Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

CHICAGO City of Frames and Grids:

Re-Framing

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Master Dissertation Project Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing Student Amir Adibmanesh Academic promotor Martine De Maeseneer KU Leuven, Faculty of Architecture, Campus Sint-Lucas Brussels, Belgium International Master of Science in Architecture Academic year 2019-2020 Publication June 2020 Contact: amir.adibmanesh@gmail.com Š All rights reserved under International Copyright Conventions.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-copying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or specific copyright owners.

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Abstract Chicago, as I name “City of Frames and Grids�, is the metropolis where buildings; as well as its urban planning; are mostly shaped on a rigid logic and formed as the outcome of economic and industrial viewpoint of financers and designers. The dominance of frame in Chicago architecture established by its emergent usage as the skeleton of buildings and the need for rapid development of urban blocks in the city based on industrialization, mainly in the commercial section of the city. Although there are remarkable works by great architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Luis Sullivan, the optimization of frame; as space and as structure; can still be examined and its possibilities and capabilities become discovered.

The aim of this proposal is to reinterpret and redesign the existing frames of Chicago in order to add more vitality and flexibility to the buildings and to to the city by producing a new generation of buildings with more open and common spaces. The new system provides more living quality for the inhabitants of these buildings, while it works at the same level of financial costs for the owners by the same occupation level of built-up area. The proposal focuses on the frame as the main architectural spirit of Chicago to investigate the capabilities of this system to produce forms and redefine the space to evolve architectural and urban values.

The methodology employed in the proposal is a computer-based system called Cellular Automata (CA) which aids the architect to produce a variety of forms and volumes at the first stage of design process. The second stage involves the architect to study, examine and manipulate these forms by the means of architectural considerations and then to finalize the design process by transforming them into architectural products.

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

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Acknowledgment Foremost, I must express my sincere gratitude to my thesis promoter Martine De Maeseneer of the faculty of Architecture at the KU Leuven for her continuous support, patience, motivation and enthusiasm. Her guidance helped me at all times during the research and design of this thesis.

I would like to express my very profound gratitude to my family for their unconditional love and support throughout the years, and my fellow friends for being always there for me.

This accomplishment would not have been possible without any of these people.

Thank you.

Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Table of Content Chapter 1 - Introduction 1.1 Background / Problem Statement 1.2 Design Question 1.3 Objectives 1.4 Scope and Parameters

8 9 10 11

Chapter 2 - Research 2.1 Frame in Architecture 2.2 Frame of Chicago 2.3 Grid of Chicago 2.4 Geometrical Order and Chaos in Architecture 2.5 Chicago, Towards the Future

12 16 32 36 40

Chapter 3 - Methodology 3.1 Cellular Automata 3.2 CA in Architecture 3.3 CA for Chicago

42 48 56

Chapter 4 - Design 4.1 Overview 4.2 Redesigning Time-Life Tower 4.3 Renovation of McClurg Tower 4.4 Social Housing in Parkside of Old Town 4.5 Conclusion Bibliography Appendix

60 62 72 82 92 94 96 7

Chapter one: Introduction

1. Introduction 1.1 Background / Problem Statement The emerge of frame structure (especially steel one) and its capability for building high and quite fast, happened in Chicago during the period the city experienced industrialization which resulted in the construction of a large number of skyscrapers in and around Chicago downtown (loop). Similar to what is visible in the architectural scale (buildings), such a rectangular rigid division is observed in the urban scale, which planners aimed to do even from their very first tries due to the advantages of this system for rapid development in the city.

While the frame could mark out the limits of form and space, implement regardless of the function, lower some architectural qualities, and result in such a repetitive and monotonous urban structure, there are interesting buildings from prominent architects that act completely perfect as architectural elements. But the spirit of frame and grid still exists in Chicago, which can be advantageous due to its capabilities on one hand, and likely to become unfavorable on the other hand.

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

1.2 Design Question “How can a new generation of buildings be produced to create a variety of spaces with different features, especially open and semi-open spaces on a building itself, which develops architectural and urban values?“ “How can the computer be used to help the architect to achieve this goal and what’s the relation of the architect and the computer when the design process is based on both?“

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Chapter one: Introduction

1.3 Objectives While this dissertation is mainly focused on a new strategy for designing buildings as architectural elements, the objectives can be narrowed down to three scales: On city scale, the dissertation looks for such an interesting and vital urban tissue consists of the new generation of buildings which brings diversity in form and function. This new urban figure will replace the current Chicago’s urban atmosphere which is partly capable to play a boring role, especially in the commercial area.

On neighbourhood scale, the dissertation aims to create a new typology of neighborhood, based on developing open spaces on the buildings and creating visual and physical interactions among people neighboured in the same part of the city.

On building scale, the dissertation focuses on the need for flexibility and diversity of form, space, and function to propose a new generation of buildings with a variation of open, semi-open, and closed spaces. The new generation of buildings provides more architectural qualities and experiences for the users of buildings and brings them for a higher level of interactions between interior and exterior spaces, among themselves and with the outside of the buildings.

All these together build up the social and individual objectives, which let the project improve the living quality of a human in a building (as an architectural product), as an individual in a society.

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

1.4 Scope and Parameters The dissertation lies within the scope of “space; form and function� of the architecture sector. Its purpose is to invent a strategy for designing buildings in the future based on forms created by a computer-based system and examination of their spatial architectural qualities by the architect.

The parameters of the dissertation are: The project invests in this futuristic vision of living that all urban spaces, including buildings as architectural elements, provide a higher level of living quality for the users, whether inside or on the surface of a building in interaction with outside.

The project mostly meets the existing towers around the loop of Chicago as individuals and as their accumulation in the high-density commercial area, which affects the private and social life of the people who live or work there.

The design redefines the current buildings of Chicago and replaces them with a new generation of buildings with a variety in form and space to ensure an interesting and healthy experience of living.

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Chapter two: Research

2. Research 2.1 Frame in Architecture The frame skeleton (also known as cubism), whether in steel or concrete, is the most recurrent motif in contemporary architecture which structurally plays the same role as columns in classical architecture (Renaissance) and establishes relationship, discipline and form in modern buildings.

Although there were works by architects in advance, the concept of frame in architecture was mainly developed in Domino House by Le Corbusier around 1914-1915, the model that proposed an open floor plan consisting of concrete slabs supported by a number of concrete columns on the edges which provides freedom for different floor plan configurations regardless of structural limitations.

Fig 01-Domino house by Le Corbusier

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

The frame structure is so advantageous that it became so popular among architects and there are numerous buildings constructed by this system, in steel and concrete. Maybe the most difference among architects regarding usage of frame system is the level of its integration with space/function, while some architects believe that space/function is totally independent from structure; some others have a desire for a comprehensive unity between these two.

Fig 02-Villa Savoye Plan by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, Poissy, Yvelines, 1931

Fig 03-Villa Savoye Plan by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, 1931-Photograph by Michal Lewi

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Chapter two: Research

Fig 04-Seagram Building by Mies van der Rohe, New York, 1958

Fig 05-Seagram Building plan by Mies van der Rohe, New York, 1985

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Fig 06-Prudential (Guaranty) Building by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, New York, 1986

Fig 07-Prudential (Guaranty) Building plan by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, New York, 1986

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Chapter two: Research

2.2 Frame of Chicago Frame (mostly in steel) is the essence of Chicago commercial architecture of the 80s and early 90s and representative of modern architecture, as Rand McNally building was built in 1889 as the first steel-framed skyscraper ever in the world by Burnham and Root. The emerge of frame structure and its rapid usage spreading by architects in Chicago has an economic basis when we seek it through history. While high buildings used to be built of solid masonry, attention of sales managers of eastern rolling mills was attracted to these towers and the idea of a skeleton that would carry the entire weight of the building was proposed for the first time. Then the evolution of steel frame turned it out to be considered as a product to sell which was directly related to the economic spirit of American society at the time: “the passion to sell is the impelling power of American life”; Sullivan asserts.1

Fig 08-Rand McNally Building by Burnham and Root, as seen in a Rand McNally “bird’s eye” illustration, Chicago, 1890s. The world’s first all-steel framed skyscraper

16 2.1. Steven Hurtt and Colin Rowe, “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays,” Jae 31, no. 1 (1977)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Fig 09-The Fair Store under construction showing the steel skeleton, Chicago, 1892-1986

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Chapter two: Research

This structural revolution in Chicago was the result of imaginative salesmanship, as well as ruthless open-mindedness. It can be said that most of the architects in Chicago didn’t demand the frame, but they were imposed by the speculator, and then they welcomed it. Speculators, or clients or who finance the project, they were the most public-spirited body of businessmen of any commercial city in the world. Architects of Chicago never sacrificed the availableness of a floor to the needs of architecture, since any change in contrast with the wish of speculators was considered as a trick on businessmen which could result in cancellation of any job offer in future. As a result, symbolism which is a necessary attribute of architecture lost its position in Chicago; the city which was filled up with the utilitarian perspective.2

Fig 10-State Street Chicago 1900-Photograph by Daniel Hagerman

18 2.2. Steven Hurtt and Colin Rowe, “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays,” Jae 31, no. 1 (1977)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Commercial buildings (office blocks) of Chicago required elementary circulation, well-lit floor area and indefinite number of floors, the attributes that frame structure seemed to be the ideal answer for architects of Chicago.

Fig 11-Reliance Building plan by Burnham & Root, Chicago, 1985

Fig 12-Reliance Building by Burnham & Root, Chicago, 1985. The first skyscraper to have large plate glass windows make up the majority of its surface area

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Chapter two: Research

The office buildings of the loop clarify a basic disposition of 20th-century architecture of Chicago but evidently as “a single volume” or “a single facade”, they represent in an economic way, while in architectural expression they are labeled as an unmodified surface which just showing rationally integrated and well-proportioned structure. As it’s mentioned previously, according to the dominance of the economic viewpoint of speculators, these buildings were responses to favorable physical conditions and known as the route for future development. So in Chicago, the frame became a fact, not an idea, while for instance at the same time in Europe architects could employ frame system as an idea related to their design, not as a fact at all, although the ability of architects in Chicago to make use of frame was much higher than the Europeans.3

Fig 13- Maison du Peuple by Victor Horta, Brussels, 1898 (top) Fig 14- McClurg building by Holabird & Roche, Chicago, 1899 (left) As simultaneous buildings in Europe and Chicago but with two different architectural approaches in usage of frame

20 2.3. Steven Hurtt and Colin Rowe, “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays,” Jae 31, no. 1 (1977)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Louis Sullivan, known as “father of skyscrapers” and “father of modernism”, is the architect with the most influence in all steel/concrete frame structure of skyscrapers at that time, as he believed in primary of structure over other architectural attributes.

Fig 15-Auditorium Building by Sullivan and Adler, Chicago, 1889

Fig 16-Sullivan Center by Sullivan, Chicago, 1899

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Chapter two: Research

The structural revolution in Chicago was largely without any theoretical support, and the international style architects were obliged to come along with the frame to evolve an equation between the demands of space and the demands of the skeleton (structure). Their privilege was their effort to attribute iconographical content to the frame, to make it something more than it was assumed.4 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is one of the pioneers of modernist architecture who believed that autonomous structure creates a freely abstracted space; which means function is independent of structure in an architectural building.

Fig 17-Glass tower model by Mies van der Rohe (never built)

22 2.4. Steven Hurtt and Colin Rowe, “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays,� Jae 31, no. 1 (1977)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Frank Lloyd Wright was the most prominent architect who refused to follow the same direction as other architects when frame structure became the formal role in Chicago. He defined principles of form and provided the vision of architecture as “composition of sliding planes” which constituted one of two major themes that architecture of Chicago experience during the 20th century, alongside “frame structure”.

Fig 18-Fallingwater House by Frank Lloyd Wright, Mill Run, Pennsylvania, 1935. Photograph by Robert Ruschak

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Chapter two: Research

He was the exception among architects in Chicago who working at the time, regarding the perception of frame structure an how to use it in an architectural building. Rather than a single structurally articulated block, he was seeking a highly developed composition of transparent volumes, defining a dynamic result instead of a static one. Wright believed in the indivisible fusion of structure and space which caused his buildings to be called “organic”, but he didn’t put this concept into practice until St. Mark’s Tower that implementing of his idea became explicit and the building turned to be the prototype of all tall buildings of him, including his apartment house project (1930) and Crystal Heights Hotel (1940). All these structures present the central core of a chimney or mushroom column which drives from organic demand for the integration of space and structure which seemed to be perfect.5

Fig 19-St. Mark’s Tower plan by Wright (never built)

Fig 20-St. Mark’s Tower model by Wright (never built)

24 2.5. Steven Hurtt and Colin Rowe, “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays,” Jae 31, no. 1 (1977)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Wright only built two large office buildings during that time, Larkin Building and S. C. Johnson Company, which predictably he had no reason to employ frame structure.

Fig 21-Larkin Building by Wright, New York, 1906

Fig 22-Johnson Wax Headquarters by Wright, Wisconsin, 1939

National Life Insurance Company skyscraper was the first building that Wright employed frame in his designing.

Fig 23-National Life Insurance Co. Tower by Wright, Chicago, 1924

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Chapter two: Research

As the result of the massive construction based on frame in the commercial part of Chicago, there is a twofold architectural expression in the city which resembles dichotomy of opposite sides of a coin: first is the place of business, which is the virtuous commercial structures of the loop consisting mostly of skyscrapers of the city, and second is the depraved place of residence consisting dwellings of suburbs.6 The Loop is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago, bounded on the north and west by the Chicago River, on the east by Lake Michigan, and on the south by Roosevelt Road.

Fig 24-Twofold architectural expressin in Chicago. by Amir Adibmanesh

26 2.6. Steven Hurtt and Colin Rowe, “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays,� Jae 31, no. 1 (1977)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

The shadow analysis of the city, based on separating the bright and dark regions of its map, also approves that two different urban structures exist in the city, the first one mostly around the loop and the second one in the suburban area.

Fig 25-Chicago map and the loop

Fig 26-Shadow analysis of Chicago based on Google Earth picture, showing the twofold urban structure of Chicago 1) around the loop and 2) suburbs

by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter two: Research

While during the 90s some transformations of one of these two types of buildings to another were put in practice (like Oak Park by Wright), but lack of public buildings is the clearest failure in the city.

Business and culture were conceived as distinct activities and there was no try to mix them up in the city, architects just proceeded with the most audacious innovations since they offended no expressed social of artistic preference, and it could just happen in Chicago because the business was without inhibition there.7 The comparison between the zoning map and density map of the city also illustrates the accumulation of business and commercial buildings around the loop.

Commercial Industrial Residential Planned Development

Fig 27-Zoning map of Chicago

Highest Very High High Low Very Low Lowest

Fig 28-Population Density map of Chicago

28 2.7. Steven Hurtt and Colin Rowe, “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays,� Jae 31, no. 1 (1977)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Fig 29-Comparison between the residential zoning (left) and the commercial zoning (right) maps of Chicago.

by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter two: Research

The story of frame structure in Chicago is the story of success and failure at the same time. The urgency of a physical need generated by the fierce economic growth of the time resulted in a primary architectural achievement. Even with the lack of a specific architectural program, (an apparently) architectural revolution seemed to be possible, but in the end, this lack made the revolution not possible to become decisive.

While steel frame was a perfect answer to architects of Chicago at the time, but they remained unaware of certain of its attributes since it was just used in office buildings. In other words, they didn’t explore its spatial possibilities in all aspects, which refer to Wright’s unwillingness to employ frame as it was assumed to be used at that time.

The major architectural outcomes of Chicago at that time are the office buildings that were conceived to do perfectly in structure and form by employing frame structure, the products (buildings) required by the economic atmosphere and industrial growth of the city that had no notion of society and no sign of culture. They were equipment, not architecture, and invoked no completely receivable public standards, but demanded only private gain.8

30 2.8. Steven Hurtt and Colin Rowe, “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays,” Jae 31, no. 1 (1977)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Fig 30-Willis tower, the tallest building in Chicago by Bruce Graham, 1973 Construction and photo by Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill (SOM)

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Chapter two: Research

2.3 Grid of Chicago As this dissertation works on the urban quality through architectural buildings, the next research step is evaluating Chicago in the urban scale after “Frame of Chicago” which focused on the building scale. The main character of Chicago in the urban perspective is “Grid”, which formed the city by a rigid rectangular network of roads that defines the plots in the city.

Fig 31-Grids of Chicago. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

This grid of roads, farms, and city streets in Chicago is largely a product of financial considerations of planners, the concept that they had in mind since their first tries to propose an urban layout for the city.

1) First of all, the grid system could help to quickly start determining a clear number system for plots which would be ideally designed for real estate sales.

2) Secondly, the ability of the rectangular grid system to extend the city helped the rapid growth of Chicago Chicago’s first plat (or map showing proposed lots) was done by James Thompson in 1830 when he was hired by the Canal Commissioners. He laid out the town with straight streets uniformly 66 feet wide (20 meters) with alleys 16 feet wide (4.8 meters) bisecting each block.9

Fig 32-James Thompson’s Plat of Chicago, 1830

33 2.9. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410050.html

Chapter two: Research

Once this basic groundwork was laid, other surveyors followed, platting new sections to the same pattern. This 1834 map by John Stephen Wright combined the newly platted areas, showing the grid extending beyond Thompson’s original boundaries.

Fig 33-J. S. Wright, Survey Map of Chicago, 1834

The next and fundamental step in Chicago urban mapping which formed this metropolitan city was a large and detailed map identifying title-holders of developed and undeveloped in 1861. Sections that had been laid down by government surveyors and sold as single parcels subsequently had been divided into smaller lots for purchase. The boundaries of many of these smaller, subdivided holdings followed the familiar rectangular grid pattern, rather than rivers or other natural boundaries, which resulted in a high-level grid system in Chicago that is visible today.10 34 2.10. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410050.html

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Fig 34-Plat map of Chicago, 1834

Fig 35-The night-time grid of Chicago

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Chapter two: Research

2.4 Geometric order and Chaos in Architecture While the natural world is constructed according to more complex and chaotic rules, the ideal forms and relationships in architecture distinguish it against the background of nature. Since the beginning of human history, geometric order has been applied in architectural structures due to its compromise with real financial possibility and different functional requirements.11

Fig 36-Chaos in nature Maelstrom. Photograph by Luke Shadbolt

Fig 37-Geometric order in architecture Barcelona bird’s-eye view, Spain. Photograph by Kaspars Upmanis

36 2.11. Paweł Rubinowicz, “Chaos and Geometric Order in Architecture and Design” (2000)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Although at the first look it seems that architectural products are merely following geometrical orders and not chaotic rules, both of them have been compelling for architects throughout history.

While some architects are interested in geometric orders; like Mies van der Rohe that formulated an artistic manifest “less is more” which shows that he favors the simple geometric forms over the more complex forms, some other are more into chaotic forms; like Robert Venturi that published an opposite idea “less is boring” which shows that he prefers complexity in place of monotonous and boring spatial simplicity.12

Fig 00-Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1951 as an example of geometrical order in architecture Photograph by Mike Schwartz

Fig 38-Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Plano, Illinois, 1951 An example of geometrical order in architecture Photograph by Mike Schwartz

Fig 39-Walt Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry, Los Angeles, 2003 An example of chaos in architecture Photograph by Bruce Gray

37 2.12. Paweł Rubinowicz, “Chaos and Geometric Order in Architecture and Design” (2000)

Chapter two: Research

Not only in the building scale but also in the urban scale there are interesting examples of geometric order and chaos. The square on the front of the basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome is one of the best urban works in baroque, where the architect Gialnorenz Bernini designed the square on a plan of an oval.

This square is surrounded by the rhythm of columns, the composition that is based on an ideal geometry. On the opposite, the city center of medieval Siena with the central located Piazza del Campo represents another aesthetics. It took 200 years to form this place and we observe that many types of tenements have arisen on an irregular street plan, which resulted in a very complex and diverse chaotic structure of the city center.13

Fig 40-Geometric order and chaos in urban structures. The square on the front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome from 16561667 (left part) and Piazza del Campo with surroundings in Siena, Italy, from 1289-1355 (right part)

In the next image, there is the original urban planning and architectural facade (in the middle) related to a building in Barcelona which is done by the urban planner and the architect. The aerial view and the elevation photographs from the 90s (left part) are analyzed based on the algorithm of separating the bright and dark regions of the photograph (which are on the right side). The comparison between the original plans by the architect and the analysis shows that as the blocks are inhabited by users, it’s geometrical order turns to be chaos, which transforms the architectural product to an interesting combination of the order and chaos.

38 2.13. Paweł Rubinowicz, “Chaos and Geometric Order in Architecture and Design” (2000)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Fig 41-Geometric order and chaos in architecture (described in the text)

The geometric order evokes the feeling of harmony, seriousness, and monumentality, while chaos revives the architectural space and gives it an individual dimension. Elimination of chaos from the architectural composition causes “spatial boredom”; which seems to happen in some parts of Chicago city; and elimination of geometric order causes the illegibility of compositions. Therefore, for a good quality of architectural space, the balance between order and chaos is necessary, the balance can be sough in Chicago.14 39 2.14. Paweł Rubinowicz, “Chaos and Geometric Order in Architecture and Design” (2000)

Chapter two: Research

2.5 Chicago, Towards the Future The study on buildings and the urban planning of Chicago demonstrates that the spirit of frames and grids is dominant in most parts of the city. Especially for the skyscrapers of the commercial area, there are too many buildings that structural frame strictly defines the space by making a border between inside and outside of the buildings, which lowers the human interactions in different scales. These type of buildings are usually lacking open and semi-open spaces, as well as the variety of forms and spatial vitality. The existing capacity regarding the frame to reinterpret buildings and invent a new generation of them in the future is an interesting subject that can be developed and optimized.

To achieve this goal, a particular methodology should be employed that would be able to produce complex types of forms based on frame. The methodology used in this master dissertation is Cellular Automata (explanation in chapter 3-methodology), which helps the architect to employ frame as the spirit of Chicago architecture to reinterpret buildings in another way.

Fig 42-Dominance of frame in Chicago, in structure and space. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Fig 43-Imagination of frame in Chicago, now and future. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter three: Methodology

3. Methodology 3.1 Cellular Automata Cellular Automata (abbreviation: CA) is a computational method that is able to simulate the process of growth (generation) of simple individuals by following simple rules.1 The concept of Cellular Automata, introduced by Von Neumann in 1940 and later explored and popularized by Wolfram, has found application in various areas including physics, theoretical biology, microstructure modeling.2

Fig 44-2D Cellular Automata visualization. by Amir Adibmanesh

42 3.1. Robert J. Krawczyk, “Architectural Interpretation of Cellular Automata” (2002) 3.2. M. Devetakovic, L. Petrusevski, M. Dabic, B. Mitrovic, “Les Folies Cellulaires – An Exploration in Architectural Design Using Cellular Automata” (2009)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

A Cellular Automata (CA) system consists of a grid network of cells where each individual cell has the state of “occupied” or “empty” (“alive” or “dead”). The transitional process starts with an initial status of cells and is based on a set of rules which works according to the number of occupied neighbors (=8 adjacent cells) of each cell and determines if a cell is going to survive (keep being alive/alive to alive), die (alive to dead), get born (dead to alive), or remain dead (dead to dead).

For each set of rules we have 2 series of numbers among 0 to 8: 1) The first series of numbers is related to alive cells and determines if an alive cell is going to survive or die in the next generation according to the number of its alive neighbors. For example, if the series is “2,3,6”; it means that if an alive cell has 2 or 3 or 6 alive neighbors it will survive for the next generation, otherwise it dies in the next generation (which means it has 0 or 1 or 4 or 5 or 7 or 8 alive neighbors) 2) The second series of numbers is related to dead cells and determines if a dead cell is going to be born or remain dead in the next generation according to the number of its alive neighbors. For example, if the series is “3,5”; it means that if a dead cell has 3 or 5 alive neighbors it will be born for the next generation, otherwise it remains dead in the next generation (which means it has 0 or 1 or 2 or 4 or 6 or 7 or 8 alive neighbors) For each series, the numbers can be chosen among 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8 without any limitation that how many of them are selected (it’s also possible to choose any or all of them for a series). The selected numbers for each series are also independent of another.

The generation begins with the initial state of cells and the set of rules, and CA system automatically determines the status of each individual cell in the next generation, according to its current status, the set of rules, and the status of its neighbors. The status of cells in the new generation becomes the base (or the initial status) for the generation next after that and this procedure can continue automatically forever like an automated game.

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Chapter three: Methodology

Here there is an initial status (or generation 0) of a Cellular Automata system in a grid of 11x11 with its set of rules. Colored cells represent occupied (or alive ) cells and white cells represent empty (or dead) cells. The set of rules is 2,3-2 which means that the first part (2,3) is related to the rule for alive cells and the second part (2) is related to dead cells: -If an alive cell has 2 or 3 alive neighbors it will survive for the next generation, otherwise, it dies in the next generation.

-If a dead cell has 2 alive neighbors it will be born for the next generation, otherwise, it remains dead in the next generation.

According to the initial status and the set of rules, the generation starts: Set of Rules: 2,3-2

occupied / alive empty / dead

alive cell with 1 alive neighbor= dying in the next generation

dead cell with 2 alive neighbors= getting born in the next generation

Generation 0

Generation 1

Fig 45-2D Cellular Automata first generation. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Generation 0

Generation 1

Generation 2

Generation 3

Generation 4

Generation 5

Fig 46-Cellular Automata generations. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter three: Methodology

One interesting feature of Cellular Automata is the infinite variety of results, which means with a tiny difference in the initial state of cells or set of rules, the result will astonishingly change. Here there are CA systems with different initial state or set of rules and their 5th generation: Generation 0

Set of Rules

Generation 5

2,3-2

2,3-2

2,3-2

Fig 47-CA systems with different initial status and same set of rules. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Generation 0

Set of Rules

Generation 5

2,3-2

2,3-3

2,3-2,3

Fig 48-CA systems with same initial status and different set of rules. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter three: Methodology

3.2 Cellular Automata in Architecture As a computer-based system, Cellular Automata can help architects with the design process by its most powerful feature which is generating a variety of complex patterns from simple inputs. The most common usage of CA in architecture is the interpretation of a series of 2D generations into a 3D architectural form.

The most basic type of interpretation is transforming each occupied cell into a closed space with certain dimensions and each empty cell into an open space with the same dimensions. Applying this transformation for all cells of a generation produces the basic architectural volume (or general floor plan) of one level including a series of closed and open spaces.

occupied / alive

closed space

empty / dead

open space

Fig 49-Basic Interpretation of CA in Architecture for one generation. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

By continuing this transformation and applying it for 2D generations of a CA system, we can produce 3D architectural volumes (or general floor plans) for different levels of a building. If generation 0 (G0) produces level 0 (L0), and G1 produces L1, and G2 produces L2, and so on until number “n”, now we get the architectural volumes for all floors of a building from level number 0 to level number “n”. By putting these levels on top of each other, we can produce the overall volume of our building (from level 0 to “n”) which is the basic interpretation of a Cellular Automata system into an architectural form.

Generation 3=Level 3

Generation 2=Level 2

Generation 1=Level 1

Generation 0=Level 0

Fig 50-Basic Interpretation of CA in Architecture for one building (10 generations/10 Floors). by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter three: Methodology

Architects’ interest in CA is typically motivated by the simplicity of CA mechanisms on one hand and the potential complexity of generated outcomes on the other; a series of unexpected outcomes that unlike other parametrically-drive digital methods cannot be easily anticipated.3 In other words, this system is capable to produce an infinite number of complex forms as output just by simple inputs.

2,3-2

2,3-2

2,3-2

Fig 51-Basic Interpretation of CA systems with different initial status and same set of rules. by Amir Adibmanesh

50 3.3. C. M. Herr, R. C. Ford, “Adapting Cellular Automata as Architectural Design Tools” (2015)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

2,3-2

2,3-3

2,3-2,3

Fig 52-Basic Interpretation of CA systems with same initial status and different set of rules. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter three: Methodology

Cellular Automata capability to produce various forms with a diversity of spaces can be used in the design process, whether at the beginning part or in the middle, but this system is not able to produce architectural spaces without the assistance of the architect. While the set of rules in a CA system just affects the unexpected result, there must be some architectural considerations defined by the architect to evaluate and improve the architectural qualities of volumes produced by a CA system. These considerations are concerning the size and the shape of the cells, the connection between closed spaces, circulation, natural lighting issues, structure issues, and so on.

There are some advanced architectural interpretations of Cellular Automata that help to evolve the architectural qualities in some degree, by applying them to the 3D output of a CA system (Krawczyk)4: 1) Combining adjacent cells to create one whole space and scaling cells (by different numbers)

Fig 53-Combining and scaling cells as an approach for interpretation of a CA system

52 3.4. Robert J. Krawczyk, “Architectural Interpretation of Cellular Automata� (2002)

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

2) Examining other shapes rather than square for cells

Fig 54-Different shapes of cells as an approach for interpretation of a CA system

3) Enveloping each level by its edge points

Fig 55-Enveloping by edge points as an approach for interpretation of a CA system

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Chapter three: Methodology

4) Transforming cells to vertical volumes / applying retained growth / giving random sizes to the cells with a minimum and maximum

Fig 56-Cells as vertical volumes / retained growth / random sizes to the cells as an approaches for interpretation of a CA system

5) Putting columns at the corners or at the center as vertical supports of each cell to solve structural issues

Fig 57-Vertical supports at the corner or the center of each cell as an approach for interpretation of a CA system

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Allthough there hasn’t been yet an example of a real architectural project done directly by using Cellular Automata, the similarity of 3D CA systems and real buildings can be found. “Habitat 67”; a housing complex designed by Moshe Safdie is an example of a building that resembles a 3D Cellular Automata system.

Fig 58-Cellular automata and their analogies in architectonic space: “Habitat 67” by Moshe Safdie on the Expo worldwide exhibition in Montreal in 1967 (left part); and the cellular automaton in 3D made using the computer program Model (right part)

Fig 59-Habitat 67 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2006 Photograph by Nora Vass

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Chapter three: Methodology

3.3 CA for Chicago This master dissertation aims to propose a strategy for designing a new generation of buildings in Chicago by using Cellular Automata as a computer-based system to help the architect. The general design process consists of two stages: 1) The first step is based on computer and CA systems for the production of forms 2) The second step is based on the architect to apply architectural considerations, examine and manipulate the results in the first step to convert them into architectural buildings as the outcome Studying context and architectural requirements

Coding CA systems by the architect in the computer to produce forms and volumes

Result by Computer

Applying architectural considerations, examining and manipulating CA results

Result by Architect

Final Architectural result (buildings) Fig 60-General design process strategy. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

All the coding part to define and generate Cellular Automata systems in this dissertation is done in Grasshopper, a visual programming language that runs within Rhinocores 3D application. The coding is carried out by the author, using Rabbit (from Morphocode, design and development firm) as an open-source plug-in for Grasshopper.

Fig 61-General view of Grasshopper coding for a CA system.. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter three: Methodology

Since the coding process is somehow complicated, here are some basic explanations for the main parameters of the coding for a CA system in Grasshopper:

Set of Rules

The Grid

Basics of Cellular Automata

Initial Cells

Fig 62-Detailed view of Grasshopper coding for a CA system (part 1). by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Number of Generations

2D or 3D

Dimensions of Cells

Fig 63-Detailed view of Grasshopper coding for a CA system (part 2). by Amir Adibmanesh

After production of CA forms, the architect’s role begins by setting architectural issues related to the project and its context and by examining and manipulating the volumes in order to interpret them into architectural results. The architectural considerations in this part might vary according to different conditions of the project, which means every project has its own specific considerations based on the size of the building, level of complexity, function, location, and so on.

The general architectural considerations include issues of structure, natural lighting, the desirability of spaces in dimension and form, circulation and the connection among spaces, and adapting floor plans. Different parts of the proposal in Chapter 4 (design) will show different architectural issues and considerations for each case.

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Chapter four: Design

4. Design 4.1 Overview The design part consists of three architectural proposals with distinct ideas for different types of projects, to prove the feasibility of the methodology invented by the author in various cases.

The first part which has a futuristic perspective is redesigning an existing skyscraper in the commercial area around the loop as the densest part of Chicago in population. The chosen building is an office tower and the proposal is its transformation into a new skyscraper within the same area but benefiting from a variety of open and common spaces, which provides the same office space for the current companies as well as new residential area, to convert the office building into a mixed-use tower. Selecting an office building was the most challenging case since during the transformation process, a new function (residential) will be added to the tower. The feasibility of the methodology to be applied on an office tower as the harder case demonstrates that it’s also applicable for a residential tower and in result for almost all types of skyscrapers in Chicago.

The second part which is more realistic is the renovation of an existing residential skyscraper around the loop. Unlike the first part which is considering the new type of towers in the future after demolishing existing ones, this one is able to be done just by additional parts and without any main destruction (just the current facade will be replaced). The chosen tower, which is now proving compact apartments for people to live, is refurbished by application of the methodology which adds extra space on the facade of the building (the space that is capable to be defined in different ways) and extends the apartments’ area.

The third part is designing a new type of social housing in a low-density populated part of Chicago.

The proposal is related to a real redevelopment program in the city to build new social housing projects and employs the methodology to design this type of buildings with specific approaches regarding social and private spaces. An existing project under the same program is studied and the new social housing proposal is compared with it in different qualities.

In all three parts, the design process explained in the last chapter is employed as the cooperation between the human and the computer, but in different approaches for each case.

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Chapter four: Design

4.2 Redesigning Time-Life Tower

Fig 64-Perspective view of proposal 1- by Amir Adibmanesh

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The first proposal aims to redesign Time-Life tower as a skyscraper located in the most densified part of Chicago, the northern side of the loop. This 30-story building was designed by Harry Weese and completed in 1969, with 123m height and now being used fully as an office tower. The dominance of structure is visible in this tower by huge columns posing around the building, but this building acts like a rectangular cube with flat surfaces on the facade without any spatial variation or interaction between inside and outside.

Highest Very High High Low Very Low Lowest

Fig 65-Location of Time-Life tower in Chicago

Fig 66-Time-Life tower by Harry Weese, Chicago, 1969

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Chapter four: Design

The design process starts with defining the location of the new building in the same site (60m x 66m) by considering ground floor occupancy level which is 75%: a 42m x 60m rectangle at the center of the site that can be used as the base grid for Cellular Automata system in the next step.

The CA strategy employed in this part is creation of two CA systems with two different cell sizes to combine in order to produce a higher level of spatial variation: first one 6m x 6m x 8m height (as 2 floors) and the second one 3m x 3m x 4m height (as 1 floor):

Fig 67-Two CA systems on the site: 6x6x8m (left) and 3x3x4 (right)- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

The next step is combining two CA systems into one mass, which creates a much more complicated volumetric form compared with a single CA result:

Fig 68-Combination of two CA systems as the volumetric result- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter four: Design

While the computer-based part is done and the complex immature volume is produced, the next step is examination and manipulation of this form by the architect. The main issues are related to the structural stability, appropriate natural lighting, and desirability of spaces.

The proposed structure system includes few but huge concrete columns (120x120cm) reinforced by steel columns, with two thick concrete cores (80cm) and thick prestressed concrete plates (45cm), which provide freedom in shaping the floor plans. This system creates a primary structure zone in the middle of the tower (30m x 48m) and makes it capable to have a series of pixelations around this primary zone to have a maximum 6m of cantilever held by its heavy columns.

In order to provide suitable natural lighting for all levels, two main cores of the building are located in a way that creates a lighting zone of 8.5m as an offset inside the primary structure zone which makes it easier to organize interior spaces within the plan. The space between the cores can be used as services in the office floors and open/common spaces in the residential floors which is an efficient way in both cases.

In the next step, all the cell are examined and some are manipulated by the architect in order to increase the desirability of spaces: 1) The lonely small cells (3x3x4m) with no neighbor on the pixelation zone are eliminated 2) Narrow empty spaces (3m) among big cells (6x6x8) on the pixelation zone are filled by occupied cells 3) The corners are checked to avoid the accumulation of cells After the application of all architectural considerations, the final volume is produced which provides more inhabitable areas in comparison to the existing tower according to the calculations. The first 25 floors of new building are used as offices while the top 5 floors are apartments, which converts this tower into a mixed-use skyscraper. According to the futuristic view of this proposal, it’s assumed that the parking area in the buildings will be gradually removed due to transportation technologies in the future, while the underground levels in the proposal can be still designed for this purpose.

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concrete cores prestressed concrete plates concrete columns reinforced by steel columns cantilever zone for pixelation primary structure zone

Fig 69-Final volume after architectural considerations with proposed structural system. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter four: Design

office toilets/cafeteria circulation

Fig 70-Level 15 architectural plan as example of office area. by Amir Adibmanesh

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apartments circulation

Fig 71-Level 28 architectural plan as example of residential area. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter four: Design

Fig 72-Axonometric view of the new tower in the existing context. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

5 floors

30 floors

25 floors

office residential

Function Ground floor occupation Number of floors Total living area (m2) Office area (m2) Residential area (m2) Garage space over ground (m2) Open / semi-open space (m2)

Office 75% 30 59400 59400 0 5838 0

Mixed-use 64% 30 71820 59850 (up to level 25) 11970 (level 26 to 30) 0 5274

Fig 73-Calculation and comparison between the existing building and the proposal. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter four: Design

4.3 Renovation of McClurg Tower

Fig 74-Perspective view of proposal 2- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

The second proposal aims to renovate McClurg Court B tower as a residential skyscraper located near Time-Life tower in the highest densified part of Chicago, the northern side of the loop. This building was designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates and its construction ended in 1971, with 46 levels and 131m height. While this building is fully apartments (except the facilities for inhabitants on the ground floor), the facade is a surface that plays as the role of a border between inside/closed and outside/open space. This means that all the built-up area is used as the interior part of compact housing units, without any semi-open or open spaces like balconies.

Highest Very High High Low Very Low Lowest

Fig 75-Location of McClurg tower in Chicago

Fig 76-McClurg Court B tower by SCB, Chicago, 1971

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Chapter four: Design

The strategy employed in this part is different from the previous one, which is based on keeping the existing building and extending its space by additional elements on the facade, which is done on the southern facade of the tower as one potential in this part.

The CA strategy employed in this part is creation of a 2D CA system based on the grid formed on the plain facade of the tower. The dimension of cells is determined by the height of the floors and the structural network. The occupied cells of CA are interpreted as closed spaces attached to the interior part of the units, and the empty cells as private semi-open spaces. By following this strategy, a series of closed and semi-open spaces are added to the apartments which enlarge their sizes and create new types of spaces for the users (semi-open spaces).

Fig 77-2D CA system on the southern facade of the building- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

The architectural considerations to interpret the additional space includes: 1) The structural system which could easily and quickly make the idea possible and brings the capability of customization for units 2) Maximizing the spatial diversity for the additional part (closed, semi-open and open) 3) Efficient size of extension to provide suitable natural lighting The additional part consists of prefabricated concrete columns and beams attached as a free-standing structure connected to the existing structure of the tower. While all the elements are designed modular and prefabricated as possible, the foundation of the new structure is the only additional concrete poured on the site.

Prefabricated concrete slabs are put on the new structure to expand the floor of units, and then the secondary additional network of columns, beams, and walls (non-structural) is added which helps to divide the new additional spaces among apartments.

The next step is defining new closed and semi-open spaces for the units according to cells produced by the CA system, which is followed by a series of balconies as open spaces that maximize the added value to the existing building concerning spatial diversity.

The total additional part extends the length of each unit 3.2m (from 5.8m to 9m), which seems ideal for natural lighting: 2m as closed or semi-open spaces and 1.2m for balconies as open spaces. The only manipulation on the existing building is removing the facade and attaching the new glazing system instead.

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Chapter four: Design

prefabricated concrete structure

prefabricated concrete slabs secondary network (non-structural) additional closed and semi-open spaces additional balconies Fig 78-Additional structure exploded 3D diagram- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

new closed space

new semi-open space

new open space

existing building

additional space

Fig 79-Architectural plans: existing with additionals (left) and after renovation (right)- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter four: Design

One interesting feature of this proposal is the ability of inhabitants to customize the extended space according to their preferences (how they wish to use this space). This capability is based on the modular design of all additional elements which makes it possible to change the spatial quality easily. As the image below which is showing different scenarios for the same unit, users are free to convert the additional space in front of their living room and bedroom to the interior pace or the semi-open space, while the balcony/open space remains unchanged anyway.

1) extension of living room

2) all as semi-open space

3) extension of bedroom

4) all as interior space

Fig 80-Different scenarios of extended space for the same unit- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

This feature revives the facade to behave like an alive CA system, which means as the preference of the users change and they make different configurations of closed and open space over time, the organization of full and empty volumes also will change in the facade, resembling a Cellular Automata system doing generations lively. Here there are two alternatives for the facade of the same level which can be reconfigured over time:

closed space (occupied cell) semi-open space (empty cell)

Fig 81-Dynamic Facade after renovation: resembling a living CA system- by Amir Adibmanesh

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existing space additional space Fig 82-Axonometric view of before and after the renovation for one level. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Total living area (m2) Additional living area (m2) Total interior (closed) space (m2) Additional interior space (m2) Total open space (m2) Total semi-open space (m2) Additional total space per unit Additional interior space per unit Additional open space per unit Additional semi-open space per unit

15048 15048 0 0 -

20350 5302 17118 2070 1991 1241 35% 14% 13% 8%

Fig 83-Calculation and comparison between before and after the renovation. by Amir Adibmanesh

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4.4 Social Housing in Parkside of Old Town

Fig 84-Perspective view of proposal 3- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

The third proposal aims to design social housing in Cabrini-Green as one of the lowest densified parts of Chicago, on the eastern side of Goose Island. The project is in Parkside of Old Town as a part of the redevelopment of the former Cabrini Extension North, the plan that includes approximately 18 acres on the city’s Near North Side and will provide more than 700 homes on the ground of the infamous Cabrini Green housing project over several phases.

As a part of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Plan for Transformation, Parkside of Old Town shifts the old public housing model to a mixed-income strategy. The new apartment buildings aim to eliminate those barriers through lower-density development, greater income diversity among tenants, and amenities that attract residents across a broad range.1

Highest Very High High Low Very Low Lowest

Fig 85-Location of Parkside of Old Town in Chicago

Fig 86-Parkside of Old Town, Chicago

83 4.1. https://www.landonbonebaker.com/work/terrace-459-parkside-of-old-town/

Chapter four: Design

The proposal is compared to an existing project recently done under the redevelopment: Terrace 459 by Landon Bone Baker Architects, completed in 2016, containing 106 units in total housed in a 94-unit, nine-story building with seven townhouses attached to the back and a 12-unit, three-story building which faces the townhouses intending to nurture a sense of community and reveal the shared desire for a safe and secure neighborhood.2 While it’s a nice mixed-income model project which also provides some area as common space on the ground floor as well as balconies for the units, it still lacks some qualities in two different scales: 1) Urban scale: the absence of any open space as the private garden/corridor belonging to the habitants of the project 2) Building scale: repetitive pattern of open and closed spaces which decreases the level of interaction among the inhabitants An empty piece of land is selected for the proposal near the existing project as almost the same size:

Fig 87-Terrace 459 by Landon Bone Baker Architects, Chicago, 2016 (top) Fig 88-Location of Terrace 459 project and the selected site at Parkside of Old Town in Chicago. by Amir Adibmanesh

84 4.2. https://www.landonbonebaker.com/work/terrace-459-parkside-of-old-town/

Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Unlike the previous parts, the design process in this proposal doesn’t start directly with the application of a CA system to produce the volumes. Since the existing project (Terrace 459) lacks a private open space which can be used only by its habitants, the first step of the design process is shaping the general position and dimension of housing blocks by the architect as below:

1) total volume (45% occupancy)

2) division into 4 blocks (in 2 sizes)

3) blocks at the corners to create the private courtyard

4) different heights of blocks

5) public zone as offset of the margin

6) open and closed public spaces

Fig 89-General organization of social housing blocks in the site. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter four: Design

The next step is generating a CA system to produce forms for each block using their locations as the base grid: 20m x 30m for the big blocks and 15m x 25m for small blocks. The size of cells in both types is 5m x 5m x 3m height which fits in the grids.

The CA strategy employed in this part is scaling cells by a factor of 7:5 to create a new typology of volumes with different spatial proportions, followed with vertical retained growth method which replaces some empty cells with occupied cells to increase the unity of form and the closed (interior) area.

Fig 90-CA system on the site: 5x5x3m before (left) and after (right) scaling for a big block- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

The next step includes the architect to evaluate the volumetric result of the CA system for each block and interpret them into social housing buildings. According to the small size of buildings (compared to a tower in the first part) and strategies employed in the previous step, there is no architectural issue regarding natural lighting or desirability of spaces: all the interior spaces are provided with enough daylight and there is no much complexity in the configuration of volumes that needs modification.

The architect’s role in this step is to propose the appropriate structural system and mainly to design various types of units within the block to create a mixed-income model of living in this project.

The structural system proposed in this case is a network of columns and beams with a central core in the middle which includes stairs, lifts, and service areas. This structural system derives from the concept of the volume and provides the freedom to have cantilevers at the corners to maximize the openness of balconies.

Fig 91-Final volume of a big block after vertical retained growth- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter four: Design

Fig 92-Proposed structural system for a big block- by Amir Adibmanesh

Fig 93-Final axonometric view of a big block- by Amir Adibmanesh

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apartments public space circulation services

Fig 94-Level 0 (bottom) and level 5 (top) architectural plans- by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter four: Design

Fig 95-Axonometric view of the new social housing in the existing context. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chicago, City of Frames and Grids: Re-Framing

Site area (m2) Ground floor occupation Number of floors (maximum) Total living area (m2) Total closed public space (m2) Total private courtyard (m2) Total private balconies (m2)

5520 45% 9 14220 192 0 536

5200 45% 9 16468 586 1812 1516

Fig 96-Calculation and comparison between Terrace 459 project and the proposal. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Chapter four: Design

4.5 Conclusion The proposal in this master dissertation aimed to invent a new intelligent strategy as the architectural solution to bring more values and qualities into the life of Chicago people. Frame as the most fundamental and simplest essence of their architecture was targeted, rethought and redesigned to bring them more vitality and flexibility in their personal and social life through the new generation of buildings, the process which I call “Re-Framing�. These buildings provide an unexpected diversity of new open and semi-open spaces that eliminate the border and empower the relationship between inside and outside. The people benefit from the newborn spatial variations which gathers them together as communities, the facade of the building as an in-between space finds itself as the place for interaction among the users, and these buildings as the individuals of the urban figure, make the city more dynamic by all the qualities and interactions they create between the users and the city. Besides, the strategy considers convincing financiers to invest in this generation of buildings, by proposing the same built-up area but owning more living qualities at the same time. Using a computer-based system with the simplicity of inputs and complexity of outputs in the design process also helps the architect to work much more quickly, while all architectural considerations will play their role to achieve the best results.

All in all, the goal of this project is a better experience of living in the future for Chicago.

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Fig 97-Imaginary vision of Chicago in the future. by Amir Adibmanesh

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Bibliography

Bibliography - Herr, Christiane M, and Ford, Ryan C. “Adapting Cellular Automata as Architectural Design Tools” (2015) - Hurtt, Steven, and Colin Rowe. “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays.” Jae 31, no. 1 (1977) - Krawczyk, Robert J. “Architectural Interpretation of Cellular Automata” (2002) - Rubinowicz, Paweł. “Chaos and Geometric Order in Architecture and Design” (2000)

Websites: - https://www.aviewoncities.com/buildings/chicago.htm - https://www.emporis.com/search/buildings/chicago - Origins of the Grid (in Chicago), http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410050.html - https://www.landonbonebaker.com/work/terrace-459-parkside-of-old-town/ - https://www.arup.com/projects/mahanakhon - https://www.lacatonvassal.com/data/documents/20191007-15314219_Architects%20Journal_compressed.pdf

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Appendix

Appendix Figure 01-https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cd/5d/57/cd5d579b46f4fb0a420335eb9e28b130.png Figure 02- https://www.archdaily.com/897525/learn-about-open-floor-plans-via-these-6-iconic-residences/5b3beed1f197cc92910001e5-learn-about-open-floor-plans-via-these-6-iconic-residencesphoto Figure 03- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Savoye#/media/Fichier:Villa_Savoye.jpg Figure 04- https://rosswolfe.tumblr.com/image/52133220735 Figure 05- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Seagram_Building_Floor_Plan. png Figure 06- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Prudential_Building_2013-09-08_12-21-41.jpg Figure 07- http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Prudential_(Guaranty)_Building Figure 08- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Rand_McNally_Building_1889. jpg Figure 09- https://d4804za1f1gw.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2014/03/28113804/ Fair-Building.jpg Figure 10- https://fineartamerica.com/featured/1-state-street-chicago-1900-daniel-hagerman.html Figure 11- http://www.greatbuildings.com/cgi-bin/gbc-drawing.cgi/Reliance_Building.html/Reliance_Bldg_Plan.html Figure 12- https://texnh.tumblr.com/tagged/burnham-&-root Figure 13-https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Maison_du_Peuple_of_ the_P.O.B._%28Belgian_Workers_Party%29_%28destroyed%2C_Brussels%29%2C_exterior_3_%28cropped%29.jpg Figure 14- http://landmarkhunter.com/182007-mcclurg-building Figure 15- http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/callouts/auditorium-theater-02-1.jpg Figure 16- https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150820/CRED03/150829994/raise-com-expands-headquarters-space-at-chicago-s-sullivan-center Figure 17- https://www.moma.org/collection/works/82759 96

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Figure 18- https://www.dezeen.com/2017/06/07/fallingwater-frank-lloyd-wright-pennsylvaniahouse-usa-150th-birthday/ Figure 19- https://www.flickr.com/photos/quadralectics/4380962251/in/photostream/ Figure 20- https://www.moma.org/collection/works/161770 Figure 21- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/LarkinAdministrationBuilding1906.jpg Figure 22- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Johnsonwax01.jpg Figure 23- http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/arch-struct-2008/2013-structures/FLW-towers.pdf Figure 25- https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chicago+Loop,+Chicago,+IL,+USA/@41.8789711,87.637882,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x880e2cbb24a58c1f:0x469c0c8118eb74b2!8m2!3d41.87 86351!4d-87.6250549 Figure 27- https://secondcityzoning.org/ Figure 28- https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=dfa1866898254e8c8e4eb7b70af99ed4 Figure 30-http://hiddenarchitecture.net/willis-tower-formerly-sears-tower/ Figure 32, 33- http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410050.html Figure 34- http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410068.html Figure 35- http://onebradatatime.blogspot.com/2014/03/chicago-grid.html Figure 36- https://time.com/4351931/waves-sea-photos/ Figure 37- https://www.isglobal.org/en/-/el-proyecto-original-de-las-supermanzanas-podria-evitar-cerca-de-700-muertes-prematuras-anuales-en-barcelona Figure 38- https://www.dwell.com/article/farnsworth-house-flooding-ludwig-mies-van-der-rohea1d85bbd/6566485711244447744 Figure 39- http://www.brucegray.com/htmlfolder/html_subpages/gehry.html Figure 40, 41, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58-Paweł Rubinowicz, “Chaos and Geometric Order in Architecture and Design” (2000), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240759315_Chaos_and_Geometric_ Order_in_Architecture_and_Design 97

Appendix

Figure 59- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_67#/media/File:Habitat_panorama.jpg Figure 65-https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=dfa1866898254e8c8e4eb7b70af99ed4 Figure 66- https://photos.com/featured/1-time-life-building-chicago-chicago-history-museum.html Figure 75-https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=dfa1866898254e8c8e4eb7b70af99ed4 Figure 76-https://images.skyscrapercenter.com/building/mcclurgcourtb_overall1_mg.jpg Figure 85-https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=dfa1866898254e8c8e4eb7b70af99ed4 Figure 86-https://www.fitzgeraldassociates.net/project/parkside-of-old-town/ Figure 87-https://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/terrace-459_o

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Thank you.