ARCH

ITEC

TURE

DES

IGN

STU

DIO

AIR

KI

A TZ

OU

NO

S 39

0419

WEEK 01ARCHITECTURAL DISCOURSEZAHA HADID|GUANGZHOUOPERAHOUSEThe state of the art opera house was designed and constructed over 8 years (2003-2010) reflects Hadids love of contemporay yet simultaneously naturalistic form. The form resembles two large boulders and an inviting promenade has been sculpted from the landscape, beginning from the opposite side of the central boulevard and winding towards the entrance of the opera house. 1

The opera house is located at the centre of Guangzhou’s cultural district. The twin bolder form works in harmony with the sour-ounding city, the structure opens the adjacent buildings up to the Pearl River and creates an inter-esting contrast from the formal-ity of the sky-scrapers surround-ing the naturalistic structure.

CONTENTS

WEEK 01|ARCHITECTURAL DISCOURSE

WEEK O2|COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN

WEEK 03|PROGRAMMING/ SCRIPTING CULTURES

WEEK 04|GRASSHOPPER DEFINITIONS

WEEK 05|REVERSE ENGINEERING CASE STUDY

WEEK 06|MODELLING CASE STUDY

|EXPRESSION OF INTEREST DOCUMENT

&SI

GN

IFIC

ANCE

RE

LVAN

CE

The architectural significance of Hadid’s structure is highlighted through its form, and the design intent behind the structure. Hadids building evolved through taking inspiration from the natural world (a contrast from Chinas concrete jungle). The idea arose from the concept of a natural landscape and the relationship between architecture and nature. The key ideas for Hadids inspiration were the principles of erosion, geol-ogy & topography. 2The inspiration behind the Unique Opera house pro-vides a relationship between the precedent and the EOI proposal. It is important that the Gateway take inspira-tion from the surrounding landscape and topography. I think this idea of responding to the natural environ-ment will provide a strong response to the design brief. Zahas inspiration is abstract and not obvious to those who don’t look to find a deeper meaning which is a strong concept for the design of the gateway project.

“the installation need not be literal or didactic in its refrences, as it may capture a more abstract, aspira-tional intent or feeling” - design brief

architecture and visual culture...“the term architecture applies only to buildings designed with a view to aesthetic appeal”The week 01 Richard Williams reading highlights a strong realm of the architecture industry which is treating the profession as a form of Visual Communication. Hadids buildings are very much works of art with the apparant design intents and attention to ‘aesthetic appeal’. The interesting relationship in this precedent is how Hadid has created art, for art and how the building responds to the intended purpose of the performing arts. The natural form of the building reflects the grace of Opera and expresses the purpose and art that will be carried out in the structure.

WEEK 02COMPUTATIONAL DESIGNMICHAEL HANSMEYER|VOXELS

EXPE

RIM

ENTI

NG

WIT

H F

ORM

Michael Hansmeyer is a post-modern architect who incorporates algorithmic (artificial) and CAD software techniques to create structures and architectural forms. He is apart of the CAAD (com-puter aided architectural design) group at ETH’s architecture faculty in Zurich.

Voxel is short for volume pixel, the smallest distinguish-able box-shaped part of a three-dimensional image. 4 Voxels (volumetric cells) are a volumetric element that represent a single sample, data point or value on a regu-lar grid (e.g blocks) in 3-Dimensional space. Voxels use a procedural approach to creating form rather than working with surfaces, (such as pixels which use 2D image data). 3

Basic diagramatic explanation of a single voxel in 3D space.

In Hansmeyers subdivision projects (shownright) the Voxels are used as the basic geometry. Hansmeyer uses this ap-proach in certain projects such as ‘pla-tonic solids’ (main image) and ‘Columns’ (below) as the basic geometric form.

MEDIA“design is the epitome of intelligent behaviour, it is the single most important ability that distinguishes humans from other animals” - Jacob Bronowski

from sketches to scripts... A rhinoscript and Frank Lloyd Wrights section of

‘Fallingwater’

ARCHITECTURES NEW

Computational architecture is further removing architecture from traditional methods of design. The ability to manipulate and incorporate these software techniques advances many areas of the field of architecture, but equally neglects certain as-pects. The profession is being further advanced with the contin-ually innovative ways to experiment with form. Computational design can be critiqued as removing the single aspect away from what makes the architecture field so artistically extroardianry. Although the idea is dismissed (Stanislavs notes) the ability to design “distinguises the artist from the mere artisan” 5, and as computers lack any design intuition (lets hope they ever will), why are we relying on technology to assist in one of the only remaining fields that cannot be succumbed to robots. Compu-tational design provides many advantages for creating form but also if used in-correctly can possibly delete the need for any passion or desire to drive.

WEEK 03PROGRAMING/SCRIPTING CULTURES

Alisa Andrasek is an experimental practitioner and research based educator of architecture and compu-tational processes in design. In 2001 she founded biothing, a cross-disci-plinary laboratory that focuses on the generative potential of computational systems for design.

ALISA ANDRASEK|BIOTHING

Alisa

A

nd

rase

k Biothing - exploring the shift from techni-

cal based approaches to the more explicit computational approach. This is done by engaging with scripting in an ‘open source manner’. This scripting culture addresses a growing trend of collective computational knowledge within a discipline (in this case architecture).

removing the technic al ability of architects as designers?

“it is the means by which the user gives highly specific instructions to the computer with which they are interacting.”

The ever-arising ability for designers to rely on computers is creating a poten-tial for designers to ‘spend more time on design thinking.’ The ability to script or program computer software is creat-ing opportunities for users to escape the screen presented in-front of them and escape the parameters of the software set in place by the makers.

positives of scripting include:• The ability to adapt and custom-

ise software; expanding traditional boundaries.

• modifying software, rather than using it with it’s intended use.

• presenting opportunities for the de-signer to escape the strictures inher-ent in any software.

negatives of scripting include:• the implications of lower- level com-

puter programming• placing trust in it’s intirety in comput-

ers.

EXPRESSION OF INTERESTThe organic form highlighted through biothing, presents a free form that resembles what can be seen in the natu-ral environment. The ability to create this organic form provides a method of inspi-ration that can be used to communicate the idea of the natural environment within the gateway project.

WEEK 04CUT DEFINITIONS

Attractor Point

Arbitrary Points Boolean Pattern Curve Intersections

Explicit Grids Overlapping Pattern

Surface Grids Using Surface

Curve Attractor

Image Sampler

Maths Function

Multi Maths Function

Streaming Text

Sets

Input

Associa

tion

The first table of the matrixs’ is developed through the combination of the input definitions and the associationdefinitions.

The second table of the matrixs’ is developed through the combination of the out put defini-tions, combined together with the above outputs of the combined input/association definitions.

WEEK 04CUT DEFINITIONS

Arbitrary PointsAttractor Point Curve Attractor Maths Function Multi Maths

FunctionStreaming Text Sets

Data Driven Rotation

Data Driven Extrusion

Boolean InputAttractor Point Curve Attractor Maths Function Multi Maths

FunctionStreaming Text Sets

Data Driven Rotation

Curve IntesecAttractor Point Curve Attractor Maths Function Multi Maths

FunctionStreaming Text Sets

Data Driven Rotation

Data DrivenExtrusion

WEEK 05REVERSE ENGINEERING CASE STUDY

WEEK 05REVERSE ENGINEERING CASE STUDY

WEEK 06CASE STUDY

CHILD

RENS

MUS

EUM

OF PI

TTSB

URGH

‘A 3-story steel and glass structure surrounded by a kinetic screen of tens of thousands of 51/2 inch translucent white acrylic panels that flutter in the wind, creating a dynamic surface responds to air movement in beautiful and unpre-dictable ways.

NED KAHN|CHILDRENSMUSEUMOFPITTSBURGH

A RESPONSIVE STRUCTURE A RESPONSIVE STRUCTUREThe museum is appropriate for the Gateway project in the way it responds to the movement of the out-side world. The design for a gateway should respond to movement in a visible manner by some-how transforming or appearing to transform from the eye of the on-looker.

This establishes the con-cept of ‘peripheral vi-sion’ and how our vision can change at different scales and positions. This structure acknowl-edges a similar concept, by changing scales and aesthetics from the influence of the wind. The gateway is going to change aesthetics through the influence of movement.