ADS3: Air Journal by James Freijah

a materialisation of place

architecture design studio

james nicholas freijah, 537512

AIR

team 09, group 0304 daniel and kirilly

table of contents Part A: Case for Innovation Introduction Me and My Thoughts...011 My Virtual History...013 Architecture as Discourse Theory...014 A BIG Idea...017 Memorial Shame...019 Computation in Architecture Theory...021 Computing Tradition...023 Optimization...025 Parametric Style War Parametric Thought...026 Algorithmic Explorations Contour/Sectioning...028 Definition Development...029 Case for Innovation Conclusion...031 Learning Outcomes...031

Part B: Design Approach Design Focus Precedent Studies...How Sectioning Benefits Design...035 Sectioning for Society...037 Sectioning for Culture...039 Case study 1.0 Matrix of Progressional Iteration...040 Matrix Results...043 Speculate...043 Case study 2.0 Sectioning for Society...047 Sectioning for Culture...049 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sectioningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Technique Development...051 Virtual Prototypes...053 Physical Models...055 Proposal...057 Design Approach Conclusion...061 Learning Outcomes...061

Part C: Project Proposal Design Concept Material Explorations...064 The Premise...067 Definition Workflow Diagram...068 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A Materialisation of Placeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;...073 Tectonic Elements Construction Workflow Diagram...075 Technical Drawings...077 Final Model Conveying Design Intent...081 Evocative Images...089 Stop Motion Videos...091 Project Proposal Conclusion...093 Learning Outcomes...093

Bibliography Reference List...094 Image List...095

part a: case for innovation

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(i) Human Ignorance, (ii) Ignored Progression, (iii) A Topography of Deforestation, (iv) A Process of Accumulation, (v) Transitional Culture, (vi) Momentary Culture, (vii) Human Ingenuity: Achievement and Tragedy, (viii) The Catastrophe of an Accident. Folio produced from Visual Arts.

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me and my thoughts “The pencil and computer are, if left to their own devices, equally dumb and only as good as the person driving them.”1

- Norman Foster

Norman Foster suggests that the outcome of ‘good‘ design is derivative of the Architect’s level of conceptual input to drive pencil and computer devices. I similarly agree, and further argue this statement denotes the architects journal as the key tool for documenting the designers intuitive process of personal explorations and pragmatic workflow of research and analysis, to assist their expansion of knowledge within the contextual sphere of the project. The journal’s synthesis of interdisciplinary studies generates an informed expression of interest, formulating architectural concept and theory to drive the devices of design. My name is James Nicholas Freijah. I am a current third year Architecture Major within the Bachelor of Environments tertiary study program at Melbourne University. Prior to university, my only other experience within the space of design was during my secondary school elective subject, ‘Visual Arts.’ It was at this time that I developed a passion for the creative process and abstract expression/ communication of my ideas.

Norman Foster, ‘I Like Architecture: Quote #48.’ <http://www. ilikearchitecture.net/2013/01/quote-48-norman-foster/> Walter Groupius, ‘Architects and Architecture Quotes and Quotations.’ <http://famousquotesandauthors.com/topics/architects_and_ architecture_quotes.html> Accessed 29/03/2013

“Society needs a good image of itself. That is the job of the architect.”2

- Walter Gropius

The creative design process should be applied to positively impact modern society. This concept is what currently excites me to learn the practice of architecture, however by no means was this idea revolutionary in the early-mid 20th century when it was expressed by Walter Gropius. Historians argue the motif of propagating ideology through visual communication existed and has been widely practiced across disciplines, not just through architecture, over the course of history. The earliest architectural example that comes to my mind are Roman Triumphal Arches. Monuments symbolizing civic, moreover Roman power, these structures were further used by Roman Emperor’s to propagate their justification to rule. Comparing Roman Triumphal Arches and the Gateway Project, a parallel can be drawn between the similar building typology; a monument/marker of entry, loaded with preconceived propaganda. Although the Roman Arch implied control over society, the current concept of using architecture to inspire a social condition has changed to embody the propagation of ‘a good social image.’

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(ix), (x), (xi) and (xii) A select set of images from digital iterations to a montage of the final physical model

my virtual history My first and only other experience using digital tools to contribute to the design decision-making process, was during the Virtual Environments elective. Our assignment brief was to produce a life sized wearable lantern, inspired by some natural phenomenon. I chose to explore the process of metamorphosis. Through a process of abstraction, I moulded a basic shape synthesized from the metamorphic life cycle of a monarch butterfly. Utilizing a contouring method to computerize this form, I further manipulated the shape in Rhinoceros and prepared it for fabrication with the panelling tools plug-in. My results far exceeded any expectation I had at the beginning of semester. One aspect that seemed more impossible than most, was fabricating a 1:1 scale lantern. However, as I reflected at the conclusion of module 4, the relationship between digital model and digital process have the capacity to output tangible puzzle like pieces that made reconstituting the digital form into a physical model, a much easier process then once thought. This opened my eyes to the benefits of prefabrication. I similarly accepted that by using digital tools I was able to greatly further the intricacy and level of complexity in my design. Through this project I was beginning to understand the application and benefit of digital technologies, a rapidly evolving discourse at the forefront of architectural practice and design.

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In an initial exercise, within the first 20 minutes of our week one tutorial, we were asked to note down what we believed “the role of grasshopper and/or the digital design community encompassed in the modern design environment?” This exercise forced the formulation of individual thoughts and later a class discussion regarding the discourse of architecture as it is being shaped by the digital dialogue. Despite my surprise at being asked to qualify a somewhat uninformed opinion on the core concern underpinning the subject. I managed to construct my initial response derivative of the content presented in the first Design Studio Air lecture earlier that day and the theory/technical knowledge I developed from Virtual Environments. I wrote that “grasshopper as a design tool, moreover modeling through any digital aid, does have a place within the wider community of architecture and design.” I supported this statement by arguing that “...so long as these tools are used to best aid and facilitate the inception and communication of the design intent - concept and theory - the presence of digital technologies will forever have a dynamic impact on the discourse. My first hand experience using digital tools during Virtual Environments exposed the high control and efficiency, complex form and physical model generation capabilities provided by digital technology. Combining this existing knowledge, carried through into the subject, with digital modelling’s variability, real-time adaptability and fluidity (moreover parametric capabilities) suggested in the lecture, I synthesized an initial response that supported digital tools at the forefront of developing possibilities, creating new design vocabularies and new innovative architecture.

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architecture as Acknowledging the truism that built form has undergone a series of changes, documented throughout the progression of history, is fundamental to describing ‘Architecture as discourse.’ While both new and old forms come and go, the theoretical ideas underpinning those designs will forever remain. Thus innovation is relative to current standards and everything that has come before. The affect is a cycle of recycling building blocks, creating a dialogue between precedent, culture, politics and every day life to derive a new language that influences design. This build environment invokes a specific response3 from the social community and surrounding context, hence identifying why we as Architects need to actively contribute to the ideas driving change ‘for the best,’ in the discourse of Architecture.

3 and 4 Dutton, Thomas A. and Lian Hurst Mann, eds (1996). Reconstructing Architecture: Critical Discourses and Social Practices (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press), p. 1

“To make architecture is to map the world in some way, to intervene, to signify”4

- Thomas A. Dutton

In his quote, Dutton recognizes that design is a manipulative push, propagating ones subjective ideology to reshape the world as they see fit, and effect the discourse of architecture. Although traditional thinking recognizes the potential for built form to affect social change, the architectural output is more concerned with the aesthetics of built form.5 Within the current “rethinking” of architecture, one must upset these traditional modes of envisaging6 design, challenging the notion of innovation through architecture that plays in positively shaping society.

5 Leach, Neil, ed., (1997). Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory (London: Routledge), p. xiii 6 Bjarke Ingels Group. (2009) Yes is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution (China: Taschen), p. 87

discourse G Ateliers Architecture, a small Colombian firm with offices in Brooklyn-New York and Medellin-Colombia, engage the discourse of ‘Building for Social Change.’ In many respects, the design outcome of their Fernando Botero Library Park project reflects being inspired by the Parthenon of Ancient Greece; rectilinear in form, the building is sited atop the acropolis of San Cristóbal offering society a “cool and urbane”6 image in a landscape dotted by informal brick construction. In addition to symbolizing a stronger, futureoriented urban image for society, the Library Park offers a “community center for the underserved.”7 Designed through a process of community involvement, the founding architect Orlando Garcia indicates that the “desires and dreams [of the people] are reflected in this building.”8 Garcia similarly recognized that as part of understanding the sites context, they needed to work within the reality of their means. Constrained by time, budget, and the local workforce’s ability, the design utilizes cheap and locally sourced materials to propagate an achievable idealized future in the best interest of the existing community. The architecture communicates a dignity and respect for knowledge and society, “embedding itself into the collective memory of the village,”9 forever contributing to San Cristóbal’s architectural discourse.

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Architectural Record. ‘Building for Social Change: Fernando Botero Library Park.’ <http://archrecord.construction.com/ features/humanitariandesign/Latin-America/Fernando-BoteroLibrary-Park.asp>

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In retrospect, ‘change’ in today’s architectural discourse is strongly driven by digital tools. Through employing a computational process, the designer is more capable then ever before to engage in continuous evaluation and iteration, combining new and old ideas as building blocks in an algorithmic framework that encompasses a more holistic architectural discussion. The issue that arises is discerning whether or not the subjectivity of the design intent is in fact fore leading society into the best possible future or fore personal gain by those driving change. ‘Innovation in the best interest for whom?’ is a fundamental concern in the debate regarding finding a new ‘style’ for current society.

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(xiii), (xiv), (xv) and (xvi) <http://archrecord.construction.com/ features/humanitarianDesign/Latin-America/Fernando-BoteroLibrary-Park-slideshow.asp>

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(xvii)<http://www.architetturaecosostenibile.it/images/stories/2011/Dwelling-Mountain-giardini-pensili-c.jpg> (xviii) <http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2478270_big-03-528x351.jpg>

a big idea “A mountain of residences on top of a cathedral of car culture.”10

- Bjarke Ingels

Symbolically titled, ‘The Mountain’ contributes to the architectural discourse of Denmark, moreover the world through redefining the concept of a vertical suburbia. Denmark’s topography is flat and the urban fabric of Copenhagen is measurable using square perimeter blocks. When the planning sketches for the new district of Orestad were released and they consisted of a master plan populated by square perimeter blocks, BIG Architects were not content to continue the trend of fitting every program, regardless of scale or activity, within the same mould11 of a traditional modern skyscraper. In order to meet Orestad’s political agenda, to create an integrated city, BIG’s contribution was to create an ‘Orestad biopsy’ where the programmatic mix of the living and working, public and commercial would integrate freely, like a city itself. The approach taken by BIG Architects indicates their will to create social change through actively engaging with the discourse of Scandinavian architecture. When the client asked for two separate buildings, a condominium and parking structure, BIG approached the design through a programmatic symbiosis. The parking structure became a podium for living as the housing grew above. The result was apartments transformed into courtyard houses offering large gardens

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Bjarke Ingels Group. (2009), p. 84-87

and generous views, a holistic design rather than the erection of a standard apartment slab next to a parking block. Contextually, it seems the neighboring suburb crosses the canal overflowing the parking block all the way from the ground producing a stepped hillside of private backyards on the south side facing the sun. This offers an urban, high density living space with suburban qualities, dramatically improving social living standards and the discourse of residential architecture and design. The north facade, facing the city, engages in the digital discourse of architecture. In order to create a naturally ventilated parking space, a perforated facade is required to allow air to pass while keeping snow and rain out. In keeping to the projects mountainous theme, digital technology was used to map and perforate the image of the Mount Everest massif onto the north facade. This created a sharp image of the Himalayas from outside and an organic pattern from within. The Danish Poet Soren Ulrik Thomsen contributed to the architectural discourse of Copenhagen, when he criticized the inner city as being suburban in his essay, “Copenhagen the suburban neighbourhood in upright position.” The Mountain’s suburban living lifestyle and mountainous high-rise embodiment, combined with Copenhagen’s flat urban fabric, becomes a literal embodiment of that unintended metaphor.12

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(xix) and (xxi) Personal Photographs from WTC Memorial Park (xx) <http://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/new_york/wtc_midtown_dbox.jpg> 13 New York Observer, ‘We Remember. We Rebuild. We Come Back Stranger!’ <http://observer.com/2012/06/we-remember-we-rebuild-wecome-back-stronger-obama-visits-the-world-trade-center-pics/> 14 NBC News, ‘Freedom Tower is out, World Trade Center is in.’ <http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29913195/#.UVVtgVdc4xE>

memorial shame ‘We Remember. We Rebuild. We Come Back Stronger!’13

- Barack Obama

The World Trade Center Memorial and Freedom Tower was project that demanded a high level of public interest. The original Twin Towers were a symbol of American architectural culture and economic leadership, therefor this rebuilding needed to re-establish and propagate these lost values. Furthermore, the design needed to embody the emotional constituent, memorializing the act of terror that caused loss and hardship to befall the American people and in time, other nations of the world. Political debate regarding the outcome of design for the New York City site, had major implications on the Architecture that was produced by Daniel Libenkind and his team. The perceived danger of future terrorist attacks meant that political action imposed additional constraints on design creativity and forced the inclusion of a number of safety features in preparation for any future incident. Even the name of the pinnacle tower needed to be changed from the “Freedom Tower” to “One World Trade Center” as it was seen as a liability for future terrorist attacks.14 Public interest contributed to querying whether or not the design should have proceeded to be something innovative, driving architectural discourse, or remain constrained within a traditional

linage of the ‘skyscraper,’ architectural style. The freedom tower is not limited to the discourse of symbolism, formality, political drivers or aesthetics. However it is was designed in recognition of the necessity for function, incorporating the above, and significantly motivated by the discourse of sustainable architecture. In the optimistic spirit of rebuilding, the design further engages urban discourse. The project provides a connective tissue in dense downtown New York, creating a new urban center and reclaiming former program area. Libenkind contributes retail, commercial and office space, cultural amenities, residential units and open parkland to the surrounding urban fabric.15 The discourse surrounding this memorial did not remain subject to architecture. The act of terror itself that occurred on September 11, lit the fuse ‘justifying’ an arguably unrelated war. Paul Krugman asserts that the “memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned,”16 when the atrocity of the act should have been a unifying event, the result was a course of action leading to a war fought under the premise of ‘terror’ but actually for US claims over oil. The war is perceived to have hijacked the atrocity, casting a shroud of shame over the commemorations. As a result, this has detracted from the significance of the memorial existing to honour and remember those impacted by the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Morphopedia, ‘World Trade Centre Design Proposal.’<http://morphopedia.com/projects/world-trade-center-design-proposal> The New York Times, ‘The Years of Shame.’ <http://krugman.blogs. nytimes.com/2011/09/11/the-years-of-shame/> 16

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“Computation is redefining the practice of Architecture”17

17, 19 and 20 Architectural Design, ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought.’ March/April 2013, Vol. 83:2.

computation in architecture Gregory Lynn18 in his TED presentation on calculus in architecture (2005), creates an argument that generalizes architecture as being modeled off of nature as it was perceived and measured by the technologies available at the time. Lynn states today’s model of natural form, is one that is calculus based, whereby we should use digital tools to formulate our visual expressions. Lynn argues that by combining natures embodiment of optimized form through evolutionary natural selection, and the continually developing depth and breadth of digital technologies to analyze and visually reproduce these phonomania, the outcome supports the idea that digital tools generate a new architectural language.

drawing board to assist with project refinement and communication is now a common practice within the architectural sphere, defined as applying digital tools for computerization. Leading software such as Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD and/or Autodesk’s AutoCAD and Revit facilitate the process of digitizing analogue work. On another level computerization is not just representational however inspires innovation when preconceived ideas through ‘sketch’ or ‘physical model’ can only be rationally realized through digital media. One such practice is Gehry Technologies, pushing new boundaries with their highly conceptual ideas. Computation in architectural practice is however where the designer generates and explores architectural spaces and concepts within a programmed environment. Through a process of writing and modifying a/ successive series of algorithm(s), the designer is able to reference element placement, configuration, relationships and any other necessary design constraints, to generate a parametric solution.21

Reflecting on my knowledge up to this point, my initial response that defined digital tools as a medium for assisting the formulization and communication of design ideas, was not by any means incorrect. However in retrospect, the statement barely scratches the surface in the discourse surrounding computerization and computation in architecture. Through engaging in course content I would now define the role of digital tools in design as being best viewed along a continuum. At one end of the spectrum, ‘computerization’ refers to applying digital tools for the digitization of preconceived design ideas19 recorded using analogue mediums into computer representations, while at the other end ‘computation’ refers to the digital synthesis of design ideas where program and site-specific context are incorporated at later stages of the design/decision-making process.20 Envisaging the computer as a designers virtual

Technological developments, in the field of computer-aided design, moderate the standard of digital tools used in an architectural practice. This statement infers that the discourse surrounding innovative design derivative of digital tools in architecture is forever linked to technology’s offerings; A source of consistent innovation or avenue of recurring limitations? Designers of the modern practice investing in methods at the computation end of the digital tool spectrum are considered to be cutting-edge, pushing boundaries in the discourse of delivering the next major ‘style.’

A recurring concern evident from class discussion, is that our designs this semester would be limited by our ability or inability to use the Grasshopper or other select digital tools to their full potential. This concern is consistent within the digital design community, that the designer is limited by their human skill level and/or the limitations existing in the program itself. Another cause for concern is that the process of digital design, again through parametric modeling programs such as Rhino and Grasshopper, are sometime extensively ‘form’ centric. As a result, a holistic architectural approach where structure, flow, function and form is generated from the program defined by the brief, is being substituted by shifting focus to developing a form generative of a figurative, award winning, highly conceptual idea(s). In these cases, the structure and program of the design come secondary to the form and subject to its boundaries and aesthetic maintenance. I personally find that in any process of design, preference is given to one or more aspects over others. This leaves the remaining architectural elements to be worked in around their footprints. The process of defining ‘what is’ and ‘what is not’ more important is highly subjective, indicating a pluralism of thought and process in design. Computation, driven by the architect or the computer is an aspect of design that is significantly contributing to the discourse of architecture.

TED Ideas Worth Spreading. ‘Greg Lynn on Calculus in Architecture.’ <http://www.ted.com/talks/greg_lynn_on_organic_design.html> 21 Woodbury, Robert (2010). Elements of Parametric Design (London: Routledge) pp. 7-48

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<http://www.archdaily.com/42694/aqua-tower-studio-gang-architects/> (xxii) <http://static.worldarchitecturenews.com/news_images/1918_5_Aqua5.jpg> (xxiii) <http://www.archdaily.com/42694/aqua-tower-studio-gang-architects/> (xxiv) <http://www.designboom.com/cms/images/ridhika09/aqua05.jpg> (xxv)

computing tradition

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Since the great fire of 1871, Chicago’s Architectural practice has significantly contributed to the discourse of architecture. The fire effectively left a tabula rasa from which Chicago could be rebuild, combining turn of the century industrial technology innovation and the economically driven ideology developing at this time to produce the best possible architectural typology to suite. The Chicago skyline has since become a “timeline of skyscraper history.”22 From Henry Hobson Richardson’s Marshall Field Wholesale Store of 1885, derivative of the early skyscraper consisting of characteristic steel structural frame clad in masonry material, to the Art Nouveau of Louis Sullivan, ever famous international style of Mies Van de Rohe and so many more, Chicago has been home to the rise of the 20th century modern skyscraper. Studio Gang did not want it to stop there, as their new Aqua Tower is to become a highlight of the 21st century on this timeline of skyscraper of history. Aqua Tower brings to Chicago the latest in digital technologies to define a sculptural condition that goes beyond its inspired striated limestone outcropping common to Chicago’s Great Lake. The formal gesture presented by the sinuous shape has been optimized to employ a strategy of extending individual apartment views and to maximize solar shading.23 Imbedded within a parametric model is the ability to qualify these constraints as parameters of design and act on achieving their optimization through a coordinated process of change.

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22, 23 and 25 Arch Daily. ‘Aqua Tower / Studio Gang Architects.’ <http:// www.archdaily.com/42694/aqua-tower-studio-gang-architects/> 24 Architectural Design, ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought.’ March/April 2013, Vol. 83:2

Applied to this subject, computation through the generative modeling tool ‘GECO’ could be used to provide environmental feedback regarding solar shading. GECO creates essential live linkages between 3D modelling software and analytical platforms providing the “opportunity to restructure conceptual design” to its optimized form or for a desired effect.24 Studio Gang have further interacted with the discourse of Chicago architecture by choosing to constrain their design to Mies legacy of a rational structure.25 Although Gang have approached this design with the preconceived idea of generating a form based off of a natural phenomenon and employ a rationalized structure, I would consider their design process to be situated further towards the computational end of the spectrum. They have used digital tools in this case to inform and generate optimal form/ horizontal partition profiles to satisfy secondary constraints and drive the architectural decision making process. These are strong indicators of areas known to benefit design using computational tools. Structural rationalization is one field of research my group has expressed interest in exploring. Another, strongly related to the compositional outcome of Aqua Tower, is sectioning. Through a process of creating views and maximizing solar shading, Studio gang devised the optimal sinuous shape for each section. For the gateway project, it will be the job of my team to devise our own theoretical underpinning from which to drive the optimal sinuous shape, sectionally represented, if this is the path we choose to pursue.

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(xxvi), (xxvii), (xxviii), (xxix) and (xxx)<http://www.archivenue.com/ voussoir-cloud-by-iwamotoscott-with-buro-happold/>

optimization

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The San Fransisco-based architects Lisa Iwamoto and Craig Scott practice an interdisciplinary process of designing. “Committed to pursuing architecture as a form of applied design research,”22 the ‘Voussoir Cloud’ is an installation exploring form generation through the performance characteristic of folded wood laminate along curved seams. Engaging with the context for which the installation has been designed, Southern California Institute of Architecture gallery in Los Angeles, the final product is a site specific landscape of vaulted form generated by the tesselation of three dimensional petals. In order for studio IwamotoScott to have achieved this complexity in the overall tessellated form of individual petal with slightly different geometries, “a computational script was developed to calculate the curvature of each piece.”23 The performance of these individual pieces have been reconstituted to act as ‘voussoirs,’ designed to explore the structural idea of pure compression. Originally expressed by Antonio Gaudi who used hanging chain models and inverted the pure tension they represented to realize Sagrada Familia in complete compression, IwamotoScott use “computational hanging chain models to refine and adjust the profile lines as pure catenaries and form finding programs to determine the purely compressive vault shape.”24 In order for the installation to maintain structural compression every component relies on each other, furthermore the encompass-

ing vaulted forms rely on the three walls of the installation space to maintain the entire structure’s pure form. The structural and material strategy of coupling pure compression and ultra-light material is an attempt to conflict normative architectural reading, confounding structural logics and only possible through the optimization of forms generated by computation. Optimization; whether it be of form, structure, material performance or overall performance of the design intent within its intended context, is a design constraint that has significantly contributed to the architectural outcome of the ‘Voussoir Cloud’ project. Through the use of digital tools IwamotoScott have rationalized the form of each ‘voussoirs’ into a harmonic curvature working structurally in pure compression. Optimization is benefitted by computation and in this case facilitates tesselation in this project. This is a research field my team has expressed cause for pursuing as our area of interest defining our approach towards the ‘Gateway Design Project.’ IwamotoScott architects further embody this growing concept of interdisciplinary research in architecture. By this they refer to acquiring knowledge on necessary topics from the experts in that field. This is to further inform the design decision making process, creating the best possible solution. Taking an interdisciplinary approach is far more costly and time consuming, although benefiting the accuracy and complexity of design outcomes.

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’Voussoir Cloud’ by IwamomoScott with Buro Happold. <http://www.archivenue.com/voussoir-cloud-by-iwamotoscott-withburo-happold/>

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parametric thought The discourse of documenting innovation in architectural history denotes the use of ‘style’ to quantify the classification of specific design characteristics and the architectural expressions of such pioneers. Historical records indicate political, social and economic motivators, the ‘Zeitgeist’ or ‘spirit of the time,’ as facilitating this necessity for innovation. It is commonly asserted that the continuous adaptation of design ideas are only ever publicly observed and recognized, outside of architectural circles, by the ‘style’ of design they embody.25 In our current era, perceived to be transitional and lacking any universally homogenous ideas, architectural design finds itself without a dedicated ‘style’ causing critics to render any use of the term as ambiguous without direction or meaning and incapable of symbolizing current design innovation. The dialogue in search of innovation for an elusive new ‘style,’ is argued to have been found in ‘Parametricism.’ The contention of this article is to engage in this discussion of ‘style’ and incorporate my own expression of interest proposal in arguing for what might come next.

Adam N. Mayer, ’Style and the Pretense of Parametric Architecture’. June 1, 2010. < http://app.lms.unimelb.edu.au/bbcswebdav/ pid-3815829-dt-content-rid-11839005_2/courses/ABPL30048_2013_ SM1/ABPL30048_2013_SM1_ImportedContent_20130121032620/ Adam%20Nathaniel%20Mayer_%20Style%20and%20the%20Pretense%20of%20%27Parametric%27%20Architecture.pdf> 25

Parametric modeling is defined by a “set of equations that express a set of quantities as explicit functions of a number of independent variables, known as ‘parameters.’”26 A parametric entity is a computer generated design derived from a ‘set of rules that precisely define a sequence of operations’ (an algorithm) which have the capacity to integrate additional constrains, definable within the algorithm, and have the active ability to relate and change the resultant output in a coordinated way.27 Thus the process of designing becomes very fluid and efficient, needing just minor alterations to the parameters within the definition to coordinate a generative output. An issue which arises is that Algorithms dictate an explicit process, an informational data flow that is strictly followed no matter what the implications might be on other parameters. Therefore it is arguable that to be an effective parametric designer, you need to first understand the relationships that govern what the output might look like or its implications on other design constraints. Ensuring that a continuous process of feedback and evaluation can be intuitively engaged throughout the design decision making process. On the other hand, when design is generative of computation that is not explicitly controlled by the designer but rather a non-specific form finding process, the output is not architecture in my opinion. Unfortunately, parametric design can often be classed and advocate a computer generative form finding process. Therefore I argue that digital tools are more informative within the design decision making process when used to aid the expression and elaboration of somewhat preconceived ideas.

The Architects Journal, ‘Patrik Schumacher on Parametricism: Let the Style Wars Begin.’ May 6 2010. <http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/the-critics/patrik-schumacher-on-parametricismlet-the-style-wars-begin/5217211.article> 26, 28 and 29

Patrik Schumacher on the other hand, first communicated his argument advocating the rise of Parametricism as the next mainstream architectural ‘style’ in his Parametricist Manifesto of 2008. Schumacher similarly recognizes ‘style’ as a powerful asset for communicating architecture to society, however concurrently acknowledges that the concept of ‘style’ had lost traction and creditability within architectural discourse because of the tendency to simply regard ‘style’ as a matter of appearance or short-lived fashion.28 Schumacher see ‘style’ as denoting “unity of difference between architectural epochs;”17 indicating paradigm shifts in architectural thinking and their subsequent cycling of design innovation.

driving force of current innovation and although Schumacher sees Parametricism as a ‘sustainable’ option, I believe he is referring to the longevity of the style not its environmental implications. An example which does use digital tools to develop a parametric solution to aid the development of buildings ‘environmental system design,’ is RMIT’s Design Hub. This building has an outer-skin that is parametric in composition while integrating automatic shading and photovoltaic cell technology to improve the buildings internal conditions and reduce running costs.30 As per this discussion, RMIT’s Design Hub does legitimise parametric design as a successful tool for innovation, however does this justify ‘Parametricism’ as the next big thing? As disclosed earlier, under the subtopic heading ‘Computing Tradition’ on page 16, the parametric plug-in GECO is a digital tool that can be used to incorporate environmental modifiers into the design decision making process. I have already expressed interest in engaging GECO as a design tool to further our overall final outcome constrained by environmental modifiers. Parametric modeling has the capacity to engage the inclusion of new constraints, generating an immediate coordinated response, a benefit that allows new parameters to be incorporated at any point of the digital phase.

“parametricism offers a credible, sustainable answer to the crisis of modernism that resulted in 25 years of stylistic searching”29 Schumacher radiates an affiliation with the current avant garde within architectural society. In reaction against the former prominent architectural ‘style’ of Modernism, this group advocates Parametricism as the next ‘mature style’ to drive architectural innovation. I also agree that digital tools are an immense source of innovation in design, similar to what were new concepts developed by modernists relative to an era of revivalism and socialist movements proceeding. However does this innovation justify Parametricism as becoming a ‘style’ in itself. Not only was modernism a reaction to prior architectural ideology, but the Zeitgeist was motivated by the industrial revolution forcing technological development and architectural innovation to be driven by the machine. One might suggest that Global Warming could be the

all of history. BIG suggests that the next ‘style’ should evolve from our current spirit of the time; adapting, maintaining and/or removing design characteristics through a process of natural selection32 to create a new and efficient style. BIG uses Parametricism as a design tool to aid the creation of their ‘evolutionary’ concept while Schumacher sees parametric design as the case for innovation. I have often defined Architecture as a continuous feedback loop, evaluating a problem to synthesize an innovative design solution. BIG suggests we improve the existing body of knowledge, through a process very similar to a feedback loop, by allowing natural selection to circulate the best possible design solutions while filtering out the bad. Parametricism is simply the output of a computational process employable to facilitating the feedback process, digitally defining and altering design constraints to create a grand breadth of innovation. Digital design tools are best conceived as parametric problem solving tools, contributing to the discourse of ‘style’ through design ideologies derivative of the zeitgeist maintaining humility, not the avant garde Parametricism suggested by Schumacher.

I would like to bring BIG Architects into this discussion because from a previous example I have indicated that they also experiments with digital tools in their practice. BIG’s contribution to the discourse of style comes from their motto “evolution not revolution.”31 This concept is opposed to the avant garde’s approach of finding innovation by reacting against

Woodbury, Robert (2010). Elements of Parametric Design (London: Routledge) p. 11 Sean Godsell Architects, ‘RMIT Design HUB’ <http://www.seangodsell.com/rmit-design-hub> 31 and 32 Bjarke Ingels Group. (2009), p. 12-15 27

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contour/sectioning wk02-03 grasshopper exercise

This is an example of using grasshopper to ‘contour’ a complex, free flowing form. Creating a NURBS surface from lofting a series of curves created in Rhinoceros, entered into the Grasshopper definition through the ‘Brep’ node. Following the definition above, the next step was to repeatedly offset a curve referenced into grasshopper through the ‘curve’ node. Then extrude all offset curves up, inter-

028

secting the “Brep” surface. The final node commanded grasshopper to identify all surface intersections, splitting and exploding them into individual surfaces. In order to view the final contoured model of the original surface, I baked the final node in the grasshopper definition and manually removed the unnecessary extruded surfaces to uncover the contoured outcome. This grasshopper definition effectively generates a contoured surface

representation of a form referenced form Rhinoceros using the ‘brep component. It will be interesting to see in the coming weeks how this process is furthered by preparing the result for fabrication. This method of sectioning would only be effective if a malleable material was desired in the final product. In a traditional case of sectioning, requiring straight sections, this definition can be slightly changed to offset a straight curve rather than a circle.

definition development wk04-05 grasshopper exercise This is an example of using grasshopper to create fields that drive curve attraction and form. In this example, a field is created that focus a set number of curves towards a set number of points, while evenly spacing those curves back outwards. The curve-ends directed towards the point have been offset a specific circular amount and the whole field itself is created from four curves placed in Rhinoceros. In this example I have elaborated upon a base

definition. The first iteration adds an additional rotational field, causing the curves to rotate. The second iteration experiments with modeling the form in 3D. By incorporating a graph mapping node, the designer can control the profile of the 3D curve. If my site investigations uncover a significant network of lines or we develop a curve pattern, I would be excited to apply this definition. I similarly feel this definition has strong structural implications.

base definition

first iteration

second iteration

029

“As an architect you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown.”33

- Norman Foster

Norman Foster, ‘I Like Architecture: Quote #18.’ <http://www. ilikearchitecture.net/2012/07/quote-17-norman-foster/>

conclusion

Architecture is the product of embedding ones concepts and thoughts, the surrounding context and global happenings, both current and past to synthesize an outcome for a design solution. Expressing a notion of context, history and ones directional ideology, products of design have the capacity to affect social change, marking an epoch in the timeline of history. As a design group submitting a proposal to the Western Gateway Design Project, we acknowledge Wyndham as a fast growing municipality in Victoria and endeavour to represent this change through the application of digital technologies to aid our design decision making process. Developing a computational feedback process consisting of and continuously evaluating all relevant parameters, the design solutions parametric characteristics will enable control and efficient, coordinated change. The knowledge gained through engaging an interdisciplinary study of key constraints, will provide a solid understanding of the characteristics defining these parameters of design. This will inform greater accuracy to digitally represent the parameters performance characteristics - impacting other parameters and being acted on in a node based algorithm. Using Grasshopper in this project, will enable design optimization and hence innovation within our specialized area of interest. Digital tools will further assist Wyndham as ‘building for social change’ by symbolizing a progressive culture designing the city of tomorrow.

learning outcomes

During research and development for Part A. EOI: Case For Innovation, I have gained much insight into the debate regarding the direction of the discourse within architecture. The current argument is focused on what role digital tools are perceived to play in architecture moving forward. The question that had developed is whether or not computations impact is strong enough that we dedicate its contribution to architectural innovations as Parametricism - a ‘style’ in itself to define architecture of the early 21st century. I have learnt that digital tools are used to define explicit sets of instructions, driving form generation based on the parameters incased within the algorithm. Parametrically composed, the result is a live composition of content, enabling efficient iteration and coordinated feedback between new and existing constrains as they are intuitively incorporated or removed by the designer. Through experimentation, I have realized that the designer is formally limited to their knowledge of the digital aid. Furthermore, the complex form output is rather generative of the digital tools and not the optimization of ideas and performance of concepts brought into the digital realm for computational evaluation by the designer. I am excited to apply my design knowledge and developing computational skills in a problem solving approach to the Gateway Project and develop a creative, complex and overall innovative design solution.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;The installation will enhance the physical environment through the introduction of a visual arts component. It will have longevity in its appeal, encouraging ongoing interest in the Western Interchange by encouraging further reflection about the installation beyond a first glance.â&#x20AC;?34

34 Western Gateway Design Project. Whyndham City. Contract No. C14449/12. (2011). Page 4

part b: design approach

precedent studies... Visual Perception

Motion

View Point Control

The individual unit of a sectioned form becomes an expression within a homogenous whole. This allows a 3 dimensional sinuous form to be constructed from planar 2 dimensional planes.

The attributes of ‘movement, dynamism and change’, creating a sense of ‘motion in immovable structure,’ can be given to a form adopting a sectioning approach through its ‘frame by frame’ visualisation.

View is broken and controllable by section panels. In particular, our panels are louverable towards a/many point(s) dictating the extent of which a passerby sees through the void.

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xxxii

xxxiii

xxxiv

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Banq Restaurant NADAA Architects 2009

Motion Eness 2011

Private House Gramazio & Kohler 2009

Position of view dictates understanding of form. Viewed from a longitudinal axis, a ‘sinuous yet planar,’ seamless form is materialised. Yet from a lateral viewpoint, the forms fluidity has dematerialised and the structure of individual elements are understood and expressed.

Mobius is a sculptural installation exploring the movement of 21 large triangles time-lapse throughout Melbourne’s Federation square. Placed, photographed, moved in sequential order and photographed again, is a repetitive process that drives a dynamic configuration of static form. Mobius becomes a living and collaborative sculpture that makes sense once filmed in a frame-by-frame stop motion.

Parametric modelling was used to panel the exterior of the house with a slatted timber facade. Importantly its use was to allow and ensure that the view of the lake nearby was not obstructed from the neighbours property. This precedent indicates a sectioning approach taken to control view, allowing both containment and release.

(xxxi) http://yatzer.com/assets/Article/1513/images/BANQ_restaurant_by_Office_dA_photos_by_John_Horner_at_yatzer_6.jpg (xxxii) http://www.yatzer.com/assets/Article/1513/images/BANQ_restaurant_by_Office_dA_photos_by_John_Horner_at_yatzer_4.jpg

(xxxiii) http://www.fedsquare.com/wp-content/gallery/culturecreative-program/mobius-at-fed-square.jpg (xxxiv) http://www.eness.com/?r=I&p=pS&s=b2d959a088dd983e23ad 561d0e56374c_MOBIUS_screen_shots_800x450_007.jpg

(xxxv) http://www.dailytonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ gamazio-kohler-riedikon-05.jpg (xxxvi) http://www.dailytonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ gamazio-kohler-riedikon-01.jpg

...how sectioning benefits design Structure as Form

Kinetic

A Sectioning Solution

Structure and form become homologous. Structure becomes compartmentalised, within the form and/or visa versa.

A dynamism of materialisation and dematerialisation of form. The solid and void have a relationship designed at 100km/h to derive the visual perception of motion in immovable structures.

Sectioning as the optimum design solution to effectively solve a design problem. Taking cultural, contextual and social insight to create architecture that is ‘building for social change.’

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xxxix

xli

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xlii

Metropol Parasol Jurgen Mayer-Hermann 2011

Melbourne Gateway Denton Corker Marshall 2000

Digital Origami Emergency Shelter LAVA 2011

The Metropol Parasol is a wooden structure located in Seville. It uses a waffle grid structural organization to create a fluid and homogenous form. Its structure and contouring is clearly understood. Structure and form cannot be differentiated in this design.

The Melbourne Gateway is an urban gateway project for the city of Melbourne. It is a series of columns that create a kinetic relationship with the user who is appreciating and understanding the sculptural urbanism at 100km/h. Mark Raggatt of ARM architects describes it as ‘kinetic without being animated. It sustains a massive scale but is open and dynamic.’ The gateway is a curation of form and void, emphasizing the power of the break in form to create dynamism when passing by.

LAVA’s architectural solution for the 2011 Emergency Shelter Exhibition. Their design intent was to raise awareness and aid for the thousands of people displaced by Japan’s natural disasters. Their shelter design provides quick, efficient, sustainable and sensitive inhabitable spaces after disaster strikes. Although the design offered only temporary relief, LAVA’s actions contribute to the notion of design having positive social implications and affecting the concept of architecture as ‘building for social change’.

(xxxvii) http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8281/7573071850_db65a3082d_z. jpg (xxxviii) https://www.theimagefile.com/v/tp/250/198/7845805202_4_ metropol-parasol-seville.jpg

(xxxix) http://www.dentoncorkermarshall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MelbGateway_02.jpg (xl) http://maryannadair.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/cheesestick11. jpg

(xli) and (xlii) see DesignBoom. ‘LAVA: digital origami emergency shelter.’ Page 031 for reference.

035

xliii

sectioning for society

xliv

xlv

xlvi

xlvii

(xliii) (xliv) (xlv) (xlvi) and (xlvii) DesignBoom. ‘LAVA: digital origami emergency shelter.’ <http://www.designboom.com/architecture/ lava-digital-origami-emergency-shelter/>

In a public exhibition held at the Sydney Customs House forecourt, during September of 2011, were proposals from various local and international architectural groups that highlighted the need for emergency shelters in disaster zones. The exhibition demonstrated the role of design and construction industries in the aftermath of natural disasters. The Sydney based practice, ‘Laboratory for Visionary Architecture’ (LAVA), proposed the ‘Digital Origami Emergency Shelter’ as an architectural solution that would provide quick, efficient, sustainable and sensitive inhabitable spaces after disaster strikes. Based on the molecular configuration of a water molecule, LAVA proposes an exterior form with a strict geometric appearance capable of being integrated with other modules generating an interconnected village. The hard straight edged exterior form facilitates unit integration. This exterior functionalist form is juxtaposed against the individually carved, softer interior aspect of each plywood profile. The result is an undulating interior void, creating spaces for sitting and sleeping. In this example, the striated layering and internal/external profile manipulation of each individual plywood sheet, defines the shelter’s structure and functional requirements; “to provide temporary replacement housing comfortably inhabited by two adults and one child for daily activities of eating, reading and sleeping.”35 LAVA’s solution is an origami cave; prefabricated in sections from readily available materials including wood, cardboard, and newspaper. This facilitates low cost and short time installation, where unit’s are flat-packed and shipped or dropped via helicopter to be assembled on-site.

This is an example where digital technologies have been used to ‘build for social change.’ Although we do not “associate beauty with disaster, LAVA [have] shown that with great disaster, come great possibilities.”36 LAVA have realized the shelters interior volume through a process of sectioning. Shaping each individual profile, LAVA have satisfied the interior program conditions and the rigid exterior water molecule shape. LAVA’s structural rationalization for the shelter, using only plywood sections and block work between, minimized complexity and maximized efficiency. Although the design only offers temporary relief in devastated areas, LAVA’s actions prompt positive social implications. The Emergency Shelter Exhibition hoped to raise awareness and aid for the thousands of people who had been displaced by Japan’s natural disasters. LAVA’s design references a Japanese Metabolist philosophy of using prefabricated capsules to define living space. This demonstrates a high level of contextual insight integrated into LAVA’s design proposal. This provides a necessary grounding to their computational proposal, which could have otherwise been mistaken as some sculptural artwork. Context is an aspect of the Gateway Project which must be taken into account, and used to drive form making in the design process. LAVA further strengthened the relevance of their design proposal through the integration of context, transforming the shelter into an illuminated lantern at night, which would prove “a sign of hope to victims.”37 Analogous with the Gateway Project, lighting conditions combined with a sectioning technique, offers to ‘light Wyndham’s path into the future.’

35 and 36

DesignBoom. ‘LAVA: digital origami emergency shelter.’ <http://www.designboom.com/architecture/lava-digital-origamiemergency-shelter/> 37 Arch2o. ‘Digital Origami Emergency Shelter, LAVA.’ <http://www. arch2o.com/digital-origami-emergency-shelter-lava/>

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;The concept of the traditional church is transformed into a transparent object of art.â&#x20AC;?38

- Gijs and Van Vaerenbergh

sectioning for culture

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(xlviii), (xlix) and (l) Architecture Lab: Online Magizine. ‘See- through Church: Limburge/Belgium by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh.’ <http://architecturelab.net/2011/10/see-through-church-limburgbelgium-by-gijsvan-vaerenbergh/#lightbox/6/>

The ‘See-through Church’ project is the collaboration of two young Belgian architects, Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh. Located in Limburg, Belgium, the church stands ten meters high and is constructed of prefabricated steel members, 100 layers and 2000 columns to be exact. Reacting against the traditional church aesthetic, their design is atypical from height to material and overall rational composition. The traditional heavy masonry, romantic and monumental qualities of the typical religious building typology have been substituted for more boutique, intimate and refined expression. The form is an optimized representation of a multitude of churches in the region, an ideal Gijs and Van Vaerenbergh have expressed through horizontal plates. Reduced to solid and void, the design embodies the essence of a spiritual space and its interaction with the surrounding landscape. This approach to design is highly expressionist of contemporary society, culture and contextual behavior towards religion, developing modern themes in a rigorously unchanged traditional discourse of architectural church design. Page 29 of this journal, lists six overarching benefits of a sectioning technique. One such benefit, utilized to its full extents in this project is Visual Perception. Depending on the perspective of the viewer; the church has the potential to materialise, perceived as a massive building, and/or dematerialise, partly or entirely, into the landscape before ones eyes. Moving inside the church and looking out at the landscape, the “countryside is redefined by abstract lines,”39 framing views that offer an alternative picture to those regularly unobstructed.

38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43 Architecture Lab: Online Magizine. ‘See- through Church: Limburge/Belgium by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh.’ <http://architecturelab.net/2011/10/see-through-church-limburgbelgium-by-gijsvan-vaerenbergh/#lightbox/6/>

Concerning the discourse of Church architecture in Limburg, present observation indicates an “emptying-out”40 of such a style. Gijs and Van Vaerenbergh’s installation is thus read as a metaphoric heritage related reflection of the present situation, materialised at one instance however dematerialised at the next. Their design is illustrative of a dissolvable culture. As an ‘object of art,’ the traditional architectural capacity of creating a space designed to facilitate a specific function of cultural significance, is diminished. Gijs and Van Vaerenbergh have indicated, the Belgian society is removing itself from the traditional practices of Churches. Therefore the design is an attempt to rectify cultural values within their society, offering a “potential to re-use them [the Churches] in an artistic context.”41 The poetics of this design are captured by the images to the left. The photograph (xlix) captures Gijs and Van Vaerenbergh’s ‘See-through Church’ and the traditional Church it was modeled off. The steeple of the traditional Church is captured mineralising through the steeple of the see through Church, emphasizing contemporary societies changing cultural attitude. From the comments following this article regarding this project in the online magazine ‘architecture lab,’42 I found one post highly intriguing. I want to use this quote to conclude the section as it demonstrates a variety of opinion and multitude of readings that individuals can have, no matter its relevance to the installation, a quality we hope to inspire within the passersby of our gateway. “The subtle jab at our religious entities around the world and the fact that the are becoming more transparent and easily seen through the corrupt and devious ways of their past.”43

039

case study 1.0... louver

Louver panels towards a point

banq definition

combination

Map image to flat, rectangular surface

Mapped image on louvered panels

(2)

Control over louver direction

Control over base height

Control over image magnitude

Control of panel spacing

Control number of panels

Control over base height

Control of panel height

Control number of points in ‘u’ and ‘v’ direction

Map panels along a path

Control of panel width

Map points on an undulating surface

Controlling panel width (3)

Map panels along a path (1)

Surface manipulation

Optimize form

...technical exploration vector control

height control

path & material

Wide, louvered panels along a path with an image

Create material panels

Mapped image on panels following path

(4)