AIR JOURNAL

J O U R N A L

A D S - A I R K AT H L E E N K O P I E T Z 3 9 1 0 5 4

PERSONAL PROJECT

STUDLEY PARK BOATHOUSE The development of this project was conceived with reference to the architects Alvar Aalto and Daniel Libeskind. These two very different architects inspired my creation of a building that could integrate well with its surrounding natural identity and enhance the clientele’s experience of the surrounding environment. I learnt that there can be many alternative ways in which to fulfil this aim and it depended most ardently on all manner of aspects associated with the site in which the building would eventually reside.

My understanding of the brief for this project highlighted the requirement for the Gateway to connect with its natural surroundings, social surroundings and the built elements in the Wyndham municipality but with a inspiring thread involved as well. With the Boathouse project I was primarily concerned with the connection to the natural surrounds and drew inference on how to deal with that from Aalto. To deal with the social connection I looked at Libeskind.

STATE OF THE ART PROJECT

DANIEL LIBESKIND - JEWISH MUSEUM Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin is an interesting example of a strong social construction driving the design. In his statement Libeskind explained how the built form is based on three integral conceptions that were concerned with the momentous historical events that took place in Germany regarding the Jewish community. “ first, the impossibility of understanding the history of Berlin without understanding the enormous intellectual, economic and cultural contribution made by the Jewish citizens of Berlin, second, the necessity to integrate physically and spiritually the meaning of the Holocaust into the consciousness and memory of the city of Berlin. Third, that only through the acknowledgement and incorporation of this erasure and void of Jewish life in Berlin, can the history of Berlin and Europe have a human future.”

The museum is able to imbue the stark facts of the past, and also convey emotional and physical cues to enhance the experience for the visitor. Although not a Gateway or public artwork this building holds some interesting possibilities for me to learn from. I went to the building in the holidays and found for myself that the built form was sincere and not overtly “literal or didactic”, as was cited for the Gateway not to be. It juxtaposes yet integrates with the existing building the Baroque Kollegienhaus. The museum exemplified to me how architecture can be used to create and icon for a social occurrence, a historical past through new innovative design techniques.

STATE OF THE ART PROJECT

ASYMPTOTE ARCHITECTS - THE YAS HOTEL

The YAS Hotel by Asymptote Architects diverges from the work I previously completed and the work of the Architect Libeskind. Asymptote’s method of designing is rooted in experimentation with advanced and innovative approaches (computational and otherwise) to solve their architectural quandaries.

The hotel was conceived as a architectural landmark that would embody various key influences and inspirations ranging from the aesthetics and forms associated with speed movement and spectacle to the artistry and geometries forming the basis of ancient Islamic art and craft traditions.

This very different designing method I find very interesting their design precedents I feel can be seen parallel to the precedents we are required to fulfil in our own designs for the Gateway. It is also extremely interesting to see how they are using new computational technologies to develop their designs, “blurring the lines between the virtual and the real world”.

I N N O VAT I V E

D I G I TA L

P R E C E D E N T S

S T U D I O G A N G A R C H I T E C T S - Lincoln Park Nature Boardwalk This week I focussed on discovering more architectural projects and designs that were created with computational techniques. The architectural firm I ended up most interested in was Studio Gang Architects, a group based in America with work all over the world. In the reading for this week the author states that “unique innovations presented by computers and computational techniques are instrumental in design methods today.� SG state in on their website this school of thought is integral in their approach to designing.

Computers can allow for repetition, consistency and precision, SG’s projects showed that they had capitalised on these criteria and utilised computation to push these mechanisms further to develop interesting designs. The Lincoln Park Nature Boardwalk project in Chicago, 2010 included this pavilion that provided shelter and a sculptural addition to the park, a gateway? on a larger scale?

THE AQUA TOWER

BY STUDIO GANG ARCHITECTURE Another project by the Studio Gang group that I found interesting was their Aqua Tower, again in Chicago. Here they have used a natural phenomenon very pertinent to the site. The building overlooks the sea and is cleverly constructed so that it assumes the eddies and flows that one sees in the water. This building was modeled with parametric inputs to create the facade and could then be manipulated to emulate more of the wave, swell and eddie formations that give the facade its interesting form.

P R O J E C T

H A R E S H L A LV A N I

X

For most architects today some form of their practice, if not all of it, is informed by or dependent on computers. The software one uses for design has its limitations and these limitations are often the reasons why design is hampered, unoriginal or physically inconceivable.

For American based designer Dr Haresh Lalvani scripting is a means to annihilate this inherent problem with software and manipulate it in such a way that suits his requirements.

By using scripting techniques designers can transcend the factory set limitations imposed by their 3D software. They can take charge of the tool that they are employing and harness it to breed new and innovative responses to design problems.

Working in collaboration with Milgo/Bufkin Fabricating Group for less than 10 years, Lalvani has concentrated on morphing and fabricating his conceptions simultaneously thus creating a seamless whole. He believes that ‘straight lines and flat planes are a minority throughout the universe’, so he has devoted his skills to produce complex algorithmically curved products. Lalvani’s AlgoRythmn columns discount the need for harsh folds and edges common in typical algorithmic designs, instead they organically and smoothly articulate the surface that is clad in glass also scripted into the design process.

To conceive this interesting form Lalvani looked at the Morphological Genome a universal code for mapping and manipulating all form: natural, man made and artificial. He came across it on the search for a “shape gene” in nature, one such gene does not exist so in its absence a shape genome needed to be designed.

In laymans terms what resulted was a composition of families of morphological genes that specified a host of related parameters. This was all scripted by Lalvani and gave rise to his AlgoRythmn columns the basis for this Project X, apartment building in Manhattan that was designed for Stanley Perelman.

To create these structures, a procedure was developed so that single, continuous metal sheets are shaped by computer-driven equipment according to the algorithmically generated geometries. This approach permits the structures to be modeled and easily fabricated translating into a reasonable cost.

N ew H armony G rotto M etalab

A rchitects

In this pavilion by Metalab architects a complex developmental process involving scripted iterations was undertaken in order to develop the final form. The project was concerned with reinterpreting the avant garde architect Frederick Kielser’s Grotto for Meditation. The Lab utilised digital, parametric and scripting techniques in order to accurately re construct a new take on the old master’s design.

With the computer enacting all of the tedious drawing and form building the lab members were free to experiment with more complex scripts. The result was a quicker realisation of the project to a standard otherwise impossible in such a short time frame. Many iterations could be tested thus the end product was a highly considered tested option.

Learning from these innovative digitally driven projects it is clear that many old tedious processes can be eliminated with the utilisation of scripting techniques. With a greater understanding of scripting the architect can break free of constraint and truly push his or her designs in new and exciting directions. For the Wyndham City Gateway the council specified the want for ‘innovative’ design that would reflect well on their city. They also had a financial constraint and although we are not being hampered by it in our explorations the use of Rhino and Grasshopper to design if utilised correctly will be useful in minimising costs a common benefit spoken about by practitioners of parametric and scripted design procedures. This cost minimisation often comes about as a result of greater flexibility with time; the computer can develop many iterations without time consuming and laborious drawing. This can then lead to a higher quality of design, as there is more time to test more options.