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introduction
I’m Alex. I’m currently undertaking my third year of Bachelor of Environments at The University of Melbourne - and planning to major in Architecture. I was born in Melbourne, but I grew up in Singapore from 1994 to 2007. This early exposure to Asian culture has given me a huge interest in Asian architectural styles.
My ideal house would be a black and white colonial house, like many of the ones that surrounded me as I grew up. I haven’t had much digital design experience in the past, and im looking forward to developing my skills and my understanding of the theory this semester.
1
Figure 1: British colonial
black and white house.
“Design is a process we
engage in when the current
situation is different from
some desired situation”1
Figure 2: Form by Zaha Hadid.
3
There are a number of lenses through which one can view architecture. Viewing it through the lens of art allows one to value its aesthetic appeal, however, it can be limiting in appreciating how a building serves a purpose within a town or city; or even globally. Viewing architecture as a discourse is a way of looking at it as more than just aesthetics. It allows for design theories and methods to be challenged. This can have a great JOnVFODF�PO �OPU�POMZ�GVUVSF�CVJMEJOH
designs, but even the planning of towns and cities, where perhaps there are better methods than those currently standard. It allows for architecture to be seen as a medium to question convention and current social norms. It allows for certain works to change the way society operates. The use of digital tools has had a large impact on the way we do go about architectural design and discourse - but UP�XIBU�FYUFOU�DBO�EJHJUBM�EFTJHO�JOnVFODF�the architecture of today?
Figure 3: Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier challenged classical
architectural styles by creating a plain square house with a
nBU�SPPG���B�TUBSL�EJTJNJMBSJUZ�UP�UIF�USBEJUJPOBM�'SFODI�#FBVY�Arts style buildings that populated France where there was
NVDI�FNQIBTJT�PO�UIF�SPPnJOF�PG�B�CVJMEJOH�
architecture as a discourse
Digital tools allow an architect to work with both two and three dimensional geometries to create interesting and memorable shapes and patterns that may not be possible otherwise. 30 St Mary Axe (aka. The Gherkin) in London - winner of Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize - designed by GMW Architects (U.K.), features a diamond motif which wraps around the entire building This is unique in that the very geometric diamond pattern is stretched over the rounded, curved, organic shaped structure of the building - sort of juxtaposing geometric form with a curve. This building challenges the idea that buildings should be recto-linear, like many of the other buildings in London. So the aid of digital design tools allows for the architect to accurately model more complex ideas.
digital architecture
'JHVSF�������4U�.BSZ�"YF�5IF�(IFSLJO�KVYUBQPTFE�XJUI�
London’s other buildings, all with
much less provocative shapes.
digital architecture To me, The Esplanade Theatre,
Singapore, designed by DP Architects (Singapore) and Michael Wilford and Partners (London), is a
brilliant example of ‘Digital Architecture’ - being a winner of the President’s Design Award 2006. In
the design stage of the building, a digital system was created to workout a reasonable angle for the
panels which cover the façade, taking into account many natural factors including temperature and
amount of sunlight - greatly reducing the need for air-conditioning in the building. This use of digital UFDIOPMPHZ�FYFNQMJmFT�IPX�DPNQVUFST�DBO�SFBMMZ�aid the design of a building on more than just an aesthetic level - being able to analyse a natural
system and apply it to a physical structure. So digital design tools are
handy in the design of a building, but how are computers used to do this?
Computerised architecture is the digitalisation of an architects ideas, physical drawings and models. Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim (Bilbao, Spain) is an example of a computerised design where the architect, Gehry, computerised his drawings and TDVMQVUFT�JO�PSEFS�UP�mOBMJTF�UIF�design and commence construction. Computers aid in this as the architect can show much more detail in computerised drawings. So computers can be very useful JO�NPEFMJOH�BOE�mOBMJTJOH�B�EFTJHO �however, can they be used earlier in the design process? Can computers be used to synthesise a design, both provocative and workable? Rather than to take over from the architect, I believe computers should be used as a tool to explore, and make the most of, as many potential design pathways that can be explored within the biggest design space possible to create an organic whole. That is where computational architcture comes in.
computerisedarchitecture
'JHVSF����&YUFSJPS�DVSWFT�PG�UIF�Guggenheim are clad in titanium
panels, giving it a unique and
NFNPSBCMF�mOJTI�
“analytical systems
with enough
‘understanding’ of
the data to be able
to provide rational
appraisal of human
designers’ solutions”3
Figure 7: 3D CAD model of a staircase
done on Rhinoceros 3D.
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Basically, the design space is the region of possible outcomes that can be discovered or created, and digital technology has the potential to greatly broaden that region. Thus, computational design emphasizes the design process with a focus on a collection of ideas in working toward a goal - rather than the pursuit of perfection of one single idea. That is both the theory behind computational architecture, and what separates it from computerised architecture.1
Computational architecture is UIF�VTF�PG�DPNQVUFST�UP�FYQMPSF�JOmOJUF�alternatives derived from the crux of an inspiration. It allows us to fully test, prototype and compile a number of options and paths to persue in the design process, which ultimately leads to a more well thought out and cohesive design - both aesthetically and functionally. It allows for a designer to work beyond “human cognitive limits”1. Designs can be created and easily changed, creating a
number of alternatives. Each stage in the developement of the design can be tracked and thus each stage of the design process is easily recoverable. Whilst being pursued, the architects understanding of the goal can be dramatically developed, and the architect can potentially uncover completely new shapes and geometries which allow for them to express ideas and pursue new and improved goals that are otherwise incomprehendible.1
computational architecture
Figure 8: Design spaces
Zaha Hadid has revolutionised architecture and design, opposing geometric shapes and common forms with dramatic curves and “fragmented geometry”2 which “evoke the chaos of modern life”2. It is an uprising against an architecture that has existed for centuries. Hadid’s use of digital design tools has allowed for such complexity, the complexity of nature, to be communicated in her many works. Hadid’s BEKO concept is a seamless transition between a humanmade structure and a chaotic representation of natural movement. The use of digital design tools have allowed for Hadid to synthesise the many curves and focal points of this exciting design - creating something which relates both back to itself, and its surroundings. The building seems to nPX�TFBNMFTTMZ���JU�JT�BO�PSHBOJD�XIPMF�rather than a collection of parts. This is the core of computational architecture - it allows for nature to be analysed, and then synthesised in the form of a building or structure.2 So what tools allow for computation to be employed?
In terms of physically using a computer for parametric design, parameters are set and linked to a CAD drawing (be it two or three dimentional) and then rather than erasing and redrawing, the parameter can be altered and the drawing will be updated in real-time. This allows for the designer to instantly compare a newer idea to a previous idea. It provides a much more exciting and ironically, a more organic design experience, as spur of the moment thoughts can instantly be modelled and visualised. Ideas can become very quickly become tangible, where perhaps they would be overlooked or forgotten about if a more limiting set of tools were the method of expression. So parametric modelling allows for the most expression in the design.4
The most basic design tool is the use of a pencil, paper and an eraser. The pencil ‘adds’ the eraser ‘subtracts’, whilst the paper is the medium in which the design takes place. Parametric modelling introduces another element to design; that each part of a design is related. So any DIBOHF �TJHOJmDBOU�PS�NJOPS �BGGFDUT�UIF�entire form. So parametric design puts an emphasis on the relationship between parts, not the individual parts themselves, thus the whole concept remains a coherent whole - obviously this requires the designer to picture the design as a whole rather than a collection of parts. So the process of computational design is as so: add, erase, relate, and repair. To ‘relate’ is to distinguish the relationship between parts and to ‘repair’ is to address the change in these affected parts, so that the whole design remains coherent. A basic way of looking at parametric design would be to describe it as the method of distinguishing ‘what is not’, while traditional design techniques (ie. pencil and paper) are limited to searching for ‘what is’. It is effectively a process of elimination. So naturally, parametric design allows for a design space immeasurably larger than one that a traditional design technique would allow for.4
parametric modelling
14
“the designer establishes the
relationships by which parts
connect, builds up a design
using these relationships and
edits the relationships”4
15
Figure 10: Parametric design.
A basic way of using parametric modelling would be to create a two dimentional pattern. This is a very quick process. Rhinoceros 3D in conjunction with the Grasshopper plugin provide an instantaneous image that the designer or architect can explore.
parametric modelling
16
"U�mSTU �B�QBSBNFUFS�JT�TFU �which randomly plots points DPOmOFE�XJUIJO�B�SFDUBOHMF�
A second parameter is set which joins the points with
vectors, creating a triangular mesh pattern.
17
Figure 11: Basic
FYBNQMF�PG�B�QBSBNFUSJD�design process.
A third parameter is set, creating cell-like geometries around the points, with each vector of this cell pattern, perpendicular to a vector of the triangluar pattern.
The parameter which created the triangular pattern is now removed, leaving the organic cell-like pattern.
An alternative pattern can be discovered by implementing another parameter which removes and adds vectors from the triangle pattern.
The Beijing National Aquatics Centre, also known as the Water $VCF �EFTJHOFE�CZ�"VTUSBMJBO�mSN�PTW Architects, is a demonstation of a parametric system which exsists within its design. Its exterior, clad in hundreds of ETFE panels, follows a pattern inspired by the natural formation of bubbles in a liquid. In order to achieve this, the mathematical formula behind the pattern was input as a set of parameters into a software. The architects then had to edit the parameters until a continuous pattern that could be used was discovered. The alteration of one parameter would have an effect on the whole of the building. This pattern also extends within the building in its structural frame work - so basically the building is entirely inspired by this natural system.5 So parametric modelling allowed for this design to be discovered and altered as a whole, to create an organic and coherent entity.
parametricmodelling
Figure 12: Illustration
of natural bubble
formation.
Figure 13: 3D
CAD drawing
of the adapted
pattern for the
design of the
Water Cube.
space, which is maximised by parametric modelling, and create organic and emotive architecure - buildings that are much more coherent, with every part relating back to a single set of parameters. Therefore architecture is currently at its peak, where buildings are created and treated as whole entities during the entire design process. They are as close to nature as possible. In looking to the future, perhaps entire cities could be designed and planned using these revolutionary design tools, where each sector is linked, creating a truly coherent and functioning environment for society to thrive.
So it is evident that the process PG�EFTJHO�JT�B�DPOTUBOUMZ�DIBOHJOH�mFME�of radical ideas and and spur of the moment changes that allow for a design to be alive. Advancing technology has considerably helped the designer and the architect in meeting more and more ambitious goals. It is obvious that a computer can accurately map out a set of points, lines, and planes, however, can it do more than that? Yes - computational architecture and parametric modelling has enabled the architect to continually discover and develope. The perfection of one single idea is a dated goal as architects can now search the design
parametric design
20
transition
Wyndham City is a place with a long history, a place of constant change and growth. It has grown from a small country town to a multicultural hub. So what CFTU�TJHOJmFT�UIJT�FOUSBODF�UP�8ZOEIBN�City? In our design, we intend to explore the concept behind a transition. The idea of a transition is the process of moving from one state to another. Spacial transitions
are experienced every day as we move from place to place. So in moving from one place to another, it is this ‘transition’ which CFDPNFT�TP�JNQPSUBOU�JO�TIBQJOH�UIF�mOBM�outcome or destination. This design is to be experienced as an evolution from the small and unobtrusive, to the monumental. A method to demonstrate a transition in design is the use of sectioning.
24
a bchange
25
'JHVSF�����5IF�USBOTJUJPO�between two states becomes
perhaps moe important than the
actual states.
sectioning
Sectioning is the division of a geometry into planes, illustrating the initial geometry as a series of components. It can be used to express something at a single point in time, or divide movement into individual snapshots. The outcome can appear cohesive from some points of view, and fragmented from others. The effect is intriguing. Greg Lynn, an architect known for his use of sectioning in the Korean Presbyterian Church of NY (page 36-37),
states that a lot of architecture is in a stasis - it is inert. It is his view that architecture must become animated. He aims to create an internal conversation through creating animism, growth, vitality, virtuality and animalism in his architecture. To achieve this, Lynn employs parametric design, to provide a movement to his architecture - creating a discourse.6 Sectioning, being a parametric design tool, can be employed to achieve this.
26
1
Culture of Stasis
Animate Architecture
Parametric Modelling
2 3
27
'JHVSF�����5IF�UIPVHIU�QSPDFTT�behind the implementation of
parametric modelling to animate
architecture.
A basic sectioning technique, known as contouring, can be used to contour this surface using a very simple algorithm, allowing for terrain and other such forms to be modelled.
sectioningbasic techniques
28
Figure 18: Basic contouring techniques.
Further more, contouring can be used to mOE�UIF�JOUFSTFDUJPO�CFUXFFO�UXP�TVSGBDFT �which can then be modelled.
29
sectioning
A second way of sectioning is the use of a parametric tool know as the ‘offset function’. It creates a said number of curves, offset from a single curve, which can then be used to ‘slice’ a geometry into sections, of the same shape in plan as the offset curves. This introduces a multi-dimensional aspect to sectioning, generating interesting shapes. By editing a parameter, it is possible to edit the number of and distance between contours, having a substantial effect on the outcome, changing it from a more solid form to a more fragmented composition. But how can we apply this to the Wyndham City Gateway? How can these techniques be used to explore and portray the idea of transition and change? Recursion, a method of sectioning, will allow for outcomes, based on input geometries to be form mny interesting and beautiful shapes.
30'JHVSF����SJHIU��0GGTFU�GVODUJPO�VTFE�UP�mimic AA’s Driftwood Pavilion.
case study 1 - Driftwood Pavilion
sectioningrecursion
Recursion is the process of creating curves based on the geometry of an input curve. Each new layer is input through the same parameter causing patterns to form. Very quickly, interesting geometries are created. As soon as there is a slight inconsistency in one of the layers, it is grown upon until the outcome barely resembles the input curve. By altering the
parameters, it’s possible to gauge how the patterns work and determine which one is most desireable/suitable for this project - and which best orchestrates a desired transition that is intended in this design. With recursion, it becomes less the individual sections, and more the spaces between them that are more fascinating, where this space represents the transition.
34
Lynn’s Korean Presbyterian Church of NY is an example of recursive offsetting, with the shell of the building fragmented into sections, creating an interesting façade, and creating innovative openings for light to enter. This use of sectioning
very succesfully illustrates the physical transition that the building - once a laundry factory - has experienced; and thus highlights the temporal change that has occured on the site.
sectioningrecursion
37
39
sectioning
'JHVSF�����&EJUJOH�UIF�QBSBNFUFST�DIBOHF�a neat, ordered geometry into a more
SBOEPN�BOE�DIBPUJD�POF���SFTVMUJOH�JO�B�NBKPS�USBOTJUJPO��5IF�TUBSU�HFPNFUSZ�JO�UIJT�
FYBNQMF�JT�B�NBOVBMMZ�ESBXO�TIBQF�
recursion
40
sectioning
To achieve an informed start curve, generating a methematical equation or function from some data using a python script. In creating a sine curve, it was possible to generate seemingly random chaotic results from a very logical ordered start curve, demonstraiting quite a physical transition.
recursion
'JHVSF�����5IF�PVUDPNF�PG�VTJOH�UIF�QZUIPO�script to generate the input curve.
'JHVSF�����'PS�-PPQ�������QPJOUT ���VOJU�apart
'JHVSF�����4JOF�8BWF�-PPQ�������QPJOUT ���unit apart
41
As well as mathematical patterns, inputing regular shapes can create the desired outcome. Minor mapping inconsistencies in the regular start curves cause the recursive algorithm to basically trick the computer into creating some mezmerising and beautiful geometries... creating an obvious transition from a supposedly regular elipse.
'JHVSF�����5IF�PVUDPNF�PG�HFPNFUSJD�JOQVU�curves is rather interesting as they follow
seemingly random patterns, and beautiful
shapes are generated.
42
Figure 29: A method of constructing a three
dimensional fractal pattern is to cronstruct
somewhat of a ribcage, then apply the layers as
QBOFMT��5IJT�DSFBUFT�B�TLFMFUBM�MJLF�TUSVDUVSF �XJUI�an emphasis on organic curves with movement.
sectioning
43
Figure 30: Another method of
construction would be a more
mass based approach where
the layers are stacked, creating
somewhat of a terrain form.
prototyping
ÀQLVK
start
Sectioning, by recursion, will signify the entrance to Wyndam City, a transitional space that will become an experience to the passerby 44
After our experimentation and exploration into python scripting and geometric start curves, we reverted to the use of a manually drawn start curve which we input into the recursive offset algorythm which we created on grasshopper. This
very simple approach gave us a certain level of control over the output curves of the function, and gave us room to further develope the design, with a further use of recursion.
transitionSFmOFNFOU
46
transitionSFmOFNFOU
We approached this design in plan, to follow Greg Lynn’s opposition to the current emphasis on vertical structure.6 We experimented much with the composition of the sectioning and how the a transition
was best communicated. Recursion, among other elements, was further explored in attempting to create a linear transition.
48
To create a linear progression, we extruded the sections to suggest a transition from planar panels to organic curves. As the closed geometry is approached, the sections become more and more curved until there is a point of JOnFDUJPO �XIFSF�UIF�SFDVSTJPO�JT�SFWFSTFE�creating a sort of internal conversation
within the overall design - between the linear progression, and the progression of recursively offset curves that create the closed geometry. To spark the beginning of the physical transition, we inserted a circular node.
transitionSFmOFNFOU
50
We didn’t consider the vertical shape of our design until we applied it to the site.To turn the plan view into a three dimensional model we altered the
heights of each section leading up to the mOBM�HFPNFUSZ �UP�QMBZ�PO�TDBMF��*O�UIJT �we intend to add a vertical element to the transition.
55 N
The design proposal aims to intrigue the driver as the car approaches the site
from the south-west. Slowly the transition is XJUOFTTFE�BT�UIF�mOBM�TUSVDUVSF�JT�SFWFBMFE���
intending to create an experience.
transitiontectonics
This proposal relies on each section to act as an instantaneous snap shot within a transformation. In order to best achieve this, each section must be as thin as possible. An obvious material choice would be some sort of sheet metal, being joined to a frame. We experimented unsuccessfully with soldering, and discovered that welding was a solution in
how the frame could be constructed. To attach the sheet metal to this frame, the use of riveting was successful and allowed for an almost seamless and smooth surface - rivets can also be ground down to create B�QPUFOUJBMMZ�DPNQMFUFMZ�nBU�TVSGBDF��5IJT�technique was vastly employed in the construction of aircraft, due to its potential to create aerodynamic surfaces.
56
'JHVSF�����5IF�mOBM�EFTJHO�JT�B�WFSZ�PCWJPVT�linear transition and intends to intrigue the
onlooker as they pass by.
in conclusion
The Wyndham City Gateway design proposal encompasses a transition within its straightforward design. This linear design simply communicates how a state can greatly evolve from one to another, BOE�UIJT�JT�BMM�UPP�mUUJOH�UP�UIF�TJUF���CFJOH�a transitional one. This design hopes to generate a discussion about Wyndham by creating an experience for the onlooker as they pass through the site, witnessing the contortion of a simple rectolinear section into a much larger organic form. The use of parametric design techniques did indeed aid in generating UIF�DPODFQU�CFIJOE�UIF�mOBM�EFTJHO �allowing us to explore many different geometries and providing the opportunity to create a variety of alternative designs. It helped in the ruling out of certain design ideas and highlighted which paths were viable options for the Wyndham site. However our approach to parametric design could have been more open and experimental. Our initial explorations into parametric modelling techniques were vast and we learned a lot of techniques, and it is unfortunate this XBTO�U�DPNQMFUFMZ�SFQSFTFOUFE�JO�PVS�mOBM�PVUDPNF��*O�UIF�SFmOFNFOU�TUBHF�PG�PVS�design process, we tended to computerise
our thoughts and ideas rather than to continue to experiment with parametric techniques. We tended to approach the design with premeditated ideas about how it should be composed - although based on our understanding of recursion - and UIJT�JT�BQQBSFOU�JO�UIF�mOBM�EFTJHO �XIFSF�there is a strong sense of symmetry and order. Perhaps an increased reliance on parametric design with minimal human input could have resulted in a more edgy and provocative design - like many of the mezmerising geometries that we encountered in our exploration - that could have had more of an impact on the passerby. Rather than to use parametric design purely to generate a design DPODFQU �JU�XPVME�IBWF�CFFO�CFOFmUJBM�to use parametric modelling techniques throughout the whole process up until the mOBM�EFTJHO� Thus it is evident that the use of computational and parametric design provides the capability to extend beyond human tendancies in design, creating totally unique and provocative geometries, allowing for architectural discourse to occur. This is the essence of modern architectural design.
64
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references1 3�'��8PPECVSZ�BOE�"�-��#VSSPX �"SUJmDJBM�*OUFMMJHFODF�GPS�&OHJOFFSJOH�%FTJHO �"OBMZTJT�BOE�.BOVGBDUVSJOH����� ��� ����o�����1SJOUFE�JO�UIF�64"��$PQZSJHIU�ª������$BNCSJEHF�6OJWFSTJUZ�1SFTT��������������������%0*����������4����������������
2 IUUQ���EFTJHONVTFVN�PSH�EFTJHO�[BIB�IBEJE
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4�8PPECVSZ �3PCFSU�������&MFNFOUT�PG�1BSBNFUSJD�%FTJHO�-POEPO��3PVUMFEHF�QQ������
5 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/7069401.stm
6 http://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archilab.
org%2Fpublic%2F1999%2Fartistes%2Fgreg01fr.htm&prev=%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Darchila
b%2Bgreg%2Blynn
67
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