The Barbi Malibu DreamHouse by AirBnB

The Barbie Malibu DreamHouse by AirBnB marks a paradigm shift in architecture towards the hyperreal, an emerging style of fashion which blurs the boundary between our virtual and physical realities. Running parallel to this movement is the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence models which are extremely adept at producing overly aestheticized, stylistically saturated architectural images. This studio will explore the moral hazards associated in the transferal of housing from a social need, towards housing as flashy commodity that is 100% style and 0% sensibility.

To explore the confluence of these two movements, students will develop their own hyper-styles in an experiment to appeal to populist sensibilities by synthesizing canonical examples of architecture with pop-cultural institutions. Within this domain students will need to develop techniques of finding novelty through the generation of uncanny architectural hybrids, which contain strange and novel qualities that are more than the sum of their architectural and pop-cultural parts. Students will use these hyper-styles to reimagine Melbourne’s suburban outer fringe as an AirBnB wonderland resort saturated in ‘cartoonified’ reproductions of housing projects that have played a critical role in the ideological progression of architectural housing.

To engage critically with these themes students will collaborate with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence models as they negotiate ways of establishing design agency whilst traversing the stylistic forces of popculture, and the many biases imbedded in machine learning models.

No prior algorithmic experience is required. In fact, an interest in art & architectural history and a drive for critical engagement in counterculture and political discourse will be of far greater value.

DESIGN STUDIO: Bland God

STUDIO LEADERS: Darcie Vella and Charles Deicke

DESIGN STUDIO: Here, There & Everywhere

STUDIO LEADER: Senesios Frangos

The objective of ‘Vertical Assemblage’ studio is to question and challenge the conventional high-rise tower typologies prevalent worldwide. In general, these typologies consist of monotonous vertical arrays of identical floor types, failing to evoke a true sense of vertical urbanism.

The studio will interrogate high-rise typologies as a compact form of city assembling diverse city features and characters within them. The focus is to create a dynamic and connected network of different forms, functions, elements, spaces, and activities within vertical tower fostering a strong civic presence and distinct sense of place. The proposed juxtaposition of form-function will be required to assemble through iterative design process of program formulation, site specific consideration, structure, circulation, and urban elements. Overall, the studio will seek to speculate alternative possibilities of vertical typologies -what could be the innovative typologies and concept of vertical urbanism? How could we think Verticality as extended ground of possibile multiplicities?

DESIGN STUDIO: Vertical Assemblage

Public space has become a commodity. The civic realm and the buildings that occupy it have become more potent and valuable than ever before. With a housing crisis brings the need for greater public amenity. Public generosity. Places for people.

The studio will be investigating a number of civic building typologies including the library, the church, the memorial, the city square. Their relationship to place and the architectural language that defines them will be critically analysed and reviewed.

This is not a design studio about religion. This is not a design studio about housing. This is a design studio about civic infrastructure. Civic generosity.

The studio will be undertaking investigations into the memory of place and how this informs a language of place. Students will be exploring a number of design methodologies, design tools, in order to understand the formal nuances of place, context. The role of the architectural precedent will be explored rigorously understanding the various languages that come with building typologies. These methodologies will be implemented for students to design a place of civicness that challenges preconceived notions of what might be initially understood formally.

Students will be engaged in rigorous site and precedent analysis, the making of collages in order to analysis the formal composition of buildings and drawing, drawing, drawing.

BA ARCHITECTURE DESIGN STUDIO S1 2023

MONDAY 2.30-5.30PM, THURSDAY 9-12PM

AMY MUIR

EPHEMERAL MORPHOLOGY | FORCES & FIELDS

| RMIT ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN

|

Bottom-up Design Process

Indexical and Non-indexical Design Process

| TOOLS

Communications 3 or equivalent of Grasshopper and Rhino experiences are required. No prior experiences in Houdini or coding are required, however, this studio will focus heavily on both visual (Houdini & GH) and written type of coding (Houdini VEX & H-Script).

Ephemeral Morphology investigates intricate relationship between ephemeral forces and their amalgamation and superposition in the world. Its primary objective is to explore the utilisation of digital generative and animated processes to create a novel architectural form. The design process revolves around employing forces as a catalyst for style, environment, and aesthetics, aiming to understand and ground the concepts of ephemerality and permanency within architecture.

The studio draws upon the architectural lineage of Greg Lynn and Karl Chu, finding inspiration in their exploration of dynamics and forces through advanced amalgamated algorithms, resulting in a higher level of organisational complexity and non-indexicality. By combining concepts that are nearly three decades old with the capabilities of current technologies, we embark on a cyclical return of deconstructivism and baroque resulting digital baroque. This response aims to address the prevailing state of computational architecture, which often gravitates towards amorphous and object-oriented forms.

Throughout the studio, we will emphasize the exploration of material play, fragmentation techniques, layering and transparency, poly-scalar elements, and dynamic forms all while maintaining a deliberate avoidance of amorphous and object-oriented forms. The objective is to create innovative architectural compositions that capture the essence of the past while pushing the boundaries of contemporary design in the realm of super-resolution.

Throughout the semester, students will concentrate on developing workflows that facilitate feedback between diverse algorithms in VFX program - Houdini. This approach enables the exploration of amalgamation and transition between various systems, ultimately capturing a digital baroque aesthetic. The studio leverages the power of VFX physics engine simulations to envision architecture in new and innovative ways, moving beyond mere hybrid or collage creation. The goal is to achieve a high level of transition and explore novel design possibilities.

The first half of the semester will centre around the formation of ephemeral abstractions, aiming to unravel methods of capturing ephemeral forces searching for abnormality. In the second half, the focus will shift towards translating these abstractions into 3D field formation at Royal Botanical Garden.

This studio offers an exceptional opportunity for students to transcend the boundaries of traditional architectural design and delve into the potential of animated ephemerality and digital generative processes. Through extensive experimentation, iterations, and transformations, students will be challenged to think beyond conventional approaches, fostering the development of innovative design solutions.

| TECTONIC FORMATION LAB

This studio is part of a group of studios and electives run this semester that are aligned with the RMIT Architecture | Tectonic Formation Lab, which will collaborate through combined reviews and symposium.

| GROUP FRAMEWORK

Individual work | week 01 – 07 Group(2–3) work | week 07 – 14

DESIGN STUDIO: Ephemeral Morphology: Forces & Fields

STUDIO LEADER: Alan Kim