11. Technology - Application

Week 11

People, Process & Technology

Technology

Application

By Amal Shah Faculty of Design CEPT University

Teaching Associates Chandni Chhabra, Sachi Motiwala & Shikha Mehta

IR3609 | Monsoon Semester 2020

Applications of Physics & Biology With the study of moveable vertebrae column Frei Otto devised a structural system that incorporates equal amounts of compression and tension forces. The result was a new method of vault construction through deformation of a plane lattice grid.

In applying his minimal theories to support elements and space frames he arrived at lighter structures by reducing the buckling lengths of their compression members. The resulting forms are distinctly organic and a resultant of structural patterns extant in nature. He also studied bird skulls, spiderwebs. bubble formations and applied them in his structures. Given a set of fixed points, he noted, soap film will spread naturally to offer the smallest achievable surface area.

German Pavilion Expo 1967, Montreal, Frei Otto

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Application of Physics & Biology in Form- Finding Process Of Frei Otto

Courtesy : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb5p0htTj4U&feature=emb_rel_end

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Geometry of Architecture Application of Maths & Geometry Through works of Felix Candela, Santiago Calatrava and Antoni Gaudi

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Application of Technology: Automotive engineering

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Synthesis of form through the application of fractal geometry Fractal Geometry : Transition from chaos to order A curve or geometrical ďŹ gure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole.

They are useful in modelling natural structures where similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales, and in describing partly random or chaotic phenomena such as crystal growth and galaxy formation.

Fractal properties of a built-form present themselves as a study of self-similar, progressing details from larger to smaller scale

6 Courtesy : CEPT UG Thesis - Haripriya Patel

Application of fractal geometry in Agri Chapel

Japanese-wooden chapel with a fractal structure system. usable open space has been increased by reducing the vertical supports near oor level. These tree-like units are constructed by Japanese wooden system.

Courtesy : CEPT UG Thesis - Haripriya Patel

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Aspects of Fractal Geometry through Agri Chapel

Growth and scaling

Repetition and Rhythm

Self-similarity and Balance

Whole

Grid of part Grid of whole

Part of a whole 8

Courtesy : CEPT UG Thesis - Haripriya Patel

Application of fractal geometry This architecture shows the possibility of creating a universe by combining small units.

Cidori has a wood 12 mm square as its element, which for this building was transformed into different sizes. Parts are 60mm×60mm×200cm or 60mm×60mm×400cm, and form a grid of 50cm square. This cubic grid also becomes the grid on its own for the showcase in the museum.

Each and every element of a system is an expression that it is correlated with each other and performs in balance to constitute a complex system.

Even though the parts might look different they are similar at a level of their other properties and performance in a system.

9 Courtesy : CEPT UG Thesis - Haripriya Patel

Application of Process Based Technologies Digital Fabrication : Techniques & Materiality Digital fabrication is a design and production process that combines 3D modeling or computing-aided design with additive and subtractive manufacturing. It is a method designers use to calibrate digital designs with physical forms.

Using these methods, digital practices have the potential to narrow the gap between representation and building, aording a hypothetically seamless connection between design and making.

Along these lines, architects have begun to couple form with method and revisit tectonic systems as a means to produce material eect. Digital production techniques can capitalize on material methods as a generator for design. The architects here are hence concerned both with tectonics of assembly and with synthetic surface and material eect through application of these techniques.

10 Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

Digital Fabrication Tessellation Technique Tessellation is a collection of pieces that ďŹ t together without gaps to form a plane or surface.

Tessellation, or tiling, is becoming increasingly relevant to building as architects as it enables complex forms and surfaces with standard-size sheet materials and non-standard manufacturing process.

An evolution from the mass-produced systems traditionally enabled by digital processes, the ability to array unique panels across large surfaces to address multiple scales and curvatures is one of the great advantages of tessellation.

11 Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

Digital Fabrication Tessellation Technique BMW Welt : The basic mesh size of the cone relates fractally to the structural roof grid. The panels are halved, then triangulated to work with the geometry of the cone and the at glass panes. At a visual and material level, this tiling strategy smoothly synthesizes the dynamic structural surface of the roof and double cone.

Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

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Digital Fabrication Folding Technique Folding turns a at surface into a three-dimensional one. It is a powerful technique not only for making form but also for creating structure with geometry. With digital fabrication, folding takes on a new dimension and is extended to a method of making: building materials are literally folded into place.

The computer model was inspired and simulated through naturally evolving systems & fed directly into a production line of sail-making software and digital manufacturing. The pavilion, weighing only seventeen kilograms, can be transported in a small carry-on bag and be assembled in less than an hour.

Entry Paradise Pavilion Chris Bosse/PTW Architects, 2006 Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

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Digital Fabrication Contouring Technique Construction materials typically come as sheets. There are a host of building products that are smooth and at: stone slabs, plywood, particleboard, MDF, gypsum board, and cast composites, among others.

They may come in a range of thicknesses, but in essence they are two-dimensional surfaces.

Contouring is a technique that reshapes this surface and creates a three-dimensional relief by removing successive layers of material. It is a subtractive process, akin to carving in regulated patterns Digital fabrication has enabled architects to transcend the idea that carving resides exclusively in traditional handcrafted practice. The process of contouring necessarily involves translating a digital model into a language a computer-controlled router can understand.

14 Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

Digital Fabrication Contouring Technique Bone Wall Urban A&O, 2006 : The aim was continuity of surface and modulation of light within the wall, also including storage and seating. A total of seventy-two cells—or 2,592 control points, all parametrically linked—combine to make up the wall.The cells were fabricated in high-density foam on a five-axis CNC mill. The milling machine was set on a -inch step-over, resulting in a topographic planlike finish.

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Digital Fabrication Forming Technique Formed objects are all around us.

Packaging, plastic toys, cell phones, car bodies. . . . The list is virtually endless. Because forming employs an inherent economy of means—generating multiple parts from a small number of molds or forms—it follows that the most common uses for this technology are mass-produced products.

In buildings, this falls into the realm of architectural components, such as hardware, facade panels, and window mullions. And of course, building construction also employs forming at a larger scale and with less reproducibility, for such components as precast panels, structural members, and architectural ornamentation, as well as cast-in-place slabs, walls, or even the whole building. All things considered, forming is ubiquitous in the construction industry.

16 Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

Digital Fabrication Forming Technique Housing in Vienna”

By SPAN,2007–8 This “pod family” was designed for the traveling exhibition “Housing in Vienna.” It demonstrates a clear evolution of the pod as it includes the creation of limbs evolving out of the shell-shaped system. Just three surfaces build up one pod. The pod form is derived from the Cairo tessellation, whose inherent geometry allows it to repeat in multiple ways, thus creating manifold possibilities for assembling the exhibition in various given environments without compromising the overall appearance of the design.

17 Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

Digital Fabrication Sectioning Orthographic projections—that is, plans and sections—are one of the most valuable representational tools architects have at their disposal. They are an indispensable communication and design device.

They have also contributed to a prominent digital fabrication method. With computer modeling, deriving sections is no longer a necessarily two-dimensional drawing exercise. In fact, it is no longer an exercise in projection at all but a process of taking cuts through a formed three-dimensional object. As architects increasingly design with complex geometries, using sectioning as a method of taking numerous cross sections through a form has proven time and again an effective and compelling technique.

As in conventional construction processes, information is translated from one format to another to communicate with the builder—only in this case the builder is a machine.

18 Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

Digital Fabrication Sectioning Rather than construct the surface itself, sectioning uses a series of profiles, the edges of which follow lines of surface geometry. The modeling software’s sectioning or contouring commands can almost instantaneously cut parallel sections through objects at designated intervals. This effectively streamlines the process of making serialized, parallel sections. Architects have experimented with sectional assemblies as a way to produce both surface and structure.

19 Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

Digital Fabrication Sectioning Space by Alan Dempsey and Alvin Huang, 2008 This pavilion was designed and constructed as part of the tenth-anniversary celebration of the Architectural Association’s Design Research Laboratory.

The pavilion is a discontinuous shell structure, spanning more than ten meters of thin fiber- reinforced-concrete elements, which perform as structure and skin, floor walls and furniture. The design takes the material to new technical limits, having required extensive prototyping and material testing during the development phase. The jointing of discrete concrete profiles exploits the tensile strength of [fibre-C] concrete, and a simple intersecting notch joint is locked together using a bespoke rubber-gasket assembly.

The angle of intersection at each joint varies continuously across the structure.

20 Courtesy : Iwamoto,L.(2009). Digital Fabrications:Architecture & Material Techniques. New York : Princeton Architectural Press

Thermoforming Process

Process Based Technologies

Manufacturing Processes - Additive & Subtractive WaterWall SEED House : Thermoforming Process from Thermoplastic (SuperPlastic Forming SPF) Material of polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PET-G) to sustain weight of water

Inner working of machine process

Additive : Thermoforming on Vacuum former giving control on catenary curved geometry Subtractive: Molds from CNC milling MDF Courtesy : Gulling, D.K. (2018). Manufacturing Architecture : An Architect’s Guide to Custom Processes, Materials and Applications. London, UK: Lawrence King Publishing.

Process Based Technologies

Manufacturing Processes - Additive & Subtractive Screen - Mall Forum Mittelrhein : Stamping Process from Metal Process involved cutting aluminium sheets from a large coil. The sheets were then stamped with a shaped mate die on a ten-ton press. Panels returned to the press for ďŹ nal striking to increase hardness and re-align the piece after trimming.

Laser Cutting to shape after stamping

22 Courtesy : Gulling, D.K. (2018). Manufacturing Architecture : An Architect’s Guide to Custom Processes, Materials and Applications. London, UK: Lawrence King Publishing.

Application of Process Based Technologies

Manufacturing Processes - Additive & Subtractive Screen - Mall Forum Mittelrhein : Extrusion Process from Aluminium (Discrete Manufacturing Process)

Specific angle of extrusion for light reflectivity making a rhomboid shape not possible from metal bending Courtesy : Gulling, D.K. (2018). Manufacturing Architecture : An Architect’s Guide to Custom Processes, Materials and Applications. London, UK: Lawrence King Publishing.

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Integrating biology: The biomimicry approach Biomimicry originates from two greek words, Bios - Life Mimesis- Imitate

Climatology

Biomimicry

Design process

Technology

Biomimetic design uses nature as a model, measure and mentor to solve problems. It looks to nature as a model to imitate or take inspiration from natural designs and processes and applies it to the man-made.

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Integrating biology: The biomimicry approach

Examples of bioinspiration in architecture derived from animals: rib vaulting in Exeter Cathedral in Exeter, UK, by an unknown architect (completed c. 1400), inspired by ribs with intercostal muscles; the skin (enclosure) of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, France, by Jean Nouvel (1987), inspired by the human iris (left); La Tour Eiel, in Paris, France, by Gustave Eiel (1889), inspired by force diagrams of bones (left); and the Milwaukee Art Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, by Santiago Calatrava (2001), inspired by bird wings (left).

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Integrating biology: The biomimicry approach

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Biomimicry : "Breathe" With This Pneumatic Façade Technology The façades work by increasing or decreasing the size of the apertures that are scattered across the surface—much like the skin’s pores would open up or constrict.

On every square meter of a breathing skin façade, there are 140 air channels which are described by Becker as “pneumatic muscles.”

The technology mainly consists of two glass surfaces sandwiching the pneumatic muscles. In the area between the two glass panels, only a slight under pressure is required to opening each muscle.

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Biomimicry : "Breathe" With This Pneumatic Façade Technology

Based on the concept of biomimicry, the technology is inspired by organic skins that adjust their permeability to control the necessary flow of light, matter and temperature between the inside and the outside.

In addition to these performative benefits, the constantly changing appearance of these façades provides a rich interplay between the exterior natural environment and interior living spaces.

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Techniques and Technology in Morphogenetic Design

Transfer of the biological principle of shape change ●

Morphogenesis is the evolutionary development of form in an organism, or part thereof.

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The living organism can be interpreted as a series of structural systems.

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As a result of interactions between the components over time, these evolved their complex forms and behavioural patterns.

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Techniques and Technology in Morphogenetic Design

Morphology Algorithmic Growth Process Stimulation Analysis Tool

Computational Design

Manufacture Performance Material Performance

EďŹƒciency

Through a series of design experiments, Achim Menges explains his research into an understanding of form, materials and structure, not as separate elements, but rather as complex interrelations in morphic systems resulting from the response to varied input and environmental inuences, and derived through the logics of advanced manufacturing 30 processes.

Morphogenetic Design Through works of Achim Menges Morphogenetic Design Experiment Permanent Collection, Centre Pompidou Paris â—?

The dimensional instability of wood in relation to moisture content is employed to construct a climate responsive architectural morphology.

â—?

Suspended within a humidity controlled glass case the model opens and closes in response to climate changes with no need for any technical equipment or energy.

Achim Menges presents a range of morphogenetic design techniques and technologies that synthesise processes of formation and materialisation.

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Morphogenetic Design Through works of Achim Menges ‘Membrane Morphologies 02’ installed at the Architectural Association, London; close-up view of membrane installation resulting from parametrically defined patch specification, cut location and pre tensioning action; ●

Form-finding and dynamic relaxation Clockwise from top left:

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Initial form-finding experiment (Left top) and close-up view of ‘minimal hole’ configuration (Left middle);

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digital model form found through dynamic relaxation processes (left Bottom) and related specification and installation of ‘Membrane Morphologies 02’ (right Column).

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