Studio Air ABPL30048 Architecture Studio Air 2015, SEMESTER 1, Studio 15 Sonya Hao Wei Matthew Law
CONTENTS Titles
Pages
Introduction - Info about me
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- Techinical Background
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Part A - Architectural Discourse -
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Self Introduction - Info about me My name is Matthew (Hao Wei) Law. I am currently in my third and final year studying in the Architecture major of the Bachelor of Environments in Melbourne University. I like buildings a lot. I have always enjoyed designing as a process as I like to challenge myself to see where my limits are at. This is also the main reason for me entering this Bachelor Course. Beside buildings, I also have a great interest in sketching and sports. Similar to other profession which has their unique language, Architecture to me is another set of language which is specialised for the building industry. However, this language is understandable for people that are in the building industry from all over the world. Personally this is fascinating as there are not a lot of languages that are readable globally. Architecture is a history book, which chronicles the evolution of every respective regions and cities. This evolution can be economical, political or in the social aspect. By understanding this language, we allow ourselves to explore the world in an entirely different perspective. Each building, structure or sculpture has its own story behind and I feel that it is my job to read each and every story of them. I originally come from Hong Kong, where the Architecture is much different from what Australia has. Skyscrapers verses Suburban Houses, narrow walkways verses wide driveways plus bike lanes, Architecture not just only shape the city from a visual standpoint, but it also change how people acts in certain situations. Architecture and designing is full of possibilities. By designing day by day, year by
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Self Introduction -Technical Background I have been started to use computer designing tools three years
ago, when I am studying Landscape Architecture in RMIT. Over the course of three years, I have used various designing software, including Rhinoceros, Autocad, Sketchup and more. I have taken Virtual Environments in my first year of Melbourne University. Therefore I have the basics in Rhinoceros 5.0 in terms of technical skills. I have also been introduced to Grasshopper during that course. After watching a few tutorials online, I have understand that Grasshopper is a design software using programming to construct algorithms, then ultimately using these algorithms to create objects. This is a real challenge to me as I have never been an analytical or mathematical person. Mathematics or Algorithms are things that I have been avoiding to face since my secondary studies. Therefore I am worried but excited about how I will do in Studio Air. Parametric Design is an entirely fresh and raw idea to me. I have never imaged design can be so complex yet so free in terms of the form of the end design. Parametric Design seems to be a type of design type where there are a million possibilities that can be altered by simply changing the parameters. This is something that I have never done before so it is definitely challenging to me. However I have a great interest in Parametric Design as I am interested and fascinated by the way it tackles every design. It does not settle in any solutions or forms, but keeps going to look for other alternatives and outcome. I am also intrigued in the different parametric structures or algorithmic structures just by searching examples on the internet. Started from a simple pattern or a system, parametric have the unique ability to transform any pattern or system into forms that is not imaginable by anyone. This is also the main reason of why I am interested in Parametric Design. I wish I can develop proficiencies in parametric designs and Grasshopper for allowing myself to explore more and more in the design field in terms of thinking and also the technical side of it. FIG.1:
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Part A.1 - Architecture Discourse It is without a doubt that Architecture and design has a critical relationship and connection in human’s lives. Whether it is politically, economically or from the social standpoint, Architecture and design shapes the way people think and act. Architectural Discourse was a topic that only involves people that are in the profession, Engineers, Architects, or Urban Planners. Surprisingly, as our technology continues to evolve and develop, our minds have been grounding and aggravated. “It seems that they (people’s dreams) have been downgraded to hopes…There are no more visions… We are just hopeful.” said Anthony Dunne in his article ‘Speculative Everything’. Personally I agree with this statement made by Dunne. Since the ‘environmental friendly movement’ have been brought up by Environmentalists, everyone is worrying about preserving what is left and trying to repair the damage that human caused in the past. Even in today’s Architecture the emphasis is to be able to design with being environmental friendly. Our focus has always been on people’s benefits. Whether it is economical revenues or environmentally so that we can have a better future in terms of living, design has always been surrounded by boundaries that human creates. These limitations to design have prevented designers or basically anyone to be creative. There are no ‘thinking outside the box’ theories as we are all too busy focusing on the present, but not the future. Besides the weekly reading, I have also found a TED Talk which is presented by Daniel Libeskind in Dublin, where he suggests Architecture is closely related to Music. “Emotionally, Architecture is as complex and as abstract as music and it communicate to the soul, not just to the mind…Drawing is like a score, which is interpreted by the community.” I really admire the way that Libeskind sees Architecture. To have taken an emotional approach, focusing on how the drawing speaks to the audience really has open a gate of freedom for him, where there is no limitations grounding him in drawing these conceptual drawings. In a social sense, this is how Architecture really speaks to the public as well. “A building is not a repetition of another building…A building does not have to build in the same aspect of any previous building…” Libeskind’s
thinking really astonished me in changing the way people should think when it comes to design. Every building should be a piece of art rather than to duplicate other building’s design style. Architectural Discourse can be seen as a tool for designers, to cement or change the view for Architecture and what it can be. This is not a discussion plainly for people in the designing field, but also for people in the economical world, the social world, or in the political world. Having the understanding of the technologies that we have in today’s life, and being able to utilise it to the maximum, it can change our approach towards Architecture.
Part A.1 - Architecture Discourse: Case Study - Villa Savoye
The Swiss-born French architect Le Corbusier is one the most iconic figures in the history of architecture. He led the modern movement of architecture, shifting the paradigm of design modernism. He is a perfect example of Architectural Discourse. In his design of the Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier shows to the world how he works with his unpredictable imagination. Built between 1928 and 1931 at Poissy, France, Le Corbusier has introduced to the world ‘The 5 Points of Architecture’. He has his version of the utopia, where buildings are lifted up to the sky. He also changed the way people think of windows, where it does not have to be vertical. His 5 points of Architecture is a set of very inspirational lists. It changes the way how architect thinks of components in a building, with a lot of designers following his lead. Until today, there are still a lot of people’s thinking are shaped by Le Corbusier, due to his ability to think out of the box.
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Part A.1 - Architecture Discourse: Case Study - Museum of Future
The Museum of Future is the up and coming mega project that is one of the many extraordinary Architectural projects in Dubai. This is an unbuilt project that is going to be finished on the year 2017. The specialty about this project is the way it changes our thinking of what an Architectural study can be in terms of form and construction method. This $136 million project is expected to open in 2017, with “Holograms, robotics and 3-D printing playing a crucial role in the structure’s realisation.” 3-D printing is the leading technology which suggests printing a building is possible to be done. Having the ability to imagine the future and create it, is what I appreciate about this project. Although this is a project to be done in the future, I believe many other designers will be following this trend that is executed by the people of Dubai.
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