TOMTAYLOR

My name is Thomas Taylor; I am a second year Environments student from the Gold Coast. I chose to pursue architecture to complement my passion for physical construc-tion and appreciation of elegant designs. During the year I live part time in Melbourne completing my degree and spend my summer and on the Gold Coast where I spend my time with my family, which now includes my new niece and nephew. I work fulltime when I am at home for a Brisbane architect completing drafting jobs and when in Melbourne I do as much as I can via correspondence.

I have real passion for local sustainable construction projects and am currently in the process of building a small off the grid cabin in the Gold Coast hinterland to manifest my ambitions. I’m mostly interested in projects that are sensitive to the local attributes to the site and keep a natural perspective as my goal in my ventures. I always source my materi-als locally and try to use unique supplies to create interesting spaces that have character.

I’m taking a horticulture breadth this year to expand my understanding of plants and their use in design to ultimately move towards landscape design; this has only been a recent decision after falling in love with outdoor living rooms. Over the summer, I found my real passion in design was not only the creation of spaces, but being able to share them with my friends.

I recently gained experience in real life design through the renovation of my downstairs studio at home, turning it into a functional living space. I’m now plan-ning to continue work on it to turn it into a dynamic outdoor/indoor space. I found the satisfaction of creating a space that is entirely a manifestation of your own creative intentions was too satisfying to stop.

That said, my experience with architecture programs is very limited, as my experience with AutoCAD and Photoshop is the extent of my knowledge so far. However, I know that by the end of this subject I will inevitably much more than I do now, which is what matters to me most.

I intended to graduate my environments degree while continuing with my draft-ing experience. Then in 2015 I plant to go overseas for a few years of travel, backpacking and meeting new people while ensuring I visit ancient wonders like those in Peru and Egypt. Following this, I would want to follow up with landscape design, ultimately focusing on outdoor living rooms to share the satisfaction I feel from creating spaces for people.

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

CONTENTS

A Conceptualization

A1 Design Futuring

A2 Design Computation

A3 Composition Generation

A4 Conclusion

A5 Learning Outcomes

A6 Appendix Algorithmic Sketches

B Criteria Design

B1 Research Field

B2 Case Study 1

B3 Case Study 2

B4 Technique: Development

B5 Technique: Prototypes

B6 Technique: Proposal

B7 Learning Objectives & Outcomes

B8 Appendix Algorithmic Sketches

C Detailed Design

C1 Design Concept

C2 Tectonic Elements

C3 Final Model

C4 Additional LAGI Brief Requirements

C5 Learning Objectives and Outcomes

- LIGHTSCAPE -

Light scape is an entry by Brisbane artists Benjamin Emerton, Georgie Pratten, Mat-thew Fredrickson. The design is sympathetic to the natural form, using glass like blades of piezoelectric generators. Its energy conduction is thus considered kinetic, however harmonizes with the wind as well as human energy.

I found this response to energy generation invigorating after flipping through countless weird shaped sculptures slapped together with a photovoltaic façade. Its design as a whole, to me was exciting, and yet there was nothing new about its form.

I think this entry is awe-full. To borrow a line from Kevin McCloud, awesome is loud, but awe is quite. These designs strike a humble chord in me, as they don’t depend on elaborate complexification of from, but celebrate a quite simplicity. It provides attraction in its organic splendor and is personified in its humanistic needs; its can be seen as a breathing machine in the wind that also thirsts for human interaction for its energy production. I believe this design is a beautiful shift from our primitive, solely energy producing technology towards a more sentimental notion that machines are as natu-ral as us, as they are a product of us, and the idea to breathe life into them. I think is not only a elegant response to the brief but also indirectly highlights our changing per-ceptions of how we perceive machines, all the while depending solely on the organic wisdom of the earth’s design.

“if its powered by nature it should look like nature. (We have crated) a self-sustaining energy production system that allow for

human interaction... a tactile, visually stunning experience”

A1 Design FutuRing CONTENTS

- FRESH HILLS -

“A remedy for the typical turbine farm, that so oven isolates the landscape and deters communities from engaging in the space.

Fresh Hills aimed to reinvent the generic wind farms towards a natural form, one that grows from the earth in a harmonious balance between it, the land and the sky. I think it is right in wanting to engage users with the site, compared to noisy windmills scattered across a landscape, however I think its design is somewhat limited in its aesthetic.

Derived from a graphical representation of Fresh Kills annual wind data, the design is a very literal translation onto the site. The structure does have an organic form, clad-ded in timber curves, however I can’t help but see it as merely a wooden arrangement splattered over the site. However, it does emphasise it form and function relatively, as it stretches vertically in areas of higher wind concentration resulting in a unique shape that could potentially become a landmark sculptural structure.

However, I can’t help but ponder the practicalities of the site. The overall form does come across as an organic interpretation of a wind farm, yet I cant help but ques-tion whether it could produce a fraction of the amount of energy that a generic wind turbine site could produce for its land footprint. Pragmatics aside, it would provide novelty to in the landscape of the site, with the ap-parent creation of strong wind tunnels; kids would love to visit a site with such monu-mentality in both the structure through manipulation of the element of the wind. I think it is a fun design in theory however pragmatically; the vast footprint it would create (both physical and financial) might exceed its energy production.

- TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH -

[ Piezoelectricity = electricity resulting from pressure ]

The process of piezoelectricity is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials in response to applied mechanical stress, resulting in electrical energy.

This technology is one that I am interested in applying in my designs, as it is unique and I can see it being a very versatile median. I feel this technology would be very dynamic, in that it could be applied to harness both wind, hydro and human energy. It also calls for the energy production site to be moving, rather than a static structure; I think this type of design would be far more engaging for myself as the designer and the user.

A possible design solution that comes from this is the notion of dissolving the discon-nect between consumer and producer; by drawing users into the field of production, it could potentially allow for a deeper contemplation of their relationship with energy consumption and generation. By creating an engaging site that is perceived as mov-ing and alive, it could allow for an enhanced perception of the relationship between biology and technology, which is very much necessary amongst our consumerist economy of the present day.

A1 Design FutuRing A1 Design Futuring

Digital Grotesque Michael Hansmeyer

I have only recently come to understand of the relevance of exponential technological performance to our generation. Future technology personally has always been a topic of extreme fascination with me. After the discovery of computational design, I find this fascination has ultimately spilled over into my architectural studies.

Michael Hansmeyer’s work was my first experience of grasping the future potentials of computational design; I think his attempt to manifest the infinitely complex forms of computational design not only depicted it potential, but also highlighted our human limitations in comparison to these accelerating methods. The very dea that we can’t physically produce the structures he is designing labels our technological progression of today as primitive, where we usually perceive our point in time as nothing but the height of technological progression; I think this notion is very humbling.

Hansmeyer’s describes his Digital Grotesque project as one that “strikes a delicate balance between the expected and unexpected, between control and relinquishment. The algorithms are deterministic as they do not incorporate randomness, the results are not necessarily entirely foreseeable.” Additionally the complexity of his pieces allows the user to create their own interpretive masterpiece within the artwork; this results in a range of personal responses for each viewer within the same piece.

With the production of computational designs like Digital Grotesque, the range of conceivable geometries is infinitely increased, which ultimately pushes design evolu-tion forward; this progression inevitably infiltrates all aspects of design and has lead to an enhanced achievability of construction. In this case, 3D printing is still limited in the refinement of its product, yet if you factor in its exponential potential, you can come to understand how crazzay 3D printing will be in the future and how it will transform the

works of artists like Michael Hansmeyer.

A2 Design COMPUTATION A2 Design COMPUTATION

Museo Soumaya

Fernando Romero and Armando Ramos

A design in Mexico City that required complex computation techniques to ultimately produce an integrated and highly collaborative approach to design. I find the façade of the building underwheliming compared Hansmeyer’s take on computational design, none the less, it is elegant and has beautiful movement across the façade. I think this example is important as it displays a pragmatically designed building that uses new technology to create a buildable structure.

I think this building is a great example of the real potential of these new methods; the building is definitely identifiable as a building yet it is free of form and redefines the idea of a buildable structure.

A3 COMPOSITION GENERATION A3 COMPOSITION GENERATION

When architects have a sufficient understanding of algorithmic concepts, when we no longer need to discuss the digital as something different, then computation can become a true method of design for architecture.

I think this statement is very key to this whole technological transformation of design. It highlights the idea that we are in a period of transition from com-puterising towards a more dynamic field of computing. It denotes of how architects are moving from the use of computers to represent their drawings towards manipulation of the fundamental principles of computation design, to ultimately create within this new reality of design. I believe this idea is the most profound concept I have come across in my studies thus far, and really dramatises the whole architectural progression to paint a very utopic image. However, there will also be adverse effects of this; a over complexifcation of form may rely heavily of ornament and decoration and could eventually result in a decay of our cultivated architectural practices.

Designers Dimitrie Stefanescu, Patrick Bedarf and Bogdan Hambasan produced a computational, wooden pavillion design in Romania. This structure is a showcase for a digital design workshop, and through the use of tectonic elements the designers have created a street attraction that celebrates the potential of computer modeling in conjunction with the simplistic wooden material. The designers had constraints in their design process in regards to materiality; this limit is apparently compensated by the freedom of computational design and allows for a complex form to be produced.

I chose this example, as it is humble, it details the potential of compu-tational design even when restricted in materiality.

This was design was constructed using parametric design on Rhino and Grasshopper.

A4 CONCLUSION A5 LEARNING OUTCOMES

My perception of the computational design process is that it is the convergence of human intelligence with machine, using our biological intuition in conjunction with the limitlessness mechanics of the computer. This ultimately affects the design process as it essentially reduces negative limitations that would have once existed; it pushes the design process from a rational reality into realms of unknowns to explore the limits of computational potential.

With computational design, the range of conceivable geometries is infinitely increas-ing, which ultimately pushes design evolution forward. It is this progression that inevitably infiltrates all aspects of design and has lead to an enhanced achievability of construction of these complex designs. It is a clear example to demostrate the positive flow of effects of the expansion of deisgn through technology.

We are currently experiencing exponential increases in production technologies; a example of this advancement is the refinement of the 3D printing process, that is now more affordable and accessible. The idea of accessibility is extremely important as now 3D printing is now utilised entirely throughout design processes, ultimately posi-tively enhancing any designer’s work process through an increase in feedback.

On reflection...

Understanding the future trajectory of design is a very important aspect while learning architecture and design.

With greater awareness of the progression of my field I believe (having now learned the principles of algorithmic design) I now have a more refined scope and enhanced interest in design futuring.

A6 appendixw1 lofting

a6 appendixrefrences

Brady Peters, “Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought,” Archi-tectural Design, 83 (2013) p. 12

LAND ART GENERATOR INITIVE “LIGHT SCAPE” DATE ACCESSED 20.03.2014<http://landartgenerator.org/LAGI-2012/01dlb510>

LAND ART GENERATOR INITIVE “FRESH HILLS” DATE ACCESSED 20.03.2014 <http://landartgenerator.org/LAGI-2012/8y8b8u8r>

BEELDENDE KUNST “MICHAEL HANSMEYER” DATE ACCESSED 21.03.2014< http://ssba-salon.nl/beeldende-kunst/curated-michael-hansmeyer>

A AS ARCHITECTURE “URBAN ADAPTER BY ROCKER-LANGE ARCHITECTS” DATE ACCESSED 22.03.2014<http://www.aasarchitecture.com/2013/01/Urban-Adapter-Rocker-Lange-Archi-tects.html>