Thesis Book

Cheryl Bratsos

Patrick HaugheyThesis Prep I: Arch 926

Patricia KendallThesis Prep II: Arch 936

Fall 2009Department of Architecture, Wentworth Institute of Technology

A Non-Linear Digital Methodology of Generative Diagramming Formal Delay:

01 Research Problem

02 Objectives

03 Definitions

04 Research Essay(a) Representation(b) Nonlinearity(c) Forfeiting design to computers?(d) Designing algorithms

i. Structureii. Populational thinkingiii. Topological thinkingiv. Intensive thinking

(e) Overcoming formalism: generative systemsi. Generative diagrammingii. Generative fieldsiii. Swarms and flocks

05 Timeline

06 Results

07 Criteria for Evaluation

08 Ideas for Future Research

09 Program

10 Site

11 Precedent (a) Flocking (b) Mao Terminal (c) Yokohama Terminal 12 Design Methodology

13 Bibliography

14 Biography

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 ABSTRACT

5 abstract

This thesis is a critique of design methodology in

favor of digital processes to solve complex, multi criteria

design challenges. The way ideas are represented

throughout a design process have cognitive implications

that directly influence design decisions. Static, deterministic

methods of design need to be revaluated to optimize the

creative potential within delaying the development of end-

result formal characteristics of architecture. Therefore the

interest of this thesis is not computational generative form,

but the development of a generative spatial diagram rooted

in channeled site forces and rapid human mobility that

establishes a framework for formal architectural intervention.

The structure in which a designer translates

information typically falls into a categorical, linear model.

This hierarchical, top-down method assumes a static global

parti to which the progressive resolution of smaller details

subscribe to. The fixed nature of this model limits the ability

to restructure the parti, or to adapt to fluctuating conditions.

A better means to efficiently generate a dynamic, high

performance solution necessitates the restructuring of

design methodologies into a non-linear manner, one that

does not preconceive a final result. Such bottom-up

methods emphasize an interconnectivity of small scale

design solutions that focus on local relationships to inform

emerging, unified systems. Utilizing digital technologies

to provide an algorithmic framework, such processes are

capable of adaptation without disrupting the structure of

internal logic. Inherently this process lends itself to being

iterative; the production of multiple solutions ultimately

extends the role of creativity throughout the design process.

Emerging from the ambiguous roles of creativity, intent, and

authorship within design of the built environment, this thesis

draws solutions from interstitial aspects amongst the fields

of architecture, evolutionary computational design, and

animal behavior. The goal is to place algorithmic generative

systems into a broader context within the architectural

domain.

02 OBJECTIVES

7 objectives

1) Representation: Develop a means of representation

capable of communicating a matrix of fluctuating

conditions. Elements of time, movement, and

transformation may potentialize into catalysts for

creativity.

2) Process: Define an approach to methodology that

is about efficiency, discovery, and experimentation

rather than a deterministic notion of a final result.

Delaying the development of the formal elements

of a project allows for a non-linear investigation of

complex and overlapping design criterions that evolve

into a generative architectural diagram. Parameters

of design decisions can be revisited at any time to

adapt to fluctuating conditions.

3) Artifact: Articulate an architectural manifestation

informed by, yet not determined by, the diagram

grown from the bottom-up methodology. The final

result is representative of the best possible solution

that arises from the iterations provided through digital

explorations.

03 DEFINITIONS

9 definitions

<agents> /ā-jent/

noun: Units within an environment that communicate

with one another. This is a dehumanized term applied

throughout this thesis to describe the behavior of individuals

within a group. The individual may be anything, a person in

a crowd, a bird in a flock, or a vehicle in traffic.

<algorithm> /al-guh-ri-th’m/

noun: A detailed sequences of actions that describe a

process or set of rules to accomplish some task. Named

after Al-Khawarizmi, an Iranian 9th-century mathematician.

<genetic algorithm>

An algorithm capable of transforming and adapting

to fluctuating circumstances, generating combined

or mutated characteristics that form hybrid

recombinations.

<diagram> /dahy-uh-gram/

noun: A translation of information into an abstract level.

Diagrams actively filter information, depicting what is

considered pertinent and excluding what is consider

irrelevant.

<field dynamics> /fēld__dī-na-miks/

noun: A matrix that is capable of unifying diverse elements

while respecting that identity of each. Focusing on local

interconnectivity, field structures are temporal techniques

capable of adapting to fluctuating conditions without

disrupting the integrity of the overall system.

Figure 1: Skylar Tibbits, Phoenixville Artist Live/Work Community, Site investigations based on field dynamics of density patterning.

10 Formal Delay: A Non-Linear Digital Methodology of Generative Diagramming

<intensive qualities> /in-ten(t)-siv__kwä-lə-tēs/

adjective: Characteristics that are not definable through

magnitudes such as length, volume, area, or weight.

They are qualities are defined through intensities such as

temperature, pressure, speed, density, or tension

<iterative> /it-uh-rey-tiv/

adjective: Continuous nature of repeating a process. Yields

combinatorial potency, constantly generating and evolving

new forms while integrating a recursive feedback loop into

design process.

<methodology> /me-thə-dä-lə-jē/

noun: The analysis of the principles and procedures of

inquiry. There are two fundamental philosophies that apply

to the field of architecture:

<top-down>

An exogenic system. Information is cognitively

structured in a linear, hierarchical system where

information is successively broken down into smaller

subsystems.

<bottom-up>

An endogenic system. Information is cognitively

structured in a non-linear manner where agents are

defined and linked together at a local scale to inform

an emergent global system.

Figure 2: Left: Top-down, linear model of hierarchy.

Right: Bottom-up, nonhierarchical field network.

11 definitions

<nondeterministic> /non-di-tur-muh-niz-tik/

adjective: Describing a property which may have more

than one result, exploring multiple options parallel to one

another. Processes that involve predictable, probabilistic

methods with elements of random influences are known

as stochastic.

04 RESEARCH ESSAY

13 research essay

Representation: architecture and abstraction

Recent advances in media technologies have

necessitated a critical evaluation of visual imaging as it

relates to the architectural process. The communicative

potential of ideas are subject to their representation

(images). Computational strategies within design

methodologies have irrevocably changed the way

architecture is conceived and perceived. Digital tools are

not simply a new way of drawing. Abandoning the static,

determinate relationship between conventional means of

representation and artifact, this thesis emphasizes the use

digital methods as a tool that transforms the presentation

of ideas into an abstraction with generative and adaptive

capabilities.

Virtual environments are additive processes, where

no information is lost yet can be manipulated at any time.

We base architecture on its experiential qualities, scale,

proportion, daylight, and our changing perspective as we

How can a design methodology be articulated to

efficiently solve complex, multi-criteria design problems?

Static, deterministic methods of linear design need to be

revaluated. Delaying the development of end-result formal

characteristics of architecture allows for the optimization of

the creative potential of recursive iterative feedback of digital

processes. Generative spatial diagrams rooted in channeled

site forces and an organizational logic of interconnectedness

establishes a framework for emergent architectural potential

that moves away from typologies.


computational strategies integrated into architectural

design methods. Appropriation of software from automotive

research, aerospace engineering, and entertainment

industries in the late 1990s offered the field of architecture a

previously infeasible means of visualizing transformations.3

This marked the first introduction of a technologically

temporal dimension, at the same time allowing for the

representation of complex topologies. Dynamic means of

representation expands our cognitive abilities within the

creative process to respond to a discursive feedback loop of

layered information.

move through the space, so why not design in this way?

Computational methods have the potential to work directly

with the transient nature of reality, accounting for factors of

time, event, motion, and program.

As early as the 1960’s, media theorists such as

Marshall McLuhan were making bold predictions about

media technologies and how they would remain relevant in

their effect on human behavior. In effort to understand the

magnitude technological advances have on the social realm,

McLuhan takes a historical look at the advent of written type.

Communication became dominated by information extracted

into the form of symbols to be perceived visually, forfeiting

the layers of expressions that stimulate the other senses and

contribute to a more complex and sophisticated approach to

communication.1

McLuhan asserts the idea that social change always

precedes technological change.2 Increasingly complex

design problems lead to the development of advanced

15 research essay

The literary debate between endogenic (bottom-up)

and exogenic (top-down) information processing builds

largely upon the theories of the late twentieth century French

philosopher Gilles Deleuze. In one of his most notable

works, A Thousand Plateaus, he describes two cognitive

structures of information with the terms ‘strata’ (a centralized,

hierarchical structure based off a branching metaphor) and

‘rhizome’ (a decentralized, non-hierarchical structure based

off a field metaphor).4

In 2002, Manuel DeLanda interpreted the theories of

Deleuze into terms of the design realm. Moving away from

isolated linguistic definitions of the terms, DeLanda attempts

to uncover common structure-generating processes within

socio-technological, biological, or physical structures, each

respectively has immanent resources that operate on a

deeper level.5 DeLanda’s explorations have largely focused

on non-linear dynamics and the possibilities of generating

new forms.

Non-linear methods

The structure in which a designer translates

information typically falls into a categorical, linear model.

This hierarchical, top-down method assumes a static

global parti to which the progressive resolution of smaller

details subscribe to. The fixed nature of this model limits

the ability to restructure the parti, or to adapt to fluctuating

conditions. A better means to efficiently generate a dynamic,

high performance solution necessitates the restructuring

of design methodologies into a non-linear manner, one

that does not preconceive a final result. Such bottom-up

methods emphasize an interconnectivity of small scale

design solutions that focus on local relationships to inform

emerging, unified systems. Utilizing digital technologies

to provide an algorithmic framework, such processes are

capable of adaptation without disrupting the structure of

internal logic. Inherently this process lends itself to being

iterative; the production of multiple solutions ultimately

extends the role of creativity throughout the design process.


Forfeiting design to computers?

Deleuze’s theoretical term ‘abstract machine’

describes an algorithmic, or rule-based computational

strategy of fostering creatively unbiased solutions. The

success of the abstract machine is in its ability to synthesize

a variety of intricate relationships and complex information.7

Computational strategies do not forfeit creativity, they shift

certain agents of design. Initiating algorithms to carry

out a series of processes inherently necessitates that the

algorithm itself must be richly designed. To maximize the

potential of computational strategies in relation to emergent

architectural systems, we must associate cognitive analytical

design processes with the virtual environment. The power

of computational strategies is the exploitation of its iterative

nature combined with the designer’s interpretation, analysis,

and modification of the generated output.

A critical shift of emphasis from form to process

must take place to align design methodology with the

dynamic way we live and think. The goal of non-linear,

process-driven methodologies is to create a field of

influential potentials to serve as a catalyst for creativity.6

Such methods delay the development of formal aspects of

architecture, the evolution of a design does not subscribe to

a preconceived typology but rather is generated by a matrix

of design tactics that respond to dynamic and temporal

conditions.

17 research essay

point in time and producing numerous design solutions.

Successful development of alternative methods for genesis

of form employing genetic algorithms necessitate three

philosophical schools of thought: populational, intensive, and

topological.9

Populational thinking

Populational thinking is a phrase linked to theories

of biologists in the 1930’s drawing from Darwin and

Mendel. Driving their modern evolutionary theory is the

concept that “at any time an evolved form is realized in

individual organisms, the population, not the individual, is

the matrix for the production of form.”10 Within the context

of computational design, algorithms can produce ‘species.’

Genetic algorithms define a set of rules, thereby defining

a set of characteristics of solution. In turn, refinement of

the original parameters allows for adaptive mutations of the

species.

Designing algorithms

Virtual resources known as genetic algorithms are

simulations based on biological and evolutionary principles.

Applied to architectural design methodologies, genetic

algorithms offer a model of flexibility and adaptation. They

have the potential to challenge linear determinism by offering

alternative methods of process-driven design methodologies,

synthesizing information in new hybrid ways.

Structure of Genetic Algorithms

Evolutionary design methods are structured by the

designer. Initially, the designer must establish a set of

parameters that are subjective to the design intentions.

This structure must allow for varying levels of complexity,

and also maintain the potential to be applied to various

design solutions. Throughout the design process, the

designer works interactively with the program to input design

variations that may take into account any number of things

(including site forces, programmatic elements, etc).8 The

process is continuously iterative providing feedback at every


going to celebrate the same combinational productivity as

biological ones, they must subscribe to a very specific design

challenge and find solutions within intensive invariables.11

Topological thinking

The successful genetic algorithm is infinitely iterative.

Biological evolution maintains an incredible combinatorial

potency, constantly generating and evolving new forms.

However different these forms may be, the still have similar

underlying traits that connect them to systems, classes,

and species. In relation to design methodology, genetic

algorithms have the potential to become infinitely iterative,

to develop a catalogue of abstract design elements. These

elements may then breed, evolve, or mutate depending on

environmental catalysts.

Intensive thinking

Intensive thinking has roots in thermodynamics.

Intensive qualities are those that fall outside of

characteristics definable through magnitudes such as length,

volume, area, or weight. Intensive qualities imply definitions

that cannot be subdivided in such familiar ways; they are

defined through temperature, pressure, intensity, speed,

density, or tension. If computational genetic algorithms are

19 research essay

Overcoming formalism: generative systems

“The architectural object strains under the burden of its responsibility to express meaning through formal representation.” -Ali Rahim12

“The diagrammatic or abstract machine does not function to represent, even something real, but rather constructs a real that is yet to come, a new type of reality.”

-Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari 13

The interest of this thesis is not computational

generative form, instead it advocates to delay development

of formal language until later in the process. Formalism is

clearly evident as an overarching intention of classical and

modernist architecture. Similarly trends in digital architecture

have resulted in a type of formalism generated by the

software programs. To overcome formalism, the abstract

machine can be applied to a regulate a non-hierarchical

set of internal relations. Three methods of emergent

architectural potential are described by generative spatial

diagramming, urban field dynamics, and models of flocking.

Generative Diagramming

Diagrams are visual tools for the comprehension

and communication of information. Diagrammatic practice

assumes a translation of information into an abstract

level, thus necessitating designer input to select what is

constituted as useful information.14 There are several types

of diagrams. Conventional diagrams help communicate

and analyze quantitative information that already exists.

Descriptive diagrams depict a formal aesthetic, showing

aspects of proximity, direction, density, and distribution.


Generative diagrams are used to describe a spatial or

systematic organization. While they may contain information

that may commonly be expressed in conventional

diagramming methods, the generative diagram makes a

clear distinction between imagining formal solutions and

its abstracted organizational logic.15 Generative diagrams

are not concrete, deterministic solutions. They serve as an

engine for conceptual creativity, influencing the frameworks

of organization.

Generative Fields

Fields are described as an array, or network of

forces capable of transforming objects. Field configurations

are frameworks for conceiving collectives rather than

individuals.16 Working with fields of information allows for

a structural way of organizing information that is complex

and non-hierarchical. They form a spatial matrix that is

capable of synthesizing diverse elements of collectives while

maintaining the identities of individuals. Field conditions

are not defined by an overarching linear parti. Operating

Figure 3: Descriptive analytic diagrams by Pratt students in a seminar with Gil Akos and Ronnie Parsons. Study of Los Angeles: patchwork of program, travel distance, and connectivity.

21 research essay

Figure 4: Generative diagrams: Tidsrom project, April 2000. Investigating the relation between sound and spatial representations, aiming to bridge the

representation of data between the different disciplines.

as a bottom-up method, its organizational logic is based on

local interconnectivity, its aggregates regulated by relational

connections.17 Therefore, this type is system is highly

adaptable and fluid, capable of transforming and responding

to fluctuation conditions.

Field conditions offer a conceptual framework

for working directly with temporal aspects site context,

producing generative influences to emergent architectural

potentials. Systematic channeling of dynamic site forces

is an instrumental technique to working with dynamic,

fluctuating systems developed by Ocean North. Channeling

systems “couples and bundles material and performative

potentials into a continuous process of actualization that

withstands settling into final static configuration.”18 Fields of

generative forces are constantly evolving new configurations

and explorations of the conditions upon which they act.


Mobile Aggregation: Swarms and Flocks

Movement in and of fields can be described by

mobile aggregates, a network based on the organizational

logics of field dynamics, but with the added element of

motion. In his 1987 essay Flocks, Herds, and Schools:

a Distributed Behavioral Model, Craig Reynolds relates

the idea of mobile aggregates to the natural system of

flocking, illustrating how complex patterns form from locally

defined parameters.19 The overall perception of a flock of

birds is fluid, yet the individual birds are simultaneously

recognizable. The actions of the birds seem random, yet

they are all in sync. Flock motion is the resultant of each

individual animal acting solely within its local parameters,

responding to just a few simples rules:

• Separation: avoid crowding local flockmates. Shift to

keep a minimum distance between each individual

and its surrounding neighbors

• Alignment: direct movement toward the average

center of neighboring flockmates

Figure 5: Reynolds, 1987. Computational simulation showing movement of flock around environmental barriers.

23 research essay

Figure 6: Reynolds, 1987. Rules guiding locally made decisions in flocks. Left: separation. Middle: alignment. Right: cohesion.

• Cohesion: move with the flock, head towards the

center of the mass of local flockmates.

The pursuit of relating the flocking model to

architecture or urban design is in response to a rejection of

other static methods of solving a design problem. The city

consists of systems of flow. Individual elements, or agents,

relate to and form coordinated systems at a larger scale.

This can be seen in birds within a flock, vehicles within

traffic, or individuals within crowds.


13. Gilles and Felix Guattari Deleuze, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1987).

14. B. Van Berkel and C. Bos, “Techniques: Network Spin, and Diagrams,” in Rethinking Technology, 466 (New York: Routledge, 2007). Diagrams have three stages which require designer input: selection, application, and operation.

15. Birger Sevaldson, “Computer Aider Design Techniques,” Nordic Journal of Architectural Research, Autumn 2001.

16. Rod Barret, “Rod Barnett // Nonlinear Landscapes Architecture,” A Ten Point Guide to Urban Field Theory, 2009, http://www.rodbarnett.co.nz/texts/ (accessed 11 15, 2009).

17. Stan Allen, “From Object to Field,” AD: Architecture After Geometry (Wiey) 67, no. 5/6 (February 1998): 24-31.

18. Michael Hensel and Johan Bettum, “Channelling Systems: Dynamic Processes and Digital Time-Based Methods in Urban Design,” AD: Contemporary Processes (Wiley) 70, no. 3 (June 2000): 36-43. Ocean North is a research group who articulated channeling systems as a way of integrating digital methods with urban design to engage with the complexity of the urban fabric.

19. Craig Reynolds, “Flocks, Herds, and Schools: A Distributed Behavioral Model,” Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and INteractive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) 14 (1987): 25-34.

Endnotes

1. Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: the extensions of man (New York: McGraw Hill, 1964). 7-21. Abetting fragmented communication, and taking the face-to-face exchange of information out of the equation, McLuhan suggests that the abstracted form of written type broke apart our communal societies.

2. Ibid.

3. Tierney, Theresa. Abstract Space: Beneath the Media Surface. New York: Taylor and Francis Group, 2007. pp13. Architects began appropriating software from industrial and product design, automobile, shipbuilding, and aircraft industries as early as the 1970s.

4. Gilles and Felix Guattari Deleuze, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1987).

5. Manueal DeLanda, “Deleuze: The Use of the Genetic Algorithm,” in Rethinking Technology, 407 (New York: Routledge, 2007).

6. Ali Rahim, “Systemic Delay: Breaking The Mold,” AD: Contemporary Processes in Architecture (Wiley) 70, no. 3 (June 2000).

7. Ibid., 8.

8. Theresa Tierney, Abstract Space: Beneath the Media Surface (New York: Taylor and Francis Group, 2007).p 107.

9. Manueal DeLanda, “Deleuze: The Use of the Genetic Algorithm,” in Rethinking Technology, (New York: Routledge, 2007). 408.

10. Ibid., 409.

11. Ibid., 411.

12. Rahim, “Systemic Delay: BreakingThe Mold,” AD: Contemporary Processes in Architecture (Wiley) 70, no. 3 (June 2000): 6.

05 TIMELINE

27 timeline

• Form logic of programmatic adjacencies and flow of

spaces.

February

• Further define parameters of the architectural diagram

(define matrix of characteristics as they relate to

various programmatic spaces).

• Test, experiment and play with parameters to analyze

the benefits/ downfalls of digital iterations.

March

• Finalize the architectural diagram.

• Develop framework for the formal articulation of

materialized form.

• Translate the best possible iteration of the diagram

into architecture.

April [Classes end Friday, 30th]

• Make final design decisions

• Produce final renderings, models, drawings, etc.

November

• Submit Arch926 prospectus.

• Submit Arch936 draft.

December

• Further develop site context diagrams to be included

in thesis prep book.

• Provide further analysis and comments on precedents

to be included in thesis prep book.

• Create an infographic of that portrays the information

shown in this timeline that corresponds with the

nonlinearity of this project.

• [Wednesday, 9th] Submit final thesis prep book,

information from Arch 926 and from 936 combined.

• Refresh website with interactive information about site

context.

• Develop physical site model for working/ study

purposes.

January [Classes begin Tuesday, 19th]

• Develop dynamic computational script that describes

behavior of flocking.

06 RESULTS

29 results

This thesis is largely a critique of methodology,

contributory towards professional practice and academic

pedagogy. The ideas presented here are an attempt to

fluidly align architectural methodology with the non-static,

non-deterministic and non-linear way a creative mind

realizes a matrix of design influences into an architectural

object.

Reflecting on the notion that ideas are subject to

their representation, this thesis emphasizes the use digital

methods as a tool that transforms the presentation of ideas

into something with generative and adaptive capabilities.

Computational strategies serve as a design tool, its

iterative nature is geared towards maximizing the creative

combinatorial potential of complex, multi criteria design

challenges. Influenced by patterns of animal behavior and

strategies from computational design, this project shows

one way of develops a diagram that channels dynamic and

evolving fields of design influences into a methodology

applicable to architecture.

07 EVALUATION

31 criteria for evaluation

into account the translation of the diagram into the final

architectural product.

The nature of this thesis is to experiment within

methodology to find the creative potential within iterative

digital diagramming. The success of this project depends

greatly on a critical investigation of the adaptable conceptual

field, examining dynamic conditions that offer recursive

feedback on design solutions. It is not the intention of this

thesis to apply computational strategies to reduce the role

of human subjectivity in the design process. The role of the

designer is present within the prescriptive parameters of any

algorithmic function, and furthermore controls the flexibility of

the overall system to adapt to changing conditions.

Linear design processes typically approach projects

based on typologies, that is to say they have some

determined idea based on precedent of what the final

product will be like. Therefore this project necessitates a

delay in articulating its formal language. Emphasis is in

creating an abstract diagram capable of generating spatial

qualities and characteristics, not directly generating form

from computation. Criteria of evaluation should also take

08 FUTURE RESEARCH

33 future research

without losing its organizational integrity.

Worthy of future investigation is the potential

economic benefit of working within the methodology

outlined in this project. As such processes become

more sophisticated, they offer professional practices a

methodology that may potentially be faster and result in

more efficient design solutions.

The notion of the generative diagram is appealing

because it has prototypical applications. Its parameters

are flexible and adaptive, creating an open-ended range of

future applications. This project examines dynamic urban

contextual forces and how they may effect and interact

with the project. Elements such as movement of the sun,

topography, wind patterns, circulation patterns, and so on

are elements that apply to every project. The flexibility of the

methodology presented in this project lends its parameters

to be restructured and redefined to apply to other projects in

other locations.

Furthermore, non-hierarchical methods that define

decisions through local (rather than global) conditions

inherently describe an organizational model for adaptability

and infinite expansion. Applicable to a wide range of scales,

this method offers a way of approaching large and complex

problems. An international airport, for example, is a

typology that has been failed by conventional linear methods

of design. They require a design that can adapt and expand

09 PROGRAM

35 program

between efficient, straight paths and meandering, consuming

paths that optimize attractions along the way. People

simultaneously move from one point to another, pause for

retail exchange, and stop to have conversations, eat, and

enjoy the view.

The proposed program is a ferry terminal and

bridging pedestrian plaza that connects two parts of the city

with the water. The terminal is a gateway to the city and the

harbor, celebrating Boston as a port city. The terminal is the

first impression visitors or commuters experience as they

arrive and the last they see as they depart. Expanding the

point of arrival for tourist cruise ships and commuter ferries,

the terminal welcomes people into a vibrant reception area

to the city.

The scope of the project does more than create

a utilitarian connection between city nodes and water. It

maximizes potential for becoming a destination that offers

waterfront views to the public. Conceptualized as a bridging

plaza, the platform will broaden into a vibrant community

farmers market. The revitalized pedestrian path becomes

a dynamic space offering a multitude of pathways, creating

a fluidity of physical and visual connections. Elements of

time and motion define the character of the pathways in

terms of varying degrees of rhythm. The result is a gradient


Program:

• The diagram of circulation is designed first, and drives

the development of programmed spaces. Paths

have point attractors, areas that stimulate agent

aggregation with retail opportunities, site views, and

places to pause and communicate with other agents.

• The marketplace is porous. Densities and proxemic

relations between individual vending units are

established by movement patterns of agents. Units

range between 50sf and 600sf, accommodating fresh

produce stands, coffee vendors, and small cafes. It

will also house the ferry’s operation offices and ticket-

vending.

• Program of spaces do not overlap, local adjacencies

and small scale connections between each elemental

programmatic space inform the organization of the

whole project. Leftover spaces become opportunities

to escape the programmed space, they are flexible,

Figure 7: Top left: path-line development. Top right: program is situated in respect to path-line concept. Bottom left: character of path-envelope is effected by leftover spaces. Bottom left: Resultant path-line, path-envelope, and program relationships.

37 program

multi-use spaces that serve as nodes along a path.

Their variations in scale and proportion define the

character of the path’s envelope they are part of,

effecting the speed at which agents move through.

• Channeling spaces for mobile agents effect the speed

at which they move. Spaces taper and become

indirect to slow down flocks, fostering community

interaction. Spaces become more broad and less

enclosed to increase speed. Program of spaces and

channeling effects directly inform one another as

follows:

Bike path- Agents move at fast pace, are

spread far apart, and do not stop. Spaces are

bright, broad, and open.

Boat loading area (40,000sf)- Agents move

quickly on and off boat, and while maintaining

fairly close proxemics to one another. Spaces

are bright, open, yet narrow.

opendense

broadnarrow

brightdark

FASTERSLOWER

Figure 8: Gradations of the effect density, adjacency, and light have on the speed agents move through a space.


Visitors deck (500sf)- A narrow walkway

aligning with the perimeter of lower level.

Lighting is limited to encourage views out,

allowing agents to view incoming/ outgoing

ships.

Food vending spaces- Dimensions and

densities fluctuate. Sit-down cafés provide

slow spaces, dimly lit, narrow and enclosed

to encourage agents to come to a stop.

Smaller divisions of spaces are organized in

a sociopetal manner, encouraging iteraction.

Food vending stands are oriented towards

broad, open paths to allow agents to continue

moving.

Check-in (500sf)- Narrows, decreases speed

of agents yet encourages them to move

through. Light is limited, guiding agents to the

adjacent brighter spaces.

Terminal lobby (1000sf)- Narrow, enclosed,

dead-end spaces make agents stop and

wait for their boat to arrive. Light is dim and

calming.

10 SITE

41 site

Figure 10: Bridge is currently 70’ wide by 500’ long. As most of the bridge has fallen under disrepair, a new platform bridging from South Boston to the Financial District is being proposed. Beneath the platform is the boarding area for the new ferry terminal.

Figure 9: Boston figure/ ground drawing highlighting proposed site location (not to scale).


The proposed site is a tripartite connection between

South Boston, the Financial District, and the Fort Point

Channel. A new ferry terminal will be replacing the current

operation out of Rowes Wharf, and the scope of the project

includes the redevelopment of the Old Northern Ave

pedestrian bridge. Currently, the Rowes Wharf terminal

primarily focuses service towards commuters moving

between Black Falcon Pier, Charlestown, and North Station,

as well as travelers making trips to and from Logan Airport or

the Boston Harbor Islands.

Visual and Physical connections

The fifty year period between roughly between the

1950 – 2000, the presence of the raised Central Artery,

I-93, caused a sever disconnect between the city and

its waterfront. Lowering the artery has improved visual

connections to the waterfront, yet there is still a drastic break

negatively impacting the development of South Boston.

The ferry terminal, with its implied connectivity and tourist

stimulation, will become the iconic representation of Boston’s

Figure 11: Before (2002) and after (2007) the Big Dig. The removal of the raised central artery provided new physical and visual connections.

43 site

reconnection with its waterfront and with South Boston.

The project lies between an Empowerment Zone in

South Boston, an area of projected population growth and

development, and the densely developed financial center

of Boston. As demand to be in and move through this area

increases, the terminal must be organized in a way that will

adapt to future expansions in passenger loads. With the

projected upward turn of the economy, it must also adapt to

a rise in tourism.

The ferry terminal has the unique challenge of

detangling the dense, systematic networks of both land

and sea, each subject to their own temporal, fluctuating

tendencies. The proposed project materializes a transition

space that fluidly connects the two. Figures 13 and 14

provide visualizations that begin to show layering of existing

networks.

Figure 12: Aerial photo, highlighting the isolation of the Financial District (blue) from the residential (orange) and retail (purple) areas of the city.


Planning

Architects and urban designers have typically

communicated their thoughts through plans and

numbers: census information drawing conclusions about

population densities, distance of travel, proximity to public

transportation, etc. This has resulted in a hierarchical, or

top down, structure of planning for both land and sea. Over

time, interpretations of hierarchies and design goals change.

Layer after layer of information is added, resulting in a

densely tangled network of systems.

With increased web based social and economic

exchanges, and increased physical personal mobility, the

concept of space can no longer effectively be articulated

through static, fixed organizations. Boundaries are being

blurred as ideas of space are (re)interpreted as materialized

fluctuations, defined through connectivity, time, and

movement. Design solutions call for methods that are fluid

and evolutionary.

Figure 13: Land, transportation networksFigure 14: Sea, shipping lanes

45 site

destinations encourage users to seek alternative methods of

transportation. Transportation Access

The proposed ferry terminal provides a physical link

that ties into other types public transportation including

commuter rail, t-stops, and bus routes. What factors

contribute to a higher demand for transit service and

connectivity in a particular area? As outlined by the Boston

Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, this largely

depends on the cost and convenience of transit service as

perceived by potential riders when compared with other

available means of accomplishing the same trips.

While many of the conclusions derived from such

an analysis yield purely quantitative, static data, the idea of

convenience is defined through a matrix of factors including

total travel time, frequency of service, proximity of transit

stations to actual origins and destinations, number and

ease of required transfers, and the seating arrangements

on vehicles. Vehicular limitations effect the demand for

transit service – where limited parking facilities at a station

may discourage usage, while limitations of parking near final


Trip Generation TrendsThis illustration shows projected increases in trip density based upon a 25 year projected

employment and population growth in Boston (as outlined by the Boston Transportation De-

partment).

Change in daily trips per square miles

+100,000 and over+30,000 to +100,000+8,777 to + 30,000up to +8,777

Auto Ownership TrendsSince 1990, auto ownership has seen a dramatic 36% increase in Boston. The effects of this

staggering increase is felt all over the city, Boston’s price of parking is second in the country

only to New York.

Autos per household

1.0 and over.85 - 1.0 .65 - .85up to .65

Figure 17: Projected growth in trip generation. Figure 18: Auto ownership trends.

47 site

PUOPOLO PARK / LANGONE PARK / MIRABELLA POOL / STERITI MEMORIAL RINK

ROWES WHARF /BOSTON HARBOR HOTEL

INDIA WHARF /HARBOR TOWERS

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUSWATERFRONT PARK

LONG WHARF /MARRIOTT HOTEL

CENTRAL WHARF /NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM

LEWIS WHARF

COMMERCIAL WHARF

UNION WHARF

LOVEJOY WHARF

BATTERY WHARF

INSTITUTE OFCONTEMPORARY ART

State

Bowdoin

Boylston

Back Bay

Aquarium

Haymarket

Chinatown

Arlington

Park Street

Charles/MGH

Science Park

South Station

North Station

Government Center

Downtown Crossing

NE Medical Center

Congress StSummer St

Trem

ont S

t

A St

Beacon St

Stuart St

Atlantic Ave

Sumner Tunnel

Was

hingto

n St

N orth S

t

Boylston St

Berkeley St

Callahan Tunnel

John F Fi tzgerald Expy

Charles St

Milk St

Ted Williams Tunnel

High St

Arlington St

Joy

St

Herald St

Cambridge St

Commercial St

Essex St

Northern Ave

State St

Columbu

s Ave

Emba

nkm

ent R

d

Franklin St

Water S

t

Seaport Blvd

Harri

son

Ave

Beach St

N Washington St

Prince St

Hano

ver S

t

Clarendon St

Salem

St

Mt Vernon St

Massachusetts Turnpike

Huds

on S

t

Chestnut St

Pinckney St

Myrtle St

Tyler

St

Purchase St

Revere St

Marginal Rd

Broad St

Kneeland St

Pearl St

Devo

nshi

re S

t

Hull St

Federal St

Causeway St

Arch S

t

W Cedar St

Oliver St

Chandler St

Blossom St

Endicott St

Merrimac St

Newbury St

Haul R

d

Canal St

St James Ave

River St

Dewey

Sq TunnelIndia St

Charles St S

Sudbury St

C St

Church St

Sumner St

Fargo St

Park Plz

Bowd

oin

St

Slee

per S

t

Friend St

Back St

Phillips St

B St

Fulto

n St

Row

Nashua St

Necc

o St

Oak St

Stan

iford

St

Kilby St

Han c

ock

St

Binford St

Bedford StKing s ton S t

Martha RdD S

t Ext

Irving

St

Paul Pl

Leverett C ir Connecto

r

Longfellow Brdg

Som

erse

t St

Fruit St

Park St

Fayette St

Chaun

cy St

Marlborough St

Cortes St

Maverick St

Portland St

E Se

rvice

Rd

West St

Maso

n St

Otis S

t

New

St

W S

ervic

e Rd

Court St

Appleton St

Stilli

ngs S

t

School St

Battery St

Commonwealth Ave

Melcher St

Pine St

Winter St

Central St

City Sq

Blackstone St

Tileston St

Temple Pl

Thacher St

St a nhop

e St

Ridgeway Ln

Walnut St

Oxford St

Trinity Pl

D St

Lomasney Way

Hawkins StParkman St

La Grange St

Seap

ort L

n

Warrenton St

Charles River Dam

Unnamed Rd

Wiget StEastern Ave

Quaker Ln

North

Sq

Amy

Ct

Hayward Pl

Common St

Dorch

ester

Ave

Broadway

W Hill Pl

Spruce PlOtis Pl

Boyls

ton

Pl

Necco Pl

Joy Pl

Fiske

s Wha

rf

Edgerly Pl

Grad

y Ct

Lindall Pl

Tremon

t Pl

Emba

nkm

ent R

d

John

F F

itzge

rald

Exp

y

John F Fitzgerald Expy

Ted Williams Tunnel

John F Fitzgerald Expy

Char

les St

HarborwalkLining the coastline is a network of existing or proposed walking paths. Proportions

considered completed exist in varying stages of development.

Bike PathsThere are about 38,000 daily trips by bicycle in Boston, 20% of which are work trips (not

including recreational rides or bike messenger trips). Paths include Dr. Paul Dudley White

Bicycle Path, Emerald Necklace, Arnold Arboretum, Stony Brook Reservation, Pierre Lal-

lement Path (SW Corridor), Melnea Cass Boulevard, Harborwalk, North Point, South Bay

Harbor Trail, East Boston Greenway, and Neponset River Greenway.

Existing paths (2001)

Bike pathBikes prohibited

Figure 18: Auto ownership trends. Figure 19: Bike paths.


F4

F2

F1

F2

Figure 20: Overlaid networks of transportation: bus, subway, commuter rail, ferry.

49 site

Figure 21: Single family residential Figure 22: Multi family residential Figure 22: Condos Figure 23: Institutional

Figure 27: Government Figure 26: Industrial Figure 25: CommercialFigure 24: Apartments


Figure 28: Layered programmatic information

51 site

Paths

Path development will provide integral connectivity

to existing networks of motion, becoming the structural

logic of connectivity that ties the project to an urban scale.

The mobility of agents in and around a site shape and

informs paths. Analysis of existing patterns of circulation

and the proxemic relationships established by different

agent types informs opportunities for new interventions.

Channelingsystemsaredefinedthroughpath-

envelopes,subtlewaysofattractingandinfluencing

agents to move along a path-line. Dynamic solutions to

path formation is informed by the logic of its channeling

system,regulatedbyevolvingfluctuationsandintensities

of site forces, taking into account agent-channel spatial

relations, directionality, density, distribution, clustering and

fragmentation. The proposed project offers connectivity to

existing pathways that is essential to the future expansion

and development of South Boston.

Figure 29: Diagram of site connectivity. Density of pores reflects density of agent paths and roads.


Figure 30: Site force diagram. Dense pores reflect paths of agent movement, pores open towards direction of prevailing wind, and the diagonal gesture of the height of the pores reflects a connection to the average height of surrounding context.

11 PRECEDENTS

55 precedents

Figure 31: Flock of birds. Photo by Manuel Presti.FLOCKING


Flocking demonstrates the complexity of systems

that can emerge from a multitude of local interacting

relationships. The overall perception of a flock of birds

is fluid, yet the individual birds are simultaneously

recognizable. The actions of the birds seem random, yet

they are all in sync. Flocks may exist in open, expansive

environments like schools of fish in the sea, or they may

be channeled through paths like cars along a street. Flock

motion is the resultant of each individual animal acting solely

within its local parameters, responding to just a few simples

rules:

1. Avoid crowding local flockmates. Shift to keep a

minimum distance between each individual and its

surrounding neighbors.

2. Align toward the average center of neighboring

flockmates.

3. Move with the flock, head towards the center of the

mass of local flockmates.

Figure 32: Channeled traffic patterns of New York City. Photo credit unknown.

Figure 33: School of fish. Photo credit unknown.

Figure 34: Channeled pedestrian patterns of New York City sidewalks. Photo credit unknown.

57 precedents

The formation of an algorithmic structure, or set of rules,

that are based on a model of flocking can be applied to

a generative diagram for architecture or urban design as

response the limitations of other static methods of solving

a design problem. The model of flocking works on many

different scales simultaneously. Individual elements, or

agents, relate to and form coordinated systems at a larger

scale. It allows for the entire system to adapt without

breaking the integrity of local relationships.

59 precedents

f451 Arquitectura: Mao Ferry Terminal

Figure 35: Perspective rendering of proposed terminal.


The scope of the project extends beyond its utilitarian

function of connecting to water transportation. It plays a

vital urban role, creating a wide waterfront promenade.

Typically, views to the water are attained by a select few that

can afford to pay for it. The promenade creates waterfront

spaces to be open to and shared by the public.

Serving as a programmatic precedent is the proposed

terminal by f451 Arcquitectura located in the Mahón Port

on the island of Menorca, Spain. Within their process, f451

Arcquitectura carefully redefined the landscape and site

topography to allow for pathways to seamlessly flow from the

existing city context to the water’s edge. The building form is

a continuation of the landscape, peeling away from the earth

to create inhabitable, programmatic spaces below.

Internal spaces vary in scale to accommodate various

amounts of people. The lower level contains an entry

vestibule, security checkpoint, small vending stations, an

administrative offices. The spaces are porous, encouraging

people to move through the space to the next level. The

upper level contains a larger waiting area, café, and

waterfront viewing terrace. These spaces are larger, more

enclosed spaces that encourage people to be still as they

wait for their ferry to arrive.

61 precedents

The scope of the project extends beyond its utilitarian

function of connecting to water transportation. It plays a

vital urban role, creating a wide waterfront promenade.

Typically, views to the water are attained by a select few that

can afford to pay for it. The promenade creates waterfront

spaces to be open to and shared by the public.

Figure 37: Sections through the space illustrate scale variations of programmed space, as well as their vertical connections to adjacent

Figure 36: Public promenade connects the urban fabric to the water’s edge.

63 precedents

Foreign Office Architects: Yokohama Port Terminal

Client: Port Authority / City of Yokohama

Footprint: 48,000 square meters

Program: 17,000 square meters of terminal

facilities including check-in, customs, and luggage handling

13,000 square meters of conference space, restaurants, and shops

18,000 square meters of transportation facilities including parking, pick-up and drop-off, and bus parking

Accommodates: 530,000 passenger per year

Figure 38: Aerial view of Yokohama port terminal, connecting to dense urban fabric.


In 1994, London’s Foreign Office Architects won

first place in an international competition by for the design

of Yokohama port terminal.. Yokohama is the major

commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. FOA

approached the project as a site for the public, an open

plaza that is a continuation of the dense urban fabric.

The dynamic, multifunctional roof peels away from the

landscape creating sheltered spaces below and a usable

green roof above. Spatial continuity is attributed to FOA’s

digital methodology, where a flow diagram is translated into

architecture that responds to programmatic requirements.

The project developed a diagram of the directionality

of circulation of people and luggage they refer to as “no

return circulation.” The goal was to create opportunities of

loop circulation, where visitors could enter on one path and

exit on another. Sectionally, the spaces are shallow. FOA

regarded stairs as disruptive to circulation flows, and instead

integrated a series of ramps connecting upper and lower

levels.

Figure 39: Circulation diagram of “no return”

65 precedents

the urban fabric. Furthermore, the pier assumes the same

footprint as conventional piers, a peninsula-like protrusion

of the land. Locals wishing to simply visit the public water

front plaza ultimately must turn around and head back in the

direction they came from.

FOA takes a non-linear approach to methodology.

Comments on their process refer to their belief in ‘middle

project,’ that there is no origin or end of a project. They

emphasize the extended creative potential in digital

methodologies, capitalizing on abstract informative

diagrams. In an interview in X-TRA, Contemporary Art

Quarterly, Farshid Moussavi is discusses the role of the

diagram and that it “doesn’t, at any one time, contain the

final formal determination; there needs to be mediation

between the diagram and the form of the building… You

revisit it constantly and analyze it. You make decisions

constantly while allowing for re-evaluation and evolution.”

The design of the Yokohama Ferry Terminal was largely an

experiment in methodology for FOA, seeing how flexible a

project can be.

The materialization of this project is not as successful

as its methodology. The pedestrian path from the city is so

long and exaggerated that it is underutilized. This breaks

away from the concept of flowing spaces that connect to

Figure 40: Open deck leading to lobby entrance Figure 41: Looking back to the city

12 DESIGN METHOD

67 design methodology

Order From Chaos

Procedure 1: Representation of chaotic networks

Exhaustively analyze the sight using conventional,

static methods, overlaying a single layer of information

over a site plan (refer to diagrams in site selection). As

collection of site data builds up, the massive amounts of

information will reveal its tangled, unsuccessful nature of

comparing large amounts of quantitative information. Proving

conventional methods to be inefficient and unsuccessful, I

will suggest digital representations that focus on conveying

qualitative, temporal qualities.

Procedure 2: Generative diagrams

Create a site force diagram considering the urban

fabric as a matrix of fluctuating conditions. These conditions

are subjective to potential future interventions. This will be

an abstract model that will inform the orientation, density,

and porosity of spaces. Model(s) will be designed in the

Rhino environment, driven by the generative method of

scripting.

Parameters:

1. Intensity vector based: topology, wind, temperature,

water currents (this forms a gradient field of influence

that will impact the formation of paths and spaces)

2. Agent-based paths and spaces: Paths and spaces

are defined by movement of agents (people) based off

flocking theories that explore their proxemic relation

to one another and their motion of their combinatorial

massing. This allows for the overlap of multiple

different mobile aggregate networks, where a number

of systems are synthesized to account for variations

in agent types (tourists, shoppers, commuters, etc.)

that use the site at different times of the day and for

different reasons. Information generated from these

systems are projected to the diagram of generating

spaces. Based on the needs of agent-based flocks,

spatial characteristics of spaces are developed to

inform orientation, density, and porosity and creates


an internal logic of the way spaces connect adjacent

spaces.

Procedure 3: Define circulation diagram

The formation of an algorithmic structure, or set of

rules, that are based on model of flocking is applicable

to a generative diagram for architecture or urban design

as response the limitations of other static methods of

solving a design problem. This describes how people

will move with a path-envelope. Individual elements, or

agents, relate to and form coordinated systems at a larger

scale. This can be seen in birds within a flock, vehicles

within traffic, or individuals within crowds. It allows for the

entire system to adapt without breaking the integrity of

local relationships. Flocking can be described as a way of

illustrating how complex patterns form from locally defined

parameters. Channeled networks of locally defined agents

conform to external fluctuating complexities. Therefore, this

organization offers a simplistic organizational solution that

Figure 42: Agents moving together based on locally defined decisions of proximity, directionality, cohesion, and alignment.

69 design methodology

addresses the chaos of its context.

Procedure 4: Define Programmed Space According to

Circulation Diagram

The circulation diagram works with idealized path-

lines, creating fluid connections to the surround complex

networks of land and sea. Programmed space is fit

accordingly around the paths-lines, creating efficient access

to all spaces. Residual spaces become absorbed by the

path-envelope, defining a channeling system through which

agents move through and respond to.

Figure 43: Variations of agent networks that use the site over the course of a day.

13 BIBLIOGRAPHY

71 bibliography

Bibliography

Allen, Stan. “From Object to Field.” AD: Architecture After Geometry (Wiey) 67, no. 5/6 (February 1998): 24-31.

Barret, Rod. “Rod Barnett // Nonlinear Landscapes Architecture.” A Ten Point Guide to Urban Field Theory. 2009. http://www.rodbarnett.co.nz/texts/ (accessed 11 15, 2009).

Braham, W and Hale, J (eds). Rethinking Technology: A Reader in Architectural Theory. New York: Routledge, 2007.

Castells, Manuel. “Space Flows, Space of Places: Materials for a Theory of Urbanism in the Information Age.” In Rethinking Technology: A Reader in Architectural Theory, 407-412. New York City, New York: Routledge, 2007.

DeLanda, Manueal. “Deleuze: The Use of the Genetic Algorithm.” In Rethinking Technology, by William Braham and Jonathon Hale, 466. New York: Routledge, 2007.

Deleuze, Gilles and Felix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus:

Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1987.

Hensel, Michael, and Johan Bettum. “Channelling Systems: Dynamic Processes and Digital Time-Based Methods in Urban Design.” AD: Contemporary Processes (Wiley) 70, no. 3 (June 2000): 36-43.

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: the extensions of man. New York: McGraw Hill, 1964.

Rahim, Ali. “Systemic Delay: Breaking The Mold.” AD: Contemporary Processes in Architecture (Wiley) 70, no. 3 (June 2000): 112.

Reynolds, Craig. “Flocks, Herds, and Schools: A Distributed Behavioral Model.” Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and INteractive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) 14 (1987): 25-34.

Sevaldson, Birger. “Computer Aider Design Techniques.” Nordic Journal of Architectural Research, Autumn 2001.


Tierney, Theresa. Abstract Space: Beneath the Media Surface. New York: Taylor and Francis Group, 2007.

Van Berkel, B, and C. Bos. “Techniques: Network Spin, and Diagrams.” In Rethinking Technology, by William Braham and Jonathon Hale, 466. New York: Routledge, 2007.

14 BIOGRAPHY

75 bibliography

Cheryl Bratsos is currently a graduate student at Wentworth

Institute of Technology, where she is engaged in design

research on architectural methodology and computational

systems. Her formal education began with a background

in fine arts from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

There she studied art theory and methods of representation,

leading to an interest in architecture. She enrolled in

undergraduate studies of architecture at Wentworth Institute

of Technology, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in

Architecture with a concentration in design and technology.

She has worked for Harvard Business School, serving as

a consultant for their sustainability initiative. She currently

holds a design position at the Boston design firm, Baker

Design Group.

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