Part B by Xincen Jiang

PART B: CRITERIA DESIGN Xincen Jiang 613814

B1.0 RESEARCH FIELD In this part, I will develop a particular technique using computational methods through case-study analysis, parametric modelling and physical prototypes.

GEOMETRY

Geometry is a classical discipline of math which concerns measurements studies, relative position of figures and properties of space. Its integration with architecture was found by Marcus Vitruvius in the early time. He is the first person who brings geometry and architectural design together and appreciates symmetry and proportion as the fundamental rules of building temples.â&#x20AC;&#x153;For without symmetry and proportion no temple can have a regular plan.â&#x20AC;?[6] (De architectura - Ten books on Architecture) And as a modern architect, Frank Lloyd Wright also believed in the importance of geometry. He said that geometry can have a cosmic meaning and its use for architectural design provides the harmony between the individual society and the universe.[4]

Nowadays, free-form shapes and structures with a high geometric complexity plays a significant role in contemporary architectural design. It is everywhere, from the accurate initial form-finding stages to the efficient final construction. And by associating with parametric computation, it provides more possibilities for designers to create efficient design and manufacture complex forms. As an essential element of architectural design, geometry has ability to produce endless possibilities. And without geometry, there are no forms that can be successfully constructed. Therefore, it is interesting to think about the development from some very basic and simple geometry to all the impressive objects it creates, which is also the reason why Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve chosen it as my research field.

B2.0 CASE STUDY 1.0

LAVA-GREEN VOID (2008)

Green Void installation is a digital design created by LAVA and located at the restored heritage Customs House in Sydney. The idea of this three dimensional shape derived from nature by thinking of the cells, crystals and soap bubbles and realised in a lightweight fabric with latest digital fabrication techniques to achieve the aim â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;more with lessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; which refers to a minimal surface. The connection points within this 20 meter-high sculpture was decided by LAVA who takes account of the mathematical formula as a base to determine these points.[1] The installation was finally achieved with a successful use of flexible materials that follows gravity, tension and growth, which is similar to a spider web or a coral reef.[5]

TABLE OF ITERATIONS ITERATIONS 1ďź&#x161; Create new geometry input and change the values of parameters

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.8

goal length

0.8

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.8

ITERATIONS 2ďź&#x161; Change the values of parameters

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

0.8

knuckle

spacing

0.3

spacing

goal length

0.8

goal length

0.8

goal length

0.8

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.8

goal length

0.3

goal length

0.8

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.8

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.8

ITERATIONS 3： Change the values of parameters and stretch selected anchor points

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.8

goal length

0.3

ITERATIONS 4： Select the end points as anchor points and stretch them

ITERATIONS 5： Stretch selected anchor points

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.4

goal length

0.1

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.5

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.8

side

thickness

node size

knuckle

spacing

goal length

0.8

Selected iterations By considering the selection criteria below I selected four iterations: - Difference from initial iteration - Potential of further development - Practicability of the form

First Iteration: This one is resulted from slightly dragging some selected anchor points. Although it is not quite different from initial geometry, the crumpled surface still has potential for further development. The form is standard compare to others, which would be feasible for construction in real life. Second Iteration: This one is created by dragging the end points all together, which still keep the shape of openings. Dragging end points is very easy to see the limits, after few times of dragging, you will find the shapes are more and more similar. But the form is interesting and has design potential.

Third and fourth Iteration: These two are resulted from dragging selected anchor points and drag one point at a time. It is hard to see the original shape and these holding points can be considered as holding points for net design.

B3.0 CASE STUDY 2.0

Tuft Pula (2012)

This giant installation is created by the designers at Numen/For Use inside a former church in Pula. It is made of thousands of adhesive tape and covered with carpet shell. The whole structure was made in a Croatian factory in Regenarcija and then transported to the site and suspended 4 meters above the ground by using tension cables.[3] Different from Green Void, Tuft has cozy interior space that people can crawl inside and relax on the tape made curved base. The warmth interior environment created by red carpet was visual contrast to the exterior industrial feel, which attracts people to go inside. The tape creates a flexible and transferable self-standing structural framework, which subverts peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea of tape using.[2]

REVERSE-ENGINEER Method 1 Step 1: Create few mesh boxes in Rhino and union them into one. Then delete the four mesh surface to have the opening.

Step 2: Set the mesh box as an input mesh in Grasshopper.

Step 3: Use WbEdges, Springs and Kangaroo physics as main objects in Grasshopper. Then select edge points as anchor points, use toggle and timer to control and relax the mesh.

Method 2 Step 1: Use curves as input geometry in Grasshopper and connect with Brep. Different from method 1, you can set various of geometry rather than just mesh. Step 2: By using Brep Explode, surface and surface mesh, convert Brep into a mesh. After that, the output lines can be used in springs. Step 3: Select edge points as anchor points. Anchor points help to hold the geometry in place. And by stretching anchor points, you can adjust the relaxed geometry to the shape you want. Step 4: After relax the geometry, you can use Goal Length to set the tension. The number slider for Goal Length is from 0 to 1 and the number more close to 0 the shape is more different form the original one. Step 5: Kangaroo Physics connects to toggle and timer, which allows the control of relaxation. Double click the timer, you can capture the moving moment of relaxation.

Final model of reverse-engineer

B4.0 TECHNIQUE DEVELOPMENT

Select a part of the original geometry and move the curves to have different interior space. 44

Select the edge points as anchor points and stretch them. 45

Change the values of parameters of Exoskeleton.

Select some anchor points, different from the edge points and stretch the geometry.

Selected iterations First Iteration: This one is resulted from slightly dragging selected end points. The form is quiet standard without a big change form the original one. But the interior space the shape created would be very useful in my design.

Second Iteration: By dragging anchor points, this one is twisted. It is interesting to look at the wire-frame at the twist part, which could be further developed to be a line frame for my web design.

Third Iteration: This one has both large and small openings and the form is a quiet different from the basic shape. The space is divided irregular and uneven, which could may inspire me how to distribute the whole web into few small parts randomly.

Fourth Iteration: By dragging one opening into another opening, the form becomes more complex. It makes me to consider about the whole form of the web design and the balance between practical and complexity.

B5.0 TECHNIQUE: PROTOTYPES

At the beginning point, I try to use tape as the material to form a surface like the tuft pula. But it is difficult to make a smooth curve surface without any elements to support inside. I first use balsa wood to make the frame base to wrap tape on it and it is failed because of the wood is not solid with certain weight. Then I choose metal to do the frame, which is more reasonable than wood and at least can support the wrapped tape to have a certain shape.

CONCEPTUALISATION

As for this model, columns are the main support elements, while the flexibility of the fabric membrane also contributes to the equilibrium of the structure. This one piece fabric was wrapped around the columns and its flexibility allows alteration and form different shapes.

- The support columns are sticking into the foam base. Columns are the main elements that to hold the whole structure in place. They can be sticked into the ground vertically or with few angles. - Use rubber band to fix the net fabric on the columns. - Fix the fabric edge to ground by using screws. The lightweight stretchy fabric can form various of shapes by choosing different points to fix its edges.

CONCEPTUALISATION 25

CONCEPTUALISATION

B6.0 TECHNIQUE: PROPOSAL

CONCEPTUALISATION 27

My site is a bridge which is located near the Collingwood childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farm. I think bridge is interesting because it is supported by the earth above the water and suspended in the air, where earth, water and air are the most basic elements to form the park. Earth is solid, water is fluent and air is almost no weight. In order to combine all these features, I want to create a web system with solid structure, fluent space and form with the use of lightweight fabric material. The bridge is an exposed space with no vegetations block the view, which gives people a very open feel. You can see the full scene of this part of creek which is a very nice view. For most of people, bridge is just the path way that connects both banks. Many people run through the bridge, others may ride bikes without looking at the nice view. The users are living close and around this park area, they are familiar about the path way and

CONCEPTUALISATION

access. But this feature makes people forget to look at the view along the path or just focus on their exercise with headphone on. I want to make a web design that can stop people for few seconds to have a look of the surrounding environments and enjoy the nice natural view. The technique is about how to have a relaxed surface with minimal use of fabric membrane. The existing bridge structural elements can be the supporting structure for the web. And hanging points that bond with the bridge are more like the anchor points in Grasshopper.

CONCEPTUALISATION 29

B7.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

CONCEPTUALISATION

Objective1

Objective 7

Interrogating a brief

Develop foundational understanding of computational geometry, data structures and types of programming.

The brief formation process is highly associated with these weekly tasks of technique development. And by studying the case study and creating possibilities, I found the main thing I want to achieve in my design is a solid structure with relaxed surface. But I still didn’t have a clear direction of how to achieve this by associating with the site conditions. I think I need to revisit the site and do further thinking of how to apply the technique to the actual design. Objective 2 Developing ‘an ability to generate a variety of design possibilities for a given situation’. Since it is my first time using grasshopper, the way how it structures some possible forms is very new to me. I have no idea of what is the right way to adjust the parameters in order to generate a useful design result. And sometimes I also feel this computational design limited my design ideas because I cannot operate it well. But after doing the matrix for both case study 1.0 and technique development, I understand my lacking knowledge is the real thing that limit my design and what the grasshopper can do is very impressive.

Different from other software, grasshopper requires the full understand of objects connections to achieve the wanted geometry. Reverse-engineer is a very important part that helps me to understand the data structures and computational geometry from Green Void definition and further applied to the Tuft Pula. I spent a long time to achieve the final result of Tuft Pula. For me, the process is more like a test, I tried many different objects and connected them together but error connections always appeared. Therefore I used the ‘Help’ button to get more knowledge of each subject which is very helpful and finally I figured out how to get the right output geometry. The error connection in Grasshopper made me feel upset at some time, but what I learned from these mistakes bring me closer to the aimed output. Objective 8 Begin developing a personalised repertoire of computational techniques. Grasshopper is a useful digital tool in equipping me with the skills I needed for the net design. Especially the kangaroo plug-in, which enables the possibility of create relaxed surface like Green Void. However, I need further development of the skills, because I still cannot use these objects freely to make something I want. I’ve chosen few different projects for case study 2.0, but my limited skills made me fail to achieve a successful result. I think I need to look at more sources about grasshopper technique learning and practice more in order to meet the requirements of ideal design.

CONCEPTUALISATION 31

B8.0 APPENDIX - ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES

CONCEPTUALISATION

Green Void

CONCEPTUALISATION 33

- ‘Springs’ and ‘Kangaroo physics’ are two main objects in the Green void definition that helps to achieve the relaxed surface. - By changing the parameters of exoskeleton, you can have different kinds of structures. - Anchor points are elements that holding the structure. Different anchor points selection choice and stretching ways give the geometry unlimited possibilities. Incorporating the technique into my design, I will use the relaxed surface to create the net and anchor points as the connection points to my site bridge structure in order to achieve ideal net form.

CONCEPTUALISATION

Voltdom

CONCEPTUALISATION 35

REFERENCE LIST 1.ArchDaily, ‘Green Void/LAVA’, [Accessed 22 April 2015]

<http://www.archdaily.com/10233/green-void-lava/>

2.Archi20, ‘Tuft Pula, Floating Sculpture’, <http://www.arch2o.com/tuft-pula-floatingsculpture-numen-for-use/> [Accessed 25 April 2015] 3.Designboom, ‘numen/for use: tuft pula’, <http://www.designboom.com/design/numenforuse-tuft-pula/> [Accessed 25 April 2015] 4.Guggenheim, ‘Geometric Shapes’, <http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/ school-educator-programs/teacher-resources/arts-curriculum-online?catid=730&id=119&vie w=item> [Accessed 20 April 2015] 5.LAVA, ‘GREEN VOID’, <http://www.l-a-v-a.net/projects/green-void/> [Accessed 22 April 2015] 6.Niloy J. Mitra, ‘Advanced in Architectural Geometry’, <http://arhns.com/wsh/literatura/ AAG_2008.pdf> [Accessed 20 April 2015] 7.Numen/For Use, ‘Tuft Pula’, <http://www.numen.eu/installations/tuft/pula/> [Accessed 24 April 2015]

CONCEPTUALISATION