STUDIO AIR 2016, SEMESTER 2, Bradley Elias Kai Xu 692035
Introduction
Hi, My name is KAI XU, i am a third year student of Environments in The university of Melbourne. I am an oversea student and i come from China. My major is architecture, i choose this major because i like the way how designer are thinking from the start to the end and the processes of how designers exlpore their ideas. I would like to learn the skills of designing and the ability to handle different challengs that come from the needs of customers. I feel interested about the studio air on the grasshopper program and i am going to try my best to get the most out from it. Hopefully at the end of the semester i can use grasshopper to design a desirable architecture for my project.
Table of Contents Part A : Conceptualisation A.1.1  Design Futuring Precedent one A.1.2  Design Futuring Precedent two A.2.1 Design Computation A.2.2 Design Computation A.3.1 Composition/Generation A.3.2 Composition/Generation A.4
Conclusion
A.5
Learning outcome
A.1.1 Design Futuring Precedent one
The 1960 Plan To Put A Dome Over Midtown Manhattan This is a 1960s idea of putting a dome over midtown Manhattan by Architects Buckminst Fuller and Shoji Sadao1 . it was designed to prevent the pollution from getting into the midtown Manhattan of New York City. From My research and analysis, i think it will appear the follwing disadvantages and advantages The disadvantages include First, is this design reliable which means whether this dome technology is advanced enough to create a clean environment or climate for the midtown. Second, this dome will be visible and will it affect the origianl views of the city. Third, how does emergency operate in the dome The advantages include First, a decrease of energy loss in the dome. Second, Create a seperate environment that would prevent pollution getting into the dome. The challenge that Fuller was facing
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with less resources and he called it as “a foundamental condition around our planet. He came up with a relatable and logical costbenefit analysis to support this case and that is the geodesic dome. Link to Lecture, In the lecture, i absorbed the sentence which wrote by Thackara John, He said that “In the past, design was about the form and function of things, These features, which were limited in space and time, could be delivered in a fixed form, such as a blueprint. In today’s ultranetworked world, it makes more sense to think of design as a process that continuously defines a system’s rules rather than its outcomes2.” Our future design is not going to design about features and functions, it will more designed as a continues system. if we looked at today’s buildings or architecture, they are designed for its beaty and convinence whereares function is not the main focus for the design. Link to Class discussion, This is not a reliable or sustainable design for the future. Although it is a system, but it stops people’s interaction with nature, it counters the flows of a system “Earth”. So that it cannot be accepted by the city.
FIG.1: (THE 1960 PLAN TO PUT A DOME OVER MIDTOWN MANHATTAN
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A.1.2 Design Futuring Precedent two
Background:
Link to Lecture,
This is a future design for the new city centre of Korea3. it is designed for a sustainable, eco-friendly urban centre. In this design, it used the form of asian terrace to design the urban centre, i will be covered by greens, and there are many different layers represents different levels so that each level will have sunlights. It combines the idea of future and nature to create a independent systme flow which contains live, work, shopping, entertainment and educational spaces.
in the lecture, There is a sentence from Wood John “designers should become facilitators of flow, rather than the originators of maintainable ‘things’ such as discrete products or images”4. i agree with his arguments, that a system flow is important for designing. if we just maintain without having any improvements or ideas, the future will not become future. Although his argument may sounds like “design-utopia”, i think utopia is foundamental base of future designing.
Reflection,
Link to class discussion,
i like this design because it creates a system using sustainable ideas. A good future design cannot be satisfied by every single person in this world, because we all have different designutopia ideas. However, that doesn’t means we cannot form an architecture in the future. Architecture is always appears with different arguments, so that as a future architect, we shouldn’t be afraid of designing, and we need to design critically.
Design intelligence, Design futuring places deisng in different forms and remake it to suit what society needs and wants. Hence, we always design spaces to fit the society.
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FIG.2: CITY CENTRE)
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A2.1 Design Computation
· How does computing affect the design process?
· Can computing be used to re-define practice?
As we discussed in the class, there are about 90% of today’s architects are using computers to help designing. This fact tells us that computing is affecting us largely. As technology improves, computing has become a foundamental tool for simplify deisgn for architects. it is like grasshopper we leaned this semester, it helps us create our design with simple computing technics.
I think computing cannot be used to re-define practice, because practice is accumulated from many years, it cannot be replaced, but it can be improved by adapting computing.
Benefits: 1. implify process 2. explore ideas
· What are the ongoing and incoming changes within design and construction industries? 1. ability to frame the problem7.
3. animate form
2. technology revolution keeps changing how people design its objects.
4. computing is more performative
3. ability to share informations between computers and humans 8.
5. more critical in structuralism5 6. Creation can be continuity or rupture6.
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4. systematic computing design; simplify more in designing.
A.2.2 Design Computation
· How does computation impact on the range of conceivable and achievable geometries? 1. interesting combinations can be archieved. 2. perceptual intuition in 3D model. 3. creative ideas in geometries.
· What does computation contribute to evidence- and performanceoriented designing? and “Architects are increasingly experimenting with computation to simulate building performance,8 to incorporate performance analysis and knowledge about material, tectonics and parameters of production machinery in their design drawings.” 9
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A.3.1 Composition/Generation
Nowadays, as more computer programs be invented. Different shapes and graphic patterns could be achieved. This has been applied in generative design. For example, Figure 3 is a generative design using computing technology. This project focued on the the design of inherently adaptive generative design and a representitive of parametric modelling. Link to Reading, As it said in the article “computation works”, “Architects are increasingly experimenting with computation to simulate building performance”10, generative deisgn can be seen simulately, this would help clients to have a direct feel of their choice of shapes, materials, and tectonics. Computers not only help us to design these generative shapes, but also help to build the complex shapes that humans could not achieve.
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Parametric design gives generative design a defination of what we are trasforming and achieving. Advantages: 1. simulate model 2. understand model more direct through algorithm functions 3. experience beyond the design 4. understand building performance before construct 5. easier constrction Disadvantage: 1. limited design 2. lose the practice feeling of modelling
FIG.3 GENERATIVE DESIGN
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A.3.2 Composition/Generation
What is Generative design? - Generative design is one of the most fundamental design in today’s architecture design industry
why composition/Generation becomes foundamental - people like creative and composition of geometries
- they are created by using computer tools
- people are tired of the boring geometries
- create unpredictable shapes or geometries
- Revolution of technology changes the learning of architecture
- change its shapes by typing different programs into the system
- it brings nice and beautiful architectures to the world wich satisfied most audience beauty-appreciation
- physical 3D design experience - algorithm expression
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FIG.4 GENERATIVE DESIGN
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A.4 Conclusion Design is like our life, understand new generations and help it to improve logically in the right direction. The precedents of the past will provide us a way to design logically without having the ideas like the dome and the superstudio’s design. computation could be seen as a revolution of architecture design. Most architects have accepted it as a tool to generate their design. The examples in the past provides the good of this new approach. and i think that is also a reason for us to learn it and use it productivelly and correctly.
A.5 Learning outcome - Computing is a new approach for design - Generative design - Parametric model - Design futuring right or wrong - Algothrim expression - Composition of ideas and creative geometries
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Reference 1. Jen Carlson , ‘The 1960 Plan To Put A Dome Over Midtown Manhattan’, Gothamist <http://gothamist.com/2012/03/08/the_1960_plan_to_put_a_ dome_over_mi.php> [accessed 1 August 2016]
2. Thackara, John (2005). In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), p. 224 3. Dornob, Eco-Friendly Urban Center: Sustainable City of the Future, Dornob Design Ideas Daily <http://dornob.com/eco-friendly-urban-center-sustainablecity-of-the-future/> [accessed 1 August 2016] 4. Wood, John (2007). Design for Micro-Utopias: Making the Unthinkable Possible (Aldershot: Gower) 5. Oxman, Rivka and Robert Oxman, eds (2014). Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York: Routledge), pp. 1–10 6. Oxman, Rivka and Robert Oxman, eds (2014). Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; New York: Routledge), pp. 1–10 7. Kalay, Yehuda E. (2004). Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), pp. 5-25 8. Kalay, Yehuda E. (2004). Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), pp. 5-25 9. Peters, Brady. (2013) ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83, 2, pp. 08-15 10. Peters, Brady. (2013) ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83, 2, pp. 08-15
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Image Figue 1 Jen Carlson , ‘The 1960 Plan To Put A Dome Over Midtown Manhattan’, Gothamist <http://gothamist.com/2012/03/08/the_1960_plan_to_put_a_ dome_over_mi.php> [accessed 1 August 2016]
Figue 2 Dornob, Eco-Friendly Urban Center: Sustainable City of the Future, Dornob Design Ideas Daily <http://dornob.com/eco-friendly-urban-center-sustainablecity-of-the-future/> [accessed 1 August 2016] Figue 3 Zaha Hadid and Patrick Schuhmacher, 2010, “PROTO TOWERS Thesis project” in Generative Architecture and Design <http://www.christoph-hermann.com/parametricarchitectures/generative-design-proto-towers/> [accessed in 8 August 2016] Figue 4 Clement Zheng, “Generative Design” in National University Of Singapore <http://did.nus.edu.sg/generativedesign.html> [accessed in 8 August 2016]w
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