Intuitive Three-Dimensional Sketching in Digital Space: The Synthesis of the Genetic Code for...

Leonardo

Intuitive Three-Dimensional Sketching in Digital Space: The Synthesis of the Genetic Code forBuildings/OrganismsAuthor(s): Kas OosterhuisSource: Leonardo, Vol. 28, No. 2 (1995), pp. 123-127Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1576133 .

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GENERAL ARTICLE

Intuitive Three-Dimensional

Sketching in Digital Space:

The Synthesis of the Genetic Code

for Buildings/Organisms

Kas Oosterhuis

BUILDINGS ARE SYNTHETIC ORGANISMS A building/object cannot be separated from the process of its creation. A building, any building, is the materialization of an ecological process and represents a certain state in which we, as human beings, experience things as concrete and tangible through our sense organs.

At each stage of its life cycle, a building plays a specific role in the ecological system of which humans and their inventions are an integral part. Let us first consider the finished building. In what way is it intertwined with the natural environment? I think the main role of the built environment is that it structures the movements of people and materials. Let us have a closer look at a day in the life of a hypothetical building.

Early in the day, climate sensors activate the building in order to create appropriate comfort for human use. Then the building begins to absorb people as the workers move in. We can view individual people in relation to the building volume as transmitters of information, not unlike blood cells in living bodies. Buildings react to human interference-both directly, in response to the manual operation of devices (turning knobs, pushing buttons, opening doors and windows), and indirectly, through inventions such as sensors that react to climatic changes and cause the building to assimilate information. Seen from the transmitters' (people's) point of view, the building acts somewhat mechanically; but seen from a dis- tance and at a slower pace, the building seems very much alive. Of course, in daily life we humans are trapped in our own scale of time and space, but, fortunately, we have developed the ability to think and imagine: we can conceptually enlarge, reduce, speed up or slow down the film of life. When one focuses in more detail on specific performances of the building, the building actually seems to "live": doors open and close, the building pumps heat, water and fresh air through its arteries, it consumes gas or oil and it thrusts out organic and inorganic waste. It behaves much like we do: we consume, we digest, we drop excrements. A contemporary, smart building is still far from being as effective as our own bodies at digesting fuel and reacting in a responsive way to the environment, but it may have already reached the level of

intelligence of a simple protozoa. From day cycle to life cycle, the entire building process is a complex genesis from concept to materialization to demolition, a process equivalent to natural growth from seed to full life to death.

ABSTRACT

The author views buildings and the human-made environment as synthetic organisms, living lives that execute the will of their genetic codes. The intuitive three- dimensional (3D) sketch in the digital space of the computer acts as the generator for the future shape of a building. The author describes a series of workshops in which the intuitive 3D sketch forms the descriptive basis for the genetic code of the architecture of future buildings/organisms. He believes that when the creative potential of the intuitive 3D sketch is fully exploited, architecture can be freed from its traditional constraints. It will become more fluid and complex in appearance and will reach a higher level of perfor- mance as a result.

THE GENETIC CODE OF THE BUILDING A building is like a seed containing genetic information for its growing path and its intended shape. The building grows according to a specific plan. The design team defines the genet- ics, a sort of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) structure, of the object. And, much like the DNA strand, modular building blocks are the basis of the building-the designer assembles the genetic code based on the definition of building elements and the way these are grouped together. Reading a three dimensional (3D) blueprint is like decoding genetic information. If we can read the genetic code, we can predict what the building will look like and how it will perform and behave. This is what much of science is about: unraveling the code.

Fig. 1. Kaas Oosterhuis and Leo Donkersloot, design for a glass pavilion for City Fruitful, a city planned for Dordrecht, Holland, 1991. The pavilion is scheduled to be built in 1998. The glass pavilion combines a pure sculptural genesis with a synthetic concept of architecture. Architecture is seen as an artificial organism, clearly defined and responding to its environment.

Kas Oosterhuis (architect), Groothandelsgebouw C8, P.O. Box 29115, 3001 GC Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Received 17 August 1993.

LEONARDO, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 123-127,1995 123 ? 1995 ISAST



Fig. 2. Architectural volumes for the Deutsche Bundestag competition in Berlin (Wettbewerb Spreebogen, 1992) designed by the author with fine artists Ilona Lenard and Leo Donkersloot. Here, for the first time, the designers clearly defined building volumes as synthetic organisms generated according to a specific set of invented genetic rules.

What drives a plant to grow? How does a human being develop from an activated cell? When studying the cell and the seed, one must at the same time consider the environment in which it belongs. The interaction between cells and their environment is essential. Likewise, there is a continuous interplay between a building and its environment. A blueprint cannot generate a building that has no implementation in the social structure of our society. The blueprint is the virtual 3D model for the future building, reaching out for physical actuality.

SYNTHETIC AND INTUITIVE THINKING The design process, which is inductive in essence, is the opposite of the deduc- tive process of studying and analyzing. Let us consider again the genesis of the genetic code of a building. This genesis is so complex that we must note the very beginning of the process, even before the first sketch. A complex set of expectations is plugged into the brains of the designer. He or she must live up to these expectations and give coded shape to them in the form of a plan (or a 3D model, if using modern computerized technologies) in which all information is properly registered, so that he or she can control the future execution of the plan. With this in mind, the designer re- alizes his or her concept through an in- teractive process of sketching and imag- ining-a process of trial and error. This

process involves intuitive acting and de- liberate thinking, the cross-fertilization of intuition and logic. The designer must bear in mind that the sketches eventually lead toward a consistent set of codes describing the features of the future building. Thus, the design process is a process of synthesis. Architecture should be a willfully synthetic process.

The design for a glass pavilion (Fig. 1) that I produced in collaboration with Leo Donkersloot is an attempt to en- hance the complexity of form of architectural designs by very simple means. A rectangular box uses eight points in space to define its overall shape. This design uses 20 points. The volume is en- veloped by a series of irregular triangles, quadrangles and pentagons. Thus, if one accepts the idea that buildings have genes, the genes determining the form of the glass pavilion are 2.5 times more complex than those determining a rectangular building.

The architectural volumes pictured in Fig. 2 are still more complex than those of the glass pavilion. The procedure for designing the genetic codes of the shapes was the following: first, I defined deformed spheres in different positions in space. Then, I designed functional rectangular slabs for use in an office environment and positioned these slabs in the right places in the area. The important step we then took was to calculate the intersection between the oval spheres and the rectangular slabs. I view this procedure as a process of synthesis.

INTUITIVE 3D COMPUTER SKETCHES A sketch scratches new tracks in space. The sketch is the exploration of possible paths for building elements or volumes. It is obvious that a sketch for a 3D organism such as a building makes more sense when drawn in three dimensions. Now that we have invented the tools to do just that, the designer must make more in- ventive use of the computer. The designer must do his sketching in the 3D world of virtual reality, where every movement of the sketching tool is registered and every stroke defines the building's place and its qualities in 3D space.

Every point in digital space can be de- scribed, both in written language and in visual representations on screen. This is the main difference between the computer sketch and the traditional sketch on paper. The traditional sketch is registered in only one, fixed way: as graphite on paper. It is useless for further manipulation. The 3D computer sketch, however, can be manipulated and inter- preted in a number of ways. Because it is flexible, immaterial and scaleless, digital material is elastic.

Thanks to computing, there is a direct connection between image and data, as the language describing a graphic image is also the language describing alpha- numerical data (i.e. both text and numerical figures). It is obvious that this connection outclasses traditional two- dimensional (2D) sketching. A 2D sketch is a cul-de-sac, for the sketch cannot be manipulated in any way. In order to use a 2D sketch for further development of a shape, we need to conduct a series of re- interpretations. The 2D sketch needs to be translated into a 3D model. In this translation there inevitably will be a con- siderable loss of potential, as the model evokes a three-dimensional world that cannot be reconstructed without losing the dreams and intentions of the designer. When the computer sketch is used as a starting point, there is a com- plete synchronicity between the sketch and its possible interpretations, since both the visual image and the data pro- cessing programs that interpret it "speak" the same language.

Traditionally, 2D floor plans and flat facades have determined the genesis of architectural objects. It is not hard to see that these traditional 2D starting points can result in poor 3D objects. The most common manipulation in use by designers is the resurrection of the floor plan into the third dimension. I regard this as

124 Oosterhuis, Intuitive Three-Dimensional Sketching



mere 2.5-dimensional thinking. A 2D starting point for a 3D building hinders a full 3D imagination. There is only one way to create mature 3D architecture, and that is to do all the work in three dimensions. Communication between the parties in the building process should be done exclusively through 3D models- either virtual computer models or physically materialized models.

If implemented, this process will con- sequently have an enormous impact on the designer's profession. An as yet un- known complexity of forms and shapes will enter the world of architecture. Curves, splines and double-curved surfaces (surfaces that contain no straight lines in any direction) will become natural tools for the designer. The architect will be both sculptor and technician at the same time. Architects will have the tools to study the interaction between imagination and technique. They will be able to integrate their intuitive imagina- tions with the dry administration of data, regaining cybernetic control over the building process.

TRAINING OF THE INTUITION

Designers have to learn to float in digital space and walk in zero-gravity conditions in much the same way as a well-equipped space traveller does. They should be comfortable with turning the 3D model upside down and looking at it from that point of view. There is no hierarchy of "up" or "down" in digital space and no preferential treatment of "in front of' at the expense of "behind." The weightless object can take any position in virtual reality. The designer is completely free to choose a point of view. The world can be rotated, and an object can be rotated and scaled. The electronic revolution urges us to redefine the act of making architecture. Architects must be trained to sketch in 3D space and use their intuition in virtual reality. We must free our- selves from traditional constraints and hierarchical views.

How can our intuition be trained? With the aim of learning how, I designed a series of computer workshops on the subject of Artificial Intuition [1], which were held in 1990 at Galerie Aedes in Berlin and at the Technical University in Delft, and in 1991 at Mu- seum De Zonnehof, Amersfoort, the Netherlands, in a building designed by Gerrit Rietveld [2]. I led the workshops along with Ilona Lenard. We defined the concepts of free, intuitive sketching in

Fig. 3. Three-dimensional computer sketch by Mark Hoevenaars, one of the operators in the Artificial Intuition workshop led by the author and Ilona Lenard, Delft, Holland, 1990. This sketch was made by clicking in different viewports shown on the computer screen while constantly moving the mouse within the limited area of the mousepad, a method of intuitive sketching developed by Ilona Lenard.

three dimensions (i.e. using 3D software programs to create intuitive sketches with the mouse on the computer). The central activity of the workshops was learning to sketch freely in 3D digital space.

The participants (architects and artists, both students and professionals) were asked to leave behind all preju- dices and preconceived images regarding architecture. These images merely inform about what architecture has been, not what it could be. In order to develop a new architecture, the mind must be cleared of tradition.

We invited participants to sit in front of computer workstations and make the mouse move without deliberately prede- termining which movement to make. Their gestures were to be as intuitive as possible. Most designers find this hard to do. They are used to thinking in pre- fabricated blocks and preformed shapes-primarily, in simple Platonic volumes.

Operators guided the participants through the program, then let them make sketches themselves. The participants were asked to make a number of sketches on the computer (Fig. 3). Op- erator and participant worked together on the same model in a single computer. The role of the operator was an important one. Since the operators were able to guide the participants in various di- rections, they ultimately contributed to the character of the sketches. Thus, the workshops were actually a kind of group

process involving a limited number of people.

We encouraged participants to con- tinually rotate their sketches and change positions in the 3D space of the computer [3]. At some point, when they were physically able to feel the gestures they tracked in 3D space-in other words, when they had adapted to using the mouse as interface between hand and computer-they were ready to create sketches illustrating their own personal characters. The personal character of the sketch stems from the uniqueness of the user's movements. Ev- eryone has his or her own characteristic way of moving, just as each person has a way of walking, speaking, making gestures and thinking. Illustrating personal character is a combined process of intu- itively sketching and conceptually pre- dicting the path of the lines one scratches in digital space.

Next, we asked the workshop participants to carefully study their sketches and choose one or two that they might find inspiring. They were then asked to attach a specific meaning to these sketches. In this way, a seemingly mean- ingless sketch can become significant.

COMPLEX SYNTHETIC ORGANISMS GENERATED IN CYBERSPACE

We believe this method of intuitive sketching in 3D space encourages designers to use greater complexity in

Oosterhuis, Intuitive Three-Dimensional Sketching 125



their designs. Increasing the number of points in space used to define the outlines of the conceived objects allows the designer to achieve a higher degree of complexity. Traditional methods of design tend to quickly discourage the architect from complexity, as it is difficult to imagine geometrically. When one uses a method of intuitive sketching, however, one does not have to bother about registering this greater complexity in geometrical terms, as the registra- tion of all intuitive movements is pain- fully exact in the memory of the computer. Traditional constraints become obsolete, and new territories lie ahead to be explored and eventually exploited. In the next phase of the design, the sketch becomes a construction tool. The sketch can be manipulated through a number of commands: copy, extrude, sweep, point move, stretch, scale, subtract, intersect, connect, smooth, etc. The digital material proves to be totally elastic.

Starting with the line sketch, the participants were encouraged to create surfaces, preferably double-curved, as well as volumes (Color Plate A No. 2). In the end, every imagined element must have a volume if it is to be built. The volume can then be labeled, and text can be attached to it indicating specifics regarding quan- tity, quality and costs. The 3D model is the ultimate communication tool between parties in the building process.

We want to free architecture from its traditional roots; we realize that in order to do so we have to change the genetic

code of architecture. That is why we have begun at the intuitive beginning of any design: the sketch-the nonrational, individual gesture. We must keep floating in zero-gravity cyberspace as long as we can to avoid picking up conventions too early. Once a building contract is signed and we can move from the 3D model to a real, full-sized mockup, gravity and other forces of nature will be activated as parametric forces.

It is important to realize that building materials such as the steel beam allow one to stretch the limitations of gravity. One can use the steel beam in any way- upside down, standing up, bridging dis- tances or cantilevering from a solid mass. The steel beam is universal in its very essence: it floats in space as our imagination does; it is not rooted to any particular site; it can be moved in all di- rections and rotated at any angle.

Why worry about the site? A continuous interplay between a building and its environment is important, but only in terms of the climatic conditions that en- velop the building and the conditions that the users wish to create for themselves inside the building. In my opin- ion, these are the main parametric forces at work, and they are much more important than the appearance of the neighboring buildings.

Why worry in the early stages of design about gravity? We could be making much better use of the properties of in- dustrially manufactured materials and scientific knowledge to embark in a new direction for architecture.

We are free to create a new, styleless space in which to work outside of refer- ences to history. We must create a working space that can be continuously updated to make use of the newest electronic techniques in order to aid the imagination, facilitate communication between the partners in the building process and challenge the properties of existing industrial materials. Eventually, these techniques will demand new com- posites with improved properties.

It is our conviction that the computer makes all this feasible. The computer is not an enemy of the designer; on the contrary, the computer offers a splendid opportunity to free the imagination. Fig- ure 4, for example, shows a building project containing nine rowhouses, which I designed in collaboration with Ilona Lenard. We wrapped an intuitive computer sketch around the upper volume of the block of buildings. This sketch is filled with bright colors in order to emphasize the independence of its texture and content, just as dazzle painting was used on army vessels during the first World War in order to dazzle the enemy and deceive perception.

The computer also opens the way for the cost-effective realization of design. Once the manufacturer has computerized the assembly line, there can be a direct link from the computer model to the production room. The implication of this potential is that complex forms are ultimately no more difficult to manufacture than geometrically simple objects. Just as a circle can be seen as a

Fig. 5. One of 36 floating objects placed in a grid of 200 x 200 m. All 36 objects constitute Sculpture City Rotterdam and were designed in 1993/1994. For this project, which will eventually mate-

Fig. 4. A sketch from The Glass Houses housing project, Amersfoort, rialize in the city center of Rotterdam, the author and artist Ilona Holland; building completed November 1993. (Architecture by the Lenard are working as a team to define the genetic code of the author, dazzle painting by Ilona Lenard.) The dazzle painting, virtual objects. There is no hierarchy between architecture and based on an intuitive computer sketch, is wrapped around a rectan- art. The 36 objects can be materialized and will absorb urban gular bar containing the bedrooms. This volume hovers over the functions. The outlines of the objects are based on intuitive 3D ground floor, which takes the shape of a series of glass houses. computer sketches.

126 Oosterhus, Intuitive Three-Dimensional Sketching



specific state of a closed curve and a rectangle as a specific state of the irregular quadrangle, the boxlike building can be seen as an exception to other possible complex shapes.

The designer can thus become skilled at the building process. Designers will have the ability to create new, synthetic organisms with a high level of perfor- mance-synthetic organisms that trigger the imagination. Figure 5 illustrates such an organism, part of Sculpture City Rotterdam, a virtual sculpture city that Ilona Lenard and I are currently develop- ing. Sculpture City will one day condensate physically in the city center of Rotterdam. We have formed complex shapes such as these through a process of intuitive sketching and associative interpretation.

After the electronic revolution, architecture will never be the same. The progress of architecture is an ecological process of development within the spe-

cies of synthetic organisms, with a feed- back procedure relating to our natural ecology.

Notes

1. Our first workshop, "Artificial Intuition," was held in January 1990 at Galerie Aedes, Berlin, Ger- many (4 days, 30 participants). The second workshop, "Artificiele Intuitie," was held in May 1990 at the Technical University in Delft, the Netherlands (2 days, 24 participants). I designed and organized the workshops along with fine artist Ilona Lenard of Rotterdam. Computers were supplied by Intergraph Europe, and the operators were Mark Hoevenaars and Jacques Firing.

A third workshop, "The Global Satellite," was held in October 1991 at the Zonnehof museum in Amersfoort, Holland (5 days, 15 invited participants). Ilona Lenard and I created and organized it in collaboration with Paul Coumans. Computers were supplied by Apple Holland, and the operators were Mark Hoevenaars, Jacques Firing, Ad Kil and Mark Swaanen.

The third workshop was linked to a temporary international network through which groups working in Bruxelles, New York, Graz and Delft ex- changed 3D electronic sketches via space stations orbiting the earth.

2. The work of Gerrit Rietveld, a Dutch architect known for his design of the Schroder house in Utrecht (1924) and the red-blue-yellow chair (1917), is closely connected to the Stijl movement. I find that there is an interesting congruity between the ideas of the Stijl movement and some of the ideas in my own work. Weightless digital space bears remarkable resemblances to the universal space in which many of the ideas behind the Stijl were typically placed and developed.

3. Having completed three major workshops so far, we recognize the need for computer programs that would enable us to sketch more directly in 3D space. Until now, we have had to use commands that were developed to support drafting rather than design. We need better interfaces.

Bibliography

XYZ, special issue of Wiederhall3 (1986) pp. 1-11.

Arbeiten am Computer, Artificial Intuition exh. cat. (Berlin: Galerie Aedes, 1990).

The Open Volume, special issue of Wiederhall 12 (1990) pp. 5-11, 24-25, 40-51.

Oosterhuis, Kas; Bhalotra, Ashok; Huisman, Adri; Schuringa,Willem; and Alblas, Jack. City Fruitful: Symbiosis of Housing and Market Gardening (Rotterdam: 010 Editions, 1993).

Oosterhuis, Intuitive Three-Dimensional Sketching 127



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