AIR Zheng Li 514486
Table of
Contents INTRODUCTION
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION A.1.Architecture As a Discourse A.2.Computational Architecture A.3.Parametric Modelling A.4.Algorithmic Explorations A.5.Conclusion A.6.Learning outcomes
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH B.1.Design Focus B.2.Case Study 1.0 B.3.Case Study 2.0 B.4.Technique:Development B.5.Technique:Prototypes B.6.Technique Proposal B.7.Algorithmic Sketches B.8.Learning Objectives and Outcomes
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL C.1.Gateway Project:Design Concept C.2.Gateway Project:Tectonic Elements C.3.Gateway Project:Final Model C.4.Algorithmic Sketches C.5.LearningObjectives and Outcomes
Reference
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
From the previous two years of study experience in this profession, I was told and educated that being an architect is to learn a bit of everything. It seems to me that designing an outstanding building is not a simple mixture of a little bit of arts, a bit of symbolized signs and spatial experience inside the building. Rather, to me, architecture is a hybrid of the above. Some may argue, why they are different, and I will tell that their differences arose from their essence.
Architecture to me In my viewpoints, the designing process is somehow like a chemical reaction. A chemical reaction differs from a physical one: The starting and ending materials of a physical change are the same, even though they may look different, but in a chemical reaction a new substance will be made. Several substances (material, structure, design ideas and etc.) are restricted by a number of factors (technological developement), under certain conditions (social, cultural and political contexts) and through special treatments (including computation or fabrication approaches); the final products will be produced. However, the products are not buildings themselves; instead the overall reaction shares a lot of similarities of the process of generating modern architectures.
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
A.1.
Architecture as a Discourse
A
'' rchitecture offers not just an opportunity within the category of the external, but a category related specifically to this free choice and, hence, the idea of virtue.'' The extraction above really underpinned my opinions on 'Architecture as discourse', like the unified theory on domains or patial discourses which were addressed in the lecture, architecture itself has diverse functions, vaules and performances to satisfy a range of criteria in fields of cultural, social, aesthetic as well as practical, even political requirements. The point that I would like to make is the main theme solving how would the effects of a piece of architecture is able to bring out. Traditionally, architecture follows its function, dating from the fifteenth centry in the period of Renaissance buildings commissioned to centre the power of churchs, and even put the emphasis on the universal-centered propoganda. Later on, along the timeline, people started to shift their preception on architecture to a more human- centered state. Since the beginning of 20th century, architects, artists and philosophiers tended to pay attention to human perception and their experience through the building. Nowadays, benefited from the advanced technology and gradually mature design thesis, complexties and the capacity to deal with dynamism have become the key issues. For each piece of critical architecture, their identities were shaped and formed from the understanding of complexities, experiential vaules and the appropriateness to local, cultural and political contexts, in which the virtue could be emerged.
Son- O-House
Son en Breugel, the Netherland Architect: NOX Son-O-House, NOX’s project for building a recreational and educational pavilion is in Son en Breugel, the Netherlands. The project is dedicated as one of the most successful cases in exploring the digital design and fabrication techniques. What is interesting was that the conceptual design and analogue processes intertwined so closely. According to Ander Chaszar, the revolution brought from this case study was a kind of ‘material computation’ which can offer the designers an alternative gateway to ‘emergent behavior’ and ‘evolutionary forms’.
Designers were inspired to focus on the visitors’ movement paths and modeled with paper strips twisted and slitted forming various configuration. The development of such concept required the consideration on spatial volume which covered by those ‘path’ strips. The geometric skin was thus generated by digital tools with both mathematical and physical calculations, such as the bending and surface tension forces exerted on outer materials. The analogue analysis was achieved through modeling and displaying the magnitude of bending movements in various rib elements.
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
These highly craft- oriented approaches are now being discussed under the rubric of ‘emergence’. When it comes to constructing the pavilion, architects collaborated with engineers with the aid of computing information and depicted the profiles of those intersecting ribs as located them precisely in the final framework. Manipulation of the project’s components in digital presentation form is very beneficial in both precision and ability to capture and convey detailed information. By learning from this case study, I realised that two approaches, they are craft- oriented and digital presentation respectively, both are contributing and convey designers' intention of the project. Similarly to a chemical reaction, handcrafted- orientation is like a molecular movement or pattern which is not be seen. However, digital techniques enable the whole situation of changing is under control precisely and very specific. The advantage of digitalization emerged to make architects know their perceptions better and quantitative and qualititive deternine the building's responce to the landscape, to the social and psynological effects for the people in use.
Blobwall, a modular system, which is made from a lightweight honeycomb material, and was built up by four hundred large recyclable plastic ‘blobs’ which the design was for a single brick. The way that Greg Lynn and his students prepared, programmed and finally assembled was quiet impressive. First of all, preparing files for each brick and transferring into brick geometry into a Maya animation file, and then exported those data into rhino files. Additionally, using algorithm to determine and program a tool path in order to instruct a robotic arm and generated CNC code for cutting of bricks with a 6-axis robot.
Blobwall
Los Angeles, California, Architect: Greg Lynn
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
1. We began with Maya 3D polygon surfaces + Rhino NURBS brick file.
2.The NURBS brick was imported into Maya, then repositioned accordingly.
3. Each individual brick was exported and repositioned back to Rhino.
The most impressive part of the project is the organisation of those blobs in three dimentional space. Architecture, this time intergrated mathematical formulas and kept experimenting the new material properties, which has brought a lot of challenges. To me, through the shape or even the curvy surface, architects have successfully conveyed others how his thoughts have formulated and drew attention in the first glance. This very straightforward way of expressing spaital occupation interested me and I, kind of, rise a desire of experimenting the facade of a building, and make it breathable and communicable to its users.
The designer Greg Lynn was famous for his approach on computer-aided design to produce irregular, biomorphic architectural forms resulting from integration of calculus into architectural theory. FORM has experimented with five initial prototype shapes, including the igloo, s-curve and u-curve, and the possibilities within these shapes are also highly variable. Each of the ‘Blob’ units is custom-shaped using a 3D robotic arm developed by the Los Angeles firm Machineous which creates individual, tri-lobed, hollow forms.
From this example of study, the designers were devoting to manipulating a range of computational tools to find a form, create multi-media representations as well as intergrating into his design apporaches. The fludity of use really impressed me.
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
"The Meaning of architecture was therefore not single, authoritarian and closed, but multiple, democratic and open." Like I mentioned previously, a critical architectrue must undergo a process of amibuity and organising thoughts from complex sources. How to make them understandable and organising seemed so important. I concerned that the idea of hybrid of logics is the major thing that we ought to achieve. At this stage some of the theories of computational architecture has been introduced and discussed. Do those skills indeed accleated the design formation of a building or it was just a fancy tool to generate the products for comtemporary aestheic tastes and standards. After learning a number of examples I realised that hybrid of everthing did not mean superficially put things together to customize people’s tastes, but to challenge theirs.
A.2.
Computational Architecture
In the last few decades, computation as a design approach which facilitates and generates great number of opportunities for drawings, scaling works and other types of practices. Like CAD, computeraided design software, this kind of computation method reminded me mass production somehow. Through some of the works, rather say some of them were inspired by their formal practices they pasted some of the ideas, in which does not encourage creativity. By contrast, sparks of imagination are filled in the working process in computerization. Entities or processes that are ready formed in the designer’s mind, and then entered or manipulated in the computer system. As mentioned, from my own perceptions, designing a building is a prolonged process and requires changing continuously.
Digital modeling and fabrication technologies are acting like catalysts in a design process. They, as tools, are not about to changing the final outcomes, rather, to accelerate, or in a more architectural way of saying to fasten the tension between design conception and advanced structure performance. In terms of computational process, firm UNStudio has so far devoted much to the industry and dealing with shorten the distance of a highcomplexity programming conception oven other parameters which also have made what a building really embodied. Coresponding to a dialogue with its urban setting, building's function, the initial impression of the form, UNStudio has sugguseted flexibility of computation also created and changed the way people understand a building.
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
The Rubber Mat
Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 1997 The Rubber Mat project is a model of inhabiting property values, rent, density, business growth and green space growth. It comprised four mats, in which each of the mats embodied the suitable moving in space and in time. The design crew had this computational thinking, at the early stage of the designing, they input algorithms and diagrams into programming process and organized and instrumentalised abstract geometries to reveal the concept of ‘deep planning’ and to assimilate the complexity of contemporary architecture. Personally, I supported UNStudio's views on taking three approaches to obtain the meaning of a building at every time they commerce to build one. Material, Program and Parameters, there is no doubt that these three criteria are essential when designing a building. The diagram on the right top seems to enhance the effect of intergreting, hybriding and communicativity. Since architecture is designed for people who use them, designers may sometimes struggle with how to make it look simple but manipulate it hard.The Rubber Mat have made it in which architects introduced the 'Knowledge Platforms' by transforming the theoritical exploration to practice and also transforming professional minds to the public.
Along their way, the manipulating and accumulating advanced technologies and strategies in UNStudio’s daily practice have evolved into ‘Knowledge Platforms’. The key function of the Knowledge Platform is to act as a dynamic hinge between practice and research, which is playing a similar role of a computerizational model generated from the concept to the building. The platform- project was characterized to allow the interactive and effective cross- fertilization of research innovations being utilized in the future design approaches. In later of UNStudio’ s works, the platforms evaluate new concepts and techniques in its most specific and broadest sense, such as tools, software, thinking and design models, together brought the various parameters to define a project. In addition, the Platforms have operated on a number of non-geometric parameters: social, economic, political and material, among others.
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
Burnham Pavilion
Millennium Park,Chicago, 2009 The temporary pavilion is made up with three identical openings that support a very straightforward horizontal surface and structure so as to achieve a desire for a formal, axial and visual relation to the downtown Chicago. Such untangible connection between the pavillion and the environment is something inspired me that I would like to embody in the gateway project later in the semester. According to Kalay’s paper, it is being considered that the digital design process is a process to confront uncertainties and create analytical and creative thinking constrained by many limits imposed. In this case, the Burnham Pavilion in Chicago is influenced by two economic and material constraints: ‘a structural system that is required to be essentially post and beam, and the repetition of the form of the openings in the surfaces.’ Manipulating visual programming aimed at instrumentalising the parameters intuitively to fit in its specificity. Therefore, the solution to that is to create holes within simple and parallelogram frames to the main structure and being duplicated and rotated to direct vistas diagonally upwards. Such experiment serves not only a tool solving problems, but also deeply in root encouraged the designers’ logical thinking to expand and upgrade.
A.3.
Parametric Modelling Parametric modelling, according to Woodbury,is something about change. It requires the buildling components could be adapted to context for quite a long time. It has been mentioned by him that patterning are very good tool for thinking and using parametric design. At this stage, I get a better understanding on how the digital approaches provide a generic solution for solving new complexity, in addition to that parametric modelling is kind of the upstream of the general computation. Based on my opinion, it is believed that parametric modelling has some advantages that some common software may not acquire like its smooth clarity, flexibility of changing the variables and so on. In the reading, a spreadsheet has been given as an example for directly illustrating the data flow and CADecisions calculated by algorithms.
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
Amhem Central Station The Netherlands, 1996-2014
The project has been a drive of innovation since its beginning more than ten years ago. It was the genesis of early concepts such as the V- model and the Deep Planning Principle, and continues to drive innovation in the practice; therefore it encompasses many of the UNStudio’s working approaches. It is worthy to mentioning specifically that its roof paneling system through which the woven pattern has evolved and worked altogether on structural, material and economic parameters. The tool it used is the programming language in Rhinoceros- emphasis was placed on the relationships of the panels to develop a pattern that constrained by mould size, anchor locations and geometric efficiencies and so on. ‘Programmed objects acting as abstractions of the panels contain methods that autonomously create boundaries, check for geometric optimisation (ruled, cylindrical, flat), create anchor points, annotate and extract data.’ Not so hard to see that computation’s primary potential is its flexibility to communicate information between computation and humans across multiple declines via associative data.
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
Serpentine Pavilion London, 2002 Architects: Toyo Ito/ CecilBalmond
Serpentine Pavillion is a temporary structure which was oringinally built for the Serpentine Gallery Pavillion programme in London's Kensington Gardens, and now it has been part of a restaurant in southern France. The surface structure has made it so famous in terms of an extremely complex pattern is laying and spreading all cross the mass and it was in fact derived from an algorithm. Through manipulating digital compuptating programs, the intersecting lines has formed chaotic patterns with numberous triangles and trapezoids, and whose transparency and translucency has presented a given sense of 'infintely repeated motion'.
According to Balmond himself, there are two questions when they first proposed this building, one is based on the structural thinking about how the floors are to swelling up and supporting the roof and the other would be how would the random cross line composed on the flat floor stand up themselves and supported only by exterior wall. In achiving it, they found a geometric algorithm formed by a rectangular or squared plane, and by drawing lines following the edge lines going across the plane at a certain angle.The angle is defined by drawing a line in a certain ratio between the different sides of the plane.
Some are primary for load bearing, some will serve as bracings to secondary and the rest will be a binding motif of the random across the surface of the box typology.� The innovation reminded me a lot about geometrical patterning and supporting ribs functioned not just in the consideration of aesthtics, but also as a medium communicating with the load bearing elements, as well as the nature including lights . vegetation , which made the building a active entity can breathe in that sense.
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
A.4.
Algorithmic Explorations Manipulating the Proximity 3D command based on a sphere and cone.
Divide Demand Square Command+ Surface Box Command
Creating a loft surface as an input panelled on the individual small cells
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
Through the early exploration of grasshopper, it has provided such a pathway of quickly finding out where your project has been going wrong and comparing to the panelling tool we learned in the first year creativity on manipulating various knowns is encouraged. For example, the surface box I modelled digitally on the left included multiple commands to change each individual's orientation, size, repetition and so on which on the real construction site, models are able to push the progresses even further without wasting unnecessary costs and time.
A.5.
Conclusion In summary, my perception of ‘Architecture as a discourse’ is that a piece of architecture will not be in its static condition forever due to different changes may occur as the time goes by. It has to provide a solution for different complexities and challenges. For the users, building acting not only like a shelter, but also as works of art to build our visions, and sublimate their senses to a higher level and vice versa. I guess in the following study processes, we will create something that is dynamic in form and in terms of enclosure, I will try to get away from it for enhancing its virtue to the site and to the nature.
PART A. EOI I: CASE FOR INNOVATION
A.6.
Learning Outcomes After this part, I was so looking forward to getting involved in the next stage as expression own interests. I may probably learn a lot more precedents to make the proposal for the gateway project and on the other hand, and take the two approaches of design philosophies and parametric modelling at the same time.
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
B.1.
Design Focus
I believed that architecture ought to be an output of the logic, it incorporates both material and imaterial perception and put an emphasis on forming an local identity in a cultural, landscape and civil context. In relation to our gateway project, architecture has to fit in another critiria, that is dynamic capacity since the aesthetic tastes may vary across the time as well as the technology. How could the architecture maintain its position throughout the time becomes the dominant issue that in this section I will be exploring. First of all, I was considering how to come into a critical thinking in forming the pattern on surface since once the patterning works have done it can no longer be changed. In the following case studies, I took two approaches to seek the synthesis of various material manipulation to reflect the imaterial nature of the design.
Flexibility?
Physical Constraints Architecture
Cycling Questioning ?
B.2.
Case Study 1.0 The deYoung Museum case study designed by Herzog and de Meuron was chosen because it was a typical building which has manipulated flexible patterns on the facade. In the consideration of ventilation, visual extension and as well as the connection of the interior and exterior, this treatment of facade has presented to us the patterning technology would offer us great visual impact at the first glance of the building.
The dimpled circles on the surface both in planar and three-dimensional forms are medium to have a dialogue with the external and natural environment, such as light, wind, air and vegetation. Therefore in terms of 'Architecture as a discourse',it served as a commucative tool bringing in breath to the structure. In terms of digital technology,it used the 'image smapling' to allocate each of the cells, and by controlling the variables to suit both conceptual and performance needs.
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
Controlling the size
Brightness
Image Sampling
Box Morphing
Hexgonal Grid
Image Sampling 2
Point Attractor Density Control
Three Dimensional Cells
External Hexagon + Internal Circles
Cull Conditionally
Cull Conditionally Dispatch (Point and Line)
Multiple Point Attractors
Three Dimensional+ Image Sampling
Dimpled Surface In this attempt, I explored various ways of distributing the circles (representing as the breathable cells in the case study building) and tried to find out the rules of dynamism. Though in the external form, they followed the so-called changable and dynamic outcomes, they did not reflect much from the meanings of the patterns on the facade I concern.Then I shifted to search for not 'image sampling' itself, but took a control on the graph and see what would those trials pass message to myself and others.
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
Inspired by the seventheen century French Cathedral, the stained glass had its asthetic pleasure and the transparency characteristics, in some way, satisfied the need of visual connections to the outdoor environment. By trying the voronoi patterns, lightweight materials tended to be more suitable in presenting the lightness of the elements on surface.
Center Pompidou-Metz By Shigeru Ban
The wooden roof structure of Center Pompidou- Metz was so remarkble. The roof is made up of long- spanned laminated timber and they are intersected to each other to form small numberous hexagonal wooden units resembling in irregular pattern. More interestingly, there was a fibreglass membrane for sunlight going through. In this example, it remind me many of the structural joints techniques and patterning as protective layer. Because it was formed by irregular geometry on the wooden structure, in grasshopper, it could be archieved by setting the grid algorithm on a curvy surface and create a Voussoir form to be its structure members carrying the loads.
In terms of materiality, the use of wood in such a large amount but also exposed to the air, which makes it really stand out. The way Shigeru Ban used the roll material without any finishes on, to express its true value of the architecture. Viewing it from the distant location, the structure skeleton is easily to be seen and related to our project the design has to be representative and recognisible. Some messages that passing on and inspired me to expose the real, untreated material and laying them out in sequence may probably be a way to reveal its dynamic ideas.
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
Metropolitan Opera House Taichung By Toyo Ito Metropolian Opera House, its continous system seperates the whole structure into two spaces. The spaces have no clear boundaries and there is no explicit supporting members, but the two spaces are changing accordingly, that is if one increases in size, the other has to reversely shrink. It seems to me that the architect wants to create the building in harmony and follow the natural rules. In addtion, the way he came up this idea was very fascinating as well. It is like pulling up two horizontal planes and within the immaterial space and surface are not applied to it, but is generated from it. The lighting effect was also taken into consideration because it is a hollow structure and enabled the freshness penetrating into the building, and in result of that, all beams of sunlight are to concentrate in the interior spaces and will be create dynamic lighting effects. Such ways of bringing the natural elements into the building would be extended and linking to our project, the form ought to be altered and stretched to fit in the landscape context.
Voronoi Patterning and fillet cells Random selected for extrusion
Using Kangaroo for soften the edges
Case Study 2.0
B.3.
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
A Series of illustration showing above explained the process of forming the script in Grasshopper. Firstly, on a horizontal plane we created various forms of patterning by centering their positions in points, and then tried to make the cells in voronoi fillet since a continous with no sharp corners structure should we end up with. After then, randomly selected fillet cells would be extruded in both upwards and downwards directions. Lastly we transformed it to mesh and input into Kangaroo plug-in for changing its flexible shapes at the edges, in archieving the string effect. In finding the language used in digitalising this precedent, we encountered a lot of difficuties such as constrainting points on the eages as the anchor points during using kanganroo and how to apply the patterns on the mesh surfaces. We started to rethink the theme on the following design procedures, and how would elaborate our ideas on the base of this algorithum. As those we have thought of has already be done by Toyo Ito, thus from this point on, I shifted our focus on the free-up form and make it curvy as well as creating gap space in bewteen the strips.
Recognised as one of the landmarks in melbourne City,the design focus of Southern Cross Station is the dune-like roof.
'The roof’s form plays a crucial role as part of the environmental envelope ensuring that it is symbol of sustainable architecture developed in response to the hot external climate and the internal need for diesel extraction and ambient cooling via natural ventilation.'
Southern Cross Station By GrimShaw Architects
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
Royal Australian Institute of Architects president Alec Tzannes called the award "sensational recognition" of an "absolutely outstanding, remarkable" building.
According to the Lyon on the Australian Design Review, stated that the primary consideration of the design was that the roof had to extent to occupy the city block and the building was proposed to deliver message to the users that the building's envelope ought to define and protect the interior. The ambition was to let the users experience the natural ventilation under the structure. Moreover, due to the mass scale of the building its properties as bridging the city and Docklands were revealed with the vistas within and from the station. Southern Cross Station's responses to maintain the requirements in the urban, cultural, political and finanial contexts expressed many of dynamism concepts. In this example, resourced from Lygn's article the project 's essence remained unchanged throughout the early stage design process and even to later construction process. Since the design proposal first came up in 2001, it must endure ambiguity because it seemd its ability to appear never changing. However, I concerned that being a critical architecture may arise various agents affecting a building's ambiguity. The users would be the only source to determine its nature. Thinking a building in this way, it is unnecessary to keep changing the design ideas to fit different critiria, but dynamism was deeply rooted in a moral perception of the users.
Meiso no Mori Crematorium Difu By Toyo Ito & Associates
The reason that I did not choose from the case studies on the list was that Ito's typical continous seamless system was so fanciating and for this particular crematorium, the link between pure graceful surface and structural engineering was so rigid. To me, it dealt with the spatial, soft concrete shell and itself as a reflection of the still artificial lake in the front for enhancing the ritual and spiritual nature of the building inspired me a lot. Furthermore, the combination of material and immaterial elements to form the building really highlighted the value of being a critical architecture. Here is a quotation from a architectural magazine: 'Ito has sought to dematerialize all sense of formal structure by floating a vast undulating shell over the landscape... it stands as a calm, comtemplative place in which to observe the rituals of cremation and honour the dead.'
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
In digitalising the model of the building, a Grasshopper plug-in called Karamba was placed in providing accurate analysis of spatial frames, trusses or other structural support members. Since it was a nurb-based surface and controlling the points of the projection of the nurbs to create support columns could be achieved by using Karamba. At the early attempts, I changed the position of some of items (represented by points on the surface created)that would alter the whole structure of support. And then, tried to triangulate the mesh surface and made some variations of the patterns.
B.4.
Technique: Development Parameter
Extruded Polygons consititutes the structure
Contour lines lofted as stripping surface
Hollow Polygons distributed unevenly
Continous contour sectioning
Planar Surface ribbons
Box Morphing creating opennings
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
Unevenly distributed volumes
Pinching on the basis of voronoi pattern
Truss Structure in finding the structural support
Analogy with human organs as its form
Exploration of the structure as a whole
Undulating Surface determined final form
Uplift the subsurface for ventilation
B.5.
Technique: Prototype
Timber Skeleton experiments Firstly, we attempted to use the truss system to test how rigid our model could possibably be and then after it has been found that those truss members are able to function as the self supported skeleton. However, it did not reflect much the fluidlity of the shape and by doing this experiment I have just realised that in the future when we determine the materiality of the design,it will be constrained.
Paper stripping to determine its flexibility This prototype really aimmed to examine the aesthetic outcome of our design.We focused on creating the gap and spacial layout of the model. Accompanying with the light effect, it showed the emotional experiment that we want to achieve.
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
Pinning the Paper Roll for Joints
In considering how the cells may joint together, I stimulated the pins as the joist member on both ends to stablise them, which is very practical in terms of in the reality we can replace the pins to things like steel hinge.
At last, we put some notches on the stripping wood sticks in order to place them in position and we, in some ways satisified with the final performance.
B.6.
Technique Proposal Our design interests are more focusing on connecting the rural Wyndham area with the Melbourne city and as mentioned above we wanted the gateway functioned not just an interchange on the freeway, but as a medium for the users to experience the transition emotionally. Related back to the dynamism characteristic of architecture, we were keeping questioning ourselves whether our design has the capacity of change. I summaried a few concepts that have been embodied into it, firstly for have a dialogue between sculpture and landscape the speed or motorization could be expressed from its continous wavy and smoothy roof; secondly it included both crest and trough and arranged them in a certain rhythm which made it more liveable to the site. At last, we would like our design to be subjective and ambiguous, and we consider that its unpredictable performance would be able to attract much attention.
At the beginning, we had searched respiration system in normal human body as the breathin and breath-out processes in the organisms shared many of the simmilarities with the experiential transition like the oyxgen and carbon dioxide exchange tanking place in alveolus. We wanted to have an analogy with that, and in accordance with the muscle flexing in human body to determine the openings of the structure. In addition to that, controlling the size of the gaps between each strip in order to bring in the light which intended to create the dramatic effects for the users as they are passing through. Since the frequency of muscle flexing is traceble,we could use the Kangaroo to control its flexible shape accompanying with the patterning on the surface aimming at making it breathe and communicatable.
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
FORCE
DENSITY
FLOW EXPERIENCE
Referring to the Southern Cross Station precedent, what made it stand out may result form its sustainable approach and its adaptability to accommodate future expansion over a 100year lifecycle. As s traffic interchange, it offered to us a unique and dynamic arrival experience. Similarily to out gateway project, the intergration of sustainable and energy efficient roof design inspired to us not only coming up with the new solution to dealing with either finanial constraints or urban energy comsumption in the junction zone of Melbourne city and Docklands.
In considering the innovative values of the design, its abstract shape would be potentially influence users aspirational intent and feeling, for which in my opinion it is the essence of our design since only if the users as the authors of the building, rather than a person who was informed by the architect. The moral weight of the perception for users is the dominate factor that will be understandable and acceptable across the time without being affected by external change of the agents.
B.7.
Algorithmic Sketches
This is a early trial of the case study one, we would like to use the plug-in Kangaroo to soften the edges, but it has been considered as a failture in terms of not setting the anchores properly.However, I indeed took the wind forces into account to change the shape according to points setting, which could be able to connect to our site that the natural agents or factors are the determinants of the form. As we shifted our attention to more stripping dominated form, we abandoned this script, the reason I thought it was useful was that the support of our structure is not certain,maybe we could embody this kind of approach to enhance our concepts better.
PART B. EOI II: DESIGN APPROACH
B.8.
LearningObjective and Outcomes
In this section of experimenting and self-learning processes, our group has finalised the major concept of the design approaches that in a large extent which matched up with my intention to create dynamism in the project. The computational research really assisted us to find out more oppotunities and potentials of our design precisely. Although we still have some engineering problems that have not yet been solved, such as the supporting system and how will it be standing up on the highway, as well as the incorporation of the urban and site context in a more practical way. I expected that the solution to those could be solved in the part C learning.
New episode
C.1.
Gateway Project: Design Concept At the beginning of this stage of our project work, firstly we took the particular care on the urban and site context that the crit has addressed in the feedback in the middle term presentation. As the brief described,the site proposed measured approximately 76,000 metres square. The most important step for us was to shrink the size of our design, as well, in considering the materiality and workability of our project the horizontal span for each strip must be shortened. Moreover, referring back to the patterning approach we studied in the early weeks, we were seeking the right way to enhance our concepts on patterning applied to the surface.
Simplify the model
Reduce the number of strips Weave patterning applying on the strip
Adjust the overall shape to enhance the concept
Breadth in
Breadth out
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
Aiming at evoke people’s emotion and experience of the “in and out” through the gateway. We manipulated a number of strategies in changing the form for reinforcing the idea of transition between cities in Prince Highway.
Instead of presenting a gateway simulating a tunnel inhaling the travellers, we would like to provide a breathable entity that the transition between ‘darkness and lighting’ could be revealed.
Due to importance of enhancing the aesthetic of physical environments, including streetscapes and open spaces, we decided not to directly build our gateway on the ground, but ‘rooted in ground’ by expressing it from its curvilinear edge of the strips gently coming out from the site in a distant view. In doing so, we opened up the spaces between strips which mimic the form of human muscle system allowing lights coming through and casting on the roads.
We have adjusted the height for each strip could span variously on the basis of the muscle contraction and relaxation in the theme.
In corresponding to the road Rather than cladding the whole topography, the way that each panel,we attempted to extract strip stretching and contacting some parts of them for letting with the ground has been mod- sun lighting go in from above. ified, especially the orientation.
Weave patterns Rethinking of tectonic system
Setting the coordinates of a range of numbers as locations of those intersection points for weaves.
Creating isocurves from those coordinates and making a list of them.
Cull points conditionally to establish the starting points for the weave strips.
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
The trimmed surfaces, various in size, were attached to the weave patterns in thinking of the amount of sunlight coming through. In considering the joints between the panel and the edge beams, our intention was to hide the connection points which could not be seen by the viewers. Since the aesthetic approach was asked for eye-catching and the symbolic role that the gateway has to reveal was so essential. We decided not to erect such huge columns to support the curvilinear strips, rather than exert the strength for cantilever by reinforcing the connection to the ground. In terms of cladding of the weave structure on the surface, our scripts for the design definition was focusing on curves which have been already created and used them to split the surface. By controlling the number of items listed, the trimmed surface ought to be obtained.
Self-evaluation of the development of Design Philosophy It has been discussed in the design brief the clients commissioned the gateway project as a piece of architecture which required the understanding of discourse. The key design ideas and appropriateness to site, as well as its value for practical and economical construction will be summarised and stated in the following contexts.
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1. The prominent location of the site acting as the first entry to metropolitan Melbourne: For fitting into the local context as indicated in the diagram, we created the gateway in a dynamic form of which the entrances for going in and out were different. The overall shape presented as arched entry attracted viewers in, which on the highways highlighted and revealed the mode of speed. 2. Back dropped by a large scale service centre: The installation is capable of self- sustaining on a fare open space. 3. Integration with and/or sits in the immediate and surrounding landscape: For our project, there is not much need to excavate the ground or damage the street spaces and open spaces because of the supporting decks we designed for it. Moreover, it indeed was not a solid structure when the motorists were passing through it they could still look out and had a sense of being inside the natural environments and landscape. 4. Iconic feature: Our gateway shared a lot of similarities in terms of its iconic scale, referring to the case studies we did in the last part, its appearance was like Meiso no Mori Crematorium Difu and Southern Cross Station in some ways. Additionally, we have adjusted the highest point of the project. It has the height of approximately 8 meters for avoiding the oppressive feeling.
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PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
5. Dialogue between sculpture and landscape to compose the Gateway Comparing to some of my piers’ works, our installation tends to be an abstract sculpture- like building due to its dynamic form and shape. We particularly focused on the multiple strip panels oriented in different ways, either alongside the Princes Highways or weaving up and down. Since the experiential approaches we tried to bring out were the major thing, the immaterial nature we would like to achieve. Dynamism embodied irregular and unexpected outcomes.
We have searched a range of high- performance cladding products, for example, Reynobond Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) was able to be used in our construction system. The reason that we chose it was our stimulated material Reynobond firstly had smooth and monolithic surfaces, flexural strength for bending in shape, as well as its properties of lightweight and durability. In the long time span, it will offer various advantages to the proposed design. Reynobond ACM sheets are cut to length and packed on cushioned,wooden skids, and then after delivered to the site. Because Reynobond has no stiffeners or edge forming at all, when the contractors commenced to assembly them the core panel and longer sheets must be lifted and handled very carefully.
Assembly instructions and finishes Based on our rearch, it has been stated that Reynobond was offered in Colorweld 500 opaque finishes. Colorweld finishes are full-strength PVDF coatings and these metal skins are coil coated. Therefore, caution must be placed on to keep the workable surfaces clear of metal chips and shavings, etc., which would possibly penetrate the masking and scratch or mar the panel surface.
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
Fabrication Processes ACM sheeting undergoes serveal procedures
Routing
Folding
Cutting
Shearing
Punching Drilling
Bending
Screwing
Clamping Gluing
Welding
Riveting
Site Works Because footing supports are required for cantilever to hang out
Particular care has to be taken to excavate for steel shoes and anchores
A geological survey for testing the soil properties in the adjacent fields
C.2.
Gateway Project: Tectonic Elements
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
Trial 1: Stacking Joints
Trial 2: Anchor joints screwed in for connecting intermediate members
Trial 3: Bridge Engineering supporting joints
Trial 4: Riveting joints for connecting the panel and the beams
Trial 5: Normal Cleats bolted into the panels
Trial 6: Normal cleats bolted into the panels (after adjusting the angle of separation )
Trial 7: Mild Steel shoe, plate and anchor welding to the foundation
Because our project is a comparatively large curvy one, when we dealt with the span of the multiple strips we did search for the methods in the real construction environments. The case study we had was a timber structure of New headquarters of Vertical Screen Inc., located in Warminster (the picture shown on the right) The building comprised eleven glulam arches that span 145’ and rise 40’ high, and what they did was to manufacture those arches in four pieces and then they were connected by the contractor on site. For our gateway project the curvilinear strip was to span at most 53 meters, and according to our research, any panels of length approximately 7.75 inches were capable of spanning at maximum of 130 feet which converted to meters was about 39 meters. Therefore it was workable to manufacture them into smaller pieces and assembled them in the field.
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
In finding the proper footing support joints, we particularly focused on the decks (shown on the left) due to the reason that strips extended from different directions were coming together at the end, then bolted and positioned in the steel shoe. Accompanied by the mild steel or stainless plates which would be fully welded with stiffeners, and stainless steel holding down bolts or post fixed expanding anchors to foundation, became the whole support system.
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
1.Cut The strips of timber sheets in the real dimension at 1:5 scale. 2. Mark the holes for nailing near the edge of the beams which were adjacent to the vertical members. 3. Bolting the anchor joints to the panels. 4. Connecting the rear beams with the intersecting weave strips. 5. For finalising the overall bending shape of the timber panel, we put the foam within the edge beams in order to prevent distorting.
In considering the materiality of the panel we would like to make our model with, as mentioned, we brought the aluminium composite panel into list and used the timber sheet and cut them at the scale of 1:5 as the prototype for assembling the jointing members. The glued laminated timber shared a lot of similarities of the aluminium panels, such as they were both flexible for bending and workable in shape, as well, light-weighted which would be very beneficial for self- spanning cantilever.
For making timber sheets to bend in the right position, we banded them with masking tapes and sticked with the foam boards to make them rigid enough, since those could be hidden in the edge beams it would affect much of the performance of fabricated detail model.
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
C.3.
Gateway Project: Final Model
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PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
1.Cut The pieces of weave patterns and arranged them in sequence. 2.Glued them to each strip of which they correspond to. (Making sure that only the edges of the weaves are attached to the timber beam) 3. Testing and bending the beams to slot into the holes that marked on the cardboard. 4. Adjusted the angle and degree of bending for matching up with the curvilinear shapes. 5. Applied the cladding surfaces on the gaps between the beams. 6. Repeating the five steps above on all the 20 strip components.
For the sake of the consistence of the material colour differences, we decided to spray painted all the structure members.
Additional Explorations of the algorithmic sketches
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
C.4.
Algorithmic Sketches
We supposed to construct the triangular trusses to be the fundamental elements constituting the panels based on the rigid and stable features. So I tried to manipulate the tree menu for controlling the data structure as each surface has been divided and points for separation have been shown to be connected and became a number of poly-lines. Later, those poly-lines were extruded to represent structural truss members. Several outcomes have been produced and we abandoned this sort of trials because we thought that each part of the project has to obey and service for the main concepts as linear, straight steel structure seemed at odds with the human blood vessel system.
C.5.
LearningObjectives and Outcomes
Looking back at the learning objectives of this subject, I started to rethink how to compromise the design intent of the brief with the digital constraints. What I mean was not that such digital technologies ,in some ways, prevented the progression of the formation of the project, however, they reminded me there were so many opportunities to come up with something new. For example, to conform ‘architecture as discourse’, we aimed to mimic nature of the human body exploring the breathe-in and out processes to create our form. The three themes ‘Density’, ‘Force’ and ‘Flow’ inspired us to manipulate the design scripts to highlight, alter and elaborate our intents. The muscle contraction and relaxation would be able to change the blood pressure directions which could be achieved through point and line attractor. Moreover, by controlling the force exerted, the grid spreading command enabled us to see which part of the surface is dense while other parts are not in order to stimulate the real blood vessel fabrics. Those ideas mentioned above were generated from our learning process of grasshopper, which was very helpful and brought our themes and principles to a upper level of understanding.
Throughout the extensive design- space exploration process, we kept controlling and changing the parameters to test our final form and patterns. It was very challenging at first because we ought to set out the grid for points to sit on and them change their coordinates in x,y,z axis. When we put it in the local landscape context, it no longer distributed in the grid, hence we had to reset them and fit in what the brief required. In addition, when it comes to algorithmic design, we encountered the problem of trimming the surfaces as the cladding components to be applied in accordance to the divided curves. It would not be so hard to isotrim the surface by controlling the cull patterns, however, those one were culled into pieces. It became harder to form a continuous trimmed surface. Moreover, in the search for the construction detail, we had to adjust the size for the steel shoes and others because of the large loads would be applied on. The problems arose since the intersection between the panel and supporting decks could not be lined up. The solution to that was to change the shape of the strips for slotting in by controlling the points in Rhino. Probably we were at the early stage of learning Grasshopper, we still faced the obstacles for solving unexpected outcomes.
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
In my own viewpoint, like I mentioned previously architecture ought to be an output of the logic, it incorporates both material and imaterial perception. Through my learnings this semester, I gradually changed my mind as the computational techniques were always in a stationary state rather than the design ideas could be changed or elborated to a more convincing and reasonable proposals. In a design process, these two could be working together and each one has the effects upon the other. For some instances, as the Grasshopper beginning learners once we came up with an idea of the design the first reaction we thought of was whether or not it would be workable and achieved by using digital tools. At the second stage of expressing our interests, even after we have worked out the proper design scripts which was to stimulate the TaiChung Metropolitan Museum, with assistance of our tutor, we still wanted to force ourselves to abandon the original piece of language scripts in order to let our project to form the local identity in a cultural, landscape and civil context.
In terms of the ‘skills in various three- dimensional media’ I was so impressed by so many of the digital fabrication models, as well as the trial prototypes for joints, animation effects made by my classmates. Personally, we really consumed a lot of time for scrolling the strips and isolating the cladding surfaces and edged beams. We planned to use the same method for joining like the nailing between the segments of the strips, but we failed to do so because we were constrained by narrow width of the strip at a very small scale. As an alternative method, we just simply applied adhesive on them. It was so fortunate that my group members and I all devoted to seeking the way of relating the architecture and the natural elements, such as air, wind and sunlight. On one hand, we sought to put the users’ experience at the first place and attempted to convince them the context of our project; on the other hand, we also would like our architecture to be the commutative tool to fasten the senses of the views and the users. As the transition between the rural and urban areas was another theme we wanted to bring out through the integration of the physical environment.
Like I stated, from my immature understanding of the computation roles playing in the whole design processes it challenged us if we were really sure about our design proposals fits the brief and contexts. Self- questioning seems so important. I am so pleased to evidence my improvement of understanding of ‘Architecture as a discourse’ and started to deal with upgrading our designs by using parametric modelling method, although I did not really use them to create the tectonic assemblies due to the time constraints. Overall, I indeed felt grateful to have my two group members. During Part B and C we did have the work uneven distribution and communication problems and a bit of anxiety and misunderstanding were actually existed, in the end we could understand and adapt others’ differences which made me so moving. It really was a great opportunity and experience to have such tough time while on the other hand I do appreciate and proud of myself have come over those difficulties.
PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
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