WESTERN GATEWAY DESIGN PROJECT ROXANNE DOWLING (558553) STUDIO DESIGN AIR
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0
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CASE FOR INNOVATION
1.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................4 1.2 ARCHITECTURE AS A DISCOURSE...........................................................5 1.3 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING IN ARCHITECTURE...............................8 1.4 ALGORITHMIC THINKING AND PARAMETRIC MODELLING.....................12 1.5 CONCLUSION..........................................................................................14 REFERENCE LIST...........................................................................................15
1.0 CASE FOR INNOVATION 1.O CASE FOR INNOVATION
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1.1 INTRODUCTION
In response to the brief set out by Wyndham City, for an ‘inspiring, innovative and thought-provoking installation,’ it is without a doubt that an architectural parametric design is the best approach and solution for the Western Gateway Design project. The reason for this is because at current architecture as a discourse is paving the way for a design revolution like never before. Through architecture, Wyndham City has the opportunity to make a significant impact on how society views architecture, thus participating in and generating this new discourse. In order to see the revolution one needs to first understand what architecture is, the role that its plays in society, the meaning of architecture as a discourse, the current state of the discourse and the potential of the discourse. These topic areas I hope to cover in the first section of this journal, to fully provide understanding as to how I will
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1.2 ARCHITECTURE AS A DISCOURSE What is architecture? What role does it play in society? What is architectural discourse?
approach the Gateway Design project. Architecture in its definition is an expressive form of culture, closely woven into the fabric of art, that relates to the human inhabitants of the environment. It is its philosophies, processes and productions that constitute the built environment. It can be said then, that architecture is a central thread of everyday life and is inescapable on a daily basis1. The continuous development and redevelopment of the built environment continues to showcase the ability of architecture to construct our identities by shaping and reshaping the world we live in2. Architecture as a discourse therefore, mediates what we know, the connection between people and place.
expressed in many ways including, conversations, presentations, exhibitions, magazine articles, blogs, sketching/drawing and CAD file sharing. Architectural discourse is at the forefront of the revolutionary shift toward parametric digital design. But its stance in the revolution has not been without upsetting its traditional mode of envisaging the architectural subject and the structure of the traditional profession. Traditionally architecture discourse has been largely a discourse of form, dominated by debates around style ‘appropriateness’3. To encounter the significance of this shift it must first be compared to the last of its magnitude and so I refer back in time to the industrial revolution.
Architecture as a discourse is by its definition many things that generate discussion concerning the philosophies and theories, approaches and outcomes of the human inhabitants of the earth. This discourse is
The industrial revolution produced rapid advances in physics and chemistry and inturn technical progression in the prefabrication of steel and sheeted glass. Yet the adoption of these advances into the building industry by Joseph Paxton’s 1851 Crys5
tal Palace and Gustave Eiffel’s 1889 Eiffel Tower (almost 40 years later) were seen at the time as an extremely bold step forward. Although some looked upon these buildings with discomfort at the time they became the most famous architectural and engineering masterpieces of this period. Their innovative influence saw a worldwide adoption of glass and steel, in terms of distance spanned and volumes enclose4, for the century of buildings that followed. The Crystal Palace and The Eiffel Tower showcased the potential that these new materials had and inturn stimulated the very esthetics that is the metropolis skyline, as we know it today5. The cultural repertoire that followed the architecture of the industrial revolution is undeniable. Any discomfort deemed by the unfamiliar was soon replaced with enlightenment towards the potential that the future could hold. In comparison to the industrial revolution, it is within the last few decades’ society has 6
experienced a revolution of its own time; it is referred to as the digital-information age. The introduction of computers and the Internet has without a doubt revolutionised the world today, as we know it. Like the industrial age, the digital-information age has the ability and still an undiscovered potential to evolve the architectural realm as well as the societal realm that follows it. This impact is already present in the work of architect Frank Gehry who’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (1997) alone has showcased what can be achieved when one embraces the possibilities of this new architectural discourse of digital design. Described as a state of transition between solid and liquid6, Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum is social accepted to be the most significant structure built so far in the 21st century7. This impact on the greater culture of society in their acceptance and appreciation to a building that is so innovative and unique was only achievable because Gehry embodied the
Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (1997)
spirit of the digital-information age through Footnotes the adoption of digital design (BIM). It can 1. Williams, R. 2005. Architecture and Vibe said then, that Frank Gehry’s Guggen- sual Culture. In: Rampley, M. (ed.) Exploring Viheim Museum in Bilbao holds similar val- sual Culture: Definitions, concepts, contexts. Edue to the architecture and societal change inburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 102. that the innovations that’s Joseph Paxton’s 2. Dutton, T. A. & Mann, L. H. 1996. Reconstructpresented during the industrial age. Gehry, ing Architecture: Critical Discourses and Social Practiclike Paxton once did, is challenging how ar- es, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. Page 1. chitects and designers alike, design, manu- 3. Leach, N. 1997. Rethinking Architecture: A facture and construct buildings. Reader in Cultural Theory, London, Routledge. p. xiii. It is this approach used by Frank Gehry, in using digital design that I will approach my design for the Gateway Project. I hope to prove with precedents that this is the best approach for ensuring Wyndham City is truly ‘put on map’ in inspiring and generating continuous innovation into this new discourse, that’s potential has barely been scratched.
4. Hitchcock, H.-R. 1958. Building with Iron and Glass: 1790-1855. Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Middlesex: Penguin Books. pp. 115-129 5. Kolarevic, B. 2003b. We Have Seen the Future, and It is Pixellated: Branko Kolarevic connects the dots in the timeline of the digital revolution. Architecture, 92, 83-85. p. 83. 6. Giovannini, J. in Spain. Ibid., 14.
1997. Gehry’s reign [Accessed 20/02/2013).
7. Tyrnauer, M. 2010. Architecture in the Age of Gehry. Vanity Fair [Online], 2. [Accessed 03/04/2013].
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1.3 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING IN ARCHITECTURE Historically digital technology has generally only been used in architecture as a virtual drafting board, increasing the efficiency of editing, copying and the precision of drawings that are generated from a preconceived idea of the mind8. This mode of working has been termed ‘computerisation’9. In moving with the digital-information age, over the last few years advances in computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technologies attained in the automotive, aerospace and shipbuilding industries, have finally started to have a profound impact on architecture and construction practices. Architecture is now witnessing the almost elimination of drawings from design where instead architects are working with complete, comprehensive three-dimensional digital models right from the start, from design through to production10. This mode of working has been termed ‘computing’.
ticular set of instructions written in a code that is understood by the computer12. What the architectural discourse has and continues to witness is an outpour of intrinsic and complex curvy forms that are now even more appealing because they can be constructed; the design information becomes the construction information. Computing is redefining the architectural practice in more ways then one.
For example the integration of technology has been paramount to the development of the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City by Fernando Romero EnterpreE (FREE). The design was approached using the adoption of computing techniques that saw a threedimensional digital model at the heart of the design and construction. The complex nature of the form meant that it would not have been achievable using a traditional two-dimensional drawing for it would have left too much open to interpretation, risk‘Computing’ as expressed by Architectural ing the overall design intent13. Furthermore, Design magazine writer Brady Peters ‘is the what became an important factor in this deuse of the computer to process information sign is that by using this approach it allowed through an understood model which can be for the whole project team to work concurexpressed as an algorithm,’11 which is a par- rently on the building allowing for different aspects of the building to be designed and iterated simultaneously. 8
Museo Soumaya, Mexico City 9 By FREE
Mountain Dwellings (Copenhagen, 2007) designed by BIG Architects in another example of what can be achieved through the adoption of parametric modelling. Winner of Best Housing Project for the World Architecture Festival Awards 2008 and nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Prize 2008, Mountain Dwelling explores what can achievable through the use of digital biomimicry14. Footnotes
8. Peters, B. 2013. Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmis Thought. Architectural Design [Online], 83. [Accessed 28/03/2013]. 9. chitecture,
Terzidis, Oxford,
K. 2006. Architectural
Algorithmic Press. p
ArXI.
10. Kolarevic, B. 2003a. Architecture in the Digital Age: DEsign and Manufacturing, New York, Spon Press. 11. Peters, B. 2013. Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmis Thought. Architectural Design [Online], 83. [Accessed 28/03/2013]. p. 10 12. Wilson, R. A. & Keil, F. C. 1999. The Mit Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, London, The MIT Press. 13. Romero, F. & Ramos, A. 2013. Bridging ACulture: The Deisgn of Museo Soumaya. Architectural Design [Online], 83. pp. 66-69. 14. Mountain Dwelling. Archinect [Online]. Available from: http://archinect.com/firms/project/39903/ mountain-dwellings/9172196
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[Accessed
23/03/2013.
Mountain Dwellings, Copenhagen (2007) by BIG Architects
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1.4 ALGORITHMIC THINKING PARAMETRIC MODELLINGG AND
Computing obviously has its advantages but at the same time has its limitations. Computing is constrained to the capabilities of the software, that is the parametres outlined by the programmer. What this essentially means is that the design created in the space is constrained by what the programmer has established as the necessary tools required for designing. In order to overcome these limitations one must learn how to rewrite the software in order customise their design environments. This allows the user to set there own limitations and constraints to the software algorithms15. This process is referred to as ‘scripting’ and is now made available through plug-in software such as Rhinoscript, Microstation and Grasshopper, just to name a few. What’s more is that these softwares are then able to interact with design performance software such as Geco and Ecotect. My next precedent explores this concept.
this allowed them to do was to perform a solar access analysis of the roof design over a time period of one year, to develop precisely the appropriate roof openings and their relationship to the form of the overall design using Ecotect. This information was then translated into an algorithm/s and imported back into Grasshopper without having to reworking the model repeatedly16.
Competition entry for Shenzhen Border station, Hong Kong, (2011) by SPAN illustrates how scripting can be utilized to determine the performance outcome of a design. The computer program GECO was adopted early by the architects of this project and what 12
16. Grabner, T. & Frick, U. 2013. GECO: Architectural Design through Environmental Feedback. Archi-
The revolution of computing and scripting all relate back to the architectural discourse. ‘Scripting Architects’ are now emerging changing the traditional envisaging of a ‘pen to paper’ profession and the architecture subject at large. An architectural realm is finally embodying the digital-information age, there’s no going back! FOOTNOTES 15. Burry, M. 2011. Scripting Cultures: Architectural Design and Programming, Chichester, Wiley. p. 8.
tectural Design [Online], 83.
[Accessed 25/03/2013].
Competition entry for Shenzhen Border station, Hong Kong, (2011) by SPAN
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1.5 CONCLUSION
Parametric modeling tools are becoming increasingly popular in architectural practice because the advantages of using such tools are extraordinarily limitless as proven by precedents. The architectural discourse is moving away from an era where architects use software to one where they create the software. Only by embracing these new technologies presented by the discourse of the digital-information age is an architect truly enabled to directly and entirely engage with the project, from the design process of a building through its construction phase. I will be using this new concept as the framework for my design for the Gateway Project. This will allow me to achieve an installation that is inspiring, thought provoking and will encourage ongoing interest in the Western Gateway Interchange.
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REFERENCE LIST
Mountain Dwelling. Archinect [Online]. Available from: http://archinect.com/firms/project/39903/mountain-dwellings/9172196 [Accessed 23/03/2013. Burry, M. 2011. Scripting Cultures: Architectural Design and Programming, Chichester, Wiley. Dutton, T. A. & Mann, L. H. 1996. Reconstructing Architecture: Critical Discourses and Social Practices, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. Giovannini, J. 1997. Gehry’s reign in Spain. Architecture [Online], 14. [Accessed 20/02/2013]. Grabner, T. & Frick, U. 2013. GECO: Architectural Design through Environmental Feedback. Architectural Design [Online], 83. [Accessed 25/03/2013]. Hitchcock, H.-R. 1958. Building with Iron and Glass: 1790-1855. Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Middlesex: Penguin Books. Kolarevic, B. 2003a. Architecture in the Digital Age: DEsign and Manufacturing, New York, Spon Press. Kolarevic, B. 2003b. We Have Seen the Future, and It is Pixellated: Branko Kolarevic connects the dots in the timeline of the digital revolution. Architecture, 92, 83-85. Leach, N. 1997. Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory, London, Routledge. Peters, B. 2013. Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmis Thought. Architectural Design [Online], 83. [Accessed 28/03/2013]. Romero, F. & Ramos, A. 2013. Bridging A Culture: The Deisgn of Museo Soumaya. Architectural Design [Online], 83. Terzidis, K. 2006. Algorithmic Architecture, Oxford, Architectural Press. Tyrnauer, M. 2010. Architecture in the Age of Gehry. Vanity Fair [Online], 2. [Accessed 03/04/2013]. Williams, R. 2005. Architecture and Visual Culture. In: Rampley, M. (ed.) Exploring Visual Culture: Definitions, concepts, contexts. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Wilson, R. A. & Keil, F. C. 1999. The Mit Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, London, The MIT Press. 15