Part a by Yuchen Ye

YUCHEN YE JOURNAL

Contents Part A Part B Part C

4-22

Introduction

Yuchen Kevin Ye As a 3rd year undergraduate architecture student, I see myself as an independent learner, I do like to try design software which is new to me, so does Rhino and grasshopper plug-in. However Architecture studio- Air is still quite challenging as we need to develop a range to computational design skill and try to adapt them in our individual design. My drawing skill is much better than my software design skill, thus I still need to spend a lot of time practicitng and I am looking forward to the fabrication part of this subject as it relates to digital fabrication and it is a very important skill in the industry, I am also very exciting to see what interesting designs others will produce.

A1.Design Future

4 PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

PRECEDENT STUDY PROJECT 1 Bloom / DO|SU Studio Architecture - Doris Sung This "living" project was done by DO|SU Studio in 2012. Doris Sung, The head architect of this project developed a metal skin which brought this project to life. It is amazing that she was able to use her biological background in her architecture study.

analyze the structures and project the performance so that the angle of change of these components and the amount of air-flow are exactly the same as they wanted, they used digital fabrication and they use them to test for post-occupancy performance.1

This thermal bimetal is part of her material study which changes its form due to the increase and decrease of tempreture without any energy consumption. This project also relied on the use of digital tools. They use then to form-find,

The reason I chose this project as my precedent is because it is the first successful self-react project and it has huge potential to be widely used in different areas and backgrounds. It can be made very custom like this project which

provide perfect area of shades and air-flow, or it can be mass produced and be used in facades of skyscrapers. More importantly, it has the unique ability to work without any control, neither energy comsumption.

1 Andrew Galloway. "When Biology Inspires Architecture: An Interview with Doris Kim Sung " 14 May 2014.

01. Project Bloom - Doris Sung

PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

02 This self-shade, self ventilate, and self-operate zero comsumption material truly shows that "smat" materials can really create huge impact on architecture and building facades, and it is more important to find that digital materiality and material fabrication can make positive impact on our society and even a bigger scale. Therefor architects from designer's perspective can improve human living standard2. "I think “smart” materials and nano-scale materials will be make the biggest changes in building materials. It’ll change our perception of buildings dramatically. No longer will we expect walls to be sealed, floors to be hard and buildings to be static. Buildings will be more like organisms, which we can have relationships with!" -Doris Kim Sung

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

02. View of Project Bloom from street. 03. Close look at these thermal bimetal in action. 04. Digital Fabrication Process. 05. Diagram of the movement of pannels.

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PRECEDENT STUDY PROJECT 2 Nine Bridges Golf Club - Shigeru Ban Shigeru Ban is well-known as the 2014 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. His amazing designs using recyable timber and paper tube and his understanding of being an architect, which is to build for the society have always encourage me. I was lucky to see one of his project in present in Sichuan which is a small temprory elementary school which was made of recyclable paper tube. These buildings are not only shockproof for earthquake up to magnitude-8, they are also recyclable, reusable, cheap and readily available on site.

'Green', 'Eco' and'Environmentally Friendly.' I just hate wasting things."1 His this idea was formed from his Japanese background, thus his project was all about timber and paper.

Shigeru Ban once said taht "I do not know the meaning of 'Green Architect'. I have no interest in

I chose Nince Bridges Gold Club as my Second precedent study because the way Ban managed to

"Wood is the most ecological thing. Steel, concrete - we are just consuming from a limited amount. Timber is the only renewable material. A concrete building stays only a hundred years, and it's very difficult to replace or repair, where timber is very easy to repair. Also nicer. Such a nice material."2

construct this beautiful timber roof and column structure system in a dramatical way which feels like the timber gridshell melted down and form these columns. It is also amazing that these columns does not impact the patterning of the roof but perfectly match the pattern, this is due to digital design and fabrication. The structure of this system is also a milestone as every component is prefabricated offsite. It is always nice to see materials been used in ways which different from its traditional ways. Shigeru Ban's email to Toyo Ito. Dana Goodyear, Paper Palaces.

1 2

PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

02.Timber column and roof structure of the Nine Bridges Golf Club House from inside. 03. 04. The Nine Bridges Golf Club House under constrution, prefabricated roof component been installed. 05. Night view of the Nine Bridges Golf Club House from outside.

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05 Computation has always been part of Ben's design process as his designs often contain complex grid structure and require computational analyse for the structure to be buildable. It is not like the Metropol Parasol designed by J端rgen Mayer Architects which require a lot of bracing support or huge base, it is just simple joints and let the structure to support itself. For his other paper tube projects, usually have a budget which requires minimize the use of materials and to be constructed within a limited time.

Most of these projects are challenging and he managed to design temporary houses which are not just functional but also beautiful. He is also the founder of recyclable paper tueb architecture. He was asked to build many temporary paper tube houses around the world. He question what is temporary and what is perminent, a bad designed concrete architecture could also be temporary for money, a well designed paper tube architecture could also be perminent if it is taken good care of and repaired.

A2.Design Computation

PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

Recedent Project 3 Munich Olympic Stadium - Frei Paul Otto It was very sad as that Frei Otto passed away just after he recieve the 40th Pritzker Prize. Munich Olympic Stadium, "The Happy Game" is definitely his masterpiece. It is one of my favourtie design as it was built in 1940s, and it is still appealing to me today. When I saw Frei Ottoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work, the first thing I think of is organic. It was just after World War II and Germany was experiencing lack of material and an urgent need for temporary housing. Frei Otto decided to take the approach of designing houses with just basic function: providing shelter. He was mastering engeering thus his design contain a lot of engineering

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concept using steal web structure to create vast space which is also very strong. Otto's design concpet was inspired by soup membrane in simple shape waire frame, he then specialised in light weight tensile and membrane structure using different materials. The Stadium was valued as one of most beautiful stadium in the world because of the lightweighstructure brought liveness into the game and it provide shelter while provide great amount of light to the stadium. The structure of this stadium has two main component. First, the metal frame, whose small spaces were coated with PVC,

created numerous minimal surfaces and as such was also minimal weight, allowing the construction of an architectural cover lightness. Second, the surface tension of these forms is completely balanced, providing very stable construction.These wire meshes are held by straps that start from the heads of the outer masts, straps and cables anchored to the ground edge. The geometric precision cut patterns and prefabrication required in the project forced the development of new computational method, of particular relevance in the "Architecture HighTech" and a revival of cast steel in structural engineering using molds polystyrene.

03 It is not only the designs that Frei Otto created are beautiful, it was his concept of seeing structure as part of the design that is important. It was said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Throughout his life, Frei Otto has produced Imaginative, Fresh, Unprecedented spaces and constructions. He has also created Knowledge. Herein resides his deep influence: not in forms to be copied, but through the paths that have been opened by his research and discoveries.â&#x20AC;?1

Oliver Wainwright, Frei Otto: the titan of tent architecture 01. Munich Olympic Stadium from the outside on Openning day. 02. 03. Munich Olympic Stadium under the tent.

04. Munich Olympic Stadium

PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

05. Munich Olympic Statium under constructiuon. 06. Drawing of Munich Olympic Statium.

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What really Munich Olympic Statium strike me is the image above taken when the project is constructing. This image shows that the tensile structure is so strong that it can support a certain amount of weight which I think has a lot of potential and possibility even for architecture today. This light weight structure has the potential create a new form of architecture based on its strength, transparency and air ventilation. It could possibly become a new form of architecture.

However Otto still has successfully earned his title of "Father of Tent Architecture". His ability to transform ideas in mind, to drawing, and then to practical architecture is amazing. And the effort he has put in his own experiment and computational design means so much in the history of architecture. His influence in future architecture is irreplacable.

Precedent Project 4 Heydar Aliyev Center - Zaha Hadid Frank Gehry once said "Flat piece of something worth one dollar; single curve, two dollar; if it is double curve, it worth ten dollar."1 If that is the budges of curves, this Heydar Aliyev Center designed by Zaha Hadid is priceless. It was completed in 2013, and it is the most extreme of Zaha's designs, it is organic, it is sensul, it is also very strong. It is a new culture center in Baku which was proposed as the vision of future Baku. Romaticism is involved in the design, Zaha was able to stretch her wings, it was the ultimate Zaha experience.

The building is so organic that it feels like the earth been folded like mountains, the curveds of this building are growing themselves. Zaha as a geniuses was able to imagine the form of this building and construct it in a digital environment. The curves of this building are almost impossible to build without the help of digital design and computational fabrication. It has successfully becomes a landmark of Baku as it was planned, and it has become a milestone in architecture history. Fluidity has always been part of Islamic architecture and Zaha was able to develop a firmlycontemporary interpretation,

reflecting a more nuanced understanding.Responding to the topographic sheer drop that formerly split the site in two, the project introduces a precisely terraced landscape that establishes alternative connections and routes between public plaza, building, and underground parking. This solution avoids additional excavation and landfill, and successfully converts an initial disadvantage of the site into a key design feature.

1 Gehry, Frank. Frank Gehry Talks Architecture and Process

01. Heydar Aliyev Center designed by Zaha Hadid

PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

05 02. Night view of Exterior of Heydar Aliyev Center 03. Theater of Heydar Aliyev Center 04 & 06. Interior of Heydar Aliyev Center 05. Exterior of Heydar Aliyev Center

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One of the most critical yet challenging elements of the project was the architectural development of the building’s skin. Our ambition to achieve a surface so continuous that it appears homogenous, required a broad range of different functions, construction logics and technical systems had to be brought together and integrated into the building’s envelope. Advanced computing allowed for the continuous control and communication of these complexities among the numerous project participants. To emphasize the continuous relationship between the building’s exterior and interior, the lighting of the Heydar Aliyev Center has been very carefully considered. The lighting design strategy differentiates the day and night reading of the building. During the day, the building’s volume reflects light, constantly altering the Center’s appearance according to the time of day and viewing perspective. The use of semireflective glass gives tantalizing glimpses within, arousing curiosity without revealing the fluid trajectory of spaces inside. At night, this character is gradually transformed

by means of lighting that washes from the interior onto the exterior surfaces, unfolding the formal composition to reveal its content and maintaining the fluidity between interior and exterior. The Heydar Aliyev Center’s design evolved from our investigations and research of the site’s topography and the Center’s role within its broader cultural landscape. By employing these articulate relationships, the design is embedded within this context; unfolding the future cultural possibilities for the nation. The meaning of this building for me, as an undergraduated student is simply that computational design can create elegance which can not be achieve without it. Because for some people, it is the most important thing, architecture as part of our society does not just reflect our society, more importanly it shape our society. If computational design has the ability to solve problems while creating beauty in our cities, it is definitely worth exploring.

Geometry Structure Materiality 06 PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

A.3. Composition/ Generation

16 PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

Precedent Project 5 Absolute Towers - MAD/Ma Yansong Modernism has a famous motto: A house is a machine for living in. But what if cities are emerging away from machine age, how should buildings today convey? The MAD architects thrive to challenge the sustenance of commonplace boxy skyscrapers. Their ambition was to provide each resident a unique experience of the city, a heterarchitical distribution. Absolute Towers as their final proposal 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. 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.

tools which was picked from thousands of possible solutions. This final solution is not just randomply picked, it is chosen due to several conditions. The reason I love this project is because it appears as a simple design but infact there is so much process behind it: the process of writing algorithm, the process of generating solutions, the process of selecting one perticular result and refine the it under certain conditions. It is the ideal example of computational designed project.

All of these are generated in digital

01. Absolute Towers by MAD

PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

Absolute Towers as computational generated result, computer does not only do the drafting and rendering job as they were decades ago, however the most important thing they do is analysing the system and generating possible outcomes. These outcomes could be unexpected, which leads to possibilities that may redirect the final result entirely, at this point, architects were led by computation and the meaning of architecture design is lost, which becomes testing process.1 Obviously this is not pleasent for the existence architects, thus the importance of Computational design is essential, architects need to control and have the ability to generate computer but not be driven by it.

Like what the MAD architects did, they write their own algorithm and generate results which under their control, and then selecet specific result and refine the algorithm to regenerate exact result they want. And this is the beauty of Absolute Towers as how I understand it.

1 Kalay, Yehuda E. (2004). Architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), pp. 5-25.

02 & 03. Looking down from Absolute Towers. 04. Plan of Absolute Tower. 05. Image of Absolute Tower.

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Precedent Project 6 National Aquatics Centre - Arup The National Auatics Centre is one of the most appealing project done during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and it is a perfect example to show the development in computational archtiecture design during the last decade.

As well as providing a multifunctional aquatics centre, the brief required extensive use of digital technology, energy-reduction and water-saving methods, as well as the incorporation of new construction materials. Arup designed this huge blue box proposal, from which it takes its nickname: the Water Cube. It is blue in order to reflect sunlight. It shines in the sunlight like a pearl in water. From the inside, you may discover that the pneumatic cushions of all sizes are just like sea bubbles.

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But winning the competition was just the first step, as they proposed, they need to work with a relatively new material called the ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) which is really challenging. There are two parts to the Water Cube's structural framework â&#x20AC;&#x201C; internal and external. The external structure forms the actual roof, ceiling and walls and comprises a flat web of rectangular boxed sections. These sections are then clad with the inflatable material transparent "teflon" ETFE. The use of ETFE will help the building last for about 100 years. The transmission of light and strength of the ETFE membrane deteriorates far less than other materials. The membrane is resistant to fire and severe heat, and possesses ductility and crushing

resistance. It is self-cleaning in nature as the friction coefficient of the material prevents the dust from forming a layer on the material and rain can easily clear away the dust. However this material still has a lot of myths, regarding the material growing mould and being ineffective in muting external noise, which had to be dispelled. Eventually they still managed to finish the building before deadline with the help of professions from all areas, testing, experimenting during the design process.

01. National Aquatics Centre by PTW Architects

02. Final digital solution to Water C.ube 03. Water Cube under construction. 04. Water Cube Illustration proposal.

According to the book Space Craft: Developments in Architectural Computing (RIBA Publishing, 2008), "Irish physicists Denis Weare and Robert Phelan were able to calculate that the most efficient way to divide a space into cells of equal volume while minimizing the surface area between them was to use a stacked arrangement composed of 75% 14-sided shapes and 25% 12-sided shapes." So far so good, but since the resulting structure would have 22,000 steel members connected at 12,000 nodes, generating an actual model based on the idea exceeded the reach of conventional design.

and it was achieved with relative ease. In addition to the structural advantages, Arup estimated that it saved $10 million on design costs alone compared with traditional design methods. The optimal design for the Water Cube was determined by analyzing multiple configurations of the thousands of steel members and connecting nodes. Different from the Absolute Towers, water cube is a more material focused computational design, which I find it very interesting, and I think it is how we should associate with computers.

Instead, according to the book, to manipulate this complex geometric system dynamically, Arup wrote parametric software that automated the drawing and analysis process. Based on specified design constraints and less than 190 loading scenarios, the algorithm iteratively checked the distribution of forces through the entire structure based on specific member sizes, allowing the team to test different design configurations and receive feedback within 25 minutes. The result was a spectacular building with a sophisticated structure that is optimized in terms of material weight-to-strength ratio, PART-A CONCEPTUALISATION

CONCLUSION

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Part A has provided a background knowledge of what computation is in architecture design. In the A1 part we questioned about what is design and what is the ideal relationship between computer and architects. I believe the way we think about design is also changing, we no longer be limited in complexity, we are no longer limited in possibilities of materials as we generate new materials and explore more about the materials we used to know. What is more important is that our whole architecture design vision and focus has changed. As we have stonger connection to the society due to development of technology and social media, we should no longer be just architects, but also associated with the society, with digital design we no longer repeat the process of solving problems and present the solution to the society, but think from the society's aspect, and design algorithm that match specific needs thus that we are truly designing for the society.

As a student who has no experience of Grasshopper plug-in, I found that this subject is full of fun as we play with grasshopper. However it is really hard to get the outcome you want. The design process has become a experimental process. Like what we have discussed in Part A2, digital design is a new way of design, however it takes time to transform from hand draw designs to conceptual design. We know where we are heading to , but I do not really know what I am going to get. Maybe it is just me having too less experience, above all I still love this subject because it introduced me this useful tool which can not be replaced. Because Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m new to Grasshopper plug-in. I found that the first week task is most fun because it is the introduction. I found that design can be programming and algorithm.

After Part A I think my intentions for design process will incorporate with material and structure becuase I think they are most likely to be assembled with the purpose of computational design and problem solving.

REFERENCE Fry, Tony (2008). Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg), pp. 1–16 Dunne, Anthony & Raby, Fiona (2013) Speculative Everything: Design Fiction, and Social Dreaming (MIT Press) pp. 1-9, 33-45 Schumacher, Patrik (2011). The Autopoiesis of Architecture: A New Framework for Architecture (Chichester: Wiley), pp. 1-28 MATHEWS, FREYA (2005). REINHABITING REALITY: TOWARDS A RECOVERY OF CULTURE (UNSW PRESS), CH.7 - MERRI CREEK OXMAN, RIVKA AND ROBERT OXMAN, EDS (2014). THEORIES OF THE DIGITAL IN ARCHITECTURE (LONDON; NEW YORK: ROUTLEDGE), PP. 1–10 KALAY, YEHUDA E. (2004). ARCHITECTURE’S NEW MEDIA: PRINCIPLES, THEORIES, AND METHODS OF COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (CAMBRIDGE, MA: MIT PRESS), PP. 5-25 ISSA, RAJAA ‘ESSENTIAL MATHEMATICS FOR COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN’, SECOND EDITION, ROBERT MCNEEL AND ASSOCIATES, PP 1 - 42 KOLAREVIC, BRANKO, ARCHITECTURE IN THE DIGITAL AGE: DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING (NEW YORK; LONDON: SPON PRESS, 2003) SUGGESTED START WITH PP. 3-62 PETERS, BRADY. (2013) ‘COMPUTATION WORKS: THE BUILDING OF ALGORITHMIC THOUGHT’, ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, 83, 2, PP. 08-15 DEFINITION OF ‘ALGORITHM’ IN WILSON, ROBERT A. AND FRANK C. KEIL, EDS (1999). THE MIT ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE COGNITIVE SCIENCES (LONDON: MIT PRESS), PP. 11, 12 CHERMAYEFF, IVAN. ‘IVAN CHERMAYEFF COLLAGES’, HARRY N ABRAMS(1991), P10. FRY, TONY. ‘DESIGN FUTURING: SUSTAINABILITY, ETHICS AND NEW PRACTICE’,OXFORD: BERG(2008), PP. 1–16.