mapIInvestIgatIve DesIgnIng as an approach to archItectural creatIvIty

EditEd by stanislav Roudavski

mElbouRnE school of

dEsign

univERsity of mElbouRnE

Map I 2010

Melbo

urne scho

ol o

f desIgn

un

IversIty of M

elbourn

e

Contents

EDITORIAL 7

INTRODUCTION 13

gENERATIvE ObjECTs 21

MATERIAL DIAgRAMs 41

bIOLOgICAL gROwTh 69

CREATIvE pROvOCATIONs 79

pARAMETRIC DIAgRAMs 97

sCRIpTINg & MAkINg 109

MAkINg fOR shOw 139

MAkINg AT fULL sCALE 163Lawrence Clifford and Adam

Markowitz, Digital Design Applica-

tions elective, 2010, led by jules

Moloney. photo by stanislav Rou-

davski.

MAP 1: 2010 P.03

ConCept, DireCtion, Design anD eDiting

stanislav roudavski

Design & Layout

Josh Fitzgerald, Chris gilbert

Content Curation anD graphiC Design

gwyllim Jahn

Content Curation

edward Blanch, Jonathan Brener, phuong Le

Cover artwork

Design and photo by stanislav roudavski. project by

Jonathon Long

CoorDination

Michele Burder

Copy eDiting

Louisa ragas

printing

adams print, 58 Leather street, Breakwater viC 3220

issn: 1839-5724

inteLLeCtuaL property

Copyright of this publication belongs to the Faculty of ar-

chitecture, Building and planning, university of Melbourne

and the respective authors of the included content. we

welcome reproduction and reuse but request that you

fully acknowledge the relevant authorship and inform

us about your usage of the materials in this publication.

DisCLaiMer

the university of Melbourne has used its best endeavours

to ensure that the material contained in this publication

was correct at the time of printing. the university gives no

warranty and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or

completeness of information and the university reserves

the right to make changes without notice at any time in

its absolute discretion.

puBLisheD By

Melbourne school of Design, Faculty of architecture, Building and

planning, the university of Melbourne, viC 3010, australia; www.

msd.unimelb.edu.au

ContriButors

eugene Cheah, Colony Collective, steve hatzellis, Justyna ka-

rakiewicz, tom kvan, Janet Mcgaw, Jules Moloney, stanislav

roudavski, alex selenitsch

proJeCt ContriButors

Mohamad Faiz akhbar, priscilla ang, Laura Bulmer, edward Blanch,

Jarrod Caveny, Jen yea Chang, shyn yi Cheah, Colleen Chen,

Zhong Chen, Matt Choot, Lawrence Clifford, Colony Colllective,

evan Dimitropoulos, David Fitzwillian, Floodslicer, kenny Foo, neo

Fu, shima ghafouri, rob gray, Cheryl heap, Jingyi heng, adam

herbert, Fu shen ho, yan hou, gwyllim Jahn, rachel Jones, gumji

kang, goh kai kheng, antry Lau, adeline Leng, Xiao Liu, Chris

Loh, Jonathon Long, gaurav Malhotra, adam Markowitz, scott

Mason, Lorraine Meinke, peter Muhlebach, Craig Mullens, tan yee

peng, anne gaelle poussin, angelica rojas, alex selenitsch, golnaz

shariat, hiroko shirai, sun shuli, peter spence, James spillane,

Fereshteh tabe, wilson tang, nicole the, Michael thomas, Michael

thomas, Melody tong, Danh truong, giovanni veronesi, alex wong,

Foong Chern wong, kathy wu, wong Chern Xi, Zhengzhan yang,

hong yi, hong yi, keong pei yi, Ji yoon, Jang yunkim, henry tan

Chia Zeh

This spread: Mould City by Colony

Collective. Mould growth over city

grid.

Next spread: scott Mason. Digital De-

sign Application elective, 2009, led

by bharat Dave. Detail of a paramet-

ric facade system. photo by stanislav

Roudavski.

MAP 1: 2010 P.05

eDitoriaL

by stanislav roudavski

By the way of an editorial, here are some notes on the ambitions

and the practical context of this publication.

intenDeD purpose

when i was asked to edit the the Melbourne school of Design’s

eyes publication that had acted as a snapshot of everything that

happened in the school in a given year, i hesitated. i felt that an

all-inclusive overview, like the eyes, can usefully exist – wit-

ness those produced by many leading architecture schools – but

should be curated and edited by students rather than academ-

ics. For students, it is a valuable experience and a meaningful

credit. For a faculty member, it is an unrewarding exercise of

passing judgement. with this in mind, i suggested replacing the

all-inclusive format with a themed publication that responded

to the expertise, interests and editorial judgement of its current

editor, promoted a particular topic within the field and could be

framed with a coherent and defendable – even if idiosyncratic –

selection criteria. it seemed that the work of the school could be

better promoted by a coherent publication that could delve deeper

into the conceptual issues. i wondered whether the lack of breadth

resulting from greater depth could be compensated by instituting

a series of monographs, all edited by experts in their fields and

complementing each other. this reflection was formulated as a

practical idea by associate Dean (engagement) peter raisbeck

and the Director of the Melbourne school of Design philip goad

who took it to the Dean, tom kvan, and the Map series was born.

theMe

My decision was to focus on the theme of investigative designing.

this theme was dictated, simultaneously, by pragmatic concerns

of what was available/showable and by the desire to promote a

particular attitude towards creativity and designing. interest in

investigative designing comes from my conviction that digital tools

and techniques significantly influence contemporary architectural

designing and human creativity at large. i believe that the discus-

sion of this digitality in design is important because its

contributions are frequently misunderstood. its potential,

or its faults, are seen to be confined to geometric explo-

rations (and these are very interesting and valid too) – i

believe the implications are far broader. thus, within this

book the overarching theme of investigative designing is

utilised as a frame to reflect on the potentials and prac-

tices of digital technology, even if some of the included

examples do not utilise computers. this publication can

only hint at the richness of this topic but – i hope – can

serve as a trigger for more serious investigations in this

area, as well as manifestations of some interesting ex-

isting achievements. My other frequent impression is

that the changes brought about by digital technologies

are understood as something detached from the estab-

lished flow of architectural discourse. in response, the

other motivation behind this publication is to demonstrate

how non-digital techniques – grounded in architectural

history – could support computational and generative

methodologies.

intenDeD auDienCe

My intention to campaign for investigative designing and

some of its particular techniques is directed towards cur-

rent and future students who sometimes do not know that

this work occurs within the Melbourne school of Design.

similarly, i wanted explain the origins of this work to

colleagues within the university and beyond. i envisage

directing my new and old acquaintances to this publica-

tion for an indication of the on-going activities at my

place of toil, especially when the online version becomes

available. i know that others intend to use this publication

to inform potential students and for broader purposes. i hope it can

be useful there too, especially when/if it takes its place amongst

the future alternatively themed issues of the Map series.

seLeCtion oF work

the selection of work was a difficult task. as someone who only

recently joined this university, i began by surveying the students’

work in the school’s exhibitions and publications. i failed to distil

these general impressions into a worthwhile vision of a compre-

hensive book and this is when the idea of a topical monograph

emerged. with a specific theme in hand, i sought to identify the

staff members whose work appeared to be compatible and ap-

proached them for content. obtaining the work that could be

published in a monograph of acceptable visual and conceptual

quality proved difficult. i was determined to adhere to a rigorous

selection system even if my task required foraging amongst the

available. My criteria were as follows: all of the work included in

the publication had to be conceptually coherent as well as practi-

cally sustained. projects had to do what they declared they were

doing and their processes/outcomes had to be understandable

to the design team. this criterion excluded many projects that

declared very interesting ambitions but left them at the level of

ideas. another important criterion stated that all of the included

projects had to be supported by the visual evidence suitable to

the book format. this meant high-resolution, unlabelled images

and adherence to the basic principles of visual communication.

again, much of in-principle interesting work had to be excluded

because it was not supported by such evidence. the third criterion

stipulated that the work had to complement the general theme

without repeating the contributions already provided by other par-

ties. this led to some radical editorial decisions that – by design

and necessity – dissociated the included content from the rich

and heterogeneous contexts of the source projects.

MAP 1: 2010 P.07

Left: Laura bulmer, parametric Min-

iature gallery (detail), Digital Design

Applications elective, 2010, led by

jules Moloney. photo by stanislav

Roudavski.

Right: priscilla Ang, Cheryl heap,

jingyi heng, Abstraction fabrica-

tion studio, fragment of a prototype,

2009.

the book is divided into chapters that include content

produced by particular individuals or groups. this content

was largely – but not always – produced within 2010

and almost always – but with some exceptions – within

the university of Melbourne. however, each chapter has

a topical title that is suggested by me rather than by the

authors of the content. these chapters promote specific

non-repeating sub-themes without attempting to give

comprehensive information about particular studios. i

hope the contributors agree with my interpretations of

their work or at least find them suggestive. however, i

expect that in many cases my emphases are different

from theirs. i take the blame and invite those who would

like to know about the included projects in more detail

to approach the contributors directly.

graphiC styLe

with coherence in mind, i attempted to produce a lay-

out that could balance the extremely diverse content by

employing book-wide rhythms and colour coordination.

at the same time, i did not wish to present individual pro-

jects, or the book as a whole, as fully resolved, completed

and static. the book is about explorations that challenge

materials at the appropriate standards. specifics of these

standards can be decided on a per-volume basis, but

serious critical engagement needs to drive the narra-

tive if the series is to become credible to an external

audience as an intellectual contribution rather than as a

promotional exercise. i hope that this volume will moti-

vate future editors, designers and contributors whether

they agree with my interpretation or not. Believing that

the richness of the work within the school, or the field

at large, can be best represented though a co-presence

of simultaneous contrasting perspectives, i look forward

to these future stories.

the capability of participants and from this standpoint, all of its

projects are but sketches of future potentials.

the book relies on two major guiding principles or – rather –

ways of seeing the available content. Firstly, i see the book as a

continuous flow of provocations with no clear boundaries between

projects or themes. in response to this perception, my design

decisions were to: make the boundaries between chapters fuzzy

by not aligning them with page edges; allow images and head-

ings to wrap page edges; allow images to split into multiples; and

introduce vertical lines and tint panes to suggest multiple levels of

depth. secondly, i saw the book as a field of exploration that could

reward its readers in several ways. in response, the book allows

the reader to flick through quickly, paying attention to images only.

in support of this mode of access, it attempts to present the visual

evidence as suggestive traces rather than didactic explanations

that depend on textual content. simultaneously, the book attempts

to slow down the experience for those who become interested

after the first quick encounter. to achieve this objective, the design

attempts to encourage the reader to move back-and-forth through

the book through strategically discontinuous placement of images

texts and captions.

suCCesses, LiMitations anD Lessons

i hope that the book can usefully serve its purposes by establishing

a precedent for the Map series, testing the new mode of curation

and presenting an idiosyncratic but coherent visual outcome. it

is not without significant limitations: its visual evidence could be

stronger and its textual descriptions more developed. we need to

institute a system that encourages students and other contribu-

tors to produce more daring work and prepare the descriptive

MAP 1: 2010 P.09

This spread: In Marcus white’s

studio, students used a raytracing

engine to cast light from a desir-

able viewpoint and map where that

light intersected built form. with

this technique, they could visually

distinguish elements of the building

that allowed for desirable views, and

remodel their design accordingly.

This diagram captures the process

of the raytracer that casts randomly

directed light paths from within the

focus zone evaluates their intersec-

tions with the surrounding buildings.

As this evaluation can be quantified,

it would be interesting to allow the

computer to drive the design moves

through a genetic process, as op-

posed to intelligent guesses made

by the designers themselves in an

attempt to improve upon the evalua-

tion. Diagram by gwyllim jahn.

MAP 1: 2010 P.011

the introDuCtion to the iDea oF Map

as a series oF Monographs

Professor Tom Kvan, Dean

with this volume, we initiate a new series of publications entitled Map,

celebrating the work of the Melbourne school of Design in the Faculty

of architecture Building and planning at the university of Melbourne.

established in 2008, the Melbourne school of Design (MsD) has claimed

a leading role in propelling the debate in design across all professional

disciplines contributing to conceptualizing, realizing and managing the

world in which we live - now and in the future.

a broad term with many implications and meanings, design can be un-

derstood here to be the deliberative act of engaging with the contingent

to realize an opportunity. By this, i mean that design is never removed

from the need to address the realities of materials, contextual conditions,

policies, natural laws and all other exigencies that exert influence on

our capacity to realize an outcome. that outcome, however, is not just

a product; it is a product with a future role in the communities who will

use it. thus, design might result in a building but it might also result

in a planning policy, a new material or a new process in construction.

william J Mitchell, prolific author on matters digital and urban and a

graduate of our Faculty, defined “designing” as “the task of producing

and recording the controlling information” in the processes of production.

as a consequence, a “design” can be understood as a “resulting body

of information” (Mitchell, 2003). without diluting the particularities of

each, this definition embraces then the writing of policy, the drawing of

lines, the making of a model or the preparation for construction on site,

as well as heritage strategies.

our role as a leading research and education institution is clear: we

must encourage debate and challenge orthodoxy. as our professor of

Construction, paolo tombesi, recently observed (tombesi, 2010):

in the end, it is up to [academia] to facilitate the adoption and

dissemination of a cultural paradigm in which architects may

find themselves in a (group) discussion on buildings but also

industrial systems, on spatial semantics but also procurement

strategies, on materials but also industrial relations and train-

ing programs, on project budgets but also project priorities. of

course, implementing this agenda requires adjusting curricula

[and] devising teaching strategies that can expand the idea

of design as an activity broader than architectural design.

with this understanding, it is clear that designing is an act of

research. as we frame, discover and test the body of infor-

mation which we will convey, we rely on a range of research

techniques. in each of our professional domains, conventions

and paradigms of research will guide specific approaches to

such research, be in it the form of papers, sketches or models

offering propositions, critiques or provocations.

the initiation of this new series, Map, is part of our efforts

to carry such a debate into a broader realm, illustrating our

contributions through the work of students and staff.

Danh Truong, Digital Design Appli-

cations elective, 2010, led by jules

Moloney. photo by stanislav Rou-

davski.

MAP 1: 2010 P.013

Left: hong Yi, parametric Miniature

gallery, Digital Design Applications

elective, 2010, led by jules Moloney.

photo by stanislav Roudavski.

Right: jang Yunkim, parametric

Miniature gallery, Digital Design

Applications elective, 2010, led by

jules Moloney. photo by stanislav

Roudavski.

MAP 1: 2010 P.015

introDuCtion to the Current voLuMe.

in this first issue of Map, we are probing in particular the concept of

investigative design and creative research in architecture. Drawn from

exhibitions and studios held during 2010 in the MsD, the body of work

presented here spans the small scale to the large, embraces discover-

ing, doing and making and delivers these in a wealth of modes, such

as models, diagrams, scripting, provocations and manifestations. in

this, it draws upon work by students and academic staff in the school.

throughout the history of design, we can observe the manner in which

practice addresses new technologies. with the introduction of perspec-

tive representation, for example, came a change in the conceptualisation

of urban space (wittkower, 1973) . the potential of a new material - iron

- was recognised in the nineteenth century by viollet-le-Duc, among oth-

ers, who engaged with new materials, iron in particular, and associated

new technologies (Benevolo, 1977 ; viollet-le-Duc and hearn, 1990). in

his writings in the latter half of the nineteenth century, viollet-le-Duc

explored the architectural potential of iron, cast and plate, as readily

reproducible components with distinctive structural properties. the

practice of design continues to examine our understanding of processes

and materials in light of additional capacities enabled by new tools or

methodologies.

the introduction of digital tools and techniques has done much to en-

able such research but, as the examples presented in this issue of Map

demonstrate, it is clearly not the privilege of such approaches. the

contributions by alex selenitsch and Janet Mcgaw develop research

through engagement of the physical, both models and existing urban

experiences.

in his essay, selenitsch examines through artworks the contexts of

design, from a priori assumptions to operative decisions (‘rules’ in

language) which act upon the exigent, such as materials, sites and

impingements during the process. working on individual products with

rule systems to guide their evolution and a variety of manual or machined

techniques, we remark on the diversity of the pieces.

Janet Mcgaw articulates the changes in our curriculum to demonstrate

how research now intersects with the architectural thesis. students in

the thesis studio employ a range of research methodologies to develop

their exposition, in this case, place making. in the studio de-

scribed, the topic was that of indigenous place making in

particular. the outcomes are illustrated by way of the research

and projects of four students.

Four of the papers here directly engage with digitally ena-

bled approaches to design. of the developments that have

had profound impacts on our lives, it is the advent of digital

systems that have had the most profound change in recent

times, not least in the practice of our professions. while the

capabilities for documenting and modeling are widely known,

more profound and subtle potentials are now being realized.

Framing our approach to these new opportunities, Bharat

Dave identifies that the practice of design continually exists

in a tension between cultures of science and the humanities

and between action and theory. we have established three

opportunities to explore these productive tensions through

digital approaches, namely the production of Digital space,

Contemporary Digital practice and Digital Design applications.

in contextualizing modes of digital engagement, the subjects

offer students the opportunity to situate current theories in

attitudes to practice.

Justyna karakiewicz identifies that digital representations of-

fer a new perspective on architectural diagramming. exploring

the realm of diagramming, she introduces parametric systems

and exposes students to the potential for conceptual diagrams

utilizing the power of computational methods.

studies in the Melbourne school of Design attend to fun-

damental issues of architecture and our situation. as urban

populations increase globally, issues of such increased popu-

lations need to be addressed either through increased area

(sprawl) or increased concentration (intensification). using parametric

research techniques, the studio led by Marcus white identifies and then

tests dimensions of urban experience by pushing them to extreme levels

to challenge rhetorical positions. in the traditions of engineering testing,

the models created are brought to failure so that the consequences

can be examined.

Computation can of course be carried out by non-digital devices. in work

presented here, steve hatzellis explores the experience of analogue

computing complementing the digital and Colony Collective explores

the biological.

it is our practice to work beyond an ideology and without a dogma.

we can observe in some institutions that particular approaches are

granted such status; for example, digital approaches are often the pre-

sent dogma. steve hatzellis challenges this by noting the theoretical

groundings for digital engagement in architecture has yet to be estab-

lished. in his studio run over several years, studiohatzellis, he asks the

students to embrace the analogue and the digital, working across these

two modes, partaking of diagramming, scripting, interaction design and

performativity to develop a theoretical foundation for their own work.

the analogue approach to computation is carried a step further by

the Colony Collective, a team inclusive of colleagues on our teaching/

research staff, students and alumni, assisted by the school of Botany in

our university. working with the generative capacities of mould organ-

isms and interpreting these into digital evolution, the team develops a

proposition for urban communities.

the contributions by stanislav roudavski and eugene Cheah bring these

strands together. in the former, the act of exhibiting connects designing

of an artefact with the act of delivering that artefact into place, in this

instance the wearing and exhibiting of the product. the work of eugene

Cheah’s studio drew upon patterns of pedestrian behaviour in a confined

space and resulted in the manufacture and installation of a sculpture

that redefined the space and suggested new behaviours or circulation.

MAP 1: 2010 P.017

specifically, roudavski engages students in design thinking through the

use of digital systems and has redefined the boundary between concep-

tualizing and manufacturing. as bounded by contract and conventional

forms of practice, architects hand over their design ideas to the con-

struction and manufacturing phase at an earlier stage than is necessary

when the design process is digitally supported and the manufacturing

digitally driven. in this first-year subject, roudavski introduces students

to the transition from ideation and making through the use of process-

oriented designing and contemporary digital processes. By posing an

approachable topic of the making of headgear, the students are moved

beyond their propensity to naïve referentially to a focus on exploration.

the work by eugene Cheah, skins 2010, takes this to a larger scale

and immerses the students in the transition from generative exploration

of form through to manufacture. Developing the dialogue of skeletal

structures to claddings of an architectural skin, the studio extends the

design embrace to final delivery.

the perspectives on design presented in Map illustrate the breadth of

design enquiry engaged in the Melbourne school of Design.

reFerenCes

Benevolo, L.: 1977, History of Modern Achitecture, M.i.t. press, Cam-

bridge, Mass.

Mitchell, w. J.: 2003, Constructing Complexity, university of sydney,

sydney.

tombesi, p.: 2010, on the Cultural separation of Design Labor, in p.

Deamer and p. Bernstein (eds.), Building (in) the Future: Recasting Labor

in Architecture, princeton architectural press, new york, pp. 216 p.

viollet-le-Duc, e.-e. and hearn, M. F.: 1990, The Architectural Theory of

Viollet-le-Duc: Readings and Commentary, Mit press, Cambridge, Mass.

wittkower, r.: 1973, Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism,

academy, London.

The next chapter features the work

from three exhibitions:

Ovals sketchbook, 2009, 26 draw-

ings in sketchbook, pencil and ink

on paper, exhibited in Constellations:

A Large Number of small Drawings,

RMIT gallery, 344 swanston street,

Melbourne victoria 3000, 8th April

to 26th june 2010.

35 sculptures, 2008-2009, various

found timbers, various sizes, ex-

hibited as IMROvIsATIONs: blocks

and sticks, place gallery, 20 Tenny-

son street Richmond victoria 3121,

9th june to 3rd july 2010. www.

placegallery.com.au (‘artists’, then

‘Alex selenitsch’, then ‘2010 exhibi-

tions’)

Mack’s stack, 2007, found card-

board, 95 items, one die-cut stack,

94 folded objects, stack 10 x 31x

18.5cms, objects variable, but aver-

age 14 x 16 x 14cms each, exhibited

as Out of the box: 94 variations, Craft

victoria, gallery 3, 31 flinders Lane,

Melbourne victoria 3000, 22nd Oc-

tober to 27th November 2010, www.

craftvic.org.au (‘exhibitions’, then

‘past’, then ‘out of the box - 94 vari-

ations’)

Right page: Alex selenitsch, Loop #4,

2009, various timbers on blackwood,

39 x 48 x 28cms, photo Michele

fuller, from IMpROvIsATIONs, place

gallery.

MAP 1: 2010 P.019

Alex SelenitSch

generative objects

Alex SelenitSch

generative objects1.0 introDuCtion

this essay deals with three groups of artworks which were exhibited in

Melbourne in 2010. the works will be described through three stages

of composition: the acceptance of a priori decisions, the invention of

rules and their performance, and final outcomes. Behind this, there is

the contention that all three phases of creativity must be evident in the

work itself when completed. the three works are ovals sketchbook,

iMprovisations, and Mack’s stack.

1.1 ovaLs sketChBook

this is an a5 sketchbook, containing 26 drawings. it was exhibited in

a survey show of drawings by different creative professionals – paint-

ers, sculptors, fashion designers, composers and architects. the ovals

drawings were placed in the last category. their un-architectural nature

prompted the curators to ask for a few notes. this is what was sent:

“My interest in rule-driven compositions of dynamic groups began with

spatial typographic experiments in the late 1960s. Since then I’ve real-

ised that the elements in the composition need not be letters. Most of

my drawings continue to explore the unique positions of adjacent similar

elements in relation to the pattern of the whole field. I look for a kind

of aggregation associated with herds, flocks and crowds. And perhaps

cities… AS, March 2010.”

generative objects

generative objectsthe book was displayed in its own vitrine, resting at an open page, with

high-resolution copies of three other pages placed next to it.

1.2 iMprovisations

this was a collection of 35 small sculptures, including wall reliefs,

freestanding reliefs, and objects in the round, exhibited in a single space

at a commercial gallery. eight books open at appropriate images were

placed under the display tables as evidence of the works’ heritage. the

books showed images of works by hans arp, kenneth Martin, alexander

rodchenko, gustav klutsis, Lucas samaras, piet Mondrian, imi knoebel,

and kasimir Malevich.

the artist’s notes reproduced in the gallery’s flyer listed the following

creative rules for the works:

“BaCk grounD ruLes for the works:

1) all timber pieces = off-cuts from the one workshop (from teaching

programs);

2) all pieces as found, with no further machining;

3) pieces added incrementally;

4) surface to surface with glue: no interlocking;

5) size of finished work from held in one hand to held in two hands;

6) all of the above to be ignored as necessary to achieve (7):

7) pieces added until a balance of movement and stasis is achieved.”

1.3. MaCk’s staCk

Mack’s stack is one work, 94 works, or perhaps a number in between

one and 94. the work was exhibited in a single space at a state-funded

gallery. as well as the 94 works and a pile of leftover die-cut cardboard

sheets, images of three related previous works, from 1994, 2004 and

This spread: Alex selenitsch, six

out of eight, 2009 (detail), pencil on

found paper sheet, 30 x 20.5cms,

from Constellations, RMIT gallery.

Next spread: ovals sketchbook 2009

(detail), pencil and ink on paper, 26

drawings in A5 sketchbook, from

Constellations, RMIT gallery.

MAP 1: 2010 P.023

2008, were shown to place the new work into the context of the art-

ist’s oeuvre.

the following statement was pasted to the wall to one side of the work:

“while clearing out one of the side rooms in my father-in-law’s house,

i found a slab of die-cut cardboard pieces, designed to be folded into

a small open-top container. this was a few days after he had died. he

lived for 94 years and spent much of it collecting and hoarding poten-

tially useful, but obviously leftover materials and objects. he was also

a maverick, given to idiomatic gestures of difference in an otherwise

conventional life.

the slab of cardboard was first salvaged by him, and then salvaged for

a second time by me, another collector and hoarder. Before it made it

to the boot of my car, i resolved to do something interesting with it. a

few days later i began to fold the pieces into objects, but deliberately

not in the way the designers had intended.

each cardboard piece was made into one object using only the existing

fold-lines and cuts. in the end, i also curved some of the cardboard

ends, bent over some of the small tabs and used glue to fix the forms. i

worked towards and then stopped at 94 objects, as an elegy or tribute.

some of the objects became profiles, some emerged as toy-like scoops,

sleds and vehicles, some as trays, some even became containers, more

elegant in my opinion than the quick-snap thing originally intended.

the 94 objects don’t appear to have exhausted the die-cut’s potential.

i originally thought i might stop at 20 or so, but at every consecutive

ten or so objects, i was amazed at what new combinations and forms

could be produced from such an apparently restrictive starting point.”

2.0 sets

all three works use repetition. none of the works use identical repetition

or seek such a condition – in fact, the opposite is true. the repetition

is variable, so that a constant can be deduced as a principle or set of

relationships. if an object is cloned, or exactly repeated, then all of it is

principle, and the creative tension between idea and matter is defused.

variable repetition points to the condition of sets. all three works form

coherent groups by being sets. a set has members, which are independ-

ent entities – in this case compositions. the members of a set share a

characteristic or property, and all other properties of each member are

ignored. in materialised systems or objects, ‘all other properties’ may

be reduced but never completely erased, even in attempts at perfect

simulation or reproduction. often ‘all other properties’ are exaggerated

and multiplied so that some pleasure is obtained from seeing through

the surplus to the set definition.

the three works discussed here are all sets, but variously so, with the

third work, Mack’s stack, exemplifying a special case of sets, which

is theme and variation. in this ubiquitous way of producing a multiple

artwork, the set definition – the theme – is varied in example after ex-

ample, and the differences in the examples, far from being ignored as

would be usual for a standard set, are brought to notice. the variations

are then compared to the theme and across each other.

2.1 ovaLs

the ovals sketchbook drawings has a set definition, something like:

‘pencil ovals of equal size, filling a page, with each oval on the page

marked in ink in the same or similar way’. via the sketchbook, these

drawings are also part of another set – more sketchbooks which explore

field configurations of oval-like shapes and their markings, these being

known – at this point – only to the artist and some of his colleagues.

MAP 1: 2010 P.025

Alex selenitsch, left: ovals sketch-

book 2009 (detail), pencil and ink

on paper, 26 drawings in A5 sketch-

book, from Constellations, RMIT

gallery.

This and next spread, left: Light scat-

ter, 2010, beech, 32 x 31 x 17cms,

photo Michele fuller, from IMpROvI-

sATIONs, place gallery.

Next spread, right: hAhA Dada (hom-

age to hans Arp), (detail), 2008,

handrail slices on oregon, 20 x 21

x 4cms, photo Michele fuller, from

IMpROvIsATIONs, place gallery.

MAP 1: 2010 P.027

the sketchbook as an object is obviously part of a larger set of sketch-

books by the same artist on other themes, an even larger one of the set of

a5 sketchbooks in general, and so on. But here, the ambit of the creative

work is abandoned for the general world, which for set theoreticians, is

also an interlocked and nested structure of a very large number of sets.

2.2 iMprovisations

the timber sculptures are a relatively complex assembly of sets, some

being conceptual, and others perceptual. the title iMprovisations

is a set definition which is received before examination of the works

takes place. on examination, it becomes obvious that the works are a

single set of constructions made of pieces of wood, of constant section

with machined surfaces, put together in spatially complex ways. there

are also two subsets. the first set uses a larger piece of wood as an

armature or ‘ground plane’ from which the composition of smaller pieces

is compounded. the second subset has no such armature in that all

elements in the one composition are the same.

2.3 MaCk’s staCk

of the three works, Mack’s stack is the most obvious set, and also the

most deviant. there are two related sets. one is the remaining stack

of die-cut cardboard flats; the other consists of the folded objects. the

stack of remaining die-cut sheets is aLL set definition. any individual

variation or unique property, such as a different edge colour or mark

and bump from handling, and so on, is likely to be small and hardly

perceivable over the attention range of the composition.

once the 94 variations are approached, there is a dissonance between

the known die-cut origin, and the many kinds of objects. obviously, all

are the same as far as cardboard area and fold-lines are concerned,

but their final form is highly variable. in considering or imagining the

sub-groups, the initial set definition which is based on the physical

properties of the die-cut sheet must be abandoned and spread into

different kinds of categories. some variations are containers and the

set definition is therefore one of function. some are similar geometric

compositions and that set definition is geometric. some are suggestive

MAP 1: 2010 P.029

Alex selenitsch, IMpROvIsATIONs:

blocks and sticks, 2010, north wall

installation, photo Michele fuller.

Next spread, right: Loop #4, 2009,

various timbers on blackwood, 39

x 48 x 28cms, photo Michele fuller,

from IMpROvIsATIONs, place gallery.

MAP 1: 2010 P.031

of other objects (wheelbarrows, bow ties, scrapers etc) so that those set

definitions take on a metaphoric/structural tinge. Many of the variations

belong to a number of sub-sets.

Because the initial set of definition (the die-cut sheets) is so clearly

visible, each of the variations is easily compared to it, and then to the

others around it, so the classic theme and variation effect of attractive

difference is invoked.

3.0 aCtuaLity Matters

the semantic arena of these works includes a priori decisions, the

making of the object, and judgements on the outcomes. in other kinds

of works, where a priori decisions and making procedures are hidden,

or ignored at the presentation of outcomes, those parts of the creative

process are important only in so far as they allow the final work to come

into being. But in the works being discussed here, a priori decisions, the

making process and the outcomes are intended to be equally visible, and

the relationships between them sum up the whole work. the concept of

the set is used as the strategy to link the three phases of composition.

3.1a ovaLs – a priori

the sketchbook is a standard commercial product, the pencil likewise,

the ovals come from a drafting stencil, and the pen, a standard fountain

pen filled with black ink. some preliminary trials of added pen strokes

were made on loose paper: these were then discarded. For the exhibi-

tion, a single sheet of such trials for another sketchbook was submitted,

but not shown.

3.1B ovaLs - Making

the drawings in the sketchbook were done at home, in the evenings,

while sitting on a sofa and watching television. each drawing was initi-

ated by a field of pencil ovals whose configuration was derived from

some aspect of the page, but also from the rule of not repeating previous

configurations. Further, all ovals were to be clearly visible as separate

individual forms. spontaneous and ad hoc decisions were possible for

both oval configuration and ink infill. More ovals could easily be added,

and some of the in-fills were designed to work in rotation. the in-fills

were sometimes magnified or altered to suit. all such decisions were

MAP 1: 2010 P.033

directed towards the gestalt of the finished drawing. see rules 6 and

7 in 1.2 above.

3.1C ovaLs – outCoMes

the book format clearly indicates that all drawings are to be considered

as a whole. it also structures the first of two effects of surprise. the first

effect is the change from page to page, where there is a pause and

physical action due to the page being turned over. Memory and expecta-

tion affect the surprise: the pencil and ink materiality continues, but page

and oval configurations change. the second effect of surprise is weaker,

but occurs on the single page, when the ovals and their markings are

compared over that single composition.

3.2a iMprovisations – a priori

the title iMprovisations suggests some kind of balance between

structures and spontaneity. the eight open books, held in the trestles

under the tables, give an indication of the work’s historical and con-

temporary domain. the books also show that the domain is supplied

through publication, which allows for an a-chronological and placeless

appreciation of these other artist’s works.

3.2B iMprovisations - Making

the general title of these works refers to the similarity of their making to

the experience of playing improvised music. in such music, the context

of the performance and immediately previous events can be very sug-

gestive – often dictatorial – for any momentary action. in music, the

moments come very quickly, relentlessly, but in these timber sculptures

the practicality of gluing and clamping slowed the improvisations, or

rather, pulled them apart to a ‘moment’ every six to twelve hours.

the stick/slat pieces needed no initiating piece. Called jumble algo-

rithms, after their rule of successive addition and rotation against the

flat edges of the stick’s profile or section to achieve a scattered effect,

these compositions could be started by just gluing two sticks together.

other pieces began with the selection of a ‘ground’ piece against which

other pieces could be placed. these began as reliefs with additions

parallel to the picture plane of the ground piece, but soon under the in-

fluence of the jumble algorithms, rotation was introduced and exploited.

Like the ovals drawings, the procedure for each piece was additive,

element by element, but not simply so.

This and next spread: Alex sele-

nitsch, Mack’s stack, 2007, (detail),

photo by Robert Colvin, from Mack’s

stack, Craft victoria.

at the start of any piece, blemishes or standout features of the

‘ground’ piece were used as positioning marks. Later in the im-

provisation when a figure began to emerge, this was considered

in the next placement. a working rule was that each element

should be perceivable as such – this generally meant that the

ends of sticks had to be visible and clear of overlaps to avoid two

touching sticks being read as a single piece.

3.2C iMprovisations – outCoMes

the making procedure and the desired result (see rules 6 and

7, quoted in 1.2 above) produced, first of all, a sense of play, as

evidence of the maker’s experience and in the engagement of the

viewer; and secondly, a sense that the sculptures might be images

or even the results of natural events or forces. an unintended ef-

fect, but obvious when the material source is considered, was the

sense of precision, due to the machined finish and sharp edges

of the timber pieces, and also the rule of showing each piece of

timber as whole and individual.

3.3a MaCk’s staCk – a priori

the display of the remaining die-cut sheets shows the pre-con-

dition of the 94 variations.

images of three previous works by the artist suggest that the new

work continues and develops existing themes. the n variations

of the Southern Cross (1994) is a work of 211 constellations us-

ing the same figure of five points – the southern Cross. the two

books Cut, Tear (2004), were altered page by page in a single

continuous flow of operations, wherein what had just happened

would influence the next action. the Rothko Vowels (2008) are a

set of concrete poems with the subject of revealing the hidden or

un-sayable. revealing the ‘hidden obvious’ is an underlying idea

in the 94 variations of Mack’s stack.

MAP 1: 2010 P.035

3.3B MaCk’s staCk - Making

a general description of making these pieces is given in 1.3 above.

the variations were made at home over four days of continuous work,

Friday to Monday, with time off only for meals, sleep and occasional

errands. they were made in two rooms, at a workstation on a table, and

at the sofa, again, while watching television. the pieces accumulated

in three rooms and looked like an invasion of small animals occupying

the domestic landscape. the exhibition of them as a field of equally

spaced objects on a neutral plane missed this quality. the production

of the variations was intuitive and sustained by constant contrast of the

piece under construction to the others preceding it.

3.3C MaCk’s staCk – outCoMes

no general observations of the project as a whole were made while

making: the following observations were made possible when viewing

the installation of the exhibition, and were used as the basis of the artists

talk held on the 6th of november.

Firstly, the initial die cut piece, the starting point, was already a work

bearing much thought and effort By others: hardly a neutral or fun-

damental piece of matter. using it for pulp, or as a flat sheet for further

cutting might take it back to such a condition, but the die-cut piece was

used as it is. secondly, the assumption that the given folds could be

done in any rotation greatly increased the number of potential folds, and

therefore objects. after the first few folds, successive folds were unpre-

dictably limited. this interlocking of potential and limitation was difficult

to grasp as an algorithm, but easy to handle physically and spatially.

thirdly, the one template, and the simple set of rules, produced not only

variations, but different kinds of objects. variation were expected when

making began, but not distinct and separate types (or species) which

exist in different cognitive frameworks. Fourthly, there were no bad

results: there were no rejects. there were no trial or prototype objects,

and the method of assembly so simple, involving folding, gluing and

clamping with pegs, that there were no ‘mistakes’. all resultant objects

were accepted as part of the work.

4.0 aLL together

the way that a priori decisions, making and outcomes were exhibited

in the three works discussed above, were specific to each occasion.

the following is an attempt to generalise each of these phases

through a list of potential strategies.

4.1 a priori strategies

a) the given material or medium may provide a history, a spe-

cific group of exemplary uses or techniques, or a set of physical/

chemical properties.

b) the material may already have been given shape and use by

others, and thus appropriated for new use. this is the condition

of the found object, which could easily extend to found systems

and found processes. For this to work, the found object has to

be drastically shifted in context or use, otherwise it is just a use,

or re-use.

c) the acceptance of a genre, or type, or archetype allows for

unique manifestations. examples range from ‘still life’, to ‘pan-

theon’, to ‘haiku’ and so on.

d) the category of type can be tailored to a specific case, where

an individual artist can nominate works by other artists as a priori,

or the artist’s own previous works could function as such.

MAP 1: 2010 P.037

this list grades the strategies in their apparent frequency, with

the least frequent as a) and the most frequent as d).

4.2 on ruLes

Creative rules are better if:

a) they provide for the initiation of the work and its continuation

through specific instructions. they are better as a script or recipe

rather than a description of the final outcome. inclusion of the

material/system properties and the limits thereof is an advantage;

b) they allow non-rule-based intervention at any stage. this is

particularly important if errors occur, if context changes during

making, or if outcomes are unacceptable. under those conditions,

there is an interaction between explicit system and intuitive im-

plicit judgement. Behind this is the observation that not everything

in a physical action involving skill can be foreseen;

c) the context of the rules can suggest different and additional

rules for further action, if an impasse or dead-end is reached; and

d) they suggest or make a gaMe. one can then approach the

rules in the same way as in a game, by following, interpreting

or subverting.

4.3 the gestaLt

the final outcome towards which a priori conditions and rules of

making are directing must be evident as a separate condition,

not just as a mechanical outcome, or trace, or history of making.

a final composition must:

a) work as an attractive proposal where the outcome is not only

logically clear, but surprising. this can happen when an aspect of

Alex selenitsch, Mack’s stack, 2007

(installation view), found cardboard,

one die-cut stack, 94 folded items,

stack 10 x 31 x 18.5cms, object vari-

able, average 14 x 16 x 14cms each,

photo by Robert Colvin, from Mack’s

stack, Craft victoria.

MAP 1: 2010 P.039

materiality or system previously ignored is fore-grounded, when

the gestalt transcends the rules, and when the artist applies the

game or rules with elegance and flair;

b) provide provocative internal relations, so that it can be taken

into other categories of interpretation and use, where other people

can point to the composition’s characteristics and locate them in

the wider world; and

c) provide inspiration for further creative work.

5.0 generaLLy

generally, there are far too many options for action when an idea

or concept or observation establishes the will/direction of a work.

rules provide a useful way of restricting options, and in their

invention, can help set out what is important for a work and what

is not. Just as importantly, they can help to bypass habitual or

clichéd ways of working. rule or game-driven invention and mak-

ing is contrary to the way a conventional professional designer

works. professional methods attempt to fully predict the final

object, depict it as such and then require others to turn the design

into a production sequence. the concept of the ‘art machine’ is

modelled on this ideal professional role. in an ‘art machine’, all

decisions on making, composition are preset and the artist’s job,

after the invention of rules and settings, is merely to switch on

the machine and wait for the outcome to emerge without any

further input. this is the designer’s position in theory: in practice

subjective restrictions, ad hoc interventions and mistakes inform

the professional designer’s daily life.

Steve hAtzelliS

Material DiagraMs

Steve hAtzelliS

Material DiagraMs

Material DiagraMsDigitaL v1

Digital architecture has emerged from technological appropria-

tion and as such has only recently started to develop a plausible

theoretical discourse. unlike most architectural styles at the end

of the 20th century that emerged from a theoretical agenda, Digital

architecture has had to post-rationalise its position in architectural

discourse and has attempted to emancipate the discipline of ar-

chitectural design from a linguistic and representational critique

of the post Modernist milieu. although it is common to sideline

digital architecture to the realm of technology, it has been the

power of computer visualisation and the complexity of its formal

language that allowed it to surpass previous architectural design

discourses. By creating a new genre of architecture that could

not have been previously possible but for the use of new digital

apparatuses, digital architects have re-initiated the debate. in

this respect, it is an area of design that is still leading exploration

into new forms of non-standard architecture.

DigitaL v2

Digital experimentation has given way to digital research and ap-

plication: we are now in the post digital age. having learnt from

earlier periods of digital avant garde experimental art and archi-

tecture, we are now applying these techniques in more radical and

This and next spread: model by

foong Chern wong, Mohamad faiz

Akhbar and shyn Yi Cheah. project:

Eden on the Yarra River, studio In-

forme v4, 2009.

MAP 1: 2010 P.045

critical projects. the early fascination of translucent ephemeral affects

derived from misappropriation of animation software have given way

to a multitude of research based agendas regarding interaction design,

CnC and rp fabrication, diagrammatic modularity, scripted geometric

systems and parametric urbanism.

inForMe v6

our design studio focuses on progressive research into digital experi-

mentation and its application to non-standard architecture. the design

research aims to provide a setting that fully critiques and explores the

implications of the digital through a rigorous testing of the architectural

form and the making potential inherent in digital technologies. one

of the most distinguishing and important features manifested in digi-

tal architecture is its performance-based essence. the work aims to

reinvent Modernism by appropriating the techniques of diagramming,

scripting, interaction design and performativity. the Digital is explored

by the interplay of virtual and analogue material systems exploration.

By reworking the principles of the Modernist mass production system

we seek an agenda of modulation and specificity within the generic

modes of Modernism. the rework starts as accurate mappings and

diagrams. the parameters are not symbols nor metaphors, but rather

quantitative information, diagrams that are translated and mapped onto

the generic material system as an exercise of performative modelling.

the principle paradigm is the strategy of attaining highly differentiated

non-standard organisations from systems that are in their initial or

generic mode, highly standardised components.

the projects displayed in these pages are from students who have

undertaken at least two studiohatzellis’ digital studios. these students

are gifted digital designers with a propensity for material and formal

making. the crafting of architecture has moved from a purely physical

materiality to include digital material systems. these systems are tested

within the software systems that create them prior to repeat testing in

small scale analogue maquettes. these models help us to explore the

spatial and structural limits inherent with digital play.

keep playing.

hiroko shirai. The model explores

minimal surface geometries us-

ing Abs plastic rapid prototyping

techniques. It maps the movement

of a ballerina as curvilinear forma-

tions. final Thesis, Master of Digital

Architecture programme, University

of Technology, sydney, 2005.

MAP 1: 2010 P.047

far left: peter Muhlebach and Rob

gray. Research Models, final thesis

project, folded geometries, studio

Informe v4, 2009.

Left: wilson Tang et al, students

undertaking Informe v2. Model

constructed using rapid prototyping

knife card carding machinery. final

thesis project, studio_Informe v2,

voronoi Tower, 2008.

Right top: Yan hou. The model ex-

plores minimal surface geometries

using fabric and acrylic. The fabric

geometries are distorted in relation-

ship to flows of people. The map-

ping was undertaken at a railway

station when the crowds ebbed and

flowed, the kinetic analogue model

responded accordingly. Research

model, Master of Digital Architecture

programme, University of Technol-

ogy, sydney, 2006.

Right bottom: geo-soft sculpture,

rapid prototype by steve hatzellis,

2005.

MAP 1: 2010 P.049

Left page: research model, Master of

Digital Architecture programme, Uni-

versity of Technology, sydney, 2006.

Right page, left: gaurav Malhotra.

The model explores ideas of atomic

accumulation and the potential of

biomimicry to help develop a respon-

sive architecture. soap bubbles were

studied prior to constructing this

model made from straps of paper.

gradation of size is based on map-

ping crowd behaviours. Research

model, Master of Digital Architecture

programme, University of Technol-

ogy, sydney, 2006.

Right page, right: Matt Choot, In-

forme v2 thesis design studio. This

model is constructed using laser sin-

tering rapid protoytping techniques.

final thesis project, studio Informe

v2, 2008.

MAP 1: 2010 P.051

This and next spread: foong Chern

wong, Mohamad faiz Akhbar and

shyn Yi Cheah, Informe v4 thesis

design studio, 2009. The model is

constructed from stretch fabric and

high tensile wire. It expolres the

potential of spatial formation using

tensile fabrics reminiscent of frei

Otto’s earlier experiments.

MAP 1: 2010 P.053

MAP 1: 2010 P.055

MAP 1: 2010 P.057

This and previous spread: johnathon

Long, prominent hill habitat. final

thesis project, studio_Informe v6,

lasercut plywood models, 2010. This

thesis proposes a new architectural

typology to transform the current

Australian miner’s living/working

protocol. It challenges the common

perception that a miner’s ‘home’ and

family must remain in a major city

while the miner flies in and out on a

rotation roster. This thesis argues the

feasibility of a habitation facility to

support and sustain mining families

in the arid climate of outback south

Australia. It examines the existing

conditions of mining villages in

south Australia and proposes a new

living community of up to 360 people

for the operations workforce of an

underground mine.

MAP 1: 2010 P.059

Michael Thomas, Research project,

Moon Capital Competition, studio

Informe v6, 2010.

MAP 1: 2010 P.061

This and next three spreads: Michael

Thomas, Research models, final the-

sis project, City Translations, studio

Informe v6, 2010.

MAP 1: 2010 P.063

MAP 1: 2010 P.065

MAP 1: 2010 P.067

biological growthMichael Thomas, rapid prototype

model, final thesis project, City

Translations, studio Informe v6,

2010.

Nam auctor cursus ante, quis fringilla risus

biological growthMAP 1: 2010 P.069

biological growth

colony collective

biological growthMAP 1: 2010 P.071

colony collective

previous and next spread: Mould

City by Colony Collective, rendering

by floodslicer.

This spread: Mould City by Colony

Collective, physarum slime mould

growth.

Mould urbanism is an urban system which reconfigures the relationship

between humans, shelter and collective settlements. Mould urbanism

proposes that the garlands of the vitruvian primitive hut offer a new be-

ginning for exhausted cities made of inanimate materials. the urbanists

of the future will be indistinguishable from gardeners.

in 2050, australian suburbs and cities will look disappointingly similar

to today and will desperately require new sources of energy and water.

Mould urbanism is a response to the carbon production choking the

earth’s cities and suburbs. Mould will not save us, but if we learn how

to tend it new and rich possibilities will emerge.

Mould began in the outskirts of the suburbs. it first settled in eaves,

gutters, downpipes and cisterns; anywhere where once there was water.

Mould colonies formed and reformed, thickening where opportunity and

the inhabitants allowed. along with shelter, the mould also provides food

and fuel. the mould grows across, over and through the old infrastruc-

ture of the city. Mould replenishes the water table.

the mould is an urban architecture which needs direct solar energy. it

changes and responds to the sun’s orientation during the seasons. it

waxes and wanes with the moon. it is like a foam that aerates itself when

happiness abounds. pores will form in the mould so it can breathe. Liquid

vessels and reservoirs will form in the mould both as heat sinks and as

stores for excess reserves. Mould factories will produce new products.

the mould will adapt to the seasonal and diurnal cycles of its inhabitants.

Mould urbanism reconsiders the australian suburbs and city of 2050

as a family of sensual experiences which reverberate with the earth’s

atmosphere, climate, and seasons. Mould is an integrated, interacting

system of environs. it will be the setting for new rituals and harvest

festivals. the architecture of the mould allows a new realm of sensual

experiences to come into play for its inhabitants. Mould is shamanistic.

the mould is a living organism of the community nursed by the sun.

it nurtures life and offers protection to all within its realm. the mould

MAP 1: 2010 P.073

helps its inhabitants to release new energies which then reverberate

within it. this promotes bio development instead of techno degeneration.

Mould urbanism bridges the gulf that divides an urbanism based on

digital diatoms from an urbanism based on radical community politics.

the form of the future city is beyond composition, not beyond compre-

hension. it requires continual attention, but eventually it will overwhelm

all intentions, good, bad or otherwise. Mould urbanism evokes both the

responsive intricacies of biological organisms and those vessels which

give form to plastic material. the mould is a system that is at once or-

ganic and parametric. it possesses growth patterns that are to an extent

predictable and controllable, as well as being random and surprising.

Mould urbanism exists in a state of flux, creating environments that

change in response to what the city and suburbs need.

Mould, only barely within our control, is both a destructive and a re-

generative force.

Colony is a collective of architects and urbanists who produce utopian

vision in response to today’s climate crisis. Our inspiration is the archi-

tecture of the 60s mashed with the suburbs of Corrigan. Our inspiration

is Yona Friedman, Archigram, Superstudio and Archizoom.

Colony Collective is Madeleine Beech, Jono Brener, Nicola Dovey, Fu

Tun Han, Peter Raisbeck and Simon Wollan.

Colony Collective was assisted by the School of Botany, University of

Melbourne. Our thanks to Kaija Jordan and her colleagues for samples,

lab support and advice in the early experimental stages of this project.

Our thanks also go to Sam Slicer and FloodSlicer for 3D visualization

and animation, and to Bharat Dave and CRIDA at the Melbourne School

of Design, University of Melbourne, for technical advice and resources.

Mould City by Colony Collective, ren-

dering by floodslicer.

MAP 1: 2010 P.075

Mould City by Colony Collective. Left:

mould growth over city grid and river

intersection. Right: mould growth on

road striae.

MAP 1: 2010 P.077

creative provocations

creative provocations

JAnet mcgAw

Mould City by Colony Collective.

Outer suburban mould growth.

creative provocations

JAnet mcgAw

Left: Craig Mullens, williams Creek

Dreaming, architecture thesis, 2010.

Right: Lorraine Meinke, get hatched,

landscape architecture thesis, 2010.

creative provocationsMAP 1: 2010 P.081

the university of Melbourne has phased out its Bachelor of ar-

chitecture programme, replacing it with an approach to higher

education that aligns with the international trends in the us and

europe. we now offer an undergraduate degree in ‘environments’

to students seeking a career in the fields engaged with the built

and natural environments: from environmental management to

engineering, from property to planning, from architecture to land-

scape architecture. students have an opportunity to be broadly

grounded in issues that interface with a range of disciplines. Fol-

lowing the Bachelor of environments degree, we offer a profes-

sional architecture program at Master’s level. this has involved a

significant shift in approach from the traditional conclusion of an

architectural education with a ‘major project’ to a conceptually

driven design ‘thesis’. students are expected to engage in design

research, a multi-modal research enquiry that includes a range of

methodologies: quantitative, qualitative and creative. outcomes

are a combination of design and text that demonstrates an ‘an-

swer’ to their research proposition. Because of this approach,

teaching staff are encouraged to bring their own research interests

and expertise to bear on a studio and to work in interdiscipli-

nary contexts. as an investigator on an arC Linkage grant into

indigenous placemaking, we offered a range of interdisciplinary

studios for architecture and landscape architecture students that

asked students to re-imagine placemaking in Melbourne in light

of research into the settler-colonial city, indignenous placemaking

practices and contemporary indigenous culture.

Design for indigenous communities is notoriously difficult. there

are only nine aboriginal architects in australia, so non-indigenous

architects invariably end up engaged in the design of projects

for indigenous stakeholders. how does one avoid a new path

of colonisation of indigenous culture, or perhaps worse, appro-

priation? treanha hamm and Laura Brearley, in their joint paper,

“ways of Looking and Listening: stories from the spaces between

indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge systems” (2009) ask:

“how do we perform justice – where do we begin? how might we

make a difference against the backdrop of the dispossession and

marginalization of indigenous people? what would it look like to create

spaces in the academy for research (and here i think one could equally

substitute City) incorporating indigenous ways of knowing without

appropriating or colonizing?”

a collaborative approach was at the core of our studio. a parallel semi-

nar series co-taught by indigenous academics, architects (three of the

nine were involved) and stakeholders, exposed students to core issues.

Brearley and hamm argue that an indigenous concept of ‘deep listening’,

is central to collaboration of this kind. they define a new methodology for

research practice that has its roots in a concept shared by a number of

different language groups describing the process of deep and respectful

listening when a narrative is shared.

Left: Craig Mullens, williams Creek

Dreaming, architecture thesis, 2010.

Right: project by Craig Mul-

lens. As a reminder of what has

been superficially covered, wil-

liam’s Creek re-emerges from

the drain that contains it dur-

ing times of abundant rainfall.

Elizabeth street’s position in a

valley causes runoff to flow into

its path, occasionally recreating

the seasonal ferocity for which

william’s Creek was known pri-

or to and during the early years

of colonisation. Image source:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/

gemmajones/4446963060/

MAP 1: 2010 P.083

Lorraine Meinke, Nests.

MAP 1: 2010 P.085

Deep listening has a reciprocal relationship with self-reflection, a pro-

cess that allows the story of another to critique one’s own ways of

viewing the world. rueben Berg, a gunditjmara man from western

victoria and graduate in architecture from the university of Queensland,

encouraged students to enter into the issues from their own experiences.

a number of our students are not australian, with no prior knowledge of

indigenous culture or, indeed, the post-colonial history of dispossession.

thus, the pathways students followed into the indigenous stories they

heard and researched were diverse.

Melbourne wurundjeri elder, Margaret gardiner, speaks of a long history

of cultural centre projects - longed for, even designed - that have never

been built, due to insurmountable hurdles with land acquisition, finance

and political will. part of the challenge is an absence of broader public

commitment to the idea. the studio speculated that when a sufficient

wave of desire and determination rises up within the populous as a

whole, obstacles will seem less difficult, and politicians and financiers

more committed.

students were asked, not to design a building, but to design, make or

enact an ephemeral installation, or ‘critical spatial practice’ in the real

space of the city as their outcome. architect and theorist, Jane ren-

dell, defines ‘critical spatial practices’ as a range of creative practices

between art and architecture that are more provisional and conceptual

than architecture traditionally is, and more site specific and spatial

than art practices traditionally are. non-negotiable criteria were that

the site had to be in the public domain, occupation could not be illegal

or permanent and the cost of the ‘practice’ had to be less than $100.

this served a number of pedagogical aims: 1) make students see that

architectural practice as has social ramifications; 2) make students

translate conceptual ideas into a material and spatial outcomes; 3) make

students engage with bureaucratic and technical aspects of design.

one of our research linkage partners, the Melbourne City Council’s

indigenous arts programme, was actively involved in smoothing the

road into the ‘real space’ of the city. they identified the possibilities of

using these students’ work to begin a process of collective ‘imagining’

as an important outcome.

This and next spread: Lorraine

Meinke. Lorraine invites passers-by

to participate in re-making indige-

nous place in Melbourne through the

planting of indigenous saplings. This

art work seeks to inform the broader

community of the issues concern-

ing declining tree health within the

municipality and engage the public

in a positive act towards alleviating

the same issues in the future. It does

so by inviting members of the public

to take the nest away with them and

adopt the indigenous plant it con-

tains. In doing so, the foster parent of

the plant becomes its caretaker and

custodian and is thus responsible

for its future health and wellbeing

which, in turn, will help bring life

back into the city.

MAP 1: 2010 P.087

students engaged in substantial research into indigenous and early

colonial histories, geographies and precedents within architectural

practice and discourse. through this research, they developed a wide

range of design interventions that critiqued the place-making practices

of settler-colonial society, including performances, projections, ‘site

writings’, gifting, collaborations, infiltration of the print media by stealth,

and installations.

ronit eisenbach and sarah Bonnemaison’s recent book, Installations

by architects (2009), chart the history of full scale prototyping as a

pedagogical tool throughout the 20th century from the Bauhaus to Mit,

to the royal Danish academy in Copenhagen and the Bartlett. while

they were used throughout the modernist period as a vehicle for tech-

nological innovation, the post-modern shift in art practice that created

the term ‘installation’ has provoked architects to consider real-scale

installations as a prospect for social engagement beyond the academy.

MAP 1: 2010 P.089

Xiao Liu, Urban Memory and Amne-

sia: Remembering and forgetting

Through Monumentality, Architec-

ture Thesis, 2010. This project focus-

es on the settler-coloniser practice

of recording memories in the urban

environment through building monu-

ments and statues. The selective

commemoration of particular events

and figures has resulted in amnesia

of the indigenous past as part of

our collective memory. This project

reveals that, in some instances, col-

lective memories have been manipu-

lated through false representations

and altered contexts.

eisenbach suggests that it is probably not what architects bring to the

practice of making installations that is interesting, but how the practice

transforms architectural thinking. installations are immediate, allow for

discursive response of the city/audience and give agency to architects

to act critically, inventively and with relatively low risk. as such, they

can be usefully integrated at the core of investigative designing as

discussed in this monograph.

Bonnemaison, sarah, and ronit eisenbach (2009). Installations by

Architects: Experiments in Building and Design (new york: princeton

architectural press)

Brearley, Laura and treanha hamm (2009). ‘ways of Looking and Listen-

ing: stories from the spaces between indigenous and non-indigenous

knowledge systems’, in Creative Art Research: Narrative methodologies

and Practices, elizabeth grierson & Laura Brearley et al. (eds) (rotter-

dam: sense publishers), pp. 33-54

eván DiMitropouLos

eván Dimitropoulos’ research focused on the site of the ancient falls in

the yarra river, and more specifically, the changes to the flow of water

since colonisation. the falls were the only natural crossing point for

several kilometres and were used by the wurrundjeri for hunting on

the southern marshy riverbanks at dusk. the pounding of the falls had

created a deep, widening in the river that settlers used to turn their

tall ships after disembarking goods and passengers to the new colony.

within 30 years of settlement, the falls were destroyed with dynamite

to mitigate against seasonal flooding upstream. as the freshwater by

this stage had been polluted by the untreated waste of a city that had

grown to 1,000,000 million, the ecological consequences of mixing

salt and freshwater went largely unnoticed by colonial settlers. Com-

mercial trade of water had emerged as far back as 1839, five years

after settlement, in response to the pollution. this century, commercial

trade in water has re-emerged as an escalating phenomenon. Despite

Melbourne now having one of the least contaminated water supplies in

the world, bottled water consumption has risen dramatically in recent

MAP 1: 2010 P.091

years. By 2005 australians’ drank 550 million litres of bottled

water, almost 30 litres per capita, and only a small fraction of the

plastic containers were recycled.

indigenous author, tony Birch, spoke at our seminar series about

another practice of commodification peddled by settlers in mid-

19th century Melbourne: ethnographic photography. Melbourne’s

indigenous people were dressed in ‘traditional’ garb, placed in

studios, or asked to stage ‘mock battles’ and photographed. it was

a practice that tony Birch argued assisted in creating the myth

of indigenous culture as primitive, which led to their subjugation

and dispossession. eván approached the state Library and koorie

heritage trust for permission to use some of these photographs

in his critical spatial practice. he brought together these three

stories: the destruction of the falls, ethnographic photography

and the trading of water in a flash mob that he convened and

choreographed.

using digital social media and radio, he invited people to Queens-

bridge, the site where the falls once stood, on saturday 23 october

2010 at 3pm. each participant was issued with a bottle of water

that eván had re-labelled with archival ethnographic photographs

overlaid with excerpts from letters between Melbourne’s surveyor

robert hoddle and colonial secretary and police magistrate, wil-

liam Lonsdale in 1838-39, regarding an attempt to dam the river

at the point where the falls once stood. it references aboriginal

artist, Leah king-smith’s work ‘patterns of Connection’, that re-

contextualised similar portraits with her own paintings and pho-

tographs of australia’s bush. eván had distributed, via facebook,

detailed instructions for a performance of pouring the water back

into the river in memory of the lost falls. the event was filmed and

uploaded later onto the internet. the state Library have requested

a copy of the book that documents the work for their collection.

This spread: Eván Dimitropoulos, The

falls, landscape architecture thesis,

2010. Eván’s project is a ‘critical spa-

tial practice’ that explores past and

present consumer culture in Mel-

bourne. The practices of such a cul-

ture dispossessed Indigenous people

of their lands and exploited their wa-

terways. This event re-imagines the

area where a waterfall once divided

the river, challenging assumptions

about indigenous history and culture

through engagement and reflection.

Next spread: Eván Dimitropoulos.

bottle and bottle lable.

MAP 1: 2010 P.093

Craig MuLLens

upstream from the Falls, was a tributary known by early settlers

as the river townend and also williams Creek. it was a seasonal

waterway that discharged into the yarra river along what is now

known as elizabeth st, one of the central north–south streets in

the uncompromising grid of streets laid down by surveyor, robert

hoddle. robyn annear writes poetically about the problems of this

conjunction in her imagined history, Bearbrass, telling of shoes lost

in the mud and a punt that was established at one time to transport

pedestrians from one side of the street to the other. the failure to

develop an adequate sewerage system meant that elizabeth street

flowed with excrement by the 1940s and epidemics of dysentery,

cholera and typhoid were rife. work began on the subterranean

drain we now have under elizabeth st in the 1840s and william’s

Creek disappeared.

Craig Mullens created an interactive film that re-imagines eliza-

beth street as a river which he projected from the vacant office

of a building on the corner of Flinders st onto the blank side wall

of a nearby building in elizabeth street. the projection included a

textual narrative about williams Creek and invited people to share

their own ‘dreamings’ by uploading related videos on a website.

Xiao Liu

Xiao was an international student from mainland China. his route

into the stories of indigenous australians was via the history of

communist China. tony Birch had spoken to the students about

the contrasts between settler colonizer place-making, that used

monuments to permanently mark the landscape, and

indigenous place-making, which finds place within

the natural landforms. Xiao researched the practice of

monument-making by Mao, and the processes of deter-

ritorialising the monuments after his fall. Xiao argued that

Melbourne’s monuments are similar, telling only half of

the story of australia’s settlement.

Burke and wills have been immortalized in bronze on

swanston street. they led a tragic expedition of discovery

into the heart of australia and both perished in the pro-

cess. Xiao discovered through his research that only one

of their expedition crew survived the trip, relying on the

support of the aboriginal tracker who is recorded in only

two early paintings. Both he and the tracker have been

deleted from the sculptural record of the story. similarly,

the bronze sculpture “three Business Men who Brought

their own Lunch” on the corner of swanston and Bourke

st celebrates the legacy of early colonists Batman, swan-

ston and hoddle. robert hoddle was the early surveyor of

MAP 1: 2010 P.095

specific plant species information and planting instructions, infor-

mation about the significance of the site to the aboriginal people of

Melbourne, and speculation about what the landscape in the area

consisted of prior to colonization. “By accepting the gift,” Lorraine

writes, “the recipient is acknowledging the mistakes of the past

and reinforcing their own positive notions of what is valuable in

the indigenous landscape.” all but two of her nests were ‘adopted’,

and she received encouraging feedback from many participants.

Melbourne and Captain Charles swanston, gave his name to the street

on which they stand. it is well known that Batman offered blankets

to local wurrundjeri for land, now known as Batman hill, in the south

west part of central Melbourne. wurrundjeri elder, william Barak was

believed to have been at the meeting and signing of the ‘treaty’. Xiao

developed two installations to reinstate these important indigenous

figures into the sculptural record: the aboriginal tracker positioned to

climb a ladder up the podium to join Burke and wills, and Barak, clad in

business suit, as the ‘Fourth Businessman who Brought his own Blanket’

placed between two of the characters who seem to deliberately turned

to look the other way.

Lorraine Meinke

Lorraine Meinke’s research into the landscape of contemporary Mel-

bourne revealed that 7000 mature exotic trees, predominantly english

elms and London planes that line Melbourne’s major boulevards and

city streets, will be cut down in coming years. Lack of species diversity,

stress from a decade of drought and old age have combined to hasten

their decline. Meinke found that indigenous species had been trialled

at times, but there was general public outcry and the trees were often

ringbarked. a parallel investigation into aboriginal dreaming stories

revealed that life and death have a cyclic relationship in aboriginal

culture. aboriginal remains were traditionally either returned to the

earth, their ‘spiritual mother‘ or placed into the fork of tree on a person’s

traditional lands.

Lorraine mapped 26 sites of indigenous significance from a range of

sources and developed a critical spatial practice that brought these

stories together in a series of ephemeral installations. she obtained

permission to work on 18 of the sites. From collected artefacts from

each site, such as twigs and discarded rubbish, she fabricated a series

of 18 distinct nest-like forms. these were returned to the site with a

papier-mâché egg-like vessel containing an indigenous sapling and a

laminated tag appealing to passers-by to ‘help me!’. inside was detailed

information on the problem of dying trees within the City of Melbourne,

paraMetric DiagraMs

JuStynA KArAKiewicz

paraMetric DiagraMs

JuStynA KArAKiewicz

This diagram was produced for a

project by peter spence, paramet-

ric Urbanism studio. The project is

about visualising data and mapping

information to produce form (in this

case a height field). The project

mapped multiple levels of urban

data (the image shows higher levels

in Melbourne CbD) as spatial repre-

sentations. for example, the project

speculated about relative symbolic

significance of urban sites by meas-

uring the social network activity that

referred to them in photographs. by

combining the topographic maps

with the data-driven spatial over-

lays, these diagrams can inform

future design decisions.

paraMetric DiagraMs

Diagrams are not a new phenomenon. Many of them appear to

have been created long before any written language had been

defined. one of the oldest diagrams of the city comes from Catal

hayuk, probably drawn around 6,500 BC. some prehistoric dia-

grams not only inform us about city’s physical structure but also

about its social and organizational structure. it has been argued

that we can read in these diagrams even more, such as the struc-

ture of the spoken language of the people who inhabited these

places.

even if diagrams do not convey information literally, they are

significant tools by which to understand and illuminate. in more

recent times, there has considerable interest in the role of diagram

in the design process.

in this studio, we focussed on a particular type of diagram, the

diagram which serves as a condenser of information. Clearly,

diagrams can do much more than that; for example, diagrams

often bring ‘time and action’ into a design exploration in a way

that 3D models or drawing cannot. Diagrams can introduce into

our work qualities or aspects that cannot be articulated otherwise;

diagrams work when they extend and enhance our capacity to

understand. Ben van Berkel (1999) has observed that “an image

is a diagram when it is stronger than its interpretations”.

in examining diagrams within studio teaching, we are introducing

the students to two key ideas. the first is that the diagram can

concentrate or condense the essence of the information being

MAP 1: 2010 P.099

explored; the second, and more difficult, is to enable us to engage

in a mode of abstraction that takes us beyond our preconceptions.

Design learning necessarily relies on precedents, but this strategy

can become a crutch and blinker our capacity for designing by

limiting exploration in a search of the known.

the studio starts by introducing the diagram as a condenser of

information as an initial step in design process. after identify-

ing representative or relevant data in a design opportunity, we

explore meaningful techniques by which to present and examine

these data; this is a particularly challenging task if the subject of

investigation is the city. park (1925) observed that city could not

be viewed as purely a physical entity:

“The city is, rather, a state of mind, a body of customs and tradi-

tions, and of the organized attitudes and sentiments that inhere

in these customs and are transmitted with this tradition. The city

is not, in other words, merely a physical mechanism and artificial

construction. It is involved in the vital processes of the people

who compose it; it is product of nature, and particularly of hu-

man nature.”

it is easier when representing a city to separate the experience

into the physical and the intangible; thus, physical models trace

the geometries, reports and tabular data describe other facets.

Common diagrams of cities include those of figure ground, poros-

ity, movement, use, age of buildings, etc. such diagrams promote

specialisation, yet we acknowledge that segregation of knowledge

fails to help us grapple with urban issues. Furthermore, isolating

aspects of the cities into representations encourages strategies to

examine each element as represented, while we acknowledge that

NOTES: Project is about visualising relationships between points of in�uence in a city. These points are imagined as magnetic charges or poles that produce a �eld. The �eld is materialised with curves that run perpendicular to the charge direction.

USE LAYERS TO EXTRACT DRAWINGS

IDEAS: relates closely to pete/daves project whereby some kind of intrinsic measuring of the city produces a body of data that can be formally materialised in unex-pected ways.

NOTES: Project is about visualising relationships between points of in�uence in a city. These points are imagined as magnetic charges or poles that produce a �eld. The �eld is materialised with curves that run perpendicular to the charge direction.

USE LAYERS TO EXTRACT DRAWINGS

IDEAS: relates closely to pete/daves project whereby some kind of intrinsic measuring of the city produces a body of data that can be formally materialised in unex-pected ways.

NOTES: Project is about visualising relationships between points of in�uence in a city. These points are imagined as magnetic charges or poles that produce a �eld. The �eld is materialised with curves that run perpendicular to the charge direction.

USE LAYERS TO EXTRACT DRAWINGS

IDEAS: relates closely to pete/daves project whereby some kind of intrinsic measuring of the city produces a body of data that can be formally materialised in unex-pected ways.

A technique by shima ghafouri,

parametric Urbanism studio.

This project is about visualising

relationships between points of in-

fluence in a city. These points are

imagined as magnetic charges that

influence a field. The field is visu-

alised with curves that run perpen-

dicular to the charge direction. This

approach allows to organise subjec-

tive sampling of urban environments

(e.g., smell or noise) as data that can

be visualised in unexpected/sugges-

tive ways and utilised to inform de-

sign choices.

NOTES: Project is about visualising relationships between points of in�uence in a city. These points are imagined as magnetic charges or poles that produce a �eld. The �eld is materialised with curves that run perpendicular to the charge direction.

USE LAYERS TO EXTRACT DRAWINGS

IDEAS: relates closely to pete/daves project whereby some kind of intrinsic measuring of the city produces a body of data that can be formally materialised in unex-pected ways.

NOTES: Project is about visualising relationships between points of in�uence in a city. These points are imagined as magnetic charges or poles that produce a �eld. The �eld is materialised with curves that run perpendicular to the charge direction.

USE LAYERS TO EXTRACT DRAWINGS

IDEAS: relates closely to pete/daves project whereby some kind of intrinsic measuring of the city produces a body of data that can be formally materialised in unex-pected ways.

NOTES: Project is about visualising relationships between points of in�uence in a city. These points are imagined as magnetic charges or poles that produce a �eld. The �eld is materialised with curves that run perpendicular to the charge direction.

USE LAYERS TO EXTRACT DRAWINGS

IDEAS: relates closely to pete/daves project whereby some kind of intrinsic measuring of the city produces a body of data that can be formally materialised in unex-pected ways.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0101

NOTES: Project is about visualising relationships between points of in�uence in a city. These points are imagined as magnetic charges or poles that produce a �eld. The �eld is materialised with curves that run perpendicular to the charge direction.

USE LAYERS TO EXTRACT DRAWINGS

IDEAS: relates closely to pete/daves project whereby some kind of intrinsic measuring of the city produces a body of data that can be formally materialised in unex-pected ways.

A technique by shima ghafouri,

parametric Urbanism studio.

a city can be better understood as a complex adaptive system, an

approach that requires us to represent multiple systems.

one of the most difficult problems related to design and even

more when teaching design, is our inability to move beyond pre-

conceptions. Borrowing from social theory, we might suggest

that we are working within our “frame” or “schema”, a context

of stories, anecdotes and stereotypes that we used to interpret,

understand and respond to design opportunities. while such

frames may be extremely useful in our daily life in order not to

overload our brain with too much information, in the design context

it will lead us to fail to register much that could help us in the

design process. we are only aware of “framing” when we find

the reason to change “the frame”, and this is why diagramming

techniques can be powerful - design can start when you become

aware of your re-framing.

the two types of diagrams we have introduced, condenser and

abstractor, can be understood in another way. in this studio we

suggest that one may be understood to represent “knowledge of”

and the other “knowledge for”; where “knowledge of” describes

how things are, and the “knowledge for” how things may change.

parametric systems are used as they require the user to explicitly

articulate the component elements to be engaged and the relation-

ships between them. the graphic outputs can then be understood

by the user to represent the relationships of the components; with

multiple elements and diverse relationships, the outcomes are

beyond those which might be drawn manually. through these

NOTES: Project is about visualising relationships between points of in�uence in a city. These points are imagined as magnetic charges or poles that produce a �eld. The �eld is materialised with curves that run perpendicular to the charge direction.

USE LAYERS TO EXTRACT DRAWINGS

IDEAS: relates closely to pete/daves project whereby some kind of intrinsic measuring of the city produces a body of data that can be formally materialised in unex-pected ways.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0103

A technique employed by Edward

blanch, parametric Urbanism studio.

Intentions for movement held by pe-

destrians in the city are visualised

using simple particle behaviour.

particles (representing sound) are

emmitted from points within a city.

Their paths are traced to represent

spaces that can “hear” the source

sounds. particle reflect off building

surfaces and aggregate into sug-

gestive patterns. This diagrammatic

visualisation can be used dynami-

cally to evaluate consequences of

design choices.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0105

tools, the students can interrogate their abstracted understanding

of a situation and drive postulations by manipulating parameters

or relationships. Most importantly, the process exposes the ease

by which facile form may be generated and misinterpreted as

proposition. thus, the transition from diagram to proposition is

explored explicitly.

while there is much to understand about diagramming, we have

found this studio enormously rewarding as the design outcomes

we have observed were not those we would have predicted as

each student starts on their design process.

reFerenCes

Berkel, B. v. and C. Bos (1999), Move (amsterdam: un studio &

goose press)

A technique employed by Edward

blanch, parametric Urbanism studio.

particles emitted from a location

congregate around a point of interest

without approaching too close. This

dynamic diagram can demonstrate

a spontaneous creation of urban

rooms that are defined by the be-

haviour of the people. visualisation

of such events can inform and guide

spatial design decisions.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0107

scripting & MakingbhArAt dAveJuleS moloney

scripting & MakingbhArAt dAveJuleS moloney

Left: giovanni veronesi, Digital De-

sign Application elective, 2009, led

by bharat Dave. surface composi-

tion using transformations of cones.

photo by stanislav Roudavski.

Right and next spread: Antry Lau.

Digital Design Application elective,

2009, led by bharat Dave. Modulated

surface wrap around a pedestrian

bridge. photo by bharat Dave.

scripting & MakingbhArAt dAveJuleS moloney

to undertake in-depth exploration of the nature of operative knowl-

edge or how it has evolved in architectural design discourse is too

ambitious a task to attempt in brief space. however, it may be pos-

sible to briefly resurrect some recurring and persistent questions

that follow design disciplines, in practice and in pedagogy. how

do design disciplines situate themselves between the two cultures

of sciences or humanities? which specific dimensions of these

disciplines elevate them from being mere vocations or professions

to accord them significant bodies of knowledge? how do worlds

of ‘theory’ and ‘practice’, or teaching and research inform these

discussions? are there modes of teaching and research in these

disciplines that are peculiar and different from those in sciences?

while some of these questions may be partially answered, oth-

ers have elicited only tentative and provisional responses. ever

since the French academy royale d’architecture was established

in 1671 as the first institution to offer studies in architecture in

europe, oppositional tension keeps resurfacing between scientific

and designerly modes of teaching, research and practice.

these tensions are now playing out with different intensity fol-

lowing developments in digital information and communication

technologies. the worlds of intuitive and creative design are now

colliding with highly ordered and logical worlds of computer

representations and operations. echoing some challenges that

underpinned formation of the Bauhaus curriculum and birth of

new sensibilities against the changed industrial and political con-

ditions of the early 20th century, the rise of calculating machines,

their miniaturization and prospects for global connectivity pose

different transformative challenges for pedagogy and practice in

design disciplines.

against this background and faced with an opportunity to evolve

components of the new graduate program, how does one move

forward? the rapid pace of developments in digital technologies

MAP 1: 2010 P.0111

MAP 1: 2010 P.0113

and diffusion in architectural design practices and pedagogy have

fostered an experimental climate in which provisional explora-

tions outpace sustained theoretical reflections and consolidation.

instead of subscribing to a particular digital ideology or approach

that may represent only a passing fancy, we have developed three

graduate subjects that address contemporary fluidity of thinking

and approaches in digital design. each subject provides connective

threads to theory, research or practice in architectural design as a

focal reference. in framing these subjects, the underlying intent is

to contextualize how distinct modes and ends pursued in theory,

research and practice are sometimes mutually reinforcing and at

other times in opposition.

proDuCtion oF DigitaL spaCe explores theories and technolo-

gies of representations ranging from analog to digital and their

implications on the production of space. the subject focuses on

digital technologies and their consequences on reconfiguration of

vision, knowledge, professional practice and embodied experience

in material and virtual spatial design environments.

ConteMporary DigitaL praCtiCe focuses on impacts of digital

technologies on professional practice and services. it explores

This and next spread: jonathon

Long, parametric Miniature gallery,

Digital Design Applications elective,

2010, led by jules Moloney. photo by

stanislav Roudavski.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0115

MAP 1: 2010 P.0117

A technique employed by jonathon

Long, Digital Design Applications

elective, 2010, led by jules Moloney,

image 1. Diagram by gwyllim jahn.

Initial planar geometry is extended

to the boundaries of the fabricated

shell - a process that could be ap-

plied to any contoured model de-

scribed as simple polylines.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0119

issues such as emerging forms of professional practice,

status of professional knowledge and skills, use and value

of digital information in design, and digital fabrication and

assembly of contemporary buildings. the subject involves

guest lectures by practicing designers and case studies of

real projects.

DigitaL Design appLiCations offers a conceptual overview

and hands-on introduction to research topics and applica-

tions in digital design using symbolic representations and

operations. the subject introduces algorithmic thinking and

explorations of design spaces, generative techniques for var-

iational designs, designing for parts and whole relationships,

and technologies of material fabrication and assemblies.

A technique employed by jonathon

Long, Digital Design Application

elective, 2010, led by jules Moloney,

image 2. Diagram by gwyllim jahn.

Central volume bounded by the in-

tersected lines.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0121

jonathon Long, Digital Design Ap-

plication elective, 2010, led by jules

Moloney. physical model. photo by

stanislav Roudavski.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0123

This and next spread: kenny foo,

parametric Miniature gallery, Digital

Design Applications elective, 2010,

led by jules Moloney. photo by stan-

islav Roudavski.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0125

MAP 1: 2010 P.0127

MAP 1: 2010 P.0129

previous spread: fu shen ho, para-

metric Miniature gallery, Digital De-

sign Applications elective, 2010, led

by jules Moloney. photo by stanislav

Roudavski.

This spread: hong Yi, parametric

Miniature gallery, Digital Design

Applications elective, 2010, led by

jules Moloney. photo by stanislav

Roudavski.

Next spread: Danh Truong, paramet-

ric Miniature gallery, Digital Design

Applications elective, 2010, led by

jules Moloney. photo by stanislav

Roudavski.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0131

MAP 1: 2010 P.0133

This spread, left: model by shyn Yi

Cheah, Digital Design Applications

elective, 2009, led by bharat Dave.

photo by stanislav Roudavski.

This spread, right: model by golnaz

shariat, Digital Design Applications

elective, 2009, led by bharat Dave.

periodic patterns inspired by the per-

sian tessellations. photo by stanislav

Roudavski.

Next spread: model by Michael

Thomas, Digital Design Applications

elective, 2009, led by bharat Dave.

parametrically woven surface for a

pedestrian bridge. photo by stanislav

Roudavski.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0135

MAP 1: 2010 P.0137

Making for showTechnique used by kenny foo, Digital

Design Applications elective, 2010,

led by jules Moloney. surface is ap-

proximated with panels which are

then offset based on distance to at-

tractors. Model is fabricated in two

layers to give it rigidity and produce

light effects by way of overlapping

geometries. Diagram by gwyllim

jahn.

StAniSlAv roudAvSKi

Making for show

Digitally fabricated paper headpiec-

es. student projects from semester

1, 2010. Exhibited as hEADspACE

2, wunderlich gallery, University of

Melbourne, 2010. In shot, projects by

jarrod Caveny, jen Yea Chang, Col-

leen Chen, Zhengzhan Yang, ji Yoon.

video frame by stanislav Roudavski.

StAniSlAv roudAvSKi

Making for show

MAP 1: 2010 P.0141

This and next spread: headpiece by

Zhengzhan Yang, semester 2, 2010.

The concept for this headpiece is

derived from an analysis of surface

cracking.

architectural education needs to respond to the rapidly increasing

utilisation of computation in architectural design. Digital fabrica-

tion in particular is gradually gaining prominence as a fundamental

shift in design development and construction. Being able to fulfil

“informed manufacturing potentialities [becomes] a principal

strategy in realising innovative contemporary architectural design

intentions” (kolarevic & klinger, 2008, p. 7). the contemporary

condition of rapid change and intense experimentation poses a

difficult challenge for architectural education because architecture

schools have to introduce the new knowledge in parallel with its

emergence.

earLy Design stuDios

the design studio is an essential device of architectural education.

it supports experimental exploration of concepts, representations,

materials and processes, introducing students to the designerly

ways of thinking. its usefulness as a place of learning through

making is confirmed by the artisan traditions, Dewey’s (1916)

philosophy of education, Bauhaus’s vorkurs and recent research

(temple, 2007).

the role of the first-year studio is particularly important. it helps

students to form initial ideas about design and architecture, to

establish the foundations of their personal creative practice or – as

legitimately – to convince them not to specialise in architecture.

these first encounters with designing introduce students to wick-

ed problems and the ways to tackle them. Most new architecture

students need to abandon their preconceptions about design-

ing because their understandings of creativity are often naïve

and their knowledge of useful architectural precedents – mini-

mal. Moreover, design studio work typically requires significant

transformations in learning behaviour, away from habits formed

MAP 1: 2010 P.0143

during pre-architectural education. such transformations

can be challenging and uncomfortable. to minimise their

re-occurrence, it is important to initiate students into creative

processes able to provide an enduring foundation for their

learning and practice.

Digital design thinking

Discussing the challenges for architectural education in his

work on design pedagogy, oxman (2008) persuasively argues

that contemporary design teaching needs to be founded on

new digital design thinking rather than on templates typical

for paper-based workflows. today’s computational capabili-

ties introduce associative and performance-based processes

that were not available in the pre-digital era. these new

methods change the conventional relationships between

such fundamental categories as ideation and making or form

and material. reflecting the new capabilities afforded by

computing, recent architectural theory moved away from

once dominant notions of formal knowledge, typology and

representation to new concepts that prioritize dynamic gen-

eration in response to performance criteria and the linking of

design development to the affordances of material systems.

Next spread: hEADspACE 2 parade

hosted by signal art studio, Mel-

bourne, semester 2, 2010. The head-

piece in the shot designed and worn

by Adam herbert.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0145

MAP 1: 2010 P.0147

the need for change can be even greater in foundation courses

that typically focus on explorations of shape, colour, rhythm, light

and idiosyncratic experimentations with materials rather than

on issues of performance, generation and emergence. the new

emphasis on processes and materiality requires new vocabulary,

new domain knowledge, new practical skills and – consequently

– new approaches to teaching.

struCture oF the Course

the section draws examples from one course, a constituent of a

Bachelor of environments program at the university of Melbourne.

this course, entitled virtual environments, is intended as an in-

troduction to the use of representation in architecture, landscape

architecture, urban design and other allied disciplines. the course

is structured around a practical project – called heaDspaCe –

that necessitates learning about design precedents, encourages

understanding of digital architectural design theory and convinces

students to develop essential skills through practice. the heaD-

spaCe project asks students to design and build geometrically

complex sculptures that can be made from paper and worn on

the head.

the course consists of four modules. in Module i (engender),

students use drawings and physical scale models to develop

three-dimensional forms from the analyses of dynamic processes.

in Module ii (Digitize & elaborate), students use orthographic pro-

jections, contouring techniques and/or point clouds to describe

their models and convert them into three-dimensional computa-

tional representations. these representations are then modified

and extended with digital modelling techniques. in Module iii

This spread: hEADspACE 2 exhibi-

tion, headpiece by Zhengzhan Yang,

semester 2, 2010.

Next spread: hEADspACE 2 exhibi-

tion, in the background video frame

a headpiece designed and worn by

Zhong Chen, semester 2, 2010. In

the foreground, headpiece by james

spillane, semester 2, 2010

MAP 1: 2010 P.0149

(Fabricate), students use computer software to unfold their models

into two-dimensional components that can be cut out of paper.

these components are then used to manufacture self-supporting

paper structures, manually or with automated cutting machines.

in Module iv (reflect & report), students produce documents

describing their projects. these documents include justifications

of design logic, evidence of analyses and precedent studies, pre-

cise geometric descriptions, how-to manuals and depictions of

headpieces in context.

previous versions of this course – coordinated by a different

team – involved quasi-architectural project content (such as ki-

osks) and formal exercises (such as the task to represent a set

of geometric shapes in orthogonal projections). Motivated by the

ambition to teach representation in relationship to the princi-

ples of digital architectural design, two semesters ago stanislav

roudavski (with the help of John Bleaney, the senior tutor at the

time) restructured the course to incorporate digital fabrication

as its core technique. we adjudged that the building-scale briefs

were a distraction for the new students who lacked previous

design education. predictably, their design proposals were un-

critical copies of bland (or kitsch) commercial architecture. the

complexity of architectural problems undermined students’ ability

to focus on heuristic, conditional and iterative development. in a

course with the institutional remit to teach representation, there

was no time to teach design history. another solution had to be

found. By replacing a series of small quasi-architectural projects

with one comparatively abstract theme – the headpiece – we

were able to free resources that allowed us to accommodate

a challenging conceptual change and move from conventional

experimentation with different design media to an exploration

of digital architectural design with computer-enabled fabrication

at its core. as a result, we were able to give students an op-

MAP 1: 2010 P.0151

headpiece detail, project by

weisheng Ng, hEADspACE 1, se-

mester 1, 2010.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0153

portunity to produce completed objects rather than tentative

descriptions of proposals, such as drawings or physical scale

models. we also asked students to cope with unfamiliar and

unusual processed-based themes that discouraged uncritical

adoption of existing design solutions or unthinking importa-

tion of conventional building types. to encourage emotional

investment and make students feel greater responsibility for

their projects we organised for the designs to be demonstrated

in a prominent public event during a specially staged “fashion

parade”. For young people whose creative personality is still

in formation and who – many as teenagers – are particularly

conscious of their public image, such public exposure can be

highly embarrassing or highly rewarding. a public event at the

end of the course caps a prolonged development process with

a distinct and picturesque resolution reframing a potentially

dry project as a socially meaningful and emotive encounter.

Learning outcomes

the focus on digital fabrication allowed a move away from out-

moded emphasis on typologies, formal representations, visual

precedents and arbitrary ideas. instead, the structure of the

course prioritises gradual, iterative development that searches

for outcomes by exposing initial concepts to different media,

techniques, contingencies and materials.

in addition to emphasizing these new concepts, this digital

fabrication ascribes new meaning to the traditional tools of

architectural ideation and development, including descriptive

geometry, paper sketching, collaging and physical modelling.

working with these media within the framework of digital ar-

chitectural design, students become accustomed to transfer-

ring design content into different representational forms and

learning their comparative characteristics. integrated into the

process underpinned by digital fabrication, traditional tech-

niques, for example those borrowed from fine art, can

enhance and guide digital experimentation. to illustrate,

in the virtual environments course, students were asked

to base their designs on an existing dynamic event, for

example that of ink dissolving in water, plant extending

towards light, a match bursting into flame, a sand dune

pushed by the wind or a stalagmite rising from a floor.

having made a reasoned selection, they had to utilise

several forms of representation for the analysis of the

chosen phenomenon. this analysis could be conducted

through a variety of sampling techniques ranging from

a frame-by-frame review of a video sequence to the

staging of a practical sedimentation process.

Forms possible via computer-assisted fabrication are

unconventional and directly refer to the current state-

of-the-art experimentation in architecture. exposure to

such forms and associated methods encourages stu-

dents to question their preconceptions of architectural

designing and its products. instead of continuing with a

typical romantic image of a designer as an idiosyncratic

creator, the students experiment with process-based

approaches. Because relevant theory and precedents are

less obvious to newcomers, the students cannot rely on

existing knowledge and have to engage in independent

MAP 1: 2010 P.0155

search for the relevant conceptual context and the exist-

ing communities of practice. in our experience, this need

has the capability to inspire the students and tutors alike.

it can also leave behind weaker students who are unwill-

ing to do independent research. Making them understand

and assimilate deeper theoretical implications remains our

primary challenge.

introduction of fabrication allows students to develop ideas

in response to the contingencies of making, closer to the way

design happens in practice and, in extension, to the more

typical approaches to architectural education that support

students through ideation but frequently do not provide op-

portunities to engage with production.

the digital fabrication workflow requires coordination

between different media and skill sets. By focusing on a

holistic challenge of fabricating a complex form, this ap-

proach provides a context that demonstrates how multiple

types of media satisfy different pragmatic needs. working

on the project, students acquire skills in physical model-

ling, sketching, drawing, photographing, digitization, three-

dimensional modelling, unfolding, fabrication, writing and

desktop publishing.

engaging with such challenges in the context of digital fab-

rication is particularly useful because it results in easy-to-

perceive successes and failures. if the final paper headpiece

does not assemble, it is clear that a geometric mistake has

been made. as a result, “[w]orkmanship becomes evident

as a category of design decision-making, not simply as

a by-product or something that might be spoken of at a

designer’s whim.” (temple, 2009, p. 220)

reFerenCes

Dewey, J.: 1916, Democracy and education: an in-

troduction to the philosophy of education, Macmillan,

new york.

kolarevic, B. & klinger, k. r. (eds.): 2008, Manufactur-

ing Material effects: rethinking Design and Making in

architecture, routledge, new york; London.

oxman, r.: 2008, ‘Digital architecture as a Challenge

for Design pedagogy: theory, knowledge, Models and

Medium’, Design studies, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 99–120.

temple, s.: 2009, initializing the Discipline of De-

sign in the First project(s), proceedings of the 25th

nCBDs (national Conference of the Beginning Design

student), Louisiana, usa, J. sullivan and M. Dunn,

219–226.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0157

MAP 1: 2010 P.0159

previous spread: hEADspACE 2 Exhi-

bition, semester 2, 2010. In hte back-

ground video frame, a headpiece

designed and worn by Anne gaelle

poussin. In other shots, headpieces

by David fitzwillian, gumji kang,

james spillane.

previous spread, bottom left: head-

piece detail, project by Colleen Chen,

hEADspACE 2, semester 2, 2010.

This spread: hEADspACE 2 parade,

signal art studio, Melbourne, semes-

ter 2, 2010.

In the shot, a headpiece designed

and worn by james spillane.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0161

fragment of a photograph by john

gollings.

eugene

Making at full scale

eugene cheAh

Making at full scale

Making at full scale

MAP 1: 2010 P.0165

the skins 2010 Design studio in the Master of architecture

programme at the Melbourne school of Design, Faculty of

architecture, Building and planning, university of Melbourne

designed and built a permanent ceiling installation in the

ground floor concourse of the faculty’s building in the parkville

campus in late 2010.

the construction of the ceiling required 4600 minutes of

laser cutting, 378 hours of pre-fabrication, and 3 days of

on-site installation.

Materials used were 300 sheets of white and translucent

polypropylene, 16712 steel eyelets, and 200m of stainless

steel cable.

the result is a series of 784 modules, 341 are white plastic,

443 are translucent. each is unique, with differing proportions

and directionality.

the ceiling installation explores, firstly, the shifting relation-

ship between permeability, perspective and movement; and

secondly, the function of the concourse as both a circulation

route and a gathering space.

the overall form is a record and study of stationary and

moving bodies within the concourse. it maps and reflects

Unless mentioned otherwise, the

work in this section is produced

during skINs studio, 2010. student

participants: Neo fu, Rachel jones,

goh kai kheng, Adeline Leng, Chris

Loh, Tan Yee peng, Angelica Rojas,

sun shuli, fereshteh Tabe, Nicole

Teh, Melody Tong, Alex wong, kathy

wu, wong Chern Xi, keong pei Yi,

henry Tan Chia Zeh.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0167

The work of the skINs studio con-

tinues a sustain research theme that

exlores formal potentials of digitally

fabricated and parametrically con-

trolled geometries.

previous spread: priscilla Ang,

Cheryl heap, jingyi heng, Abstrac-

tion fabrication studio, 2009.

Right: Cheryl heap, Abstraction fab-

rication studio, 2009.

the activity in the concourse. empirical activity and usage data

gathered over the course of a 24 hour period was used as the

starting point for the parametric model.

the most intense gathering spaces create peaks in the undulat-

ing surface, while a circulation path is carved in between these

spaces as the troughs of the form.

the modules create large, permeable openings at gathering

spaces that correspond to main entryways such as the stairwell

and elevator doors. Large, overlapping, enclosed modules mark

independent, discrete gathering spaces, such as those around the

display shelves. the modules in between shift gradually from more

open to more enclosed, larger to smaller, creating a controlled rate

of change in the permeability of the skin.

the modules are grouped to open up and allow views through the

skin, directed towards key vantage points from the main entry

doors at either end of the concourse. as one passes through the

concourse, the ceiling gradually opens and closes in areas, shift-

ing its permeability in relation to the viewer, variously appearing

and dissolving.

Material, technique and form are interdependent. the studio ex-

amined this relationship within the context of the contemporary

cultural, economic and industrial landscape of mass customiza-

tion.

the studio was interested in the translation of the virtual to the

physical. students considered the production and realisation of

MAP 1: 2010 P.0169

MAP 1: 2010 P.0171

architecture informed by the seamless integration of processes

of generating design information and industrial production. this

integrated exchange of information has led to forms of architec-

tural production that bring designers deeper into the complexities

of making, assembly, and material formulation. the aim was for

students to develop an understanding of digital design and fabri-

cation technologies, as tools for managing a complex negotiation

of material, geometric, manufacturing, and assembly constraints

and the resulting effects.

through the exploration of these techniques, it was intended that

students would discover new forms of collaboration with industry,

challenge conventional methodologies, and suggest a future in

which designers are much more engaged in the total process of

architecture – re-associating design and making.

students investigated current industrial contexts, covering both

material production and manufacturing processes. Materiality

was a key design parameter, through its constraints of struc-

tural behaviour, available sizes and suitability to specific working

techniques. together with fabrication techniques, material perfor-

mance was a key determinant of the final design. From these, new

solutions were sought, utilising digitally-driven methodologies to

extend existing, and create new, possibilities.

This and previous spread: skINs

studio, 2010. Diagrams showing the

geometric operations used to pro-

duced the distorted hexagon grid of

the final installation.

Nest spread: A series of images

showing the construction of a typical

module. Compare with the bottom of

the following spread presenting the

same process as a diagram.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0173

MAP 1: 2010 P.0175

MAP 1: 2010 P.0177

From gottfried semper’s principle of Cladding in the 19th

Century, through to Mies van der rohe’s “skin and bones”

in the 20th, the separation of architectural skin and struc-

ture has been a central topic. this studio continued this

line of inquiry. students explored the complex and dynamic

relationship between architectural skin and structure. the

intersection, interstice and interdependency of the inner

envelope, outer envelope and load bearing structure, were

points of investigation. these conditions were the means

to explore, address, condense and bring together the

aesthetic, functional, technological values, of the project.

Top: student participants assemble

the installation.

bottom: an example of the documen-

tation used to manage the complex

logistics of fabrication.

Next two spreads: construction tools

and techniques.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0179

MAP 1: 2010 P.0181

MAP 1: 2010 P.0183

The installation in situ. The image

shows the suspension system of the

structure. photo by Eugene Cheah.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0185

Right and next page: completed in-

stallation. from original photos by

john gollings.

MAP 1: 2010 P.0187