the second algorithmic logic _ radial wave interference pattern that formed global geography of the field. Finally, class 4 Cellular Automata was used to re-process wave data by imprinting micro-articulation of the ground.

SPECIES A. Division of Curves B. Radius of Circles C. Division of Circles D. Field Lines E. Spin Force F. Division of Field Lines and Multiplication G. Graph Mapper

This one is basically the same as the original project, only with larger circ les. The size of the circles make this iteration clearer on

This one is the best of the best four. The curvature of the field lines are elegant than natural. There are more possibilities to apply to real

By adding spin force and merging the field, the field lines looks much more interesting than the original project.

This one is similar to the third one but with different curves.

case study 2 Double Agent White Double Agent White functions to achieve a maximum degree of morphological freedom, structural continuity, visual interplay, and logistical efficiency within a minimum degree of components, and performative hierarchies. It is composed from the amalgamated intersection of 9 spheres of unique radii forming one continuous surface. The sphere primitive defines continuous double curvature across the piece for material rigidity while simultaneously allowing for larger decomposable units able to be optimally nested for efficient storage. The surface condition is composed of two parallel yet divergent sets of distributed agents. The first, a controlled macro set is describing the overall geometry into the minimum number of developable elements able to be cut within the constraints of flat sheets of aluminum. The second, higher resolution, more schizophrenic and expressive set is detailing aperture as ornament. The former informing the latter. Bound within the logic of assembly mobility, and spatial nuance, Double Agent White coheres myriad formal and technical constraints into an immersive environmental whole.

FAILED ATTEMPT: TRAVELINGSALESMAN I first tried with Traveling Salesman to repeatedly find the closest point and record the path. The result looks similar to the original project but the polyline is too messy and hard to be transformed further. So I considered it failed.

SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT

Generate spheres

Populate points on the geometry

Arrange the spheres in the desired way

Use Voronoi to create the pattern

Scale each polyline

Trim the resulted mesh with a surface

Loft the scaled ones with the original ones

Use Weaverbird plugin to play with the mesh

Final outcome

TECHNIQUE DEVELOPMENT SPECIES 1 traveling salesman

SPECIES 2 Number of points/Cull index/ Scale factor

SPECIES 3 Sphere generation +species 2

prototypes

S h e e t P a c k i n g FABRICATION OF DOUBLE AGENT WHITE

Divide the mesh into pieces. Cut the sheets into the sh METHOD 1 UNROLL MESH

METHOD 4 Casting

Using pottery plaster plaster cloth, water balloons of various sizes as

Pottery Plaster also has very high strength but it is too brittle if the surface is too thin. It is very hard to achieve the desired 40

hapes.

Divide the thickened mesh. METHOD 2 3D PRINTING

d shape. However it can

Build the frame first and make the METHOD 3 STRUCTURAL FRAME

Plaster cloth has high strength anc can form any shapes. It is not easy to bend but after it drys it is also hard to create openings. I tryed to do openings before dip it into

It turned out that plaster is very ideal in terms of the qualities of the design in B.4. However it is also hard to control the curvature, the shapes and the sizes of holes. In part C I might need to find an approach to control the plaster, or use other 41

design proposal My target client is the Early Learning Centre, which is a specialised research and demonstration kindergarten at the University of Melbourne. It is located besides Merri Creek. What I propose is a program for children to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future when they grow up. And I am thinking about designing a uniform for the kids in the kindergarten, that provokes their interest in natural environment, and encourages them to discover the natural environment around the kindergarten. The garment should firstly have some connections to the natural environment around the kindergarten. It also has to be interesting in the kids' perspective. As it is for children, it also has to be smooth and lightweight rather than sharp or chunky. One of the most important qualities of my prototype is that it has a curved and continuing surface, with holes of various sizes on it. One possibility is to allow children to create interesting effect using natural light. Another possibility is to have kids play with water. The prototype is thin and lightweight and should be suitable for kids. One drawback of the design is that it is not flexible enough to keep up with movement of body. This goes against the purpose to have kids exploring the environment. Possible solutions include changing the material, splitting the components and connecting them with flexible joints, or keeping the design in a proper size that avoid obstacle.

Antler/Ladybug

Playing with light

learning objectives/outcomes The studio aims to improve my ability to design and fabricate based on computation, and use digital design thinking instead of the traditional approach. One of the learning objectives from the subject reader is 'developing â&#x20AC;&#x153;an ability to generate a variety of design possibilities for a given situationâ&#x20AC;? by introducing visual programming, algorithmic design and parametric modelling with their intrinsic capacities for extensive design-space exploration'. At the beginning of this semester I only follow the instruction from online tutorials and did not cooporate the skills in design. For part B I started to develop my own design based on casestudy and connect computational design with the brief. Another objective is to 'develop foundational understandings of computational geometry, data structures and types of programming' which I was learning and will be continuing to learn. For example I have learned about manipulating data tree in grasshopper and understanding how grasshopper programs statistics. This foundational understanding allows me to control my design better and will be helpful in the future. Also there is an objective to develop â&#x20AC;&#x153;skills in various threedimensional media', which I was practising during the semester. I have learnt to use rhino and vray, and digital fabrication to produce various form of 3D media. I also learn to 'begin developing a personalised repertoire of computational techniques'. For Casestudy 2 I was trying to reverse engineer the precedent project. In order to achieve that I not only referred to online tutorials provided by Studio Air but also did research about various algorithms and plugins.

appendix

PART C

C.1

FINALISED CONCEPT

In last stage I was thinking about creating uniforms for kids in the early learning centre that provoke their interest in natural environments around Merri Creek. The plan was to create garments that have characteristics of some animals. In this stage I carefully refined the initial plans. I stick at the concept of simulating animals that could potentially interest the kids. However, this time I also focus on the actual functions of the features of animals. In order to get kids engage in nature, the primary functions I wish the garments had are hiding in nature and preventing kids from harassment of nature. As I noticed that there are plenty of grasslands around Merri Creek and the Early Learning Centre, I considered zebra stripes as an ideal feature to simulate. The primary function of zebra stripes is camouflage. The striping may help the zebra hide in the grass by disrupting its outline. Camouflage could be an interesting feature for kids when they explore the natural environments. Instead of standing out from nature, becoming a part of nature could potentially interest the kids. In addition, researchers also found that the stripes are effective in attracting fewer flies. During the time when I visited Merri Creek, there were not many flies as the weather was cold. However in Melbourneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s summer, flocks of flies and other insects are always expected. The additional function of the stripes might also be helpful to prevent kids from insects.

envisaged DESIGN

Zebra stripes black and white

Grasshopper - Grid Spreading generating natural curves

Image Sampling creating various widths

Design defnition

Grid Spreading

Image Sampling

create a 'cloak' around body

evaluate the surface to get vectors

divide the surface into grid of points

use image sampling to adjust the points and offset along the vectors

use 'grid spreading' to generate curves

generate curves along the points

on the surface divide the curves and convert the points into data tree

loft each two curves to get the stripes

The stripes work as the black components in the zebra stripes pattern. In order to fit the white components into the stripes, intervals with various widths were necessary. I intentionally did some bigger ones to make the stripes look more natural. I extracted points on the large gaps and projected them onto the x-y plane for prototyping.

construction process

black stripes

white components

add supporting stripes

extract the shapes of large gaps

create slots on the supporting stripes

project them onto x-y plane as templates for laster cutting mdf

mark the corresponding position of the

use the mdf as formworks to vacuum

black stripes

form the white components

unroll the stripes and laser cut them

glue the white components back to the stripes

test different materials

formworks for vacuum machines

supporting stripes

unrolled black stripes

C.2

prototyping

MATERIAL TEST 1 material 1: PP, 0.6mm, white, for all stripes

For the first material test of stripes we chose 0.6mm PP white for all stripes. The small thichness allowed the stripes to form natural curvature easily and was also easy to adjust by hand cutting. However there were two problems for the material. Firstly the slots were very narrow and the laser cutting machine somehow burnt parts of the slots. Secondly the material was to thin for the size of a garment. After we tried 4 stripes with 2 holders, the structure seemed to be very unstable. Therefore we gave up on this material.

VACUUM MACHINE TEST 1 material 1: HPP (homo polymer polyproplylene), 1.5mm, black, for white components

We first tried 1.5mm HPP for the vacuum machine. The formwork was made through laser cutting as we believed the thickness would be enough for the machine. We tried to heat the material under the formwork and inflate the material to form the white components. The first formwork was large in size and could be used for several times to test the time and strength of the heating process. We failed seval times untill we got a beautiful shape.

connections black stripes: rivets black stripes and mdf: slotting techniques white components and stripes: glue

Initial design

Refined design

The initial widths of the black stripes were too small that the stripes could not stay in their positions. Also the material for the supporting stripes was not strong enough. In the next stage we are going to firstly, increase the widths of the black stripes, secondly change the material for the supporting stripes, thirdly increase the number of the supporting stripes.

MATERIAL TEST 2 material 1: mdf 3mm for supporting stripes PP 0.6mm Black for black stripes

To deal with the two major problems we met in last prototype, we used 3mm mdf for the supporting stripes. This time the machine did not burn the slots. Also we increased the number of supporting stripes to 7 and evenly distributed along the black stripes instead of 2 in each side. The structure was stable enough. Due to the limit of the laser cutter the black stripes needed to be divided into 3-4 parts for fabrication. Therefore, we used metal revits to connect each pieces of the black stripes.

VACUUM MACHINE TEST 2 material 1: HPP, 1.5mm/1mm, white, for white components

MDF formworks

Failed attempt 1 (1mm)

Failed attempt 2 (1mm)

Failedl attempt 3 (1.5mm) (but too thick for cutter

Failed attempt 1 was due to excessive heating time (> 2 mins) Failed attempt 2 was due to inadequate heatimg time (< 45 s) Failed attempt 3 was heated for 150s due to the increase in thickness. However the thickness was not suitable for cutting.

VACUUM MACHINE TEST 3 material HPP 1mm, white, for white components

Successful attempt 1

Successfull attempt 2

Successful attempt 1 was heated for 1 min Successful attempt 2 was heated for 70s Both two were suitable for cutting. Attempt 2 was better in terms of the curvature.

C.3

ASSEMBLING

Finally we decided to use 3mm MDF to make the supporting stripes and 0.6mm black PP to make the black stripes. We divided each black stripes into 2 or 3 pieces for preperation of fabrication. We numbered each pieces and the position where the black stripes meet the slots on mdf stripes.

We make 1 holes in each side of each piece of black stripes for the revits. However we found that the joint was flexible and the stripes were subjected to rotatation. It was hard to make more holes for the revits so we taped them at the end to make the connection rigid. Then we painted the white tapes so they appeared to be not evident. The other problem was that the slots were too wide (1mm) for the thickness of blacks stripes (0.6mm). This resulted in sliding of stripes in the slots.

We taped each slots for 4 times to make it narrower for the black stripes. The structure was then rigid enough.

Lastly we glued the white components onto the black stripes in the selected gaps.

FINAL MODEL

Learning Objectives/Outcomes

The major problem this project has is the consistency of the design of stripes and the white components. As suggested by tutors, the white components should be fit more properly into the gaps between the stripes. The problem is due to the formworks of vacuum inflation. Because the formworks needed to be laser cut, I projected the gaps onto x-y plane. The resulted white components could not fit the curvature of the gaps. If I were to have more time, I would try to make the white components in perfect shape to fit the gaps.

Another feedback I received is about the vacuum formed white components. As suggested by the guest tutors, the failed attempts of vacuum formed shapes were actually more interesting than the 'perfect bubbles'. As a designer I need to make a choice of what is better which I did not do good in this project. My group was limited by the goal we set at the beginning and ignored the potential of alternative approaches. If we were to have more time, we would possibly stick with the vacuum machines and do more prototypes until we could fully control the outcome.

References Part A 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 Computer-Aided 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 Earth', <http://designsciencelab.com/resources/ OperatingManual_BF.pdf> 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), 7885 (p.81). Wolf Mangelsdorf, 'Structuring Strategies for Complex Geometries' Architectural Design, 80 (2010), 40-45 Part B Biothing, 'MESONIC FABRICS', (revised March 2010) <http://www.biothing.org/?cat=10> [1 Sep 2016] Theverymany, '12-atelier-calder', <http://www.biothing.org/?cat=10> [6 Sep 2016] University Stuttgart, 'ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010', <http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458> [1 Sep 2016] University of Melbourne, Studio Air Subject Reader <https://app.lms.unimelb.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5394014dt-content-rid-20499251_2/courses/ABPL30048_2016_SM2/AIR2016_S2_CourseReader%282%29.pdf> [15 Sep 70

2016]