Studio A.I.RJournal

Xindi Lu 702258

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CONTENTS

A. Conceptualisation

a.1 Design futuring a.2 Design computation a.3 Composition/generation a.4 Conclusion a.5 Learning outcomes

B. Criteria design

b.1 Research fieldb.2 Case study 1.0b.3 Case study 2.0b.4 Technique: developmentb.5 Technique: prototypesb.6 Technique: proposalb.7 Learning objectives and outcomesb.8 Algorithmic sketches

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C. Detailed design

c.1 Design conceptc.2 Tectonic elements and prototypesc.3 Final detail modelc.4 Learning objectives and outcomesfootnotes

References 30

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About _ _ _ me

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INTRODUCTION

I am a third year student at the university of melbourne study-ing architecture. I am Interested in how buildings relate to each other and to their contexts, as well as at a larger scale in terms of urban cities which lead to my other interest in urban plan-ning. I think of architecture as a powerful way of portraying issues and spreading certain ideas, influencing the way that people live.

I like to go to the outdoors and immerse myself into nature, at the same time getting inspiration from the surrounding beauti-fying landscapes.

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PART A

Conceptualisation

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a.1

DESIGN FUTURING

‘Dreams are powerful. they are repositories of our desire.” - Stephen Duncombe1

To create is to think creatively and to dream about the possible and even impossible. The dreams today varies greatly with the dreams in history due to the changes in the availablility of technology and knowledge. They are often focussed on the current problems or issues in society as described in the reading by Tony Fry.

Fry states that humans have been creating things at the expense of destroying others, especially in terms of the non renewable resources.2 This seems to be the case in the current architecture trend as there is unlikely to be complete balance in creation.

This then leads to a problem. Our environment is deteriorating fast at a speed almost too fast for human control. Therefore, as designers of environments for human living, architects are handed the role of changing the current circumstances towards the better. This is a particular difficult job, considering that aesthetics are often more accentuated than the enviornmental impacts.

Since, we cannot completely stop the decling conditions or reverse damaes already done, the key in design hence lies in prolonging the period that humans could exist on Earth. this is a rather pessi-mistic view, however it is true to the current extent while we dream about a future major scientific breakthrough.

The direction is such that architects need to use more low energy costing renewable materials rath-er than those that require high levels of energy to produce. at the same time, increase education general public awareness of the environmental problems and encourage people to think of ways to improve or alleviate this existing condition. This is most effective within younger generations, start young and the effect would likely be larger and last longer.

Overall it is a concept of sustainability that is becoming acknowledged increasingly.

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PRECEDENT ONE

Parkroyal on pickering in singapore by WOHA

The ‘natural’ resort is located in Singapore CBD, providing an alternative living and functional space amidst the towering skyscrappers in the surroundings. its organic form consists mainly of greeneries eaily observable from the outside.

These green balconies however are not only a facade, it is also an environmental system. The plants act as a region for bioiversity engagement, as well as absorbing rainwater to reduce stormwater runoff. Another two major elements of the deign is the rooftop rainwater collection and photovoltic cells. the former allocates the recycled water in the system for irrigation of plants, and the latter uses solar energy gathered to fuel the lights in garden at night.3

It has successfully fulfilled crierias of passive design, providing a cofortable space of consumers with a long term benefit to the environement.

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fig.1

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fig.2

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PRECEDENT TWO

Library at the dock by Clare design

This is a relatively new buillding in Docklands, melbourne completed by the architectural firm in collarboration with the government. A local example of sustainable design.

Being a community space in function, it aims to deliver the message of balanced creative and design oriented space as well as environmentally friendly materials. Cross laminated timber is light weight and has a relatively lower embodied energy compared to other structural systems and reduces ecological footprint as a result.4 It was the major structural material used throughout the building.

The library is a nice connection with the harbour dock, offering a good view to the people inside the building as they glance up from books to the outside. The positioning of windows furthur em-phasises the agenda to create a relaxing environment by allowing peope to see the sunset above the water in the evenings.

With its use of passive design, it is awarded the 6 star green star public building, the highest achieved so far in austalia.5

Apearance wise, it contrasts witht the urban cityscape nearby in the CBD with widespread use of glass and concrete. From the outside, it looks like a timber box and creates a uniqueness that fits in Docklands.

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fig. 3

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a.2

COMPUTATION VS COMPUTERISATION

To start, the two concepts need to be understood. Both are to do with digital design, however their methods are quite differnt upon a closer look and could result in contrasting products.

Computerisation existed earlier and could be described as the fundaments of computation. It is also much simpler and less ‘smart’. It could be thought of as a way presenting carefully decided and so-lidified ideas that has been finalised for publishing. It cannot generate outcomes based on the rules, it relys on the designer to put in the end result in it.

Computation on the other hand is a tool developed more recently as a thinking tool for designers. Basic rules are entered and a variety of responses could be observed and the large range of easily obtained choices help architects make informed and fast decisions about the form, colour, size and shape of elements. Parametric design is a good example of the process computation is able to assist with. All the small components could be managed individually easily as well as a whole. Therefore, complicated geometry are no longer the impossible but the readily plausible thanks to this new progress in technology.

Although both programs have given enormous help in the field of architecture, they cannot thrive by themselves as computers are not creative.6 Perhaps in the future, they may be smart enough to be creative and able to design; however as of now, they are useless without architects and designers.

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PRECEDENT ONE

Kinetic rain in singapore aiport by ART+COM studios

This is a project fully uitilisng the programming abilities and the algorithmic thinking of the de-signer, creating a sectacular sight.

There are two parts to the design, symmetrical in form from the central axis of the entrance door. Each droplet is made of aluminium with copper coating and connected by steel ties to the motors that are controled by computers.7 Movements of the droplets are therefore highly accurate, mean-ing that patterns could be formed easily. The diverse range of patterns consists of the two portions mirroring, complementing, synchronising and following each other at times manipulated by the designer.8

The varying patterns means that viewers receive an unique experience that is constantly changing and improving. From diferent angles, the views could be very different too.

fig. 4

16 fig.5

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PRECEDENT TWO

Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall by the Institute for computational design at the University of Stuttgart

A dome of transparency could be the way of describing this building. It is a pavilion made up of 243 pieces of plywood, each two inches thick.9 The joints are called fingerjoints10 in which the edges of each piece are either protruding outwards or inwards and interlocking exactly with the surrounding panels, acting like puzzle pieces.

The analogy behind the design was from skeletons of sea urchins, a natural geometry that is com-plex like many other elements in nature.11 Structural wise, because most panels are hexagonal and are connected to six other ones on each of their sides, the overall cohesion is very high and an arch shape is evolved.

From idea generation to the final arrangement of cladding on site, everything was made from computer programs. The exact shape and form of panels individually and how they fit together as a unitary whole was determined through algorithmic thinking for the eneration of programming commands and then through parametric modelling to see the result of te rules visually which al-low for varying degrees of experimentation and emerging alternatives. Finally, CNC machine and robot arm were used to give the panels.12 It is with these digital design methods that this project is completed as it cannot work by human hand power alone.

fig.6

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fig.7

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a.3

COMPOSITION / GENERATION

“a recipe, method or technique” - Robert Wilson13

From composition to generation, architects use computation to form a final outcome. The extensive process involves algorithmic thinking and devising codes to write on the design software. genera-tion involves more changing and constant altering. Each change presents a different perspective and new insights into the possible form. Between the various outputs, advantages and disadvantages are compared, usually they are jidged mainly in the aesthetic outlook for this initial decision. It is a way of optimising the reults after generating ideas, sometimes, more ideas form itself while optimising which could lead to interesting outcomes. The clear yet simple14 algorithms are necessary in order to alter relationships between parts of the structure and achieving the desired appearance.

Overall, this type of design method is able to generate new ideas and shapes that are impossible to build before, providing access to a new direction in architecture and design. One downside is that the technical production of materials and construction may be difficult and time consuming in some cases and leading to high costs.

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PRECEDENT ONE

Stockholm library of the future by Emergent architecture

fig. 8

Library is a public space where people congregate to pursue knoledge, the design of such a place has a direct impact of perception of individuals regarding new design changes and methods. The alogorithm used is Voronoi which separates a whole structure into cells of different shapes, mimic-ing the biology of nature. The variable forms are carefully maipulated without breaking the consis-tencies of nature.15

fig. 9

Design is based on the idea of urban strucutures and the connections between parts of a city.16

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PRECEDENT TWO

Wangjing towers by Zaha hadid architects

fig. 10

Set in the busy city of Beijing, the three related strucutures form a sight of architectural marvel. The generation of ideas were within the client demands while corresponding to the design agenda. Computation and computeristion were both used to give the final design.

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fig. 11

Random points were used to generate the arrangements of aluminium claddings on the three double curved individual buildings .17

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a.4

CONCLUSION

In the steps of future design, the emphasis on sustainability and creativeness is equally weighted. New directions are becoming reaily available in terms of the implementation of design ideas. Previ-ously in history, despite the generation of interesting and complex ideas, they were unable to be produced for construction due to the lack of technology. With the emergence of computerisation and computational parametric modelling softwares, architects and designers are given a help-ing hand in presenting their final outcome for review; more importantly during the thinking and ideas generative process. This is the peak of optimisation for both the client and the architect as the requiremnts for the former is satisfied faster and easier, the latter being able to unleash his creative potential to the full.

a.5

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Previously I have had some contact with parametric modelling, however it was only through this recent learning process that I started to fully understand the idea of computain and the representa-tions it has in the architecture world. There is much more to learn in the field of parametric design and algorithmic thinking, and I am looking forward to gaining a more familiarised knowledge and manipulation of the grasshopper software to create innovative designs. My past project could be improved greatly if this knowledge acaquired is used, more variations would be produced and more possiblities created, an example could be the above ground components in my herring island pa-vilion in which the facade system could be formed of diverse patterns. Something that I previously thought would be very difficult for me has started o become a myth as I progress along the learning curve through practise.

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a.6

APPENDIX - ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES

mesh

population geometry

sphere radius

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REFERENCES

1 Dunne, A and Raby, F. (2013). Speculative everything: design, fiction and social dreaming. (Mas-sachusetts, the MIT press). pp. 1.

2 Fry, T. (2009). Design futuring. (New York: Berg)

3 Outdoordesignsource, Parkroyal gets the green mark of destinction (New south wales: universal magazine, 2013) <http://www.outdoordesign.com.au/Environmental/Green-Roofs-Green-Walls/PARKROYAL-gets-the-Green-Mark-of-distinction/1756.html> [accessed 13 March 2016].

4 Cheng, L., library at the dock (Melbourne: architectureau, 2014) <http://architectureau.com/ar-ticles/the-library-at-the-dock/> [accessed 13 March 2016].

5 Places victoria, library at the dock (Melbourne: places victoria, 2014) <http://www.places.vic.gov.au/precincts-and-development/docklands/building-a-community/library-at-the-dock> [accessed 13 March 2016].

6 Kalay, Y. E. (2004). Architecture’s new media. (Massachusetts, the MIT press)

7 Art and com studios, kinetic rain, 2012 <https://artcom.de/en/project/kinetic-rain/> [accessed 13 March 2016].

8 Ibid.

9 Alter, L., Digital fabrication is changing architecture: Exhibition Hall is built out of computer-cut plywood, 2014 <http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/digital-fabrication-changing-ar-chitecture-exhibition-hall-built-out-computer-cut-plywood.html> [accessed 13 March 2016].

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid.

13 Wilson, Robert A. and Frank C. Keil. (1999). Definition of ‘Algorithm’ in The MIT encyclopedia of the cognitive sciences (London: MIT Press), pp. 11-12.

14 Ibid.

15 Web urbanists, Algorithmic Architecture: 14 Complex Math-Based Structures <http://weburban-ist.com/2014/02/26/algorithmic-architecture-14-fractalparametric-structures/2/> [accessed 17 March 2016].

16 Ibid.

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17 John Klein design, Wangjing Towers - ZHA <http://www.john-klein.com/Wangjing-Towers-ZHA> [accessed 17 March 2016].

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Imagesfigure 1.indesignlive, Parkroyal on pickering by woha (Singapore: indesignlive, 2013)< http://www.in-designlive.com/articles/projects/parkroyal-on-pickering-by-woha> [accessed 13 March 2016].

figure 2.Parkroyal, parkroyal on pickering (Singapore: parkroyal: 2016) <https://www.parkroyalhotels.com/en/hotels-resorts/singapore/pickering.html> [accessed 13 March 2016].

figure 3.Snape, D., library at the dock (Melbourne: architectureau, 2014) <http://architectureau.com/ar-ticles/the-library-at-the-dock/> [accessed 13 March 2016].

figure 4.Art and com studios, kinetic rain, 2012 <https://artcom.de/en/project/kinetic-rain/> [accessed 13 March 2016].

figure 5.Ibid.

figure 6.ICD/ITKE/IIGS University of Stuttgart, Digital fabrication is changing architecture: Exhibition Hall is built out of computer-cut plywood, 2014 <http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/digital-fabrication-changing-architecture-exhibition-hall-built-out-computer-cut-plywood.html> [accessed 13 March 2016].

figure 7.Ibid.

figure 8.Web urbanists, Algorithmic Architecture: 14 Complex Math-Based Structures <http://weburbanist.com/2014/02/26/algorithmic-architecture-14-fractalparametric-structures/2/> [accessed 17 March 2016].

figure 9.Wiscombe, T., urban concept <http://divisare.com/projects/17417-emergent-tom-wiscombe-stock-holm-city-library> [accessed 17 March 2016]. figure 10.John Klein design, Wangjing Towers - ZHA <http://www.john-klein.com/Wangjing-Towers-ZHA> [accessed 17 March 2016].

figure 11.Ibid.

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