ARCHITECTURE DESIGN STUDIO AIRThe University of Melbourne

Lee Qianning Michelle | 590224

CONTENT

Introduction Previous Studio Works ProjectsComputing in Architecutre National Musuem of the American Indian Milwaukee Art Musuem

I grew up in Singapore and is always very fascinated and excited about design and facades of houses since I was young. My passion in design of houses then grew and playing with lego became my favourite past time as I can build whatever designs I wanted in my ‘house’. I came to The University of Melbourne straight to 3rd year as I graduated in Singapore Polytechnic with a Diploma in Architecture which was given extra credit points and advance standing. A few months before starting University I work in a local architecture firm for 3months and work on a university project located in Singapore. However, I prefer to work with residential landed projects as a smaller group of architects are involved and the project takes a shorter period of time to complete unlike commerical projects which requires large amount of planning.

Introduction Previous Studio Work

During my 1st year in Singapore Polytechnic, we are to proposed an Eco House for a family of 4. Which I then came out with my design concept, “allowing nature to evolve into an interactive space”. As the owner wanted the house to be eco-friendly, nature is seeped into the space and less enclosures is used. The spaces between the outdoor and indoor spaces are interconnected and the outdoor deck is built bigger for interactive purposes. A courtyard and open terrace is placed in the middle of the house to allow the spaces to be interactive.

To allow nature to seep in, protruding elements are built and there is a use of large transparent sliding glass doors and window panels. Thress bushes and water features are also placed around the house to block off unwanted views and sounds which gives the owner a sense of privacy.

Weighing openness and enclosure, the use of less walls and columns allow air ventilation throughout the house. The house is also cross ventilated to allow the air to cool the interior spaces.

In my 2nd year, we design a SOHO (Small Office Home Office) for an Artist. I came out with the design intent experiencing tranquility within living spaces. The strategies were to allow the views to be facing greenery, having a quiet and condusive environment and lastly a spacious work area and at the same time having a clear segegration between work and living spaces.

Planter boxes are located directly outside every units to allow users to be closer to nature. In addition, green walls and planter boxes with creepers are located at the shelthered terraces allowing users to relax and view nature.

Tadao Ando, Row House (Azuma House), Osaka, 1975

One of my favourite architecture project is designed by Tadao Ando, Row House (Azuma House), Osaka, 1975. Ando’s work is sensitive towards the relationship between nature, climate and also subject to social and cultural influeneces.

The house sits on a simple, narrow rectangular site and is divided in two spaces. Ando designed the house to be in contact with light, air, rain and other natural elements to connect back to the Japanese life-style. One of the space in the house is exposed to wind and light to allow the user to interact with the environment. An internal private street is designed within its enclosure to give users a sense of itimacy and privacy.

I like how Tadao Ando design his houses to be closerto the environment. This allows the use of less energyand electricity and it makes me feel relax and at peace when I am closer to nature.

Projects

Moving on to the 3rd year final year project, we proposed a dance centre for T.H.E Dance Company. The concept was exploring the movement of a dance which I came out strategies such the juxtapositioning of spaces and having connections between the public and the dancers.

Double volume spaces are designed to allow maximum interaction between the dancers and the public.

Experience with Digital ArchitectureDigital architecture is the ‘in’ thing in this century where many architects use to generate and share their ideas. One of the Architects that uses digital architecture is Frank Gehry. Hand built models are built to capture the design intent. After these models are refined, Gehry Partners uses Catia software to create three-dimensional computer models.

In prior to digital architecture, I have used 3d softwares such as 3d Studio Max, Google Sketchup and Vray, Autocad, Revit Architecture to generate forms for my project massings. I also used these programes to do renderings of the exterior and interior views for my projects

I haven exactly used Rhinoceros and Grasshopper for my previous projects thats why Im pretty excited to start this semester to learn more about these programmes!

WOHA, Alila Villas Uluwatu, Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia, 2009

Alila Villa Uluwatu sits on a ecologically sustainable development located in the southern cliffs of Indonesia, Bali. The design of this hotel and villa is a fusion of vernacular architecture with a modernist design and uses Balinese architecture.

The buildings are inspired by the local farmer terraces. Thus rather then using typical steep pitched Balinese pavilions which would have block the paranomic views, a terraced low pitched roof is used. The material of the roof is natural insulating and it blends with the natural landscape.

The villa rooms are designed more like a inhabited garden rather than an interior room like any other villas. This make staying in Alila Villas interesting as it would make us feel closer to nature. The room allows extensive sunlight to enter which would reduce the use of artificial lighting. Every villa has a pool overlooking the sea which makes us ‘wake up to nature’ every single morning.

The materials used around the villa are mostly natural or sourced locally such as stone walls, timber, bamboo and even coconut. This makes the building environmental friendly.

Computing in Architecture

The 21st century digital age has brought computers to a whole new level. We can say that using the computers are inevitable. Many Architects in the industry has been using computers as a tool to communicate their design concepts and ideas to their clients.

In architectural design, it uses both sides of our brain- the analytical and the creative.

Computers never get tire or make any silly arithmetrical mistakes, it also helps us in collating all the infomation, storing it into its memory and has different types of programmes which helps us in completing our tasks efficiently.

As our human memory do not have the ability to store every single memories we have, the computers are really good in this area. For example, it could store our work and even what we do on the programmes that we use in the computers.

Communication plays an important role in sharing information between humans, especially in communicating with designers, architects and their clients. Computers are able to represent ideas graphically and numerically. For example, it allows architects to work on 2-demensional and 3-demensional programmes such as computer- aided design to draw out plans or 3-demensional models. Images to show ideas are easily found on the internet or architects could easily use programmes such as Adobe Photoshop to communicate their ideas. In addition, audios can also be used to communicate ideas. For example, a song, audio message or a video will allow the client, designer or an architect to understand or learn about situation better or would even give them inspirations for their design work,

As computers advance, more programmes are invented and it help designers communicate with one another. Bolder, organic and innovative designs were designed by architects with the use of digital architecture. The forms of the buildings are slightly more complex and has curvilinear forms. Some of the examples are from Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney in Los Angeles, California and Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters, Beijing, Rem Koolhaas and OMA

computers help to preserve the drawings as compared to the hand drawn drawings.

Disadvantages?

National Museum of the American Indian

The fast paced world including digital technology and computer-aided design have radically transformed the design and efficiency of Architecture.

The National Musuem of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. designed by Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects Ltd. and SmithGroup.The form of the Musuem is organic and innovative, far different from the designs of classical and old traditional museums. One unique feature of this building is the organic flow of the facade is brought into the interior of the building where the walls are mostly curved with almost or no sharp corners.

MiniCAD is used in designing the National Museum of the American Indian. The programe is much easier for designers and architects as there are many basic drawing tasks and it thinks in a graphical manner rather than in engineering terms. In addition, MiniCAD’s method of sketching is more intuitive and user friendly as compared to other CAD softwares or programmes.

The programe was implemented into one of the major projects at the exbition gallery in the National Museum of the American History, ‘Audubon & the Smithsonian’. Minicad helped the designer in designing the project efficiently as many of the symbols and elements that the designer had created could be reuse in the exhibit. Not only it helped to save time and effort, MiniCAD allowed the CAD model to do ‘flyovers’ of the 3D models, where visitors and designers are able to see the exhibit case-by-case.

Furthermore, MiniCAD not only saves times in modeling in 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional, it also helps to save time in coordinating efforts as well. The data stored can be read by AutoCAD.

Also, the Cultural Resources Centre (CRC) is also designed by Computer-aided Design (CAD) programe. The design of CRC represents a Native approach to architecture and its landscape shows a flow with the building. The roof of the building are curve with an organic shape and the radial walls compliments with the spiral forms which are commonly found in nature.

Plans, sections and elevations are cadded out to show its precision so that the engineers were able to read from the plans efficiently. With the aid of CAD programe, the design of the organic facade was able to come to realization. Less work was needed to hand drawn and computers were able to calculate the length and degree of the roofs and facades.

http://www.vectorworks.net/news/cases/smithsonian.php

http://www.smithgroup.com/?id=411

http://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/669287692/sizes/l/in/photostream/

http://nmai.si.edu/explore/collections/crc/

Milwaukee Art Museum

The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) also known as the Quadracci Pavilion is located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. It’s most interesting feature of the building is its movable sunscreen - the Burke Brise-Soleil with a 217-foot which could be raised and lowered to provide shade to the interior of the musuem.

Calatrava’s buildings are known to be innovative, cutting edge and has a flowy and curved form. He often uses materials like steel, concrete, glass and also computer modeling for his compositions and forms which make his structure possible.

He added Quadracci Pavilion to the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2001. The Quadracci Pavilion served as the grand entrance to the expanded museum. The structure of the roof has seventeen built A-frames. Calatrava and his team used computers to design the A-shaped rafters were custom-fabricated. The A-frame shapes were determined digitally from a computerized model. These frames the movable wings of the Brise Brise-Soleil which allow natural lighting into the building during day and artificial illumination at night.

To see if the structure works, it was modeled out using CAD program as a truss in the finite element analysis.

http://www.solaripedia.com/13/375/5128/milwaukee_art_museum_lake.htmlhttp://www.jjr-us.com/index.aspx?id=1092&section=34

Parametric Architecture

Parametric architecture is the new technology in this 21st century. In parametric design many of the forms which seems unrealistic are now able to put to past using parametric programmes.

The Guangzhou Opera House

Parametric Design ExperienceTo me, there is no precise defination to parametric design as it can include many other types of designs into it, such as computating, computer aided and even digital designs. Parametric is a very broad term and it uses computer to design instead of regular pen and paper.

In rhino and grasshopper, we are able to use algorithms and formulas to work out and figure out our designs. These use of techniques help designers and architects to visualize and maximise their ideas.

However while in the process of using rhino and grasshopper, I found it difficult to adapt to the software as grasshopper is rather different from other programmes.Rhino and grasshopper has taught me new insights about parametric designs which could be done so easily by just playing around with the functions. With one element, many different variables are created with the use of different functions in Grasshopper. In addition, the use of attractor point allows the designer or architect to simply visualize the object in a different point of view and style by just changing the location of the attractor point.

One of a parametric design is by Federico Rossi in a housing competition during 2007. The design is generated through using variables which is grouped into a system and thus generating different variations of outcomes.

The housing unit of the project uses a rhomboid framework which are constrained within two strips which form the above parametric model. The model is able to have different outcome by just changing the length, width and thickness of each elements.

Thus, I feel that though the process of learning rhino and grasshopper may be tough in the starting, once I know how to use the programe, it can save me alot of time and hassle. My designs could be more bold and out of the box.

Attractors / Perception

Dynamic Performance of nature

This interactive media installation is designed by Yong Ju Lee and Brian Brush, partners of New York/ Portland-based design collaboration EB office. When the visitors to the musuem visit the installation, every different angle of the installation will look differently and also the installation changes its colour through its temperatures and its wind speed.

Visitors are able to interact with installation by using twitter to send messages to change the colours of the panels.

References

http://www.rethinking-architecture.com/introduction-parametric-design,354/

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/eco-sustainable-housing-parametric-design/

http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/dynamic_performance_of_nature_by_eb_office