studio air: module a journal submission

STUDiO AiR2015, SEMESTER 1, TUTOR: SONYA 6:15 TUESDAYJACKSON WYLIE 638578

2 CONCEPTUALISATION

TABLE OF CONtENtS A14-5 INtRODUCtiON

6-7 DESiGN FUtURiNG - Precedent # :1 Para Eco House

8-9 DESiGN FUtURiNG - Precedent # 2: Heydar Aliyev Centre

A2 11 DESiGN COMPUtAtiON

12-13 DESiGN COMPUtAtiON - Precedent #1

14-15 DESiGN COMPUtAtiON - Precedent # 2

A3 16-17 COMPOSitiON GENERAtiON

18-19 COMPOSitiON GENERAtiON - Precedent #1

20-21 COMPOSitiON GENERAtiON - Precedent # 2

A4 22 CONCLUSiON: PART A A5 23 LEARNiNG OUTCOME

A6 24-26 APPENDiX & REfERENCES

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A1

CONCEPTUALISATION 3

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4 CONCEPTUALISATION

INtRODUCtiON JACKSON WYLiE

My name is Jackson Wylie, and I am currently studying my 3rd year of my Bachelor of Environments course, majoring in architecture.

In my past two years as a student at Melbourne University I have had some previous design projects some of which were computer based, others more orientated around the more traditional methods of manual sketches and drawings.

My most notable project during my 2 years at Melbourne University was for the subject VIrtual Environments. This subject required us to get a pretty basic knowledge of the program Rhinoceros 5. This design project was a group project, my partner and myself were set the task of designing a ‘second skin’ that defines the individual’s personal space and also portrays the individuals mindset towards those around them. Our approach to this task was to create a skin that could both defend one’s personal space in times of reflection and thought and also allow for intimate interaction with others. Our solution to this was to create a semi rigid outer skin that was constructed of various different sizes of pyramids constructed of aluminium rods. These pointy shapes varied in size and the corresponding body part in which they protected. Regions of the body regarded as more intimate and private had larger more protruding pyramids. The inner skin was a flexible fabric membrane that was connected to the points of the pyramids.

The purpose of this inner membrane layer was to allow for more intimate interactions others such as touch. This flexible inner layer permitted that, but only at the consent of the individual wearing the skin. This project was the most successful of my design projects at Melbourne University and was invited to be apart of a student exhibition at the completion of the semester.

One project that I was not particularly fond of was my design for Studio Earth. This brief for this project involved designing an sculptural or built architectural piece that revealed a ‘secret’ of the island through design. I believe my concept was strong however the translation of that concept into a design was weak. I wanted to reveal the history of basalt mining at the location and how it helped shape the city that exists today, my design was far to literal as it was simply sculpted basalt rocks with protruding rectangular columns mimicking the city skyline. I believe I missed an opportunity on designing something much more experimental an creative as there were very few restraints for this project. Over the summer break in my own time I also started to experiment with some very preliminary and basic renovation designs for my parent’s house. These are a working progress as I still have a very basic grasp of the design softwares I am attempting to use to complete these designs. However during the next

CONCEPTUALISATION 5

FIG.1: MY PAST DESIGN PROJECTS

DESiGN FUtURiNG - PRECEDENt # 1 “PARA ECO HOUSE” by TONGJI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

6 CONCEPTUALISATION

The skin also provides wind cooling and irrigation for plants within the building’s skin and interior. The structure has a solar roof that has been designed through algorithms that maximise performance.

The actual living space is a modular structure within the outer skin that encorporates vacuum insulated panel thermal insulation and XPS thermal board and newspaper to improve the energy efficiency of the living quaters4.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about this parametrically designed building is that it was constructed in just 2 weeks5. There is massive potential for this type of building in the future due to the ease of construction and ability to be replicated in different sizes and shapes according to client’s desire.

I think it is of upmost importance that parametric designing should be used not just for its aesthetic qualities but for the potential to discover more efficient, more sustainable and thus environmentally sustainable ways of building/designing into the future.

FIG.2

My chosen precedence may not be the most glamorous or grandoise example of parametrically designed architecture however it is one of the more progressive and groundbreaking designs I have stumbled upon.

The “Para Eco House” uses parametric design to maximise the performance of the outer skin which is a lattice structure constructed out of bamboo and other timbers1. This skin structure is able to regulate ventilation, lighting and thermal performance due to its carefully calculated design. This outer skin acts as a passive strategy of improving the overall energy efficiency of the building2.

The outer skin also encorporates thin film solar cells that are able to capture and convert the sun’s energy into a usuable form, the wester facade also encorporates a vertical gardef that provides extra shading from direct sunlight. Enclosed within the outer skin is a carefully divided space of which has a miniture wetland mimicking garden for greywater treatment and other gardens for vegetables or other plants3.

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I believe that if this prefab design is able to be commercialised and made affordable for the general public it could spark a massive movement toward more sustainable designing. One thing that I believe should be noted is that in order for people to desire this type of housing, there needs to be a large amount of flexibility in the design. People desire individuality, and thus it is important that prefab houses like this are able to be completely unique whilst still maintaining the underlying sustainable qualities. I think that this type of housing is going to be more successful in countries where the housing is more uniform and of course in places where regulations will permit buildings such as this.

This design or similar adaptations or improvements of it will I continue to be relevent in the future due to the growing need for more sustainable forms of living and in rural or more low density suburban areas I could imagine designs like this being very functional. If this design were to be scaled up with the skin enclosing an apartment block with multiple residence within it i could also see this type of parametrically designed skin being appropriate and relvent in a more densily populated, built-up urban environment. I believe most of the ingenuity in this design is in the parametrically designed outer skin and this could potentially be relevent to any building type and any scale. The way that the frames are angled to allow sun in during the cold parts of the day/year whilst shading during the hotter times when cooling is required is always going to be relevent as it is a passive approach to energy efficient design and we are always trying to minimise energy consumption to both save money and resources.

DESiGN FUtURiNG - PRECEDENt # 2 “HEYDAR ALIYEV CENTER” by Zaha Hadid Architects

8 CONCEPTUALISATION

The last precedence I chose was an example of how parametric design can achieve improved functionality of a building. This example is quite different, as I believe this design places much higher value on aesthetics, and in this specific example it is for good reason. The Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan is with its extremely fluid, futuristic appearance is symbolic of the countries independence from the Soviet Union whose legacy can be seen in the more rigid monumental Soviet Modernism architecture of the past6. This building gives Azerbaijan its own new identity and this is quite appropriate as this building is the nations primary cultural centre7.

The futuristic design of this grandoise building gives the people of Azerbaijan confidence of the nation’s future prosperity.

The design itself encorporates undulations, folds, bifurcations and inflections that all appear to seamlessly rise out of this urban plaza landscape8.

The architects aimed to make this buildings skin seem so fluid and continuous that it almost “appears homogenous”9.

It has been said that such fluidity could only be achieved using very advanced computation, this is one design that would have been virtually impossible to complete without the aid of parametric design software. Yes architects could invisage buildings such as this in the past but the ability to actually accurately convert these drawings and concepts into something that is actually able to be constructed at such a massive scale has only become possible thanks to these advanced parametric computer programs such as Grasshopper 3D (Rhinoceros Plug-in)

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10 CONCEPTUALISATION

A2

DESiGN COMPUtAtiON

The introduction of computation into the architectural world has dramatically transformed the design process. It has been argued that parametric design programs such as Rhino/Grasshoper are actually detracting from the creative nature of Architecture. To some extent I believe this to be true, but this is dependent on the nature in which the designer is using the software. As mentioned by Stanislav in the Week 2 lecture some architects use the programs as a means to translate ideas or designs that exist in rough sketch form into a digital 3D measured model that is actually constructable. This use of computation does not effect the creative nature of concieving an idea, it merely translates the idea into a more useable from for production. Alternatively designing without a pre-concieved idea that one is attempting to replicate is to me a less creative design process. When one enters algorithms without an understanding of what form will be created is simply using the software to make design decisions for the designer. In my opinion to be ‘creative’ is the ability to make many decisions as a means to creating desired form, some of these computer programs can dramatically reduce the amount of decisions that the designer needs to make, thus reducing the autonomy of the designer.

Computation has enabled previously unconcievable architectural forms to be achieved, thus to date I would still contend that design computation has actually enabled architects to become more creative. However as there is continuous demand for faster, cheaper and less labour intensive ways of developing designs I fear that some of the autonomy will be taken away from the designer and this could have detrimental impacts on the architectural trade as raw creative ability could be devalued.

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DESiGN COMPUtAtiON- PRECEDENt 1 Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall - University of Stuttgart Project


The Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall utilizes design computation to create not only a visually pleasing product but also a very environmentally responsible design. In this particular case, the use of one of the oldest building materials (timber) has been completely redefined through computational design10. It is a ‘biomimetic design,’ meaning that properties from nature such as the structural properties from a honey comb have been borrowed11. The reason for biomimicry, is that nature often finds the most material efficient way of constructing things and this is a common goal in the architecture/engineering and construction industries that are constantly attempting to create cheaper12, more material efficient buildings. Interestingly, each piece of shell structure was constructed by robots, and in under 3 weeks, this includes 243 beech plywood plates with 7600 individual finger joints that provide this buildings overall structural integrity13. Each plate that makes up this structural system is only 50mm thick thus very material efficient in comparison to a traditionally building of similar scale14.

Due to the very precise designing and planning of this project, come construction time it was able to be finished in only 4 weeks15. It is clear that computational design is not only transforming the way in which we design buildings today but also the way in which they are built. Ofcourse without a life-cylce analysis this is insignificant information in regards to whether the use of robotics in the fabrication stage is actually a environmentally responsible way of building but it seems like if may be if these robots are functional for many years even decades and able to fabricate the parts for entire buildings in only a period of weeks.

This project is a prime example of the need for continual practice of computational design into the future where demand for resources is growing and solutions for more sustainable practice are continually being seeked out. It seems that projects such as this with such a heavy reliance on computational design are almost more in line with with engineering than architecture, as the form is often a result of attempting to achieve a certain function, in this case efficient use of a renewable structural material. Unfortunately it is indeed true that this design may not have come purely from raw ideas such as that of Frank Gehry’s but I believe there is definitely a place for this type of design as it is moving humans toward more environmentally responsible building.

DESiGN COMPUtAtiON- PRECEDENt 2 Fondation Louis Vuitton - Frank Gehry


Frank Gehry’s Louis Vuitton Foundation Building is a prime example of how creativity is not lost at the hands of computer aided design. If anything this example suggests that true creative designs have been made achievable thanks to parametric design software, as buildings with such non-linear abstract geometries would have been virtually impossible to fabricate without these technological advancements.

Whilst this building exemplifies the creative potential for computer aided design, in my opinion it does not use the the design software to its fullest potential. I believe that design computation has a greater purpose than just creating visually stimulating architecture, it should also redefine the way in which we utilize materials. According to critics of this building such as Oliver Wainwright from The Guardian to him this building is merely “a hell of a lot of steel columns and glue-laminated timber beams, thrown together in a riotous cradle of zig-zagging struts and braths, props and braces16,” reuterating the innefficiency of its design17. I think that if projects such as this that do not in any way lack creativity or individuality.

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COMPOSitiON GENERAtiON

A3

Modern architecture faces many challenges, many of which are posed by the increasingly fragile environment that humans are building upon. Yes, I believe that as designers we have a responsibility to create things that respond to the needs and requirements of the surroundings and in this day and age the most pre-eminent human challenge is that of global warming.

Climate change, environment and resource degradation and other challenges such as shuman safety and well-being that validate the need for generative design in architecture. Generative design ensures that through algorithms and rules these challenges are being addressed in a design18. Examples such as the “Para Eco House” and the “Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall” exemplify this. I appreciate the definition from this weeks lecturer Dr Dominique Hes, who describes the architectural movement today that is inline with a new world view that values sustainability and interconnectedness with nature19.

I believe that generative design has a place within this new paradigm that thumans are currently entering. Rule based designs enable design techniques such as biomimicry that borrows patterns from nature to be achieved, these nature inspired design often function better within the environment due to their more efficienct use of materials with structural stability20. As mentioned in the lecture designs need to tick many boxes such as providing health, happiness to those who use it, conserve energy through responsible design, ensure equity for users and also be visually pleasing. It is generative design that prioritises these ‘imperatives’ through simulation and digital modelling, it is a more all-encompassing way of designing21, versus the compositional style of designing in the past thats primarily focused on aesthetics and human suitability.


COMPOSitiON/GENERAtiON PRECEDENt 1 THE WATERCUBE - PTW & ARUP ENGINEERS

The Watercube built for the 2008 Olympic Games has been groundbreaking in more ways than one. This building is so remarkable as the parametric designed skin and frame that was worked on by an integrated team of both architects (PTW) and engineers (Arup) has been tested as potentially one of the most earthquake resistant buildings of that scale in the world22. This is yet another example of how parametric design can encompass so much more than just the physical appearance of the building but also the structural integrity of the architecture as well. The structural shell of this swimming pool facility is actually derived from the geometry of soap bubbles23. This is another example of the use of parametric design to emulate a time testest structural pattern from nature (bubbles).

The materiality of this building is also quite impressive, the extremely lightweight frames encorporates a very high performance ‘space-age’ plastic material ‘ETFE’ that spans the polyhedral frame with it’s cushion-like appearance24. This material is in fact able to reduce the energy consumption of the pool by 30 per-cent due to its ability to capture more incident sunlight than the equivalent amount of photovoltaic panneling25.

Even more impressive is the fire resistance of this building, which is vital for a public building of this type. The ETFE material went through rigorous testing and it is perhaps one of the most fire suitable materials as is does not burn butshrinks and melts allowing smoke to be quickly released from the building for an effective evacuation26. Sophisticated computation using digital modelling and simulation has enabled this building to address many of the challenges that it faced whether it be earthquakes, fire and energy efficiency27. I believe that computer based generative design is of great benefit not only to the preservation of the environment but also as evident in this case for the preservation of human life in the rare event of a fire or natural disaster.


COMPOSitiON/GENERAtiON PRECEDENt 2 KAZAKHSTAN NAtiONAL LiBRARY, ASTANA Bjark Ingels

One of my most insiring generative architectural designs is the winner of the international design competition for the Astana National Library in Kazakhstan28. This was won by Bjarke Ingels and from the digital images I believe it has potential to be an icon once complete. What I admire about this design is its concern with the human engagement with the architecture. One of the most vital components of libraries is a sense of order and I believe that it is ingenious that they have arranged it into a continuous circular ‘moebius strip’ (surface with one side and one boundary)that gives the interior a linear order29. If one was to enter this library and search for a particular book all they would have to do is follow the path of the interior to navigate past each category. Being a continuous loop, there are uniquely no distant corners in the interior of the library thus eliminating any heirachy and giving the entire interior of the building a sense of centrality30. Using such a complex, curved form such as a Moebius strip to be reflected on this grand scale is something that has only recently become achievable with the introduction of parametric design31. Similarly to the earlier precedent of Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Aliyev Centre, this building is aiming to achieve much more than fulfilling its ability to be a well functioning library, it is also aimed to be a national icon, a cultrol centre and symbol for the development of Kazakhstan as a country32. What should be noted is that the external panelling was also very carefully desired to regulate amounts of sunlight and heat entering the library to ensure that it is a cofortable space33. This project in my opinion exemplifies the brilliance of parametric design as a creative tool for architects, the ideas were still all original and fueled by the context of the task rather than the capabilities of the computer software.


“What is a library but an efficient archive of books… and a path for the public to reach them” - Thomas Christoffersen, the Project Leader on the National Library


CONCLUSiON: PARt A A4I believe that one of the most valuable things an architect can possess is originality. I appreciate architects that maintain a certain style throughout all of their designs. I believe that this is because behind each of their designs is an extensive stage of conceptualisation, ideas are generated, refined, eliminated and refined again all before they are processed by a computer. I think that it is vital for the stage of conceptualisation to be undertaked in a traditional manor through sketches and visualisation, rather than fiddling with parameter inputs via trial and error. I do not want to neglect parametric design in my own design approach but i want to use it as a tool to translate my ideas into something that can be adapted and created. I want to use parametric design to make my designs more material efficient. I believe that it can also be a helpfull tool to improve passive perfmance of my designs as more critical analysis can be done in response to the surroundings (climate etc.). I believe that architects have a huge responsibility in the way in which they design in today and in the future as it is clear that it is no longer adequate to design a building for purely aesthetic purposes as it is not equitable to design energy inneficient buildings in a day and age where energy is in ever increasing damand. Parametric design is an all encompassing means of solving potential design challenges to a great level of accuracy, closer analysis of detail and greater control of variation.


LEARNiNG OUtCOMES A5Throughout this module I have realised that parametric design is a valuable tool for the modern architect. Originally I was of the opinion that the latest movement toward parametric/computer generated architecture was for the purpose of making more complex and sophisticated forms. I have discovered that it is much more than this. It can be used as a means to maximise lighting, thermal and sound performance. As we discovered in the case of The Water Cube it is also instrumental in designing buildings that are safer and also more comfortable for users (passive thermal design). Computer aided design enables us to use algorithms to calculate mroe efficient ways of using materials which I believe is a major requirement in this day and age as we are constantly attempting to design buildings for a cheaper price and in a more environmentally responsible manner. I believe that there is also a major need for parametric design for the purpose of restoring and modernising old buildings which are often very energy innefficient. Simply by designing a second external skin for additional shading of interior spaces or by other building modifications the passive energy performance of the building can be dramatically improved.


APPENDiX ALGORitHMiC iMAGES A5Our week # 2 algorithmic task involved creating a tree with several branches using grasshopper. I created this tree via the use of perpendicular frames along curves, on each of these frames would be a pentagon. Loft was then used to create a piping surface. This appeared very synthetic in its appearance so in order to give it more of a natural ‘tree-like’ appearance I converted the surface into a mesh and ran it through the smooth mesh tranformation. This image was the outcome, as i reveresed the direction of the smoothing and it actually created a rougher, bark-like surface on the trunk and branches.

This example was actually a failed attempt of creating a random height surface box mesh on the trunk as whilst the surface box’ extruded outwards in a random manor on one side of the trunk, the surface boxes actually extruded inwards on the other side of the curve. I did however successfully use attractor points to decrease the size of the surface boxes on both of the smaller branches to mimic the way in which branches get skinner the further away from the trunk they are.

This final example was my successful attemt at creating a surface mesh on my week#1 sea sponge digital model. I believe this dramatically transformed these models into much more natural looking sea sponge models. I find the surface box tool really useful in creating interesting patterns that can closely mimic patterns found in nature (biomimicry).


A.6. APPENDIX - ALGORITHMIC SKETCHESINCLUDE THE MOST INTERESTING EXAMPLES FROM YOUR ALGORITHMIC

SKETCHBOOK IN YOUR JOURNAL. HOW DID YOUR RESEARCH EXTEND THE

MATERIAL IN TUTORIALS? WHY DID YOU SELECT THESE SKETCHES FOR

INCLUSION? WHAT NEW KNOWLEDGE, NEW UNDERSTANDING OR NEW

CREATIVE IDEAS DO THEY REPRESENT? HOW CAN THESE ALGORITHMIC

SKETCHES DEMONSTRATE SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

ARGUMENTS MADE IN THIS SECTION?

SKETCHES SHOULD BE PRESENTATION QUALITY, HIGH-RESOLUTION (300DPI)

VECTOR LINEWORK DRAWINGS, ACCOMPANIED BY VERY BRIEF EXPLANATIONS

(DON’T INCLUDE GRASSHOPPER DEFINITIONS).

FINAL CHECKLIST:

+ ENSURE ALL REFERENCES ARE CORRECTLY CITED AS FOOTNOTES

(USING THE MHRA STYLE GUIDE) AND THE FULL LIST OF

REFERENCES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER ARE INCLUDED AT THE END

OF THE DOCUMENT. ALSO ENSURE ALL YOUR IMAGES ARE HIGHQUALITY

(300 DPI) TIFF FILES. EXPORT TO PDF AND UPLOAD

TO YOUR WIKI PAGE (VIA ISSUU) BEFORE THE SUBMISSION

DEADLINE

REfERENCES 1-5 Furuto, Alison. “Para Eco House / Tongji University Team” 12 Nov 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 13 Mar 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=289503>

6 “Heydar Aliyev Center / Zaha Hadid Architects”

14 Nov 2013. ArchDaily. Accessed 13 Mar 2015.

<http://www.archdaily.com/?p=448774>

7 Oliver Wainwright, “Wave of Protest...” 1/7/2014, The Guardian, Accessed 13 March 2015 http://www.theguardian.

com/artanddesign/2014/jun/30/zaha-hadid-architecture

8-9 “Heydar Aliyev Center / Zaha Hadid Architects”

14 Nov 2013. ArchDaily. Accessed 13 Mar 2015.

<http://www.archdaily.com/?p=448774>

10-15 Ana Lisa, “Robots Built this Peanut...” 25/06/14, Inhabit, Accessed 13 Mar 2015 < http://inhabitat.com/stuttgarts-geometric-landesgartenschau-exhibition-hall-is-made-from-243-prefab-wood-panels/>

16-17 Taylor-Foster, James, “Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton in

Paris: The Critics Respond” 22 Oct 2014. ArchDaily. Accessed

13 Mar 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=559473>

18 Michael Bergin, “Trends in Generative Design” 31

March 2012. Archinet, Accessed 16 Mar 2015 http://

archinect.com/archlab/trends-in-generative-design

19 Dr. Dominique Hes, “Week 3 Lecture” 16/3/2015,

Studio Air, Melbourne University

20-21 Michael Bergin, “Trends in Generative Design”

31 March 2012. Archinet, Accessed 16 Mar 2015 http://

archinect.com/archlab/trends-in-generative-design

22-23 Rose Etherington, “Watercube by PTW Architects” 6 Feb

2008, Dezeen Magazine Accessed 17 Mar 2015 <http://www.

dezeen.com/2008/02/06/watercube-by-chris-bosse/>

24-25 Arup, “Gold for the Watercube” 09/6/2009, ARUP Accessed

17/3/2015 <http://www.arup.com/News/2009-06%20June/09_

Jun_2009_Gold_for_the_Watercube>


26-27 Tristram Carfrae, “Engineering the Water Cube”

01/07/2006 ArchitectureAU Accessed 17/03/2015 <

http://architectureau.com/articles/practice-23/>

28-30 Ridhika Naidoo, Big New National Library in

Astana, August 26th 2009. Design Boom Accessed 17

Mar 2015 <http://www.designboom.com/architecture/

big-new-national-library-in-astana-kazakhstan/>

31 http://www.technologyreview.com/

review/517596/new-forms-that-function-better/

32-33 Basulto, David. “National Library in Astana,

Kazakhstan / BIG” 25 Aug 2009. ArchDaily. Accessed 17

Mar 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=33238>

REfERENCES


studio air: module a journal submission

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