Experiment Three: The Bridge

Article Mashup

Perspectives

One Point

Two Point

Textures

Design Process

A term often encountered in Computational Design is the concept of biomimicry  ; following research into the application of Reynold's 'boids' enabled me to emulate the growth of mushrooms in its agent-based behaviours.

Plan

The plan I chose to utilise was Zaha Hadid's Riverside Museum; I felt that it was the most appropriate vessel to the parasitic tubing in my design.

Lumion Drafts

Final Renders

Link to Lumion + Rhino Model Download:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8r3glz65ary3q1t/AADqh9c4n-Ixm2ROytZ2nv97a?dl=0

Bernard Cache: Towards an Associative Architecture

• Cache addresses the future of digital architecture and the appeal of "fully associative design and manufacture". Similar to parametric design, associativity "establishes a seamless set of relations" within its components.
• Cache also notes the evolution in 'curvature', 'interlacing' and 'panelling' due to newer software; he stresses the future of digital design as "concentrating all the complexity in the software and the machining operations, in order to make the manual options fewer and more intuitive".
• The solution to creating larger scaled objects, using the Semper Pavillion as an example, is to understand the logic and system between components to assembly.

Domus 948: Open Source Architecture

• "The Architecture of Facebook" addresses the system of online networking, creating links between people with similar interests by addressing the impulses of the human condition.
• The article also addresses the data centre storing Facebook's information and the technology needed to process it. It also foresees that these centres will increase over time; "the bigger the Internet becomes, the more it is a part of the physical world".

Migaryou and Pasquarelli

• Migaryou vigourously deconstructs the concept of non-standard approaches to architecture. He notes the definition's origins in mathematics, revealing the "open, infinitesimal models" and the "dynamic structuralism"that follows.
• However, ultimately non-standard has become more of a 'style' than anything; the surges of technology enables a reapproach to architecture, now able to not only question, but experiment freely with the likes of geometries and self-organising form through "virtual architecture"
• This is furthered in Pasquarelli's "Versioning"; the term 'versioning' describes the shift in approach using technology; Pasquarelli labels it as an "attitude rather than ideology", similar to the notion of style, noting its expansion into other disciplines ie. film and media.
• It is also dependent on geometries and vectors which allows it to adapt to external stimulus.

Picon and Snooks: on Surfaces

The Surface as Architecture

• Picon mostly explores the term 'hypersurfaces', as dubbed by Perrella; "the convergence between cyberspace/hypermedia and architecture", whilst also noting the evolution of information through architecture (ie. through billboards)
• Picon emphasises the notion of sensation, relating to the visual and tactile responses of pain and pleasure; this is crucial to our perception and emotional responses to architecture.
• The concept of surfaces as the embodiment of "geometric flow", not bound by depth, unlike volumes. They are "receptive to operations of all kinds, from inscriptions to folding" ( surfaces are now often seen as layers).
• Modern surfaces have begun to distort the realms of the interior and exterior, "challenging the traditional mode of presence of architecture", creating a grey area in which the interaction between subject and architecture exists.

Self-Organised Bodies

• Snooks addresses the concept of material acting against the "contemporary, tectonic treatment" of components with surfaces by using "self-organising bodies", emulating the 'volatile' nature of swarm intelligence to explore the possibilities of form and ornament.
• "Swarm matter", in which hierarchies are established due to the nature of its components, its systems capable of adapting to environment; there is no default state.
• "Woven Composites"; surfaces as dependent on its surrounding shapes, creating an incredulous mixture of ornament to surface.

Picon: on Materiality

A Different Materiality

• Picon defines materiality as the result of the effects of nature, shaped by the environment which surrounds it.
• Material is a necessary medium in order to achieve "materiality proper"; dictated not simply by the cultural knowledge persisting in its context.
• We are now 'returning to a conception' closer to the pre-industrial one' due to the aid of technology and research towards material design', all heading to impact and benefit research into structure.
• Picon believes that our perception is more crucial to materiality rather than the details of the materials themselves, whilst emphasizing our human nature; technology enhances these perceptions to an inseparable amount, as accents, ornaments and surfaces as well as responsive architecture as the immediate response to technology.

Materials by Design

• Here, Picon addresses the potential of design in scale and proportions, noting the effect of digital technology as "evolution"

Hughes: Technology as Machine

• Discusses the rise of technology beginning from the Industrial Revolution (19th Century) to the present. Hughes notions towards the perception that "some Americans envisioned mechanization transforming uncultivated lands into a pastoral landscape" in some Edenic restoration.
• However, this is contrasted by the attitudes adopted by areas such as New York in the 20th Century, as technology, most notably the harnessing of electricity is used as " a means to transform industrial cities into handsome financial, commercial and cultural metropolis,  symbolic of the human built world reflecting our interests and needs.
• Interesting to note is his "Faustian Technology" section, in which Hughes details the disruptive effect technology has had on natural and cultural traditions and mentions the perception of technology as negative due to the dismissal of the restorative nature which was in the progress of being realised in the 19th century.
• "Nature is the infinitely diverse creator of organic focus ... an environment withdrawing from human impact".

KOKKUGIA | ROLAND SNOOKS: Fibrous House

What is the project about?

“a speculation on the tectonics and effects of designing an entire project from a single geometric type: the strand”

Fibrous House explores the use of one component, replicated in order to create intricate shapes and forms through overlaying and convergence in free space; with the removal of the standard “pre-defined surface… the form emerges with its structure and articulation as a dense mass of strands”. The resulting shapes, such as the ones depicted, are condensed when closer to the centre of the mass, while branching outwards and back into the landscape.

What were some significant achievements in the design approach + solution, spatial organization and material execution?

Snooks allows his work to unfold before him; the usage of the one geometric component allows for its self-expression – “the strands define form, structure, surface and articulation of the project”. The result is chaotic, yet seemingly contained due to the nature and curvature of the shape; however, this is a step in the notion that the architect may no longer be the designer due to the overpowering of the organic growth of the shape.

What was the attitude towards technology? What technology was implemented?

Technology is embraced in order to simulate and increase the amount of strands; experimenting with geometries as well as morphogenetic algorithms is incomplete without the aid of it. Furthermore, Snooks has researched “composite fiber techniques in the fabrication as a high performance".

What are the theories extracted?

-          Morphogenesis

-          Systems Thinking

-          Hypersurfaces + Form

Mario Carpo: on Hensel, Menges, Weinstock

Throughout this excerpt, Carpo stresses the significance of morphogenesis in the creation of computational design; as explored in Menges' introduction to Computational Design Thinking, 'computational design exists for the purpose of solving the irregularities in nature'. Thanks to the aid of 3D modelling software and an exploration into parametricism, we can now approximate and emulate the irregular behaviours of nature through system theory. Through the analysis of the structural forms of materials such as 'soap bubbles, catenary ropes... textiles, perforated membranes' and other 'inelastic, anisotopic or non-homogenous materials',  the process of design and construction has been revolutionised. Sustainability and Menges' concept of 'performativeness' has become much more prominent and considered; or the self/re-organisation of materials in order to adapt to exposure to various kinds of stress. In this manner, the de-formation of these structures becomes the most notable feature of a systematic approach to design.

Achim Menges: Computational Design Thinking - Introduction

- Menges describes computation as the various interactions between information and components which encompass particular environments; in contrast to computerisation, which offers an objective solution made simpler with the use of software, the term computation expands to a mentality and way of approaching a problem.

- He also moves onto analysing the holistics 'Systems Thinking', as well as explains Bertalanffy's understandable perception of nature and biology as existing outside the bounds of this; due to its random yet intricate nature, Bertalanffy declared it impossible to fully understand/predict (to replicate it even more so). Menges explains the impact of 'systems thinking' had on architecture, noting the change in perception of architecture from static points to the dynamics within 'its context in matter, physicality, and personal engagement', as well as computation's approach to emulating the sporadic personality of nature.

- This is the evolution of morphogenetics, our efforts to define the 'particular behaviour of forms and forces' as mathematical equations; he also notes Thompson's view of our emulation of transformation as 'generative', proven by present day usage of computational design. Menges also stresses the 'inseperable' relationship between our approaches to our results.

- Menges states that computational design exists for the purpose of solving the irregularities which occur in nature, enabled by mathematics and computer software. Furthermore, as a designer operating within the possibilities of computation, we become 'the author of the rules as implicit descriptions for the development of form'.

Picon: DCiA - People, Computers and Architecture

- Picon states that it is through historians from which we can decide on a 'middle-ground', as they are able to analyse the positive/negative effects of technology in its short life-span of less than a century.
- He also highlights the relevance of information and the method through which it spreads, noting that it is through means of newer technology such as the telephone and radio which has allowed for our efficient 'society of technology' to exist.
- Picon also explores the notion of the imperfection of the human, mentioning how physicians are unable to complete a set of data due to the complexity of the human psyche, as well as the discomfort which comes from a forced 'transparency' during tests. This leads onto the topic of androids; the perfect humanoid automaton but mysterious in nature and motive.
- Details the history behind the urgent need to accumulate data quickly due to the Second World War'
- On the note of patterns, Picon writes 'By identifying and mobillizing them properly, architecture could make the build environment more efficient, thus contributing to the control-oriented society advocated by the military + giant corporations''
- Over time the desire to build more sustainable architecture with purposes of transporting goods increased, and conservative building became more popular.

Antoine Picon: DCiA - Introduction

-       - Picon, unlike Le Corbusier and Morel, is able to write with confidence in technology’s settlement and place in architecture, stating that its positive impact is undeniable/

-      - Reflects Le Corbusier’s expression that ‘earlier work (the age of information, in this case) … quietly prepared the way’ and stresses the need for an ‘extended historical perspective’.

-       - Explores not just the customisation of models, but focuses on the direction of future architecture ‘in this context of incertitude'.

-       - Software as replacing the need for hardware to represent infrastructure, and has become an integral part of not only the architectural experience, but the public social domain as well.

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1. Picon’s three branches of topic:

-      

The close relationship between technology and ‘our experience of the physical world’, detailing our reliance on the evolving technology of the present and future.

-       2. The individual; architecture, traditionally adapting to suit various people of different socio-economic backgrounds, must now adapt to ‘key characteristics of the contemporary individual’.

-      4.  Context; Picon suggests that modern architects must learn and adapt to the present day environment, rather than relying on ‘traditional geometric tools and metrics’, in order to gather a greater understanding of a subject.

Mario Carpo: The Digital Turn in Architecture

- The gradual understanding the significance of ‘virtual reality and cyberspace’ as a replacement of ‘phenomena, existence and building’

- Most importantly, digital design has been presented by Carpo as a representation of postmodernism, in both architecture and ways of thinking.

- Stresses how newer technology allows designers to experiment and '(manipulate) curved lines directly on screen', easing the path for the customization of architecture immensely. Furthermore, Carpo reveals the interactivity digital design has provided to architecture, through the ability to adjust virtual environmental factors to simulate lighting, weather etc.

- Carpo reiterates Le Corbusier’s observation of our human disinterest in an older style of architecture ‘which has now been repeating itself’, and its reflective effect onto our way of thinking.

- Digital design has allowed for the mass production of 'variations and (the customization of) non-standards; Carpo explores Carhles Jenck's concept of 'nonlinearity', or the irregular patterns in nature/objects. This highlights the potential of software in architecture as our only means of replicating these patterns, as well as a more fluid/freeform or 'anti-industrial' architecture.

- Similar to Philippe Morel, Carpo interestingly addresses the subject of 'robots' and artificial intelligence as eventually being able to emulate 

Le Corbusier: Architecture or Revolution

Architecture or Revolution details the impact of advancements in technology and their significant effects on the 'social mechanism' and the traditional family dynamic. Le Corbusier also explores the relationship between the 'industry, enterprise, construction', and explains how improvements in these areas dictates a change in architecture.

It is important to note AoR's addressing of the human response to the technology/architecture coexistance, noting the decay of the filial structure, the inevitable disinterest of 'the old codification of architecture' and our humanistic desire to create using newer methods as a result.

Whilst Le Corbusier professes the significant impact of technology in a seemingly positive manner (unavoidable due to human nature), however, his analysis of its effect as 'the destruction of the family' and comment that 'Revolution can be avoided' seemed to confuse our class