RC1
Wonderlab
Synthetic Constructability: Increased Resolution Fabric of Architecture Alisa Andrasek, Dağhan Çam
Students Andrey Bezuglov, Kyungchul Choi, Suvro Sovon Chowdhury, Lei Gao, Liying Guo, Chan Gyu Lee, Jong Hee Lee, Yu Qun Li, Ameyavikram Mahalingashetty, Itthi Poldeenana, Peng Shuai, Guan Tianping, Ningzhu Wang, Feng Zhou, Danli Zhong
The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015
Project teams White Rabbit Jong Hee Lee, Ningzhu Wang, Feng Zhou, Danli Zhong [a] - Panoptes Kyungchul Choi, Chan Gyu Lee, Itthi Poldeenana, Space Benders Andrey Bezuglov, Ameyavikram Mahalingashetty, Peng Shuai, Guan Tianping Arachne.s Lei Gao, Yu Qun Li, Liying Guo, Suvro Sovon Chowdhury Report Tutor Mollie Claypool Thank you to our sponsors nVidia and Formfutura Thanks to our collaborators Andy Lomas, Amirreza Mirmotahari and Gennaro Senatore
12
High volumes of computing, computational physics simulations, discretised and adaptive algorithms, and large data are opening new spaces of synthesis for architecture. This architecture draws on large data from the finer-grain physics of matter – matter as information, enabled by computation. It not only expands on technically enriched material formations, but also activates previously hidden material powers towards designs beyond our anticipation. Finer-grain physics simulations disrupt the blueprints of architecture, resulting in structures with the increased resilience and malleability of complex interrelated systems. Additive manufacturing is becoming increasingly relevant to largescale applications such as architecture. Research Cluster 1 is exploring these advances, going away from the logics of assembly and mechanical joints which formerly characterised construction paradigms, towards the complexity found in natural systems. The physics of matter is harnessed directly through properties such as gravity, friction and fluid dynamics. Complex syntheses of geometry and physics, fortified by principles of self-organisation, are allowing designers to work with materialisation prior to materialisation. Innovation is accelerated by simulating material states, therefore radically reducing the need for exhaustive physical prototyping. The polymorphic possibilities of computational coding are now migrating to the universality of robotics. Boundless opportunities emerge by coupling robotics with material behaviours and the ability to design various extensions for robotic arms via 3D printing. The four research projects presented here each define a speculative Increased Resolution Fabric of Architecture through novel design and fabrication ecologies. The White Rabbit team generated design language at multiple scales (their team name referencing Alice in Wonderland’s poly-scalar world), based on biological cellular growth simulations programmed in c++/CUDA on GPU-run supercomputing. In parallel this group developed a method and robotic tools for multi-material extrusion, resulting in an enchanting counter-intuitive design world of ‘Alien Resolutions’ where unseen intricacy populates familiar objects and chunks of architecture. [a] - Panoptes reimagined the Gothic rose window in the acute technological context of 3D printing, for construction of incredibly intricate and precise light filters, regenerating the complexity of crystals and (synthetic) rainbows in the experience of architecture. Space Benders simulated magnetic fields in order to design torqued structures, fabricated through the complex robotic bending of metal sheets. The structures were fortified by intricate carbon-fibre robotic weave. And Arachne.s (from Greek arakhnē, spider) programmed n-dimensional spatial choreographies with multiple robots weaving intricate carbon-fibre structures which are simultaneously light and strong, and, like spider structures, extremely adaptive to variable host conditions.