2015 S1 Karolina Backman by Studio Air

STUDIO JOURNAL

AIR K AROLINA BACKMAN SEMESTER 1, 2015

TABLE OF CONTENT 4

INTRODUCTION

PART A. CONCEPTUALISATION A.1. DESIGN FUTURING 8 KRAANSPOOR / OTH ARCHITECTEN 9 TIMES EUREKA PAVILION / NEX ARCHITECTURE 10 A.2. DESIGN COMPUTATION 12 BEIJING NATIONAL STADIUM / HERZOG & DEMEURON 13 THE KHAN SHATYR ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE / FOSTER + PARTNERS 14 A.3. COMPOSITION/GENERATION 16 ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION/ UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART 17 URBAN PICTURESQUE COMPETITION / CAAD/ETH ZURICH 18 CONCLUSION 6

PART B. DESIGN CRITERIA 24 B.1. RESERACH FIELD: BIOMIMICRY 26 B.2. CASE STUDY 1.0: THE MORNING LINE 26 INTRODUCTION 27 ITERATIONS 30 SELECTION CRITERIA 32 B.3. CASE STUDY 2.0: ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION 2011 32 INTRODUCTION 34 REVERSE ENGINERING 35 B.4. TECHNIQUE: DEVELOPMENT 35 ITERATIONS 39 SELECTION CRITERIA 41 B.5. TECHNIQUE: PROTOTYPES 42 PROTOTYPE 1 43 PROTOTYPE 2 44 PROTOTYLE 3 45 B.6. TECHNIQUE: PROPOSAL 45 DEVELOPMENT 47 SITE CONTEXT AND CONCEPTUAL IDEA 49 DESIGN PROPOSAL

51 CONCLUSION

PART C. DETAILED DESIGN 57 C.1. DESIGN CONCEPT 59 PRECEDENT: COMPUTAITONAL REVEGETATION 61 MODULE DEVELOPMENT 67 REVEGETATION MAP - SITE CRITERIA 75 REVEGETATION MAP - IMPLEMENTATION 81 C.2. TECTONIC ELEMENTS AND PROTOTYPES 81 BIODEGRADABLE PROTOTYPES 85 C.3. FINAL DETAIL MODEL 85 CONSTRUCTION PROCESS 87 FINAL MODEL 89 PROJECT SUMMARY 91 TAKING IT FURTHER - DRONE PRECISION PLANTING 93 CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

KAROLINA BACKMAN 628 993 I am third year architecture student at Univerisity of Melbourne. Orginally from Sweden I moved to Melbourne three years ago and have been loving every minute of it since. In my previous semesters I have done studios mainly focusing on design development and process through hand drawings. Virtual Environment was the first subject to introduce me to compuation and generic design, however being very new to all types of design programs I mainly used the computer to reproduce what I had already designed in my head and on paper. I therefore am really looking forward to develop my skills in computation further and experience the benefits and capabilities of a world leading design method in the architecture world through this subject. FIG.1 / FINAL PRODUCT FROM VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS 2013

PART A.

CONCEPTUALISATION

A.1. DESIGN FUTURING

Throughout history humans have designed and developed means to improve their lifestyle. Social structures and norms dictate what a preferable lifestyle is and how the market of consumerism develop in accordance. As the demands of humans have increased significantly over the last 200 years along with production efficient technologies we are now finding ourselves in an age where our resources required to sustain life are being strained by the rate we consume them. We live in an un-sustainable age in the sense that we cannot longer foresee how long the human race will be able to survive on earth. In the speeded process of consumerism the responsibility which comes with design has been lost and trivialised, something which many academics and designers stress need to change in order to future proof our existence. Tony Fry talks about Design Futuring as reestablishment of design ethics and the understanding of design as a world-changing force. We need to once again enlighten the highly complex relationship between design and the surroundings. Introducing a new design change the parameters of our surrounding, creating a different environment than before. We need to use this knowledge to better the world for its future habitants rather than degrading it until it becomes uninhabitable.1 This action requires both physical and structural changes. Design, understood as a norm-guiding tool instead of a norm-following

tool can achieve this. It can be used to criticize and highlight the flaws of the current structure as well as inspiring to new ways of using and optimising the resources available. 2 Design intelligence is required to understand the complex relationship to design impact on the environment. In regards to architecture the use of resources, structure performance, material optimisation as well as human interaction with design and its impact on the thought of our world is all a part of this. It is about creating a space which enhance the use of nature without damaging it and inspire the users to a more critical thinking of how the human life could develop in harmony with the world we live in. Following are two precedents which can be considered as Design Futuring projects through their ways of critisising the current system in place while inspiring a new way of design thinking.

Tony Fry, Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg, 2008), p.3

Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything: Design Fiction, and Social Dreaming (MIT Press, 2013) pp. 7

Tony Fry, Design Futuring, p. 9

”A PRACTICE THAT AIMS TO MAKE TIME FOR HUMAN EXISTENCE BY NEGATING FORMS OF ACTION, GOODS, SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONS THAT TAKE TIME AWAY” – TONY FRY (DESIGN FUTURING, 2008)

FIG.2 / THE BIOMES - GRIMSHAW ARCHITECTS

KRAANSPOOR / OTH ARCHITECTEN AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS 2007

FIG.3 / KRAANSPOOR BUILDING

Kraanspoor is a great example of Design Futuring by the redevelopment of a previously abandoned industrial site. Built on a concrete crane-way it marks the location of a shipyard from the 1950’s which was deserted due to the narrowing of the IJ river in Amsterdam. 4

been used for other purposes before. Kraanspoor was therefore an important project leading the way in how to re-imagine an area’s potential. In 2015 the area have expanded and become a example site for recyclable developments, one being affordable housing built from refitted shipping containers.

The project brought new life to an area of Amsterdam which for long had been forgotten. A large piece of industrial land had just been left there to decay, polluting and contaminating the land.

The design takes advantage of the old structure and functions of the crane-way, incorporating it in to the new building which sits above it. By making the craneway the centre of the design, the strong bearer of the building on top, the architects have further managed to shine new light on a problem which society normally try to ignore - the amount of waste land we cause due to consumerism and industrialisation.

Amsterdam as a constantly expanding city, restricted by its waterways, had before created new land to expand on rather then re-using land which had

‘Kraanspoor / OTH Architecten’, ArchDaily, 2008, < http://www.archdaily.com/?p=2967> [accessed 16th March]

‘Times Eureka Pavilion / NEX Architecture’, ArchDaily, 2011, <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=142509

TIMES EUREKA PAVILION / NEX ARCHITECTURE LONDON, UK 2011

Times Eureka Pavilion was commissioned to demonstrate the commitment to science by The London Times. The design aims to invite the visitor to look closely at the cellular structure of plants and their processes of growth. This was achieved by using computer algorithms to mimic natural growth to show the biological structure of a plant at a new scale. Built in a landscaped listed as UNESCO Worlds Heritage site, Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, the architects have designed the pavilion so that nothing will remain in the ground after the structure is dismantled. The pavilion is also constructd from recycled and locally sourced materials. 5

FIG.5 / TIMES EUREKA PAVILION CELLULAR STRUCTURE

The design intention also included highlighting the significance of plants in the society. Plants species chosen for the surrounding garden of the pavilion includes those with medicinal, commercial and industrial uses stressing the fact that we could not survive without them. Times Eureka Pavilion is a spot on example of how design can be used to inspire people to think about their surrounding and using design inspired by nature to highlight the importance of the resources and envionment around us.

FIG.4 / TIMES EUREKA PAVILION

A.2. DESIGN COMPUTATION

Architecture is a problem-solving profession requiring both analytical and creative inputs. The problems dealt with however are often not rational, but â&#x20AC;&#x153;wickedâ&#x20AC;? and extremely complex. Possible solutions to them come with side-effects and after-effects which does not necessarily have to do with the problem itself. While the human brain is an extremely powerful tool to deal with these problems it is easily distracted, bored and capable of making mistakes when not completely focused. Computers on the other hand always follows a line of reasoning to reach a logical conclusion. They can deal with a large amount of data without being less efficient or missing something. However, they lack the creative intuition of the human brain. 6 The benefits of creating a symbiotic design system between humans and computers was acknowledged by other design industries a long time ago. However, the architecture industry have not until quite recently realised the potential of this relationship. The computation of design in architecture have slowly progressed and is now re-defining the design practice from making form to finding form in order to solve the wicked problems encountered. 7 As computer softwares started to be used to aid architects it was primarly in form of computerisation, i.e through creating digital representations of already planned designs. However, Design Computation through the tools of digital design softwares based on algorithmic and parametric processes allows for a much more developed design analysis. By using computers to aid the design development much more complex geometries and curvatures can be achieved which would otherwise be difficult to produce due to their highly complex mathematical functions. Parametric design allows the architect to set a schema of relationships which within a design can be tested. 6

Instead of modeling an external form and internal logic can be articulated through parametric rules from which a range of possible forms are produced. This in turn produce a much wider variety of possible solutions to a problem than could be done by a person alone. Design Computation have further allowed a multidisciplinary contribution to design. Through history 3D scale models have always been important in architecture to communicate an intended design. Today however, models can be almost 4-dimensional by the use of computers to test structural and environmental impacts in different conditions. Computation further creates a direct link between design information and construction information when the conditions of structural ability can already be planned for when creating the parameters. As a result Design Computation makes it possible to build highly complex structures without an exessive amount of strucutral members enhancing the integration between design and function. 8 Design Computation is unique in the sense that it can be used to create a highly intellectual performative design involving a wide range of aspect such as material ecology and environmental impact. As nature is one of the best knowledge sources for this type of design, computational modeling of principles of nature can be an extremely important mean to be able to produce form in response to the conditions of the environmental context. Design Computation is one of the biggest amenities to design in modern times. Following is two precedents exemplifying the brilliance of this new symbiotic relationship between human and computer.9

Yehuda Kalay, Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004), pp. 5-6

Branko Kolarevic, Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing (Spon Press, New York; London, 2003), pp. 3-10

Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (Routledge, London; New York, 2014), pp. 1-10

“ COMPUTATION IS THE PROCESSING OF INFORMATION AND INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ELEMENTS WHICH CONSTITUTE A SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENT. IT PROVIDES A FRAMEWORK FOR NEGOTIATING AND INFLUENCING THE INTERRELATION OF DATASETS OF INFORMATION WITH THE CAPACITY TO GENERATE COMPLEX ORDER, FORM AND STRUCTURE” – SEAN AHLQUIST & ACHIM MENGES (THE BUILDING OF ALGORITHMIC THOUGHT)

FIG.6 / PARAMETRIC MODEL TESTING STRUCTURAL IMPACT OF BEIJING’S NATIONAL STADIUM

BEIJING NATIONAL STADIUM / HERZOG & DEMEURON BEIJING, CHINA 2008

Beijing National Stadium, also known as “The Birds Nest”, was designed for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Designing these large type of structures with a lot of physical constraints considering seating capacity, space requirements for different sports etc, requires a design to be built inside and out, starting with the central bowl. For this project Herzog & Demeuron cooperated with ARUP using design computation from start to end. ARUP as one of the most advanced computational engineering firms in the world had their own sport unit already set up with an set of parametric software considering sporting facilities to develop the initial internal design of the stadium. Something which would have been extremely time-consuming and inefficient for the architects to do by standard drafting. The distinctive roof structure, inspired by Beijing crackle glazed pottery, further reflects China’s technological proficiency, What seems to be a random chaos of roof structure is a well-calculated, highly integrate system FIG.8 / THE STRUCTURE ACHIEVED THROUGH COMPUTATION

of trusses produced through parametric-component based modelling.10 By using computation for the design of the stadium the architects and engineers could retain a preferred geometrical shape with curved and networked roof structure while optimising its structural capacity. The structure was constantly tested in the computer software and by changing variables of parameters a final product was successfully achieved, FIG.7 / BEIJING NATIONAL STADIUM

Stephen Burrow, Beijing National Stadium Special Issue, in The Arup Journal, 44 vols, 1, (Corporate Communications Group 2009) pp. 1-3

Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre’, Foster + Partners, 2010, < http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/khan-shatyr-entertainment-centre/>

THE KHAN SHATYR ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE / FOSTER + PARTNERS ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN 2010

The parametric model was digitally fabricated with 3D-printers through out the project to evaluate the design. Further more computer programs were written to simulate the structural forces of the cable net structure which also had to take in to account extreme weather conditions and additional loads.11 The angle of the tent was developed through parametric modelling using ventilation and airflow as a important constraint. The very light, affordable and thermally efficient envelope was also developed and evaluated through the parametric model reflecting the many different advantages of Design Computation.

FIG.9 / KHAN SHATYR ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE INTERNAL STRUCTURE

Built in an environment where the temperature goes from -35 to + 35 over the year the Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre was designed to create a comfortable micro-climate for social and cultural events. By using the base shape of a tent, resonating with the Kazakh history as the tent is a traditional nomadic building form, an outstanding structure was created through parametric modelling. The Khan Shatyr Entertainment centre is the tallest tensile structure in the world. Algorithms was used by the designed team to efficiently generate design options for a cable-net structure. The algorithms was then further integrated to the parametric model to develop and define the building form.

FIG.10 / PARAMETRIC MODELS OF THE BUILDING DURING DESIGN PROCESS

A.3. COMPOSITION/GENERATION

As computation have progressed within architecture, digital media have developed from being a tool of representation to a generative tool for the derivation of forms and their transformation.12 As a result there has been a shift in the design thinking from composition of form to create a desirable space to generating a form from parameters describing a desirable space. Computation augments the intellects of the designer when considering complex problems. But for a designer to be able to use the power of the computer there need to be an understanding of the language required for communication. Scripting therefore becomes important as architects need to set up the rules and constraints for the computer to work within.13 To further be able to take advantage of computation in design architects need to have an algorithmic thinking to be able to understand the result from a generated code in a program and knowing how to modify it to explore further options. This results in sketching through algorithms and an era where architectural designs are generated from individual and specific parameters and algorithms. The advantages of this new generative way of designing is the possibility to fully focus on the designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance and from that derive a form. It is used to more efficiently guide the solution searching process towards a final outcome while taking numerous aspects in consideration such as environmental, structural, spatial, financial or even cultural. Generative design allows architecture to span increasingly across multiple disciplines bringing together technology,

science and art. The parametrical modeling allow for multiple contributor to the final design outcome and invites a larger communal impact on designs. However, generative design do have some shortcomings. Algorithmic thinking and scripting requires knowledge which is not yet a common norm. Furthermore the performative guidance of generative design does not necessarily mean that all designs will be designed with an important purpose. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;slacknessâ&#x20AC;? of design intention might even be even more increased through computation as design becomes more accessible and attractive. Finally one of the biggest challenges of computation and generative design is the increasingly diffuse border between production, design and construction which does not match up with the long-established legal practices in the industry. Where the legal codes have clear definitions of responsibilities the constantly changing design-build environment does not and there is a need of change in the legal codes to adapt to a more collaborative synergy between industries which is emerging.14 In the following precedents I will demonstrate the advantages but also disadvantages with generative design.

Brady Peters, Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought, in Architectural Design, 83 vols, 2, (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd) pp. 8-15

Brady Petersm Computation Works

Branko Kolarevic, Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing (Spon Press, New York; London, 2003), pp. 58-62

“THE ARCHITECTURE OF MODERN TIMES IS CHARACTERIZED BY ITS CAPACITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SPECIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF THAT SAME MODERNITY; THE INNOVATIONS OFFERED IT BY PRESENT DAY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY” – IGNASI DE SOLA MORALES (ARCHITECTURE IN THE DIGITAL AGE)

FIG.11 / METROPOL PARASOL - JÜRGEN MAYER-HERMANN

ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION/ UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART STUTTGART, GERMANY 2012

Integration of form generating design, computational simulation in a parametric model and robotic manufacturing resulted in a high performance structure with a shell only four millimetres thick of composite laminate while spanning up to eight meters.15 The generative design method through parametric modelling, focused on the performance of the structure as an exoskeleton, initially produce a wide range of different forms which was then further evaluated in regards to the functional morphology of exoskeletons to direct the project towards the most effiecent material structure for architectural purposes. The result is a truly generative design which acknowledges the large advantages for this type of FIG.12 / ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION - FINAL OUTCOME

The ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion was a interdisciplinary project by architects, engineers and biologists. It was a research program focusing on biomimetic design strategies focused on the material and morphological principles of exoskeletons as a source of exploration for a new composite construction paradigm in architecture. The concept of the project was to transfer the fibrous morphology of a exoskeleton to fibre-reinforced composite materials which would lead to new tectonic possibilities in architecture by parametrically linking the material to he digital model from the start.

FIG.13 / MATERIAL STRUCTURED DEVELOPED THROUGH THE PROJECT

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion / University of Stuttgart, Faculaty of Architecture and Urban Planningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, ArchDaily, 2013, < http://www.archdaily.com/?p=340374>

Marcus Braach, Solutions You Cannot Draw, in Architectural Design, 83 vols, 5, (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 2014) pp. 49-53

URBAN PICTURESQUE COMPETITION / CAAD/ETH ZURICH ZURICH, SWITZERLAND 2008

Urban Picturesque was a design competition aimed at creating a small housing area in the suburbs of Geneva. For the project the architects used computation for a generative design focused on the goal of creating courtyards and pedestrian paths. Light exposure inside the building blocks was also incorporated in the parametric model thus the constraints set up for the modelling referred mainly to interaction between the building volumes and open spaces. This was derived from site analysis of pedestrian movement, courtyard qualities and light exposure trough out the day. The project worked with bottom-up design, looking to the functionalities and performance preferences to generate a plan for the suburb. The result was a organic mixture of architecture and urban planning.16 While this projects was a successful experiment with a result having a realistic possibility of being able to FIG.15 / THE FINAL FORM AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCED FROM DATA

be built, the same software had previously been used for another competition project for a development a hotel and shopping mall where it did not result in such a realistic manner. The reason to this was the complexity of a vertical organically generated design which was to unconventional for developer to ever be built.

FIG.14 / ANALYSIS USED IN THE SOFTWARE TO GENERATE THE FORM

This project, all though never built, shows the advantages and disadvantages of generative design and how it need to be moderated to best suit the environment it is designed for. Even though it might look good and function in the model it might not be a realistic project in the society.

CONCLUSION

LEARNING & ALGORITHMIC OUTCOMES As a conclusion this part have discussed the potential of design as a world-changing force and the power there is to derive from the symbiotic relationship between humans and computers. Not only in the sense that it can optimise the design outcomes by widening and efficiently evaluating and directing different design solutions, but also how it can act as a mean to research the most functional systems in our surrounding to inspire us to a new way of designing and building. For the following parts of this studio I will focus more on the biological influence of design and how the principles of nature can lead us to a more sustainable way of living. I believe that by integrating the knowledge learnt from natural systems with parameters set out by the human behaviour at a specific site, a new relationship can be built between the two which would benefit both the future of humanity and the natural environment we live in.

•

The importance of constantly criticising the development of design in the society and thinking beyond the immediate circumstances.

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The wide range of possibilities that Design Computation offers but also the limitations and why the human brain is still an important component of the design process.

•

The efficiency of computation on the fabrication process and for structural flexibility efficiency.

•

How to search knowledge from studying natural principles in order to optimise design performance.

•

The need of understanding algorithmic thinking in order to communicate the preferred constraints and form finding functions for computation.

FIG.16 / PATTERN CREATED USING IMAGE REFERENCING

FIG.17 / PAVILION MODEL THROUGH STAGES OF MATERIALISATION AND FABRICATION DESIGN

The algorithmic sketches produces during this part allowed me to explore the advantages and disadvantages with design computation. One of our first tasks was to produce five variations of vases using five different parametric techniques. Through this exercise I realised the effectiveness of parametric design when experiencing the many variations of vases which could be produced by simply changing two inputs (in this case the value of a number-slider and different loft techniques). Our second weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s task was to design a pavilion with a geometry dependant by an attractor point to once again explore a variety of forms. We were then told to experiment with how to manufacture the pavilion using various parametric tools. This exercise increased my understanding of how computation bring design

and engineering together. What I created was a grid structure made out of strips which could be slotted together to form the pavilion. I then further developed a skin for the grid structure using tessellation. In the third week we explored patterns. I then used an image to impact the circle radius on a point grid. This exercise reminded me of the technique used by CAAD/ETHâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Urban Picturesque project and how site analysis can be used as parameters in a design by referencing images. I did however also encounter the restraint caused by not being very familiar with algorithmic thinking and the right language to communicate my intentions of the design with the modelling program. I realise that there is a lot more to learn before being fully capable to create a functional generative design.

FIG.18/ VARIATION OF VASES RESERACHED THROUGH CHANGING OF VARIABLES

/REFERENCES/

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Braach, Marcus, Solutions You Cannot Draw, in Architectural Design, 83 vols, 5, (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 2014) pp. 46-53.

‘Kraanspoor / OTH Architecten’, ArchDaily, 2008, < http://www.archdaily.com/?p=2967> [accessed 16th March]

Burrow, Stephen, Beijing National Stadium Special Issue, in The Arup Journal, 44 vols, 1, (Corporate Communications Group 2009) pp. 1-14

‘National Stadium (Bird’s Nest)’, Arup, < http://www. arup.com/Projects/Chinese_National_Stadium.aspx> [accessed 17th March 2015]

Dunne, Anthony and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything: Design Fiction, and Social Dreaming (MIT Press, 2013) pp. 1-9, 33-45

Oxman, Rivka and Robert Oxman, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (Routledge, London; New York, 2014), pp. 1-10

Fry, Tony, Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg, 2008), pp. 1-16

Peters, Brady, Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought, in Architectural Design, 83 vols, 2, (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd) pp. 8-15

‘ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion / University of Stuttgart, Faculaty of Architecture and Urban Planning’, ArchDaily, 2013, < http://www.archdaily. com/?p=340374> [accessed 19th March 2015] Kalay, Yehuda, Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004), pp. 5-25 ‘Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre’, Foster + Partners, 2010, < http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/ khan-shatyr-entertainment-centre/> [accessed 17th March 2015] Kolarevic, Branko, Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing (Spon Press, New York; London, 2003), pp. 3-62

‘Times Eureka Pavilion / NEX Architecture’, ArchDaily, 2011, <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=142509> [accsessed 16th March 2015]

FIGURES: 1] ‘Virtual Environment - FInal Product’, Authors private image, 2013

w w w.fosterandpartners.com/projects/khan-shatyrentertainment-centre/> [accessed 17th March 2015]

2] ‘The Biomes’, < http://grimshaw-architects.com/ project/the-eden-project-the-biomes/> [accessed 15th March 2015]

10] ‘Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre - Parametric Models’ <http://www.bradypeters.com/khan-shatyrcentre.html> [accessed 17th March 2015]

3] ‘Kraanspoor’, <http://www.archdaily. com/?p=340374> [accessed 19th March 2015]

11] ‘Metropol Parasol 2’, < https://senseseville. wordpress.com/photos/metropol-parasol/metropolparasol-2-2/> [accessed 20th March 2015]

4] ‘ Times Eureka Pavilion’, <http://www.archdaily. com/?p=142509> [accsessed 16th March 2015] 5] ‘ TImes Eureka Pavilion Interior’, <http://www. archdaily.com/?p=142509> [accsessed 16th March 2015] 6] ‘Parametric Model of Roof Truss Loads’, < https:// arc239parametr icism.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/ beijing-national-stadium/> [accessed 16th March 2015] 7] ‘ Beijing National Stadium’, < http://www. her zogdemeu ron.com/ index /p rojects/complete works/226-250/226-national-stadium.html> [ accessed 16th March 2015] 8] ‘ Beijing National Stadium’, < http://www. her zogdemeu ron.com/ index /p rojects/complete works/226-250/226-national-stadium.html> [ accessed 16th March 2015]

12] ‘ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion’ < http://www. archdaily.com/?p=340374> [accessed 19th March 2015] 13] ‘ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion’ < http://www. archdaily.com/?p=340374> [accessed 19th March 2015] 14] ‘CAAD/ETH Zurich and group8 architects, Urban Picturesque housing area competition, Geneva, 2008’, Marcus Braach, Solutions You Cannot Draw, in Architectural Design, 83 vols, 5, (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 2014) pp. 51 15] ‘CAAD/ETH Zurich and group8 architects, Urban Picturesque housing area competition, Geneva, 2008’, Marcus Braach, Solutions You Cannot Draw, in Architectural Design, 83 vols, 5, (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 2014) pp. 51

9] ‘Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre’ < http://

PART B.

CRITERIA DESIGN

B.1. RESEARCH FIELD - BIOMIMICRY Biomimicry is the approach to design innovations which seeks solutions to human challenges by emulating the system of most tested patterns and strategies in the world: Nature. Humans have always been interested in natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creativity when dealing with aesthetics and function. Biological motifs have been used as ornamentation through history and the mathematical logic behind their proportion such as the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci series has been studied an implemented in various fields1 . But nature is not only an inspiration source for the aesthetics, it is now with the possibilities of computation an important source of knowledge to performance of design and how to design in relation to the context we live in. As computation and generic design have developed, the possibility of performance based design have evolved to a stage were we now can test the design in a virtual environment fairly similar to real life. Nature is the most well-tested form for generative design were evolutionary pressure constantly push organisms to become highly optimize and efficient. Nature produce systems of maximum effects with minimum means which is highly admirable in architecture 2. This has led designers to increasingly look at nature as inspiration for design morphology, new materials and new material behaviours which respond to dynamic environmental conditions. Biomimicry is more than imitating the appearance of the organic. It is learning to produce form in response to the conditions of the environmental context from natural principles of design.

guide the design process. Growth and adaption are two examples concepts which are dealt with in both biology and nature. Biological morphogenesis, the form finding process, further deals with processes of repair and aging which are two interesting fields were architecture probably could learn a lot from studying natural systems to design for the future as discussed in previous parts 3 . Some of the most used systems of nature is fractal growth to create interesting natural ornamentation and voronoi cells for optimised structures. But nature can also be studied for performance solutions such as constructibility, material efficiency, thermal capacity etc. The benefits of biomimicry are plenty, but there are also limitations of its use for architecture. One of such is the restrictions that come when trying to transfer systems from micro-scale to macro-scale which is not always applicable. Another major thing is that nature is always testing organisms against their specific function, if a design has no such function the imitation will we purely conceptional. This does not have to be a negative thing however, one could argue that biomimicry could still have a beneficial outcome weather it is purely visual, conceptual or functional. It is also important to remember that evolution is a very slow process while the life of humans develop in a very fast pace, hence the solutions of nature is not necessarily superior to man-made solutions in all instances although they might be in the long run.

In architecture biomimicry is beneficial as nature often have already resolved similar challenges to those encountered when designing. Furthermore the concepts and techniques incorporated in architecture often have parallels in nature which can 1 Kolarevic, Branko and Kevin R. Klinger, Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture (New York; London: Routledge, 2008), pp. 18 2 Kolarevic, Branko and Kevin R. Klinger, Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture

3 Stanislav, Roudavski Towards Morphogenesis in Architecture, International Journal of Architectural Computing, (2009, 7 (3)), pp. 345 - 374

”ANIMALS, PLANTS, AND MICROBES ARE THE CONSUMMATE ENGINEERS. AFTER BILLIONS OF YEARS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, FAILURES ARE FOSSILS, AND WHAT SURROUNDS US IS THE SECRET TO SURVIVAL.” – THE BIOMIMICRY INSTITUTE

FIG.19 / CELLULAR STRUCTURE OF A LEAF

B.2. CASE STUDY 1.0 THE MORNING LINE / ARANDA LASCH EUROPE 2004

The Morning Line is a traveling art installation by Aranda Lasch in collaboration with Matthew Ritchie and ARUP.

unfinished - it only develops through multiple stages. Each bit is interchangeable, demountable, portable and recyclable creating a constantly adapting form.

This project use the biomimetic process of fractal growth - found in branching systems in nature such as tree growth to create a growing structure. The fractal building blocks are divided in to their edges with points where lines are drawn in between to create a continuous three-dimensional pattern which can grow in any direction. This fractal patterning is also found in crystals in nature.

The original project was generated from a truncuated tetrahedron which was then fractally scaled by a third in three dimensions. In my exploration and development of this project I investigated the use of different geometries when fractating and different scales of fractals. I also experimented with the composition of three-dimensional patterning using various location of points on the faces. Finally I investigated the different growth forms of the fractal blocks produced to be able to analyse further design application.

This creates an affect of complexity and intertwining where there is now beginning or end, no entrance or exit, only movement through space 4 . What I find really interesting with this project is how every piece function individually as much as in composition. The growth of the structure never looks finished or

FIG.2

FIG.24 / DIAGRAM OF THE PROJECTS DEVELOPMENT

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Work: The Morning Lineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, Aranda Lasch, 2004, < http://arandalasch.com/works/the-morning-line/> [accessed 21th April 2015]

FIG.2

5 / THE MORNING LINE PROJECT - TURKEY

7 6 / THE MORNING LINE

/EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT/

Tetrahedron

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Fractal scale 0.6

Pyramid

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Fractal scale 0.6

Pentagonal Pyramid P

Pentagonal Pyramid

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Fractal scale 0.6

Cube

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Fractal scale 0.6

Truncuated Tetrahedron

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Truncuated Tetrahed Tr

Fractal scale 0.6

Tetrahedron Pattern

Parameter 0.1

Parameter 0.3

Parameter 0.5

Parameter 0.7

Parameter 1.0

Tetrahedron

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Fractal scale 0.6

Pyramid

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Fractal scale 0.6

Pentagonal Pyramid

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Fractal scale 0.6

Cube

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Fractal scale 0.6

dron runcuated Tetrahedron

Truncuated Tetrahedron

Fractal scale 0.2

Fractal scale 0.333

Fractal scale 0.4

Fractal scale 0.5

Fractal scale 0.6

Fractal Growth

Pentagonal Pyramid

Pyramid

Cube

Tetrahedron

Tetrahedron Pattern

/SELECTION CRITERIA/ FIG.27 / TETRAHEDRON- FRACTAL SCALE 0.3

FIG.28 / PENTAGONAL PYRAMID - FRACTAL SCALE 0.5

When analysing the grade of success in my iterations I was considering the design criteria set out in the brief. The brief calls for an architectural intervention that will express, support or question continuous relationships between technical, cultural and natural systems. It asks for a project which can produce an evocative description of a possible future and aim to expose complex ecological processes. Furthermore, it calls for an design aiming to create innovative forms of participation and encourage active bodily participation while being a close fit with the existing site and make possible the use of non-standard materials. From the reading about manufacturing material effects the importance of the creation of an architectural experience through a designed affect also became part of my design criteria. This knowledge developed in to my own primary set of design criteria being: A modular system which would invite for interaction.

FIG.29 / FRACTAL GROWTH - CUBE

A structure reflecting the qualities of nature: supporting, resilient, adaptive, optimized and balanced. A design creating the affect of the need of balance in the system to function, hence reflecting the need of balance in the ecosystem we are all apart of.

FIG.30 / FRACTAL GROWTH - TETRAHEDRON PATTERN

5 Kolarevic, Branko and Kevin R. Klinger, Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture

The four outcomes chosen respond to these criteria in different ways: Fig. 27 was chosen due to its optimal composition of fractal segments for further application in design. This is actually the same geometry as used in the case study, which does not surprise me as it allows for various ways of growth in different angles and has an aesthetically pleasing composition of fractals creating a stable effect. Fig. 28 was chosen due to its natural appearance of fractal modular elements composing a beautiful system. This outcome was however not structurally sound. I realised during my iterations that if the fractal scale went above 0.4 the modules were no longer functional in a structural sense, they were only separate pieces floating in the air. Fig. 29 was very interesting in the way that it created a complex effect of simple modules. It could grow in branches with different fractals and could easily incorporate the criteria of resembling the qualities of nature. Furthermore it would be possible to develop it in a way which would allow user participation in the form development if each piece would be put together separately.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;AUTHENTIC ARCHITECTURAL EXPERIENCES DERIVE FROM A REAL OR IDEATED BODILY CONFRONTATION RATHER THAN VISUALLY OBSERVED ENTITIES.â&#x20AC;? -JUHANI PALLASMAA 5

Fig. 30 was also very interesting in the sense that has the potential to embody the affect of balance in how every element is connected and create a continuous growing structure.

B.3. CASE STUDY 2.0 ICD/ITKE REASEARCH PAVILION 2011 / STUTTGART,GERMANY 2011

The ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion from 2011 is a very interesting project because it uses biomimicry through its design process in a way which closely links fabrication and form finding. The aim of the project was to find an effective way to build spatial structures with a modular plate system transferring only normal and shear forces between the edges.

The principles of the sand dollar was translated in to the construction of the research pavilion following a rule of maximum three plates meeting at one point to ensure stability of the system. Furthermore the fingerlike protrusions of the sand dollar was translated in to traditional finger-joint connections optimised by robotic fabrication.

The study for this project was the sea urchin’s (in particular the sand dollar) plate skeleton which was found to be optimal in a modular plate point of view. The shell of the sand dollar is a modular system consisting of polygonal plates which has a larger span where the curvature of the shell is low and smaller where it high. The plates are connected with fingerlike protrusions along the edges which serves as a perfect technique to resist shear forces hence the skeleton achieves a high load bearing capacity and can create large spans. 5

The project used a costume developed computational tool and made sure that form finding and structural design were closely intertwined. Relaxation simulation was used to create the spatial structure and constantly analysed to match the properties of the sand dollar. 6 The robotic fabrication of this structurally optimised pavilion allowing great spans with minimal material (6.5 mm thin sheets of plywood was used for the plates) allowed for the integration of the structural design and the fabrication design, maximising the efficiency of material.

FIG.3

FIG.31 / SAND DOLLARS PLATE SKELETON 5 ‘ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011 / University of Stuttgart, Faculaty of Architecture and Urban Planning’, University of Stuttgart, 2011, < http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=11187> [accessed 19th April 2015]

La Magna, Ricardo, Gabler, Reichbertm Schwinn, Waimer, Menges and Knippers, From Nature to fabrication: Biomimetic Design Principles

FIG.3

2 / IINSIDE THE PAVILION

7 3 / STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY AND VISIBLE FINGER JOINTS

FIG.34 / PLATE STRUCTURE OF THE PAVILION

/REVERSE ENGINERING/ CREATE POINTS USING A GROWTH SPIRAL ALGORITHM: POINTS FROM DOMAIN > ROTATE BY PI - ANGLE > MIRROR > SCALE > VORONOI > REGION INTERSECTION

ESTIMATE PAVILION OUTLINE WITH CURVES IN RHINO SEPERATING OUTER DOME, INNER DOME AND OPENING

VOLUME OF OUTER DOME - KANGAROO RELAXATION SIMULATOR: 1. SET ALL VORONOI POLYGONS AS SPRINGS EXCEPT THE ONE CLOSEST TO THE OPENING. ADJUST REST-LENGTH BY MULTIPLYING THE EDGE LENGTHS WITH NUMBER SLIDER. 2. SET ALL NAKED VERTICIES AS POINTS TO BE PULLED WITH CURVE PULL COMPONENT. SET EXTERIOR OUTLINE CURVE AS PULLING CURVE. 3. SET VERTICES OF POLYGON CLOSEST TO OPENING AS POINTS TO BE PULLED WITH CURVE PULL COMPONENT. SET OPENING OUTLINE AS PULLING CURVE. 4. SET ALL POINTS OF VORONOI POLYGONS AS POINTS TO BE OBJECT TO UNARY FORCE IN Z-DITECTION CREATING CATENARY ACTION. 5. RUN KANGAROO PHYSICS SIMULATOR VOLUME OF INNER DOME - KANGAROO RELAXATION SIMULATOR SAME AS FOR OTER DOME EXCEPT DISABLING THE CURVE PULL TOWARDS OPENING COMPONENT.

CONNECTING OUTER AND INNER DOMES: LOFT EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL INFLATED DOMES BY WEAVING LISTS TO MATCH POLYGONS ON EACH DOME.

PANEL EXTRUSIONS: SCALE OUTER SHELL FROM POLYGON CENTRES > MOVE SCALED POLYGONS IN DIRECTION ANALYSED FROM PLANE FIT THROUGH POLYGON CENTRE POINTS > WEAVE LISTS OF ORIGINAL DOME POLYGONS AND SCALED POLYGONS TO CREATE NEW LISTS PAIRING QUAL INDEXES FROM PRIMARY LISTS > LOFT WEAVED LISTS TO CREATE PANELS. PANEL CAPPING: DEBREP THE PANELS > TEST FACES FOR PLANARITY > BREAK FACE PLANES IN COMPONENTS PARTS > ANALYSE AVERAGE OF ORIGIN POINT AND Z-AXIS VECTOR > CONSTRUCT NEW PLANE FROM ANALYSIS > SECTION BREP WITH NEW PLANE > CREATE NEW PLANAR SURFACE AT SECTION > TRIM PANELS WITH NEW SURFACE

The reverse engineering of this project was very interesting but also very complicated as I realised I did not have sufficient knowledge of how to apply the structural characteristics of the sand dollar to my model. Therefore this exercise became more of a visual representation model of the ITKE pavilion rather than structural. There were many things that differed between my outcome and the original. Firstly, I struggled to get the base pattern of the polygonal plates to follow both the principle of three connecting plates and the variation of larger plates at the centre to smaller at the edge. After a lot of tries with graph controls, equations and attractor points I decided to use a pattern provided on the LMS and instead used my own patterns for my later iterations of the model. Secondly, I did not manage to understand how the inner dome and the outer dome was connected hence I went for an easy solution of simply lofting the two shells. Thirdly, while I did manage to create panel which were all convex I did not manage to create the planar capping on all panels which required all sides of the panels to be planar which they were not. I did however manage to do this on some of the panels. This was a very influential precedent to study as the pavilion meet many of the design criteria I set up in the previous part. Its modular systems allows for adaptivity and resilience while being highly optimised. It also illustrates the qualities of nature and is easily assembled and disassembled. To develop this technique further I would like to test its flexibility to various forms and the with different polygonal plates. I would also explore the modularity further and see what other modular systems might be applicable using the same topology as base. This exercise further introduced me to the physics simulator Kangaroo which is a very effective and powerful plug-in when analysing systems in tension.

B.4. TECHNIQUE: DEVELOPMENT /PRIMARY FORMS/

Simple form

Complex form

Curved wall

Original Voronoi Topology

Simple form

Complex form

Curved Wall

Developed Voronoi Topology

/APPLIED MATERIALS - SIMPLE FORM/

Original Voronoi Topology

Finger joint panel

Intersecting ribs

DevelopedVoronoi Topology

Developed Voronoi Topology

Finger Joint Panel

Intersecting ribs

Hexagonal Voronoi Topology

Developed Voronoi Topology

Finger Joint Panel

Intersecting ribs

Original Voronoi Topology Pin joints

DevelopedVoronoi Topology Pin joints

Original Voronoi Topology

Developed Voronoi Topology

Hexagonal Voronoi Topology

/KANGAROO FORCES VARIATION/

Simple form

Complex form

Curved Wall

High catenary force, Low Spring stiffness

Simple form

Complex form

Curved Wall

Low catenary force, HighSpring stiffness

Low catenary force, High Spring stiffness

Original Voronoi Topology

Steel connection

Folded panels

Hinged panels

Developed Voronoi Topology

Steel connection

Folded panels

Hinged panels

Developed Voronoi Topology

Steel connection

Folded panels

Hinged panels

/APPLIED MATERIALS - COMPLEX FORM/

Original Voronoi Topology

Finger joint panel

Intersecting ribs

DevelopedVoronoi Topology

Developed Voronoi Topology

Finger Joint Panel

Intersecting ribs

Hexagonal Voronoi Topology

Developed Voronoi Topology

Finger Joint Panel

Intersecting ribs

Original Voronoi Topology Pin joints

DevelopedVoronoi Topology Pin joints

/APPLIED MATERIALS - CURVED WALL/

Original Voronoi Topology

Finger joint panel

Intersecting ribs

DevelopedVoronoi Topology

Developed Voronoi Topology

DevelopedVoronoi Topology

Finger Joint Panel

Intersecting ribs

Pin joints

Original Voronoi Topology Pin joints

Original Voronoi Topology

Steel connection

Folded panels

Hinged panels

Developed Voronoi Topology

Steel connection

Folded panels

Hinged panels

Developed Voronoi Topology

Steel connection

Folded panels

Hinged panels

Original Voronoi Topology

Folded panels

Hinged panels

Developed Voronoi Topology

Steel connection

Folded panels

Hinged panels

Steel connection

/SELECTION CRITERIA/

LINKING DESIGN AND FABRICATION

FIG.35 / FINGER JOINT PANEL

The iterations I created for this section was derived from the criteria I had set up in previous parts of wanting to achieve a modular system which people could interact with. From the previous process I further developed an idea of a three-dimensional puzzle which would represent the ecosystems of Merri Creek and beyond in the sense that if would reflect its qualities as a dynamic, developing, balanced system. Furthermore I had decided on a specific site for this structure being the Collingwood Childrens Farm for it to be part of the interactive educational activities for children at the farm. Therefore I developed a system of iterations testing different fabrication techniques which would comply with my criteria of a modular system. Through my iterations I tested 6 different techniques and analysed their flexibility by implementing different relaxation forces, voronoi typologies and different levels of complexity in shape.

FIG.36 / INTERSECTING RIBS

I then started to think about how to incorporate the focus of the farm of sustainability, recyclability and land-care. I developed an idea of using waste materials from the farm to fabricate my project. Through a conversation with the workers at the farm I was informed that the main waste material collected at the farm was cardboard. From this I developed further criteria for my design to allow fabrication from flat pieces (i.e. cardboard). Hence the selection criteria became: A technique which is flexible and adaptive while allowing for modular assembly.

FIG.37 / HINGED PANELS

A technique allowing for simple fabrication consisting of flat elements. A technique which reflect he qualities of nature’s

Brady Peters, ‘Realising the Architectural Intent: Computation at Herzog & De Meuron’, Architectural Design, (2013, 83, 2), pp. 56-61

Of my iterations the three most successful outcomes was the use of finger joint panels (Fig. 35), intersecting ribs (Fig. 36) and hinged panels (Fig 37). Finger joint panels (as used in the ITKE pavilion), was successful in the sense that is remained a clear and solid modular system through all iterations. It is a modular system where all components relies on each other for structural purposes but also allows for growth and flexibility hence linkable to the qualities of an ecosystem. Further it can also be easily fabricated using flat elements. Intersecting ribs are per se not a very modular system. However this fabrication technique inspired me to look in to H-clips using the same principle of slotting elements to create a form. It can also be easily fabricated using flat elements, allows for a lot of flexibility and is highly adaptive as experienced through the iterations.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;THE GOAL IS TO ANTICIPATE FABRICATION SO THAT THE DESIGN IS NOT ONLY BUILDABLE, BUT MEANINGFULLY BUILDABLE, AND BUILDABLE IN WAY THAT DOES NOT EXPLODE COSTS.â&#x20AC;? -KAI STREHLKE, HERZOG & DE MUERON DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY GROUP 8

Hinged panels was the most interesting technique in my opinion. This because they would create a reciprocal structure where each module supports each other hence reflecting the quality of an ecosystem in a very delicate way. Furthermore the technique could be easily fabricated, however it would need to be studied with planarization forces to properly analyse which structural shapes it could take. These iteration exploration of various fabrication techniques brought me to an interesting insight of the importance of integrating the fabrication process with the design process to assure that the intended effect and affect would remain in the final product. I saw the possibility to test these systems further using form finding techniques performance requirements relating to the fabrication process. 40

B.5. TECHNIQUE - PROTOTYPES

When exploring my previous iterations through prototyping I realised that the influence of my research field Biomimicry had been lost. Therefore when analysing my fabrication prototypes I once again returned to a biomimetic approach, trying to once again embody the qualities of an ecosystem in my outcome.

FIG.38 / FABRICATION LAYOUT

My first prototype was looking at the technique of hinged panels to create a reciprocal structure. I went back to my iterations of caste study 1.0 and developed a panel from the fractal pattern of the cube adding hooks in the end of each sprout to create the continuity effect as experienced in the project. My second prototype was based on the ITKE pavilionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finger joint panels to explore their flexibility in form creation as these were very successful in the modular system of the project. My third prototype was developed through the influences of the intersecting ribs technique and developed further using H-clips to create a growing modular system. This technique also allowed me to incorporate biomimetic form finding techniques of fractal growth. Following my previously stated design criteria I fabricated all my prototypes from a flat surface using laser cut 3 mm MDF-board. The modular system and the planar fabrication allowed for simple assembly drawings to be created. However for a larger scale project labelling of the components would be

FIG.39 / ASSEMBLY DRAWINGS

/RECIPROCAL STRUCTURE - HOOKS/

The fabrication prototypes for the reciprocal modular system was very successful. The outcome created a very delicate effect of a continuous linking system which could be linked to the properties of an ecosystem in the way that each module supported another while it was able to create many interesting forms. The shape was very natural and created a quite fragile effect of a very strong system. I tested the strength of the panels by placing forces on them and studied

how the forces were transferred to the other modules confirming the resilience of the system. However, the hooks being 2-dimensional created some restrictiveness in flexibility and could be replaced by more flexible connections. Furthermore, the applicability of this system to my design criteria is a bit limited due to the requirement of a full set of modules for the system to work hence the adaptability of the form is not optimal.

/GROWTH STRUCTURE - HIP JOINT/

The prototypes for the finger joint modular system was not as successful as the others. It was quite difficult to get the finger joints right on the unequal surface of the panel and some adjustments had to be made by hand to make the joints fit. This caused some flaws in the joints which made the system collapse as pressure was put on it hence not mimicking the structurally sound system of the sand dollar skeleton.

Furthermore, while the technique could create some interesting growth the direction of the growth was restricted by the edges of the modules. The prototyped panels being very solid did also not create the desired effect of a dynamic, flexible system. The fabrication of this prototype was insightful in the sense that a technique might look simple while actually requiring accurate and in depth knowledge to make it perform in its intended way.

/GROWTH STRUCTURE - HIP JOINT/

The prototypes for the H-clip system was successful in the sense of the possibilities for further development while not so successful as actual prototypes due to my misjudgement of the accuracy of the laser cutter which made the slots too big. However the system did create a very flexible modular system which inherited the requirements of balance since if the model only grew from one branch it well over. Furthermore the system was strong in compression,

consisted of modules which were interconnected and relied on each other hence reflecting the qualities of an ecosystem. It was also very playful in the sense that it could take many different forms and create different effects. I really liked the flexibility of this system and saw the potential of it to be applicable to my design criteria. I therefore decided to do further research on the growth potential of this system.

B.6. TECHNIQUE - PROPOSAL From the analysis and result of my fabrication prototypes I started to look for precedents on how to generate and optimised form from my fabrication technique. I started to investigate the use of recursive growth again and how to implement L-systems as a form finding technique. I discovered the precedence project “Bloom - The Game” by Alisa Andrasek and Jose Sanchez. This project use the same type of connection in a project which aim is to engage the public in creating. A script was written to set the certain rules of growth for the structure which was implemented by three types of modules with different angled joints.9

FIG.40-43 / BLOOM THE PROJECT

9 ‘Bloom: The Game’, Alisa Andrasek and Jose Sanchez, 2014, < http://www.bloom-thegame.com/main/> [accessed 28th April 2015]

This precedent was a great inspiration for me and I started to investigate the use of L-system and how to apply certain rules to it to predict its growth. However, L-systems are highly complex and the growth is easily predictable. Furthermore a problem which arise is the intersection of branches which complicates fabrication. This could however be overcome by using the system as a digital representation of the growth while simply avoiding the intersection when fabricating. In my explorations I also applied different panels to create different effects resulting in he most interesting ones being semi transparent to once again convey fragility of what seems to be a structurally sound system to reflect the fragility of ecosystems.

Exploration of simple L-system

Exploration of angle difference

Exploration three input vectors

Predicting forms

Explorations with lofted vectors

Exploration with framed panels

Exploration with different panels

/SITE CONTEXT AND CONCEPTUAL IDEA/ The choice of site was influenced by the brief requirements as discussed earlier in this part. I believed strongly in meeting the different brief requirements by focusing on the section calling for innovative forms of participation. The brief focus on ecology, nature and the relationship between nature, culture and technology brought the site of Collingwood Childrens Farm to my mind. This is a space I myself is very familiar with. It is located in the suburb of Abbotsford right at the edge of the urban context to the Yarra River and neighbouring parklands. The farm is completely focus on mediating between the urban and natural environment providing education about sustainability, recyclability and land care to visitors from all over Melbourne and especially through school visits from city schools.

INNOVATIVE FORMS OF PARTICIPATION

The farm is located along the Main Yarra Trail which brings it a lot of visitors through out the week. It hosts a cafe, cattle and orchards which can all be enjoyed by the public for a small fee. 10

10 窶連bout: Collingwoods Children Farm, Collingwoods Children Farm, 2015, < http://www.farm.org.au/> [accessed 28th April 2015]

47 FIG.44 / BIODIVERSITY JENGA

PRODUCE AN EVOCATIVE DESCRIPTION OF A POSSIBLE FUTURE

EXPOSE COMPLEX ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES AND DEEPEN THEIR UNDERSTANDING

CONTRIBUTE AND ADAPT IN A DYNAMIC WORLD

FORMS OPTIMIZED THROUGH NUMERICAL ANALYSIS AND SIMULATION

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, INNOVATIVE MATERIALS

CLOSE FIT WITH THE EXISTING SITE AND USE GEOMETRIES

900 m Studley Park Boathouse

Abbotsford Convent Sophia Mundi Steiner School PROPOSED SITE

1500 m

100 m FIG.45 / CONTEXT MAP

Once a month the Farmers Market is held on a field next to the river to the east of the site. During other times this field stands empty. Therefore I saw the opportunity of using this space to add an educational activity at the farm while also be used during the market days. The idea of a three-dimensional puzzle as a educational interactive pavilion derived from my analysis of what an ecosystem is. I visualised the qualities of an ecosystem as a jenga tower: composed of multiple elements which can be removed and added while the system remains solid by transferring the loads to different members. However, if the system is too heavily loaded the elements can not cope and the system will collapse. This visualisation is descriptive of the current stage of the ecosystem we are a part of as human impact is causing putting more and more load on other elements of the systems causing them to fail.

The idea of the puzzle would then be for children (and adults) to understand how the different elements rely on each other to create a solid system. To further increase the applicability of this system to the site I wanted to incorporate recycled materials from the site (i.e. cardboard). I also believe that this approach reflect the own nature of the site as the farm is a non-profit organisation which rely on community cooperation hence being a ecosystem in itself. I also wanted to enhance the flexibility and adaptivity of the system making it usable during the market days. I therefore propose a primary structure to be built in the middle of the field to create shading for the large open field which is heavily exposed to sunlight. This structure could then represent a strong ecosystem while the puzzle could grow from this structure further showing the intertwinement of ecosystems and the complexity of their nature. 48

/DESIGN PROPOSAL/

CONSTRUCTION STAGE

STATIC STAGE

My design proposal, which derives from the technique proposal of using a modular system of H-clip joint panels following the growing pattern of nature through the use of L-system, is a branching three-dimensional puzzle acting as both a educational interactive pavilion and as a shading structure for the big open field at Collingwoods Children Farm. The use of biomimicry in the form finding process will link the structure to the site through cultural values and natural approach. The site in particular is surrounded my high gumtrees which can be reflected in the design.

EVOLVING STAGE

The proposal is that of a structure which continually grows and evolves depending on the users by changing its composition of elements. The design further represents the qualities and complexity of an ecosystem to deepen the understanding of natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s complex systems by letting the users explore the sensible and strong points of the structure as it evolves I believe that this proposal will meet the brief by using an innovative form of participation to embody the consequences of a undesirable future where humans push the ecosystems we are part of to collapse. It will be a truly generic structure using the growth pattern in nature as form finding technique to create complex and non-standard geometries. It has the possibility to

allow for fabrication techniques which incorporates innovative and recycled materials as well as leaving a minimal impact on the site as the modular system can by easily assembled and disassembled. It has the potential to be truly dynamic, adaptive and responsive to the site, highly dependant on the users interaction and the environmental context. Finally I believe that the proposal can be closely related to the site by representing the cultural values of the farm and involving the users of the site for the development of its future form. There are several steps that need to be taken from here. The first is to figure out the main linkage of the design

to the site and how to address this in the technique development to make the design a performative in its context, I will also need to continue studying L-systems and how to create certain rules to apply these performative issues. Furthermore, a research of how to optimise the affect of the structure as an interactive pavilion will need to be developed. What shape will the modules have, how will they behave, and how will they engage the public are all questions that needs to be addressed.

CONCLUSION This part have been very demanding and I am not sure I feel completely on top of everything yet. Going through the learning objectives for the course I believe that I have successfully met the points of interrogating a brief by considering the age of optioneering enabled by digital technologies. This is proven in my design proposal which has carefully addressed the brief by constantly used parametric design as a means to find solutions. I also believe that I have mastered the skills of generating a variety of design possibilities for a given situation, all through I believe that my skills can definitely improve in this. I have also been able to make a case for proposal, by efficiently proven my proposal with precedents and parametric diagrams. One thing I am yet to develop and which I believe will bring my design proposal to the next step is the development of a personalised repertoire of computation techniques and how to efficiently test my designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance. The process we have gone through in this part have been both useful and confusing. While I have definitely developed my skills of parametric modelling I quickly lost track of my goal and design intention when being caught up in the process of learning and purely developing a complex form. I understood in my iterations for case study 2 the importance of relating the goal of the design intent, the selection criteria, to the iterations to further be able to develop the outcome in a beneficial direction. I also understood the benefits of developing fabrication techniques along with the form finding process as a mean to always connect the two for a successful outcome. The prototyping process was also interesting and delightful as I realised the complication with purely mimicking a process and also how digital prototypes and physical prototypes works very different hence you either need an virtual environment to test your digital prototypes or you need to physically produce them to test their performance. I am looking forward to develop my skills further and to more efficiently focus on one particular direction of my design.

/ALGORITHMIC OUTCOMES/ During this part my algorithmic sketches have not been really up to standards. However, the algorithmic tasks of using graph mapper and field forces to create vornoi patterns really helped me for my re-enginering project and for my iterations. Further more I did a lot of extra algorithmic tasks when trying to understand L-systems which created very interesting outcomes thta were beneficial for mig design process.

Voronoi patterns using graph mapper

Voronoi patterns using field forces

Most interesting L-system explorations

/REFERENCES/

BIBLIOGRAPHY: ‘About: Collingwoods Children Farm, Collingwoods Children Farm, 2015, < http://www.farm.org.au/> [accessed 28th April 2015]

Peters, Brady, ‘Realising the Architectural Intent: Computation at Herzog & De Meuron’, Architectural Design, (2013, 83, 2), pp. 56-61.

‘Bloom: The Game’, Alisa Andrasek and Jose Sanchez, 2014, < http://www.bloom-thegame.com/main/> [accessed 28th April 2015]

Roudavski, Stanislav, Towards Morphogenesis in Architecture, International Journal of Architectural Computing, (2009, 7 (3)), pp. 345 - 374

‘ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011 / University of Stuttgart, Faculaty of Architecture and Urban Planning’, University of Stuttgart, 2011, < http://icd.unistuttgart.de/?p=11187> [accessed 19th April 2015] ‘Work: The Morning Line’, Aranda Lasch, 2004, < http://arandalasch.com/works/the-morning-line/> [accessed 21th April 2015] Kolarevic, Branko and Kevin R. Klinger, Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture (New York; London: Routledge, 2008), pp. 6–24 07 La Magna, Ricardo, Gabler, Reichbertm Schwinn, Waimer, Menges and Knippers, From Nature to fabrication: Biomimetic Design Principles for the Production of Complex Spatial Structures, International Journal of Space Structures, (2013, 28, 1), pp. 27-38 Moussavi, Farshid and Michael Kubo, The Function of Ornament (Barcelona: Actar, eds 2006), pp. 5-14 Oxman, Rivka and Robert Oxman, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (Routledge, London; New York, 2014), pp. 1-10

FIGURES: 19] ‘Biomimicry - Leaf’, < http://ib526biomimicry. b l o g s p o t . c o m . a u / 2 0 0 9_ 0 9_ 01 _ a r c h i v e . h t m l / > [accessed 15th April 2015]

44] ‘ Biodiversity Jenga’ < https://www.flickr.com/ photos/sharman/4570412801> [accessed 23rd April 2015]

24] ‘The Morning Line Diagram’, < http://arandalasch. com/works/the-morning-line/ [accessed 21th April 2015]

45] ‘Near maps Screen Shot’ < http://au.nearmap. com/> [accessed 27th April 2015]

25] ‘The Morning Line Turkey’, < http://arandalasch. com/works/the-morning-line/ [accessed 21th April 2015] 31] ‘Sand Dollar Structural Skeleton’ < http://icd.unistuttgart.de/?p=11187> [accessed 23rd April 2015] 32] ‘ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011’ < http://icd.unistuttgart.de/?p=11187> [accessed 23rd April 2015] 33] ‘ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011- Joints’ < http:// icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=11187> [accessed 23rd April 2015] 40] ‘Bloom: The Game’ < http://www.bloom-thegame. com/main/ > [accessed 28th April 2015] 41] ‘Bloom’ < http://www.bloom-thegame.com/main/ > [accessed 28th April 2015] 42] ‘Bloom: The Game’ < http://www.bloom-thegame. com/main/ > [accessed 30th April 2015] 43] ‘Bloom: The Game’ < http://www.bloom-thegame. com/main/ > [accessed 30th April 2015]

PART C.

DETAILED DESIGN

C.1. DESIGN CONCEPT /ALTERNATIVE REVEGETATION STRATEGY FOR COLLINGWOOD CHILDREN’S FARM/ The feedback I received in my intermin submission was focused on how to create a proposal that was more site specific and would ensure interaction with the public. I therefore decided to take on a different approach to my concept of creating a modular system which would educate visitors about the complexity of ecosystems and their impact on it. I started by searching for ways that people already interact with the ecosystem at the site (Collingwood Children’s Farm) and how to broaden the participation of that activity whilst improving its impact. One of the main activities at the farm as well as along all of Merri Creek and Yarra River is revegetion of indigenous plants to establish a healthier river corridor. Collingwood Children’s Farm went through a large scheme revegetation plan in 2004 using traditional revegetation strategies of tube-stock planting and direct seedling which have now proved to be semi-succesfull with some parts requireing further revegetation. The revegetation program required many volunteers which due to the labour intensity consisted mainly by adults. I decided to seek an alternative revegetation strategy using computation to optimise its impact and an execution which would allow it to be more appropriate for all ages and skills leading to a broader participation and deepen understanding of the complexity of ecosystems for the greater public. The final design proposal is computational designed revegetation modules based on the requirements for seedling revegetation. The modules interlock with each other to create a continuous interrelated system reflecting the qualities of an ecosystem.

I also developed a revegetation map based on four criteria of plant growth specific to the site: solar radiation, water drainage, physical restraints and people interference. This map could be used by the farm to guide the placement of the revegetation pods in an optimal way for growth. It will also acknowledge people on the possible consequences of the vegetation growth and the river health if they choose to disregard the map. The proposed revegetation strategy would educate people on how ecosystems are complex and resilient systems allowing for some damage caused by specific elements (such as humans) but will collapse if the damage is too extensive. It would also allow for greater involvement by the public and create a less labour intense but more successfull revegeration program. In the following sections I will document how my conceptual idea could be realised and implemented on the site.

SITE PLAN

Abbotsford Convent Collingswood Children’s Farm

100 m

RESULT OF TRADITIONAL REVEGETATION 2004

2004

2006

2010

2015

FIG.46-49 / ARIEAL VIEWS OF SITE 2004-2015

/PRECEDENT - COMPUTATION BASED REVEGETATION/ VICTORIAN STUDY FROM 2009: PRIORITATION IN REVEGETATION

Computation has been used amongst biologists for a long time in order to analyse the landscape and optimise the result of conservation strategies. In 2009 a study was made by Australian scholars to evaluate how computation could benefit a large scale revegetation project on a land of 11 000 km2 were revegetation would take a very long time and a prioritisation of certain areas most beneficial to the restoring of biodiversity needed to be done 1. The program used in the study is called Zonation and worked in a way which divided the area in to a 150 m2 grid and then analysed each zone of the grid according to its suitability as a natural habitat depending on factors such as soil fertility, existing vegetation and rainfall. This resulted in a layered revegetation map which divided the large plot of land in to prioritisation zones of revegetation which allowed an optimised approach to revegetation in order to restore the ecosystem as quick as possible 2. The benefits of using computation for revegetation is its ability to handle a large amount of complex data and merging it to a final outcome which can be altered depending on selection criteria.

I though it would be very interesting to create an approach of computation mapped revegetation for a small scale projects such as that on Collingwood Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Farm in order to expose the complexity of ecosystems and to see a result in a much more direct way than that of large scale projects. This precedent study further shows how computation allows for the implementation of specific information depending on the site and how this mapping technique can be used with any kind of information that might be relevant to the specific project. The major benefit of using computation for the site analysis of revegetation program is of course the optimisation of plant establishment and ecosystem recovering. However, it can also have a major economical and efficiency impact as correct placement of plants will result in less failure and need of plant replacement 3 . This could be of specific interest to Collingwood Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Farm as they are a NGO dependent on the support of the local community and charity contributions.

J.R Thomson et al, Long-Term Revegetation Planning: Where and When to Revegetate (Melbourne, 2014), p.1

J.R Thomson et al, Long-Term Revegetation Planning, p.3

Katherine Corr, Revegetation Techniques (Victoria, Greening Australia, 2003) p. 9

FIG.50 / FINAL REVEGETATION MAP FROM STUDY

/DEVELOPMENT OF MODULES/

/TRADITIONAL REVEGETATION/

MOUNDING 10 CM

8 CM

FIG.51 / TUBE-STOCK PLANTING ALONG YARRA RIVER

There are three common strategies for revegetation in Australia: tube-stock planting, direct seedling and natural regeneration. 4 Tube-stock planting is the most common one as it has the highest success rate and can be applied on both small and large scale projects. However, it includes several steps and is very time consuming when done manually which is often the case on small scale projects. 5 The six steps are:

1. Order plant seedlings from nursery. (They normally come in small plastic pots) 2. Prepare the soil for planting 3. Dig a hole for the seedling (can be done either manually or by machine) 4. Remove seedling from plastic pot and place in the hole

Katherine Corr, Revegetation Techniques p. 53

Katherine Corr, Revegetation Techniques p. 95

Katherine Corr, Revegetation Techniques p. 106

5.Create mounds around seedling for weed control 6. Place guarding fence as wind barrier (will have to be removed as seedling grows unless made out of a biodegradable material) As plants cannot grow on top of each other distances are measured out between the tube-stocks dependant on type of plant. 6 For the development of my alternative revegetation pods I looked at the requirements of tube-stock planting and set the following design criteria: • Pods should have intriguing appearance to drag attention • Pods need to include mounding around seedling • Pods need to allow for a 8 cm deep seedling (normal height for tree seedlings which are the deepest) • Pods need to provide 10 cm wind barrier

/TECHNIQUE/

30 cm

SET UP HEXAGONAL GRID AND CREATE INTERLOCKING COMPONENT: HEXAGONAL GRID CREATED > INTERLOCKING COMPONENT WITH SAME BASE LENGTH AS HEXAGONAL FACE LENGTH

ORIENT INTERLOCKING COMPONENT ON HEXAGONAL FACES: VECTOR CREATED FROM EACH FACE NORMAL > INTERLOCKING COMPONENT ORIENTED TO EACH SIDE > FLIP EVERY SECOND

SURFACE OF MODULE - WITH HOLE FOR SEEDLING CREATE PLANAR SURFACE FROM CURVE > CREATE CIRCLE FROM CENTRE OF MODULE > INTERSECT BREPS TO CREATE HOLE FOR SEEDLING

INFLATION MODULE - WITH HOLE FOR SEEDLING 1.CREATE SMOOTH MESH FROM SURFACE - CONTROL EDGE SIZE. 2. SET MESH EDGES AS SPRINGS. ADJUST REST-LENGTH BY MULTIPLYING THE EDGE LENGTHS WITH NUMBER SLIDER. 3. SET ALL NAKED VERTICIES AS POINTS TO BE PULLED WITH CURVE PULL COMPONENT. SET OUTLINE CURVE AS PULLING CURVE. 4. SET ALL POINTS OF VORONOI POLYGONS AS POINTS TO BE OBJECT TO UNARY FORCE IN Z-DITECTION CREATING CATENARY ACTION. 5. RUN KANGAROO PHYSICS SIMULATOR 6. ADJUST STRENGTH OF FORCES TO ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED HEIGHT AT CENTRE OF MODULE (18CM)

/MODULE DEVELOPMENT/

Plan View Study of interlocking element

Perspective Study of achieving height criteria

Modular Plan View Study of intriguing appearance

/PROPOSED REVEGETATION MODULE/

The most successful module was the one presented above. This outcome had an overall intriguing and interesting appearance when laid out in its grid. It also met the requirements of achieving 18 cm height at the centre while providing mounds around the centre for weed control. The proposed module have already managed to minimise the previous six steps of tube-stock planting to three steps: 1. Prepare the soil for planting 2.Plant the seedling in the module 3.Place the module in to the soil

Katherine Corr, Revegetation Techniques p. 45

Further actions can be considered to optimise the module such as making it out of a biodegradable material so that no work is required after the module has been placed. By using a biodegradable material grass seeds could also be placed within the material. Furthermore fertilizers could be placed inside the mounds if necessary. The size of the module is based on a hexagonal with a face length of 30 cm. This allows for any type of seedling to be used for planting. The size is also restrained by not wanting to exceed a weight which would be too heavy for children to carry. The proposed module would weigh approximately 3.5 kg with soil in it.

Shrub Module

Grass Module

Tree Module

Grass Module

Only interlocks to grass

Interlocks to grass and shrub

Only interlocks to grass

Interlocks to grass and shrub

Interlocks to grass,shrub and tree

Revegetation is most successful if there is a variation of types of coverage by using grass, shrubs and trees when revegetating a site. This creates certain criteria for the placement of the modules as trees should not grow within a 5 m radius from each other and shrubs not within 2.5 m. 7 I therefore developed 5 variations of modules to control these distances which is normally done by measuring on site. The modules developed has different interlocking components such that tree and shrub modules can only attach to other grass modules but not to each other.

I could have developed a larger range of modules as well as different sizes of modules to make them more plant specific. However, I considered a lower range of variates to allow for series production which would make the strategy cheaper and less labour intense. The final set of modules to encounter for all types of seedlings to be planted and thus they might be a bit bigger than necessary for grass seedlings they could contain more than one grass seedling and could also contain seeds in their mounds as proposed earlier.

All though the final modules wont be sufficient to entirely control the distances between different plants it is an attempt to decrease the possible impact by human unawareness of natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rules.

/REVEGETATION MAP - SITE CRITERIA/ SOLAR RADIATION

There are multiple factors that impact vegetation growth and species can be impacted in different ways by the same factor. When creating a optimised revegetation map for Collingwood Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Farm I decided to study a specific area of the site where implementation could occur and then analysed four key factors impacting on growth which could then be implemented and adapted depending on species used. The four factors analysed were solar radiation, drainage, physical obstruction and human interference. I used different methods to map out

Katherine Corr, Revegetation Techniques p. 12

DRAINAGE

these factors which will be explained in further detail in the following section. The main technique however was to translate the data collected in to different scaled circles so that I could use the same technique as in the precedent study were a grid (in my case the hexagonal base grid for my modules) could be laid out and then transformed according to distances between the centre of the modules to various factor characteristics such as high solar radiation or high drainage. Solar radiation and drainage are factors which are widely used when considering revegetation. 8

PHYSICAL OBSTRUCTION

At Collingwood Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Farm there is however also a lot of already existing vegetation and plantations as well as interference between humans and vegetation at study site where the farmers market is located once a month and attracts thousands of people. I therefore decided to include physical obstruction by already existing elements and the interference with humans during the market days as two factors shaping the revegetation map. To do this I used aerial pictures of the site from a market day and from a non-market day to locate potential disturbing factors,

HUMAN INTERFERENCE

revegetation strategy which was put in place at the site in 2004 I decided to use a topographical model simulating what the site looked like when the strategy was implemented. I have however also included a variation to the landscape to show how the technique developed to create this map can be adopted depending on the site, the factors chosen and the plant specific criteria.

As my concept is to propose an alternative to the

/TECHNIQUE/

BASE MODEL SET UP: CREATE TOPOGRAPHY MESH FROM CONTOUR LINES > LOCATE EXISTING TREES FROM PICTURE MAP > SET UP BASE HEXAGONAL GRID COVERING SPECIFIC SITE BASED ON HEXAGONAL WITH 30 CM FACE LENGTH

SOLAR RADIATION WITH LADYBUG: 1. DOWNLOAD WEATHERFILE OF SITE 2. SET BASE TOPOGRAPHY AND CONTEXT TOPOGRAPHIES FOR RADIATION TO BE MAPPED ON 3.SET RADIATION ANALYSIS TO BE BASED ON DATA FROM 1 YEAR 4.RUN LADYBUG RADIATION MAPPING 5. USE TEST POINTS FROM RADIATION MAP TO CREATE CIRCLES 6.USE RADIATION RESULT FROM EACH POINT AS A FACTOR TO DETERMINE CIRCLE RADIUS 7.SET CONDITION FOR AMOUNT OF RADIATION REQUIRED FOR PLANT GROWTH > CULL CIRCLES WITH LESS/MORE RADIATION THAT REQUIRED 8.MEASURE DISTANCE FROM SELECTED CIRCLES CENTRES TO CENTRE OF HEXAGONAL GRID > CULL HEXAGONS TOO FAR AWAY FROM REQUIRED RADIATION

DRAINAGE LINE WITH ANEMONE: 1. POPULATE BASE TOPOGRAPHY WITH POINTS 2. ADD POINT VALUE AND A Z-VECTOR AS POINTS TO CREATE MESH CLOSEST POINT ON BASE TOPOGRAPHY 3. USE ABOVE FUNCTION TO CREATE A LOOP WITH ANEMONE 4.RUN LOOP 150 TIMES TO CREATE LINES REPRESENTING DRAINAGE ON BASE TOPOGRAPHY 5. CREATE CURVES FROM POINTS OF THE LOOP PROCESS 6.MEASURE LENGTH OF CURVES (LONG CURVES= GOOD DRAINAGE, SHORT CURVES = BAD DRAINAGE) 7.SET CONDITION FOR AMOUNT OF DRAINAGE REQUIRED FOR PLANT GROWTH > CULL CURVES WITH LESS/MORE DRAINAGE THAT REQUIRED 8.DIVIDE REMAINING CURVES IN TO 10 POINTS 9.MEASURE DISTANCE FROM POINTS TO CENTRE OF HEXAGONAL GRID > CULL HEXAGONS TOO FAR AWAY FROM REQUIRED RADIATION

PHYSICAL OBSTRUCTION WITH IMAGE SAMPLING: 1. PREPARE PICTURE OF SITE SO THAT IT CAN BE MAPPED BY PIXELS (MAKE DISTURBANCE OBJECTS BRIGHT) 2. DIVIDE SITE IN TO SQUARE GRID 3. USE CENTRE POINTS OF GRID TO SAMPLE IMAGE BY BRIGHTNESS 4.CREATE CIRCLE FROM CENTRE OF EACH POINT > USE IMAGE SAMPLER RESULT AS A FACTOR FOR CIRCLE RADIUS 5.SET CONDITION FOR TOLERATED DISTANCE BETWEEN MODULE AND DISTURBANCE > CULL CIRCLES NOT DISTURBING PLANT GROWTH 6.MEASURE DISTANCE FROM CIRCLE CENTRES TO CENTRE OF HEXAGONAL GRID > CULL HEXAGONS TOO CLOSE TO DISTURBANCE

HUMAN INTERFERENCE WITH IMAGE SAMPLING:

MERGING DATA TO CREATE FINAL REVEGETATION MAP:

MAPPING MODULES ACCORDING TO REVEGETATION MAP

LOCATE TREE, SHRUB AND GRASS MODULES:

SAME PROCESS AS PREVIOUS STAGE BUT WITH A DIFFERENT IMAGE REPRESENTING MARKET STALLS LOCATION.

1. FEED RESULT OF HEXAGONAL GRID FROM SOLAR RADIATION AS THE BASE GRID TO CUL FROM FOR DRAINAGE.

ORIENT MODULE FROM CENTRE POINT TO CENTRE POINT OF HEXAGONALS.

1. START WITH LOCATING TREE MODULES > CULL CLOSEST POINT (USE 5 M TOLERANCE)

2. FEED RESULT FROM DRAINAGE AS BASE GRID TO CULL FROM FOR PHYSICAL OBSTRUCTIONS. 3. FEED RESULT FROM PHYSICAL OBSTRUCTION AS BASE GRID TO CULL FROM FOR HUMAN INTERFERENCE FACTOR.

2. SAME PROCEDURE AS ABOVE BUT FOR SHRUBS (2.5 M TOLERANCE) 3. ALL OTHER MODULES = GRASS.

4.RESULT OF HUMAN INTERFERENCE FACTOR WILL NOW BE THE COMBINED REVEGETATION MAP. CHANGES TO ANY COMPONENT OF THE PROCESS WILL CHANGE THE FINAL OUTCOME.

/TECHNIQUE IMPLEMENTATIONS DEPENDING ON PLANT REQUIREMENTS/

CASE 1.

High solar radiation

Medium to high drainage

CASE 2.

Low solar radiation

High drainage

CASE 1.

1 m tolerance to disturbance

CASE 2.

2 m tolerance to disturbance

ALTERNATIVE BASE LANDSCAPE AS IF TREES FROM CASE 1 WOULD HAVE BEEN PLANTED FIRST

CASE 3.

High solar radiation

Medium to high drainage

CASE 1.

CASE 2.

Combined result

CASE 3.

1 m tolerance to disturbance

CASE 3. Combined result

This set of diagrams shows the flexibility of the technique developed for the revegetation map. It demonstrates different plant requirements impact on the final form of the map creating a generative design from site conditions. The factors chosen for this case study project are quite broad, however the diagrams shows the possibility for the same technique to be developed further in to more specific requirements for specific plants and different site contexts.

/REVEGETATION MAP - IMPLEMENTATION/ As the goal with this project is to create an alternative revegetation strategy which will involve more people of all ages as well as creating a more successful revegetation program the implementation of the revegetation map is a key factor in the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success, My intention is that the modules can be easily fabricated from a mould which can be done by people ordering it home and bringing the final module to site, be done as part of the workshops which are regularly held at the farm or be bought for a small donation at the farmers market. The layout of the modules would then need to be overviewed by the staff or volunteers at the farm but in an attempt to minimise their work I suggest a revegetation map to be handed to people when entering the farm providing them with information of

how to use it. A proposal of such a map can be viewed on the opposite page. The revegetation map could then be used to further deepen the understanding of the complexity behind revegetation and the ecosystem which the farm is a part of. It will act as an incentive for people to contribute to the revegetation program as it further acts as a real life puzzle to be solved at site. The type of seedling a person is carrying in their module will determine what they should look for in the map and where to locate their module. To make the task more interesting additional information about the specific plant in their module can be incorporated with the map and creating an understanding for why the map looks like it does and what part the specific plant has in the ecosystem.

YOU ARE HERE

COLLINGWOOD CHILDRENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FARM REVEGETATION MAP PLANT IT LIKE NATURE WOULD!

Thank you for helping out with our revegetation program! This map have been created using computational tools to analyse the optimal location for the plants we are using considering solar radiation, drainage and human interference. By following this map you will help to ensure a successful revegetation program. But do not be scared - luckily nature is very resilient to minor damages such as locating a module at the wrong place and we have made sure that no major disruptive patterns will occur that might damage our plants and their surrounding ecosystem.

Shrub seedlings

Grass seedlings

Tree seedlings

Grass seedlings

/DEVELOPMENT OVER TIME/

FIG.52-5 / REVEGETATION STRATEGY DURING DIFFERENT STAGES

Even though the part of the site I decided to focus on is only about a third of the total revegetation area at the farm the amount of modules required is 821. Most likely these modules will not be placed at the same time and a staging of the revegetation program would be required. Staging the revegetation will however also inform the public about the establishment of roots and degradation of material as modules at different stages of degradation will be visible at the site

FIG.56 / ROOT ESTABLISHEMENT AS MODULE DEGRADES

The trace of the modules will be visible as they degrade hence the continuation of the revegetation map can be made possible. By using biodegradable material for the modules the program will be much more efficient as there will be no need of collecting materials once the plants have established their roots in the soil. Furthermore the degradation of the module will benefit the root establishment by protecting the seedling during the critical stage and then sink in to the soil as the roots grow.

FIG.57 / RENDER OF IMPLEMENTED REVEGETATION STRATEGY

The alternative revegetation strategy for Collingwood Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Farm will be highly beneficial both in an environmental and social manner.

about the ecosystem they are apart of and their impact on it. It will also act as a work relief of the farm if more people can help and contribute to the project.

The proposed revegetation program will allow the greater public to take part and widen their knowledge

The development of a specific revegetation map will have economical benefits as a more success rate of

FIG.58 / RENDER OF REVEGETATION STRATEGY IN RELATION TO THE FARMERS MARKET

plant establishment can be expected. Furthermore, whilst tube-stock planting is a more used technique which makes it economical a biodegradable module approach can make the strategy even cheaper whilst reducing the need of materials.

C.2. PROTOTYPES /BIODEGRABALE MATERIALS/

FIG.59-60 / AGRIDUST OBJECTS WITH THEIR COMPOST MATERIAL

A lot of nurseries are already providing seedlings in biodegradable pots which can be planted directly in to the soil. The geometry of the module makes it difficult to fabricate in any other way then 3d-printing or by creating a mould which a material could be cast in. A very interesting precedent is the newly launched material Agridust by Marina Ceccolini which is a 3d-printing material made from food compost and potato starch. 9 This technique allows for an incredible opportunity, especially for alternative approaches to revegetation as any form could be printed in biodegradable material. Unfortunately though the process of creating the material takes a long time and would require a 3d-printing company which would allow it to be used which I could not find for this project.

Bridget Millsaps, “Italian Design Student Creates Agridust”, (3Dprint, 2015)

Bridget Millsaps, “Italian Design Student Creates Agridust”

Instead I used the idea of Agridust to explore different materials which I could cast a module in using a powder printed module as a mould. The key component of Agridust is the potato starch which is a great adhesive and appropriate as a 3D-printing material.10 For the purpose of the prototypes I used a bowl as the mould. The selection criteria of the materials were: •

Time of construction

•

Ease of construction

•

Strength of material to carry soil

/PAPER PULP FROM RECYCLED PAPER/

Materials: •

Recycled paper ripped in to small pieces.

•

Potato starch (to create glue)

•

Water (to create glue)

•

Pot for mixing the glue

Technique: Saturate the paper pieces in water over night. Mix 2 parts potato starch to 1 part water in a pot while heating. Mix paper pulps with potato starch glue. Place paper pulp mix on mould.

Using paper pulp was very difficult as the mixture kept on falling to pieces leaving gaps in the final prototype. The material was also not very strong once dried and would most likely not be able to carry any soil. Normally paper pulp is used to create very strong sculptures, however I believe that the replacement of normal high strength glue to potato starch glue might have caused this lack in strength. The material very tricky to apply to the mould, took long time to produce as it had to saturate over night and thus also took a very long time to dry once applied to the mould.

/FOOD AND COFFEE COMPOST/

Materials: •

Dried and mixed food compost

•

Coffee sump

•

Water

•

Potato starch

•

Flour

Technique: Mix 1 part coffee sump and food compost with 1/2 part potato starch, 1/2 part flour and 1 part water. Apply mud like textured mix to mould.

U.S National Park Service, “TIme for Garbage to Decopmpose”, (Florida, 2015)

This material had some good and bad characteristics. It was easy to mix and apply to the mould. However, it was very difficult to get an even spread of the mix causing some weak spots along the surface which failed once it dried. The material mix itself contains a lot of nutrients which would be highly beneficial for the seedling and would further allow seeds to be placed directly in the mix for greater spread. I believe that this material could be a option for creating the modules at home, however for a large scale application such as the one needed at Collingwood Children’s Farm the fail rate of modules made with this material would be quite high and not very efficient.

/PAPIER MACHEE FROM RECYCLED PAPER/

Materials: •

Recycled paper cut in strips.

•

Water

•

Flour

This material technique was the most successful one. Using papier machee from recycled paper creates a very strong form from very little material. It was also very easy to make and dried quickly.

Technique:

The critical part with this technique is to make sure that the strips overlap to create a strong base however this can easily be overcome by doing two layers of papier machee.

Cut paper in to strips. Mix 1 cup flour with 1 cup water in a bowl to create adhesive. Dip each strip in adhesive and place in an overlapping pattern on mould.

I believe that this technique would be the most suitable for the project as it could be done at home or on site and provide a high standard of the modules. Paper also has a good degradation time of 6 weeks in relation to root establishment of the seedlings.11

C.3. FINAL DETAIL MODEL /CONSTRUCTION PROCESS/

3D-print base module as mould.

Cut any type of recycled paper in to 3 cm wide strips.

Due to the size limit of the powder printer I had to split the module in three and then glue it together.

For environmental purposes the paper should not contain any toxic ink our colouring.

Mix flour and water to glue and gladwrap mould.

Use a brush to add adhesive on to paper strips.

Repeat procedure until the mold is completely covered.

Fill module with soil and plant the seedling.

Important to make sure that the strips are completely covered with the adhesive.

A bottom part can be created by tracing the 3D-printed module. Once both parts have dried the same technique is used to attach the two.

Once the module has dried it can be filled with soil and a seedling planted. This prototype was done in scale 1:2 hence the seedling looks much bigger then the proposed modules.

/FINAL MODEL/

1:2 REVEGETATION MODULE

1:100 REVEGETATION MODULE ASSEMBLY

/PROJECT SUMMARY/ The final outcome of a proposed alternative revegetation strategy for Collingwood Children’s Farm shows the opportunities of using computation for agricultural conservation purposes. Even though the developed revegetation map is not particularly specified it demonstrates a useful technique which could be further developed depending on different site context, planting strategy and choice of plants. By implementing this technique the revegetation program will have a more successful outcome benefiting the farm economically and the ecosystem environmentally by establishing a healthy river edge efficiently. The proposed revegetation modules to replace traditional tube-stock planting shows an optimisation of traditional tools through computation. This optimisation further allows for a greater involvement by the public increasing the spread of knowledge of the complex ecosystems we are part of whilst contributing to a stronger community which are both aspect highly important to the farm.

2. People could order home a mould for a small fee and create them at home. The modules could then be brought to the farm and be part of their revegetation program or just for planting in people’s own garden. 3. Fabricated modules made by volunteers at the farm could be sold for a small donation fee during the farmers market for people to contribute and be part of the revegetation activity. The revegetation plants would need to be stocked at the farm and handed to people wanting to contribute with a revegetation map. This create an overall new type of activity at the farm increasing the interaction with the public whilst optimising the revegetation process. The brief requirements focused on in the development of this project was: • •

The material and tectonic study undertaken using biodegradable material to make the modules as environmentally friendly, economical and efficient as possible further allows for a wide range of fabrication strategies to be considered:

•

A set of 3D-printed moulds would have to be bought by the farm in order to start the process of fabrication which would stand for a small starting cost for the program. The moulds could then be used in three ways:

•

1. Fabrication of revegetation modules in the revegetation and land care workshops held at the farm using recycled paper from the farm or which people can collect and bring to the farm.

• •

To create an innovative form of participation To expose complex ecological process and deepen the understanding of them To create forms optimized through numerical analysis and simulation To create a project which would contribute and adapt in a dynamic world To use environmentally friendly innovative materials To produce an evocative description of a possible future

The alternative revegetation strategy for Collingwood Children’s Farm successfully meet all of these criteria and further shows the growing opportunity of computation for designing the environment we are part of the in the best way possible.

/TAKING IT FURTHER/

DRONE PRECISION PLANTING

The feedback from my final presentation led me to further investigate if drone technology could be applied to my project for increased efficiency. Drone technology is becoming more commonly used for agricultural and land conservation purposes as it allows for a thorough analysis of the site using high resolution images and can perform precision planting using a referenced path from a digital model. BioCarbon Engineering is a British company which has proposed drone technology for a revegetation plant of 1 billion trees for the cost of 15% of traditional revegetation. Not very unlike my project they propose a capsule containing a seed and nutrients which will be dropped off by drones based on a computational evaluation of the site. 12 This technique describes a great opportunity of achieving revegetation results which would take

BioCarbon Engineering, “1 Billion Trees at a Time”, (2015)

Derek Markham, “How to Plant 1 Billion Trees a Year”, (Treehugger, 2015)

decades for people to achieve with traditional revegetation. However, drone technology is very expensive and therefore not often implemented on small scale projects. 13 The opportunity with drone technology for my proposed project at Collingwood Children’s farm would be to use it for placing the first modules of the project, securing that the rest of the system will grow in the correct location. One approach would be to place all the tree modules using drone technology and then letting the public participate in placing the others hence the revegetation program would grow from the several tree modules instead of from one starting point. This implementation would however most likely only be possible at the farm if a drone was donated to the project as the farm do not have the finances to invest in a drone.

Drone drop-off path. The size of the modules would limit the drone to only drop off one module at a time. The path would therefore be required to guide the drone back to a collection point.

Starting layout for revegetation Once the first tree modules have been dropped off the public can start contribute with the rest of the modules.

Modular system growing from tree modules Instead of the system growing from one starting point there would now be several starting points allowing the expansion of the system to occur in a more continuous pattern.

Final layout The revegetation map would look the same as when drone technology was not used. However, there is a higher possibility of every module being correctly placed with the involvement of drones.

CONCLUSION This part of the studio program has been the one where I feel that I have learnt the most and also where I realised the bits I had learnt in the previous parts which did not seem as obvious to me at the time they developed.

/LEARNING OBJECTIVES/

Overall this subject has been very challanging and I have been thrown in to a field of architecture which I had very little familiarisation with. At the end of it I feel like I have developed several important skills and an understanding of the advantages of computational design, not only for architectural purposes but for large parts of our daily life.

The final project I produced was heavily influenced by the brief as discussed in earlier sections and from the start I looked at ways in which digital technologies could replace or optimise traditional tools which guided me to the final development of my concept.

My process have been very dynamic. I realised the difficulties with computation application from Part B when the technique I proposed of using L-systems after deeper investigation for Part C turned up to be too hard to apply to a real life project (something which was also proven by the lack of precedents of it). This caused a re-evalutation of my technique approoach to the concept that I developed leading to the final project of the atlernative revegetation strategy for Collingwood Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Farm. In the end I am very happy with the direction my project took as I beleive that the final technique I used allowed me to incorperate a larger amount of various methods for form finding which led to a more complex, interesting and dynamic outcome. I wish that more time would have been put on this part of the studio as I feel that my project could have been further developed and more specified if I had more time for research about specific plant and their requirement of growth. It would also have been great to test the modules for their degradable ability which would not be done now as the degredation time for paper is 6 weeks. However, I beleive that the final outcomes shows the potential of the techniques developed and the benefits from implementing an alternative revegetation strategy at the site, but also one that could be adapted to other sites.

Objective 1. Interrogating a brief by considering the process of brief formation in the age of optioneering enabled by digital technologies.

Objective 2. Developing an ability to generate a variety of design possibilities for a given situation. Through out the studio I have critically examined various design possibilities in context of design criteria deriving from my concept and the brief. My final project further shows my acknowledgement of using computation to create an bottom-up approach to design were the technique developed allows for various requirements and can be adapted to different applications (such as different plant species in my project). Objective3. Developing skills in various threedimensional media and specifically in computational geometry, parametric modelling, analytical diagramming and digital fabrication. My final project reflects the variation skills I have developed in this studio. Computational geometry analysis was used for the creating of the modules using Kangaroo relaxation simulation while several analytical programming methods were used for the revegetation map creating a generative design based on different site conditions. Digital fabrication was something I was familiar with from previous subjects however in this studio I developed an understanding of how to translate digital fabrication to manual fabrication and how to involve uncommon materials such as biodegradable materials for a digitally derived geometry.

Objective 4. Developing an understanding of relationships between architecture and air through interrogation of design proposal as physical models in atmosphere. My final project focused a lot on the environmental context of the site and how it impacted the form of the project. The shape of the modules was determined by their ability to provide requirements for plant growth and the revegetation map reflects the optimal layout for plants depending on plant specific requirements for growth. My research field of biomimicry further aloud me to deepen my understanding of how to analyse architecture as part of the surrounding context impacted by environmental factors, Objective 5. Developing the ability to make a case for proposals. Through out this studio I have used case studies and precedents to prove the opportunities and limitations to the techniques I have been using. For my final project it was hard to find a project precedent for computation based revegetation as this is mainly used in biology and on large scale projects. I did however even then managed to find a precedent which was used to guide my approach of creating my own revegetation map. The explorations of various applications and possibilities for my proposed design and technique have further been used to strengthen my argument and project direction.

form deriving techniques such as Kangaroo relaxation simulations which I also incorporated in my final project. Objective 7. Develop foundational understandings of computational geometry, data structures and types of programming. Once again my final project reflects my developed understanding of computational techniques and programming. For my final project five different methods were used to create the final form whilst allowing it to be adaptive to different requirements. I have explored many plug-ins through out this projects such as Kangaroo, Anemone, LadyBug, Rabbit, Hoopsnake, and Lunchbox. Objective 8. Developing a personalised repertoire of computational techniques substantiated by the understanding of their advantages, disadvantages and areas of application. I am very happy to say that I now feel that I have been able to developed a more personalised repertoire of computational techniques through my final project, something which I felt was lacking after Part B. I believe that this is mainly due to that the knowledge I derived from Part B had matured for Part C and I was able to use different techniques in combination with each other to achieve the outcome I wanted.

Objective 6. Develop capabilities for conceptual, technical and design analyses of contemporary architectural projects. This was mainly achieved in Part A of this studio but the case studies from this part have influenced my technique development throughout the project such as the generative design approach to Urban Picturesque by CAAD/ETH which informed me on how to use environmental site analysis to generate a form which was later applied to the revegetation map of Collingwood Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Farm. The case studies from Part B also informed me with knowledge of several 94

/REFERENCES/

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FIGURES:

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46] ‘Aerial View of Collingwood Children’s Farm 2004’, < http://maps.au.nearmap.com/> [accessed 10th May 2015]

Corr, Kathereine, Revegetation Techniques: A Guide for Establishing Native Vegetation in Victoria (Victoria; Greening Australia, 2003) pp.12-133 ‘How Do You Plant 1 Billion Trees a Year? With Drones Of Course’, Derek Markham, 2015, < http://www. t reehugge r.com/clean -technology/how- do -you p l a nt -1- b i l l i o n - t re e s - ye a r- d ro n e s - co u r s e. ht m l/ > [accessed 4th Junel 2015] ‘Italian Design Student Creates “Agridust”, Uses Food Scraps and Compost for 3D Printing’, Briget Butler Millsaps, 2015, <http://3dprint.com/55358/agridustfood-3d-printing/> [accessed 20th May 2015] ‘Time for Garbage to Decompose in The Environment’, U.S National Park Service, 2015, < http://des.nh.gov/ o rgani zation/divisions/water/wmb/coastal/trash/ documents/marine_debris.pdf> [accessed 21st Mayl 2015] Thomson, J.R, Moilanen, A.J, Vesk, P.A, Bennett, A.F and R Macnally, Long-Term Revegetation Planning: Where and When to Revegetate (Melbourne; Ecological Applications in Press, 2014), pp. 2-14 < http://www. botany.unimelb.edu.au/vesk/ThomsonEtAl2009.pdf >

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