Revitalisation of “Abandoned Places” through the use of new technology

Revitalisation of “Abandoned Places” through the use of new technology Koay Ling Xian Thesis submitted for the degree of School of House, Building and Planning 2021 Supervisor: PROF. DR. AZIZI BAHAUDDIN

CONTENT Abstract Section 1- Introduction 1.1 Research topic……………………………………………………………………….5-6 1.2 Research Question………………………………………………………………….7 1.3 Scope of Issues……………………………………………………………………...8 1.4 Research Objetives………………………………………………………………...9 1.5 Solutions……………………………………………………………………………..9 1.6 Thesis Content and Framework………………………………………………….10-11

Section 2- Literature Review 2.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………...12 2.2 Previous research on Agent Bodies ………………………………………….12-14 2.3 Conceptual framework……………………………………………………………15 2.4 Research Gap……………………………………………………………………...15

Section 3- Precedent Study 3.1 Swarm Behavior…………………………………………………………………....16-18 3.2 How can swarm intelligence used at design …………………………………18-23

Section 4- Analysis and Findings ……………………………………….24-29 Section 5- Conclusion…………………………………………………………………....30

Bibliography……………………………………………………………….....................31

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Revitalisation of “Abandoned Places” through the use of newest technology ABSTRACT Historical buildings are often neglected due to factors and reasons such as new development, building safety, and the rise of new facilities.Some of the architects have a long tradition of inspiring our memory, one that goes beyond the memory of shelter and place of habitation. To envision architecture is to understand the relationship that can exist between physical actual space reality and mental meanings. A single memo is gathering the experience about the meaning of Typology of fragments within a city.

“Emergence” is a term from science to describe the system that links the framework from the autonomous part that interacts with each other through signals, which, in itself, makes its own decision. It's like baroque music with many independent voices and melodies, it is independent yet respectful. The research intention is to provide an exercise involved in a set of experiments based on self-organising agents with repeated discrete, a micro-scale architectural decision that is encoded within multi-agent algorithms in revitalising buildings to avoid the historical architecture from being abandoned. The study of algorithm patterns will explore the ‘topological polyphony’ through a framework of autonomous entities, intuitively exploring three-dimensional spaces within the ornamentation constraint: a conceptualisation of emergence through the process of reflecting on my practice of architecture. The study is based on a qualitative research method from Roland Snooks's projects and writings, this study shows how to elaborate the set of algorithmic, robotic, and material behaviours on the emergent from several projects. Three case studies related to the typological study of columns and facades have been selected as the reference and the method, to further analyse them is to make a comparison with the past research to present them in today's research. Several methods of agent system based on Boids system by Craig Raynolds to compute new ways for re-creation, preservation and speculate what the “structure” could have been. To provide an iteration method towards the formation of the agent-based emergent, these projects give a progression from a single linear

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relationship between material and simulation constraints to the new agency with real-time and repeated application to gain results between multi-agent behaviours and the actual material. The main topic is speculating the historical component through typological and technological exploration towards a new language of architecture. The compression member is then compiled and listed in chapter 4 on the studies of the agent development and the methods of reconstructing compression member through re-creation such as columns will be formulated and tested through case study examples. The data collection from analysis and findings will demonstrate the impact of criticism between algorithmic, robotic, and material behaviours. The appearance of unpredictable emergent behaviour of materials under parameters enable them to develop in their form and the technique of genetic algorithms, which handle the design process of adaptive reuse on an abandoned building can be explained in chapter 4 to convey a new context and contribution to the new architectural boundaries and situation.

Keywords: emergence, robotic, autonomous, multi-agent algorithm

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INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research topic The exploratory investigation focuses on the rich typologies of structures that are forever lost or under renovation. Therein undertaking visionary research which goes beyond precise reconstruction that allows contemplation of what the structures could have been if the technology available today existed at that time. This allows the possibility of re-imaging the architectural design process from the past to represent the present and the future. “ In the process of establishing a tectonic system, allows a completely different hierarchy of design decisions to emerge”. (Larsen 2012).

The emergent agent will change the meaning of the role of the actual architecture design that begins with imagination to create a practical structure. Vice versa, unpredictable emergent behaviour creates the generative technique through the iterative calculation to imaginary spaces to become part of it. This thesis will assume a strategy in which the design aim of the abandoned architecture is both encoded within the algorithmic system of the emergence and manipulated externally to the algorithm to generate outcomes. A brand new understanding of digital computation and history with useful knowledge and techniques from science and architectural design. This research is developed by the use of digital control techniques in the design system and algorithm calculation. The concern with the ongoing development in the architectural practice, where there is an inclination towards the characteristic; the movement of the tectonic solution as a key the revitalize the spaces/ornaments. As a result, it was decided to utilize the computation approach to emerge the design process.The term emergence is created through the interaction of simple elements that gives rise to behaviour that is greater than the sum of its parts. (Snooks 2014). The emergence is relative to generative art. Science, art, and the system of life are a set of languages with a degree of autonomy like an autonomous logistic robot from Jack Ma, are too computational.

The self-organising behaviour of these systems generates complex objects to the particular target and it is called an emergent phenomenon. The self-organisation system has gradually entered architectural discourse, also known as a self-regulating

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mechanism, where individual parts of the system interact through negotiations, thereby displaying ordered behaviour. As Manuel Delanda explained, these are increasingly playing an important role in our conception of formation: ‘We are beginning to understand that any complex system, whether composed of interacting molecules, organic creations of economic agents, is capable of spontaneously generating order and of actively organising itself into new structures and forms. An emergent behaviour agent is a system in which a function describes the population growth, the motion of reaction between individuals, playing a negotiation game where this dynamical system is forming the structure by itself without the need of external management.

This self-organising system has filled the contemporary perspective, being understood how our lifestyle, where we lived, the social media through which we are interacting with the algorithms based on the suggestive behaviour, what we understand on the local information and the past architecture pattern. Therefore, the intention of the local information creates its re-conceptualise purpose as behaviours that interact with the nonlinear system of the architecture.

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1.2 Research Question What is the formation method and technology to revitalise abandoned gothic ornaments? This question puts the focus of my research on how technologies are used for developing contemporary architectures and the possibilities of these technologies to restore forgotten architectures.

The access of advanced software can present visualisations for information and construction, different mediums of information will raise the integration through the Houdini Software, to further break down the abstract world of advanced modelling software. As Larsen mentioned, the issue appears to be less simple than such in terms of realisation, and most examples of so-called ‘parametric designs’ are to be considered as either explicitly formed with a top-down approach or generated from linear methods of form-generating techniques. (Larsen 2012) The research will approach the encoding intention. In multi-agent design processes with the Boids system by Craig Raynolds to computation, new ways for re-creation, preservation and speculates what the “structure” could have been. Where material simulates the flocking behaviour of birds. From the Boids system, it set the example of emergent behaviour, where, the complexity of Boids emerges from the interaction of individual agents adhering to the rules of separation, alignment, and cohesion.

The main source of knowledge is the experimental method of a series of methods for architectural design and recreation. The method was chosen for several reasons: it was critical for the researcher to achieve a great understanding of the techniques involved to able to identify the method of the practice and able to identify the limitations.

1. Which tools allow recreation in architectural design?

2. How are the techniques from the generative system?

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1.3 Scope of Issues As said by Koralevic: “The digital generative processes are opening up new territories for conceptual, formal and tectonic exploration, articulating an architectural morphology focused on the emergent and adaptive properties of the form.” (Kolarevic 2004) Kolarevic highlighted topology means maintaining consistency. This matter is further developed in section 3.

This thesis has been done as a form of research by design without entering physical practice-based research, the approach will then be an adaptive reuse design through experimenting with the new method, rather than just an analysis of works within the scope. The speculation was that this attempt would give the perception concerning intrinsic potentials and result if the project would have been to be carried on further by a second or third party. The further approach allows a vast range of methods to be part of the discussion, providing a more solid development within the local content. However, this method led to a much-unexpected knowledge and deeper theory as it results in more open-ended information gathered through other researchers' studies. Case studies related to the tectonic system to revitalise an abandoned heritage structure selected as a comparison to present the research. Method of development will be based on a new mechanism and each method will contain three stages:

1. Development of the algorithmic principle from 3D software 2. Possible use of an emergent agent that relates to the architectural design.

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1.4 Research Objectives To provide various ways of reconstructing structures through re-creation, preservation, and speculation of the local interaction and lifestyle.

1.5 Solution The first stage is the development of the algorithmic principle that relates to architectural design. The second stage is to apply the intelligence in a selected retopology area or in a virtual 3d environment to explore possible results. The third stage will be on the structural properties and functionality of the methods used for realization. The increase of details that required specific design solutions would also demand the progress of the development. The main focus of the research will be on the generative principle and material agency. Aim to figure out the relationship between formation through 3d software using emergent behavior agents, and understanding the hierarchy of materialization.

The project feedback between simulation constraints and material phenomena, as shown in the pattern of silicon inlay within the Composite Wing project, is generated through a multi-agent algorithm. This algorithm is generated through a structural performance before being robotically extruded. The limitations of robotic rod bending are encoded directly as agent behaviors within Brass Swarm’s generative algorithm.

(Snooks and Jahn 2016) These methods cover a range of architecture designs from the surface of re-conceptual lines to grow through the three-dimensional built. There will be different kinds of problems encountered in generating self-organization, as the different types of form generation will give a different result.

1. Swarm intelligence 2. Particle generating 3. Branching Topologies

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1.6 Thesis Content and Framework This thesis includes two parts. The first part, sections 2 to 5, is to examine methods of the relationship between generative design and architecture through several case studies. The architecture structure examples are then presented with some properties, with the aim of further discussion on specific methods. In the last part, the level of focus will increase on the study of the agent bodies and the agent-based robotics. In this section, the methods are recorded in detail. The framework can be presented as: Section 1 : Introduction, research topic, method and framework Section 2-4: Literature Review and Data Collection Method & Analysis Plan Section 5: Result Findings and discussion Section 6: Conclusion The process in sections 2-5 is arranged to reflect a transition from two dimensions to three, aligning with the methods. The first 3 chapters are focused on self-organisation, representing each separate method, and the total result is mentioned in the same chapter. The collection is concerned with specifically selected projects. This framework detail describes the overall research context, and more on theoretical references connected with the selected case studies, the necessity of external sources is reduced.

A different introduction section of theoretical background but this objective may be difficult to achieve.Section 5 results in findings and discussion of the breakdown explanation of the functionality methods. This presents efficient methods of describing, analysing, and discussing the examples proposed by the matrix of properties and observation from the case studies by intents and conditions that contains an idea behind the project, what the conditions have been used to propose the question for the project. The division of properties and observation can give a clear distinction and ample proof for the research. The method can be shown for further development on the agent-based material formation and how it leaves the structure to connect the passage from past to present.

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Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This chapter presents the study that has been conducted on emergent agent bodies on revitalisation. The discussion is understanding as different researchers with different aims in each study.

2.2 Previous research on Agent Bodies

2.2.1 Notion of Nature From the modern architecture since 1900 William J.R. Curtis mention “architecture should follows nature’ In architecture, there are two ways to execute the construction to engage with their qualities and properties; purely artistic inquiry of clearly visible form is only peripheral to the presence of our dominant principle.

-discourse on Architecture, Marc-Antoine Laugier, 1877-81

Nature form and system The notion of nature that applies to the construction always returns to beginnings, in the way of generating form and in the method of construction In Laugier’s Primitive Hut, Marc-Antoine Laugier claims. This would allow the thesis to continue and be inspired using the natural system- the swarm.

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2.2.2 Savage in Gothic Architecture Examine all over again those ugly goblins, and formless monsters, and stern sculptures, anatomiless and rigid; however don't ridicule at them, for they're signs of the life and freedom of every worker” Who struck the stone have a freedom of thought and rank in scale of being, like no laws, no contracts, no foundations can get; however, which it should be the main point of all Europe at this day to regain for her children.

-The Nature of Gothic, John Ruskin, 1853 2.23 Savage in the Digital Age In 19 centuries John Ruskin was one of the early primitivists who improved the art and craft movement. In his paper, he states out the savageness as one essential nature of gothic architecture is that the highly craft-driven allows the craftsman to express freely through materials and the open system. This allows the speculation of behavior and character at that moment which is really interesting in reinterpreting the savageness in the digital age.

In the digital nature of gothic, Lars Spuybroek also stated that the change in the gothic open system is using the bottom-up from lower to higher range of hierarchy. Gothic has its own language and relationship between the figure and arrangement. The figure refers to the base of the form the elements. The figures, also known as motifs, are the formation of lines, A structure that is able to change in various variables to adapt when meeting with other structures. The variation of the individual entity and configuration of structure contribute to the quality of being changeable in gothic. (Spuybroek 2018) Spuybroek argues that the interactive relationship and the variation of figure between figure and configuration make gothic digital. This logic of organisation using the bottom-up approach will be further investigated in applying swarm systems in architecture.

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As Craig Reynold’s (1987) said that Multi-agent based systems such as the Boid system consider the Cartesian space center to be the point to the agent. The composite wing and brass swarm project will draw the strings from multi-agent organizing the logic of swarm intelligence to generate behaviors between the emergent pattern and the resisting structural and feedback, an recursive result for the relationship. At 1989, the swarm intelligence expression at robotic terms was born to describe the emergent behavior collection and influenced many industries today such as biology, social structure, engineering, artificial, visualization and architecture. Even pedestrians can form a collection to exhibit swarm behavior.

Alternatively, the self-organisation processes also may issue the environmentally sensitive growth model as presented from the works of Micheal Hensel, to provide important lessons for architects. Natural systems showcase high-level integration and function from the recursive feedback with a particular host environment. Modelling plant growth and development is mainly based on mathematical and spatial models to serve as continuum components in space.

Closeness on the relationship from single step linear feedback between fabrication and simulation to the attribution of new material agency through real-time and repeated feedback between multi-agent behaviors and physical material. (Snooks and Jahn 2016) The approach attributes design agency to response between material behavior and robotic functioning by incorporating them in their recent work of architects such as, Adam Fure and Matias del Campo (2014) explained his research as draw back “from optimization and efficiency as the higher level factors of digital fabrication in pursuit of a structure where material presume to be maximum agency in the process”. As Achim Menges proclaimed, that implanting material characteristic, manufacturing restricted and allowed the design to be operated through, born with performative size rather than prioritize the materialization. This previous research had developed the computation

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design process according to the draw on the logic of swarm intelligence and operated through multi-agent algorithms.

Swarming system became more common when architects Kas Oosterhuis took self organising system (swarm agent) one step further during the last decade. He not solely stressed the continuing gamification of field style, however additionally observed swarming as a completely unique mode of conceptualising field style. Oosterhuis additionally claimed that substantial forms can be replaced with the surrounding conception of knowledge flow. It acts as a hub to structuring totally different movements inside a distributed system of various interacting agents. In addition, it is also a bottom-up principle of agent-based modelling and simulation.

‘Swarm intelligence’ that is created by the accumulation of many small strands like filament a collective strategy has been informed by an understanding of the filament character of material from electron microscope imaging. The collection of the fibrous has no direction to imitated of specific condition or processes. Instead, these collection become another way of mathematical description of surface to computational accumulation of vectors.

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2.3 Conceptual framework

2.4 Research Gap The main approach used in this thesis. The abandoned structure is recreated based on the relationship between figure and configuration from the autonomy re-speculation from the craftsman. The context is the first input of the system, which results in the final organisation. In my thesis, the new syntactic structure is formed by the relationship between behaviour and organisation of the swarm (self-organisation agent).

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3.0 Precedent Study 3.1 Swarm Behavior This Swarm Behavior method imitates the natural movements of flocks through what Reynolds refers to as ‘self-organizing bodies. These agents will communicate with each other to make a cohesive movement pattern which is tested in this thesis to stimulate the movement of swarm- agents refer as boids This term refer as ‘bird-like’.

Boid factors to construct

● Boid affected by position, max speed and max velocity. ● BOIDS( Position. Max speed, Max Velocity) ● Acceleration= New Vector; ● Angle= random; ( every dimension from X,Y and Z) ● Position= pos; ● Max Speed= speed; ● Max Force = force;

The creator creates a void with the world properties set within the formula. The new parameters that differentiate from the value of the ‘max force’ and ‘max speed’. The speed parameter controls. The speed parameter controls the maximum from the overall speed that agent will acquire. The force parameter is the control for the neighbor particle on the boids. This can be the primary instance of the self-organizing strand for the boids. The neighbor has a velocity in a specific direction that influences the movement of the neighbor. This force parameter permits for the power to regulate the quantity of influence that the neighbor movement has.Once the worldwide properties 16

are assigned to the boids, they'll builded by their own. every agent is created with random coordinates in the area and so a variety of them are placed. //BOIDS will attached to random seed and for position random and boid is fixed Likewise to the specialists, boids can move in three-measurements as birds do.

Nonetheless, for this task, the boids are copying human attributes which limits them to two-dimensional development on the ground plane. While the global boundaries can handle the maximum speed and power, there are singular boundaries for each bird that give a refined control to oneself getting sorted out bodies. As Reynolds states, there are three boundaries that Will drive the development of the swarm separation, alignment, and cohesion.

Swarm movement = separation; align; cohesion;

These three parameters impact the correspondence between the adjoining boids. To make a progressive system for these, a scale is applied to each force. As displayed in the example above, the detachment has the most elevated strength while the attachment has the least. This takes into consideration the capacity to underline certain properties of multitudes just as lessen undesirable ones too.

The detachment boundaries enable control of the distance between the swarm agents.

The higher the amount the more partition there is from the neighbors. The arrangement boundary controls the directionality of the boids. Every one of them has a vector directionality that is then spoken with the neighbor. The higher the number, the more

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certain that the neighbor will coordinate with the vector course. The last boundary is the attachment of the boids as a swarm. This is the possibility that a void will settle on its own choice as opposed to following the neighbors. In the example above this is to allow for some variability in the movement of the swarm and allow them to break away and form smaller swarms.

The correspondence between the boids occurs as the calculation loops through the computations of each cycle. The boids are completely determined and afterward, the data from these computations are passed to the adjoining boids. This sharing of data is the thing that enables the boids to self-arrange.

3.2 How can swarm intelligence used at design At this case studies from tyler julian johnson, the role of the particle agency with generate design process by using the computation methodologies that apply in swarm intelligence and project out a simple decision that make the agent able to perform the self-organizing into the emergent intelligence. The project used technical code. With writing swarm system and architectural theory both in these system allow the project developed stimulation of vector based swarm systems and then used these system as agency substrate. The project swift the mapping agent from 2D environment to 3D view.

The software used maya’s scripting language and processing with rhinoscript.

Swarm Behaviour: The key to using the bottom-up approach is that the form is built from the relationship. It is important to study the basic principles of relationship. In flocking framework, individual will in general connect, isolate or line up with its neighbour. Varied combination of behaviour contributes to varied spatial organisation.

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Default position involves crowd at idle manner.

There is no attraction between each other.

Crowds show the transformation into a celebrity. There is a start of engagement from the celebrity agent for the movement begins amongst the crowd and paparazzi.

Flocking happens when there is a strong element among the crowd to the performance of the celebrity.

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1.The ornamental agent. These agent flock into each other and are attracted to a attraction agents and primary structure agents.

2.Primary structure : These agents are attracted to attraction agents.

3. Attraction agents. These agents attempt to avoid primary structure agents and ornamental agents.

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4.Changes of state. When a primary structure agent collides with a ornamental agent the result at the creation of a void agent.

5. Void Agents. Thes agent dont move but their radius of repulsion varies and cause the primary agents to repulse from them.

6. Emergent Behavior.Void agent define the variable void space. The original agents navigate between these spaces leaving behind a waves structure.

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The code diagram from tyler julian johnson

Structural/Ornamental agent negotiations

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Emergent Architectural system

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The left figure shows the particles at frame 15 and the right figure shows at frame 15 this is when the particle starts to emit the particle from the cube from a lift time set for frame 0 to 250 frame and further will extend to see a different result.

Around frame 36 the particle start follow the shape of the structure and the more longer the duration it spend the particle will grow stronger attachment and form a unique shape. There are different seed cast into emission and the number will set at 800 as the high value of the particle will give benefit the motion pattern.

At the process of swarm modeling, the structure will set position for the particle to do the computational framework which to outlines the agent based behavior that could be developed to understand the decision-making process within an actual structure.

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Observation of the material as boids is released with a certain velocity and direction to move and the combination of the behavior as the agents tends to flock in a shape.

The responding show that the restoration perfect findings occurred when the number 15-20 and with scale 0.12 and set as interpolated with the amount of four.

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As the value exceeded 30 it started to occupy all the existing elements. As the explores framework with each object give a three-dimensional spaces inside to known and well understood the structure the past colonial ornamentation constraints to form a new design expression that following our past existing structure. The result show that we able to practice the rich typologies of abandon spaces with current advanced technology through recreation, preservation and speculation from the memory of urban residents.

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5.0 Conclusion Swarm can be generated into an architectural design process. Data has constraints and the artificial medium selection are two of the keypoints. Data constraints represent a collection of facts and studies of the local and social environment. Artificial is the designer's decision on different mass production from different software. To achieve the restoration of the abandoned spaces from re-speculative the past structure it really help a lot when it used the mechanical robotic control, 3d printing, data collection and swarm stimulation.

The analysis findings result will help the exact product to identity itself value of the architecture and bring the data information to generate a better functional structure for the future.

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Bibliography Anon. n.d. “Michal Hensel, Achim Menges and Michael Weinstock, Emergence Morpho.Pdf.” Kolarevic, Branko. 2004. “Digital Morphogenesis.” Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing 17–45.

Larsen, N. M. 2012. “FOR ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN.” Generative Algorithmic Techniques for Architectural Design 1(1):8,16.

Snooks, R. 2014. “Behavioral Formation Multi-Agent Algorithmic Design Strategies.”

Snooks, Roland, and Gwyllim Jahn. 2016. “Closeness: On the Relationship of Multi-Agent Algorithms and Robotic Fabrication.” Robotic Fabrication in Architecture, Art and Design 2016 (January 2019). doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-26378-6.

Spuybroek, L. (2018). The Digital Nature of Gothic. The Sympathy of Things, April. doi.org/10.5040/9781474243896.ch-001 Cameron, S. (2020). Swarm City_An Emerging Trandisplinary Architecture.

Snooks, R., & Jahn, G. (2016). Closeness: On the Relationship of Multi-agent Algorithms and Robotic Fabrication. In Robotic Fabrication in Architecture, Art and Design 2016 (Issue January 2019).

Reference Game, Set and Match II. On Computer Games, Advanced Geometries, and Digital Technologies, ed. by Kas Oosterhuis and Lukas Feireiss (Rotterdam: Episode Publishers, 2006).