Studio Air Journal Part A

AI R J O U R NAL

/ JESSICA LOURENS 812945 /

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction A.0 Design Futuring A.1 Design Computation A.2 Composition/Generation

A.3

Conclusion

A.4

Learning Outcomes

A.5

Appendix - Algorithmic sketches

A.6

BIOGRAPHY

Hi, I am Jessica, a second year student undertaking Bachelor of Environments in the University of Melbourne, majoring in Architecture.

My family background mostly intrigues and encourages me to be creative. And designing something that could improve others’ lives is my lifetime goal. I believe one way achieving it by being a designer.

Growing up I started to have my interest in drawing,hand-craftingandphotographing.

Based on these interests, I decided to pursue it into my career by studying architecture.

My technical knowledge of digital programs such as Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, 3DMax, Rhino and AutoCAD could be considered fairly expereinced as I recently learnt and used them in university.

/ PREVIOUS WORK /

Digital Design Fabrication Project, 2017

A.0

INTRODUCTION Studio Earth Herring Island Project, 2017

GLASS SKYSCRAPER PROJECT Mies van der Rohe Berlin-Mitte, Germany, 1922

In regards to Design Futuring, Tony Fry mentions redirective practices in design are needed to maintain the sustainability so people can preserve the possibility of future.1 Along with the concept, the current design futuring that occuring today is similar to the practices of early modernists.

And here, we are specifically discussing about Mies. Mies was discovering universal language that is suitable for the future through architecture. His Glass Skyscraper Project is one of the case that contributed the disclosure of culture in radical ways. Seems like Mies wanted to change society’s

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perception through his design and indeed, this kind of revolutionary thought is needed for future design.

However, as Fry says, “there is a huge gap between urgently needed action and the current and imminent availability of the means”.2 Today, such skyscrapers are seen everywhere around the world while the two Mies’s skycraper projects remain as a revolutionary case that open the discussions -architecture should not be limited to certain standards but it should have the freedom of design.

Though, it would not be possible

FIG 1. (LEFT) The first glass skyscraper project of 1922 FIG 2. (RIGHT) The renewable design of glass skyscraper

without the contribution of sustainability. Taking this as the consideration, Mies did bold approach of his new modes of thinking that leads to the change of underlying human values, yet he did not consider the importance aspects in designing a sustainable future. So, architectural practices needs to ensure the health of our planet in order to move forward to the future by using planets resources more efficiently.

1 2

“Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space.�

-MIES VAN DER ROHE

Tony Fry, Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg, 2008), p. 10.

Ibid.

A.1

DESIGN FUTURING

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HEYDAR ALIYEV CENTER Zaha Hadid Baku, Azerbaijan, 2013

Heydar Aliyec Center is an aesthetic combination of continous and fluid design (Fig 3) with the surrounding enviroments. The design itself embodies blurring distinctions between architectural elements and the ground its inhabit. Continously flow from carperts to walls, walls to ceillings and ceillings to dome shows how Zaha Hadid does not percieve the standarisation of buildings that should have separate floors, walls and roofs but she shows it can be beyond it. This shows the ability of architectural form to provoke culture and social changes. Here, she instigates

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changes and instil thoughts for the future through her radical design.

In other words, she “opens up more possibilities to give what people really want�.1 Because such future could not be predicted and what can people do now is contribute to giving more desirable future.2 Undoubtly, designing for future is not easy but Zaha succed to generate new alternatives that pushes the boundary of current technology. These thoughts are needed to inspire other designers so they start to rethink or even contribute in designing a better

FIG 3. (TOP) The exterior of Heydar Aliyev Center FIG 4. (BOTTOM) Details of exterior cladding

future.

The design is looking at the future culture possibilities for the nation. And this idea leads to the consideration that designers need to see the overall context and look forward into the future by creating speculative designs.

By being critical in observing current states of people’s living, designers would be able to produce designs that responds to necessities of both nature and society - which can be said as a good design.

A.1 FIG 5. Overall plan of Heydar Alliyev center

Anthony Dune and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything: Design Fiction, and Social Dreamig, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013), p. 44.

2 Ibid.

DESIGN FUTURING

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FIG 6. Interior details

GEORGES

Jakob & MacFarlane Paris, France, 2011

This famous design of restaurant

by Jakob & MacFarlane was created through computerisation approach.

It symbolises the development of computer processing has expanded throughout the time.1 And in this particular project, computing has become the most important role in design process as well as creating a structure.2 Using NURBS as the based software, they were able to developed the design structure.

The structure used Alluminium semimonocoque (the skin of the structure had the major impact in design

CONCEPTUALISATION

Indeed, the use of computing approach in design process is advantageous, yet designers can not excessively rely on it. In recent years, the use of digital technology has shifted significantly. From the use of “drafting and modelling systems” to entirely using computer

Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman, eds, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York; Routledge, 2014), pp. 7.

2 Georges Restaurant’, Jakob+Macfarlane < http://www.jakobmacfarlane.com/en/project/georges-restaurant/>.

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structure. The project was started from modelling all the components in digitally and then digitally cut and fabricated. Due to the computing approach, “real physical models” are not needed until the design project was finished.3

FIG 7. (LEFT) Evening view of the interior FIG 8. (RIGHT) View of interior showing when the lights are on

FIG 9. View from outside

for the design process.4 Becoming designersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; solutions -in saving energy, cost, etc- does not mean computing approach has to replace the existance of drawing and modelling.

Branko Kolarevic, Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing (New York; London: Spoon Press, 2003), p. 10.

4 Yehuda E. Kalay, Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), p. 4.

A.2

DESIGN COMPUTATION

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SMART MASONRY

ZA Architects Berlin, Germany, 2015

The Smart Masonry contributes the combination of digital technology and traditional masonry techniques in its structural design and construction method. Computation allows reducing the weight and material loads of building infrastructure while robotics are used to assembling complex forms.1 It demonstrates the theory based on the reading by Kalay where computation and robotics are used as a “wicked” problem exploration and problem solver.2 Such construction method has a

positive benefit due to the high production speed -which can decrease energy consumption and material expenditure. This provides a new set of opportunities and perspectives for computation and paradigm design. Also, it represents how designers could sucessfully achieve sustainbility in “design futuring”.3 Another Kalay’s theory of “Puzzle Making and Paradigms of design” where During the fabrication process, some modifications were made due to the uncertainity conditions

‘Smart Masonry’, ZA Architects < http://www.zaarchitects.com/en/public/125-smart-masonry.html>.

Yehuda E. Kalay, Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), p. 16.

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FIG 10. (TOP) Exterior view FIG 11. (BOTTOM) Final prototype

FIG 12. Design process

when doing the research. Thus, the possibility of a different outcome or modified goals could occur during the process (Fig 12).4

A.2

DESIGN COMPUTATION

Tony Fry, Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg, 2008), p. 10.

Yehuda E. Kalay, Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), p. 16.

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FIG 13. Interior details

HYGROSKIN

Achim Menges Stuttgart, Germany, 2014

Hygroskin is a project that experiments with biomimetic principal and with the use of computation process, the structure is able to be created. The design is specifically focused on the material’s intrinsic properties in response to the surrounding environments. In other words, the design is heavily influenced by climate-change and its material systems will directly response to the changes.1 And in this case, opening when its dry and closing when its wet.

Through the use of computing 09

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process, they were able to define the materialisation of the structure.

By developing plywood sheets as the material, it is able to support the whole structure due to its elastically self-forming.2 Here, the use of digital technology opens up new architectural possibilities by exploring material behavious instead of geometric shapes. As Brady mentions, “architecture are increasingly experimenting with computation to stimulate building perfomance”.3 However, this whole idea of mimicing natural systems still remains one

FIG 14. (LEFT) Overall form of the final prototype FIG 15. (RIGHT) Details of the final protoype

of generative designs shortcomings.

Such processes could harness the benefits of computational design and use it to create a ‘second nature’.

A.3 FIG 16. Design exploration

DESIGN COMPOSITION/ GENERATION

’Hygroskin’, Achim Menges < http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=5612>.

Ibid.

3 Peters Brady, Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83,2, p.13.

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RESEARCH PAVILION 2011 ICD/ITKE Stuttgart, Germany, 2011

With the use of parametric modeling, designers could achieve more complex geomteries as its rationally analyse, compare and algorithmically calculate large amount of data and information. It definitely benefits designers because it helps them to simplify the effort as well as save time for decision-making.1 As one of the example, Research Pavilion by ICD/ITKE demonstrates how architecture can utilise the advantages of parametric modeling.

Similar to previous precedent, the pavilion was inspired by biological 11

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principles and in this case, “the sea urchin’s plate skeleteon”.2 Through the use of parametric modeling, they tried to recreate the ideas. Due to its flexibility, parametric modeling provides more freedom when they decided to change the overall form. And this means parametric modelling will also give a greater effiency for the design process.

For this particular project, parametric modelling was the key in generating the design and without it, would be hard for the designer to develop. More potential of errors

FIG 17. (TOP) Overall exterior view of final prototype FIG 18. (BOTTOM) Final prototype details

A.3 FIG 19. Fabrication method using robotic

would easily happen and might not be detected.

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DESIGN COMPOSITION/ GENERATION

Peters Brady, Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83,2, p.13.

‘Research Pavilion 2011’, ICD/ITKE < http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=6553>.

CONCEPTUALISATION 12

FIG 20. Interior view of the pavilion

A.4

Can design act as a problem solver?

In this Part A journal, the investigated design approach opens up the direction which designer needs to solve societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problems in regarding of the unsustainbility decisions that society made which later will have a bigger impact on the future.

One of the solution is through design.

How? Through the advanced developement of algorithmic software, or

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CONCLUSION

parametric modelling or other creative installation, they can be the medium for designer in designing a better future. Still, excessively relying on those digital computation would no longer serve its original purposes.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Prior to Studio Air I barely had much understanding of architectural computing theory. I percieved architectural computation is a technical thing in order to design effeciently or create a design proposal.

Algorithms and parametric modeing are relatively new concepts that I am barely known. And in these past few weeks, I tried to learn and understand the concepts, which helps developing my understanding in computation as well.

A.5

the best part of the course. It surprises me that such softwares or plugins could have greater influenced in designing. Complex forms are not longer limited design process, which means designer like me, will have a lot of freedom to express our creativity without any constraints.

Being introduced to Grasshopper is

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A.6

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APPENDIX

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REFERENCES Anthony Dune and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything: Design Fiction, and Social Dreamig, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013), p. 44.

Branko Kolarevic, Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing (New York; London: Spoon Press, 2003), p. 10.

Georges Restaurant’, Jakob+Macfarlane < http://www.jakobmacfarlane. com/en/project/georges-restaurant/>. ’Hygroskin’, Achim Menges < http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=5612>.

Peters Brady, Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83,2, p.13.

‘Research Pavilion 2011’, ICD/ITKE < http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=6553>.

Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman, eds, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York; Routledge, 2014), pp. 7.

‘Smart Masonry’, ZA Architects < http://www.zaarchitects.com/en/ public/125-smart-masonry.html>.

Tony Fry, Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg, 2008), p. 10.

Yehuda E. Kalay, Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), p. 16.

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IMAGE SOURCES FIG 1. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/787 FIG 2. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/789 FIG 3. http://www.zaha-hadid.com/wp-content/files_mf/cache/th_65d1300db123ce 22f6e2569fb36764f8_hac_photobyiwanbaan6copy.jpg FIG 4. http://www.zaha-hadid.com/wp-content/files_mf/hac_ photobyhelenebinet_01copy.jpg FIG 5. http://www.zaha-hadid.com/wp-content/files_mf/hac_photobyiwanbaan6copy.jpg FIG 6. http://www.zaha-hadid.com/wp-content/files_mf/cache/th_65d1300db123ce 22f6e2569fb36764f8_hac_photobyiwanbaan6copy.jpg FIG 7. https://www.designboom.com/cms/images/erica/-----georges/georges05.jpg FIG 8. https://www.designboom.com/cms/images/erica/-----georges/georges03.jpg FIG 9. https://www.designboom.com/cms/images/erica/-----georges/georges04.jpg FIG 10. http://www.zaarchitects.com/images/stories/smart_masonry/smart1.jpg FIG 11. http://www.zaarchitects.com/images/stories/smart_masonry/_IMG_8593.jpg FIG 12. http://www.zaarchitects.com/images/stories/smart_masonry/smart4.jpg FIG 13. http://www.zaarchitects.com/images/stories/smart_masonry/smart2.jpg FIG 14. http://www.achimmenges.net/wp-content/gallery/frac_hygroskin_01_ lowres/HygroSkin_1_20.jpg FIG 15. http://www.achimmenges.net/wp-content/gallery/frac_hygroskin_01_ lowres/HygroSkin_1_19.jpg FIG 16. http://www.achimmenges.net/wp-content/gallery/frac_hygroskin_02_ lowres/HygroSkin_2_07.jpg FIG 17. http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/wp-content/gallery/researchpavilion_2011_8/13_ rh2028-0007.jpg FIG 18. http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/wp-content/gallery/researchpavilion_2011_8/16_ closeupeye.jpg FIG 19. http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/wp-content/gallery/researchpavilion_2011_8/07_ roboticfabrication.jpg FIG 20. http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/wp-content/gallery/researchpavilion_2011_8/14_ view-seated.jpg

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