urban playgrounds ecomachines v2.0: muscular systems€¦ · components or systems: the human, the...

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URBAN PLAYGROUNDS

ecoMachines v2.0: MUSCULAR SYSTEMS

AAInter10 2008/2009 BRIEFClaudia Pasquero - Marco Poletto

stem of an heliotropic plant

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When the matter of architecture is freed from the essentialist conception that considers it as a formless entity regulated by transcendental geometric rules, forms and proportions, it suddenly acquires potential of self-organisation and becomes generative. In this state matter can go far beyond the resolution of structural or constructive problems as it provides models for dealing with the complex feedbacks that occur between multiple (and often contrasting) forces, like the ones operating in dense urban contexts.The unit work seeks to breed these models by developing 1:1 scale material organisations that operates as analogues computers subjected to specific sets of structural and organisational principles, programmatic regimes and urban stress fields.

Last year we actualised these material models in Central London, by developing a first collection of ecoMachines, prototypical architectures capable of systemic co-action with their local contexts/ecosystems. The year ended with a 1:1 scale experiment that took place at the Riverside Walk site during the month of July as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

This year the unit will continue this line of enquiry with a new focus; we will look more into detail at the how our architectural machines can generate “playfulness”; we will define the nature of playfulness in relationship to specific urban environmental stresses and design “playgrounds” capable of turning passive acceptance of urban pressures into novel opportunities of engagement and exchange.We will continue our engagement with the paradigm of cybernetic design and in particular we will deepen our analysis of the so called “Paskian environments”; Gordon Pask formulated the second order cybernetic frame, where the first order one ( mainly dedicated to control and communication of machines) has been extended to include a more complete dialogue between man, environment and machine; within this paradigm communication can evolve in time and give rise to novelty or , in linguistic terms, to a conversation, and , in our terms, to playfulness.

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URBAN PLAYGROUNDSecoMachines v2.0: MUSCULAR SYSTEMS

AAInter10 2008/2009

AAInter10 2007/2008Breathing ParachuteRiverSideWalk experiment

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urban environments

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human behaviour

ecoMachines v2.0 - muscular systems

machines

material systems / e�ects - muscular systems simulated spaces material coreographies

operational �leds / maps urban microclimates urban territorial tectonics urban stress �elds

urban sensing /coding sensor/actuator systems ergonomics and biomechanics regimes of functioning[ ]BH

[ ]MH

[ ]EN

The cybernetic feedback loop is used here to redescribe the role of architecture within the urban environment in systemic terms; the diagram illustrates how the UNIT agenda and production is organized around it accordingly to the following 3 components or systems: the human, the architectural machine and the urban environment. Each system will be described with specific techniques and will constitute one component of the final portfolio.

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AAInter10 2008/2009

URBAN PLAYGROUNDS -the cybernetic loop

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The UNIT has started last year the ecoMachines brief with the ambition to develop a new paradigm of eco-logic architecture in urban context. The meaning of the word ecology here is extended to an understanding of the urban reality as a complex dynamic system, often pushed far from equilib-rium by the large flows of information, matter and energy travelling in and out of its physical boundaries. The turbulent nature of the city makes an application of the traditional codes of architecture inadequate and their linear application often produces results of contradictory nature. Studies of environmental psychology have begin to show alternative methods to operate in such complex dynamic realities; often based on direct field work and mapping they focus on urban public spaces (the urban landscape) rather than on buildings themselves. Moreover they underline the deep correlation existing between the behaviour of the urban dweller and the characterisation of the urban space in which he is immersed. Finally they indicate direct responsiveness as the fundamental regulator of psychologi-cal stress.Borrowing from this studies the unit has chosen to engage with public space design and the ecoMachinic prototypes have been developed with a specific focus and context: London public urban realm.This year the focus will be on a diffused urban typology, often marginal to the architectural discourse: “urban playgrounds”. We will design urban playgrounds as places to experiment the effects and potential of cybernetic architectural machines; we will develop 1:1 scale prototypes and test their material and conversational effects/potentials. We will design and imple-ment the missing link in an architectural cybernetic loop where the urban dweller will acquire the power of feeding back its sensations and actions to the architectural machine and through it to the urban environment itself. We will expand the material, programmatic and spatial potentials of playgrounds beyond typological recognition to harvest the full power of direct urban interaction.


AAInter10 2008/2009

NABAjewel installation - Milan fuorisalone 2008AA inter10 2007-2008

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The UNIT methodological and conceptual framework is developed to support students willing to explore a new way of intending architecture and architectural design, away from the conventional technical/technocratic and formalist paradigms and towards the development of a new design sensibility emerging from a renewed direct engagement with the surrounding environment, its rhythms and its cultural and ecologic material processes. Students will be supported and required to build up a consistent portfolio of both research modules and synthetic ones, capable of giving to the overall work a strong character of experimentation and radical innovation.

The unit working format will combine an extended digital development platform with intensive hands-on workshop experiences. The feedback between digital and physical components will constitute a crucial element in the development of the prototypes.The physical exercise will provide opportunities for tectonic exploration of diagrammatic material organizations and direct experience of the effect produced by dynamic material engagement. The digital platform will allow development of abstract diagramming skills, performance testing and scenario modeling. Ultimately the students will develop a set of new specific techniques of what we could define a new breed of “digital craftsmen”; this techniques will become our weapons of investigation and expression for projects proposals.

_portfolios: machines, behaviours, environments.The first term will function as a group enterprise towards the design and construction of a 1:1 scale artificial muscular machine. This installation will constitute the common starting point for each individual portfolio.Each student will then be asked to complete 3 main components for his individual portfolio:-machines:a sequence of at least 3 prototypical material models illustrating the development of the muscular systems into machines for urban interaction. Each prototype will be completed by a related digital parametric model illustrating the relational conditions informing the muscular system.-behaviours:a catalogue of short videos illustrating the behavioural properties of the muscular systems in relationship to specific patterns of interaction (rules of the game). The videos will be supported by their cybernetic diagrams, layout of sensing/actuating mechanisms and registry optimization code.-environments:a map capturing the spatio-temporal unfolding of a selected urban stress field. A drawing/animation illustrating the new urban playground, a choreography of interacting components resulting in a re-description of the initial urban field.

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AAInter10 2008/2009

INter10 2007-2008marsh condenser-environment: map of marshland formation-machine: parametric model-behaviour: sedimentation testing bed

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The year will start with a group exploration of muscular systems as found in heliotropic or insectivorous plants. With the support of experts in biology and biomechanics we will extract 3 levels of observation leading to parallel experiments:-structural/organisational/kinetic: by modelling the geometric logics of the fibrous filaments that constitute muscular systems and that support kinetic response (associative and parametric modelling workshops on Rhino/Grasshopper and Paracloud)-cybernetic: by diagramming the flows of information that regulates cybernetic feedback in muscular response to environmental stimuli (seminars on second order cybernetics and workshop on interactive machines)-molecular/material: by experimenting with the hybrid material composites that characterises muscular assemblages (fibrous structures material workshop).We will than formulate our artificial muscles as fibrous systems where perform-ances and behaviours are the nonlinear product of the coordinated affects of thousands of single fibres. In such redundant systems qualities and behaviours can be bred and differentiated in relationship to environmental fields and specific programmatic regimes through iterative interactive processes. We will engineer this processes by developing specific mechanisms of production and fabrication as well of sensing and computation; we will learn how to manipulate thousands of entities (digitally and physically) and to record and manage the emergent qualities of the assemblages. At the end of term1 we will test our findings with a UNIT installation where a 1:1 scale artificial muscular system will be constructed and run live in the AA BAR.

In the second term we will explore more into depth the concept of playfulness in urban context (seminars on environmental psychology), will look at specific emergent urban performances and sports (like “parkour”) and analyse case studies of urban playgrounds and performance arenas. We will investigate how this proto-games differ from traditional performances and are characterised by rules that appear inherently flexible, relational and in constant evolution. Following this mode of interaction students will develop their artificial muscular systems into interactive devices capable of sensing behavioural stimuli to which they respond with specific “contractions”.

These contractions will be coordinated in the third term in more articulated “urban choreographies” taking place in London’s more intense areas of socio-environmental stress. These choreographies will involve a feedback between architectural machine, urban environment and human behaviour creating a new breed of “ecoMachinic” public playgrounds.

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AAInter10 2008/2009

fibrous room -gg gallery - istanbul

ecologicstudio with tuspa + aa students+akt engineers

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AAInter10 2008/2009

urban environments

human behaviour

ecoMachines v2.0 - muscular systems

material systems / e�ects - muscular systems simulated spaces material coreographies

operational �leds / maps urban microclimates urban territorial tectonics urban stress �elds

urban sensing /coding sensor/actuator systems ergonomics and biomechanics regimes of functioning

case studies analysis: urban playgrounds , stages

and performance arenas

workshop: -w4_mapping urban �elds

and urban microclimates

workshops:-w2_ associative parametric modeling (Grasshopper)

-w3_ interactive machines (1:1 scale prototyping and material experiments)

-w4_installation and recording workshop at the AA BAR

seminars:_s1_Introduction to cybernetics and Paskian environments_s2_ecology in Bergson, Bateson, Deleuse/Guattari _s3_environmental psycology - introduction

workshop:_w1_muscular systems in heliotropic plants and the cybernetic loop in muscular response [ ]hBH

[ ]eMv2.0

[ ]uEN

WORKSHOPs AND SEMINARSordered by category

TECHNIQUES, TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIESThe students are expected to learn the basics of digital modelling, graphic representation and physical prototyping from the media courses within the AA. The Unit will organize specific design workshops with 3 main goals:-developing drawing and modelling techniques instrumental in the formulation of diagrammatic models and proto-architectural material systems ( in particular when involving large numbers of parametrically coordinated elements)-developing specific digital skills in simulating, testing and evaluating complex dynamic behavior.-developing basic skills for the fabrication of interactive systems.

The development of this skills will evolve also through collaboration with external guests and supporting staff including ecoLogicStudio, Nick Puckett, Dr. Eyal Nir of Paracloud and will concentrate on the 3 following areas:-mapping and diagramming techniques-parametric and computational modelling-interaction design-agent based algorithmic scripting.

At the end of the academic year the students are expected to submit a portfolio which will include the specific digital projects where the development of a personal technique of mapping, modelling and simulating / testing will be presented. Techniques could vary in complexity and sophistication but it will be essential to demonstrate their instrumentality in the definition of the final project.

During the year students will engage heavily with prototyping and are expected to use the more common prototyping technologies such as Laser cutting, Vacuum forming, 3D milling and 3D printing. The unit will also experiment with traditional techniques of fibrous fabrication such as weaving, knitting and bundling. Each student will than develop a personal technique involving one or more of the above technologies and possibly researching for novel means of fabrication capable of transposing digital information into physical material organization and viceversa.

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inter10 2007-2008prototypes


AAInter10 2008/2009

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Chepstow, Seville, Boston

Following the experiments of last year a series of trips to different destinations have been planned for inter10 08-09: these trips offer multiple and different opportunities to test and expand the unit agenda as well as to cement the group cohesion.

We will get the chance to work with student from other universities, to visit international exhibitions, to meet curators, to visit manufacturing laboratories and facilities, to explore urban and natural environments and to refine our tools and techniques within specific local contexts.

A first trip to Architen Landrell Associates Ltd, a Chepstow based manufacturer of inflatable structures, will be organized at the beginning of the year and will kick off our prototyping work of term1.

During the Christmas break we will travel to Seville, Spain. In Seville we will take part to an event organized for the international architectural Biennale titled YOUNIVERSE (BIACS3). We will meet curators, designers and local students for an immersive experience on the theme of nature vs. technology in contemporary society and design. Part of the trip is a visit to ecoLogicStudio’s latest work STEMcloud, an interactive self-regulating architecture part of the BIASC3 biennale.

A third trip will take place during the Easter break and will bring us to Boston at the MIT, where we will be guests of the Sensable City laboratory, an offspring of the famous Media Lab, where we will be introduced to the latest technologies in urban mapping and interaction design at the urban scale.


AAInter10 2008/2009

bolivia field trip 2007prototyping insantacruz and la paz

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staffunit masters>claudia pasqueromarco poletto

parametric modelling>dr. eyal nirangius pierandrea

guests>david crooksrabih el fadelrenee puuseppivan valdezeduardo ricojudit kimpiansusannah haganraoul bunshotenmarco vanucciand others

links>aainter10.wordpress.comhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbPhYF96cuo&feature=relatedhttp://protocity.blogspot.com/http://workshop.arkitera.com/fibrous/

www.ecologicstudio.com

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AAInter10 2008/2009

ecomachines -the making of artificial ecologiesecologicstudio’s room at the 11th venice architectural biennale - experimental architecture

self portrait in Leonardo’s mirror machine

unit masters BIO>Marco Poletto and Claudia Pasquero are co-founders of ecoLogicStudio, which has recently completed a public library and a 1,000sqm residential project in Cirie’ (Turin). Both studied at Turin Polytechnic before completing the AA’s MA in Environment &Energy. They co-directed the AA Fibrous Structures Workshop and AA Turin Visiting Workshop. Recent publications include contributions to the books Space Craft: Developments in ArchitecturalComputing (RIBA), Environmental Tectonics(forthcoming, AA Publications), AArchitecture as well as articles in international magazines including World Architecture (China) and Cluster magazine (Italy). Their work will be presented at the 11th Venice architectural Biennale 2008 and at the Seville Architectural Biennale 2008 BIACS3

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AAInter10 2008/2009

The UNIT agenda explores the potential repercussion on architectural design of a systemic understanding of the urban realm and indeed of the material reality that surrounds us and that constitute the physical manifestation of architectural design processes.Within this framework the paradigms of urban ecology, biomimetic and cybernetic can be engaged in an extended mode that goes far beyond conventional meaning and readings.To support such a conceptual and methodological leap we have selected the following readings that each student is encouraged to find on our unit shelf in the library and read during the year (particularly during terms 1 and 2).

- Creative Evolution; author: Henry Bergson- 100 year of Non-Linear History; author: Manuel De Landa- An Evolutionary Architecture; author: John Frazer- Regimes of slowness from Informal City – Caracas Case; author: Marco Poletto- Landscape Urbanism – a Manual for the Machinic Landscape; authors: Ciro Najle and Moshen Mostafavi- Atlas of Novel Tectonics; authors: Reiser+Umemoto- Weak and Diffuse Modernity – the world of projects at the beginning of the 21st Century; author: Andrea Branzi- Leonardo – The Machines; author: Carlo Pedretti- Introduction to cybernetics; author: W.Rossashby- The Blind Watchmaker; author: Richard Dawkins- Chaos; author: James Gleick- Digitalia; author: Susannah Hagan- Life between buildings; author: Jan Gehl- Space Craft - Developments in architectural computing; author: various - RIBA- AArchitecture Issue5 winter2007-2008; authors:various - AA - Fibrous room - GG Gallery exhibition catalogue; author: Claudia Pasquero, Marco Poletto, Nilufer Kozicoglu- Environmental tectonics; authors: various - AA - Public Spaces; author: CHORA / Raoul Bunschoten - Black Dog Publishing- Metaspaces; author: CHORA / Raoul Bunschoten - Black Dog Publishing

urban playgrounds ecomachines v2.0: muscular systems€¦ · components or systems: the human, the...

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