Architecture Design Studio Three: Air JOURNAL Michael J Stephenson 329784
Part I - E.O.I. Case for Innovation : Architecture as a Discourse
The project featured here first is one of my own. It is a bridge I designed very early in my degree. The brief was to design a bridge connecting the south and north sides of the yarra river, between Birrarung Marr and theAlexandra gardens. What I ended up designing was a proposal for the management of the growth of four mammoth Moreton Bay fig trees, with a construction period of 200 years. The branches would intertwine to become a complex network. Finally, through the voids and supported by cables and struts attached to the main ligaments of the trees, a slender wooden pedestrian footbridge would be laid, hidden amongst the canopy. This would add to the discourse of architecture in the following ways... It would be an impossibly long term build, unheard of in this modern age. It would be especially long considering the final product would only be a simple footbridge. For something so incredibly difficult to execute, the simple idea behind it was planting four trees. It would raise questions about its worth. It would raise argument for designing for the sake of aesthetics alone.
But there is also an opportunity in this project for the adavantages of Parametric Design to be displayed. With the ability to program algorithms based on mathematical functions, we could potentially write a script that mimics the growth of a tree, but also add in constraints that would mould the tree into a desired form. It is not possible yet, but we could even potentially program a minute robotic manufacturing machine* with this script, and have it build this design in a way that mimics an actual trees growth, so that no scaffolding is even required during construction. The result would be a construction process that is gradual, but still relatively much faster than the growth of an actual tree, so that people could almost watch the design grow in front of them.
This is a very exciting concept and one which would generate much discussion, and it is purely parametric in its essence. *See week 3 for my entry on ‘Moon Studio’; a project that is aimed at building structures in this way (though with larger machines) on the moon.*
Part I - E.O.I. Case for Innovation : Architecture as a Discourse
Image from - http://architectureau.com/calendar/exhibitions/a-new-building-for-the-university-of-melbourne/
Pictured are the design for Melbourne University’s new Architecture Building, and CH2 (Council House Two). Both are recent projects (with the Architecture Building not even yet started) and both display similar qualities to each other. Whilst they are not extravagent examples of the potential of Parametric Design, they both display features which would benefit from parametric design, namely the vertical sun shades across the building’s face. The repetative pattern of identical components is something that parametric design excels in.
Images from -http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/AboutCouncil/MediaCentre/ImageGallery/Pages/CH2imagegallery.aspx
Part I - E.O.I Case for Innovation : Precedents of Parametric Design Precedents of Parametric Designs This is a project called BLOOM by DO|SU Studio Architecture. Designed parametrically, it holds a form which is quite typical of the design method... one which is elegant, light, fluid, and contemporary. Additionally, its integration in to software allows its components to be ordered, numbered, and cut using an automated laser cutter. What is special about ‘Bloom’ is that it is constructed of hypersenstive sheet metal, that when heated (ie when exposed to sunlight) it curls up, mimicking the actions of a flower. The design philosophy is concerned mainly with this idea of a changing skin, one that is directly correlated to the environment in which it exists (in this case, the temperature). The designers have a great interest in how the changing skin can be used to control the amount of light coming through the perforations.
I have included it here as I believe it has very close similarities to our brief for the Western Interchange Gateway. It is an installation piece, with no purpose further than to create discourse. It contains elements which are present in architecture, mainly, the enclosed spaces it creates, and the role of light in such places. And it directly references its environment through its changing skin.
Construction Layout This particular project bears important relation to my own ideas, in that I have been toying with the idea of creating a structure that changes with time, so to symbolise the growth of the city of Wydnham.
Detail of thermo-sensitive scales. Designing such a structure outside the realm of modelling software would be an ardious task filled with constant iterations. Here, is the clear advantage of parametric design.
DO|SU Studio Architectre. 2012. DO|SU Studio Architectre. [ONLINE] Available at: http://dosustudioarchitecture.blogspot.com.au/. [Accessed March 2012].
Part I - E.O.I Case for Innovation : Matrix
CUT RESEARCH PROJECT: Inputs, Associations, Outputs.
OUTPUTS
ASSOCIATION TYPE ‘MATHS FUNCTION’
NORMAL TO SURFACE PLANE
CURVE INTERSECTS
ARBITRARY POINTS
INPUTS
DATA DRIVEN COMPONENTS
Part I - E.O.I Case for Innovation : Precedents o
DATA DRIVEN LINES
DATA DRIVEN GEOMETRY
In this research project, we experimented with a range of pre-written Grasshopper Definitions which utilised different methods to create forms. This was very useful as an introduction to what was possible with Grasshopper. It was intended to help us narrow down the modelling techniques we would later use for our final design, by showcasing the achievable forms from different methods. Some forms would inevitably be better suited to our Gateway project more than others. However, I believe that with a better understanding of Rhino and Grasshopper, every single method could have potentially been used.
of Parametric Design
DATA DRIVEN EXTRUSION
DATA DRIVEN ROTATION
DATA DRIVEN SHADING
Part I - E.O.I. Research Project : CUT (Develop)
REVERSE ENGINEERING CASE STUDY - ‘ARTICULATED CLOUD’ Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh Ned Kahn in collaboration with Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Santa Monica, California
For my Reverse Engineering Case Study project, I chose ‘Articulated Cloud’ shown here on this spread. A.C. interacts directly with its environment through its unique hanging tiles. These tiles ripple in the wind much like grass ripples in a field. What is interesting, is that A.C. uses this effect to mimic the form of clouds in the sky, hence its name. It is even more interesting to note however, that this only really works when viewing a snapshot of the builing, like the one on this page. In real life, the rippling effect is very fast and is continious and is not remotely like the slow moving if not virtually still clouds above it. Still, this idea of a design directly displaying the effects of its environment is strong, both visually and in terms of meaning. The design for the Wyndham Gateway could benefit greatly from a similar concept. Perhaps the design is built in such a way so that the cars moving past the design are the environmental influence that is being reflected.
Images via LMS. Intially from Christine Killory, and René Davids, ‘Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh’, in Detail in Process. 1st edn, Asbuilt (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2008), pp. 112 - 117
Part I - E.O.I. Research Project : CUT (Develop)
REVERSE ENGINEERING CASE STUDY - ‘ARTICULATED CLOUD’ Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
The visual effect of ‘Articulated Cloud’ has a very strong resemblance to the possible forms that can come out of image sampling, so to try and reverse engineer this project using Grasshopper, I thought I would start with my Villa Savoye definition.
I realise that ‘Articulated Cloud’ doesnt actually move the tiles to resemble clouds on purpose, but rather lets them ripple in the wind. I really only needed to recreate the geometry of the hanging tiles, but I thought that if I designed Articulated Cloud, I would need to demonstrate how it could look in action before it was actually built, so using the image sampler here would help demonstrate its active form. On left is the image I quickly made up in Photoshop to become the clouds.
Part I - E.O.I. Research Project : CUT (Develop)
REVERSE ENGINEERING CASE STUDY - ‘ARTICULATED CLOUD’ Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
Part I - Expression of Interest
WYNDHAM CITY GATEWAY - Intial Design Concept Our concept for the Wyndham City Gateway will display the following ideas. Interaction between the motorist’s travel through the design, and the visual effect of the design. A commentary on growth and the consequences of a growing city. Light being used to demonstrate the previous ideas. The effect of air on the design. How the design ages. We have attempted to capture the idea of movement by creating a form that will have visual impact only when moving through it at speed. This form is basically a tunnel which contricts with greater acceleration the furthur you move into it. The desired effect is that the motorist will feel the walls slowly moving in closer to him/her, but as they proceed, the speed at which those walls constrict increases likewise until it almost feels like the tunnel will suddenly become a solid wall stopping them dead. This feeling is our commentary on the effects of an exponentially growing city. If it gets out of hand, it will be already moving too fast to be stopped. We could change the design to be the inverse, so that the tunnel expands exponetially and reaches great heights. But the height is too great to sustain and eventually must come crashing down, just like a plane stalling because it is climbing at an angle too great and loses momentum. If the city grows too much too quickly, it will not be able to sustain itself and will eventually crash. The way our design ages and weathers will symbolise the inevitable counterpart of growth... deterioation.
Part I - Expression of Interest
WYNDHAM CITY GATEWAY - Initial Design Concept
We experimented with different forms by creating individual surfaces for the interior and exterior, and through boolean subtraction using spheres. The spherical cutouts were part of a design concept concerning change and the ways in which we could capture that idea. if one was to look in a fixed direction and drive through the gateway, we wanted the gateway to have a smooth transition of form. We attempted to show change through the dynamic form and size of the gateway, and through the changing amount of light.
Part II - Project Proposal
WYNDHAM CITY GATEWAY - Continuing Concept After the Mid Semester Critiques, we decided to change our design concept radically. The idea of a tunnel or at least of an above ground roadside installation that changed over the distance, was not unique. We also wanted our design to incorporate long period change, so that it would have a long lasting effect as a gateway to Wyndham city.
We came up with the notion of building our installation underground, (shown here with road placement). The concept would have our design set into a deep excavation which would catch water. The continually changing water level would reveal different parts of the gateway throughout the year, giving the gateway substance as a continuing process rather than it becoming a stagnant landmark.
Part II - Project Proposal
WYNDHAM CITY GATEWAY - Continuing Concept For our final design, we used this concept of change via water levels to give our gateway a long period effect. We kept on the idea of revealing and concealing parts of the gateway, and created a artificial salt marsh that mimicked those which Wyndham City prides itself on.
For our final design, we used this concept of change via water levels to give our gateway a long period effect. We kept on the idea of revealing and concealing parts of the gateway, and created a artificial salt marsh that mimicked those which Wyndham City prides itself on.
The form was created through experimentation with a straightforward Voronoi pattern. Initially we were concerned about choosing such a stereotypical parametric design process, as we wanted to make our design unique. But the way in which we used this process in our design sets it apart. We wanted to make a gateway that was a part of the landscape, but also wanted it to be clearly man made. The Voronoi pattern, whilst a natrually occuring algorithm, could never emerge in the form of land masses. By creating mounds that mimicked nature, in a clearly defined rectangular, in the arrangement of a blatently calculated design, we hoped to confuse the boundaries between what is natural and what is artificial. This was not an attempt to blur the line between artificial and natural forms, but an attempt to provoke thought about this line and to confront common conceptions about it.
Part III - Learning Objectives and Outcomes
From this course I have learnt the following... • The technical skills for basic to intermediate parametric design. • That parametric design is not a tool for computerizing pre-existing desgins, but is rather an entirerly new medium which to work with. • That Architecture can be the platform that discusses this method of design.
i can now use Rhino and Grasshopper to quickly create complex images which previously would’ve taken hours to draw by hand. This is an ability I will further build onto in future design projects as the advantages have already outweighed the obstacle of learning a new method. If I lack the knowledge to achieve a certain result, the solution can be easily found through internet based forums and video tutorials, allowing me to quickly learn the new procedure and utilise it immediately (something which I did numerous times during the final stages of the gateway project).
A good example of this is the reverse engineering case study. Prior to the case study, I watched an EX-LAB tutorial which contained an extra segment demonstrating how to make the classic parametric brick wall. I found this very interesting and proceeded to make my own version which used an image of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye to determine the rotation of the ‘brick’ components. Having learnt this new definition, when it came to the case study, I was able to refer back to my Villa Savoye brick wall and use the same method to determine the rotation of the panels on my version of Articulated Cloud.
Part III - Learning Objectives and Outcomes Final Conclusion
It was during the gateway project that we really came to understand the concept of Architecture as an object for discourse. The design brief was for a sculpture... an installation which serves no purpose other than being seen. This sculpture was to be the new marker of Wyndham City, and to give people passing through a preview of its ideals. This design needed to say something, either directly as a commentary on contemporary issues of importance to Wyndham City, or on a more subtle level as and indicator of Wyndham City’s character. Our group created a design that could raise an interesting discussion about the boundaries betweeen what is artificial and what is truly natural, and whether this boundary can be blurred, sharpened, or removed altogether. It is our belief that such a design would have a greater benefit (than a simple pleasurable aesthetic) to Wyndham City as it would act as an indicator of Wyndham’s greater cultural interests concerning Philosophy and Art (whether those interests actually exist is besides the point). This is exactly how Architecture acts as discourse, as it is the starting point for thoughts that lead to discussions that eventually lead to greater understanding. i understand now, that architecture, if nothing else, should be in the very least something which can create discourse. The best design should always aim to be something that will be talked about, as this not only solidifies its reputation as an important design, but also helps to form new ideas. These new ideas are not just restricted to architecture, but can take form as anything from views on socio-economic class divisions to lyrics in music. In this sense, Architecture can be something that produces creative thought, rather than just being born from it.