Hsin_Yeh_690458_Journal

AIR STUDIO

HSIN YEH SEM 2, 2015 1

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CONTENT INTRODUCTION

PART A. CONCEPTUALISATION A.1 DESIGN FUTURING A.2 DESIGN COMPUTATION A.3 COMPOSITION/GENERATION A.4 CONCLUSION A.5 LEARNING OUTCOMES A.6 ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES PART B. CRITERIA DESIGN B.1 RESEARCH FIELD B.2 CASE STUDY 1.0 B.3 CASE STUDY 2.0 B.4 TECHNIQUE: DEVELOPMENT B.5 TECHNIQUE: PROTOTYPE B.6 TECHNIQUE: PROPOSAL B.7 LEARNING OBJECTIVES & OUTCOMES B.8 ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES PART C. DETAILED DESIGN C.1 DESIGN CONCEPT C.2 TECTONIC ELEMENTS & PROTOTYPES C.3 FINAL DETAIL MODEL C.4 LEARNING OBJECTIVES & OUTCOMES REFERENCES

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INTRODUCTION

Design is my passion, as I love how existing conditions can be improved and become more desirable through creativity and design. I am interested in connection between human and nature, sustainable design, and meditative space. These qualities are evident in the works I’ve done.

HSIN YEH

This journal aims to form an argument for a digitally designed architecture. Digital design is changing the field of architecture from design process through to construction. More complex structures can be easily assembled with the aid of accurate robots and machines, as done in the Dunescape by SHoP architects. New form-finding technique, such as parametric design, opens up new possibilities of architectural expression. Computer programs expand the geometry and structural possibilities of architecture with its accurate calculation & modeling, and automatic generation.

My technical skills include: - fluent use of autoCAD, photoshop & indesign - some experience in Rhino - limited skill in Grasshopper

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Fig.3 Dunescape MoMA 2000

by SHoP Architects http://www.archnewsnow.com

Fig.1 Secret Pavilion Studio Earth 2015

by Hsin Yeh

Fig.2 Natural Shelter Studio Water 2014

by Hsin Yeh

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A.1 DESIGN FUTURING

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W E N D Y Wendy is a spike form that experiments how built forms can expand into creating ecological and social affects. The natural environment is damaged by unsustainable actions, which endanger the quality of living in our future. Therefore, innovative projects like Wendy have been designed to explore possible solutions to the environmental issues. The Young Architects Program at MoMA is an annual competition that challenges architects to produce an outdoor installation that provides shade, seating, and water as well as addressing issues of sustainability and recycling.1 As the winner of the 2012 YAP, Wendy offers a new perspective that architectural projects can actively improve the quality of our environment through collaboration with advanced technology.

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Fig.1

HWKN, 2012 MOMA PS1 Young Architect Program

WHAT IS WENDY? Wendy is covered with nylon fabric treated with titania nanoparticle spray, which neutralises air pollutants when illuminated by the sun. The spike form of Wendy maximises the surface area illuminated by the sun, therefore, maximises the capacity of cleaning the air. The structure includes water system and fans to provide water, mists, and cool air to keep the people comfortable and entertained in hot weather.2 Wendy is an active and untraditional built forms that improves and creates an ecological environment around itself, providing shelter, comfort, and fun to its inhabitants.

1. “Wendy by HWKN,” MoMA PS1: YAP, retrieved July 31, 2015, http://momaps1.org/yap/view/15.

2. “Warm-up to Wendy!” HWKN - HOLLWICH KUSHNER, retrieved July 31, 2015, http://hwkn.com/WENDY.

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Fig.3 Fig.1-3 Image source: http://hwkn.com/WENDY

RELATIONSHIP WITH USERS The relationship between Wendy and its users is a friendly one. The phrases used to promote the project, such as “Have you met Wendy?”3 express the familiarity of people’s attitude toward Wendy. The personifying name, Wendy, makes the project relatable to its users as a friendly object. Although the project is temporary, people who have visited Wendy were offered a friendly and comfortable experience, which is a valuable achievement in architecture.

that collaboration between architecture and science produces solution to complex environmental problems, such as air quality, and encourages others to apply advanced technology into their design. For example, the Hy-Fi by The Living (YAP 2014 winning project), which used biotechnology-designed bricks made of corn stalks combined with mushroom root material to construct a 100% compostable, energy-free, and carbon-free pavilion.4 The project changes the patterns of living of people by providing an unusual shelter that engages people to experiCONTRIBUTION ence and relate with. Through innovative technology Wendy is an unique project with uncommon archiand performance-driven design, new alternatives for tectural form and innovative concept. It opens up the pro-active environmental architectures are opened up possibility to consider architecture as a creator, rather for more exploration. than a container, of environment. It also exemplifies 3. “Wendy by HWKN,” The Creatorsproject, retrieved August 1, 2015, http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/videos/iwendyi-by-hwkn.

4. “Hi-Fy,” The Living, retrieved August 1, 2015, http://thelivingnewyork.com/hy-fi.htm.

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Magnus Larsson has teamed up with Soil Interactions Lab at UC-Davis to create a 6,000 kilometre long artificial dune to prevent the spreading of desert and provide refugee shelters. The desertification of Sahara is an urgent environmental issue that endangers the lives of people, animals, and plants across the area. Water conservation, soil management, agriculture, forestry, and many other attempts have been ventured to resist desertification. The Dune offers an alternative and possibly more holistic solution by incorporating biotechnology with advanced machine in the making of its structure.

WHAT DOSE DUNE DO? The Dune project mimics the natural dune shape in the desert and is formed by flushing a bacteria, Bacillus Pasteurii, into the land, which will turn the loose sand into solid sandstone.1 By simply inserting the bacteria studied at UC-Davis, sand is solidified into a habitable structure, creating an anti-desertification by the desert itself.

Apart from soil management, the dune also allows water harvesting and thermal comfort within the structure, as there is a temperature difference between the exterior and interior. This allows people to grow plants to prevent desertification, develop agriculture, and permanently live at their homeland. All of these prevent massive migration, famine, and wars.2

1. “Sand/Stone,” BLDG/BLOG, retrieved August 1, 2015, http://bldgblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/sandstone.html.

2. “Dune,” Magnus Larsson, retrieved August 1, 2015, http://www.magnuslarsson.com/architecture/dune.asp.

3. “Sand/Stone,” BLDG/BLOG.

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Magnus Larsson Sahara Desert, North Africa

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The Dune also relates to the surrounding environment as its shape, derived from tafoni, supports the natural process of aggregation by wind. Tafoni is, as Larsson writes, “a cavernous rock structure that formally ties the project back to notions of aggregation and erosion,3” and it is porous with largest surface area.

This means it supports water conservation and allow aggregation of sand on the structure (see Fig.2).

CONSTRUCTION The Dune project is still at planning stage, and the possible construction method is injecting the bacteria through piles down into the sand, which is similar to building with an oversized 3D printer. 24 hours after the injection, the skeleton structure of solidified sandstone is formed, and then another one week is Required for saturating the sand enough to be 4. “Sand/Stone,” BLDG/BLOG. 5. “Magnus Larsson sculpts the Saharan desert with bacteria,” Designboom, retrieved August 2, 2015, http://www.designboom.com/architecture/magnus-larsson-sculpts-the-saharan-desert-with-bacteria/.v

Fig.2

inhabitable.4 Although the project is bold and unrealised, it exemplifies the possibility of building with biotechnology and digital machine. This new way of building is effective, accurate, and labour-saving.

Larsson’s Dune project has given a new perspective that architecture can be a physical solution to environmental and social problems. The project considers more than one aspects of problems - not just the land, but also the animals, plants, and people. Lives that may otherwise be affected by desertification can be saved inside the inhabitable dunes. The soil formation with bacteria and the injection piles offer new ideas to the field of construction. As Larsson has stated about the Dune, “while designed to visually seduce, dune is not primarily a formal exercise, but a social, ecological, cultural one.5” Architecture of the future may be more active in responding to problems, and be more functional than formal.

Fig.1-3 Image source: http://www.designboom.com/architecture/ magnus-larsson-sculpts-the-saharan-desert-with-bacteria/ Fig.3

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A.2 DESIGN COMPUTATION

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Architectural design has changed since the evolvement of computation in design process. Computers are capable of doing rational and more tedious tasks that require accuracy and consistency, which are difficult for humans to do when exposed to too much information or worked for too long. The use of computing opens up alternative design and construction methods that applies to both communicational and technological parts of the design process.

Fig.1

Fig.2 Fig.1-2 Image source: http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=6553

Computers are capable of storing large amount of information, which can be easily categorised by programming. This allows computers to search for, compare, or evaluate certain information much faster than the human minds. This is very useful in the three stages of design stated in Kalay’s “Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design” (2004) - problem analysis, solution synthesis, and evaluation.1 The efficiency of processing information is particularly important in evidence- and performance-oriented designing, such as the ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion of 2011 for its structural analysis.2 The design team at the University of Stuttgart facilitate design, development, and realisation within one digital system, which allows them to repeatedly read and experiment the load transfer of the structure.

14 1. Yehuda E. Kalay, Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004), 10.

2. “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011,” University of Stuttgart - ICD, retrieved August 6, 2015, http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=6553.

3. “Nine Elms Bridge,” Studio Roland Snooks, retrieved August 6, 2015, http://www.rolandsnooks.com/#/nine-elms/.

Fig.3 Image source: http://www.rolandsnooks.com/#/nine-elms/

Computers also allow people to focus more on the creative part of design. The information presented by the computers, such as a 3D digital model, give designers the ability to explore different solutions easily, while the computer process technical works. The programming of computers also generated new forms that were impossible or too complicated to realise by human. This way of using calculation or rule as the principle element of form-finding is called parametric design. The structure of Nine Elms Bridge by Roland Snooks is generated by parametric program, which means an underlining rule automatically forms the design of the bridge.3 The hybrid bridge provides immersive space for pedestrian and cyclers, while the form of the bridge reflects tree branches of the surrounding landscape.

Computers can also replace human labour and perform construction with ultimate accuracy. For example, the Gantenbein Vineyard Facade by Gramazio Kohler Architects was entirely constructed by robots for the brick-layering of the facades.4 Bricks are layered in certain positions and angles in order to achieve the digitally designed pattern, which would be impossible if built by human hands. The precision of the robots saved time and labour for human, as well as creating structures that were impossible before the digital age.

Fig.4 Image source: http://www.gramaziokohler.com/web/e/projekte/52.html

With the aid of computers, the accuracy and efficiency of design process has increased to produce better solutions for the complex problems of the modern world. Computer has transformed from merely an instrument for realising design to a medium that logically generates design. This relates to the preceding architectural theory of moving from representation to using logical approach as the principle of form generation.5 Computational design re-defines architecture by providing new possibilities for form-finding and alternative approach to solving issues.

4. “Gantenbein Vineyard Facade, Fl酲ch, Switzerland, 2006,” Gramazio Kohler Architects, retrieved August 7, 2015, http://www.gramaziokohler.com/ web/e/projekte/52.html.

5. Rivka Oxman, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 1–10 (pp.1)

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A.3 COMPOSITION/GENERATION

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The shift from composition to generation in the design approach of architecture is induced by the advancement of digital technology. This change also parallels the shift from drawing/sketching to computing as the medium of design communication. Using computers improves the communication of design, just as drawing has done before. However, computers can do much more than representation. By computing, architects are able to predict design outcomes during design process, as computers generates model, simulates performance analysis and knowledge of materials and construction systems.

Architects can experiment solutions before realising them, and therefore, increase the effectiveness and suitability of solutions to complex design problems.

However, not all computers-involved designs are computational. Some architects use computers to simply digitise their designs, which are preconceived by their minds, and make complicated or organic structures to be constructible - this is computerisation.

Computation is using computers as a generative medium that assists the design of a project. The process involves modifying computer programs in the language of algorithm, also known as coding, in order for computers to generate and analyse design.

“An algorithm is a recipe, method, or technique for doing something” as defined by the MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences.1 It is a rule that concerns with, as stated by Brady Peters, “element placement, element configuration, and the relationships between elements.”2 An example of algorithmic thinking was mentioned in the week 3 lecture, the BOIDS Flocking, which was based on the principle of birds flocking. By ordering the computer to keep a certain distance between units under certain conditions, just as birds do, magnificent figures are automatically generated with a simple rule. This new way of automatic design has been widely used in form-finding, and often referred to as parametric modeling.

Fig.1 1. Definition of ‘Algorithm’ in Wilson, Robert A. and Frank C. Keil. The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences (London: MIT Press, 1999), 11.

18 2. Peters, Brady. ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83, 2, 11.

The Fibrous Tower by Roland Snooks is a building with a shell facade made of series of intersecting and twisting branches. The design was first parametrically modeled to the form desired by the designer, then structural details and connections with internal floors were worked through. The result is a in-situ concrete shell that provides shading, enclosed balconies, offices, and structural support of the entire building, while being visually interested and unique.3 Fig.2

Fig.1-2 Image source: http://www.rolandsnooks.com/#/fibrous-tower/

Fig.3 Fig.4 Fig.3-4 Image source: http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/abu-dhabi-performing-arts-centre/

The Abu-Dhabi Performing Arts Centre by the Zaha Hadid Architects is also parametrically modeled. The structure is very iconic and serves as a symbol for organism. The unique and organic form of the structure is complex and creates round interior space for theatres while maintaining its aesthetic.4 Computation allows the architect to work out the building structure and performance, before the construction, which is very helpful for project such as the Fibrous Tower. Parametric modeling is able to create new forms unimaginable by human minds, as seen in both projects addressed here. However, connecting a parametric structure to the physical environment, such as landscape and space arrangement, is more difficult than generating it. Computers allow changes to be made easily to the design. Yet, the new architectural forms of parametric design are for sure more complex to accommodate useful space than compositional architecture.

The shift of design approach from composition to generation relates to the change of medium for design.

Parametric modeling redefine architecture as it can help designers to achieve more complex and unprecedented design, and provides analysis and evaluation along the design process. This design approach is an alternative to composition, and with its complex nature, may be more suitable for solving complex issues.

3. “Fibrous Tower,” Studio Roland Snooks, retrieved August 12, 2015, http://www.rolandsnooks.com/#/fibrous-tower/.

4. “Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre,” Zaha Hadid Architects, retrieved August 12, 2015, http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/abu-dhabi-performing-arts-centre/.

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A.4 CONCLUSION Part A includes several discussions of how computation may influence the future of architecture. Human advancement in science, mathematics, and digital technology provide new possibilities for architectural design.

Moving from mere representational design, architecture of today focuses on performance, function, and construction, while addressing sustainability and environmental problems with effective and practical methods.

Designing with computers open up new solutions to complex environmental problems, as the computers are able to process, analyse, and evaluate material, structural, and technical information. The bond of biotechnology and technology is seen in the Dune project by Larsson to solve the problem of desertification. Other aspects of computation approach is parametric modeling and algorithmic thinking, which are widely used as for form-generating and modifying complex structure to suit physical environment. These computation techniques not only create new aesthetic, but also allow effective planning of construction and structural analysis to produce more withstanding and sustainable buildings. This will benefit several people, including the users, who can enjoy more comfortable environment, the designers, who have ability to produce holistic design, and the environment, which may become more sustainable for human living. As Patrik Schumacher declared, computational design in architecture, he called parametricism, “succeeds Modernism as the next long wave of systematic innovation.”1

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1. “Interview: Patrik Schumacher,” Arcspace, retrieved August 16, 2015, http://www.arcspace.com/articles/interview-patrik-schumacher/.

A.5 LEARNING OUTCOMES Architectural computing does not apply to all methods involving the use of digital modeling or program. Architectural computing is using computation as the integral part of design process, applying to form-finding, modeling, performance analysis, structural analysis, and design evaluation. Parametric design, in particular, is often used for generating unique forms automatically by computers following an order in the form of algorithm. Algorithm is not something artificial, but is rather a manmade interpretation of the rule hidden in the formation of nature. By using computing technology with algorithmic thinking in mind, more complex issues of sustainability and natural environment may be solved with new alternative solutions. By understanding the theory and practice of architectural computing, I understand the means of using Grasshopper and how the forms created in Grasshopper can be implemented in reality. This technique would have been useful for my past project, the Natural Shelter, which involves connecting nature to users in an structure that compliments nature. The learning of Part A has induced my concerns about environmental issues and interests in natural formation.

Fig.1 Elevation of Natural Shelter Water Stufio 2014, by Hsin Yeh

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A.6 ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES

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LOFTING & STAGE CAPTURE

VORONOI & POPULATE 3D

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Twisting the curves of a loft tube to create unexpected form.

Taking out the polysurfaces created by voronoi 3D is useful for form finding.

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TRANSFORM

A mesh is projected onto a plane as curves, and the curves are lofted to transform the mesh into a layered structure.

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CURVE

A loft surface is transformed into multiple curves to create a light structure that is different to the solid original loft.

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B.1 RESEARCH FIELD

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B.2 CASE STUDY 1

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SPECIES

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ITERATIONS

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ITERATIONS

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SPECIES

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ITERATIONS

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REFERENCES TO BE SOLVED AFTER THE COMPLETION OF JOURNAL: 1. “Wendy by HWKN,” MoMA PS1: YAP, retrieved July 31, 2015, http://momaps1.org/yap/view/15.

2. “Warm-up to Wendy!” HWKN - HOLLWICH KUSHNER, retrieved July 31, 2015, http://hwkn.com/WENDY. 3. “Wendy by HWKN,” The Creatorsproject, retrieved August 1, 2015, http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/videos/iwendyi-by-hwkn.

4. “Hi-Fy,” The Living, retrieved August 1, 2015, http://thelivingnewyork.com/hy-fi.htm.

1. “Sand/Stone,” BLDG/BLOG, retrieved August 1, 2015, http://bldgblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/sandstone.html.

2. “Dune,” Magnus Larsson, retrieved August 1, 2015, http://www.magnuslarsson.com/architecture/dune.asp.

3. “Sand/Stone,” BLDG/BLOG. 4. “Sand/Stone,” BLDG/BLOG. 5. “Magnus Larsson sculpts the Saharan desert with bacteria,” Designboom, retrieved August 2, 2015, http://www.designboom.com/architecture/magnus-larsson-sculpts-the-saharan-desert-with-bacteria/.v 1. Yehuda E. Kalay, Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004), 10.

2. “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011,” University of Stuttgart - ICD, retrieved August 6, 2015, http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=6553.

3. “Nine Elms Bridge,” Studio Roland Snooks, retrieved August 6, 2015, http://www.rolandsnooks.com/#/nine-elms/.

4. “Gantenbein Vineyard Facade, Fl酲ch, Switzerland, 2006,” Gramazio Kohler Architects, retrieved August 7, 2015, http://www.gramaziokohler.com/ web/e/projekte/52.html.

5. Rivka Oxman, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 1–10 (pp.1) 1. Definition of ‘Algorithm’ in Wilson, Robert A. and Frank C. Keil. The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences (London: MIT Press, 1999), 11.

2. Peters, Brady. ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83, 2, 11.

3. “Fibrous Tower,” Studio Roland Snooks, retrieved August 12, 2015, http://www.rolandsnooks.com/#/fibrous-tower/.

4. “Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre,” Zaha Hadid Architects, retrieved August 12, 2015, http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/abu-dhabi-performing-arts-centre/.

1. “Interview: Patrik Schumacher,” Arcspace, retrieved August 16, 2015, http://www.arcspace.com/articles/interview-patrik-schumacher/.

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REFERENCES

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