STUDIO AIR JORNAL WEN XUAN TAO 691942 2017-SM-2
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION A.1 DESIGN FUTURE 1.1 CASE STUDY 1 1.2 CASE STUDY 2 A.2 DESIGN COMPUTATION 2.1 CASE STUDY 1 2.2 CASE STUDY 2 A.3 COMPOSOTION/FENERATION 3.1 CASE STUDY 1 3.2 CASE STUDY 2 A.4 CONCLUSION A.4 APPENDIX
INTRODUCTION With Studio: Air I hope to achieve an even broader scope that I have never explored before. The ideas that are generated through Grasshopper My interests outsides of architecture do will expand my knowledge of digital not stary too far from the field - I have design through computation. a keen enthusiasm for design and craft, Being from Shanghai, I am surrounded from typography to bookbinding and by both modern architecture and ceramics. historical buildings which brings out impressive chemical reaction in For me architecture is about the Architecture style which I loved with. creation of an experience and its Nowadays, modern architecture that relationship with the people who are is heavily based on sustainability and engaged with it whether directly or technology, thus green buildings is indirectly. the other element i am interested with. Thus, architecture is an ongoing Throughout my studies I am finding proves that will be ever evolving. that it is multilayered discipline that finds itself overlapping with many others adding to my appreciation of architecture. It is why I would like to be involved in a multi-disciplinary design practice: being involved from a project�s beginning to its completion, feeling the responsibility and trill of rewards from rigorous work and attention to detail. I’m Steven(Wen Xuan Tao), a third-year architecture major at the University of Melbourne.
A.1 DESIGN FUTURE "designers shoiuld become the facilitators of fliws, rather than the originators of maintainable things such as discrete products or images" John Wood , 2007
Design can be defined as the human ability to "prefigure what we create before the act of creation". Similarly, architecture has always been a forward looking practice, in which architectural designs are aimed towards solving problems and creating a better tomorrow. Nonetheless, "tomorrow" - our future, is no longer dererminate due to humans' anthropocentric habitation of finite resources on Earth. The root of an unsustainable defuturing is still the selfish human mindset, our materialistic behaviours and values. Thus, sustainable future can only be attained if there is a change in human idealogies and values. Design ethics, design inte;;ogence and critical thinking are crucial elements in the process of redirective design practice. In this case, pluralism in design should also extend across to human ideologies and cvalues. In this technological era,design is becoming a process which defines a system's rules rather than the outcomes. According to the Schumancher, architecture can be seem as a comnination
of communications which can generate new ideas and concepts whin can generate new ideass and concepts within social systems in society. He following weo case studies indicates design as a critique and catalyst for change. Although the projects were set two decades apart, their contribution to the architectural discourse is immeasureable in terms of design thinking and the design process, moving us towards a more sustainable future.
A 1.1 PLUG IN CITY PETER COOK 1964
Archigram was formed in 1960 at the Architecture Association in London by six architects and designers, Peter Cook, Warren Chalk, Ron Herron, Dennis Crompton, Michael Webb and David Greene. In 1961, Archigram (an eponymous publication whose name was derived from the combination of the words “architecture” + “telegram”) was born as a single sheet magazine filled with poems and sketches. As David Greene wrote in the first issue, it was meant as a platform for the voices of a young generation of architects and artists: “A new generation of architecture must arise with forms and spaces which seem to reject the precepts of ‘Modern’ yet in fact retains those precepts. We have chosen to bypass the decaying Bauhaus image which is an insult to functionalism.” Between 1960 and 1974 Archigram created over 900 drawings, among them the plan for the “Plug-in City” by Peter Cook. This provocative project suggests a hypothetical fantasy city, containing modular residential units that “plug in” to a central infrastructural mega machine. The Plug-in City is in fact not a city, but a constantly evolving megastructure that incorporates residences, transportation and other essential services--all movable by giant cranes.
Though never built, their projects and ideas provoked debates, combining architecture, technology and society; when Plug-In City was proposed in 1964, it offered a fascinating new approach to urbanism, reversing traditional perceptions of infrastructure’s role in the city. Archigram’s visions did in fact succeed in inspiring a new generation of architects and architecture. Most obviously, their radical suggestion to reveal infrastructural elements and reverse traditional building hierarchies inspired the famous Pompidou Center by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, and their drawings and visions continue to be invoked in urban thinking today.
A 2.2 WALKING CITY RON HERRON 1960
In a world where people live more mobile lifestyles than they have for centuries, cities are facing a problem they rarely planned for: their citizens move away. When jobs and resources start to decline, modern cities, such as Detroit, suffer difficult and often wasteful processes of urban contraction. In contrast to this, Manuel Dominguez's "Very Large Structure," the result of his thesis project at ETSA Madrid, proposes a nomadic city that can move on caterpillar tracks to locations where work and resources are abundant. Of course this is not the first time that the idea of a nomadic city has been proposed. Ron Herron's Walking City is one of the more recognizable Archigram designs from the 1960s, and has been influential to architectural theory ever since. However, the design for the "Very Large Structure" expands on the Walking City by including strong proposals for energy generation on board the city. Dominguez admits that the impulse to design the "Very Large Structure" came from his desire to stand out from his peers: "knowing that all final thesis are 'Utopical', I decided to do a self-consciously utopical one, utopic for real." However, Dominguez also felt it was important that his design be theoretically feasible, which is why he looked to the world of heavy engineering to inspire the structure's colossal steel frame and caterpillar tracks. With all these additions, Dominguez's design seems less of a fantasy than Herron's giant shell on stilts. Moreover, the Very Large Structure, despite its enormous size, has much less of an impact on its surrounding ecosystem. Its mobility
is proposed as a way to encourage reforestation of the static cities which it replaces, and part of its day-today function is the management of this environment. The specific social conditions of the Spanish territory it is designed for also add to its relevance: it provides work for the high number of unemployed citizens in Spain. Although almost 50 years have passed since a moving city was first proposed, when one considers how many western cities are currently experiencing devastating slowdowns, both economically and in terms of their population, Manuel Dominguez's intriguing, fantastical proposal begins to seem far less absurd - and far more relevant - than it may at first seem.
The process fo design have indeed envolved since the ancient times. In face, the architectural profession was only recognized in the 1450s when Italian noblemen like Leon Battista Alberti introduced new design methods using scaled drawings and medel, creating a new communicative relationshi[ between the architect and the builder, bridged by the aid of technical plans, elevations and sections. Nevertheless, in the 21 st century, a whole new dialogue is formed in the architecture peofession with the inclusion of computation in design.
A.2 DESIGN COMPUTATION
"When architects no longer need to discuss the difital as something different, then computation can become a true method of design for architecture." Schumacher, 2011
Computation is distincet form computerisation in the sense that is involves the generation of design ideas through the processing and analysis of information, a process where “ formation precedes form”, Through the use of algorithms, design solutions for highly complex problems and endless iterations according to different design environments can be made, argumenting the architecture’s design capacity while expanding the scope of speculating design potentials. Digital tools further allow for sustainable design and higher “generative variability” to increase building performance through energy and structural analysis, ensuring the optimal use of resources and energy in the construction and maintenance of the final design. Simultaneously, the inclusion of computation in design changes the work-flow structure of architects where new ties of collaboration are needed between professions, creating a more integrated team in designing future environments. Digital fabrication further transformed the process of construction where “component design” where complex geometries can be built in shorter time-frames with
the digital management of digitally , manufactured components. Nonetheless, with the rise of computational materialization and fabrication, people began to doubt the use of technology as means of stifling design creativity. For instance, critics such as Framption argue that the digital design overlooks the techtonics and tactility in turn for “aesthetic display”. Although digital materiality and performance analysis of digital architecture partly address Frampton’s concern, I would agree with Peters that computation should be not an “isolated craft” but rather an “integrated art form” to preserve original visions and design objectives. Only with a well-balanced symbiotic man-machine relationship. We can achieve the “ Vitruvian effect” where there is a continuum of design to production. The following precedents in this chapter show the use of digital technology form the generative to the construction of the final product. The first case study by Shigeru Ban shows the use of computation qualitatively in form finding and design generation, whereas the second case study by Marble Fairbanks depicts the use of computation quantitatively to allow architecture to respond directly to performance criteria.
A.2.1 ABSOLUTE TOWERS MAD ARCHITECTS 2012 Absolute Towers are one successful practice of MAD Architects, completed in 2012 at Mississauga, Canada Fondly dubbed the Marylyn Monroe towersby local residents, the Absolute Towers parallel the twisting fluidity or natural lines found in life. This activation of flow forms an organic punctuation in the landscape and a desire for an urban acknowledgement of enthusiasm. Here, we thrive to challenge the sustenance of commonplace boxy skyscrapers. Our ambition was to provide each resident a unique experience of the city, a heterarchitical distribution. Continuous balconies widen individual viewing angles and promote community at the micro scale of a single floor. At the macro, the cadence of the floors rising into the sky echo the modular rhythms of the human experience, yet emphasizes the movement of an adoring figure. We hope this building can wake up metropolitans’ desires towards nature, such as sun and wind, and certainly, human bodies. In place of the basic, functional logic of an aging modernism, the current trend of sustainable design is reminiscent of the sudden rise in the glassfaced boxy buildings of last century. Sustainability, in concept, is often unfortunately simplified to the lowest common denominator. If we limit the scope of sustainable ecology to energy savings, it will become merely a demand for comfort while the yearning of a return to nature is ignored. This design practice remains the axiom of the industrial revolution, man controls nature. We feel sustainability is a much greater concept which
can guide a new culture of design resulting in real change. For instance, in traditional Chinese gardens, building and nature elements are integrated to create a spiritual and poetic environment fostering great literature, poem and music, or simply life and philosophy. Our approach, ergo, is to create a balanced environment that evokes the feeling of exploring nature while simultaneously a responsive model for the development of urban space in harmony with nature. A sustainable architecture in modern concept. Real sustainability results in a harmonious civilization. The torsional form of the towers is underpinned with a surprisingly simply and inexpensive structural solution. The two residential towers are supported by a grid of concrete load bearing walls. The bearing walls extend and contract in response to the sectional fluctuation created by the rotation of the floors while the balconies consist of cantilevered concrete slabs. In order to ensure the elegant edge profiles are as thin as possible, there is a thermal break in the slabs at the exterior glazing such that the insulation need not wrap the entirety of the balconies. Meanwhile, the dynamically fluid shaping of the towers, naturally aerodynamic, adeptly handles wind loading and ensures comfort throughout all the balconies. Besides providing every resident with a nice exterior place to enjoy views of Mississauga, the balconies naturally shade the interior from the summer sun while soaking in the winter sun, reducing air conditioning costs.
A.2.2 "As Autumn Leaves" Laboratory for Computational Design (LCD) for Beijing's 2013 Design Week
"As Autumn Leaves" (AAL) is a spatial installation designed and built by students of the Laboratory for Computational Design (LCD) for Beijing's 2013 Design Week. Located in a historic hutong district in Beijing, AAL highlights the existing entrance to Dashilar Factory where emerging creatives exhibit their design. The concept is based on ephermerality of nature. As temperatures change, autumn turns to winter, and trees shed their leaves, AAL recalls the passage of time through changing seasons. AAL used parametric design tools that not only define systemic and formal languages but catalog and locate components for ease of assembly. Individual components were digitally fabricated using laser cut acrylic and preassembled into ‘families’, then aggregated on site. Tensioning of the acrylic ‘Leaves’ through bending, inherent to the material, solidified structural integrity. Designers used physics based modeling programs to generate and
evaluate wind and gravitational forces in their installations. By hybridizing material and spatial research with advanced structural calculations AAL float above, around, and through existing spaces. The projects "As Autumn Leaves" si remarkable not just for the unique design, but the way it regenerated and intriduced new possibility into decaying traditional culture, their works works inpiresd generations now days new way to design and construct architectural form.
A.3 Composition/Generation The shift form composition to generation in the design approach of architecture is induced by the advancement of digital technology, and since the communication level of the user and design is based on design components, for instance drawing erasing, etc, this change also parallels the shift from traditional drawing/ sketching to computing. However, there is much more to do more than representation, by computing, architects are able to predict design outcomes during design process with the model which computer generates, the simulates performance analysis and knowledge of materials and construction systems, and by experimenting solutions before realising them, increase the effectiveness and suitability of solutions to complex design problems. “Architecture write programs to customise their design environments� With the generative design, algorithm thinking is introduced, a recipe for getting computers to do something works in
imitation of natural rules and generate endless variations. It is a form finding process where creative ideas and forms interlink in a series of algorithms rather than form making. As shown in Lecture 3, the Bird-oid Objects described a generative design process based on the behavioral response of the biological characteristic of birds, by scripting the computer to keep a certain distance between units under certain conditions, magnificent figures are automatically generated with a simple rule. By computational design, the resulted design outcome would achieve optimal qualities both spatially and materially, and efficiency within the given environment.
A3.1 La Sagrada Familia Antoni GaudĂ Construction of the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada FamĂlia began in 1882, more than a century ago. The temple is still under construction, with completion expected in 2026. It is perhaps the best known structure of Catalan Modernisme, drawing over three million visitors annually. Architect Antoni Gaudi worked on the project until his death in 1926, in full anticipation he would not live to see it finished. La Sagrada Familia utilizes threedimensional forms comprised of ruled surfaces, including hyperboloids, parabolas, helicoids, and conoids. These complex shapes allow for a thinner, finer structure, and are intended to enhance the temple’s acoustics and quality of light. Gaudi used plaster models to develop the design, including a 1:10 scale model of the main nave measuring five meters in height and width by two meters in depth. He also devised a system of strings and weights
suspended from a plan of the temple on the ceiling. From this inverted model he derived the necessary angles of the columns, vaults, and arches. This is evident in the slanted columns of the Passion facade, which recall tensile structures but act in compression. In recent decades, La Sagrada Familia has adopted contemporary digital design and construction technologies. Architects and craftsmen use Rhinoceros, Cadds5, Catia, and CAM to understand the complex geometries and visualize the building as a whole. Plaster models are still used as a design tool, now generated by a 3-D printer to accelerate the process. A digitally rendered video was recently released showing La Sagrada Familia's expected appearance upon completion with parametric thinking by Gaudi.
A 3.2 ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2012 STUTTGART UNIVERSITY 2012
From the architect. In November 2012 the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart have completed a research pavilion that is entirely robotically fabricated from carbon and glass fibre composites. This interdisciplinary project, conducted by architectural and engineering researchers of both institutes together with students of the faculty and in collaboration with biologists of the University of Tßbingen, investigates the possible interrelation between biomimetic design strategies and novel processes of robotic production. The research focused on the material and morphological principles of arthropods’ exoskeletons as a source of exploration for a new composite construction paradigm in architecture. At the core of the project is the development of an innovative robotic fabrication process within the context of the building industry based on filament winding of carbon and glass fibres and the related computational design tools and simulation methods. A key aspect of the project was to transfer the fibrous morphology of the biological role model to fibre-reinforced composite materials, the anisotropy of which was integrated from the start into the computer-based design and simulation processes, thus leading to new tectonic possibilities in architecture. The integration of the form generation methods, the computational simulations and robotic
manufacturing, specifically allowed the development of a high performance structure: the pavilion requires only a shell thickness of four millimetres of composite laminate while spanning eight metres. The whole design process generated through computation definitely has its advantage, but at the same time there are limitations to the process as well as precautions to be aware of, Although digital fabrication saves time and labour costs. Scheurer argues that the production of individual components for smaller-scaled projects might be expensive while investing in machines itself would require large sums of capital and specialist knowledge. Furthermore, early design stages must already optimize the design towards the fabrication method to ensure that the input data can be developed. In terms of design, it is a common assumption that digital models are infinitely precise and of high quality. In fact, computational operations are subject to small errors which will accumulate in complex operation.
A.4
CONCLUSION
The use of digital tools revolutionised architecture by allowing new ideas and possibilities to be explored, documented and constructed through means, resulting in unprecedented building forms and functions being constructed in the 21 st century. The meaning and role of architecture in society have change drastically since then, with the ability for architect’s to form new material types, design performative structures and to speculate desirable futures through algorithmic thinking and parametric modelling. The working and creativity scope of an architect is no longer limited to the analogue and traditional design rules, but extends to the scope of what computation can offer, which is almost an infinite amount of possibilities. Computation has not only changed what we built, but also how we build. Structural integrity and building performance become new parameters for the form-finding process through model simulations. Digital fabrication with robots and machineries saves construction time, energy and cost if used a large scale.
Nonetheless, with the rise of computation, there are a few possible challenges that will require an architect’s care and precaution so as to enhance the use of digital tools. First, architects would have to fully grasp algorithmic understanding. But at the same time reassess the quality of the algorithmic systems themselves so they do not limit our design capacities. With the inclusion of generation in architectural practice, architects have a wider horizons in terms of design creativity and efficiency, but with this comes a responsibility to understand digital structures and algorithms so as to make decisions based off digitally generated alternatives, and not simply delegating design choices to machines. Thus, parametric models and digital tools have to be set up carefully to ensure the delivery of meaningful outputs.
A.5 APPENDIX