p e r f o r m a l i s m :f o r m a n d p e r f o r m a n c e i n d i g i t a l a r c h i t e c t u r e

y a s h a j . g r o b m a n

a n d e r a n n e u m a n

v c o n t e n t s

Published 2012by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canadaby Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2012 selection and editorial material, Yasha J. Grobman and Eran Neuman; individual chapters, the contributors

The right of the editors to be identified as authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataGrobman, Yasha J.Performalism : Form and Performance in Digital Architecture / Yasha J. Grobman and Eran Neuman. pages cm Includes index.1. Architectural design—Data processing. 2. Architecture, Modern—21st century. 3. Architecture—Composition, proportion, etc. I. Neuman, Eran. II. Title. NA2728.G755 2011724’.7—dc22

ISBN13: 978-0-415-58360-2 (hbk)ISBN13: 978-0-415-58361-9 (pbk)

Designed and typeset by Alex LazarouPrinted and bound in Spain by Grafos, Barcelona

o n e

Performalism: a manifesto

for architectural performance

e r a n n e u m a n

a n d y a s h a j . g r o b m a n

3 – 7

f o u r

Performing the contemporary,

or: towards an even newer

architecture

s y l v i a l a v i n

2 1 – 2 6

s e v e n

High-performance anxiety

c h r i s t o p h e r h i g h t

3 7 – 4 2

t w o

The various dimensions of

the concept of “performance”

in architecture

y a s h a j . g r o b m a n

9 – 1 3

f i v e

Informationism:

information as architectural

performance

a a r o n s p r e c h e r

2 7 – 3 1

e i g h t

Performance-oriented design

from a material perspective:

domains of agency and

the spatial and material

organization complex

m i c h a e l u . h e n s e l

4 3 – 4 8

t h r e e

Architecture as

performative art

a n t o i n e p i c o n

1 5 – 1 9

s i x

The collapsing of

technological performance

and the subject’s performance

e r a n n e u m a n

3 3 – 3 6

n i n e

Performalism or performance-

based design?

m a r t i n b e c h t h o l d

4 9 – 5 2

Contributors

x i – x i i i

t h e o r y a n d e s s a y s

c o n t e n t s

vi vii c o n t e n t sc o n t e n t s

t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l p r o j e c t s

t e n

Eisenman Architects

t h e i m p l i c a t i o n s o f p e r f o r m a l i s m / p e t e r e i s e n m a n

54–61

Church of the Year 2000, 54–55

Domplatz Hamburg, 56–57

Sheikh Zayed National Museum, 58–59

Santuario Station, 60–61

t h i r t e e n

Archi-Tectonics

m e a n i n g - f o r m : a p e r f o r m a t i v e a r c h i t e c t u r e / w i n k a d u b b e l d a m

80–89

Brussels Townhouse, 80

Q Tower, 82

GW497 Project, 84–85

Chestnut Hotel and Condominium Tower, 86–87

Smart Ecology, 88–89

e l e v e n

Greg Lynn Form

t h e i m m e a s u r a b i l i t y o f c u l t u r a l p e r f o r m a n c e / g r e g l y n n

62–69

BLOBWALL©, 62

Bloom House, 64–65

Slavin House, 66–67

5900 Wilshire Boulevard Restaurant and Trellis Pavilion, 68–69

t w e l v e

Preston Scott Cohen, Inc.

a r c h i t e c t u r a l a c r o b a t i c s / p r e s t o n s c o t t c o h e n

70–79

Taiyuan Museum of Art, 70–73

Nanjing University Student Center, 74–75

Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 76–79

f o u r t e e n

Contemporary Architecture Practice

p e r f o r m a n c e a n d c o n t e m p o r a r y a r c h i t e c t u r e p r a c t i c e /

a l i r a h i m a n d h i n a j a m e l l e

90–99

Fashion Designer Residence, 90–93

Commercial Office Tower, 94–95

Migrating Formations, 96–97

Reebok Flagship Store, 98–99

f i f t e e n

r&Sie(n)

“ ( u n ) p o s t u r e s ” / f r a n ç o i s r o c h e a n d a n n a n e i m a r k

100–109

He shot me down, 100–102

Olzweg, 104–106

I’ve heard about, 108–109

s e v e n t e e n

Gehry Partners, LLP / Gehry Technologies

p e r f o r m a n c e o f d e l i v e r y s y s t e m s / d e n n i s r. s h e l d e n a n d s a m e e r k a s h y a p

122–131

IAC Building, 122–125

Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, 126–127

The Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer, Information and

Intelligence Sciences, 128–129

Beekman Street Housing, 130–131

s i x t e e n

KoL/mAC ArChITECTurE

f o r m n e v e r f o l l o w e d f u n c t i o n / s u l a n k o l a t a n a n d w i l l i a m m a c d o n a l d

110–121

Galataport, 110–113

Carlsberg Urban Design Competition, 114–115

FRAC Center Competition, 116–119

INVERSAbrane, 120–121

viii ix c o n t e n t sc o n t e n t s

t w e n t y

open Source Architecture

i n t e n s i t y, e x t e n s i t y a n d p o t e n t i a l i t y :

a r c h i t e c t u r e a n d t h e i n f o r m e d r e a l i t y / a a r o n s p r e c h e r

150–159

C-Chair, 150–151

Hylomorphic, 152–153

N-Nature, 154–157

Parasolar, 158–159

t w e n t y - t h r e e

Foster + Partners

p e r f o r m : p e r f o r m a n c e a s p r o d u c e r o f a r c h i t e c t u r a l f o r m /

g u e d i c a p e l u t o a n d a b r a h a m y e z i o r o

182–191

GLA (Greater London Authority) City Hall, 182–184

The library, Free University, 186–187

Spaceport America, 188–189

Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center, 190–191

e i g h t e e n

Franken Architekten

p e r f o r m a n c e r / b e r n h a r d f r a n k e n

132–141

Bubble, 132–133

Takeoff, 134–135

Dynaform, 136–139

Home Couture, 140–141

t w e n t y - o n e

Gramazio & Kohler

d i g i t a l m a t e r i a l i t y / f a b i o g r a m a z i o a n d m a t t h i a s k o h l e r

160–169

Architonic Concept Space, 160–161

The Sequential Wall, 162–163

Orthodox Synagogue, 164–165

Gantenbein Vineyard Façade, 166–169

n i n e t e e n

oCEAN

o c e a n d e s i g n r e s e a r c h a s s o c i a t i o n / j e f f r e y p . t u r k o ,

d e f n e s u n g u r o g l u h e n s e l a n d b i r g e r s e v a l d s o n

142–149

Barely, 142–143

Membrane and cable-net systems, 144–145

Membrella (MM-Tent), 146–149

t w e n t y - t w o

reiser + umemoto

a r c h i t e c t u r e p e r f o r m i n g i t s e l f / j e s s e r e i s e r a n d n a n a k o u m e m o t o

170–181

O14, 170–173

AEON, 174–175

Terminal 3, Shenzhen International Airport, 176–179

Taipei Pop Music Center, 180–181

Project credits

192

Illustration credits

203

Index

200

xi c o n t r i b u t o r s

c o n t r i b u t o r s marTin bEchThold is Professor of Architectural

Technology, Co-Director of the Master in Design Studies

Program, Director of the GSD Fabrication Laboratories

and Director of the Interdepartmental GSD Technology

Platform. His research primarily deals with computer-aided

design and manufacturing applications in architecture,

with a current focus on structural systems, construction

automation and robotics. He is one of the co-authors of the

recently published Digital Design and Manufacturing: CAD/

CAM Applications in Architecture, Structures, as well as the

author of Innovative Surface Structures.

GuEdi capEluTo is an Associate Professor in the

Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the

Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. He has developed

several design tools for energy-conscious and sustainable

architectural design in a two-fold level: building and

urban scale. Among others, he developed SustArc

(Sustainable Architecture), a model based on knowledge

and procedural methods that serves to determine a

“space of solutions” for the creation of architectural

design alternatives, dealing with climatic, energetic and

environmental aspects at the residential quarter’s scale.

Recently he has developed SunTools, a SketchUp plug-in

for daylight and solar access consideration during early

design stages. He is involved as a research partner in

various financed researches and projects, among them

the development of an energy rating system for buildings

in Israel. He is a Visiting Researcher at the Building

Technologies Department, Ernest Orlando Lawrence

Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), has supervised

more than 15 PhD and MSc students, and has published

his works in international scientific journals and books.

yasha J. Grobman is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty

of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion, Israel

Institute of Technology and a principal and a co-founder

of Axelrod Grobman Architects (www.ax-gr.com). He

holds a Master of Architecture from the Architectural

Association Design Research Laboratory (DRL) and a

PhD from the Technion. His research concentrates on

computer-oriented design and manufacturing methods

and performance-oriented architectural design.

xii xiii c o n t r i b u t o r sc o n t r i b u t o r s

michaEl u. hEnsEl is an architect, writer, educator

and researcher. He is a Professor and Director of the

Research Centre for Architecture and Tectonics at AHO,

the Oslo School of Architecture. He is a board member of

the OCEAN Design Research Association and of BIONIS,

the Biomimetic Network for Industrial Sustainability,

as well as an editorial board member of AD Wiley and

Journal for Bionic Engineering published by Elsevier

Scientific Press. Recent publications include: Emergence:

Morphogenetic Design Strategies (AD Wiley, 2004);

Techniques and Technologies in Morphogenetic Design

(AD Wiley, 2006); Morpho-Ecologies (AA Publications,

2006); Versatility and Vicissitude (AD Wiley, 2008); Form

Follows Performance – Zur Wechselwirkung von Material,

Struktur, Umwelt (Arch+ Vol. 188, 2008); Turkey: At the

Threshold (AD Wiley, 2010).

chrisTophEr hiGhT is an Associate Professor of

Architectural Theory and Design at Rice University School

of Architecture. He is the author of Architectural Principles

in the Age of Cybernetics (Routledge, 2008). In his research,

Hight concentrates on emerging forms of urbanization,

ecology and processes of contemporary architectural

design.

samEEr Kashyap is a Managing Director of Gehry

Technologies’ services group, with expertise focused

on the coordination and execution of complex projects

using Integrated Project Delivery processes and Virtual

Design and Construction methods. He has led numerous

consulting engagements with Gehry Technologies,

notably Gehry Partners’ Beekman Street Housing,

AS+GG’s 1 Dubai, and Gehry Partners’ Cleveland Clinic

Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Prior to joining Gehry

Technologies, he practiced in London, Boston and New

Delhi. He has served as visiting faculty at the Southern

California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). Kashyap

holds a Master of Science in Design and Computation

from MIT, and a Masters in Architecture from Sushant

School of Art and Architecture.

sylvia lavin is Professor of Architectural History and

Theory at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

A leading figure in current debates, Lavin is known for

her criticism in the field of contemporary architecture

and design. Her new book, The Flash in the Pan and Other

Forms of Architectural Contemporaneity, will be published

by MIT Press.

Eran nEuman is an architect and a Senior Lecturer

and Chair of the Azrieli School of Architecture, Tel

Aviv University. He holds a PhD from the University of

California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is a principal and a co-

founder of Open Source Architecture.

anToinE picon is Professor of the History of

Architecture and Technology at the Harvard Graduate

School of Design and a researcher at the École Nationale

des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris. He is currently writing a

book on digital architecture.

dEnnis r. shEldEn is Associate Professor of

the Practice of Architecture Design at MIT, and a

Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Gehry

Technologies, a building industry technology company

formed in 2001 by the research and development team

of Frank Gehry Partners. He joined Gehry Partners in

1997 and became director of the firm’s computation

efforts in 2000, where he was responsible for the

management and strategic direction of the firm’s

technology efforts. Prior to joining Gehry Partners, he

performed structural engineering, energy systems and

technology development work at firms including Ove

Arup & Partners, Consultants’ Computation Bureau and

Cyra Systems. He lectures and conducts research in

building industry process advancement and in design

computation and cognition. He holds a Bachelor of

Science in Architectural Design, a Master

of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering,

and a Ph. D. in Computation and Architectural Design

from MIT.

aaron sprEchEr is co-founder and partner of Open

Source Architecture (www.o-s-a.com). He completed

his graduate studies at the University of California at

Los Angeles. His research and design work focuses

on the synergy between information technologies,

computational languages and automated digital systems,

examining the way in which technology informs and

generates innovative approaches to design processes.

Besides numerous publications and exhibitions,

he has lectured in many institutions including MIT

(“In-fluence Af-fluence Con-fluence: Notes on

N-dimensional Architecture”), RISD (“n-Natures: Fibrous

Morphologies”) and Harvard University GSD (“Intensity,

Extensity and Potentiality: A Few Notes on Information

and the Architectural Organism”). Sprecher is co-curator

and co-editor of the groundbreaking exhibition and

publication The Gen(H)ome Project (MAK Center, Los

Angeles, 2006) and design curator of Performalism

(Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 2008). He is a recipient of

numerous research grants, most recently, awarded with

a Canada Foundation for Innovation award. Sprecher is

currently Assistant Professor at McGill University School

of Architecture.

abraham yEzioro is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty

of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion,

Israel Institute of Technology. He serves as director of

the Center for Architectural Research and Development

and is a co-founder of the faculty’s Climate and Energy

Laboratory in Architecture.