A RCHI T ECT URE DESIGN S T UDIO: A IR
Content s 1.0 The Case for Innovation 1.1 Architecture as Discourse 1.2 Computational Architecture 1.3 Parametric Modelling 2.0 Case Studies 2.1.1 Group Research and Argument 2.1.2 Case Study 0.0: Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo 2.1.3 Case Study 1.0: OMA McCormack Tribune Campus Centre 2.2.1 Case Study 2.1: King’s Cross 2.2.2 Case Study 2.2: Shigeru Ban’s Japan Pavilion 2.3 Matrix 2.4 Physical and Digital Models 3.0 Expression of Interest: Gateway to Wyndham 4.0 After the EOI 4.1 Week 9 Progress 4.2 Week 10 Progress 4.3 Week 1 Progress 5.0 After the Final Presentation
1.0 T HE CASE FOR INNOVAT ION “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing
- Buckminster Fuller
model obsolete.�
1.1 A rchitect ure a s Discour se My name is Michael McLoughlin. I’m twenty-six years old and moved to Melbourne from Adelaide this year. I’ve tried science, arts and business degrees, never getting any further than first semester, and ran a small business for 4 years before settling on architecture, which is something I am truly passionate about. I like to read widely and understand everything I encounter in the world. I’m a bit of a geek with interests spanning, but not limited to, economics, political philosophy, moral philosophy, biology, cosmology and trans-humanism. For me, architecture and design begins with books. I look to theory for my inspiration.
My previous studio was restricted to hand drawings. We were required to
create an intervention in Hall Court, a service lane in the business centre of Adelaide. We had four typologies to choose from, of which I chose a viewing platform. We
Above right: hand-rendered elevation Below, left to right: A materiality exploration photomontage and shadow study of my intervention; hand-rendered perspective; section and plan of in
were to focus the intervention on a group of readings we were required to do related to the hermeneutics and phenomenology of architecture. With this in mind, my viewing platform does not view any vistas, but rather forces the person experiencing the intervention into direct contact with the oft neglected surrounding buildings. Through a series of partition walls and cuts through the main room of the structure, the elevations of the surrounding buildings are divided into fragments. This division breaks up the experience of the elevation of the building as a whole, and instead encourages the contemplation and appreciation of materials which may have been neglected if the elevation were presented as a whole. Users are encouraged to interact with the structure and surrounding elevations through a series of platforms that reveal parcels of the elevations to sight and touch. Hand-rails on the platforms leading to the centre building abut into the concrete partitions, once again encouraging the touch of the materials in the intervention. The partition walls on the platform also frame intimate views of other users of the intervention. The overall intention was to illicit a return of the body to sight-dominated contemporary architecture.
tervention; exploded axonometric.
So far in my architectural education, I’ve considered digital drawing and modeling something of a crutch for some people. I’ve seen students in my year have their designs constrained to what they could put together in SketchUp, or at the other end of the spectrum design things in Rhino that have no hope of resisting the forces of gravity. I take a very holistic approach to architecture. I think digital drawing and modelling is important, but no more so than manual drawing and model making, knowledge of structures and construction, and architectural theory and history. I firmly believe that architecture involves a healthy dose of appreciation for materials, and that if you can’t accurately cut and glue boxboard into a beautiful model by hand, then you shouldn’t be entrusted to design a building. I tend to design with pen and paper. Once I develop the parti into some semblance of a building, I move to digital modeling in SketchUp. Once the design is finalised, my presentations tend to be hand drawn with hand made models. As for technical knowledge of digital architecture, I’m pretty decent at SketchUp and AutoCAD, and I’m learning Rhino as we speak. I can make a nice render with SketchUp and Photoshop and I’m more than capable of making complete construction documentation in AutoCAD. I haven’t read much theory on digital architecture however. I’ve been absorbing the whole of architectural discourse in a mainly chronological order. I currently find myself stuck in nineteenth century theory, mostly because that is the period this semester’s architecture history course is focussing on. I’d be happy to read more on digital architecture theory, but unfortunately I’m the kind of person that starts with Hegel in an attempt to get to Sartre.
From left to right: An experiential shot of a 1:20 scale model of a pavilion designed to sit on the Barr Smith lawns at the University of Adelaide as an e
My favourite piece of (built) architecture is Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals spa. The spa has a sensitivity to material, place and body that I think few buildings can match. The raw materials used; stone, chrome and brass, have distinct evocative sensory qualities, which combined with the ritual of bathing makes for a visceral sensory experience that celebrates the body’s place in architecture. I am also love Louis Kahn’s work, especially his residential projects, and especially Fisher House. Once again, this has a lot to do with sensitivity to site and materials. Like Zumthor’s spa, Fisher house uses locally quarried stone, on top of which sit two beautifully detailed cypress cubes. Both works are fairly minimalist compositions with a sense of monumentality that sits at ease with the surrounding landscape. I think both buildings reflect a certain level of quality that I would desire in my future work, and that I desire in architecture in general. In material and detailing, they are exacting monuments to precision, respect for materials and quality building. From my previous work and choices of favourite pieces of architecture, you can see I have an appreciation for materiality and quality of construction. I am also very concerned with a phenomenology of architecture, which may be somewhat at odds with a computational architecture. That is not to say that I am not accepting of new technologies. I was amazed by the Water Cube after Chris Bosse gave a lecture at UniSA last year. It does mean however that I am incredibly critical of computational architecture as a form-finding exercise. Architecture is more than just challenging conventions with curves. The baroque did that already.
http://minimalissimo.com/2009/07/therme-vals/
Architecture and Urbanism, Issue 461
exploration of tectonic culture; Section of pavilion; interior shot of Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals; Louis Kahn’s Fisher House
1.2 Compu ting in A rchitect ure The use of computers in the architectural design process presents the architectural discourse with a myriad of new opportunities. Traditionally only used to assist in the drawing and modelling processes, new technologies have allowed the computer to become part of the design process, rather than just a tool for representation. Able to sort through vast amounts of data, computer systems can assist the designer by providing powerful analytical tools that can inform designers of the efficacy of their proposals. Moreover, architects can now be assisted in the design phase by programs that help optimise and create solutions to architectural problems which can then be selected or modified by the designer. This two way communication between analysis, synthesis and evaluation, which has always been intrinsic to the design process, only stands to be made more effective and efficient with the use of computers in the architectural design process. Architects have always been constrained by how they both draw and build. Early Greek stone architecture shows vestiges of its wooden precedents, as do early iron bridges. The communication between representation (drawing, modelling) and building is necessarily a process that constrains both the design and its product. As William Mitchell has commented, architects tend to “draw what they can build, and build what they can draw�. The
Above: Roland Snooks, Negotiations in the Emergent Field
proliferation of straight lines throughout most of the history of architecture is due to the straight-edge. Even the widespread use of the French-curve did not allow designers much more room than a slightly modified Platonic geometry. It has only been with advanced computational drawing and modelling that architects have been able to design more than the circle, arc and straight line. With computational architecture the designer is only limited by their ability with the programs at hand. Importantly, as digital modelling techniques become more advanced and the ability for manufacturers to realise these designs aligns with these advances, the constraints that traditional building methods and techniques exhibit over the architectural discourse will be lifted. Much like the modernists tried to create an architecture devoid of sentiment to the past, computational architecture allows for architectures that are almost wholly divergent from traditional architectural discourses. Not just an architecture of curves, architectures of the digital age are highly adaptable, problem-solving solutions to the contemporary demands placed on architecture. Digital design programs allow for perfect application of statics in complex structures with the ability to make changes to the design and have the structure react automatically without time and labour intensive recalculations. Analytical tools allow external and internal environmental qualities to be precisely mapped, which can then be used to directly influence the design allowing for sustainable designs. Agent-based systems allow complex, interrelated emergent systems to be mapped and thus influence the design of the building; enabling buildings that are perfectly adapted to their uses. Again, like the steel skeleton frame and the curtain wall freed up architecture to allow for a new industrial-commercial age, digital architectures provide the adaptability and flexibility architecture requires in the digital age. It is precisely the combination of agency and environmental stimulus that creates a healthy ecology. Indeed, architecture can be thought of as a living, evolving thing: a carapace for the human, a third skin beyond our clothes. Beyond just a shell, our buildings carry symbolic value that is both part of and emergent from those who inhabit it. Much like an organism that is unable to make sense of and react to its environment, our built environment has been slow to adapt to the real, persistent and changing physical and psychic needs humans place on architecture. Through the use of computational modelling systems we can create an emergent architecture that truly reacts to and realises place, and a built environment which as a whole represents the unity and diversity of a living ecosystem.
http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Project_Details.aspx?id=1299&dop=True
1.3 P a r a met ric Modelling Parametricism in architecture has the possibility of providing architects with invaluable tools with which to design buildings that satisfy public and private needs, both social and economic, like never before. The discourse is on the verge of creating wholly new ways to conceptualise and realise the built form. The advantages of parametric architecture are manifold: from structural and material optimisation, to systems of data management that truly allow human needs and actions to be part of the design process. The reason why I believe parametricism will only possibly allow architecture to achieve a great leap forward, so to speak, is that it seems to be getting bogged down in the quagmire of a stylistic movement. The claimed parametricism of firms such as Gehry Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects is merely parametricism on the surface. To create a truly parametric architecture, the approach needs to be holistic. Rather than using parametric tools to create a form which has been designed without parametric tools, such as many of Gehry Partners and ZHA’s works, parametric tools need to be part of the design process from the ground up. Roland Snook’s Negotiations of the Emergent Field appropriately integrates parametric tools into the design process. By using agent based systems, Snook has bridged the gap of the leap of faith that architects
http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Project_Deta
Above left: Water Cube by LAVA isometric detail. Above right; Water Cube. Bottom left and centre; Roland Snooks, Negotiations in the Emergent Field. Bottom right; Water Cube.
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take when describing human behaviours in and around their designed buildings. Rather than using rules of thumb and abstraction, Negotiations allows the users of the building to become part of the architecture, defining it by their actions. This desire to challenge relationships between the architect and the public in light of digital technologies can only serve the betterment of architectural theory, design processes and the public’s interaction with architecture at large. A realised project that also demonstrates the holistic use of parametric tools in the design process is the Beijing National Aquatics Centre. By using generative design tools to create a structurally optimised WeariePhelan frame, PTW Architects, Arup and CSCEC were able to not only create a structure with few mechanical redundancies, they also built a parametric system which was capable of reacting to changes in the needs of the design without having to “go back to the drawing board”. On top of this, the Water Cube was also able to combine the client’s wishes for a square structure, while presenting the bubble as a leitmotif for the activities which take place inside. This allusion to the program of the building on the facade has taken a positive step towards creating a sensitive and delicate symbolism in architecture, unlike the gimmicky symbolism of the postmoderns.
ails.aspx?id=1299&dop=True
http://www.l-a-v-a.net/assets/Uploads/0802-watercube-2-24212-copy.jpg
2.0 CASE S T UDIES “The monument does not actualise the virtual event but incorporates or embodies it: it gives it a body, a life, a universe.”
- Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari
“If spiritual and emotional quality is a noble attribute when it resides in the mass of a building, it must, when applied to a vi scheme of ornamentation, raise this at once from the level of triviality to the heights of dramatic expression.”
- Louis Sullivan
irile and synthetic
2.1.1 Group Rese arch & A rgument I am beginning to see the power of digital architecture and parametricism. While it takes a massive investment of time at the start of the design process to get a usable definition working, once it is completed it allows for almost complete control of the design, if your understanding of the programs at hand is sufficient. I will work on a definition for hours to no avail, and then by a stroke of inspiration after I have walked away from it, I will fit the pieces together and understand how to make the program work the way I want it to work, to deliver the design I need. It is an incredibly liberating feeling. At this point, I still can’t see myself honestly being able to create anything in Rhino and Grasshopper that I would actually want to realise in the world; but that may be due to my fledgeling skills in the programs. Regardless, I find myself wishing that the other programs I use for design, drawing and modelling were parametric also. As a group, Sophie, Nick and I have decided to focus on structural parametric design. We chose this area due to the current trend in digital architecture to focus on form making, neglecting structural, functional and performance considerations. As a group, we are concerned with a marriage of structure and ornament, as Louis Sullivan has suggested in Ornament in Architecture. Through this union, we intend to span the (false) dichotomy
http://www.curatedobject.us/.a/6a00e54f9f8f8c88340134878dd66c970c-pi
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/ American_soldiers_Eiffel_Tower.gif
Left: The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered, Louis Sullivan, Gage Building ornament from facade. Centre: The Engineer Exalted, Gustave Eiffel, Eif
between architecture and engineering; between sculptural art and construction. Moreover, we want to explore the unique position Werribee has in the broader industrial, urban and nonhuman environment. While exploring the broader geographies of the area, our intention is to create a beautiful, ornamental, sculptural piece of architecture that maximises scale and visual and experiential impact, while minimising the size of the ‘kit of parts’ used to construct the structure. This approach will create a structure on a monumental scale, but will also minimise both material and construction costs. The placement of the intervention near a highway is a call to arms for a monumentalisation of movement and allows an expression of the deep relationship Werribee and the highway share with urbanism, industry and nature. Railway stations and airports have often been the subject of architectural interventions: spaces for the monumentalisation of high-speed movement in the digital age. The highway is an oft neglected space for architectural monumentalisation and we intend to remedy that. This approach is apt for the Wyndham City gateway project because through the optimisation of structure with a holistic integration of ornament, we will be able to create an exciting, eye-catching monumental structure that will act as a beacon for the city of Wyndham that is sensitive to, and sits at ease with, the surrounding geographies.
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ffel Tower. Right: Monument to Movement, Grimshaw Architects, Southern Cross Station.
2.1.2 C a se St udy 0.0: N at ure Bo ard w alk Regardless of being unable to recreate Studio Gang Architects’ Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo in Grasshopper with my skill set at the time, I was nonetheless taken by its design, intention and execution. The project is structural ornament in the Sullivanesque sense of the term; in that the ornament, or that which makes the design beautiful, is inseparable from the mass of the structure. While the structure sits at ease in its picturesque site, it is a building which is to be experienced through movement, rather than just through its image in the landscape. The building invites ambulation through its space; indeed, it is not fully experienced unless the observer passes through the object. This experience-through-movement has implications for the design intention for our Wyndham gateway project. We will create the same kind of structure for Wyndham: one which sits beautifully in its picturesque surroundings, but also invites movement through the structure; movement at 100km/h rather than walking speed.
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2.1.3 C a se St udy 1.0: OM A McCor mick Tribu
1. Original definition
2. Experimenting with different reference geometry I imported my own line drawings. I then decided to use a lofted surface using the RevSft component instead. This added geometry in the Z direction, making it a more complex surface, rather than just an image.
ne C ampus Centre
3. Attempting to make something derivative of Future Systems’s Selfridge’s Building As the base geometry, rather than a flat surface, I used a RevSrf component to make a revolved lofted curve to place my items on. I experimented with a few different reference images, but decided it looked better plain, so I went about removing those components. I could not figure out how to move the items closer to the reference surface without rebuilding the entire definition, so I decided to stop there.
2.2.1 C a se St udy 2.1: K ing’s Cros s
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/King’s_Cross_W
McAslan + Partner’s King’s Cross western concourse spans the massive circulation space between King’s Cross and St Pan diagrid pattern, creating a dialogue between the architectures of the 19th and the 21st centuries. Its intention was to create a between these stations and the London Underground, as well as creating a centerpiece for the transport hub. Beyond achie project monumentalises movement through the circulation space, while at the same time creating a monument to rail travel. movement is something we will explore with our proposal for the Wyndham gateway project: rail stations and airports monum travel; why should the highway be missing this kind of monumentalisation?
Western_Concourse_-_central_position.jpg
ncras stations with a a greater connection eving these goals, this This monumentalisation of mentalise those methods of
While I was able to make a close approximation of the King’s Cross western concourse in Grasshopper, I was not able to get the fine tune control to make different size and type diagrids like on the image left. With a greater understanding of data management, I imagine I will be able to create this effect. This project has taught me the ease of adapting Grasshopper definitions to different situations, and has also given me the skills I need to develop my own definitions. Unconstrained by the original form, and with a better understanding of data management, I would like to create a diagid structure that reacts to the local environment and embodies the kind of monumentality I have been discussing earlier, while exploring concepts of movement and affect.
2.2.1 C a se St udy 2.2: Shiger u B a n’s Jap a n P
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Shigeru Ban’s Japan Pavilion exemplifies the strength of a gridshell structure. Utilising only cardboard tubes for structural members and tape for joints, this work shows that grand structures can be achieved through use of simple repeating units. This use of simple cardboard and tape also allows quick assembly and disassembly with a minimum of industrial waste. Once again, this structure is something to be experienced through movement. The axiality of the structure draws those inside into circulation. Indeed, it seems that diagrids and gridshell structures lend themselves to movement.
Pavilion
I made this structure in Grasshopper as a diagrid, because I was more familiar with it than a gridshell. Since I created it, I have become more familiar with data management and have been able to create a space-frame like structure on top of a diagrid using surface normals. With this new knowledge, I believe I would be able to more accurately recreate the Japan Pavilion’s gridshell structure. Moreover, this knowledge has allowed me to really hit stride with my Grasshopper definitions, and I now feel I am more than capable of designing a definition that will be able to create any design we wish according to our needs, rather than according to familiarity to an already existing design.
2.3 M at ri x Having decided on the diagrid as our technique; due to its ability to form patterns and its almost unique application to monumental movement spaces, we began to experiment with the capabilities of the pattern. In column one, I have varied the amount of divisions in the grid, as well as the patterns of the grid by using a Dispatch component. In the second column, I have changed the base geometry that the grid is stretched across. Throughout this process I have defined geometries in Grasshopper rather than in Rhino. I find it very easy to visualise functions, having a decent background in math. It also allows us to change the base geometries dynamically in Grasshopper with ease. Having decided that some form of barrel vault for highway users to drive through would be apt for the Wyndham gateway project, column 3 experiments with changed patterns and base geometries along the barrel vault, creating an undulating surface. In column 4 we have adjusted the location of the barrel vault’s arches along the short axis, allowing for a structure that curves along its long axis. At the bottom we have experimented with splitting the grid into multiple sections, or placing two grids on top of each other. Having decided that a long, snake-like structure would allow for a longer and more profound experience while travelling along the highway, we moved the start and finish points further along the long axis, while still experimenting with movement across its short axis.
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As our project aim is to create a monument to movement through a structure that integrates ornament, we decided to use the truss-like pattern for the overall structure (step 1). This pattern reduces statical redundancies and overall number of members; reducing construction costs. This pattern also embodies movement; the emphasis created by the slanting members suggests movement and draws the eyes along its arrowed pattern. Much like South Pond at Lincoln Zoo, our structure will not only be a beautiful object in the landscape, it will also be something to be experienced by movement through the structure. As such, a barrel-vault was the obvious choice (step 2). After testing the different patterns on the vault, we increased the adaptability of the vault by allowing it to taper inwards and outwards (step 3). Wanting to explore the relationships between urbanism, industry and the non-human environment, ideas of compression, efficiency and openness came to mind respectively. While we feel these concepts should be explored through materiality, we wanted to allow for the exploration of these relationships through the form of the structure. With this in mind we allowed for the structure to not only compress and expand (as in step 3), but to also be unconstrained from a linear path (step 4). This lack of constraint will allow the structure to be designed to be placed anywhere on the site. As mentioned on the previous page, we increased the length of the structure to allow a longer processional time along its length (step 5). The adaptability and scalability of the structure shows the feasibility of placing the structure in any one of its iterations on the site within budget constraints. The structure itself explores concepts of monumentalisation of movement, and further refinement of the design will allow us to explore the relationship the structure has with the surrounding geographic environments.
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2.4 Physic al and Digit al Models Ultimately, we want to focus on creating a joint that we can use to connect the structural members of our design. It is all well and good for us to laser cut and score boxboard into a model, but it explores the tectonic relationship between members as little as 3-D printing does. Constrained by time (and ability) for our EOI presentation, we decided to make as many exploratory models as possible. Initially we simply connected a laser cut diagrid pattern over a wire mesh frame: the malleability of the frame showing the malleability of the diagrid. We felt that this was far too simple an expression of the possibilities of our design however. We decided to use a wire frame and Pinkysil to create a structure that could easily bend on all axes. While this was interesting and once again showed the adaptability of the structure, we wanted to create something that was a closer approximation of our Grasshopper model. We made multiple attempts to unroll the diagrid that we had chosen from our matrix, but it proved too complex to flatten into something that could easily be laser cut and scored. We made the decision to go with a simpler shape that undulated its width, but did not move its centres of its guide curves along its axis. This need to ‘dumb down’ our design to make it work in the laser cutter only reinforced out want to create a model of the structure that uses structural members and joints; something we will explore in future models. This harks back to Bill Mitchell saying “architects tend to draw what they can build, and build what they can draw”: we don’t want our design to be constrained by our drawings; or indeed our laser cuttings.
E X PRES SION OF IN T ERES T: G AT E WAY TO W Y MICHAEL McLOUGHLIN | NICK BERGIN | SOPHIE BARDOEL
Y NDH A M
W ho a re we and w h at are we interested in?
Our interest lies in bridging the gap between engineering and art throu in digital architecture. To unify structure and ornament, both must be c beginnings of a design. Digital architectures allow us to work with both
ugh the marriage of structure and ornament considered in equal measure at the h, holistically, throughout the design process
W hy is t his relev ant to f reew ay a r t ?
Places for movement; railway terminals, airports, and certain shipping to movement in the digital age. This kind of monumentalisation is miss art installations may celebrate the sensation and affect of movement a monumentalise it. Automotive transport and the highway form the back importance of the highway is lost on no one. Too often, however, is the place, despite its necessity and convenience. We aim to create a gate Werribee and surrounds, but also creates a monument to the very thin to flourish: high-speed, personal automotive transport. Digital structura ornamental structures that can be modified and reshaped to fit the nee to reduce material costs and construction time, maximising presence a
ports; have become monuments sing in freeway art. Existing freeway at high speed, but they very rarely kbone of the modern economy and the e highway presented as a lonely, desolate eway for Wyndham that not only celebrates ng that allows communities like Werribee al architectures allow us to create beautiful eds of the site with ease, while allowing us and scale of the built form.
Precedent: A A MI Pa r k | Cox A rchitect s AAMI Park was developed using structural parametric design tools. This allowed an optimisation of structure allowing a minimum of steel tonnages used in the roof structure; creating material savings and thus cutting costs of construction materials. Moreover, the structure itself is a beautiful object, showing that a convergence of structure and ornament is possible.
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Precedent: N at ure Bo a rd w alk at Lincoln Pa r k Zoo | St udio G ang A rchitect s The Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo exemplifies the unification of ornament and structure in architecture: the ornament of the vault is integrated with the mass of the structure. More than being just a beautiful structure in a picturesque site, the building invites the observer to pass through the structure; indeed the space is not fully experienced without passing within it. This same experiencethrough-movement will be explored for the Wyndham gateway, albeit at high speed in an automobile, rather than on foot.
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Precedent: British Museum Gre at Cour t Foster + P ar t ner s The diagrid pattern used for the span of the Great Court of the British Museum creates a light-filled internal space for circulation. The relationship between diagrid patterns, light, and circulation space is explored in our proposal for the Wyndham gateway.
http://www.dac.dk/media/11561/british_museum_Nigel_Young_Foster_Partners_RGB.jpg
Precedent: 30 St M a r y A xe (For m ally Swis s Re Building) | Foster + P ar t ner s The Gherkin shows the adaptability of the diagrid pattern in creating a vertical monumental structure, rather than a massive span. Our proposal for the Wyndham gateway intends to flip this; creating a monument to horizontally, rather than verticality.
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Precedent: K ing’s Cros s Wester n Concour se | John Mc A sla n + P ar t ner s King’s Cross western concourse once again shows the ability for the diagrid pattern to create a large internal span for circulation. Moreover, the structure monumentalises movement both on foot and by rail. This monumentalisation of high-speed movement will be explored with our proposal.
Precedent: J ap an P avilion Shiger u B a n Shigeru Ban’s Japan Pavilion shows the strength of the gridshell structure and the versatility of materiality in these structures. Using only cardboard tubes for structural members and tape for joints, this work shows that grand structures can be made easily and quickly from simple repeating units. Once again, this is a structure to be experienced through movement within.
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Precedent: Chiddingstone C a stle Or a nger y Peter Hulber t A rchitect s The Chiddingstone Castle Orangery gridshell structure not only shows the strength and lightness of the gridshell, but it also explores the notion of a universal joint which fits all structural connections. Developing a universal joint for the Wyndham gateway project would drastically reduce material costs and minimise construction costs.
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AAMI Park Cox Architects
Nature Boardwalk Studio Gang
British Museum Foster + Partners
30 St Mary Axe Foster + Partners
King’s Cross McAslan + Partners
Japan Pavilion Shigeru Ban
Chiddingstone Castle Orangery Peter Hulbert Architects
Structural optimisation
Structure as ornament
Monumentalisation of movement
Diagrid
Pa r a met ric Diagr am
M atri x
Protot yping
Parametric structural architecture allows us the flexibility to explore the monumentality, while celebrating Werribee’s position within the urban, Our holistic approach to structure and ornament allows us to create be within Werribee and surrounds, while engaging with the viewer as they that our project for the Wyndham Gateway is a monument to the exper Indeed, this sense of movement is something that Werribee embodies national average and its location near a major highway. Our proposal i a celebration of ornament and structure, and a monument to Werribee geographical context.
e relationships between movement and industrial and non-human environments. eautiful structures that sit picturesquely y pass within the space. The result is rience of movement in the digital age. s, with population growth far above the is a paean to the sensation of movement, e’s unique position in the wider urban-
4.0 Af ter t he EOI I found the mid semester crit to be an overwhelmingly
these ideas will add a theoretical basis to our designs. All
positive experience. The criticism I received made me
together, I think as a group we work fantastically together
critically re-engage with aspects of the design that I may
and I’m glad we are all equally passionate about our
have neglected or allowed to fall by the wayside. Our
design.
initial focus was far too much on structural optimisation:
For what purpose? Whereas we had left out our ideas
explore parametric architecture. While I still feel like it is
about the monumentalisation of movement, which really
most probably something I will not use in my designs in
was our strongest point. Overall, I think the idea that
the near future, it has nonetheless opened up my mind
stuck with me the most is that we simply weren’t being
as to what parametric architecture is. Before I began this
critical enough of ourselves. I left the crit feeling that no
subject, I used to write parametric architecture off as
matter what was asked of us at the final review, we would
a useless form finding technique. Now I am more than
have a solid justification for our design choices.
aware that it is a legitimate tool used by serious architects
to explore a multitude of design potentialities, and indeed
We are currently working on a model of the
I’m incredibly glad I’ve had the opportunity to
site, while exploring further the urban-geographic
has the capability of revolutionising the design process,
relationships of Werribee and surrounds. I am hard at
and by extension, architecture as we know it.
work generating a wholly new Grasshopper definition
which will allow us the flexibility and fine tune control
techniques any time soon; after reading the first few
we need to place a complex structure on a complex
chapters of Scripting Cultures, I am completely sold on
site that needs to satisfice a multitude of stakeholders.
the possibility of opening up new avenues of design
I am looking at using Kangaroo in Grasshopper so we
through scripting. I’ve always had somewhat of an
can have a statically determinate structure. We have
asymmetric approach to problems I am presented with;
decided on the type of joint we are going to use for
I tend to take the unused path in the hope that it will
certain mechanical connections and are in the process
at least show me something new, if not prove to be a
of prototyping one. I am also trying my hardest to read
better way to reach a goal. To me, this is what scripting
and integrate theories of monumentality, structure and
exemplifies. Too often are we as designers constrained
ornamentation set forth by Sullivan, Gombrich, Kracauer
by the tools we have at hand. If we all had the ability to
and Deleuze and Guattari. I believe an understanding of
create new tools, then the possibilities are endless.
Although I doubt I will be using parametric
4.1 Week 9 Progres s Having decided that the form finding gesture of our
create a magnetic repulsor, which allowed us the ability
final design should be the “collision” between the
to experiment with peaks and troughs. This influenced
“movement” of the human geographic forces of Geelong,
our idea of collision into the idea of waves of the coming
Melbourne, and Werribee, centered on Werribee, we
urbanism (peaks) crashing along the geographical
went about exploring this gesture through our parametric
constant of the highway (the trough). This new definition
models. This collision would be like the collision between
gave us a great deal of flexibility as a form finding
plates in a physical geography context. We found that
exercise and I was able to create forms that were very
our original parametric models developed for the EOI
organic and really emphasised the idea of a collision.
were too ‘rigid’ to emphasise a collision of forces in their
form, so I set about finding a toolset that would allow us
to transpose our designs onto the site. While JellyFish’s
greater flexibility and less rigidity.
flexibility was what attracted me to it, when it came to
actually placing the form onto the site, its randomness
After experimenting with point attractors on a
We ran into an problem, however, when we tried
grid in 3D space, I tried to work with points influencing
became its downfall. In attempting to create connections
nearby points by an inverse square law, like gravity, once
between the design and the landscape, one slight
again exploring the idea of the inter-relationship between
movement of a variable would push the design into the
physical natural forces and human forces. I began
middle of the road, or out of the boundaries of the site.
to find that the mathematics behind the model were
becoming increasingly complex; to the point that they
the JellyFish component so I could add more control
were getting beyond my ability to deal with. After doing
into the mix, such as Kangaroo-like anchor points which
a little research once I hit a stumbling block, I came
would keep certain parts of the surface that was being
across a package of components called JellyFish, which
manipulated in place, while others moved freely. This
is described by its creator as a magnetic displacement
proved to be quite a massive undertaking, and it is still
definition in 3-dimensions. The real power that lies in the
something that I am working on currently, through hours
component is that it tends not to force points to cross
of frustration and dead ends. I am beginning to think that
over each other, which was an issue I was having with my
JellyFish and the idea of natural force attractors (and
homebrew definition.
repulsors) is simply too random to realise a design that
can actually be situated on site.
By inverting the magnetic attractor, I was able to
This lead to me attempting to reverse-engineer
Current human geography of Greater Melbourne; growth of urbanism; collision of urban forces in at the site of Werribee
We want to push the boundary of what a diagrid pattern could be used for. We were inspired by MyZeil in Frankfurt, by Massimiliano Fuksas, with its vortex in the facade that descends into the internal space of the building. This building shows a diagrid pattern used as more than a structure to span an internal space, rather it can be an ornamental, gestural piece of architecture. We believe this is relevant to a freeway art project because it creates a monumental form that emphasises movement and embodies the colliding forces of the local human geography. This type of structure is often used to monumentalise other places of movement, like Southern Cross Station; why not the highway?
4.2 Week 10 Progres s Being unable to overcome the issues I was encountering
material; even though I was extremely excited to be
with the JellyFish component, I set about redesigning
working on a design similar to Louis Kahn’s proposal for
the definition into one that allowed us to decompose one
a welded tubular structure for Philadelphia in 1944); and
shape into another along a rail curve. This would allow
rather decided to use timber. We came to the conclusion
us the rigidity of a pre-defined starting point, but with
that we had somewhat neglected the non-human
the flexibility and randomness of interpolating between
environment in our proposal, and that timber and a native
varied shapes. While the definition did not have the
planting scheme would do more to celebrate Werribee’s
flexibility of JellyFish, and is entailing interesting forms,
unique position in it’s ecological context than tubular
it did allow us to create a form that we could actually
steel.
situate on the site.
joints for our design that utilised timber. Initially, we
We had, for a very long time, been very focused
With this in mind, we set about creating various
as a group on creating a ‘universal’ joint that worked
intended to secure our members in a method similar
throughout the structure. After a great deal of research
to that of Chiddingstone Castle Orangery. This would
on what this universal joint could be, we came across the
allow us to have two sets of members, which ran in
ArcelorMittal Orbit in London by Anish Mapoor and Cecil
different directions, held in place by a vice-like joint. We
Balmond. In this structural sculpture, the bolted joint was
also considered simply bolting the members together
not at the node where individual members meet, but
where they overlapped. Another idea we explored was
rather half-way between the members. This allowed all
simply rebateing a groove into timber member at its end
the nodes to be prefabricated and then simply delivered
and placing a prefabricated welded steel joint within
to site, craned into position and bolted together. We
the members. This would allow us to somewhat deny
were very exited by the efficiencies created by this joint,
the joint visually, creating a more continuous structure,
while allowing us the flexibility of not having a joint that
without a bulky joint at every node.
restricted how our nodes could fit together.
footing connection of our structure. This would allow one
After having a discussion with Paul about
We also created a simple steel pin joint for the
tectonics and materiality, we decided against using
mass-produced joint to be used throughout the structure,
steel for the structure (due to the sheer tonnage of steel
thus allowing greater economic efficiencies in production
necessary and the environmental impacts of using the
and construction.
4.3 Week 11 Progres s Interpolating and placing a series of curves along a
too late; mostly my fault for working on the model for
rail curve turned out being much harder that initially
so long), and it simply couldn’t be used for our final
assumed. Seemingly randomly, curves would rotate
presentation. So, regretfully, the only models we have to
themselves, and as such the lofted surface created from
take to the presentation were our 3D-printed model, and
them had massive kinks in it. With more time, I probably
the prototype joint for the circular section members.
could have worked out the issue, and we could have has
a more dynamic design. Unfortunately, however, with
images and model turned out though, and I think if
the impending end of semester review, I opted to take
anything they will be the real selling point for our design.
the easy way out. I simply drew the 6-8 curves in space
I’m also incredibly happy with Nick’s presentation.
along the highway where desired, and interpolated and
Overall, we’ve had a really good division of labour,
lofted curves between them.
and have fallen into and taken up our roles very well.
With me working on Grasshopper, Nick working on the
I went the extra mile when it came to detailing the
I was really happy with how Sophie’s rendered
members in Grasshopper however. It was our intention
presentation, and Sophie doing research and models, we
to opt for a design like Chiddingstone Orangery, with
have been able to achieve what none of us would have
two sets of members running in different directions
been able to even get close to achieving alone.
placed on top of each other. I was able to model this
in Grasshopper, and honestly by the end of semester,
philosophy of the monumentalisation of movement for
I felt I could solve any problem I was presented with in
the idea of a collision. While I was aiming for the Faustian
Grasshopper, given the time and opportunity.
idea of monumentalising development and endless
movement, we seem to have fallen into presenting
Unfortunately, due to miscommunication, we
I do regret that we somewhat abandoned our
ended up running renders off a piped version of our
something slightly more palatable, and probably
model, the model which was sent to the 3D-printer,
something somewhat more understandable, to the
rather than the one with two sets of rectangular section
everyman. Regardless, I would have liked to have ended
members. We had also sent a part of this version of
up with something grander; a real statement in the
the model to the FabLab at 1:100 scale. Once again,
region. Something that spoke about the will to growth
however, we ran into trouble with the FabLab taking far
and development, the inevitable change that growth
too long to complete our model (read: we submitted it
brings, and the vector for that growth; the highway.
5.0 Af ter t he Fin al Present ation As you can probably tell from the change from being
planting (landscaping using native plants being a big
optimistic about our design in earlier weeks, through to
part of my architectural education in Adelaide), and
becoming increasingly dejected in weeks 10 and 11, I
constrained for time due to being sick and working on
did have some doubts about our design leading into the
the parametric model, I didn’t spend as much time on
presentation. I came down with a pretty serious flu the
actually creating a planting scheme that I would have
week before presentation and had to spend a few days in
liked to. I’m very concerned with ecology, and I would
bed, rather than working on the presentation, but Sophie
have liked for it to be part of our design philosophy, rather
and Nick were more than ready and able to pick up the
than simply an afterthought.
slack. Regardless, I’m happy with where our design
ended up, all things considered.
was fantastic, and was the real selling point of our
design. Also, Nick’s work on the presentation and his
As Alison stated, we kind of floundered in
As I stated earlier, Sophie’s work on the renders
defining and sticking to a real and solid design intent. I
delivery were of a very high calibre. I couldn’t have been
was obsessed with having a philosophical underpinning
happier with the group I worked with, and I hope to
for our design intent which didn’t translate incredibly well
continue working with them in the future.
into groupwork, or indeed a freeway art project using
parametric design tools. That being said, I’m incredibly
the easy way out of simply lofting a series of curves
happy with where my understanding of parametric
defined in Rhino, rather than building a parametric model
design tools are at currently; coming from a position at
from the ground up in Grasshopper, or possibly realising
the start of semester where I was dreading having to use
one of my more complicated, but possibly more effective
parametric software, and now being in a position where
definitions. I think it would have been incredibly easy
I can see, and indeed use, the strengths of parametric
for someone versed in Grasshopper to see that I took
tools. I find myself wishing that the suite of programs I
the easy way out, and I’m disappointed in myself for
use for design were all parametric.
that fact. As per usual with my design projects, I am left
with the feeling that if I had the skills and understanding
I was more than willing to accept Paul’s criticism
I regret incredibly that we had to go with using
that our planting pallet of native riparian species seemed
I developed throughout the design process at the
somewhat like an afterthought. I was the only member
beginning of that process, I would have been able to
of the group with any real knowledge or interest in native
create a much more articulate, sensible and effective
design. That is to say, though, that I am happy with where my skillset is at currently, and I’d love to use these skills further down the road.
Just like the guest critic, the group and I were
very concerned with the fact that our structure simply might not stand up. We did feel, however, that these sort of questions are somewhat out of the architect, or indeed architecture student’s, scope. Having not been trained in statics, I don’t think we are to blame for designing something that may not work from an engineering perspective. I’d like to think that if this were to be a real design proposal, we would have consulting engineers working with us from the beginning of the design process. If this course has taught me anything, it is that architectural design needs to be a holistic endeavor, where people with many skillsets get together to work on a problem, as I’d like to think the division of labour in our group has emphasised.
With all things said and done, I’m glad I’ve had
the opportunity to teach myself the skills in parametric design that this course has required me to use. I feel like I now have a real understanding of parametric architecture’s place in the architectural discourse, rather than simply writing it off as a useless form-finding activity. That being said, I can’t wait to draw some plans, sections and elevations of a building again, but with an understanding of how the new tools I have can assist.