R C H I T E C T U R E E S I G N T U D I O A I R392129 JI IN KIM

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CONTENTS

PART A :00. INTRODUCTION 06

01. ARCHITECTURE AS A DISCOURSE 08

02. COMPUTING IN ARCHITECTURE 12

03. PARAMETRIC MODELLING 16

PART B :04. CASE STUDY 0.1 22

05. CASE STUDY 0.2: INTRODUCTION 24

06. INVESTIGATION 26

07. DEVELOPMENT 28

PART C - GATEWAY PROJECT 30

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PART A CASE FOR

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00.

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My name is Jiin Kim and I was born in South Korea and was brought up there. I came to Australia in 2008 and graduated highschool in Australia to study at Melbourne University. I defered a semester in my first year and now I’m doing first semester for my third year at uni. So I’ll still be around next year as well!

I see myself as more of an artist or a graphic designer rather than an architect, so I have more experience in Photoshop, Illustrator and hand drawing and had no experience in any of the architectural design programs. I learnt how to use SketchUp through Virtual Environments in my very first semester at uni, I continued using it for Designing Environments, Mapping Environments, Architecture Design Studio: Water, since it was the only program I knew how to use.

Before I started this course, architecture to me was only a rectangular buildings and I could not see any design in it and had no interest in appreciating them. However, since learning more about architecture, I realized there were more than just rectangular space and that there were a lot of possibility of creative designing of buildings.

I’ve had close to no experience with digital architecture and do not know much about the examples of them either. However, I do have interest in learning more about it.

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ARCHITECTURE AS A 01.

Architecture is a superior form of art which comprehends all forms of visual arts. The façade and the exterior design of architecture can be viewed as a two dimensional form of art such as painting, while the overall three dimensional design of architecture could be seen as a sculpture. However, architecture being seen as only a form of visual art is understatement and should not be conceived as a subsystem of visual art. Although architecture is expected to express the creative mind of its designer, we also expect architecture to reflect on its surroundings, historical background and social status and if it is a modern building, we expect for it to be revolutionary in some way. Architecture exists because a person or a community needs it to exist for its roles listed, not because an individual artist wants to express their creative ideas. This shows that architecture just isn’t a form of art but an autopoietic system – an individual system that communicates and interacts with many other systems. Therefore, to analyse architecture it should be analysed as a discourse and be it observed and communicated through many different mediums.

Lou Ruvo Centre for Brain HealthLas VegasFrank Gehry 2009

9Image Source: http://www.dezeen.com/2010/06/17/lou-ruvo-center-for-brain-health-by-frank-gehry

The Center for Brain Health by Frank Gehry is sure to interest the crowd with his wonky and constructivist style of design. The design of the building disagrees with the usual rectangular or simple geometric buildings, which reflects on architecture as a form of ‘art’. However, this architecture does not only stop with a ‘pretty’ two-dimensional façade. The steel material reflects the lighting and its change of colour through day and night is spectacular. The shape and the crazy change of the colour also reflect on the use of the building as a research centre for brain disease.1

1. http://www.dezeen.com/2010/06/17/lou-ruvo-center-for-brain-health-by-frank-gehry

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ARCHITECTURE AS A 01.

Naga Tower creates discourse through its differentiation from traditional Indian architecture and through the symbolics of its form. Naga, or snake symbolizes spiritual truth and energy – the civilization was represented in the building with twisting and curving form of the design. The concept also shows the duality and vitality of ‘Naga’, as the joining of two separate-looking buildings. These building shows how architecture is not only a visual experience but can also stand as a symbol and a sign to communicate with the public.2

2. http://designsatire.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/naga-towers-in-gandhinagar-india

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Naga TowerGandhinagar, India

Image Source: http://designsatire.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/naga-towers-in-gandhinagar-india

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COMPUTING IN 02.Computer aided designing can create more possibilities in architectural designing process. As Kalay stated in Architecture’s New Media (2004), computers are great analytical engines that can store great amount of information which still allows easy search of information and errors. Computers can also analyse, keep track of, and group its stored information for the designers’ efficiency. It also does not tire like humans and does not make silly arithmetical mistakes.

However, to design with a computer, the designer must be able to recognize its textual, numerical, graphical and auditory message and be able to manage the information. Also, computers cannot design something by itself; there needs to be a designer with creativity behind it to instruct the computers to design for possibility of creating a work of art.

Kalay states two different design processes – ‘problem-solving’ and ‘puzzle-making’. ‘Problem-solving’ process generates multiple solutions, which will be tested against goals and constraints and seeks for the best solution. The ‘puzzle-making’ process seeks for goals that match the spatiotemporal constraints of the design problem. These processes of designing both require various ideas to be generated and the ideas may need to be edited time to time accordingly to suit the goals and constraints.

Computers come in handy in these situations as they can generate various prototypes effortlessly. They will be able to generate more ideas and changes can be made to the design quick and easy. Computational design can create more chances of finding the best solution for the design problem. Therefore, to create a great project, there needs to be a skilled designer with creativity and intellectual ability to work with computers.

Frank Gehry creates his designs by traditional model making, but still uses computation to create refined final model. This shows that computational designing is a must in finalizing a masterpiece architecture in this present.

CCTV Tower (the image on the right) was built with computing technique. The architecture’s design intent of the lopsided structure would have been difficult to calculate the balance and would have wasted time and effort. With the aid of computer, it became much simpler and reduced errors in the structure.

13Image Source: http://www.nathanielmcmahon.com

CCTV TowerBeijing, China2004

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COMPUTING IN 02.

Thumb Print BuildingThailandFrank Gehry 2009

Image Source: http://pinterest.com/pin/276338127106030951

The complex structure of the Thumb Print Building had to be designed with computing. It would be difficult to calculate each of the surface structures and eidt any structural errors with traditional designing.

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In the earlier days, the public has been critical to something new and used to take a while to accept innovative ideas. Even though the Eiffel Tower by Gustave Eiffel and the Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton has been recognized, it has not been at its time of construction.

Digital technology hasn’t been around for too long in architectural designing, while it has been widely used not only for designing but also monitoring performance and features in many different fields including aeroplanes, aerodynamic, cars and many more. It is now time for architecture to use computation more actively in our design process.

In the past, it has been difficult and expensive to make any complex designs. For this reason, architecture designs were mostly stuck with orthogonal and linear, while the curvy contours and plastic shapes were seen everywhere in life.

With development of computation, it became easier to design smooth and complex shapes in architecture and the digital technology made it possible to fabricate buildings with various types of materials. This opened up great possibilities for architecture towards new forms and creating spatial qualities and psychological feelings to the viewers, hence, once it’s developed, it can lead to substantially different design and creativity.

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PARAMETRIC 03.There is more to architecture than just aesthetics and when being designed, it has to be structurally and functionally efficient as well. Traditional designing process can allow more freedom of creativity and free flow of generating ideas; however, structural and functional issues has to be considered throughout the design process and calculations and fixing errors can get complicated and time consuming. Computational design can save time and editing effort in designing process as computers do not make silly mistakes and makes editing and locating errors in a design easy with simple commands. Although computational design may limit one’s creative expressions, through parametric designing, we can achieve unexpected solutions to the design process.

Parametric modelling creates its dynamic forms using set parameters and mathematical calculations by defining their relationships. This can create unexpected and vibrant forms with a tweak of a set parameter. This way, it covers the limitation of creativity of an architect using computational designing and provides variety of new ideas and quick and effortlessly and also makes it easier to generate complex designs with higher precision.

Parametric model of Bird’s Nest Stadium

Image Source: http://myclipta.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/beijing-stadium-birds-nest-olympic.html

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Bird’s Nest StadiumBeijing, China

Image Source:http://www.mondoarc.com/projects/Architectural/209848/the_birds_nest_stadium_beijing_china.html

Although parametric modelling could be a quick and easy technique for producing a prototype model, it could be even more difficult to actual standing building. The form of parametric models created can be very complex and to calculate the loads the model can bear and consideration has to be made for the structure’s stability.

The Bird’s Nest Stadium had issues that was relating to decision on the material, as the structure may twist or fail if a strong enough material is not used. This was due to complex shape and elements that overlap. Although parametric modelling could come with these problems for its models can become very complex, however, the Bird’s Nest Stadium has become internationally well-recognized architecture due to its interesting, bird’s nest inspired form.3

3. http://myclipta.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/beijing-stadium-birds-nest-olympic.html

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PARAMETRIC 03.

Image Source:http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/the-critics/patrik-schumacher-on-parametricism-let-the-style-wars-begin/5217211.article

Galaxy SohoBeijing, ChinaZaha Hadid Architects 2009

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The Galaxy Soho by Zaha Hadid used parametric modelling of contour lines going across the body of the building. This creates modern-mountain like feel in the centre of Beijing. This blob-like parametric building seems little out of context in between other rectangular buildings in the city, however, its enclosed courtyard style architecture creates its own environment within itself, creating a different mood from the outside world.

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PART B CUT

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CUT CASE STUDY 04.

ORIGINAL MODEL

Step 1. Changed each of the three shapes in Rhino.

Step 2. Changed the plane (direction) of each shape to YZ plane (from XY plane)

Step 3. Changed the image source in the image sampler definition. Also played around with the number sliders to create something different.

Step 4. Used “Rotation” Output definition and played with the number sliders. This made all the shapes curl in like a snail. I found this definition very interesting.

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VOISSOIR CLOUD IWAMOTOSCOTT

Panelisation in this context, allowed for the architects to break down the surface into both solid and open spaces. The translation of the surface into parametrically designed petal-shaped panels creates greater visual and experiential intrigue than a planar surface would have. Also, the exhibition display features unique and disperse voids between the 2300 petal-modules which play with light and shadow, and draws further attention to the structure.

ART615 AALBORG UNIVERSITY

Inviting visitors to “step into the art”, this pavilion was intended to create a safer and artistic environment. The use of panelisation to divide the surface into uniform geometry made the process of fabrication and assembly easier for the team of students to undertake. The panels that cover the waffle-system allowed for a multitude of perforations between, which gave way to the designers’ intent on creating a visual and audible connection between the Pavilion and the community.

PANELISATION

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CUT CASE STUDY 05.

Art615 PavilionStudents of Aalborg University

The Ar t615 Pavilion was the end product from a studio under taken by 4th semester architecture students from Aalborg University. Intending to link Computer Numerical Control (CNC) fabrication and parametric modelling, the students wanted to create an art pavillion for a crime-related park in Denmark, and in the process create a saferenvironment for visitors.

The semi-closed nature of the pavilion was generated in Rhino from a series of experimentations to create the variability and undulation. “Parametric modelling in Grasshopper allowed us to tweak all parameters controlling the form, until we were satisfied wth the structural abilities and overall aesthetic.”

The realisation of their design into reality was down by CNC-fabricating a series of vertical and horizontal profiles so the form would be self-supporting. These profiles would be notched to allow for the placement of MDF panels, which were the result of a definition in Grasshopper. Using Grasshopper, they were able to resolve the fabrication issue of the large panels by creaing a puzzle joint that would connect smaller segments together successfully.

ART615

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The MDF-wood panels of the Art615 pavilion had to be placed along the surface: creating the base geometry in Rhinoceros and referencing it into Grasshopper, the module was then “Orient(ed)” to locate itself on the planes generated along the face of the surface. The gaps between the layers can be linked to the spaces in the original installation, to allow for light and sound to pass through selectively. This is not a recreation that can be put through to fabrication (due to a lack of knowledge on how to generate waffle system and the necessary profiles).

Initial attempts to recreate the case study were unsuccessful: in the case of using the component “Divide Surface”, the tiles were oriented in the X-Y plane, rather thaninclined in respect to the varied inclines of the loft. A way to vary the directions of the panels on the loft needs to be figured out.

To recreate the structure of the pavilion, a series of horizontal profi les were lofted to generate the overall form. In Grasshopper, “Surface Frames” were applied to the surface, to generate planes perpendicular to points on the surface, which were input via number sliders.

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MATHS FUNCTIONS

ATTRACTOR POINTS

BOOLEAN PATTERNING

EXPLICIT GRIDS

DATA DRIVEN ROTATION

MULTIPLE MATHS FUNCTIONS

ATTRACTOR CURVE

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CUT CASE STUDY 06.

This matrix has been created by manipulating inputs, associative techniques and outputs definitions to seek different concepts.

The ones that created forms that we felt would be most suitable were Data Driven Rotation and Multiple Attractor Points (As grouped in boxes). As Attractor Point can vary the directions of our initial panels which may create dynamicity and change of each forms and could further twist our panels with Data Driven Rotation to show more change in the overall shape.

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OVERLAPPING PATTERNS

DATA DRIVEN EXTRUSION

STREAMING TEXT FILES

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This matrix has been created by manipulating inputs, associative techniques and outputs definitions to seek different concepts.

The ones that created forms that we felt would be most suitable were Data Driven Rotation and Multiple Attractor Points (As grouped in boxes). As Attractor Point can vary the directions of our initial panels which may create dynamicity and change of each forms and could further twist our panels with Data Driven Rotation to show more change in the overall shape.

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CUT CASE STUDY 07.

Triangular panels were chosen as it shows better sense of direction and speed compared to circular or rectangular panels.

The static orientation of the panels was guided by multiple attractor points, with the idea of maintaining the feeling of speed and movement when still, while Data Driven Rotation twisted the geometry in different directions.

RHINO MODEL

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The base of the form is a waffle structure, with the panels glued in place in the direction we had in mind.

In the Rhino model, we used Attractor Points to guide the direction of the triangles pointing. From this, our group got an idea that we could make them responsive to the wind movement so the directions of the pointers could change through wind flow.

In making of the physical model, we considered the joints to create the responsive effect, however, the techniques to develop that effect couldn’t be figured out at this stage.

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PART C GATEWAY

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FRAGMENTED SEA NED KAHN

The Fragmented Sea, along with other works by Ned Kahn showcases the strengths and capabilities of panelisation. This particular project, which is composed of square panels that respond to wind, has effectively conveyed the designer’s intent to create a wind-animated screen around the Mesa Arts Centre. This generates the ever-changing illusion of rippling water enveloping the building.

TALEE ISETAN UNSTUDIO

The Talee Isetan is another example of how panelisation has been utilised in a commercial context to create a distinct and memorable experience for people. For the redesigning of the facade, they decided to create a visual link to the Star Place adjacent to it, and at the same time create its own unique identity amongst the cityscape of Taiwan. The curved pattern on the face of the structure, made from twisting rays of panels from being horizontal to vertical, continues the trend by Star Palace while maintaining its individuality.

PRECEDENTS |

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The basic concept was explored towards a form depicting wind flow through the city. Our ideas developed from the wind flow to the form of tornado, which shows strong movement and represents sense of directional change such as twisting and morphing.

Through exploring the twisting movement, we realized similarities between the movement expressed through ‘dragons’ and used this idea as inspiration for our design. The movement of ‘dragons’ are usually expressed dynamically in images and we thought that it links in with our concept of speed, direction and movement.

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We believe that our physical model has encompassed the ideas that we felt were important from panelisation: translating wind into physical art that can be experienced from a moving vehicle. The movement of the panels in response to the natural wind flows and potentially vehicular flows of the area would draw interest and add to the experience of travelling through Wyndham. Unlike the Art615 pavilion calming the viewers, we feel the triangular panels gives shock value and can leave a lasting impression of the drivers passing by.