Case Study - Art Institute of Chicago · Case Study Collecting, Archiving and Exhibiting Digital...

Case Study Collecting, Archiving and Exhibiting Digital Design Data

Garofalo Architects

Case Study: Garofalo Architects The work of Douglas Garofalo, FAIA, principal of Garofalo Architects, is already represented in the permanent collection of the Department of Architecture of The Art Institute of Chicago. This is a young practice, based on a non-traditional firm model. Work spans traditional architecture, academic research and collaboration with artists, scientists and other professionals. Although the firm does not limit itself to digital media, the work process is centered in the digital environment. As in other case studies, Garofalo Architects assemble electronic images from multiple sources into PowerPoint presentations. These PowerPoint files become their working archives. Garofalo experiments with digital design tools, often “abusing” software in the interest of design exploration. In this case study, for example, he used an animation keyframing technique to generate form and to section that form to define the geometry of the structural members. One of the most interesting aspects of this case study is that Garofalo’s design data were used to generate CNC instructions for the fabrication of the structural members, which were composed of three plywood laminations. Like BECK, Garofalo extends use of his digital models into construction, but he does it in a very different way. BECK uses design rules and electronic product libraries embedded in software to generate a custom solution from standard parts. Garofalo uses geometry generated in design exploration, coupled with sizing calculated by his structural engineering consultants, to generate custom building components. These two approaches rely on very different kinds of digital design data. In the survey response (see charts that follow), Garofalo Architects reported that their predominant method of working was digital in:

Documentation Communication/Presentation Design Exploration Design Generation Rapid Prototyping Construction/Fabrication.

In comparison, only 10% of survey respondents are currently using digital design tools as a predominant method for either Rapid Prototyping or Construction/Fabrication and only 26% for Design Generation. Garofalo Architects reported no use of digital tools in:

Design Analysis/Validation Building Systems/Product Selection Product Comparison/Cost Estimation.

Case Study: Garofalo Architects

Use of Digital Design Tools:

Garofalo Architects

100% 100%

0% 0% 0%0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

100%

0% 0%

100%

0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

100%100%100%100%100%100% 100%100%100%100%100%100%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Data Gathering Documentation Communication /Presentation

Collaboration DesignExploration

Design Analysis /Validation

Building Systems/ ProductSelection

ProductComparison /

Cost Estimation

DesignGeneration

RapidPrototyping

Construction /Fabrication

Computer Use During Design

Predominant Way Firm Performs Design

Will Be Predominant Way Within 5 Years

Use of Digital Design Tools: All Respondents

87%

93% 94%

76%

88%

55%

32%28%

44%

24%25%25%

31%29%

31%

10%10%

26%

15%16%

29%

51%

35%

72%

87%

54%

11%

20%21%

27%

38%

17%

5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Data Gathering Documentation Communication /Presentation

Collaboration DesignExploration

Design Analysis /Validation

Building Systems/ ProductSelection

ProductComparison /

Cost Estimation

DesignGeneration

RapidPrototyping

Construction /Fabrication

Computer Use During Design

Predominant Way Firm Performs Design

Will Be Predominant Way Within 5 Years


The Department of Architecture of the Art Institute of Chicago is conducting a study to identify and address the emerging need to collect, archive and exhibit digital design data. The study is being conducted by Kristine Fallon Associates, Inc. This study is the first of its kind, and its ground-breaking findings will be presented in 2004 at international architectural and archival conferences.

This survey will help the museum plan for incorporating digital design within its future exhibitions, programs and archives. Please take a moment to let us know how you use digital design tools. Many thanks for your cooperation!

About Your PracticeFirm Name: Garofalo Architects, Inc.

Total firm staff (all locations) 6

Your Office Location: Chicago, Illinois

Total number of architects (including interns) 5

Please select the title that best defines your role at your firm:Sole Practitioner Project ManagerManaging Principal Lead/ Senior DesignerDesign Principal Design Team MemberCTO / IT Manager / CAD Manager Drafter/ CAD Technician

Please refer to the following definitions when answering the survey:Data Gathering Digital tools used to collect information that informs the design process: site

survey, program, etc.Documentation Classic CAD – using computers to create drawings in the manual tradition (plans,

sections, elevations)Communication / Presentation

Using more advanced computer graphics tools to improve ability to show the design concept: rendering, image montage, animation

Collaboration Using special-purpose applications (not email) to share information and manage shared work processes with remotely located team members or clients

Design Exploration Developing a design concept on-screen: the software replaces or adds to traditional tools, such as physical model-making

Design Analysis / Validation

Quantitative analysis, excluding cost; from computer-generated solar penetration or shadow studies to engineering analysis

Building Systems / Product Selection

Automated selection of products and components; not operator selection from electronic catalogs

Product Comparison / Cost Estimation

Automated generation of cost estimates from computer model of building; ability to substitute products or assemblies and compare results

Design Generation Using automated techniques to generate design or configure products / systemsRapid Prototyping Data from computer model drives prototyping deviceConstruction / Fabrication

Using design data to fabricate building components (full-scale) or to generate a list of specific manufactured components or products; using robotics in construction

How does your firm use digital design tools?

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Please check all the ways your firm uses computers during designPlease check if this is the predominant (most frequent) way your firm performs this activity If this is not currently the predominant method of working, check if you believe it will be within the next 5 years


Please indicate which digital design products your firm is using, and in which ways. Check all that apply.

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3ds max™AccuRender®ActiveProject®Adobe® After Effects®Adobe® Illustrator®Adobe® InDesign®Adobe® Photoshop®Alias Power Animator™Alias Sketchbook Pro™Alias|wavefront™AlphaGraphics®AutoCAD®Autodesk® Architectural DesktopAutodesk® Buzzsaw™Autodesk® Revit®Autodesk® VIZCitadon™ CW™Citadon™ ProjectNet®Eudora®formZ™Graphisoft® ArchiCAD®Graphite™IrfanViewLightWave 3D®Macromedia® Flash™Maya®Media 100®Microsoft® AccessMicrosoft® ExcelMicrosoft® PowerPoint®MicroStation®MicroStation® TriForma™NuGraf®Pro/ENGINEER®QuarkXPress™Rhinoceros®Others, please list

Please return your survey via email or fax no later than May 15, 2003:Kristine Fallon Associates, Inc.312 641 9337 (fax)

[email protected] you!

Case Study: Garofalo Architects Project Data Sheet Project name:

Manilow residence Location:

Spring Prairie, Wisconsin Client:

Lew & Susan Manilow Date completed / occupied:

February 2003 Project / facility type:

Residence Size:

Approximately 6,000 square feet Lead design firm, office:

Garofalo Architects, Chicago, Illinois Consultants:

Matrix Engineering (Structural) Jennifer Baker (Ecologist) Leslie Jones & Associates (Interiors)

Major design issues:

Create sculptural surprise; extend architecture into the landscape. Your role on the project:

Architect of record What was the most important digital tool used on the project?

Maya animation software What image or object was the most important or effective communication medium?

Physical models in combination with views taken from the virtual 3D model.


Garofalo Architects

Manilow Residence

Project Overview

The Manilow Residence project involved addition to and substantial renovation of a second home on 75 acres in rural Wisconsin. The program included an expanded kitchen, multiple bedroom/ bathroom suites and a llama barn.

The Manilows are art collectors. They were attracted to Garofalo Architects’reputation for doing innovative additions. They were interested in ideas and function. They repeatedly expressed a love for the varied landscape surrounding their second home. They wanted to preserve the existing appearance from the front and to encounter a sculptural surprise at the rear.



Images Courtesy of Garofalo Architects

Garofalo Architects began the project by developing an analytical abstraction. This abstraction sought to spatialize the landscape and associate the various zones with images (pictographs) that were literal representations. .




Douglas Garofalo, FAIA, sees the development of the design as a forward motion. The team develops and discards ideas. Keeping the models live on the computer, they continue to grow the project, rather than start over.




The initial design concept for the Manilow Residence was to scatter the new programmatic elements in the landscape. Wisconsin building and zoning regulations prevented this. The new elements were merged back into the main structure, with the exception of the llama barn.

An early study technique was to montage the new, computer-generated design forms created in Maya with existing photographs.




Another technique is to use multiple 3D representations of the project and play physical models off virtual models. These models might not be the same, but rather be used to explore different features or possibilities. Currently, the physical models are constructed manually. Garofalo is interested in rapid prototyping techniques and has the capability to use them, but finds them cost-prohibitive for projects of this scale.




Hand sketches drawn over computer models are scanned to bring everything into the computer environment.




A signature design technique is the use of “the calculus of the [software] program”to generate the form. Identifying a start and an end condition, they use animation keyframing to generate intermediate forms. They then define edges as splines and loft surfaces.




Animations are frequently used to assist in visualizing the evolution/ progression of the design.




Color and material are important design considerations. In early explorations, color is used as a differentiator. Later, it becomes very important.




Here, the oxblood red of the existing house is transformed to an orange shade where it encounters the titanium addition.




The pattern of the titanium tiles is echoed in the paving.




Construction documentation is a nontraditional phase for Garofalo Architects.




In this case, they generated sections through the form and set an approximate structural depth to develop the major structural members. A structural engineering consultant then analyzed these “ribs.”




Computer Numerical Control (CNC) instructions were generated from the computer model and the structure was fabricated and finished in a cabinet shop. Each rib consists of three pieces of plywood laminated with structural glue. Similarly, the architects were involved in detailing the connections of the titanium tiles.




“We don’t tend to check the shop drawings anymore; we do them when we work like this,” says Garofalo.




In the case of both the structure and the tiles, they were able to generate a comprehensive set of patterns, showing each individual element. In the case of the titanium, the contractor preferred to measure on-site.




Garofalo says that the firm tailors the process to the client and project, but that all design exploration is a collaborative undertaking among the members of his firm. Although a project manager is assigned, “Everybody in the office tends to look in and comment. …An electronic environment gives everybody access to everything.”




Also, firm members have specialized expertise and unique techniques for working with digital design tools, “Most of us know Maya, but we all use it slightly differently. Everyone doesn’t know the same things.”




“What we tend to end up with is all of the legal documents and photographic documentation because everything tends to stay in the computer. We print out for publications, maybe give output to the client if they want it, and maybe not. …I would say the information is more voluminous. …With the digital, we get these giant folders full of every sketch we do.” – Douglas Garofalo, FAIA


WHO WHAT HOW OUTPUT

Internal / externalparticipants in theprocess

What tools - digital orother - are used

Design activity (process) ordecision

Manifestation / communicationmedium - digital or physical

Client Designer

Analyticalabstraction

Physical model

3Dcomputer

model

Digital images

Design Team

Design Team

SketchFreehandsketches

Concept model

Meet todiscussprogram

ConceptualDesign

Programing

Compositein

Photoshop

Scansketches

Digitalphotography

Hand-sketchoverlay

3D modelingin Maya

Buildmodels

Buildmodels

Spatializesite in Maya Digital

photography

Preliminaryform

generationin Maya

Montageexisting,proposed

Design

Digital sitephotography

Scanimages


WHO WHAT HOW OUTPUT

Internal / externalparticipants in theprocess

What tools - digital orother - are used

Design activity (process) ordecision

Manifestation / communicationmedium - digital or physical

Structure fabricated

Cabinet Shop

Contractor

Structural Engineers

Design Team

Wireframemodel

Design Team

Design Team

ElectronicAs-Builts

PublishableMaterials

CompleteConstruction

CNC millingmachine at

cabinetshop

MicroStation

Sizedstructure

Mayakeyframingto generate

form

Surfacing /deforming

form inMaya

Add depth tostructure

(keyframes)

Structuralanalysis byconsultants

CNCinstructions

On-siteerection

ShopDrawings

andConstructionDocuments

Fabrication

Construction

Design

Webresearchproducts,materials

Fieldmeasure

-ment

UpdateMaya /

MicroStationmodels

Collage withphotos in

Photoshop

IGES Exportto

MicroStation

Apply color /materials /lighting in

Maya

Renderings

Animations

Montage:existing /proposed

Patterns forribs, tiles


Case Study: Garofalo Architects Computing Environment Firm, office location: Garofalo Architects Inc., Chicago, Illinois Definition of Terms Data Gathering Digital tools used to collect information that informs the design process: site

survey, program, etc. Documentation Classic CAD – using computers to create drawings in the manual tradition

(plans, sections, elevations) Communication / Presentation

Using more advanced computer graphics tools to improve ability to show the design concept: rendering, image montage, animation

Collaboration Using special-purpose applications (not email) to share information and manage shared work processes with remotely located team members or clients

Design Exploration Developing a design concept on-screen: the software replaces or adds to traditional tools, such as physical model-making

Design Analysis / Validation

Quantitative analysis, excluding cost; from computer-generated solar penetration or shadow studies to engineering analysis

Building Systems / Product Selection

Automated selection of products and components; not operator selection from electronic catalogs

Product Comparison / Cost Estimation

Automated generation of cost estimates from computer model of building; ability to substitute products or assemblies and compare results

Design Generation Using automated techniques to generate design or configure products / systems

Rapid Prototyping Data from computer model drives prototyping device Construction / Fabrication

Using design data to fabricate building components (full-scale) or to generate a list of specific manufactured components or products; using robotics in construction

General Product / Version Category Adobe Acrobat Meeting Maker Microsoft Excel Microsoft Internet Explorer Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Word Netscape QuarkXPress

“Office” Applications

Eudora Email System Windows 2000 Professional Operating System(s)


Primary Design Tools Product / Version Use (see above) Adobe Photoshop 7 Data Gathering

Documentation Communication / Presentation Collaboration Design Exploration Design Generation

Maya 4 Communication / Presentation Design Exploration Design Analysis / Validation Design Generation Rapid Prototyping

Microstation SE Data Gathering Documentation Communication / Presentation Collaboration Design Exploration Design Analysis / Validation Design Generation Rapid Prototyping Construction / Fabrication

Flow and Aggregating Tools (translators, etc) Product / Version Used to: 3d max 4 CAD to CAM, Rapid Prototyping InfanView View image files Microstation SE Translate from AutoCAD Rhinoceros 2 CAD to CAM, Rapid Prototyping Custom Applications Purpose Internal Development? N/A Digital Design Tools

3ds max – convert vrml data to Maya Adobe Photoshop – Photo and computer graphic montage, provides Pantone color palette AlphaGraphics – calibrating monitor Eudora – Email program used for design collaboration Maya – primary design tool; used for form generation and deformation, animation, visualization, and

cutting sections to analyze form and structure Microsoft PowerPoint – assembling multiple data types for design communication/ presentation MicroStation – traditional CAD functions, good ability to define and control curves; also for interface

with CNC devices NuGraf – data translation Rhinoceros – import Maya data to interface with rapid prototyping equipment.

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