02. COMPUTATIONAL ARCHITECTURE

‘Design is a process we engage in when the current situation is different from some desired situation, and when the actions needed to transform the former into the latter is not immediately obvious’ - -Kalay, Yehuda E. (2004)

The design process has been formalized in 1960s, and it composes with four intertwined steps1 :-problem analysis-solution synthesis-evaluation-communication

Refer to the relationship between those steps(Fig 1); they are improving the design step by step, in order to achieve the optimal goals. By looking at the fig shows, communication has connected to every step; it allows all participants in the process to develop the solutions. It could be tread as a host of consultants, which contain all of the participants, such as structural engineers, mechanical engineers, economists, lawyers etc.The computational architecture has provided a communication platform, which can expand the access of information and open up the design process for more people2 .

For another aspect, with the developing of the computational architecture, there are lots of new technologies appeared in the architectural realm, which particular refer to the architectural software, such as Rhino, CAD, Revit etc. They all can help the architectural design process operate in an easy way, which compare to the hand drawing and model making. Because it can easily work out the solution with the connection of the architecture & building, and the material & products (fig2), and easily make a test3 .

1. Kalay, Yehuda E.(2004). Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press) pp.102. Kalay, Yehuda E.(2004). Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press) pp.12-133.Kieran, Stephen, and James Timberlake (2004). Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies are Poised to Transform Building Construction (New York: McGraw-Hill). pp. 12, 15, 23.

Fig 1. The major componts of the architectural design process.

source:Kalay, Yehuda E.(2004). Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design.

pp 10

Fig 2. The relationship of the Architecture & Building, Material & Products.

source:Kieran, Stephen, and James Timberlake (2004). Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies

are Poised to Transform Building Construction (New York: McGraw-Hill). pp. 12, 15, 23.

The research ICD/IRKE Research Pavilion 2010 gives an evidence of computational design. Its physical form is decided by the pressure, since the material construct is able to be considered as a consequent from a system of internal and external pressures and constraints. On the other hand, the digital design process in architecture could infrequently reflect to these relations. Because of the material form is always inseparably related to external forces in the physical realm. However, in the computational architecture, the digital design form and force are often treated as separate entities, because they are ‘divided into processes of geometric form generation and subsequent simulation based on specific material properties’1 .

If we look at the picture of the digital model (not completed) we can see there are thousands lines need to draw during the computational process, it seems impossible to draw them by hand. Also, the digital model could be test by the computational process, and that will avoid the material waste, since the computer can provide the accurate data of the structure and material’s character.

1. Institute for Computational Design 2010 ICD Research Project http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458 viewed 26th March

Fig 3 ICD/IRKE Research Pavilion 2010 (source:http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458)

Fig 4ICD/IRKE Research Pavilion 2010 (source:http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=4458)

Fig 5 Border Condition Project (source: http://improved.ro/blog/?p=1137)

Fig 7. Building Model, Southeast Exposure (source::http://www.miasci.org/blog/post-

Fig 6. Building Moderl (source: http://yehuna.deviantart.com/art/Stardust-Tech-Building-Model-251687788)

I’ve found this project on the website (Fig.5); it is called Border Condition, which is made by Manuel Torres and Dimitrie Stefanescu in 2011. It is obviously show the outcome of the building with the real site, and we can see the how set on the site, and what the relationship with the adjacent buildings. And this allows us to know what the building looks like after the construction, and we can find the specific problem with the design, in order to fix it and find out the optimal solution.

Computational process could make the architecture more visual, since we can easily observe the outcome of the design with the site condition. Rather than just a single which cannot show any relationship with the surroundings, even a physical model with a site model are also lack of visual effect of the design.