2014 s1 shirley kwan

ARCHITECTURE STUDIO AIRSHIRLEY KWAN SHUK WA SEMESTER 1 2014

DESIGN

JOURNAL

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART A - CONCEPTUALISATIONA.1. DESIGN FUTURINGA.2. DESIGN COMMUTATIONSA.3. COMPOSITION/GENERATIONA.4. CONCLUSIONA.5. LEARNING OUTCOMESA.6. APPENDIX - ALGORITHMICS SKETCHESREFERENCES

PART B - CRITERIA DESIGNB.1. RESEARCH FIELDB.2. CASE STUDY 1.0B.3. CASE STUDY 2.0B.4. TEXHNIQUE: DEVELOPMENTB.5. TECHNIQUE: PROTOTYPESB.6. TECHNIQUE: PROPOSALB.7. LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMESB.8. APPENDIX - ALGORITHMICS SKETCHESREFERENCES

PART C - DETAILED DESIGNC.1. DESIGN CONCEPTC.2. TECTONIC ELEMENTSC.3. FINAL MODELC.4. ADDITIONAL LAGI BRIEF REQUIREMENTSC.5. LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMESREFERENCES

04-05

06-1112-1718-23242526-2728

30-3132-4344-5152-6162-6364-6768-6970-7172

74-7576-8990-101102-103104-111112

INTRODUCTION

My name is Shirley. I am currentlly in my final year of my archieture major in the University of Melbourne. I am from Hong Kong, a small place where 7 millions of people are living in. I am therefore always trying to look for the most efficient way to manipulate spaces.

Architecture to me is not just a shelter in the nature but also somewhere human can experience spaces which will affect their feelings. Emotions and actions.

Travelling is always one of my favourite activities. Through travelling to different palces, I can develop my interest and accumulate my knowledge in Architecture. I enjoy taking photographs of buildings, to keep a record as well as a medium to capture the essence of each design. Having said that, sometimes I like to put my camera down and just experience and sense the architecture. In particular, I enjoy immersing in the moments when the buildings talk to me and it is the moment that I am able to experience something new. The constant thrill of discovering and exploring is what fuel my passion in architecture and inspire my designs.

In 10 years time, I see myself...wearing formal suit, sitting in a conference room, making decisions for my clients on behalf of my company. I will also have developed my own design style in architecture in a very sophisticated and comprehensive way to archieve this objective. Researching and analysing various projects are the keys to broaden my view and understanding of the profession.

04

My first experience on using rhino was during virtual environments in my first year of university. The project of designing a lantern gave me a chance to familiarise myself with some of the commands in Rhino. I was able to practise my skills such as the panelling tool and the process of unrolling for printing to make the physical model, to name but a few. I did not use grasshopper to make tabs because my design contained 200 separated blocks which were too complicated and too much for me and the computer to handle. Therefore all the joining tabs were made manually from Rhino. The hardest part was to stick each blocks together and to form the final product.

05

A.1. DESIGN FUTURING

06

Human has been seen as the worst nightmare of the planet earth because of our impact on the environment through the process of addition and subtraction for our own comfort. Designers, as one of the biggest contributors to such disruption to the environment, have a growing concern about the consequences of our act. They have been putting more emphasis in their design in order not to destroy the nature, ‘design, in the first instance, has to be understood anthropologically’.1

Anthopology means taking concern on games, nature, and future of humans. In regards of design thought, we should always ask ourselves the question of whether or not the design will bring harm to the nature and our community. We have to use our ‘ability to prefigue what we create before the act of creation’.1 Futuring is the

key point to avoid destruction.

Futuring simply means for the future. If our designs are for the future, we first have to understand and tackle the existing problems - lacking of nature resources and climate change. The immediate solution that comes into my mind is ‘sustainability’, so as to most other architects nowadays. Think green is what we have to do. However, the idea and message of environmental protection or sustainability should not only work within the building itself. It should brings out the idea of green and education the general public - the most powerful architecture that transform people - which should also be oen fo the aims for us if we were to achieve true sustainability. The first and most efficient step is to allow human to engage and participate in the creation of the building. It can be in a form of contribution to the building like public art installation for example. In this way, people of all age and background are welcomed.

07

AIR TREE

In madrid, the capital of spain, a hulking structure is being built at the center of the city. It is a tower which is surrounded by many pots of plantation. It brings greenery to the main street of the city and gathers people around to create a public meeting point. This helps to change the industrialised city into a greener and more sustainable city.

The air tree is considered as a 100% energy self-sufficient structure. Photovoltaic cells at the top have produced a sustainable amount of energy which will be sold to the local electric company.2 Also, it is used to provide electricty for the sprinklers that water the plants. It is not only zero net carbon emission, but also giving out oxygen like a TREE. On top of the extra fresh air it is providing to the city, the temperature inside the pavilion in summer is expected to be 8-10oC lower, which creates a great space for people to stay in. Trees will also be grown near the structure to enhance the cooling effect to the urban environment.3 Besides being energy sufficient, this struture is also being built with recycled materials. Recycled gasworks are used to shape the structure around.

ECOSISTEMA URBANO ARCHITECTS, SPAIN

Regarding the structure itself, it does not have an over-complicated shape, as the functions of it is the most crucial part. The design intent of the project is fully reviewed on this air tree. Besides of using green energy, it also serves as a great common area for people to gather around.

This to me is a piece of architecture that changes people, both the public and the architects. Comparing to the buildings nowadays, whihc are mostly having zero net carbon emission, this building takes a step further. Hopefully, this will bring competition between firms and benefit the city at the end.

To the public, the awareness of the importance of sustainability has been raised, as everyone would like a cooler summer, which will be done by constructing this green island in a fully developed city. People will hopefully start to realise what had destroyed the enviornment and be more concerned about the environment.

08

REFERENCE: INHABITATE09

MIRACOCOARCHITECTS OF AIR

The sucess of the public art is come from being interactive. The design idea is simple but well executed. The reason for its attractiveness is the distinctive feeling that visitors would not experience anywhere else in their daily lives. Uniqueness of space sparks curiosity of us human and a giant glowing reflective ballon surely does the job.

Miracoco has certainly taught every architect of its generation a lesson. By taking the long-existed idea of movable tent-like structure and reinventing it, Miracoco opens up a world of possiblity with inflatable architecture that is light, free-forming and easy to set up. Obviously, this also owes credits for the everso advanced computer programmes that allow the simulation of geometry like this. It might not be the best architecture to exhibit sustainability, but it has surely shown the world a way to do it.

A public art installation should be suitable for every age group of visitors. Being mass-oriented and universal are the key points for public installation. There should not be any targeted group.

Miracoco is one of the luminarias designed by architects of air in 2011. It is a monumental inflatable structure which aims to create a sense of wonder amidst the beauty of light and colour. It has been exhibited around the world and interacted with the public. Around 2000 visitors per day set foot into this giant balloon. Some visitors described it as a futuristic space station or a human body.4

the atmosphere inside the luminaria is very different compare to the outside no matter where it is exhibited. It seems to be from a completely isolated dimension. The uses of light and colour have created a very blissful environment. the architect successfully created a space for people instead of a venue for event as people who occupied the space are comfortable to do what they want to do, may that be just laying down or meditate.

The geometry of the structure is determined by the numbers of reinforced restraints. The coloured PVC allow changes to luminosity according to the various radiance of the daylight transmitted. It creates a direct impact to human senses.5

10

REFERENCE: ARCHITECTS-OF-AIR11

A.2. DESIGN COMPUTATION

12

In the older days when computer was not as powerful and advanced, the complexity of design can be quite limited. It is not always viable to build complex physical model due to cost and time and two dimensional drawings can cause misunderstandings and miscommunication. ‘design is a process we engage in when the current situation is different from some desired situation, and when the actions needed to transform the former into the latter are not immediately obvious’.6 design problem is not always as rational as arithmetic. Unlike mathematics there is no absolute solution; but like mathematics there are plenty of ways to solve a problem. While a human brain can be powerful, it still gets tired and therefore, it is up to the computer to generate multiple possible outcomes a matter of seconds. This allows unprecedented flexibility and that is why it has become an alternative design tool.

In the past decade, computer has quickly developed from merely an alternative to pen and ruler to a machine that designs.

Computerization and computation are two different design processes that involve the use of computers. The main difference is the stage when computer is involve in the whole design process.

Computerization requires computer to complete the drafting work and visualise the idea in the designers’ head8. With the help of the computer, it forms the realistic structure which checks the possibilities and rooms for improvements. This also allows easier presentation and communication.

Computation, on the contrary, involves computer at the very beginning stage where programmes are designed to generate site or parameters specific solutions and from then on the designer takes charge with the ongoing aid from the computer which then act as presentation tool as well.8 program such as rhino provides a medium for designers to try on a variety of solutions in each stage of the design process. But of course there is no definitive answer as to which computational strategy is better, as both of them allow designers to tackle problems along to process. Either way, computer-aid design often creates structurally sound looks the same as how the architects envision it.

13

OPUSFRANK GEHRY, HONG KONG

Before the involvement of computer, the project will have already gone through several stages of design.

Gehry always starts his design with a sketch in ink. he then does massing model for the building. By playing with the arrangement of the timber blocks he experiments the relationship between the building and the site condition.9

Upon arrival of a basic conceptual design, detail design comes into play and it is then when computerization gave a hand to the progress. With the help of computer programs, it allowed a photo-realistic visualization of the building to be created and published in a rich flowering exhibitions and publications.9

Before the construction, a parametric digital model was created in computer with helped solving every element of this highly innovative design. This is also what allows the detailing of all the unique facade units in today’s cost-efficient industry. This led to a more efficient process comparing to the days when computer were as power to solve structural detailing.

Computerization - ‘the dominant mode of utilizing computers in architecture today’.8 it is about automation, mechanization, digitization and conversion. A preconceived, predetermined and well defined design or process is being digitizing into computer.8 by the use of computer aid, it helps to create and manipulate a ‘real’ thing in order to give a visualised presentation to the design.

Most of the designs from gehry are regarded as complex, non-monotonic and innovative. This is what makes him stands out from the rest of his generation. Opus, the first residential building from Gehry in Hong Kong, a place where most buildings are high rise and regular in shape. Gehry’s free flowing form has given a great alternative to architectures in Hong Kong.

As with most of Gehry’s work, opus has an extremely complex geometry with unique profile for each facade unit with the building twisting as its raises.

14

REFERENCE: MAUD DESIGN & BUILD15

[C]SPACE PAVILIONALAN DEMPSEY, LONDON

Computation - a computer based design tool which helps to build complex structures.7 It involves a generation of integrated simulation software such as rhino and grasshopper that can do structural calculations. The emergence of digital materiality and material fabrication in designs are very important which relate to the conception and production through file to fabri-cation. They allow users to use digital tectonics as a tool to explore with different materials and forms.

[C]space pavilion is formed by discontinuously spanning of 10m thin fibre reinforced concrete to construct as structure as well as skin, floor walls and furniture.10 To combine all these elements into one form, computation strategy is involved to test out the optimum angle of intersection at each joint which varies across the structure.

The design is developed through rigorous con-straint modeling and scripting to control over 850 different profiles individually and 2000 joints.10 the structure underneath is exposed as a simple planear that is never parallel. With the help of computer, these planears with dif-ferent shapes, angles and spacing in between are being controlled to express the flowing movement in the design.11

Since the structural elements have become part of the design parameter, it shows how design and construction industries are being merged and collaborated. It is also one of the aims for the project to challenge architectural convention and start pulling in structural en-gineering and the building materials industry into the design process. Digital explorations in architectural design with advanced structural calculations are carried out by computation to form a unique and innovative design with lots of controlled creativity within the structure.

[C]space pavilion allows us to understand how important computational design is as structure like this will not be made possible without the help of powerful programmes like grasshop-per. This also illustrates how the collaboration between industries at an early stage can still work well and produce a unique outcome.

16

REFERENCE: ARCHITNECT FIRMS17

A.3. COMPOSITION/GENERATION

18

‘Parametric design is a new form of the logic of digital design thinking’.9 it serves as a medium of digital design to allow changes in values of parameters within a parametric schema. The writing of rules or algorithmic procedures helps to create variations.

A parametric schema includes geometric relationship, materialization selection and fabrication method. These can be verified in order to obtain different outcomes. Any of the changes will also give a different result. it is a great medium for designers architects to play with to create alternatives within a limited time.

Parametric design has brought benefit to the design industry a lot. Designers can create innovative design with irregular shape and playing with tectonic properties.

However, since the variations are endless, the number of rules needed to govern the design can be overwhelming. Therefore, sometime it can difficult for the designer to figure out which commands they should use in order to archive what they desire. Therefore, parametric modelling is in a way a simpler and more efficient way of creating variations. At the same time, ‘algorithm as the method of capturing and communicating design’ is hard to handle perfectly.13 it requires designers to communicate with the program more and has to take control at times which can still be a challenge for designers.

Talking about tectonics, some people argued that whether or not the architects should take the role of engineers in their design. i believe it is essential for an architect to know what can and what cannot be built. Architects might not need to know how it works, but whether it works. Therefore, program like this can be really handy during the earlier stages of design.

19

VOLKAN ALKANOGLU, NEW YORKSTAR COCOON

Bamboo is not the most popular choice of building material but in fact has great structural properties and it is quite sustainable. It is flexible enough for bending; provide a certain degree of transparency and an organic property which matches with the design idea very well.

Materialization in parametric design is seen as part of the design process. Various materials can be tried and to archive different outcomes and solutions that the designers can choose as they will. However, it is also easy to fall into the trap as to isolate the design on its own and get too concern about the performance instead of its relation to the site, context and intangible parameters. Also, it is important to bear in mind that natural material like bamboo does not have a uniform structural performance, therefore, blindly following the design generated from fixed parameter can be dangerous and creates unsound structures.

Parametric design is closely related to computational design. Materialization is part of the generation process which has a huge impact on the design outcome. ‘material experimentation and innovation in such differentiated fields includes the ability to modulate conditions of the porosity of material surfaces, the potential control of light penetration and so on’.9

Star cocoon is designed as a gathering space. it has an a pierced volumetric cocoon shape to allow transparency, monolithic and ephemeral qualities. Bamboo is used to construct the structural frame which also acts as a grid to define the curve shape. to support the whole framing structure, computer has been utilized to calculate the curvature and its impact on the load bearing performance. Each piece of bamboo was bent with an adjustable jig and heated up to retain the shape. The curvature varies along the surface of the cocoon; therefore it requires a different degree of bending for each piece of bamboo. To archive this, algorithmic scripts are written to govern the surfaces to allow optimum use of material, which in terms optimize the cost and efficiency on fabrication.

20

REFERENCE: FLICKR

REFERENCE: VOLKAN ALKANOGLU

21

LA VOUTE DE LEFEVRE INSTALLATIONKNOWLTON SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, COLUMBUS

Fabrication is often the final stage of the design process which showcases the possibility of the final outcome. Using a computer, a surface can be divided into hundreds or thousands of little surfaces and being combined together again after fabrication.

La Voute de Lefevre installation involved computational design and digital fabrication. This was usually associated with superficial, modern and fast. However, it is a volume which is seemingly thick, heavy, ancient and permanent. This shows what the technology is truly capable of.

The installation looks like a pavilion with three thick columns and a roof. The whole structure is formed with solid honeycomb shape surfaces. Computation is used in this project to guarantee its stability in a volumetric scale. Parametric design calculates the loading distribution and optimises the use of material. The different sizes of the openings with vary the weight of the units are based on a volumetric calculation in order to obtain a zero tension structure that allow it to stand forever.12

Fabrication plays the main role in this project. The vault is made of Baltic birch plywood. Each custom unit is dissected and sliced into three quarter inch thick sheets awaiting in thickening which physically re-constituted into a rough volumetric form of their final geometry. These roughs are indexed onto a full sheet and glued, vacuum pressed, and re-placed onto the CNC(computer numerically controlled) router.12

With parametric design, irregular shape structures are made possible. Therefore, fabrication is the most efficient way to make the physical structure on schedule and on budget. Fabrication that employs parametric design opens up a whole lot of opportunities for innovative design which are not possibly with the traditional engineering techniques. It may also be used to restore complex structures such as the gothic cathedrals

22

REFERNCE: MATTER DESIGN STUDIO

23

A.4. CONCLUSION

Architecture can be seen as a medium for passing out message to the crowd. a public art is the most direct way to express its words. My intended design approach for lagi is to give out the message of sustain-ability through a public art with green installation. It will not only be a sustainable energy generator but also being green on the architecture itself. Parametric design is being more environmental friendly than the traditional building technique on materialization and fabrication. These are all controlled within the design with the help of computation. At the same time, parametric design is way more creative and innovative which helps to attract the public away from the central industrial city, copenhagen, to a new developed site enjoying and interacting with the new architecture. It does not only bring benefit to the public but also to the built industry.

24

A.5. LEARNING OUTCOMES

After 3 weeks of lecturing, reading and the practice on architectural computing, I fully understand the con-cept of computational and parametric design on designers’ role, and how they used of these tools to design and how it helps on their design. They are very different from the design strategy and approach in traditional architectural principle. If I could improve my lantern from virtual environments, I would try more method on parametric design such as scripting and play on integrating algorithm to create a more interesting design.

25

A.6. APPENDIX - ALOGOTHMIC SKETCHES

As mentioned before, parametric design collaborates architectural design with engineering technology. it is important for architects to understand the tectonic in their designs and be able to demonstrate with digital model that was what Gehry had done for opus, so making the process more efficient for construction.

i have used an open loft surface to try on the frame structure. I assumed it was a timber strips structure and made with bolt joint between each intersection of curves. Although it looks simple and unrealistic, it means a lot to the builder.

i think it is interesting to play with joint, as it does not only being transform to obtain the shape. it really needs a logical way to make it. i will be exploring more types of joint which can be made with grasshopper in later time and helps to advance the technical part of Lagi project.

26

THREE LOFTING CURVES

GRID STRUCTURE WITH BOLT JOINTS AT INTERSECTIONS

ZOOM IN BOLT JOINTS

MAKING OF INTERSECTING GRID CURVES ON LOFTED SURFACES

MAKING THE BOLT JOINTS

27

REFERENCES

1. Fry, T. 2009. Design Futuring. BERG Oxford: New York, pp. 1-16.

2. Yergaliyev, K. 2008. ‘AIR TREE’ Structures in Madrid produce Oxygen and Energy, in Inhabitat. <http://inhabi-tat.com/stunning-air-trees-only-byproducts-are-h2o-energy/> [assesed 13 March 2014]

3. Eco-Boulevard, in Ecosistema. <http://ecosistemaurbano.com/portfolio/eco-boulevard/> [assesed 13 March 2014]

4. The Experience, in Architects of Air. <http://www.architects-of-air.com/the-experience.html> [assesed 13 March 2014]

5. Luminaria, in Architects of Air. <http://www.architects-of-air.com/luminaria.html> [assesed 13 March 2014]

6. Kalay, Y. 2004. Architecture New Media. MIT Press: Cambridge, pp. 1-25.

7. Terzidis, K. 2006. Algorithmic Architecture. Elsevier: Boston, p. xi.

8. Swire Properties Ltd. 2014. Programming and Massing. <http://www.opushongkong.com/en/Design_programming.html> [assesed 21 March 2014]

9. Oxman. 2014. Theories of The Digital in Architecture. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group: London & New York, pp. 1-13.

10. DRL10 [C] Space Pavilion, in SDA Synthesis Design. <http://synthesis-dna.com/project-example-1/> [asse-sed 21 March 2014]

11. [C]Space - DDRL10 Pavilion, in Blogspot. <http://cspacepavilion.blogspot.com.au/search/label/rhino> [assesed 21 March 2014]

12 Grozdanic, L. 2012. La Voute de LeFevre Installation Investigates Stereotomic Design through Digital Fabrica-tion. <http://www.evolo.us/architecture/la-voute-de-lefevre-installation-investigates-stereotomic-design-through-digital-fabrication/> [assesed 26 March 2014]

13. Peters, B. 2013. ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectual Design. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 83, 2, pp.08-15.

28

B.1. RESEARCH FIELD

30

MATERIAL PERFORMANCE

Material used in architecture can be various in generating form and structure, facade decoration or self supporting structure and tectontic meth-ods. Different materials have different properties. We should consider it strengths and weaknesses, load bearing capacity, ductility, color, texture and opacity in order to archieve an ideal design and fullfill the design intent.

Form and structure can be generated by the use of materials. Flat and curve form can be formed by different materials which are various in ductility properties such as wood verses steel. Steel has a higher ductility profile so it can bend more than wood. For example, Guggenheim Museum which demonstrates how steel could undertake the role of curvy form. For wood, it can have curve sur-face but could not span as large as steel does.

Facade or internal space decoration or the visual expression of an architecture mainly rely on the material used. It is mostly part of the design intents which gives the first impression to the audience. Whether the material is opaque or transparent, and the degree of opacity, depends on the material itself, such as the contrast of glass, translucent membrane and wood. They all give different expressions.

Self supporting structure plays a big role to modern architecture which the structure itself is the material used for supporting itself and the outermost layer. This helps to reduce the use of material and resources. However there are a lot of details should be consider, such as the tectonic detail between joints and make sure the joint are supportive to hold up the structure without shearing and tilting. Moreover, there are much more to play with self supporting structure such as having vaults amd curve surfaces.

31

B.2. Case Study 1.0

32

VOUSSOIR CLOUDIwamotoScott, Los Angeles

In this case study, we have explored the techniqe of using a single material to cre-ate a structure with no framework and being supported of itself by compressive force. The structure of it is made up of columns and between columns, vaults are seen to con-nect the columns and create a roof structure. Compressive force between vaults is the key of how the patals on the roof can be maintained without falling down. It has the same idea of masonary arch but applying on a much larger scale in a structure. Compressive force is in-visble and its hard to construct by calculating it through our head, therefore, computation method is helpful to find the in between force and the relationship between the columns to create constructable vaults.

3D petal shape panels are filled throughout the whole structure. They are made up of light weight, thin laminated wood which can create curved surfaces. Since the material is very light in weight which it does not apply lots of load onto the structure, so it can stay up in a stable manner. Each petal has differ-ent irregular shapes because they need to fit smoothly on the form and connect tightly to-gether to maintain the structure. It is important that they fit very well and in good compressive strength. Here, computation is important as to calculate the shape and curvature of each petal. Moreover, the same material is used for the connection between petals. Thin seams on the edge of petals, acting as tabs, which connect each other with bolts. The tabs could be easily made with accurate dimensions by computational program.

Voussoir Cloud gives a great opportunities for us to learn and apply on the LAGI project, especially the use of material in a more dy-namic way. A single material used for multi purposes can reduce recources used. As well as applying compressive force on the structure to make it self-supportive and neglecting the use of reinforcement and structral framework.The vaults created are definietly inspiring which they open for pathways within a structure. Vaults can be varied by differentiating the dis-tance between columnsto adjust the height and width of openings. Moreover, it also allows us to think in a re-versing way in relationship to the structure and material used. Light weight material has more opportunity to build up a structure with less touching to the ground and being held up by itself.

Since the petals are all in different scale and dimension, and the numbers of petals are nu-merous, so it has to be handled much carefully in fabrication. The labelling must have to be very clear to make sure the particular petal is fit back to its position. Also, it is different from normal construction method, the builder must be very clear minded and careful on connect-ing the petals.

34

Series 1: Direction of the Spring input

Size (S)Length of vaults (L){l} Stiffness 6000{E} Stiffness 1000 Damp 15

1.S 0.1L -0.8{l}

2.S 0.1L -0.8{E}

3.S 0.1L -2.7{l}

4.S 0.1L -2.7{E}

5.S 0.4L -0.8{l}

6.S 0.4L -0.8{E}

7.S 0.4L -0.8{E}

8.S 0.4L -2.7{E}

36

EXPLORATION

1. TFFFF

2. TFFFF

3. TFF

4. TFFF

5. TF

6. TFFFF

7. TFF

8. TF

37

Series 2: Change of anchor points by Cull patterns

Changing the number and location of supporting points fixed on the plane

Series 3: Damping and UForce tool

1. UForce vectorX: 0Y: 0Z: 25Time: 1t



4. UForce vectorX: 0Y: 20Z: 82

5. UForce vectorX: 20Y: 20Z: 82

6. Extrude Z vectorby -9.5

7. Extrude Z vector by -1.5

8. Extrude Z vector by -48.5

9. Scale factor: 0.2Time: 1t

10. Scale factor: 0.2Time:2t

38

11. Scale factor: 0.9



39

Series 4: Inputs of Kangaroo HydroPressure tool

1. HydroMesh + CutoffTime: 1t



4. HydroMesh + CutoffScale factor: 0.1Time: 1t






10. HydroMesh + CutoffExtrude Z valueby -42

40

11. HydroMesh + CutoffExtrude Z valueby -21

12. HydroMesh + CutoffExtrude Z valueby -3Time: 1t

13. HydroMesh + CutoffExtrude Z valueby -3Time: 2t

14. HydroMesh + CutoffExtrude Z valueby +12

41

‘Successful’ Iterations

Selection Critieria:

An eye-catching form that creates pathways for directing visitors enter the site and reaching the main attracting fo-cuses. They are the water taxi terminal on the South and the river with cityscrape on the West, as well as the little mermaid. It should allow people to walk through the structure as it is a green public land art which prefer to have maximum interaction between people and the structure. Also, it is better to obtain a semi open space which feels more open to the public and increase interaction with the spacious site and the surrounding environment, but at the same time creating a shelter for people to prevent extensive sunlight and rain. On the pathways, we would like to engage with generating electricity by placing Vibrational Energy Sheet which is the most efficient and interactive method for the public to participate.

1

2 4

3

42

Extrapolate:

1. It has less intersecting curves with a clear form which is easier for fabrication. When making the series of damping, we tried to focus on the properties of the relaxation of the vaults which looks possible for people to walk through. So, at 2t, it creates a higher arch when comparing with 1t with the same scale factor of 0.2. Also, it looks possible of having column-like bases which probably can stand on the flat site.

2. The use of damping with scale factor of 0.9 creates this structre of having smaller vaults between columns but obtains a larger column base. The hollow column created a space which we do not intenionally aware of, but we think that it could also be a potential public land art with gallery space with the structure and in-between the space for people to sit on and enjoy the gallery space with arts hanging on the wall.

3. In the series of using HydroMesh and Cutoff in Kangaroo, most of them look like a blown up balloon structure which look very eye-catching and interesting. Here we are trying to obtain a structure which two sides of the bal-loons could stand on the ground. In between the balloons could be the walkway. We concern more on the dimen-sion of the walkway so to adjust the number of time interval.

4. It is similar to the one above, instead od using scale factore. It changed with Z-value of -3. This time the po-tential walkway is much larger. It is also interesting to obtain two different sizes and it will be placed in a gradient direction of the site. It is possible for making as a ramp with upper facing to the river view. People can walk up to the highest point of the ramp to obtain the best view.

Speculate

We chose number 1.It has few columns-like bases which possibly creates pathways under the vaults.It also has a canopy structure which provides more shading to the public.It has a roof to create a semi open area.It does not have a lot of messy lines and have a clear structure.It has more potential for making patternings on the surfaces to make it more at-tractive.

43

B.3. CASE STUDY 2.0

44

Seville MetropolJurgen Mayer-Hermann, Spain

46

The selected project for case study two is Seville Metropol. The giant wooden waffle crown like structure with heavy concrete look-ing columns for the base and waffle grid is forming the canopies and walkways below the parasols. It creates a elevated plaza on the roof and restaurant cantilevered. It can be seen that the waffle grid is not a supportive structure which it acts only as a decorating panel. The structure is mainly supported by the hollow reinforced concrete insdie the structure and steel bars used to provide tensile force to the canopies to prevent corrupting.

The design intention of this project is to be-come a landmark of Seville and provide multi functional space for the public to enjoy a new urban environment within and outside the structure and the cooperate with environmental friendly system.

The form of the structure is a free form but with consideration on where the columns should be placed in order to create the desiable space under the span. Also, it has also been consid-ered on the view of the cityscape when the highest point are where the main structure are being placed. This allow people to enjoy walk-ing around the structure with different focuses on different sides of the strucutre.

The semi open space under the strucure are also a key area for the public to enjoy with. It is important to consider the shading ef-fect by adjusting the size of the waffle grid pattern and the canopy structure. From the outcome, it looks successful on the shad-ing and the shadowing of grid effect.

Since the structure is huge and having big contrast to the surrounding, it attracts a lot of people to visit. Also the use of grid pattern create a more special feature. The innovative form suits very well into the site.

The choice of material is using oganice timber which is environmentally considered. There are also solar system placed on the roof as to generate electricty from solar energy.

I think the design intent has successfully be-ing achieved as it has the desirable outcomes and reaction of functions used by the public.

Experiment

1. Thinking the outline of the form and creating curves at the two ends and one in the middle which has a gradual change on the surface

2. Lofting the curves in order to create the sur-face of the form. It can be adjusted to its desiable shape by changing the loft option.

3. Considering the pattern on the surface. Making intersection lines on the lofted surface.

4. Extruding line into a surface.

5. Making it more realistic for fabrication by offset-ting the surfaces and create thickness.

48

By doing a reverse of engineering method in grasshopper, we learn to develop a design which is already in our head, step by step using our understanding and knowledge on grasshopper to build up the desirable design. Here in this case study, we firstly create curves which are already similar to the struc-ture and divide them into points. Then, by making intersecting curves, we only could think of using geodesic curves, so we use explode tree and arc tool to join up points on each curve joining the closest point of it to create uniform lines. It could also create intersecting curces on the surface by shift tool, so point to another point can be adjusted differentiating on number of shifting point. Then, adjust the thickness of each curves by extrude the curves and offset the surfaces created.

49

1. Outline the shape of parasol and loft them into a surface.

2. Create box to enclose the whole structure.

3. Look for the base edges of box using ‘List Item’. Divide and create planes on points of the edges.

4. Intersect the loft surface with planes created.

5. Extrude intersection lines to create thickness

50

This is the original outcome of Case Study 2 by using the provided grasshopper definition. A very neat and clear waffle grid pattern lies on the structure form. It is compariable to the one we reengineered. They do have some similari-ties. They both have a hollow column struc-ture at the base to support the canopy roof, which look like a tree. Both surfaces are laid with grid pattern and formed with strips with thickness to demonstrate materiality. However, in contrast, it looks more rigid for the original one as it has straight flat roof structure and the strips are clearly defined which are much easier to fabricate. Also, the spacing between each strip is uniformly patterned no matter how the form is and can be adjusted by changing its number. For our reengineered one, it looks interesting and innovative but the grid pattern is not as regular as that of the original one. The spacing between strips varies at different curvature of the form. As well as the intersect-ing points are not touching perfectly which will be hard for fabrication.

After a comparison and trials, we found that the waffle grid pattern has more potential on our free form structure. As in it could create a more uniform grid pattern on it surface, and the fabrication technique is workable and easier to carry on.

51

B.4. TECHNIQUE: DEVELOPMENT

52

Series 1: LunchBox tool applying panels on structure

1. Square

2. Quad

3. Diamond

4. Quad randoom

5. Skew quad

6. Triangle A

7. Triangle B

8. Triangle C

9. Hexagon

10. Delaunay edges

53

1. Skew squad

2. Diamond

3. Quad random

4. Quad

5. Staggered quad

6. Triangle A

7. Triangle B

8. Triangle C

Series 2: Using of string to hold separated panels

54

This serie does not give any structural support to the struc-ture. It will be possible if hang-ing it up, but it does not fit to our intent.

1. Geodesic with arc curves

2. Geodesic wiht arc curves

6. Polylines explode loftExtrude factor: 0.3Ease messy lines

5. Polylines explode loftExtrude factor: 0.3

3. Geodesic with linesShift:clockwise 2anticlockwise 10Offset: 3Extrude: 0.2

4. Geodesic with linesShift:clockwise 6anticlockwise 6Offset: 3Extrude: 2

Series 3: Geodesic curves

55

The lines are too messy when all are meshs instead of surfac-es. They are hard to fabricate.

1. Divide points: 70Shift points:clockwise 6anticlockwise 6Offset: 3Extrude: 0.2

2. Move control pointsDivide points: 70Shift points:clockwise 6anticlockwise 6Offset: 3Extrude: 0.2







Series 4: Combination of Case study 1.0 and 2.0’s definitions

9. Divide points: 35Shift points:clockwise 2anticlockwise 10Offset: 5Extrude: 1

10. Divide points: 35Shift points:clockwise 2anticlockwise 10Offset: 3Extrude: 1

56



13. Arc 3 pointsDivide points: 35Shift points:clockwise 10anticlockwise 10Offset: 3Extrude: 0.2

57

1. Connect closest points on contour- Arc- Arc- Line

2. Connect closest points on contour- Arc (40 points)- Arc- Arc

3. Connect closest points on contour- Line- Line- Line

4. Geodesic curvesShift:clockwise 5anticlockwise 0

5. Geodesic curvesShift:clockwise 0anticlockwise 10

6. Moving control points of contour lines to ad-just the height

7. Moving control points of contour linesDivide points: 30, 40, 25

8. Moving control points of contour linesDivide points: 30, 25, 25

Series 5: Testing a combination of three shells

9. Moving control points of contour linesDivide points: 30, 25, 25Shift:clockwise 5

58



13. Arc 3 pointsDivide points: 35Shift points:clockwise 10anticlockwise 10Offset: 3Extrude: 0.2

59

Re-consider Selection Critieria:

After the first round of selection criteria from Case Study 1, we think that our four possible outcomes are not rich enough to fulfill the brief and our design intent. As Case Study 1 is fo-cusing on the form more, it is lacking of visual attraction simply on the form. By continuing with Case Study 2, we are looking at grid form pattern which enhances the attractiveness of the land art and playing on the shadow effect by creating different patternings. Add-on to the previous selection critieria, we are trying to find a grid form pattern which could be possible for fabrication, rigid as it looks contrasting to a free form with liquefy looking and creates interesting shadow effect.

61

B.5. TECHNIQUE: PROTOTYPE

62

Unrolling the waffle grid into strips.

In a scale of 1:100, the vault looks too short.

Testing the shadow effect.

Looking at the overall appearance and satisfy with the spacing between strips.

In this test of our prototype, We concentrate on part of the waffle grid between the vault and the column to explore how they connect together. Also the use of light weight timber strips are under tested to observe its materiality proper-ties. As well as the effect of shadow, the functional possibilty and the scale.

Since our form unables us to make it arches in grasshopper, so we manually made them in Rhino. Because of hand-cut, the arches for connection is not that accurate, so this prototype fails to check its rigidity of connections. Also, the vaults for pathways are too low which has to be refinded. Other than that, it is being satisfied. The waffle grid structure gives expressive appearance which can atttract people and the grid form shadow creates a special effect which children may feel interesting.

63

B.6. TECHNIQUE: PROPOSAL

64

LAGI competition is hoping for an innovative design which could promote and generate green energy while having interaction with the public by creating a land art on a piece of plain grass land beside the river.

Our design aims to create an eye-catching structure that can allow people to engage in generating electricity as well as acting as abstract but effective sign of the city’s ambition in promoting sustainabilty.

65

Computation and algorithmic techique is explored by the relaxation of vaults formed by damping. It tends to create a structure having vault between columns. This provides great opportunity for us to develope it into a structure which having vaults as the openings and pathways passing through the structure. It has the potential of making a semi open walkway on the site to direct people from the main road to the two main focuses around the site. They are the water taxi terminal on the South and the beautiful cityscrape with the famous little mermaid across the river. Moreover, to make the structure rigid and can be fabricated. We chose to use the Waffle Grid pattern, which allows simpler fabrica-tion method and having a expressive appearance to attract more people to come.

The use of new innovative method of energy simulation, Vibrational Energy Sheet, gives good interaction with the user. The vibrational energy sheet will be placed on the pathways along the structure. By Research, 900000 people walking across a one square meter of an energy sheet on a busiest pedestrian area, it can generates around 78Wh daily. In regards of a household consumes 301kWH per day, it requires to generate for thousands home. It seems not possible to generate 100% for all homes, but we will hope to create a dual system which can generate enough energy to all people.

66

Conceptual achievement:We have been proposed of creating relaxing vault and the free form by using rigid material such as timber in order to make a contrast of solid material but fluidity form. It is necessary for the material to have curves but not easy to break under. A waffle grid structure has successfully created on the damping made free form.

Technical achievement:We are able to make our design to a fabriction process by creating a waffle grid structure and making interock-ing joint between two intersecting sirfaces. Although it was not being unrolled in grasshopper, we did it in Rhino. It might be too complex for grasshopper to run even there is a tiny error.

To conclude Part B with a little drawback, our group has been facing a lot of technical problems using grasshopper especially when we would like to unroll a waffle grid with mesh surfaces. We are not able to change the meshes back to surfaces, so we cant fabricate. The problem was actually there were some edges of a curve cannot make a proper surface, but we could not see it in Grasshopper. However, when we tried to get back to do it in Rhino by fixing a single fault manually, then it works! Thererfore, the problem of grasshopper is that we cant pick out a sin-gle fault in a group, next time when we face the same problem, we will definitely try it in Rhino an fix the defeat.

67

B.7. LEARNING OBJECTIVES and OUTCOMES

68

This course has been taught us of parametric design by the good use of computation in design progress. Because of using computation, it is more efficient for us to generate lots of outcomes by adjusting single variable. By having a selection criteria in head which relates to the design intent, then it will be fast to pick up few possible and potential outcomes and carry on further development and at last there will be the one which fits the most and being innovative after several stages of refinements.

The theoretical research task has broaden my view in architectural design and processes. Every project will have its own definition in computation design progress. Architect is trying to push the definition to its limit so to produce unique design. As well as, the roles of computation in design progress allow us to create something we never imagin. It provides us lots of opportunites and a cretive platform for us to design.

After the interim presentation, we failed to create a design which meets the criteria of the project. There are few reasons for this. Firstly, since we could not find a way to unroll and fabricate a geodesic curves form, so we decided to simplify the form into a very simple which does not even being a parametric design. By this technical issue, it caused the main failure reason. However, we do agree that we did not put enough effort to play with grasshopper, the parametric tools, which blocked our design to a further standard. More explorations are need to our process now. We should definitely need to go back to our previous outcomes and explorations, making a list of selection criteria to choose from. Moreover, we tried to choose an outcomes which can be properly fabricated.

Now we have decided to use waffle grid instead of geodesic curves for the surface, since it is too complex for fabrication. And with the advantages which have been discussed, using waffle grid structure is appropriate and desiable to obtain a workable and attractive design. As well as waffle grid structure allows of using timber which is light weighted and more environmental friendly material.

69

B.8. APPENDIX - ALOGOTHMIC SKETCHES

At the time when we do not know how to fabricate our structure, I thought of applying similar technique of AA driftwood to our design. It will be the sectioning method. Then I realised and questioned of myself how to make the sectioning pieces then linking back together to btain the same form again.

From the video tutorial, we learnt how to join the sectioning pieces with frames. This allows me to understand clearly on how to make the structure rigid and heavily on the ground. At last we did not use this method because using wood frame is usually on solid structre but not a srface like our design.

70

AA DRIFTWOOD FRAMES

71

REFERENCES

1. Robert Venturi, “Diversity, Relevance and Representation in Historicism, or Plus ça change . . . Plus a Pleafor Pattern All Over Architecture . . . ,” the 1982 Walter Gropius Lecture, in Architectural Record ( June 1982),114–119, p. 1162. Menges, Achim (2012). “Material Computation: Higher Integration in Morphophonemic Design”, Architectural De-sign,82, 2, pp. 14-21, p. 203. Kolarevic, Branko and Kevin R. Klinger, eds (2008). Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design andMaking in Architecture (New York; London: Routledge), pp. 6–244. Peters, Brady. (2013) ‘Realising the Architectural Intent: Computation at Herzog & De Meuron’. ArchitecturalDesign, 83, 2, pp. 56-615. Luis Patron. The World (2008) <http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/lets_generate_electricity_by_walking> [assesed 4May 2014]6. Ferry, Robert & Elizabeth Monoian, ‘Design Guidelines’, Land Art Generator Initiative, Copenhagen, 2014. pp 1- 10

72

C.1. DESIGN CONCEPT

73

After the interim presentation and also the readjustment of Part B, our design was told to be too general. It was not interesting enough and did not actually relate to the site. We were still not handling the idea of parametric well and controlling the parametric tool that we were supposed to use. Therefore, we looked back to our exploration outcomes which using different parametric tools and tried to find another one which would have more potential for us to develop our design. We found that forms generated from Kangaroo with moving anchor points are more interesting. From changing the anchor points by cull patterns creating a dynamic form, we would like to base on this tool to incorporate with wind energy into our design as to meet the brief of providing sufficient energy for thousands of household.

By research, we found that employing the wind skin technique in our design is workable. It is flexible to put on surfaces. By the powerful piezo film used, it can convert wind energy into electricity through vibration. Also, it is small in size, so it could be kept in a small area with large amount of those little fur to be panelled on the surface as to generate maximum amount of energy.

74

Our design intends...

“TO CREATE A VISUALLY DOMINANT LAND ART IN COPEN-HAGEN. THE LAND ART IS DESIGNED BY HAVING AN IN-

TERACTIVE LANDSCAPE. VISITORS CAN INTERACT WITH THE LAND ART AND PARTICIPATE IN THE PROCESS OF ENERGY GENERATION PROCESS FOR PRODUCING ELECTRICITY FOR HOUSEHOLDS. WE WOULD LIKE TO USE WIND ENERGY AS

OUR MAIN ELECTRICITY GENERATION TOOL.”

75

Ways of cooperating with wind

Ways of engaging with potential usage

Ways of enhancing the design intent

Ways of capturing wind

This would affect the distribution of anchor points

This would affect the shape of the landscape formed

This would affect the displaying of the landscape formed and the fabrication process

This would ensure the workability of wind skin and the construction process

76

COOPERATING WITH WINDDensity of anchor points

76

By analysing the direction and intensity of wind in Copenhagen annually with wind rose to decide the density of the anchor points on the plane. Area with higher intensity of wind would have denser anchor points so to allow capturing more wind. So on the southwest, it has the densest points.

24%

7%9%

9%

7%

11%15%17%

77

Then, we start to consider the height of the points. When using Kargaroo Physics tool, we were able to adjust the form where would like to be higher or lower by shifting the anchor points manually. This allows the higher to cap-ture more wind energy. Therefore, we decided to put more anchor points on the southwest as the highest where it has the strongest wind coming from. South-east side as the second highest and followed by the north.

HighestHighLowLowest

COOPERATING WITH WINDHeight of anchor points

Anchor points

78

To consider the potential usage of the site, we decided to give a major pathway to the design. From our site analysis, people would come from the east which is the main street road to either the west for viewing the little-mermaid across the river or to the taxi terminal on the south-west. Hence, by creating the pathway, we adjusted the anchor points along the path-way to a lower position and also moving the points on the pathway to aside so to create a more significant valley looking. After it was trimmed at a certain level by considering the height of the highest and the lowest point of the landscape, the ground on the site becomes the pathway.

ENGAGING WITH POTENTIAL USAGECreating pathways

79

The form generated by Kargaroo tools will stretch the form from one point to another. Hence forming a dynamic landscape. Since the base of it was not flat, we trimmed the base to sit stably on the flat site. By doing so, we have been controlling the anchor points very carefully and also the scale of the design. We would like to place our design throught out the whole site, but at the same time the height is also a key to the landscape. It could not be too high since thinking of the construction problems, but not too low as to remain the curvature of the landscape and also putting advantage on capturing wind. Also, we have been controlling the width of the pathways by controlling the level of trimming the base. Al-together with all these consideration, trials with computation tools allow us to obtain our desir-able design more effectively. It allow us to go back and forth to make changes immediately and at last obtaining our final design form.

80

Final form. It was chosen because it has prominent hills and valleys formed and in a possible scale which the base can be trimmed to obtain the ground level.

81

After chosen the final form, we tried to think of how to enhance the design intent of capturing more wind and increase human interaction with the landscape, and as well as finding a way for fabrication. Then we came up with section-ing. It helps to increase surface area of walls which used to put more hair to capture more wind energy to generate maximum of electric-ity and also it creates walkways for people to walk through the design.

Since most the wind is coming from the West and South-west, sctioning are cut parallel to the wind, so the hair is perpendicular to the wall as in capturing the maximum wind. The sectioning space is 1.3m which allow a single person experience in the narrow space and interact with the hairy walls at two sides.

ENHANCING THE DESIGN INTENTCapturing more wind and increase human interaction

Besides having the main pathway to the view of Little Mermaid and the water taxi terminal, there would be also paths linking with two exploration areas which are surrounded by the walls and also places for them to rest or even find another route to go. This creates a playful area for them to experience. There are also openings between walls allow people to walk through and explore between the hairy like wind skin walls. Also, they help to penetrate some sunlight into the dimmer space which help to direct people to another opening.

At the top of the wall would have denser hair since having the maximum intensity to collect maximum energy. The bottom would have less denser hair but allowing people to touch and interact with the hair to help generate electricity at the same time.

Since the highest wall reaches around 15 meters high, the openings are not enough for lighting. Therefore, we decided to put LED lights into some of the hair to give people a less terrifying feeling.

82

PathwayArea of explorationPathway used to enhance human interaction with the design

83

85Bird View

CAPTURING WINDPiezoelectric film

Using the project ‘Wind Skin’ as our base of research, we were able to understand how the piezo electric technology works.

The main component is to have a piezo film. It is covered with a tough plastic protective skin and an outermost layer of elastic material as the coating, which is smooth to touch on.3 The piezo film is connected to electrodes and electric wires. Once the wind vibrates the piezo film or people touching to the hair, it gener-ates an electric spark which pass the energy to the convertor and generate electricity for households. The electric wires are covered with plastic tube and inserted into the concrete wall and down within the hollow core.

To estimate the amount of energy can be captured from our design, we have to test whether the wind could pass through every single spaces between walls. Therefore, we have used CAD simulation software to test the relationship between the wind and the land-scape. It is use because ‘digital quantitative and qualitative performance-based simulation represents the technological foundation of the emerging performative architecture’.5

Piezo film

Wind Skin2

86

Piezo flim

Plastic tube

Electric wire Collective tube

Convertor Households

Hollow core concrete

Tough plastic skinElastic material

Piezo film

Adhesive

LED light

87

Since wind is a finite energy, energy reduces gradually when it hits on a surface. Regards on our landscape, the CAD simulation software shows us that the higher velocity of wind is hitting on the outer boundary of the walls, where the inner faces ofthe walls has less energy of wind.

To resolve the problem of having different distribution of wind energy in the structure, the length and the density of the hair were adjusted to capture wind energy in the most efficient way. Hair at the outer boundary of the walls is shorter and less dense, where the density and length of the hair increase progressively towards the centre of the wall. Moreover, hair with no piezo film is placed at 1m beyond the outer boundary. They are employed to reduce the ineffectiveness in this area due to less energy received and avoid usung extra films which increses the cost ofthe project. However, films with identical length can still be found in the landscape. They are where the small separated structure sitting on the side of the site where having relatively equal amount of wind energy passing through and areas where is reachable by human. As we also need human interaction to support our wind generation system, so piezo films are installed in those areas.

CAPTURING WINDAnalyse through CAD simulation software

88

Wind Inrensity Analysis

Hair lengh

89

Hollow core concrete panel

Reinforcement

Bracket

Piezo film

Collective tube

TECTONIC & CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

Precast hollow core concrete panel is the core element across our design. The tallest wall reaches 15m high, so it is not possible to use a single panel instead. The main concerns here are the joint between panels and the stability of the walls.

Reinforcents and galvanised steel brackets are used to connect two panels tightly togeth-er. Reinforcements are also providing tensile strength to each panel to improve the stalibilty of the whole wall.

Moreover, thickness of walls are refined of having gradual decrease of thickness from the bottom to the top, 300mm to 200mm. This helps to stablise the wall to prevent buckling at the top.

Since there are only some basic construction materials used in our design, walls can be manufactured in factory and transport to as-sembly on site.

90

Foundation on site is ready before installation of walls. Strip footings are inserted in designed location under each wall.

Prefabricated hollow core concrete pan-els are manufactured in factory and transported to the site.

Crane is used to tilt up the panels and asseblied to allocated position.

Stacking up the panels with crane and insert reinforcements and brackets to join the panels

91

concrete panel

reinforced concrete strip footing

C.2. TECTONIC ELEMENTS

92

Before making refinement to our final design, we have been making a prototype testing the shape of the landscape, the process of fabrica-tion for sectioning and allocating where to put the wind skin. We chose to use timber texture for walls as to give a landscape feature. How-ever, we found that there were better solution for our design. Firstly, it looked too flat for the overall shape. It could look more dramatic as to create a more eye-catching structure, and also give people a more playful environment as to walk through various heights of walls. Secondly, the use of timber for walls was not worked for real construction. Since the height of walls could be more than 10 meters tall, it was very hard for timber to stack up to reach the height. Also, it would be difficult to put the wind skin all and without space inside to connect with electric wires which linked to the convertor. Therefor we thought of using hollow concrete panel instead, not only having good load bearing capacity but also allow wires to connect easily.

Thirdly, we were looking at how to put the wins skin on to the model. We tried to indicate the density of hair on walls by sticking cotton wool on the edges of walls. However, it did not look good, so we decided not to show on our final models, but detail model only.

Based on learning from the prototype we made, it allows us to see the problems easily. Tutors could have a clearer sense of what we are doing to give advices. At that time, another question has been raised. Would it be too dark for people to walk between the taller walls? Yes, so we refined our design to put LED light into some of the hair on the walls, to illuminate people’s way and give a different feeling between walls having stripping of lights.

93

PROTOTYPE OF HOLLOW CORE PANEL 1A part of the wall with wind skin

94

1 2

3 4

In this first attempt of making a hollow core concrete panel, we chose to use a concrete mix which would be the major material used in the real construction process of manufacturing a concrete panel. Before mixing the concrete, we made a formwork in a scale of 1:5 of a hollow core concrete panel by using clear polystyrene sheets. Afterwards, we mixed the concrete mix with instructed amount of water. Then pour the mix product into the formwork and wait until it was dried. After more than a day, it was totally dried. Since the formwork was not stiff enough to hold the rectangular shape, it expanded on the edges of the formwork. Also, the major problem of this prototype, there were a lot of hard hard aggregates floated on to the surface , which made the surfaces very rough. It would be hard to insert wind skin and affect the appearance of the walls. Therefore, we did not take this as the final product, but we decided to make another panel with cement mix using the same process.

95

PROTOTYPE OF HOLLOW CORE PANEL 2A part of the wall with wind skin

96

1 2

4 5

3

With the second attempt, we reused the form-work made in the previous attempt. This time was using cement mix instead. The texture was smoother than concrete mix. After the cement mix was dried, we removed the formwork. It was smooth in surface but very hard and stiff. It was more successful than using concrete mix. After that, we started drilling holes into the panels to put in transparently tubes. They are the hair. Since it was too small, we could not make the films inside of the tubes. At last, we put a layer of plaster onto the surface, which used to hold up the hair tightly without exposing the joint be-tween the panel and the tube.

In real situation, cement mix was not the only material use for manufacturing the hollow core concrete panel, it looks the best instead for our prototype. The hair will be more denser than here because it was difficult for us drilling perfect and consistent holes and we broke the edge of the hollow core easily.

97

FINAL MODEL1:1000 Site model

98

Water taxi Terminal Main Entrance

We found this 1:1000 final model is the most useful tool to present our design. The use of white base represents the site having existing buildings at the side matches with the black landscape looks very attractive. Also, it shows the overview of the structure on the whole site and the direction of walls to capture maximum wind, and as well as the flow of interaction be-tween human and the major pathway. However, the experience between walls is hard to imagine with this model, so a 1:100 model will consider this point. Also the wind skin is not shown in this model since they are too small to show and learnt from the previous prototype as not to put cotton wool, so a detail model will show the tec-tonic relationship between the hair and the wall.

Basically, unrolling the 3D digital model in Rhino and layout onto a templete sheet preparing for fabrications Labeled each piece of wall onto the sheets in order to mark it in sequence and easy to make the final model. There are slightly cuts on the site board as to mark the place of each sectioning walls to make sure its accuracy. After that, we simply sticked the walls on to the site board one by one.

99

FINAL MODEL1:100 Part of the site

100

This 1:100 model is used to show the sense of height and space between walls, and also show-ing pathways and openings on the walls. which allows understanding of how human interact with the design. This model was made basically with the same method as the site model, but the colour is different since there were no thicker cardboard in black at FABLAB, so we chose a greyish cardboard which to match the colour of concrete.

Through this model, (top) it shows the height of openigns in regards of the height of the walls. The walls are directing human to the exploration area. Also, (bottom) it shows the shadow of the walls by placing a light on the South direcftion. The opening is seen on the shadow which acts as a signal of where to go.

101

102

Entrance

103

Exploration area

C.4. ADDITIONAL LAGI BRIEF REQUIREMENTS

104

Our group intends to create a visually dominant piece of land art in Copenhagen. This interactive landscape allows visitors to participate in the process of energy generation for households. Having wind and air movement as the main source of energy, the form of our design is derived from the wind rose analysis in Copenhagen. The purpose of the design is to capture the maximum amount of wind located in the site. At the same time, the structure is designed to enhance the human interaction within such that energy is also generated by movement of people. The project conveys the idea that active engagement from pedestrian may contribute in the green energy generation process. Also, through the design, people are educated through their own experience that they can act green easily in their daily life. A parametric derived form is created to integrate with this project, it allows us to generate an innovative design by using different data and control variables well cooperate with the site analysis, so to obtain a very logical and interesting design under extract numerical and visual evidence.

Wind skin has been chosen in our design for energy generation. The piezoelectric film is em-bedded in the tip of each of the hair. When vibration occurs, the voltage of the film varies and electricity is generated. Wind skin is cho-sen because of it is light weighte and is able to install on surfaces easily. Also, it is relatively low in cost compared to other electricity genera-tors. Moreover, elements of our design change parametrically according to the dynamic real-life situation. The wind skin provides great flexibility in customizing the dimension of unit.

According to our research, each piezoelectric film is able to generate 4.2e-11 kwh in a cycle.4

Therefore, in total we are placing 32,144,800 pieces of piezoelectric film in the site. Our design can then generate electricity of 58254 kWh annually. Around 40 households would be benefited in this design. Not only would the site generate more energy if the wind is stronger, but it may lead to more people coming to site and interact with the structure, treating it as an attraction.

Dimension list of the primary materials:Hollow core concrete panels (length x width x thickness): 2000 x 1200 x 300mmReinforcement (diameter): 12mmPlastic skin for protecting the piezo flim (length x diameter x thickness):Shortest (located in the outer boundary of the wall): 80 x 15 x 1mmMedium (located gradually inward from the boundary): 12x 15 x 1mmLongest (the innermost of the wall): 200 x 15 x 1mmPiezo film (length x width): 73 x 14mm

The design is able to provide sufficient electricity for 40 households daily. Although this is not a large number, the production and use of renewable energy sufficiently conveys our intended message of individual contribution. The piece of land art would be comprehended as an encouragement for human to live a sustainable life in the future. Also, recycled materials including recycled concrete and plastic would be used – crushed pieces of concrete are used as gravel in concrete mixture and recycled high density polystyrene is used in hairs. This does not only reduce the cost of the project but also its embodied energy. The concrete panels are precast in a factory which increases the efficiency in manufacturing in terms of the use of form-work and materials. We aim to promote our green idea both conceptually as well as in a visible manner.

105

C.5. LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

106

107

After our final presentation, we were told that our final design have a lot of potentials and that we should develop it further. Using wind skin as our energy generator was proven to be in-novative and interesting. It also works well with the landscaping strategy that we came up with a form with openings that would create a fas-cinating maze-like experience while a person is in it. However due to the large amount of time spent on explorations of different ideas and wast-ing time pursuing less feasible schemes, we left ourselves very little time to refine and work up the finalised scheme. There were a few things that were being criticized during the presentation. Firstly, the spaces between walls were too dark. To solve this, we have decided to fed optical fibres through some of the hairs to lighten up the otherwise terrifying area. Secondly, we were questioned about our energy generation output calculation. Since we have assumed all the hair could capture maximum wind, we obtained a high value which is way over-estimated. Hence, we should seek for a mean value or other more reliable data to support our calculation. Finally, we did a wind check on CAD simulation soft-ware to show that our design can capture wind effectively. However, we were asked if the hair at the back would not reach maximum wind energy, is it necessary for us to put film in it? After careful consideration of the functionality and the aesthetic of the design, we re-run the wind check programme with different alternatives and decided to adjusted the length and density of hair at places where there will not be sufficient wind energy to generate electricity. Furthermore, we could have tried to cooperate more with other information we gathered from the site analysis to enrich the design such as natural light and shadow. Nonetheless, with the limited time, we should probably focus on refining our design to make sure it works as we expected it to.

During the course of this semester, I have definitely changed my view on parametric design. Before I thought that parametric design was heavily relying on the computer software to generate random designs, but now I know that I was wrong. After 12 weeks of engagement on parametric design analysis and design processing, I have change my view on it and I am definitely feeling more confident in digital design.

In the first few weeks of exploration, I learnt to ‘develop capabilities for conceptual, technical and design analysed of contemporary architectural projects’. This was how we found out about wind skin and that it had great potential to become a part of our design. Then based on this concept, we tried to analyse and did research on how we were going to apply the technology, how to design it so that we can get the most out of it in an effective way. We then work on how the form could suit this technology well while not compromising the aesthetic value. By having this objective, I was able to ‘interrogate a brief’ based on the questions we set up. This made sure that we address the design brief critically, while constantly referring back to our site analysis and potential usage. This process of constant questioning and going back and forth allows us to think deeper and eventually lead to a more innovative design. With the intense design process, we made full advantage of softwares like the Grasshopper and Rhino that should have covered most of the ‘skills in various three dimensional media’ in this course. The use of computation in the design process was the most challenging part, but also took up the most important role of the design.

As mentioned earlier, I was mistaken that para-metric design was just about generating random shapes and forms. Now I realised that it was only the case because I had not have the full understanding of the relevant programmes. Af-ter this course, I would say that I actually have the software under my control. It could be a controlled design generated by altering differ-ent variables but could also be set up to obtain randomness. It gave us opportunities to change anchor points to achieve our desire outcomes but also we could apply random options to the scat-tering of the hair we had on the walls to make it more organic. The most effective and helpful role of computation was that it gave us tools like the Kangaroo tool. It helped us to deal with what we could not accurately build in our mind, such as creating a damping force structure. Without para-metrics, we will definitely not be able to create such dynamic forms, maybe on paper, but never a concrete resolved design.

Nonetheless, while working through the generation process, there will always be moments of frustration on technical difficulties, especially when we had the image in mind but could not figure out how to replicate it on the software. Because of this hurdle, we were often forced to settle for a simpler method and to ignore the problems we had. This was definitely not a way to deal with difficulties as it would limit how far a design can go. Now I have learnt from those challenges, I am seeing them as a driving force to allow us to explore more possibilities. Under extrapolations, we could understand their advantages and disadvantages more clearly. Also fabrication is one of the important parts within this subject. Fabrication tends to become part of the design criteria but at the same time also relates to the brief and design intent. This will enrich the design idea a lot to achieve an overall coherent design.

After this 12 weeks process, I have completely changed my opinion towards parametric designs and I am actually fascinated by it. Although my skills of using parametric modelling programmes may still be quite basic, I hope that by practising more and learning from others’ definitions and video tutorials, I can manage to create my own definitions for my design using this intriguing design tool one day. I believe that I will be applying a lot of the skills I have learnt in this subject for the future projects. Whether or not they are based on parametric design, I am sure that there will be opportunities for me apply what I have learnt in this wonderful design experience recorded in this journal.

108

Between Walls

109

111

Exploration area

REFERENCES

1. SI Inc. Piezoelectric Film Products (2014) <http://www.imagesco.com/catalog/sensors/piezo.html> [assesed 27 May 2014]

2. John Thackara. Ten Ways to Redesign Design Competitions (2011) <http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/feature/ten-ways-to-redesign-design-competitions/29088/> [assesed 25 May 2014]

3. Marion Jestin. Wind Skin Materialize and produce wind energy (2012) <http://www.ensci.com/fr/createur-indus-triel/ateliers-de-projets/m-sindall/projet-eleve/article/11735/> [assesed 22 May 2014]

4. Measurement Specialties, Inc. Piezo Film Sensors Technical Manual (2007) <https://www.sparkfun.com/data-sheets/Sensors/Flex/MSI-techman.pdf> [assesed 22 May 2014]

5. Kolarevic, Branko (2014). ‘Computing the Performative’, ed. by Rivka Oxman and Robert Oxman, pp. 103–111 pdf

6. Burry, Mark (2011). Scripting Cultures: Architectural Design and Programming (Chichester: Wiley) pp. 8-71 pdf

112

The End.

2014 s1 shirley kwan

Documents