EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Architecture as Discourse
“Above all, architecture needs to be analysed as discourse. It then becomes possible to think about architecture as something in which all can participate. Crucially, one can begin to think about it from he point of view of itsconsumption as much as its production. “ -Rampley, Exploring Visual Culture: Definations, Concepts, Contextx (2005) p.103
1. COMMUNICATION The Gateway provides an outstanding opportunity to enhance Wyndham city public realm through a symbolic, creative and visionary piece of civic architecture. Architecture is the most public form of arts and it invites multiple, democratic and open interpretation. The gateway has much to offer beyond the urban sculpture, it will generate delightful experiences for visitors and locals, as an iconic and responsive urban form, a celebration of the city’s transformation towards new technologies.
Our purpose:
To articulate the landscape, taking control of the existing condition – the hill, contour of the site, and having subtle changes and effects implied on this contour with the aid of the modern computational design technology. As a whole, our design would change and impact on the perception of the Wyndham city, on communal and public level.
I. Theme and ideas
Our team views the gateway project as an opportunity to develop a sophisticated design solution that will signify and act as a steppingstone for Wyndham city’s development. The synergetic design partnership that we envision consists of innovative design methodologies to create an iconic design statement to impact on the city development and engaging for community. (Williams 111)
II. Methodology and design paths adoption
Our team aims to offer a project with unique and advanced ideas combined with sophisticated and appealing digital techniques.
III. Advanced techniques
Our team intends to use modern computational design tools, which are means of communicating complex and rational design outcomes. These are contemporary approaches to design and deliver flexible design outcomes, in which case the design could be responsive to the changing contexts and to the site.
IV. Responsive to contextual change
With the incorporation of innovative techniques to process our design, we intend to produce sophiscated design outcomes that are responsive to the changing context such as the weather and light changes and to the site.
V. The community of Wyndham will be influenced by the potent of the advanced design solutions.
The design being located at the entrance to the city, will intend to have a visual impact on the viewer and the community- raising awareness for the innovative techniques adopted to deliver idea of complexity and the resulting design outcome. In addition, by embracing the topography of the site with the innovative technique, this is to raise awareness of the site’s surrounding with the design, and developing more influential icon for the city, which the community can associate themselves with.
2. DESIGN APPROACH I.Precedent-Based Design “Aprocess that applies prototype to the particular circumstances of the present problem by copying its general features while modifying its less important ones.” (Kalay 24) In order to be able to create a more engaging and impactful design, our team has appointed a series of successful precedents as our design guide and reference. The precedents have been selected based on how they have adopted the innovative techniques in designing and have been engaging and impactful to their respective audience and context. Most of these precedents are award winning and outcomes of significant professionals in the field and have been greatly discussed in many published materials. Having to analyze the techniques and effects of the precedents’ design, our team members could incorporate their complexity to enhance our innovative designing process for Wyndham gateway project and enhance these techniques to generate an iconic piece that the audience could easily associate with Wyndham. “The use of precedents in design leaves more room than prototypes for interpretation by the architect, who must choose the characteristics that are similar to the present problem while ignoring those that are not.” (Kalay 24)
II. Search “This approach is used to produce candidate solutions for consideration, in addition to that, the few desired outcomes are chosen for further development and modification until the goals of design are reached.” (Kalay 18) There are common means to how the search approach is often undertaken- the Depth first, Breathe first and Best first. (Kalay 19) Depth first procedure requires rationalizing a candidate solution by exploring it based on its logicality. Breathe first on the other works with several alternative solutions to develop a candidate solution and from then moving on to logically rationalizing the solution. Best first works with all possible candidate solutions. In the case of our team, we have determined a few aspects of control, and with the search approach and computational technology, have tried to obtain the best design solution. “Architectural design typically uses a combination of search methods.” (Kalay 19) Thus we have by examining existing candidate solutions for compliance with the goals and constraints. Developing new candidate solutions and testing them for compliance with the goals and constraints.
WHY COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN TECHNOLOGY? “The recent addition of computers to the repertoire of means communication has expanded access to information and opened up the design process for more people to become involved.” Modern computational design technology, while it seems to be standardized technique in the precedents, it is not- because it does not “(design) the specific shape of the building but a set of principles encoded as a sequence of parametric equations by which specific instances of the design can be generated and varied in time as needed.” and thus a flexible design solution. Besides that, the modern contemporary culture is growing and there is demand for their uses in the design field. They allow for “denunciation of fixed solutions and lists potential variables” (Kolarevic 19), allowing for variable design solutions, and thus a more responsive and reflective design outcome in relation to the changing contexts and site, as our team intends to achieve (Kolarevic 18)
3. PRECEDENTS AND ARGUMENT PRECEDENT BASED APPROACH “(design) the specific shape of the building but a set of principles encoded as a sequence of parametric equations by which specific instances of the design can be generated and varied in time as needed.” - Kolarevic “denunciation of fixed solutions and lists potential variables”
#This innovative approach to form a more associative methodology in engaging the audience is significant to our development of design solution for the Wyndham gateway as well. #
McCormick Tribune Campus Center
wens 1).
_Chicago, Illinois,USA_OMA/MichaelRock_2003
The facade of the building has colored imprint of Mies van der Rohe's portrait. This image is formed by pixels, which are informative and unique. The pixels are designed to express the various form of interactions, movement and activities which are associated with the building and students (Eeuwens 1). The iconography unique to the interactions for the institution is an associative technique and an engaging communication tool for the building users (Eeu-
The unique fabricated outcome achieved is responsive to the time and light effect. At night, artificial light shone through the signature patterns of Dior will create a new visual experience to the viewer, while stronger haziness and 3D texturing effect on a 2D plane during the day. The scripting technology has allowed for “ability to work with large data sets, proceeding in many directions simultaneously, and working beyond our perceptual capacity� (Burry 40) to achieve an outcome that has flexibility of responding to the changing context and viewer interaction.
Dior Ginza Building Facade Ginza,Tokyo,Japan_Kumiko Inui_2004
“The structural languages of the Japanese temple and English half-timbered house derive from their details: relationships between element and joint, continuity and splice defined their characters....mechanical array of elements between nodes." Cecil Balmond (Arup)
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion
“Traditional timber construction methods evolved through their connection logic.”
London,UK_Alvaro Siza_2005
The design which was done for in 2005 by Alvaro Siza, is one that seems to denounce computational design technique at a glance (Sakamoto & Ferre 44-49).
“We were convinced that the city of Cottbus needed a different kind of building which would be more sculptural and more of a landmark building within the very generic urban pattern built after the war.� - Jacques Herzog (Long "Herzog & DeMeuron).
IKMZ University Library. Cottbus,Brandenburg,Germany_Herzog&DeMeuron_2005
the library was awarded with the title "National Library of the Year 2006" in Germany (Long "Herzog & De Meuron"). The building plan conveys the idea of openness. The unique facade which the building integrates has created a barrier for this openness. The building exterior is heavily clad with glass panels, which have various language imprints superimposed.
In Wyndham Gateway Project, we would like to highlight our responsive to the site and changeable contexts through analysis of the site contour.
“The building is part of one of Europe’s largest urban development projects, HafenCity Hamburg, and can be considered an icon of this booming port city...(and also) portrays the public spirit of the Hamburg citizens� Rose Etherington (Dezeen)
The radical and innovative piece of design is intended to have effects on social and urban scale (Etherington "Elbphilharmonie by Herzog & DeMeuron"). This is also part of the project to develop, revive and expand the city of Hamburg, where the city was once home to the most celebrated musicians before its poverty stricken state("Elbe Philharmonic Hall, Hamburg, Germany").
This intent to bring and open the city to more innovative and advanced level with their innovative design (Mooradian 16-18) can be related to our intent to create social and urban scale influence to the Wyndham city as well. Our incorporation of topographical features into the innovative design methodology could have associative appeal to the community like how the precedent has designed the new form on a existing building base.
Elbe Philharmonic Theatre Hall Hamburg,Germany_2013
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.
ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion
University of Stuttgart Campus,Stuttgart,Germany_2010 The innovative technique has allowed for design to be approached from the material capabilities and varied solutions relating to it has been achieved. The bending characteristics and structural possibilities of thin sheets of timber or plywood sheets has led to an outcome that expresses elastic and bent appealed design. This design reflects the overall performance capacity of the material. Computational design technology allowed for embedding of thin plywood sheets' physical and structural capabilities and these data input was simultaneously driven to create a design outcome unique to the input ("ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010")
4. DESIGN METHODOLOGY SURFACE NORMAL
SCALE FACTOR 2 ROWS 46 COLUMNS 40
SCALE FACTOR 4 ROWS 46 COLUMNS 40
SCALE FACTOR 6 ROWS 46 COLUMNS 40
COMBINATION OF CIRCLE POLYGON
COMBINATION OF TRIGRID & RADGRID SCALE FACTOR 0.1 ROWS 24 COLUMNS 29
COMBINATION OF TRIGRID & RADGRID SCALE FACTOR 0.6 ROWS 15 COLUMNS 12
SCALE FACTOR 8 ROWS 46 COLUMNS 40
SURFACE NORMAL
BOOLEAN PATTERN
COMBINATION OF TRIGRID & RADGRID SCALE FACTOR 0.7 ROWS 16 COLUMNS 12
MULTI MATH FUNCTIONS
SCALE FACTOR 0.31, 0.38 ROWS 33 COLUMNS 33
SCALE FACTOR 0.28, 1.00 ROWS 4 COLUMNS 33
SCALE FACTOR 1.4, 0.578 ROWS 33 COLUMNS 33
SCALE FACTOR 1.6 ROWS 32, 13 COLUMNS 47, 39
SCALE FACTOR 1.4, 0.36 ROWS 26 COLUMNS 30
SCALE FACTOR 1.4, 0.36 ROWS 24 COLUMNS 28
SCALE FACTOR 1.4, 0.36 ROWS 24 COLUMNS 28
SCALE FACTOR 1.4, 0.36 ROWS 24 COLUMNS 28
MULT ATH FUNCTION SURFACE NORMAL
OVERLAPPING PATTERN
MATH FUNCTION PATEERN OVERLAPPINGH
REVERSE ENGINEER Dior Ginza Building Facade Ginza,Tokyo,Japan_Kumiko Inui_2004
McCormick Tribune Campus Center, Chicago, Illinois,USA OMA COMPONENTS USED: IMAGE SAMPLER, MULTIPLICATION, SUBTRACTION, ITEM, ROUND, MOVE, WIRES
4. DESIGN METHODOLOGY EXPERIMENTATION OF MATERIALS “New material s are offering unparalleled thinness, dynamically changing properties, and functionally gradient compositions. Coupled with the means of digital technology, advances in material science have led to renewed interest among architects intectonic expression, material properties, and the ability to produce the desired surface and spatial effects.� Kolarevic - Material Effects (2008) Pg 6 As such, interrogating materiality is fundamental to new attitudes towards achieving design intent. (After all, architecture is fundamentally a material practice. Kolarevic - Material Effects (2008)(Pg 7) Different materials were used to fabricate the Dior Facade amd Tribune Campus icon pattern. Materials being tested are boxboard, polypropylene and foamboard and black plastic sheets. We also let light to penetrate through small holes and observe the pattern/shadow formed. Through these experimentation, the penetration of light through transparent and semi-transparent materials are interesting as the result is always changing due to the intensity of light and angle of light shone.
Another light shadow pattern type created by tilting the Dior double layer facde model at different angles.
Because plastic sheet is such a malleable material when heated, it needs to sit on a frame, so that when it cools down. its shape will follow the form of the frame. Thus, a wooden frame with contour of the gateway site was adopted and further experimented.
CONCLUSION
Our team looking forward to continuing exploration in transparent malleable materials and overlapping patterns. in addition to that, we will look into how materials transform and change over time, i.e. deteriorate through ageing, weathering, and use, These ideas will be further investigated and modified to create the most satisfying result that suits the goals of our teams as well as Wyndham city council criteria.
References:
Sakamoto, Tomoto and Albert Ferré, eds. From Control to Design: Parametric/Algorithmic Architecture. Barcelona; New York: Actar-D, 2008. Print. Williams, Richard. ‘Architecture and Visual Culture’, in Exploring Visual Culture : Definitions, Concepts, Contexts. Ed. Matthew Rampley. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005. PDF file. pp. 102 - 16. Kalay, Yehuda E. Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2004. PDF file.pp. 5 - 25; Burry, Mark. Scripting Cultures: Architectural Design and Programming. Chichester: Wiley, 2011. PDF file.pp. 8 - 71. Moussavi, Farshid and Michael Kubo, eds. The Function of Ornament. Barcelona: Actar, 2006. PDF file pp. 5-14 Kolarevic, Branko. Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing. New York; London: Spon Press, 2003. PDF file.pp. 6 - 24. Hill, Jonathan. “Drawing Forth Immaterial Architecture”. Architectural Research Quarterly 10.1 (2006): 51-55 PDF file. Pell, Ben. ‘Dior Ginza’, in The Articulate Surface : Ornament and Technology in Contemporary Architecture. Basel, London: Birkhäuser ; Springer distributor, 2010. PDF Filepp. 104 - 109 Becker, Lynn. “Oedipus Rem - Rem Koolhaas’s IIT McCormick Tribune Student Center.” Repeat. Lynn Becker, 2003. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. <http://www.lynnbecker.com/repeat/OedipusRem/koolhaasIIT.htm>. Etherington, Rose. “Elbphilharmonie by Herzog & De Meuron.” Dezeen Architecture and Design Magazine. Dezeen, 28 May 2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. <http://www.dezeen.com/2010/05/28/ elbphilharmonie-by-herzog-de-meuron/>. “Elbe Philharmonic Hall, Hamburg, Germany.” Design Build Network. Net Resources International. Web. 03 May 2012. <http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/elbe-philharmonic/>. Long, Kieran. “Herzog & De Meuron.” Icon Magazine Online. Iconeye, May 2005. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. <http://www.iconeye.com/read-previous-issues/icon-023-%7C-may-2005/herzog-de-meuron-%7C-icon-023-%7C-may-2005>. Frearson, Amy. “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion at the University of Stuttgart.” Dezeen Architecture and Design Magazine. Dezeen, 31 Oct. 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. <http://www.dezeen. com/2011/10/31/icditke-research-pavilion-at-the-university-of-stuttgart/>. Sungur, Elif. “The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2005.” Dexigner. Dexigner, 30 Aug. 2005. Web. 1 May 2012. <http://www.dexigner.com/news/5188>. Mooradian, Aram. “EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ORNAMENT.” AArchitecture 4 (2007): 16-18. Architectural Association School of Architecture. Architectural Association Inc, 2007. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. <http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/Downloads/AArchitecture/AArchitecture04.pdf>. Pavlus, John. “The World’s Most Complex Architecture: Cardboard Columns With 16 Million Facets.” Fastcodesign. Co.Design, Jan. 2011. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. <http://www.fastcodesign. com/1663306/the-worlds-most-complex-architecture-cardboard-columns-with-16-million-facets>. “ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2010.” Institute for Computational Design. University of Stuttgart, 2010. Web. 03 May 2012. <http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458