Flow and HydrodynamicsResearch and Model Making

Wave tank experiments

I concluded that my interest was in the ability of the fl ow/current to infl uence the shape of an object (the beach) by infl uencing the position of lots of small-er objects over time, creating the overall effect of the beach movement.

WAVE TANK EXPERIMENTS

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“walls that move to the touch–relevant to the function of support or moving back in retreat–that change color and form: streamlining themselves to the wind or shrinking down when unoccupied, are all possible”

(Negroponte 1975)from “The Three Little Pigs Revisited”, Avery Johnson, 1971

Essential characteristics of structural systems for responsive enve-lopes:1. controllable rigidity2. lightweight3. capable of undergoing asymmetrical deformations

Ideal responsive architecture can:-provide shelter-calculate changes-calculate how dynamic structural loads are distributed through struc-ture successfully

Precedents of Responsive Architecture

dECOI : Aegis HyposurfaceDoesn’t address the technical needs of real world conditions on a building envelope

Diller & Scofi dio : Blur building no functional envelope

NOX : Freshwater Pavilionlacks physical responsiveness favoring virtual responses

Buckminster Fuller: Tensegrity

RESPONSIVE ARCHITECTURE

Wind shaped pavilion

The wind shaped pavilion is a design proposal for a large fabric structure that can be used as a public or private pavillion. As a lightweight fabric structure, the wind slowly and randomly rotates each of the six segments around a central open support frame. This continually alters the shape of the pavillion, while at the same time generating electrical power for its nighttime illumination.

Ned Kahn: Wind Veil Facade

In 2002, Ned Kahn worked with the staff of Technorama, the major science center in Switzerland, and their architects, Durig and Rami, to create a facade for the building which is composed of thousands of aluminum panels that move in the air currents and reveal the complex patterns of turbulence in the wind.

Tower of the Winds

Designer: Toyo Ito

Uses a hypersurfacesystem to react to input from the environment. Expressing invisible environmental elements(wind,light, traffi c noise) through media.At night, neon rings light up to approximately mark the hour, and light changes intensity and luminosity in response to wind direction and speed.

NOX : Freshwater Pavilion

The Freshwater Pavilion has a responsive interior. It connects a vir-tual representation of the world to the physical world. The actuating systems (blob trackers and light sensors) drive:- projected animations- lighting system- audio systemThe sensors track movement of the visitors.

Suggests the possibility of producing completely responsive spaces.

dECOI : Aegis Hyposurface

Built on a framework of pneumatic pistons, springs, and metal plates used to deform a façade-like surface, made of metal plates. A com-puter is programmed to fi re each piston sequentially to produce pat-terns that respond to environmental stimuli.

Questions yet to be addressed by it: - functional architectural solutions. How architectural facades or weather-resistant envelopes work- connection between dynamic facades and support structures

Buckminster Fuller: Tensegrity

Patented in 1962 by Buckminster Fuller and Snelson.

A key feature of actuated tensegrity structures is: ability to alter stiffness rather than strength, so the structure can stiffen or soften.Controlling stiffening and softening of different parts creates different shapes.

It creates an elegant dialog between: shape, load transmission and rigidity.

Practical uses: - shrinking to reduce surface area and heated volume in winter- covering themselves in summer- altering aerodynamic profi le to reduce wind loads

Class 1, 2 and 3 tensegrity structures

TENSEGRITY SYSTEMS

Diller & Scofi dio : Blur building

Built using a static tensegrity system to support an open deck. A net-work of computer controlled nozzles create a mist shroud that cre-ates a building envelope with the ability to respond to environmen-tal conditions, and computer sensors ensure that the mist doesn’t drift away too far from the building.

Hyperbody Research Group, TU Delft: Muscle Tower I & II

Muscle Tower I & II reacts to its environment and determines the space around itself. It consists aluminium staves, connected fl ex-ibly to each other and the FESTO Muscles by iron hollow spheres. The FESTO Muscles are controlled by a running program in VirTools, which is aware of its environment through movement sensors.

Muscle Tower I & II Design Development

THE OFFICE FOR ROBOTIC ARCHITECTURAL MEDIA & BUREAU FOR RESPONSIVE ARCHITECTURE(ORAMBRA)

Tristan d’Estree Sterk

The Offi ce For Robotic Architectural Media & The Bureau For Respon-sive Architecture is a small design / technology offi ce that designs buildings, spaces and systems, implementing responsive technologies to produce high-tech building systems that aim to reduce the impact of buildings upon the natural environment.

Tristan has written a number of articles on the values of actuated tensegrity systems for structural control and the future of architec-ture.

ORAMBRA : Filamentosa

An Ultra-lightweight Skyscraper for Chicago:Filamentosa (Chicago Illinois) is a new type of ultra-lightweight skyscraper that integrates responsive technologies into its structural frame and living skins to reduce the amount of material and energy required to live within, construct and maintain large scale struc-tures. It results from a similar exploration of contemporary building tech-nology. It is hoped that these explorations will lead to more sustain-able building practices and the development of new urban forms that use less mass to greater effect.

ORAMBRA: Divertimento

A pavilion designed to change the shape of its skin like the billow and fl ow of a parachute blowing in the wind.

It works by modifying Buckminster Fuller’s tensegrity theory to pro-duce actuated (dynamic) tensegrity structures that have a control-lable rigidity. The prototype structure changes shape in a controlled way by fi lling pneumatic muscles with air that then pull opposing structural ele-ments together, causing the skin to become rigid and change shape. By controlling the activity of each actuator different regions of the structure can be shaped in response to local stimuli or as a pre-pro-grammed activity.

MODEL MAKING

MODEL 1

The model is made of paddle-pop sticks joined by a grid of fi shing tackle. The shape is regulatd by tensioning or loosening the fi shing tackle. When all the lines are tensed, it forms a perfect grid, but loosening different points creates varied overall shapes.Gravitational as well as applied forces act on the model to create the varied forms.