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Design stuDio: AirTutorial 16: Cam + VictorSam Dunkley2014

PArt A: ConCePtuAlisAtion

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introDuCtionSam Dunkley

I came into the Bachelor of Environments without having any previous experiences in any of the subjects I undertook in first year. Every one of my first year subjects (even my breadth) I felt as though I was struggleing to catch up with people who were already far ahead of me. Until I began using Rhino in Virtual Environments. While at first I found the concept of this program as confusing as my peers, I soon began to understand the way it was put together, and began to adapt the way I approached my other subjects to try to allow my use of it. Unfortunately, my learning came slower than the course, and it was only by the end of the semester that my Rhino skill were up to scratch -too late for me to do well in the subject or be proud of what i created, but I had learnt enough to feel comfortable in Rhino.

In addition to Rhino, I am going into this studio with relatively in-depth knowlege of the standard set of design programs: the Adobe Creative Suite and Autodesk’s AutoCAD and Revit. As well as building on my skills with these, I would like to get some experience with StudioMax and Maya.

Before my pre-research into Grasshopper, I had never heard of it or considered the usage of “explicit history” (or Rhino’s lack of it). The idea intrigues me -it seems like a very valuable tool which could make many tedious parts of Rhino much less so -automation of repetitive tasks allows a deeper investigation into each design -being able to easily make changes without having to do the whole thing again seems like a great way to achieve better designs.

In 2013 I took a leave of absence from the university, and worked as an IT technician. While I didn’t do all that much scripting, I did basics in various languages (C++, HTML and PHP, among others) and have come to understand the workings behind programs -much as Grasshopper seems to directly interact with the workings behind Rhino. I hope I will be able to put my software knowledge to good use throughout the semester, and I feel that it will give me a bit of a step up -new programs tend to come easily to me.

I have never been completely happy with any of my design studio work, nor do I think it relevant to this subject. As such, I am choosing not to include it.

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investigAtion of existing Works

In this project, Loop.ph aimed to explore the use of renewable biofuels on a small scale. The Algae Curtain pumps algae-filled water through a series of plastic tubes to harvest the sunlight coming in through the window. As they photosynthesize it, the algae produce a sort of clean biofuel which can be used for heat and electricity generation. The Nannochloropsis algae requires a nutrient, and the structure consumes electricity through the pump, however these environmental costs are outweighed by the volume of renewable energy which is produced. I would assume that the designers used a form of parametric analysis to understand what they could and couldn’t do with the materials. For example, there would have been restrictions on the minimum and maximum distance the algae can travel through the sunlight and the radius of curvature for the pipes. These appear to have driven the final design outcome. The designers did not explain in detail the actual basis for the pattern, but I believe there is a scope here for parametric design in this situation. If this project was to inspire a commercially viable option of using this system in homes or commercial buildings,, it would change the face of energy production wildly. I find this realistic (though possibly unrealised in its current form) application to be the most appealing part of this project.

Future Fruits: Algae CurtainLoop.pHEDF 2012

ImagesLoop.pH, “Loop.pH,” Loop.pH Web Page, 2013 <http://loop.ph/>

[accessed 10 March 2014]

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LichtströmeLoop.pH

Koblenz, Germany

This project was conceived with the notion of bringing together science and architecture. The group aimed to create environments where people can recognise and understand the scientific ideas on a reasonable, tangible level. Inspiration was drawn from the German scientist Ernst Haeckel, and his work in microbiology.The physical form is taken from Radiolaria - tiny skeletons of oceanic micro-organisms. The other side of the architects’ program is integrated these scientific ideas with the people who are observing them. Drawing on this idea of connection to the community, they chose to base their fabrication methods on Archilace - Lace-making. The final product is an eerie, entrancing network of inter-linking geometries, lit and coloured with a dynamic fluorescence. The way they took inspiration for form quite directly from these natural systems is one approach which is often employed in parametric designs. While it produces an intriguing structure, I would question its relevance. I believe that using an existing form as the basis of a parametric design in some ways defeats the purpose -why not just recreate the form exactly?

Lichtströme Loop.pH http://loop.ph/portfolio/lichtstrome/ accessed 26/2/14

Lichtströme Loop.pH http://loop.ph/portfolio/lichtstrome/ accessed 26/2/14

“Phaeodoria”, Kunstformen der Natur (1900), From BioLib.de, 2007http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/haeckel/kunstformen/high/Tafel_001_300.html Accessed 26/2/14

ImagesLoop.pH, “Loop.pH,” Loop.pH Web Page, 2013 <http://loop.ph/> [accessed 10 March 2014]

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investigAtion of existing Works

Made in 2004, Matsys’s honeycomb structure is an example of computation. The basis of the project was to create a structure which used the material’s properties to the fullest extent. This goal refutes, at least in the designer’s view, the way many industrial systems are put together today, and mimics instead the natural world where evolution eliminates any imperfections in the way things fit together. The “Manifold Installation” pictured above is not the final outcome of the design -it is merely an application of the tool which the designers created. The tool uses computational analysis to formulate a design based on a honeycomb shape, combined with the structural properties of the material -these are the parameters used which alter the final outcome. It could be argued that there are some elements of computerisation in the Manifold structure. It is likely that the designers had the idea of the ‘honeycomb wall’ in their heads, then found a way of using the tool to create a design which fit their preconceived ideas of the outcome they desired. However, by this argument there would be very few projects which are complete computation. This project represents one of the main justifications for parametric design: a certainty of efficiency. Assuming that the original algorithm was sound, Matlab can quantifiably say that any structure created by it is without a doubt using the material to its fullest potential.

ComputationHoneycomb MorphologiesMatsysLondon, 2004

Images:MATSYS, “Honeycomb Morphologies,” MATSYS Web Page,

2004 <http://matsysdesign.com/category/projects/honeycomb-morphologies/> [accessed 17 March 2014]

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ComputerisationBurnham Pavillion

Zaha HadidChicago, 2009

While this Pavillion appears to be a product of some kind of computation, it should in fact be considered computerisation. The structure is based on an aluminium frame, wrapped with an interior and an exterior fabric skin.The computerisation component of this design process is apparent in the fact that no two pieces of the aluminium framework are identical. Once the form had been established Hadid (or more likely one of her under-architects) digitised the design and used the computer’s analytic abilities to work out the necessary bends and dimensions of the frame and the fabric. This contrasts with the Matsys project, and therein lies the difference between computerisation and computation. Hadid used the function of the computer as a tool to fabricate her work, while Matsys created a tool which creates a design for them. In making this contrast, one must make a judgement on the merit of each approach. In what way is one method better than the other? Hadid created a beautiful pavilion, however its efficiency can be questioned. How well the structure “works” is entirely subjective. The simple fact of the hidden structure wrapped with a skin shows that the aluminium has been used to fit the design, and as such is not utilizing the material to its fullest potential.

Oxman and Oxman describes this difference. “Formation before form” Computer aided vs computer integrated.

http://www.laphil.com/wdch10/wdch/architecture.html

Images:MATSYS, “Honeycomb Morphologies,” MATSYS Web Page, 2004 <http://matsysdesign.com/category/projects/honeycomb-morphologies/> [accessed 17 March 2014]

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investigAtion of existing Works

FabricationGantenbein Vineyard FacadeGramazio & KohlerFläsch, Switzerland, 2006 The use of computation and parameters can be combined with fabrication machinery to produce outcomes which would be too expensive, too difficult or too labour-intensive to be created with traditional methods. Gramazio & Kohler’s facade employs the parametric in various ways. To begin with, the patterns which were to be created were based on the digitisation of “Falling Spheres” into the “basket” of the existing concrete frame-inspired by the grapes which, provide the livelihood of the wine-makers and, in turn, the funding for the project. Using the parameters of the spheres’ radii and starting locations combined with the constants of the basket’s size and the effect of gravity, the individual angles of each brick was generated. While the designers did use a generative algorithm to construct the form, it could be argued that it was more computerisation than computation: the designers had a form which they wanted to create, and then used the digital tool to model it. Likewise, it could be considered somewhat superficial or literal -modeling an image on the skin of the building almost like a mural. While it was created to allow light through by leaving a gap between the bricks, i believe there was scope for more analysis on thing such as the exact amounts of light which would be let through -for example at different times of the day throughout the year. A form modelled with that in mind could be considered more interesting and constructive than a simple representation of a picture. The use of the parametric model extends to a further use: fabrication. Utilising a robot arm to construct the panels, they generated an algorithm (or set of instructions) as to the exact movements required by it for the fabrication. Working from this algorithm it would pick up the bricks, apply the two-part bonding agent, and lay them with precision. Automation of the fabrication process is something which many industries have been utilising for decades, however smaller-scale architecture projects have not entirely embraced it for various reasons. Now that the technology is beginning to become more available and user-friendly (to an extent), there is much more scope for a wider adoption of these methods.

ImagesGramazio, Fabio, and Roger Kohler, “Gramazio & Kohler”, 2006 <http://www.gramaziokohler.com/web/e/bauten/52.html> [accessed 20 March 2014]

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ResponsivenessHygroSkin

Achim MengesFRAC, Centre Orleans,

2006 Achim Menges’ “Meteorosensitive Pavillion” focusses on the use of their materials’ inherent responsiveness to its external climate to alter their internal space. By making the size of the perforations into the space reactive to the humidity of the air, they have made the space inside naturally responsive to the environment.

Taken from spruce cones, this is one form of biomimicry which I find completely justified and useful -instead of just mimicking the form of the natural system (as did the Vineyard), the designers used the function of the natural system to their advantage. They copied a natural system to make their building more efficient and effective, while having a completely passive system.

This took incredible engineering, which was achieved through the use of parametric software. Individual pores within the plywood respond to the humidity to change the shape of that piece of wood. There is a set of physical rules which governs this shape change, so the designers could define a parametric link between the rules and the final shape which each panel would be. From these rules, another instruction set was created for their 7-axis robot to complete the fabrication.

Through this project, Achim Menges has used ingenious integration of architecture, biology, and climate science to discover one of the most effective realised exploration into parametric design I have seen.

Images:Achim Menges, “HygroSkin: Meteorosensitive Pavilion,” achimmenges.net, 2013

<http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=5612> [accessed 22 March 2014]

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Throughout my studies of Architecture, I have always found a strong divide between two ideologies with which undergraduate students are presented. They could be called the scientific and the artistic, the rational and the irrational, or the pragmatic and the abstract. In many cases and subjects, the dichotomy of thought between these two approaches to architecture and design is not really addressed. Tutors and coordinators who focus on construction techniques, sustainability and material efficiency are disdainful of those who embrace the artistic and abstract phenomenological aspects of architecture. Likewise, many lecturers and studio leaders appear to be of the opinion that the actual feasibility of a building doesn’t matter, only the artistic background of the proposal.

One of the challenges of architecture is resolving this conflict. Using algorithmic programming to shape the design allows one to justifiably assert that their outcome has merit -so long as their definition is sound.

Coming from a background of science and technology, I have always observed the appeal of the rational, justified means of building. Some of the more artistic aspects I have simply skirted around, struggled through or had to work hard at; whereas I have been more comfortable with the representational and practical problem solving. Kalay (2004) states that “design problems... often do not contain enough information to be solved rationally”, and therein lies my problem. Using parametric modeling does not eliminate this uncertainty, but it creates a situation where designers have the ability to break many problems down into manageable, measurable components which can then be combined to produce a result.

Putting this ability in the hands of architects is, in my opinion, a good thing. Having the tools to model and analyse many of the physical situations which will affect a building quickly and easily decreases the chance of bad architectural decisions.

While this is, to me, perhaps the most appealing use of parametric design, it is neither the most obvious nor the most employed. Oxman and Oxman’s ideas that “architectural culture [is attempting ]to divest itself of the representational as the dominant logical and operative mode of formal generation in design”. Interlinked with this is the distinction between computation and computerisation. Throughout the subject so far, it has been implied if not openly stated that computation over computerisation is the more justified, valuable method of form generation. This can be true, however it is not always the case. I propose that designs such as Loop.ph’s Lichtströme have little justification beyond the simple visual appeal. A parametric system can be a useful tool, however I do not see the value in creating such a tool to simply model an entirely irrelevant structure. In this situation, I would prefer drawing the inspiration for a form from the imagination of a master architect or a brilliant historical precedent, rather than some arbitrarily chosen natural process. I believe that since we have in Grasshopper the tools to justify our decisions, we must make them based on scientifically infallible reasoning rather than a cool shape someone else saw under a microscope.

ConClusions

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Instead, I propose a new method of design: to take Oxman & Oxman’s Vitruvian Effect (2014) to its logical conclusion: that an architect’s job is to define a “Digital Continuum” from the beginning to the end of a project -to define an algorithm with adjustable parameters of context, budget, client choices, the building’s function and so on, which then justifiably defines the outcomes of everything from fabrication methods to the building’s layout and orientation to what sort of louvers should be placed on the windows for the most effective sun utilisation. All these things are simply a digitised version of the processes which go on inside an architect’s head -each decision changes the later decisions based on a huge number of explicit and implicit factors. My ‘Universal Definition’ is, however, beyond the scope of this assignment. What I expect to create in this studio is a small portion of the Definition -perhaps like Matsys I will find the most effective use of a material and its properties. Perhaps I will create a parametric definition which, when given a GPS co-ordinate, re-orients my design to the most efficient sun use. That will come in part B.

Achim Menges, “HygroSkin: Meteorosensitive Pavilion,” achimmenges.net, 2013 <http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=5612> [accessed 22 March 2014]Centennial, The Burnham Plan, “Burnham Pavilion by Zaha Hadid Architects,” The Burnham Plan Centennial Web Page, 2009 <http://burnhamplan100.lib.uchicago.edu/multimedia/image_gallery/

category/Burnham+Pavilion+by+Zaha+Hadid+Architects/> [accessed 16 March 2014]Gramazio, Fabio, and Roger Kohler, “Gramazio & Kohler”, 2006 <http://www.gramaziokohler.com/web/e/bauten/52.html> [accessed 20 March 2014]

Issa, Rajaa, Architecture as Autopoietic System, Second Edi (Robert McNeel and Associates, 1995), pp. 1–42Kalay, Yehuda E., Architecture’s New Media: Prinicples, Theories and Methods of Computer-Aided Design, MIT (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2004), pp. 5–25 <http://medcontent.metapress.com/index/

A65RM03P4874243N.pdf> [accessed 26 March 2014]Kolarevic, Branko, Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing, 2003 <http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=L-p4AgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Architecture+in+the+Digital+

Age:+Design+and+Manufacturing&ots=Q22pAGce-z&sig=U4jHa5Z0XhMla5jRKMWlgPHsqs0> [accessed 26 March 2014]Loop.pH, “Loop.pH,” Loop.pH Web Page, 2013 <http://loop.ph/> [accessed 10 March 2014]

MATSYS, “Honeycomb Morphologies,” MATSYS Web Page, 2004 <http://matsysdesign.com/category/projects/honeycomb-morphologies/> [accessed 17 March 2014]Oxman, Rivka, and Robert Oxman, Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 1–10

Peters, Brady, “Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought,” Architectural Design, 83, 8–15Stueber, Kurt, “Art Forms of Nature (1900),” www.biolib.de, 2007 <http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/haeckel/kunstformen/high/Tafel_001_300.html> [accessed 10 March 2014]

Wilson, Robert A., and Frank C. Keil, “Definition of ‘Algorithm,’” in The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences (London: MIT Press, 1999), pp. 11–12