Ailie miller - 538625

My mother always thought it was strange how much time I’d spend reading

the real-estate section of the newspaper as a teenager. She also thought my

obsession with The Sims when I was ten was a bit extreme. But then, the real-

ization struck that perhaps I wanted to be an architect. Since that moment in

year 6 nothing else really sparked my interest, and the further into this course

that I get, my decision only ever seems to be reaffirmed, and I know that I’ve

made the right choice.

Born in England to a family of Scots and spending a brief three year stint in

Singapore, it was in 2000 that we moved to Australia, and Melbourne has

remained as my home since, just don’t tell anyone that I prefer Sydney.

Besides my love for a city with hills, harbors, and cobbled stones, there are a few things that are currently driv-

ing me nuts:

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Though my first pet hate is definitely one of individual preference, the construction of buildings that seem to

want to scream at you that, ‘I’m something new and different’ really do irritate me. I simply do not understand

why anyone would design a building that only addresses the ‘style of now’. In how many years is it going to

become an eyesore?

I do believe modern buildings can be beautiful, tasteful, stand the test of time, and become something iconic.

But to me, to be able to achieve this, simplicity and traditional elements is the only way. By being respectful

to the buildings environment, neighbors, and not resembling a snorkel mask, I think modern buildings can be

brilliant, and they have some of the most functional and impressive interior spaces around.

Currently, I’m sitting facing an orange house, with a green gate. Which I feel only proves my point on the over

use of colour. If this house were white, black, or something neutral, it would probably be really quite beautiful,

and yes boring.

Which is why I’ve come to the conclusion that I like, small white buildings and giant black shiny, matt sky-

scrapers. They’re almost the building form of the perfection of a little black dress, and jeans with a white tee.

I feel that by reducing the emphasis on colour, texture and materiality becomes more important. Which are

more refined details that I quite like to discover in buildings. I also feel it creates a more homogenous environ-

ment, if all the buildings weren’t in clashing colour tones vying for attention.

I also really appreciate garden space, and find it deeply upsetting at the decision to maximize internal space at

the cost of the external. Sadly I feel that in a lot of buildings, the outdoor retreat is overlooked and underap-

preciated.

So these are probably the three main things that get me frustrated about the architecture world. Though usually

I find that I’m pretty much in awe by the brilliance of peoples minds and designs.

Ailie Miller

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Almost next to nothing.

My struggle with rhino in virtual environments essentially scared me away from

ever trying to work with it again.

My Bodyspace project was an abstracted representation of the degenerative af-

fects of Alzheimer’s on the brain, where this degeneration was expressed with

mold. This form was then modeled in clay, cut up to create curves, lofted in

rhino, and then using my own octagon surface panel pattern, the design was then

unraveled into 32 strips, printed and laser cut at the FabLab, and manually put

together.

Though I found the whole experience to be a bit of a nightmare, it was a valu-

able subject, and I was very proud of what I’d been able to achieve in my first 12

weeks of becoming an architecture student.

Studio Air - ABPL30048 - Semester 1, 2013 - Group 3 - Daniel & Kirilly

Ailie miller - 538625

Discourse of Architecture:Architecture is a functional form of art. It’s intended to provide a function, but to be something more

than just a practical object it has to evoke some kind of idea or emotion. Being able to encourage think-

ing, analysis, observations and interpretations of what is physically in front of you, is to me, what art is all

about. The ability to provoke thought.

This ability to encourage thinking and reflection is intricately tied with the idea of architecture as a social

representative medium.

By encouraging social engagement, architecture can be used to promote positive social behavior. It is able

to do this simply by existing, almost as a ‘backdrop’ to people’s lives. I see it something like a giant version

of an Ikea store, and each different building is just a giant interpretation of one of the little made-up Ikea

rooms. Each providing and presenting something different, designed for different stages in life and en-

couraging a different styles of living. Looking at architecture as a ‘backdrop’ enables the architect to con-

trol how people live and behave, thus enabling the encouragement of positive social behavior and norms.

In reference to my two chosen precedents, 6N\�0LUURU�DQG�%,*�$UFKLWHFWXUHV floating solar sphere for Stock-

holm, both designs show architecture as an art form critiquing society.

Anish Kapoor’s Sky Mirror, was a £900,000 art installation of 200. I was fortunate enough to have seen in

Sydney and was blown away by its simplicity and beauty. When a work of art is as large as this, it is 10m

in diameter, and is featured in such prominent social settings, Sydney Harbor, New York 5th Avenue, and

London, having been some of its temporary exhibition sites, it is possible to start categorizing it under

the title of architecture. This giant concaved reflective stainless steel mirror, encourages the discussion of,

society and art.

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This monumental piece of work, is able to be so thought provoking in its simplicity, and for this it’s a truly

great piece of work.

!e Sky Mirror in New Yorkcommons.wikimedia.org

!e Sky Mirror in Londonalisonlucy.worldpress.com

Discourse of Architecture: Studio Air - ABPL30048 - Semester 1, 2013 - Group 3 - Daniel & Kirilly

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Winston Churchill

Bjark Ingles Group, BIG, had the winning proposal for a new junction of two of Europe’s major

Highways, and entrance to Stockholmsporten. Its most defining feature is a giant hovering reflective

sphere over the junction, which also provides solar energy for the surrounding town area. This sphere

shares a physical similarity to Kapoors Sky Mirror, but it also reflects some of the same social critique

ideas, nature as art, architecture as art, society and the environment, and social interactions. The

design is more than just a giant floating reflective ball, it creates 580sqm that is divided into pie slices

of natural vegetation, wetlands and forests. These are connected via bike paths, which join onto public

VSDFHV��UHVLGHQWLDO�DUHDV��DQG�LQIUDVWUXFWXUHV��7KH�VSKHUH�ZLOO�SURYLGH�����YLHZV�RI�WKH�ODQGVFDSH��whilst also providing enough energy to support itself and for the 235 residents.

These two works of art/architecture, are both encouraging an individual interpretation, and empha-

size the importance of social space. However it is the reception and response of these works, which

will dictate how successful they are in achieving their goals.

Ailie miller - 538625

Plans for Stockholmsporten, by BIG architectshttp://www.designboom.com/architecture/big-architects-stockholmsporten-master-plan-winning-design/

Week One Challenge

After watching the videos and experimenting in Rhino, I’ve become really aware of just how much

I’ve forgotten from first year!

To begin, I practiced lofting some closed curves together and then in grasshopper used to move

the points around to create some changed shapes.

I also experimented using the curves and triangulation to create contours. . instead I was able to

triangulate between the points on the individual contours but not between the curves themselves.

My lack of documentation falls from the fact that I recently partitioned my hardrive and am now running

and working on windows for the first time in my life, and didn’t understand that when you ‘printscreen’

it doesn’t save to the desktop or your files, but rather to this mysterious place called ‘clipboard’ which

essentially means ‘paint, but then you paste your picture and save it from there.’ As a result, I lost a lot of

my experimentation.

Studio Air - ABPL30048 - Semester 1, 2013 - Group 3 - Daniel & Kirilly

Ailie miller - 538625

I then moved on to using the populate 3D tool and the voxipop, using the number slider

tool to create more spaces, this was actually a lot of fun to do, and created some interesting

shapes deleting these forms.

I attempted to follow the video in creating a wire frame, but got lost along the way, you can

see in the grasshopper screenshot that there was incorrect information along the way be-

tween the explode function and the edges tool.

Ailie miller - 538625

COMPUTATIONAL ARCHITECTUREComputing and its affects on the design process, have lead to a

new ‘speed’ of design, a theoretical decrease in human errors, but

also a removal of humans from the design process. The ability to

use computer generated design software, allows for the architect

to make important decisions regarding, cost, construction, and

design latter on into the project. A benefit, as the architect will

have a deeper understanding of what the consequences of these

decisions will be. Unlike using traditional methods, where the

architects ability to change the design with ‘ease’ decreases the

further into the design process, using computing methods, the

architect is able to lengthen this process, and continue to make

important decisions towards the cutoff date.

Computers respond to facts, controlled messages, and respond

accurately. They do exactly what they are told to do and as a result,

their results are accurate, thus reducing the impact of human error

in the design process. However by removing the ‘human’ from the

equation, the benefits of humans are also lost. Computers are only

able to understand what we tell them, but they lack the innate

knowledge that people have. A computer will do what its told to

do, where as a human will do what its told to do, but will under-

stand why its doing it, and will implement boundaries without

having to be told. For example, if you instruct a computer to

‘draw a line’, it will draw one that goes on for infinity, however a

human would draw one that has a start and an end. Communicat-

ing to a computer is different to that of communicating to people,

and accurate language is required, in order for it to understand

EXACTLY what it is you require it to do.

Introducing computing in to the design process has increased the

architects importance in the construction of the design. In what is

almost a return to the ‘master builder’ phase, architects are now

being more involved in the construction of the build. As new styles

of architecture emerge, so too must new ways of construction. As

a result, architects are no longer able to leave the project once the

plans of the building are finalized, instead they are involved in new

and innovative ways of fabricating the design.

These new innovative ways of fabrication are a result of having to

respond to new and more complex geometries. With computa-

tion, there’s an ability to create using non regular geometries,

Euclidean geometries, using control points and NURBS. The abil-

ity to ‘blobify’ designs has led to an increase in curves in design.

The introduction to curves and blobs has lagged in architecture,

having been seen first, in airplanes, boats, cars and other house-

hold objects. These forms respond to rules, functional influences,

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This prototype inflatable tent, has

been designed using the Rhino plug-

in Kangaroo, enabling the designer to

understand what the affect of the pres-

surized air will have when it inflates the

tent. This allows for the final form to

be visualized and constructed to work

with the air force.

COMPUTATIONAL ARCHITECTURE Studio Air - ABPL30048 - Semester 1, 2013 - Group 3 - Daniel & Kirilly

Ailie miller - 538625

COMPUTATIONAL ARCHITECTURE

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Entry to the san Gennaro Festival.

A site specific installation constructed us-

ing the Rhino plug-in Kangaroo, enabling

the designers to understand how the final

piece would work in the site, and under

the pressure of gravity. The entire struc-

ture is in tension, with each individual,

4224 laser cut panels working together to

keep the structure stable. Its final form is

only possible when installed on site.

and reject historic style, urban and structural norms. Computa-

tion, allows for new forms to be generated, based on rules and

requirements, away from traditional geometry. To be able to

create these shapes, cutting, subtractive, additive, and forma-

tive fabrication have to be used. However, though fabrication

processes have been advanced, not all forms are able to be con-

structed fully, and adaptations or compromises may be needed

to allow for the design to be realized.

Computation allows for performance-orientated designing.

These buildings are constructed with limitations and criteria

that must be met, thus limiting and specifying their shape and

properties to meet the demanded requirements. Computers

are able to analytically find which forms are most practical and

respond to the desired needs, based on a set of rules that has

been given. By narrowing the infinitive possibilities, to those

that meet the criteria, designers are able to ‘select’ the superior

computer generated design through a process of elimination.

These performance criteria are not an ‘after thought’ that is

included into the design, but rather shape and build the design

through their specifications and limitations from the outset.

Computation offers unique opportunities and innovations.

Geometries are able to ‘breed’ creating hybrid forms, an almost

‘evolutionary’ design process. Designers are being brought back

into the construction and fabrication of their creations, and a

new time frame and designing process has been implemented.

The importance of drawings and traditional methods of repre-

sentation is declining, and the importance of digital modeling

will become more useful to the construction and visualization

of the form. New forms and shapes can now be conceptualized

and represented, leading to a new possibility of ‘blobifying’

architecture. Computation has many advantages, however the

computer is only able to do what you tell it to do. As a result, it

is dependent on the skill and knowledge of the designer to use

the computer effectively. Unlike a pen and paper, a pre under-

standing of how to use it is required. With the rapidly changing

technologies, and constant new opportunities, the design world

and its ability to create will be forever evolving, and new styles

will be emerging, and designers will always be learning.

COMPUTATIONAL ARCHITECTURE Studio Air - ABPL30048 - Semester 1, 2013 - Group 3 - Daniel & Kirilly

Ailie miller - 538625

Week TWO ChallengeFollowing the instructions sup-

plied on the LMS, I was able to

successfully create ‘driftwood’.

The form I used however was

hollow, and as a result, the area

where the two openings met, was

not translated into surfaces but

into lines.

Studio Air - ABPL30048 - Semester 1, 2013 - Group 3 - Daniel & Kirilly

Ailie miller - 538625